Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

Off the coast of Cold Iron Island, a giant ship covered in iron armor cuts through the waves.

Inside the main cabin, Xian Tieshou was resting with his eyes closed.

His hands turned an eerie, bluish-green color, a sign that he had mastered his signature move, "Iron Hands of Coldness," to perfection.

A subordinate scrambled into the cabin, shouting, "Boss...Boss! Something's happened on the island! Someone's broken into the abandoned source mine area at the bottom!"

Xian Tieshou suddenly opened his eyes, his iron-blue hand crushing the mahogany armrest.

"The source mining area? What are you bunch of good-for-nothings doing! That's where they dug out..." He paused, a look of fear and ruthlessness flashing in his eyes. "Send the order back to the island at full speed! Anyone who dares to touch the taboos of that place, I'll skin them alive!"

Lower mine shafts of Cold Iron Island.

The further down you go, the dimmer the light becomes.

A layer of eerie black frost had formed on the originally damp rock wall at some unknown time.

The breath I exhaled turned into white mist.

Luo Meng carried the weak Luo Ying on his back, shivering from the cold.

He spends most of his time at sea and has seen all kinds of harsh weather, but this chill seemed to have eyes, seeping into his bones through his pores.

"Boss, something's not right on this road." Luo Meng rubbed his frozen hands. "I mentioned it before when we were traveling by boat. Back then, something unclean was unearthed in the bottom mining area of ​​Cold Iron Island. Dozens of miners disappeared overnight, which is why the Salt and Iron Society sealed this place off."

Xu Hao walked ahead, carrying the newly stolen black knife, Devouring Sea, in his hand.

He didn't feel cold at all; on the contrary, he felt the knife in his hand becoming more and more active, and a faint sense of excitement was coming from it.

"Something unclean?" Xu Hao tapped the frosty rock wall with the hilt of his knife. "Could anything be unclean than these people up there who want to use us for a bounty?"

Luo Ying, clinging to Luo Meng's back, weakly said, "Brother, they'll be catching up soon. The scent of the Blood Gu Seal won't escape the notice of the Salt and Iron Society's 'Bloodhounds'."

As soon as he finished speaking, a series of rapid footsteps came from the darkness behind him.

With heavy breathing, a dozen figures dressed in close-fitting black armor and wearing cast iron masks emerged from the mine tunnel.

They all held short blades with blood grooves in their hands, and their movements were perfectly synchronized, like a pack of wild beasts that had smelled meat.

More than ten Black Iron Guards at the peak of the Bone Forging Realm.

There is no road ahead.

A bottomless underground cliff loomed in front of us.

Luo Meng put Luo Ying down, drew his long sword from his waist, and stood in front of the two of them.

"Boss, you take Yingzi and find a way to get there. I'll cover the rear." Luo Meng gritted his teeth, the mad bull tattoo on his back turning bright red in the extreme cold. "You gave me my life, Luo Meng, and today I'll repay you."

Xu Hao didn't move, but instead slapped Luo Meng on the back of the head.

"What do you mean, 'pay back'? You still owe me money, do you think you can die so easily?" Xu Hao pushed Luo Meng aside, picked up his black knife, and walked to the front.

"I was just worried about not having anything to feed my new sword, and you guys are quite sensible, delivering yourselves to my door." Xu Hao, carrying the black sword Devouring Sea, advanced instead of retreating, walking towards the Black Iron Guards.

The Black Iron Guards were well-trained and remained silent, their three short blades forming a triangular shape as they thrust directly at Xu Hao's vitals.

Xu Hao didn't even dodge; with a flick of his wrist, the Devouring Sea Blade emitted a streak of dark light.

when.

The short blades broke cleanly.

Before the opponent could change their move, the dark light had already slashed the necks of the three people in front in succession.

There was no blood splattering.

The moment the Devouring Sea Blade sliced ​​through flesh, there was no expected gushing of blood. Instead, the three bodies, upon contact with the blade, seemed to be drained of moisture, rapidly shriveling up. In the blink of an eye, the three peak Bone Forging Realm experts became three skeletons covered only by skin, lying stiffly on the ground.

Luo Meng swallowed hard from behind: "Boss, does your knife have a blood-sucking effect?"

"A newly recognized master, yet with a huge appetite." Xu Hao exerted force with his feet, unleashing the Surging Wave Step, and crashed directly into the pile of Black Iron Guards.

The remaining assassins finally reacted.

The eyes behind the mask revealed terror, the formation fell into chaos, and people instinctively took a step back.

"Since we're already here, why run away?"

The Devouring Sea Blade in his hands no longer suffered any backlash as before; instead, it was like a starving ghost reincarnated, sucking the life out of anyone it caught.

Where the blade passed, even screams were frozen in place.

Luo Meng felt a chill run down his spine watching from behind.

He had killed countless people in his life, but he had never seen such a bizarre way of dying.

"Boss, take it easy, don't collapse the cave!" Luo Meng couldn't help but shout.

"Enough with the chit-chat," Xu Hao replied casually, then slashed at the last Black Iron Guard with his sword.

The black-clad guard was terrified and turned to run away.

"Since you're already here, why are you in such a hurry to leave?" Xu Hao sneered, gripped the knife in his backhand, and threw it forward with a sudden jerk.

The black blade transformed into a streak of dark light, instantly piercing the chest of the fleeing man. With its momentum undiminished, it plunged into the rock wall at the end of the wall with a loud bang, pinning the man to it.

The entire mine shaft shook violently, and loose rocks fell down in a shower.

Xu Hao stepped forward, grasped the hilt of the knife, and pulled it outwards.

With a teeth-grinding cracking sound, the frost-covered rock wall in front of him was shattered by the force of the drawn sword, splitting open a crack more than ten feet wide.

An even more biting chill than before surged out from the crack.

"You used a bit too much force." Xu Hao brushed the dust off his clothes and peered inside.

Beyond the crack was a dark, winding passage leading downwards.

"Let's go see what good stuff the Salt and Iron Society has hidden under this broken island." Xu Hao waved to the person behind him.

As soon as the three stepped into the cleaved crevice, the biting cold air that hit them made Luo Meng sneeze loudly.

Dozens of scarlet eyes suddenly lit up in the dark passage ahead.

Accompanied by a scraping sound, a group of staggering dark figures emerged from the shadows.

By the dim light, Luo Meng could make out the appearance of these things, and his scalp tingled instantly.

These were not living people at all, but desiccated corpses covered in sharp black minerals. They opened their lipless jaws, blocking the way.

"Boss, retreat! Retreat quickly!" Luo Meng carried Luo Ying on his back and retreated repeatedly, his voice trembling. "This is a miner corpse! A miner who went missing years ago."

These monsters are invulnerable to blades and spears, and possess immense strength. Even the weakest among them has the foundation of the Skin Polishing Realm, while the leaders, whose bodies are covered in purple ore, are definitely at the Bone Forging Realm!

Xu Hao didn't retreat; instead, he took two steps forward. His eyes gleamed as he stared at the cold iron ore gleaming on the corpse of the mine.

"What are you retreating for? Take a closer look at what's growing on them."

Luo Meng was stunned: "Cold Iron Ore? What's wrong?"

"These are all top-quality shipbuilding materials." Xu Hao licked his lips, then casually took out two dark red blood essence beads from his pocket and put them directly into his mouth.

The Qi and blood of the Yi Jin Jing realm erupted completely within his body.

The scalding hot blood and qi circulated throughout the body, forcing the surrounding cold air back several feet.

"Keep an eye on your sister."