The two chased and dodged each other, eventually disappearing into the dense forest outside the clearing.

Du—

The thick-backed longsword struck the trunk of the giant tree with a muffled thud, momentarily halting the continuous momentum of the blade.

Zhou Chen's eyes flashed with a sharp light. Taking advantage of the moment when Li Xiong's old strength was exhausted and his new strength had not yet been generated, he suddenly threw out the dagger.

With a foundation in advanced archery and the aid of telepathic abilities, even a casual throw is incredibly accurate.

Li Xiong was not surprised but rather pleased to see Zhou Chen voluntarily give up the dagger.

He tilted his head to avoid the dagger's trajectory, only to see Zhou Chen step forward and punch Li Xiong in the waist and abdomen.

"puff……"

Li Xiong's pupils contracted as the old wounds and arrow wounds on his waist were aggravated, causing his body to arch like a shrimp.

In the clearing in the woods, the roles of attacker and defender had shifted.

Zhou Chen seized the opportunity and threw a series of punches, leaving afterimages in the air.

While controlling his muscles to suppress the injury, Li Xiong retreated repeatedly.

Suddenly, Zhou Chen pulled back his fist and kicked out, landing another kick on Li Xiong's waist.

Li Xiong frowned, hissing in pain.

Zhou Chen took the opportunity to pull the dagger stuck in the tree and thrust it out like a venomous snake striking out.

"Ugh—!" Li Xiong screamed, his left fist slamming into Zhou Chen's temple.

Seeing the heavy punch, Zhou Chen hardened his heart and twisted the dagger around in Li Xiong's wound.

bang——

Struck in the temple, Zhou Chen's vision went black, and his right hand, holding the dagger, instinctively slashed outwards.

With a "whoosh" sound...

A thin, long gash appeared on Li Xiong's abdomen, from which intestines and blood gushed out as if they were free.

Zhou Chen's temples were swollen and the throbbing pain shot straight to his brain. He could only rely on his spiritual senses to avoid Li Xiong's final frenzy.

Finally, a full quarter of an hour passed.

Li Xiong's intestines were hanging all over the ground, his steps gradually became sluggish, and the strength of his long sword diminished sharply.

With a "bang".

His towering body collapsed to the ground.

Within the perception of the spiritual trace, the furnace, whose life force was burning fiercely, slowly dimmed and went out.

Zhou Chen exhaled a breath of stale air and looked at Li Hui, who was curled up in a ball trying to avoid being noticed.

The moment Li Hui saw his older brother fall, his crotch was already half-wet.

Seeing Zhou Chen looking at him, he struggled to back up, but was too frightened to move.

"Zhou Chen..."

"Ah, no! Young Master Zhou!" Li Hui recalled how Ma Er usually flattered him and forced a fawning smile at Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen looked at Li Hui, who was snotting and smelling of urine, with disgust, then turned and walked towards the altar.

Seeing that Zhou Chen ignored him, Li Hui was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to kowtow to Zhou Chen.

"Heh heh..." He touched the blood line in his throat, watched Zhou Chen's departing figure, tilted his head to the side, and could no longer straighten up.

Walking to the side of the altar, the tragic death of Master Yang was still vivid in his mind. Even though the incense ash was struck by a bolt of lightning, Zhou Chen did not dare to touch it.

He walked over to Uncle Sun and the others who were still unconscious, checked their breathing, and found that they were breathing steadily. They were just under the influence of drugs and would wake up once the effects wore off.

Seeing that Uncle Sun and the others were unharmed, he then began to feel around for the corpses of the Wusheng Sect members and Li Xiong.

After a while, most of the arrows Zhou Chen had shot were retrieved, and seven taels of silver were also found.

As for martial arts techniques, they were nowhere to be found. After all, not everyone is like the wanted criminal we encountered that day, who would carry his techniques with him.

After searching through the numerous corpses, it was gradually getting dark.

The roars of demonic beasts echoed from the outer edge of the forest clearing, all drawn by the bloody aura emanating from the corpses.

"Ugh..." At the same time, perhaps the effects of the drug wore off, the six humans and four beasts who had been sacrificed at the scene woke up simultaneously.

"Where am I?"

"Why is it already dark?" a voice full of doubt rang out.

Most of the six of them were attacked and instantly fainted. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves tightly bound, surrounded by the roars of monsters.

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Chen dismantled the Zhenyue Stake and untied the ropes binding the group, saying, "This is the core area of ​​Yunsong Mountain."

"Who are you?" asked a hunter from another village who had been brought there bound and gagged.

Before Zhou Chen could answer, Uncle Sun, who had just come to his senses, suddenly called out, "Xiao Chen!"

What are you doing here?

"Xiaohua told me you were kidnapped by men in black, and asked me to come and rescue you."

Uncle Sun nodded as if he understood, then suddenly stood up and looked around. "We need to hurry. The man in black who captured me is probably at the Bone Forging Realm. If we wait for him to come back, things will get really bad."

"Bone Forging Realm!" The other five exclaimed in unison.

Among them, the strongest was only at the Flesh Refining Realm. If they encountered a Bone Forging Realm expert, even if they all rushed at them, they would not be able to resist them in the slightest.

"It's alright, I've already taken care of it." Zhou Chen pointed to Li Xiong's corpse not far away, his words were calm, and there was no trace of the tension he had felt during the life-or-death struggle.

Only then did the group smell the strong stench of blood. Looking around, they saw a dozen or so corpses surrounding them, as if they were in a mass grave.

"Li Xiong? It really is him!" Uncle Sun leaned closer and saw Li Xiong's face, confirming his suspicions.

The moment the masked man burst in at dawn, he saw that the man was as tall as an iron tower and possessed great strength, so he became suspicious of Li Xiong.

However, Li Xiong's strength had already reached the Bone Forging stage long ago, and recently it was said that he was going to become an inner disciple of the county's martial arts school. He might become a big figure at the Inner Strong level in the future. How could he die here?

He looked at Zhou Chen's slightly swollen temples and asked in surprise, "Xiao Chen, did you kill him?"

Although the other five were not from Cangsong Village, martial artists at the Bone Forging Realm were well-known in the surrounding area, and naturally recognized the names of the corpses lying on the ground.

Now that Uncle Sun has asked a question, all eyes are on Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen nodded and said, "Just lucky."

The group gasped as they looked at Zhou Chen's handsome yet somewhat immature face.

Immediately afterwards, they all gave their names and the villages they lived in.

After all, being able to kill a Bone Forging Realm expert, even if you don't get to befriend them, it's still good to become acquainted with them.

As everyone exchanged pleasantries, the forest grew completely dark, with only a few rays of moonlight filtering through the gaps in the treetops.

The mountain monsters, already drawn by the rich aura of blood, trotted about, roaring, but dared only to linger outside.

"It seems that the terrifying thing in the core area of ​​Cloud Pine Mountain was fabricated out of thin air by Li Xiong and his group of Wusheng cultists," someone said, looking at the hesitant monster.

"And the purpose of this is to allow them to perform some kind of ritual here!"

During the pleasantries, Zhou Chen had already told everyone about the situation. After hearing that Zhou Chen had single-handedly killed dozens of cultists with a bow and arrow and then killed Li Xiong head-on, everyone was even more impressed.

"However, the blood energy here is so strong that these demonic beasts are attracted to it. Their usual deterrent power probably won't last long," someone said worriedly, looking at the dozen or so pairs of green-tinged demonic beasts all around.

Just then, Zhou Chen took out a blood-stained goose feather arrow and suddenly drew the Crimson Flower Bow.

"Pfft..."

The arrow flew past, piercing the skull of a monster at the Flesh Refining level, which instantly died.

"Even in the dim moonlight, one can still hit a target from a hundred paces away." Everyone swallowed hard, somewhat incredulous.

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