My cultivation method shines upon all heavens.

As they ran, the mountain wind whistled past their ears, and the green light of the ghost lamp stretched into a series of ghastly green afterimages as they moved at high speed.

Lu Ming suddenly stopped, and stretched out his right arm to block Fan Wu, who was following closely behind him.

Fan Wu stumbled, nearly bumping into his arm, and looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

"Fifth Uncle, your strength is insufficient, you can go over slowly."

Lu Ming turned to look at Fan Wu and slowly spoke.

Fan Wu was taken aback, but immediately understood what he meant.

The Yin Hu Guard military law clearly stipulates that: when a comrade is in trouble, no one may stand by and watch him die; those who violate this rule will be punished according to military law.

Now that an accident has occurred ahead, Lu Ming, as a member of the team, must go to the rescue. However, Fan Wu, due to his low strength, was unable to make it in time, which created an opportunity for him to escape.

He gripped the pipe in his hand and took a deep breath:

"Then be careful. If it's a demon... you must make sure you stay alive."

Lu Ming nodded and said nothing more.

He lowered his body, touched the ground with his toes, and instantly disappeared into the distance.

After walking briskly for about a mile and rounding a bend in the mountain, the sounds of fighting ahead suddenly became clearer.

The muffled thuds of fists and feet colliding, the sharp whistling of energy cutting through the air, mixed with heavy breathing and suppressed groans of pain, reverberated back and forth between the two rock walls.

Lu Ming crouched down behind a crooked old pine tree, peering through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

Four figures were locked in a fierce battle with a one-legged monster that resembled a monkey.

The monster was covered in coarse gray-black fur, and its long face was wrinkled like a dried orange.

Two slender forearms hung down past the knees, ending in five hooked claws that gleamed eerily under the lamplight.

It has only one leg, which is thick and powerful. When the foot lands, it makes a dull "thump-thump" sound, and each step makes the ground tremble slightly.

Under a withered tree nearby, a thin figure lay in a pool of blood.

A long tear was ripped open at the chest, and dark red blood was slowly spreading beneath him; his limbs were no longer moving.

In the midst of the battle, a strong wind howled.

The remaining five were all wounded, with blood seeping from the torn parts of their robes, and their faces were pale, yet they were still desperately holding on.

Wang Chengbao's arms moved with the speed of thunder, each claw strike accompanied by a sharp sound of tearing through the air.

The young man from the Hong family unleashed a powerful punch, each punch carrying a heavy gust of wind, leaving a shallow crater in the ground.

Zhang Yuquan pointed his fingers like knives, with flashes of lightning at the tips. Each finger strike forced the mountain demon to dodge to the side.

Lin Yingying moved with agility, her palm shadows flying like falling flowers, but due to exhaustion, they became increasingly chaotic.

Another woman from the Wang family roared like a tiger, her voice shaking the leaves of the trees.

The five figures intertwined, subtly forming a combined attack formation.

The various martial arts techniques, each with its own strengths, intertwined to form a dense network on this narrow mountain path.

However, the five-person attack formation began to fall apart, and their steps became hesitant and sluggish.

Every time the mandrill counterattacked, it forced them to retreat repeatedly.

Their attacks, however, only left a few shallow white marks on the mandrill's rough fur.

"The Lin family's Plum Blossom Hand, the Hong family's Mountain-Shaking Fist, the Zhang family's Thunderclap Finger, the Wang family's Tiger-Splitting Fist..."

Lu Ming's gaze swept over the group of people one by one, and he instantly matched the style and aura of each martial art to his mind.

"Lu Ming..."

Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out from the battle circle:

"Hurry up and come help us! Believe me, I'll make you regret this when we get back!"

Lin Yingying's face was covered in blood, her hair was disheveled, and her originally charming face was now twisted into a ferocious shape by fear.

As she dodged the mandrill's sharp claws, she screamed in Lu Ming's direction, her imperious tone clearly audible from afar.

Lu Ming narrowed his eyes, and the step he was about to take paused involuntarily.

"Lin Yingying, shut up!"

The agile Wang Chengbao was struggling to block a heavy blow from the mandrill when he slipped half a step back on the gravel. He turned and shouted at Lin Yingying.

His face was covered in sweat, but his eyes revealed an uncontrollable anxiety, and he cursed Lin Yingying eight hundred times in his heart.

If they offend Lu Ming, the only Yi Jin expert, at this critical moment, all five of them will die here today.

He immediately turned his head, lowered his voice, and urgently called out to Lu Ming:

"Brother Lu! This mandrill is still a minor, its strength is only slightly stronger than an average Yi Jin Realm cultivator... If we join forces, we can definitely take it down!"

Before he could finish speaking, the mandrill swung its claws again, which he blocked with his arms crossed.

With a muffled thud, he stumbled back half a step, his heel carving a shallow furrow in the gravel.

In the blink of an eye, the five-person formation had completely fallen apart.

They had all only recently entered the Skin Tempering Realm, and the fact that they could rely on the advantage of their Spirit Scripture-level martial arts to hold on until now was already their limit.

"Hang in there, I'm coming."

Lu Ming no longer hesitated.

Taking advantage of the mandrill's back being turned to him, he swung his arm at Zhang Yuquan—

He touched the ground with his toes, and his body suddenly drew a strange arc.

It moved like a snake, turning and twisting, and silently appeared behind the mandrill.

Qi sinks to the dantian, and blood and qi surge.

Bring your palms together and push forward, arching your back like a cow's spine.

With a single strike, "Azure Ox Pushes the Mountain," he channeled all his strength into his palms and slammed them into the center of the mountain demon's back.

"Bang--!"

A muffled thud, like rocks colliding.

Caught off guard, the mandrill was propelled by the immense force, its feet leaving the ground as it crashed into a pine tree as thick as a bowl beside the road.

The tree trunk shuddered violently, its needles rustling down, and the bark was cracked open.

The mandrill rolled half a circle on the ground, then stood up on its one leg as if nothing had happened.

It turned around, its bean-sized eyes blinking blankly for a moment, then suddenly turned bloodshot the instant it saw Lu Ming.

"Hiss... Roar!"

It let out a long howl, the sharp sound echoing through the valley, making everyone's eardrums ache.

Then it pounded its chest hard with both fists, making a low gurgling sound in its throat.

Immediately, he kicked off with his single foot, sending stones flying everywhere.

Its short, stocky figure hurtled toward Lu Ming like a cannonball, moving so fast that it left only a gray-black afterimage.

"boom--!"

Claws descended from the sky, their five hook-like tips slicing through the air with a sharp, piercing sound.

Lu Ming crossed his arms and immediately activated the Spirit Ox Heart Protection Technique.

The skin was taut as iron, and blood and energy flowed into the arms, which forcefully withstood the blow.

The moment the claw tip collided with the arm bone, a tremendous force surged through the arm and into the chest cavity.

He felt a sweet taste in his throat, and a mouthful of blood surged uncontrollably up his throat and spilled out from the corner of his mouth.

The mandrill missed its first attack, but its offensive continued like a raging tide.

Claws like the wind, a single foot like a hammer, attacking left and right, flying up and down, layer upon layer, enveloping Lu Ming's body.

Each claw strike carried enough force to tear through iron armor, and each stomp on the ground shook the earth.

Lu Ming moved like a snake, pushing the White Serpent Crossing to its limit.

His waist twisted like a snake's spine, his back bent into an incredible arc, and he moved and dodged within a small space, narrowly avoiding one sharp claw shadow after another.

Occasionally, when unable to dodge in time, one can only confront its edge head-on with the Green Ox Record.

The moment their fists clashed, a shockwave exploded, sending pebbles flying beneath his feet, and another strand of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

His attacks, however, landed on the mandrill like hitting a piece of old, water-soaked leather—a dull thud, but little damage.

This only drove the beast even crazier, its eyes growing increasingly bloodshot, and its roars growing louder.

"uh-huh!"

He took another heavy blow, the mandrill's single leg kicking his crossed arms.

The fierce impact traveled straight through his arm bone and into his chest cavity, causing his internal organs to feel as if they were being burned by fire.

Lu Ming groaned and slid back several feet, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto the ground.

He glanced around and saw that although the other four were still attacking, their offensive had clearly weakened.

Clearly, they all had ulterior motives and had lost the fighting spirit they had shown earlier.

They all wanted to save their last bit of strength, waiting for him and the mandrill to both be severely injured, so they could reap the benefits.

"This incompetent ruler is beyond help!"

Lu Ming struggled to defend himself, cursing inwardly.

In times of crisis, these people resorted to petty tricks.

Since you are so heartless, don't blame me for being unjust.

His eyes flashed, and his figure suddenly swayed.

After leaving behind several afterimages that were difficult to distinguish as real or fake, it suddenly appeared behind Wang Chengbao.

"you!"

Wang Chengbao's pupils contracted sharply. He turned his head and saw the mandrill's ferocious long face and its slashing claws already close at hand, cutting through the air.

He could no longer hold back and unleashed the desperate move of the Rending Tiger Fist, Thunder Tiger Claw.

With bulging muscles in his arms and claws in his fingers, he moved with the force of thunder, yanking across the mandrill's chest.

"Sizzle—"

Five deep, bone-revealing bloodstains stretched from the mandrill's left shoulder to its right ribs, spurting out greenish-black blood that splashed all over Wang Chengbao's face.

At the same time, the mandrill's claws slammed heavily onto his shoulder.

With a crisp "crack," Wang Chengbao was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.

My back slammed hard against a big tree, the trunk shook violently, and leaves fell one after another.

He slid slowly down the tree trunk to the ground, curled up there, unable to get up again.

The mandrill looked down at its wound and let out a furious growl.

His blood-red eyes darted around and locked onto Lu Ming once more.

With a single kick, it pounced on Lu Ming again.

"What the hell did I do to you?"

Lu Ming cursed inwardly and used the same trick again, appearing behind the Hong family woman in a flash.

Forced to unleash the full power of her Mountain-Shaking Fist, the woman's fist slammed into the mountain demon's ribs like a collapsing mountain.

The sound of bones cracking was clearly audible. Immediately afterward, he was struck in the chest by a claw from the mandrill, spitting out blood as he fell backward.

Next was Zhang Yuquan. The final strike of his Thunderclap Finger, accompanied by a lightning-like afterimage, pierced the mountain demon's shoulder, the force penetrating three-tenths of an inch into its flesh.

However, Zhang Yuquan himself was also swept away by the mountain demon's one leg, flying three zhang away. When he landed, his right arm was twisted into an abnormal angle.

After each of the four powerful men fought desperately, they were all severely injured and collapsed to the ground, sprawled among the rubble and mud, unable to get up again.

"Lu Ming...you bastard!"

Behind them, Lin Yingying's shrill scream pierced the entire arena:

"What are you doing?! Believe me or not, I'll make sure you die a horrible death when I get back! You, your mother, everyone connected to you, I'll make sure they all suffer a terrible fate! Aaaaah..."

She had maintained the opposite position from Lu Ming from the beginning, using the advantage of her Plum Blossom Hand technique to move around the field, and was not attacked head-on by the mountain demon even once.

Seeing all her companions fall, her little scheme was completely exposed, and she was overwhelmed with shame, anger, and fear.

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming, who was turning towards her, paused.

Seeing this, Lin Yingying secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and a smug smile involuntarily appeared on her lips.

Hmph, so what if you're incredibly talented? Once I've got your weakness, you'll still have to obey me.

She raised an eyebrow, about to arrogantly continue giving orders.

In an instant, Lu Ming's figure suddenly turned and appeared in front of her without any warning.

The two were only three feet apart, and the coldness in Lu Ming's eyes was intimidating.