Chapter 115: I'm Still a Cut Above

Facing a formidable enemy whose cultivation has already reached the Eighth Grade Concentrated Spirit Peak, Second Layer of Blade Intent: Rhinoceros!

Li Mu, in front of him, truly could not afford to relax even for a moment!

The opponent's realm outweighed his own by four entire sub‑realms.

So, from the moment he decided to strike, Li Mu had already resolved in his mind that if he did not act, that would be it; once he acted, it would be a killing blow.

Li Mu's slash unleashed the Seven Absolute Great Trend, his whole body surging with red‑black blood Qi, like a Shura descending, looking down on all rivals!

The terrifying, vast momentum, like a great river, in an instant swept Song Haolin entirely into it.

In that moment, Song Haolin's mind raced through countless possibilities.

But he never expected that Li Mu would land two successive slashes!

In the end, Li Mu not only did not die.

Moreover, even while gravely wounded, he unleashed such a fierce, terrifyingly deadly slash!

This made Song Haolin, for the first time in his life, deeply feel the panic of his life and death slipping completely out of his control.

Damned it!

On the brink of death, Song Haolin's adrenaline surged, and he too unleashed a massive potential, his body recoiling backward.

At the same time, his right hand, gripping the golden‑backed great cleaver, suddenly exerted force, as if to block across his chest, and he snarled across his face.

Li Mu! Li Mu!

Never thought you kid could be so troublesome, your vitality so tenacious!

Neither of the two successive swords killed you, kid!

But…

Even with your grievous wounds, the strength gap between you and me is as vast as heaven and earth; that you could drive me into such a miserable state is enough for me to smile into the Nine Springs!

Yet, before Song Haolin could let out that wild laugh,

On the hilt of Li Mu's Vengeance Blade, a short blade suddenly sprang out, piercing his entire right palm!

Rumble…

The original Seven Absolute Great Trend had already amplified Li Mu's bodily strength to a terrifying ten million kilograms!

Now, with the Vengeance Blade's special technique Break Pot and Sink Ship activated, the power of Li Mu's slash doubled on that basis, reaching twenty million kilograms, booming out audaciously.

Taken off guard, it struck heavily upon Song Haolin's chest.

This very moment!

Song Haolin's entire chest was slashed with a wound deep enough to expose bone; his ribs split apart to both sides, and the terrifying Seven Absolute Blade Qi, after breaching his flesh defense, raged wildly across his chest!

In the blink of an eye, his five organs and six viscera were torn into a puddle of flesh.

Puwah!

Song Haolin was still a mortal flesh, unable to withstand the whoosh of Li Mu's slash.

Immediately, with a 'Wow!' he spewed a huge mouthful of blood mixed with organ fragments, his body flung like a torn rag for hundreds of meters, finally collapsing onto the ground.

His limbs convulsed nonstop, his right hand still clutching his side‑blade tightly, but with life cut off and his organs shattered, Song Haolin could no longer wield that slash.

Hehehe…

At that moment, Li Mu spat out a mouthful of blood.

He lowered his head, and upon seeing the two long swords lodged at his waist, he finally noticed that the new Dao robe he had just changed into was already tattered.

At his chest, a huge, gruesome wound remained, so terrifying that it made one's scalp tingle, and blood gushed out like running water, unstoppable.

Roar…

That just now was truly dangerous!

If it weren't for the Heavenly Dao Treasure Scroll having already awakened beforehand,

Even if my methods were wilder, I couldn't have devised such a crazy plan!

By then, if Song Haolin hadn't been plotted to death by me,

I'd probably be the one to get whooshed to death in a few blows.

Li Mu shrugged his shoulders, a snarling grin on his face, and walked step by step toward Song Haolin a hundred meters away.

Exactly!

From the moment Li Mu decided to throw himself into the fray, he had been gambling all along!

From his earlier experiences in the Demon Domain of the Northern Xuan Demon King, Song Haolin's cultivation at the Eighth Grade Concentrated Spirit Peak is profound and his strength formidable.

At the same time.

Even Song Haolin's own Blade Intent has successfully broken through to the Second Layer: Rhinoceros!

If Li Mu and he truly clashed blade‑to‑blade, the best outcome would be nothing more than both ending up wounded.

In the end, who wins and who loses remains unknown.

Of course!

Even if everything went as ideally as possible, and Li Mu were the one to laugh last,

but then, if Song Haolin realized he was outmatched, all he would need to do is flee with single‑minded focus.

With the trump card Li Mu now holds, it would be impossible to keep Song Haolin.

So, in that extremely brief interval,

Li Mu considered countless possibilities in his mind, but the only way to kill Song Haolin was a risky maneuver: exchanging lives for lives!

Only this could fulfill Li Mu's plan to kill Song Haolin.

However, although Li Mu's strategy is life‑for‑life, which on its face is indeed extremely perilous,

but in practice, the life being exchanged is not Li Mu's own.

So, if we think about it further…

It seems there's no risk anymore!

"Tsk tsk tsk…"

"Senior Brother Song!"

"I have to admit, your life force at the Eighth Grade Concentrated Spirit Peak is truly vigorous!"

"I already sliced your heart to pieces with a single strike, yet you still haven't completely died."

"But this is also good!"

"Don't we in the cultivation world have a classic saying?"

"It goes: help people to the end, send the Buddha all the way to the West!"

"As a junior disciple, I can't do anything else!"

"The biggest flaw in a person is a kind heart; I cannot stand seeing others suffer before my eyes."

"Seeing Senior Brother Song in such pain, I will now free you, Senior Brother Song!"

"Damn!"

"Li Mu!"

"You treacherous, despicable scoundrel!"

"You have harmed a fellow senior brother; you will surely be despised by all reputable sects under heaven!"

"No matter how great your future achievements become, the stain of fratricide will forever be imprinted on you, never removable!"

At this moment, Song Haolin's limbs were convulsing continuously, his life force rapidly draining out of control.

His five organs and six bowels, under Li Mu's overwhelming attack combined with the Revenge Blade technique—Break Pot and Sink Ship's double boost—had absolutely no chance of survival.

Death?

That is merely a matter of time, sooner or later!

"Fratricide?"

"Treacherous and despicable?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"

"Senior Brother Song, Senior Brother Song, I truly cannot imagine."

"How thick must your skin be to say such shameless words right in front of me?"

"Since descending the mountain, I've sensed murderous intent at least three times!"

"The first was in the Demon Domain, the second in Qingfeng Tower, and the third right here inside Fuhu Mountain."

"Your turn!"

"Someone who harbored murderous intent toward me three times in succession and has plotted countless times in their mind to kill me."

"Now they blithely accuse me in public, without a blush or a heartbeat?"

"Calling me a fratricide?"

"Saying I harmed a fellow brother?"

"I'm serious, Senior Brother Song!"

"Can't we have some dignity?"

"It is said that a dying man's words are kind."

"I'm about to send you off, can't you use this chance to accumulate some hidden virtue for yourself?"

Li Mu flicked the blood off his Revenge Blade, shook his head with a sigh, and leisurely walked toward Song Haolin.

Between life and death by a thread.

Suddenly, Song Haolin felt a surge of unprecedented resentment and despair; his eyes fixed rigidly on Li Mu as he hissed.

"No!"

"I, Song Haolin, am unwilling!"

"I am unwilling!"

"At thirteen I reached the Ten Grade Embryo Form Peak, at eighteen the Ten Grade Refining Qi Realm Peak, and now I, Song Haolin, have attained the Eighth Grade Concentrated Spirit Peak, having also comprehended the Second Layer of Blade Intent: Rhinoceros!"

"Give me five more years, and I am confident I can overcome the heavenly tribulation, refine my inner core, and break through the Foundation Establishment Realm!"

"I, Song Haolin, should have a bright future!"

"But why?"

"Why would I die at the hands of a tiny ant?"

"I, Song Haolin, am unwilling!"

"I still want to live another five hundred years…"

"Boom!"

Li Mu's Revenge Blade, burning with Samadhi True Fire, whooshed down from above like a divine fire judgment.

A single burst of flame instantly incinerated Song Haolin on the spot, leaving not even a speck of ash.

The same as the few times used earlier.

When Li Mu set Song Haolin ablaze, his flesh was completely transformed into spiritual energy, which Li Mu absorbed.

All remaining items—weapons, Heavenly Treasures, elixirs, and the like—were all perfectly preserved without exception.

Li Mu quickly fixed his gaze on an antiquely fashioned jade pendant among Song Haolin's pile of relics.

Especially under the night's water‑cold, gloomy moonlight, the jade pendant shimmered with a peculiar, star‑like radiance.

"Oh?"

"What is this!"

Seeing this scene, Li Mu felt something stir in his heart.

Li Mu was the first to bring the jade pendant close and examine it carefully.

He saw that the pendant's design was extremely simple and imposing.

However, simply calling it a jade pendant doesn't quite fit that description.

At least, Li Mu could not tell from its surface what material this thing was made of.

Thinking…

This must be the kind of spatial stone Yao Mengzhen mentioned before, right?

Yet treasures like spatial stones are exceedingly rare.

Even Li Mu, who only knows such things exist, has never actually seen one.

Now he finally gets an eye‑opening experience!

Jiji…

While Li Mu was still fondly toying with the spatial jade pendant, the Crimson Blood Ape King and the swarm of monkeys beneath him, who had just witnessed everything, suddenly froze in place as if a petrification spell had been cast on them.

It wasn't moving!

It wasn't staying still either!

In short, all the monkeys' faces looked extremely strange.

One could see that Li Mu's Dao robe was already stained red with blood, and bright long swords were sheathed at both sides of his ribs, continuously spouting blood outward.

Crucially, Li Mu seemed completely oblivious to all this.

He still held something like a jade pendant, standing there giggling foolishly nonstop.

Afterwards, as if finally confronting them, Li Mu tucked the pendant into his bosom.

With both hands in his pockets, he swaggered straight toward the Crimson Blood Ape King and his troop of monkeys.

Even the Crimson Blood Ape King, whose intelligence and emotional quotient rank among the highest of Demon General‑level beasts!

Yet even it could not immediately comprehend the scene unfolding before it.

It only felt…

Li Mu resembled a vengeful spirit that had just crawled up from the Nine Netherworlds, his body clearly bearing severe wounds and shedding copious blood.

Crucially, he could still act as if nothing were wrong and, at the critical moment, slay Song Haolin, whose cultivation was at the Eighth‑rank Concentration Realm, with a single slash!

Nima…

For someone like Li Mu, who cannot be killed by beating nor by killing.

Crucially, he can, with a single slash, send you to meet King Yan.

Now, with a snarling grin, he walks toward him, and in an instant would scare the Crimson Blood Ape King into a three‑body divine leap—utterly hair‑raising, okay?

Instantly, the startled Ape King let out a rapid, pitiful cry of "Jiji…".

In no time at all.

The Crimson Blood Ape King, unable to care whether this was his territory, turned his back without looking and, like a gust of wind, ordered his hundreds of monkeys to scatter like birds and beasts.

Fearing that if they slowed even a bit they'd be caught by the monster Li Mu and sliced with a "Ka‑cha!", they fled.