Martial Saint with Passives

BAM!

The burly man flew several yards before crashing heavily to the ground.

He struggled to get up, only to find his arms throbbing with excruciating pain.

He looked closely and saw that both his forearms were bent at an unnatural angle!

At that same moment, the Black Armored Martial Artist charged over again!

He lifted his right leg high and brought it smashing down!

His leg came down like a great axe.

The burly man had just started to rise when he was slammed back down to his knees!

The burly man’s underlings arrived just in time to see their boss being beaten like a sandbag by a mysterious Black Armored Martial Artist, completely unable to fight back!

One of the underlings screamed and charged forward, only to be sent flying by a kick from the Black Armored Martial Artist. He slammed into the mountainside, sending countless cracks spiderwebbing across the rock face.

The man spat up blood and collapsed limply.

Seeing this, the others were horrified.

They hurled curses from the sidelines, but none dared to step forward again.

They could only watch as their boss was beaten like a stray dog until he lay limp on the ground.

The Black Armored Martial Artist suddenly grabbed the burly man’s neck and lifted him up with one hand.

The burly man struggled, trying to pry the Black Armored Martial Artist’s hand away.

But the hand was like an iron clamp, locked tight around his neck, unmoving!

He slapped repeatedly at the Black Armored Martial Artist’s hand, but his strikes grew weaker and weaker.

At the same time, the Black Armored Martial Artist balled his other hand into a fist and swung it violently at his head!

"Don’t!"

The burly man cried out in horror.

CRACK—

The burly man’s head instantly burst like a smashed watermelon.

Red and white matter splattered all over the ground.

The burly man’s underlings couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

’Their boss, who was Half-Step into the Realm, had just been beaten to death?’

Their spirits broke, and they scattered, fleeing in all directions.

The Black Armored Martial Artist dropped the corpse and pulled his Kunji from where it was embedded in the ground.

In a flash, he was behind one of the Beast Hide Martial Artists.

SQUELCH—

With a single downward chop, the man was instantly cleaved in two.

His entrails spilled across the ground.

Without pausing, the Black Armored Martial Artist lunged after the next one.

Soon, all the Martial Artists clad in Beast Hide had been hunted down and killed.

After cutting down the last one, the Black Armored Martial Artist dropped his blade.

He seemed furious, letting out a low roar.

Then, he clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it against his own chest.

The Black Armor slowly faded away.

His body gradually shrank as well.

The Black Armored Martial Artist reverted back to Jiang Che.

Looking at the corpses littering the ground, Jiang Che sighed.

’I can’t just transform recklessly anymore...’

He wasn’t actually someone who enjoyed killing.

It was just that after his Transformation, he seemed to lose all reason.

His mind would be consumed by a single thought: kill every living thing in sight.

Moreover, after absorbing an Iron Skin Realm Black Crystal, his combat power during his Transformation was even greater.

He felt that he could even hold his own against a Force Integration Martial Artist!

Of course, even after transforming, he still possessed no Strength.

It was purely an enhancement of his physical power, speed, and defense.

When facing Strength, he would definitely be at a disadvantage.

As the sky grew darker, Jiang Che quickly began to loot the bodies.

Without looking too closely, Jiang Che stuffed everything he found into his pack.

Jiang Che frowned, looking at the corpses and the various blade marks everywhere.

The bodies didn’t need to be dealt with.

Once night fell, the Black Beasts on the mountain would emerge, and they would devour the corpses until not even the bones remained.

However, he had no time to get rid of the various cut marks on the ground, the trees, and the clothing.

’Forget it. All they’ll be able to tell is that a blade user was here. They won’t be able to identify the Cultivation Technique or anything. It doesn’t matter.’

After erasing the nearby footprints, Jiang Che hurried down the mountain.

He hadn’t gone far when he suddenly saw several tightly bound Hunters tied to trees by the side of the path.

When they saw someone approaching, they all began to call for help.

Jiang Che rushed over and cut their ropes.

"Thank you for saving us, brother!"

"Thanks, little brother!"

Once freed, the Hunters thanked him profusely.

"Don’t mention it. I was just passing by. Why were you all tied up here?" Jiang Che asked, feigning curiosity.

His fight with those men had taken place some distance away, so he figured the Hunters hadn’t seen anything.

As he expected, a man with a square face and a thick beard said:

"To be honest with you, we were on our way down the mountain when we were suddenly ambushed by a group of mysterious Martial Artists. They were incredibly powerful. We were no match for them and were quickly defeated.

"But they didn’t kill us. They just tied us up. From what we overheard, it sounded like they were planning to take us somewhere? But then they seemed to hear something and chased after it, and they never came back."

"Mysterious Martial Artists? I just came down from the mountain and didn’t run into anyone," Jiang Che said, shaking his head.

"It’s a good thing you didn’t, or you probably would’ve been captured too," another man with thick eyebrows said.

"By the way, little brother, what are you doing on this mountain all alone? Where are the others in your party?" the square-faced man suddenly asked.

Most people who came up the mountain were here to hunt Black Beasts, and they always traveled in groups of at least five or six.

Only masters at the Force Integration Level dared to come up the mountain alone.

Seeing that Jiang Che hadn’t even broken through to the Iron Skin Realm, he naturally assumed he was with a group.

"To tell you the truth, this is my first time up the mountain. I carelessly got lost and separated from my group. I’m lucky I ran into you all, otherwise I wouldn’t have known what to do!" Jiang Che said with a sigh.

"Where are they now?" the man with the thick eyebrows asked.

"I don’t know. They’ve probably already gone down the mountain, since it’s getting dark," Jiang Che said, shaking his head.

"Alright, little brother, let’s not talk anymore! Hurry and come down the mountain with us!" the square-faced man said.