Xuanwu War Sovereign

Qin Feng blocked the Hunter with a single sword strike. Seeing that Qin Shou and the others were already far away, he had no intention of getting entangled with the creature. With a light push from his feet, he darted away like a shooting star, chasing their distant figures.

Yet, he had barely leaped a few dozen yards when his expression suddenly changed. A bone-chilling cold rushed at him from behind, moving with incredible speed and reaching him in an instant.

Qin Feng’s expression shifted. A cold gleam flashed in his eyes. He wasn’t slow; he executed his Spiritual Snake Body Technique. As his Spiritual Snake Demon Subduing Fist Technique was nearing Minor Achievement, his body moved like a dancing Spiritual Serpent. With an unbelievable twist, he dodged a black shadow that scraped past his body. The shadow flashed and landed in the center of the mine tunnel, blocking his path forward.

"Little bug, don’t even think about escaping!" the Hunter’s furious voice roared. In the darkness, its killing intent surged like a tidal wave. The escape of Qin Shou and the others had thoroughly enraged it.

HUFF! HUFF!

Qin Feng raised an arm and looked where the sharp claws had grazed him. Even though he was fast, the wind from the attack had still broken his skin. A fiery pain flared from the wound the moment he moved his arm. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Hunter’s movement speed was simply too fast, far surpassing his own!

Hearing this, a cold glint flashed in the depths of Qin Feng’s eyes, and his lips curved into a smile as chilling as a blade.

"No one can stand in my way—whether man or beast!"

"Courting death!" The Hunter grew furious, its dim, yellow beast-like eyes surging with violence. Its agile, monkey-like body darted about at high speed. It didn’t move in straight lines, changing direction unpredictably, making it almost impossible for Qin Feng to track its shadow.

SWISH! The black shadow suddenly appeared right in front of him! A deathly chill shot toward his abdomen!

Cold sweat beaded on Qin Feng’s forehead. It was too late to dodge completely. Gritting his teeth, he desperately channeled his Spiritual Snake Body Technique, trying to shift his vital organs out of the way.

RIP! The vicious Poisonous Claw tore across Qin Feng’s waist!

Blood sprayed through the air! A sharp pain shot through Qin Feng’s abdomen, so intense his muscles spasmed. The Hunter’s claw had ripped a chunk of flesh from his waist, revealing a horrifying, mangled wound. Forcing himself to ignore the agony, Qin Feng retreated several yards in a blur.

Qin Feng glared at the Hunter, the cold light in his eyes as sharp as a sword’s edge. His peripheral vision caught the mangled mess at his waist. If he hadn’t dodged the fatal blow at the last possible moment, that attack would have torn out his heart and lungs.

"Heh heh heh... you cunning little thing. So fast. To think you could actually track a sliver of my movements at full speed!" the Hunter’s surprised voice echoed in the darkness.

The back of Qin Feng’s tunic was soaked in sweat, and blood streamed down from the wound at his waist. He gripped the Ancient Sword in one hand, his face an expressionless mask, even as the tearing pain from his injury made him shudder down to his very core.

In this moment between life and death, his five senses were heightened to their peak. His eyes held no pain, no fear, no hesitation—only the stark reality of life and death. He pushed his *Innate Primordial Qi* to its absolute limit. Streams of Inner Breath circulated at an unprecedented, terrifying speed. Deep within his heart, the Mystic Turtle Divine Pill throbbed, releasing a torrent of potent medicinal energy!

The Hunter tilted its head, staring intently at Qin Feng, a flicker of hesitation in its eyes. The aura of the prey before it was clearly far weaker than its own, yet for some reason, it now radiated an intense sense of danger, as if it posed a threat to the Hunter’s very life.

It couldn’t understand. It had hunted countless beings with auras of this level, and every time, the kill had been effortless. This human’s aura was no different, so why was it now giving off this terrifying, life-threatening sense of danger?

It paced on all fours, its terrifying, vertical yellow pupils filled with agitation and unease. Soon, however, the Hunter’s ruthless instincts overrode this flicker of caution. Its body blurred, a black shadow moving like a phantom. It once again began to move at high speed, attempting to overwhelm Qin Feng’s senses and create an opening for a single, killing blow!

Qin Feng’s dark eyes darted back and forth, his gaze locked on the high-speed figure as it created afterimages that zipped across the ceiling of the cavern.

The Hunter was fast—so fast that it was at the absolute limit of what his naked eyes could track.

Any other Martial Artist at the Martial Arts Fourth Layer would have despaired in the face of such speed!

The pressure on Qin Feng mounted. Though he was born with a powerful Spiritual Sense, which was further bolstered by the spiritual energy of the Mystic Turtle Divine Pill, making his five senses sharper than those of an ordinary Martial Arts Fourth Layer Martial Artist, he was still slowly losing track of the Hunter’s movements.

Slowly, sweat began to bead on his forehead. ’If this goes on,’ Qin Feng knew, ’I’ll completely lose track of the Hunter. When that happens, I’m dead!’

’No, I can’t let this continue,’ Qin Feng’s thoughts raced, cold sweat dripping from his brow. ’At the Martial Arts Fourth Layer, one comprehends Inner Breath, slowly unlocking the body’s potential and strengthening the five senses. But I’ve only just begun to grasp its wonders. My senses are stronger, but it’s still a huge stretch for me to track the Hunter’s speed. I have to find another way!’

Just then, the Hunter seemed to spot an opening. It lunged at Qin Feng from an impossible angle. Its gaunt, black form shot through the darkness faster than lightning. What was most terrifying was that it moved without making a single sound. Combined with its lack of body heat and scent, it was the perfect assassin in the dark.

Its chilling claws seemed to tear through the very Void, closing the distance of several yards in the blink of an eye. A cold gleam shot through the darkness, giving Qin Feng the terrifying sensation that he was about to be impaled.

There was nowhere for Qin Feng to run. The instant the Hunter attacked, he knew he couldn’t dodge. The creature surpassed him in both movement and reaction speed. No matter which way he moved, its claws would find him and tear his body to pieces.

But in fact, Qin Feng didn’t even try to dodge.

As the claws, gleaming with a terrifyingly cold light, reached his chest, there was no panic in Qin Feng’s eyes. His chest swelled as he took a deep breath. In the darkness, his eyes shone as brightly as stars. The arm holding his Ancient Sword moved!

Like a clap of thunder, he charged directly into the path of the claws! His arm became a fully drawn longbow, his Ancient Sword the arrow, and he unleashed it in a devastating downward slash!

As the Ancient Sword descended, its blazing light, tinged with a faint shadow, tore through the gloom. The cold gleam pulsed like a bolt of lightning, meeting the phantom-like shadow head-on!

SQUELCH!

In an instant, the Hunter’s claws pierced Qin Feng’s flesh and closed around his beating heart. With the slightest squeeze, Qin Feng would be killed instantly.

Excruciating pain radiated from Qin Feng’s chest, the agony of being impaled twisting his features. And yet, a smile slowly spread across his face, visible even in his icy eyes. It was a smile of pure madness—bloodthirsty and tragic.

He knew that with the slightest twitch from the Hunter, his heart would be crushed as easily as a piece of tofu.

The Hunter was so close, mere inches away. Qin Feng could clearly see the peculiar patterns on its scaly head and smell the foul, metallic stench wafting from its maw of steel-like teeth. The odor was overpowering.

The Hunter’s vertical, dull-yellow pupils were savage and terrifying! But its face was now frozen in that expression for eternity. Between its eyes was a faint sword mark.

In that final moment, Qin Feng’s Ancient Sword had split its skull. It had lost its chance to crush his heart.

Qin Feng grinned, his smile filled with an indescribable, tragic ferocity. In the end, he had won the battle.

That final strike had been a gamble. He knew he couldn’t dodge the Hunter’s attack, so he had wagered his very life on one desperate bet: that his blade would find its mark before the Hunter’s claws could crush his heart.

And he had won.

But the price had been steep. His chest was pierced, and his shattered ribs had been driven into his lungs. If the medicinal power of the Mystic Turtle Divine Pill hadn’t kicked in at that very instant, Qin Feng would already be a dead man.