Chapter Sixteen: Kill

  Shen Chong ran at the forefront, bringing his speed to its maximum. Along the way, he dodged all the mechanisms and fantasy beasts with ease. Many of the second-level demonic beasts in the Luodao Mountains had been killed by Shen Chong, let alone these first-level fantasy beasts. Whenever possible, Shen Chong would avoid them; if not, he would simply punch them to pieces without hesitation. The only trouble was those mechanisms - some were too sudden and would slow down Shen Chong's speed a bit.

  Behind them, those who took advantage of Shen Cong's convenience and chased after him through Sun Lin's disciples were desperately pursuing. They had already recognized Shen Cong's Long Que knife, and naturally also recognized Shen Cong's identity. In their hearts, Shen Cong's strength was not high, so they wanted to surpass him. However, after chasing for a long time, they didn't even see Shen Cong's shadow, and they couldn't help but feel some horror in their hearts. Only then did they realize that earlier when Sun Lin was knocked flying, it wasn't just Shen Cong's luck at play.

  After running for about ten or twenty minutes, Shen Cong finally stopped. It wasn't that he was tired, but the first stage had already ended and the entrance to the second stage was right in front of him. What surprised Shen Cong a bit was that he wasn't the first person to come here; someone had already gone ahead, otherwise the entrance wouldn't have been wide open.

  "As expected, there is a capable person, but I don't know when he went in." Shen Cong didn't mind and walked in. Not long after Shen Cong entered, Sun Lin's figure appeared at the door, with faint bloodstains on his hands and clothes, making people feel chilled to the bone.

  "Did you get in? I was worried that you would fail at the front, but now it's just right to kill you inside!" Sun Lin's eyes gleamed with a cold light as he stepped forward.

  Not long after, dozens of people came to the entrance of the second stage and walked in. Those who had already entered the second stage were patiently waiting inside and recovering their depleted true energy. The top three disciples who entered the second stage had a choice: they could leave the Illusory Path ahead of time, not only with an inner sect disciple status but also with a generous reward.

  Shen Cong wouldn't choose this naturally, only quietly practicing cross-legged meditation until half an hour later, when the entire ground shook slightly. Shen Cong understood that the second stage had begun and stood up from the ground. His vital energy was still at its peak state; anyone who blocked his path would have to pay a price.

  Rushing forward, at the crossroads, Shen Zong encountered his first opponent. Holding a long stick, with a stern expression, but as soon as he saw the figure rushing over from afar with a fierce aura, he was startled.

  "Get out of the way!"

  That person hesitated for a moment, but still retreated to the side, and at the same time, a light point flew out of his body and merged into Shen Cong's body. With this light point, Shen Cong could see where the real passage was, on the other hand, that person lost the light point and did not get the light point on Shen Cong's body, so he couldn't see the passage and naturally lost.

  Shen Cong's figure made a turn in the air, saw the constantly moving passage, and flashed into it. The man stared blankly at Shen Cong's receding back, suddenly woke up with a start, "Wasn't that Shen Cong? I didn't get a good look just now!"

  The Long Que knife was very distinctive, and the man recognized it at once. He felt a twinge of regret in his heart, "If I had known earlier, I should have tried to stop him a bit more. Who knows... No, the speed and momentum he burst out with just now are not something a weak person can achieve. Could it be that this Shen Cong has been hiding his strength all along? If so, that's really too frightening. And yet, he seems to have only just started training for less than half a year."

  This man's forehead was slightly sweaty, and he was even more grateful in his heart. The decision made earlier was timely, without hesitation. Otherwise, with the faint chill emanating from Shen's body just now, it would have been a real bloody scene.

  The illusionary path was not large, but the formation was quite mysterious. As soon as Shen Cong entered the new passage, he turned a corner and encountered another opponent. And this opponent was actually an old acquaintance, seeing Shen Cong's face, a smile appeared on his face.

  "It's actually you, what a pity. Zhang Ku, my junior brother, has been thinking of you a lot lately." Lu Ming's long sword was slanted towards the ground, his face smiling as he looked at Shen Cong, as if he had met an old friend.

  Shen Cong saw Lu Ming, his figure slightly paused, and a smile also appeared on his face. The Dragon Bird Knife behind him was picked up by Shen Cong and directly grasped in his hand, without saying any extra words, he directly chopped towards Lu Ming with one knife.

  "When did you learn this sword technique, with so many openings? It seems that not only is your judgment of the heart method poor, but you can't even choose a decent sword technique." Lu Ming looked at Shen Cong's attack with disdain and even had time to comment, "It's a pity that Zhang Ku didn't meet you, but it's also good, I'll take his place and teach you a lesson, as compensation for your lack of cooperation back then!"

  The sword light flashed, and the long sword in Lu Ming's hand directly pointed at the weakest point of Long Que's knife. Four ounces move a thousand pounds, in Lu Ming's view, this clumsy big knife is useless, and he immediately found its weakness.

  "Bang!"

  A crisp sound, and Lu Ming's relaxed demeanor vanished instantly. As soon as the swords touched, Lu Ming's long sword turned into fragments scattered across the sky. Four ounces move a thousand pounds, but you need to have four ounces of strength first. The weakest point of the Dragon Sparrow Knife was not something that Lu Ming could withstand, and who could prove that it was really the weakest point of the Dragon Sparrow Knife anyway?

  "No!" Lu Ming shouted loudly, but it was too late to dodge, and he was directly blown away. Shen Cong didn't use his full strength, otherwise Lu Ming would have been torn in two long ago. However, even so, whether Lu Ming could survive or not depended on his own luck.

  A flash of light flew out and entered Shen Cong's body, Shen Cong's eyes turned around, found the exit and stepped in directly. Shen Cong's knife skills were not good, but at least he had the basic skills of unloading and controlling power, chopping and defending, and with the coordination of his strange strength, Shen Cong actually broke through more than a dozen checkpoints, without anyone being able to stop him, and raised his momentum to the most peak state.

  "This child is not simple!" Li Tianzhong said with some delight, and the emergence of such a disciple from the outer gate was a very good news.

  "It's indeed not bad, the key is that he has a good temperament and didn't put his opponent in a dead-end situation." On the water mirror, Shen Cong passed quickly, Luo Qianyun also noticed it and had a good impression of this disciple Shen Cong.

  "Clumsy swordsmanship, almost useless. Relying solely on brute strength, it's only enough to bully these weaklings. If they were to encounter other slightly stronger disciples, it would be over in just a few moves." Mo Han said with a cold smile, Shen Cong's swordsmanship looked somewhat laughable in the eyes of these strong individuals.

  "Master Mo's requirements are a bit too high, aren't they? This disciple has only been in the sect for half a year." Luo Qianyun suddenly smiled and took out a document from her hand, which was what she had sent someone to find earlier.

  The information on the material was indeed Shen Cong, and there wasn't much content, just Shen Cong's daily life and his cultivation when he first started. However, it was this initial cultivation and the time that made the few people present look very surprised. "It's actually been only half a year since he started cultivating, this talent can't be underestimated. However, why did this child choose to cultivate the Nourishing Life Scripture? It's still in the foundation-building stage, the impact isn't great yet, it can be changed later."

  Luo Qianyun suddenly said in a low voice: "There are very few disciples under my sister's door now, if Shen Cong passes the test, I hope all the senior brothers will not fight with me for him."

  As soon as Luo Qianyun's words fell, Gai Luobang immediately shook his head and said, "My sect doesn't have many disciples either, so this can't be given to you. Moreover, I see that this disciple is skilled with a knife, and I happen to have a supreme knife technique manual in my hands that can be passed down, which would also be a good arrangement."

  Shen Cong still didn't know that several elders had taken an interest in him at this moment, and he continued to wander around the corridor. At the eleventh intersection, Shen Cong met an old acquaintance again, who was Zhang Ku, the one Lu Ming kept mentioning.

  Zhang Ku's body was stained with blood, both his own and others', his eyes filled with a murderous aura, clearly having killed many people. Seeing Shen Cong walking towards him, Zhang Ku was slightly surprised, but immediately broke into a cheerful smile, "I thought it would be a tough battle, now it seems I can take a good rest."

  Shen Cong smiled slightly and didn't respond, raising the Dragon Sparrow Knife in his hand to slash down with a burst of light. The air pressure was so strong that Zhang Ku found it hard to breathe. There was a hint of surprise in Zhang Ku's eyes, and he swung his long knife forward, using the force to spin around and arrive at Shen Cong's side. A flash of the blade edge pierced straight through Shen Cong's neck.

  Shen's face was expressionless, the dragon sparrow knife in his hand seemed to have no weight at all, and he easily withdrew it, then blocked Zhang Ku's attack and sent him flying with a burst of force.

  Zhang Ku's smiling face had long since disappeared, looking somewhat solemn. "I thought you were hiding your strength, but I didn't think it was hidden so deeply. I underestimated you. However, no matter how deep you hide, today you will still die here."

  This guy's pig disguise has become an addiction, Shen Cong couldn't help but laugh, and with a reverse grip on the Long Que knife, he chopped down directly. A flash of murderous intent appeared in Shen Cong's eyes, wanting to kill Zhang Ku was not because of two pigs colliding, but because others wanted to kill himself, Shen Cong would naturally kill them first.

  The speed of the dragon bird knife was not very fast, but its oppressive aura had increased several times. Zhang Ku wanted to use his knife skills to counterattack, but found that except for facing it head-on, there was no other good way to deal with it. As soon as he dodged, he would inevitably fall into a disadvantageous position, lose the initiative and be killed.

  The ferocity in his heart was stirred, and Zhang Ku naturally wouldn't think that his strength was inferior to Shen Cong's. The long knife in his hand directly charged forward, using his true power. Having been able to charge through over a dozen levels, Zhang Ku's strength was naturally very strong. Ordinary second-level combined forces were sometimes not even a match for one move.

  "Boom!"

  Zhang Ku's sword body was violently shaken, and the tiger's mouth was even more painful. He couldn't help but retreat two steps back. But Shen Cong did not retreat or yield, taking a step forward instead. The dragon and bird knife in his hand was raised high, and he fiercely chopped down. At the critical moment, Zhang Ku's Feather Fall Knife Method suddenly accelerated to an extreme speed, directly passing over Shen Cong's Dragon Bird Knife and pointing straight at Shen Cong's heart position.

  The Breaking Blade Technique is on par with the top three of the Outer Gate, and Zhang Ku's current combat strength can definitely enter the top three. Compared to Lu Ming, he seems more like a younger brother. Now, Zhang Ku wants to exchange injuries with Shen Cong, take one step ahead and stab into Shen Cong's heart, so that the Dragon Bird Knife will not fall into his own hands. Zhang Ku's idea is a good choice, but sometimes a good choice may not necessarily be the correct choice.

  PS: The fourth update is over, it's the first time I've exploded like this, and I hope everyone will support me tomorrow!