Chapter 515 - 248: Encountering a Mutated Blood Scythe Demon Mantis, Gaining a Powerful Talent, and a Chance Encounter with Giant Spirit Martial Artists

"Twenty-eightfold!"

"Twenty-eightfold!"

"Twenty-eightfold!!!"

With his now-formidable physique and astonishing recovery, he could unleash this twenty-eightfold strike multiple times in a row!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

A series of muffled thuds echoed continuously through the woods.

Looking like a man possessed, Jiang Che landed punch after brutal punch, frantically smashing his fists into the Purple Spot Blood Scythe Demon Mantis’s already-cracked Blood Scythe!

The assault also brought out the Purple Spot Blood Scythe Demon Mantis’s ferocity. It frantically swung its other, undamaged Blood Scythe, leaving a series of wounds of varying depths on Jiang Che’s body.

SLASH!

A bloody gash was slashed across Jiang Che’s chest, but he didn’t even frown, countering with a heavy punch that slammed into the Demon Mantis’s joint!

An injury for an injury!

’I have passive healing! Do you?!’

CRACK!

Finally, after Jiang Che landed a dozen more consecutive punches, a crisp cracking sound rang out.

That Blood Scythe, already covered in cracks, finally gave way and completely shattered!

SCREEECH!!!

The Demon Mantis let out a shrill, miserable cry, a trace of fear finally showing in its eyes.

It was scared!

’This human is simply a monster!’

’It didn’t want to fight anymore!’

The Demon Mantis feinted an attack, then turned to flee into the mist.

"Trying to run?"

Jiang Che sneered and grabbed one of the Demon Mantis’s hind legs.

"Did I say you could leave?!"

With a ferocious roar, he flexed his arms and forcefully dragged the two-meter-tall beast back from its escape attempt, slamming it violently to the ground!

BOOM!

The ground trembled.

Jiang Che straddled the Demon Mantis, his fists falling like raindrops!

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!!!

Each punch was a terrifying thirty-six-fold burst of power!

The Purple Spot Blood Scythe Demon Mantis’s struggles grew weaker and weaker, its carapace shattering, its ichor splattering everywhere.

Finally.

After a dull bang.

The head of this Fierce Beast from the Seventh Layer of the True Master Realm was brutally hammered into a pile of paste by Jiang Che, leaving it completely and utterly dead.

Sitting atop the corpse, Jiang Che panted heavily. His body was covered in a crisscrossing network of wounds, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

The thrill of such brutal, life-and-death combat ignited a fiery passion he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Meanwhile, as his recovery Talent went to work, the wounds on his body began to heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Exhilarating!"

Jiang Che couldn’t help but let out a low shout.

Just as he was about to get up and perform Soul Capturing, his movements suddenly froze.

The smile on his face also faded, his expression turning incredibly grim.

The warning from his True: All-Seeing Eye had triggered again.

And...

This time, it wasn’t an Exotic Beast.

It was humans!

Jiang Che slowly stood up. Without turning, his back facing the dark, dense woods, he spoke in an ice-cold voice:

"Friends, have you enjoyed the show?"

"If you’ve seen enough... come on out!"

RUSTLE RUSTLE...

Accompanied by the faint sound of footsteps, two figures slowly emerged from the depths of the dark, dense woods.

They were two middle-aged men dressed in plain linen, looking like hunters from the mountains.

Their features were unremarkable, the type you wouldn’t be able to pick out of a crowd.

"Kid, your Perception is pretty sharp."

The man on the left grinned, revealing yellowish teeth, but his eyes held a deeply unsettling, mocking look.

Jiang Che’s brow furrowed slightly as his gaze swept quickly over the two men.

According to his Perception, the aura fluctuations from the two men weren’t strong, roughly equivalent to the Third or Fourth Layer of the True Master Realm.

But...

However, the warning fed back by his True: All-Seeing Eye made the fine hairs all over his body stand on end.

It was the intense sense of danger that comes from being stared down by a venomous snake, a feeling that made his skin prickle!

’Something’s not right.’

’There’s something wrong with these two!’

’Could it be some special Concealment Technique that’s hiding their true Cultivation?’

Jiang Che was wary, but he didn’t immediately move to fight or flee.

He wouldn’t fight, because he didn’t want to rashly make enemies whose backgrounds he didn’t understand.

And he didn’t flee because the corpse of the Purple Spot Blood Scythe Demon Mantis he had worked so hard to kill was still there, and he hadn’t had a chance to perform Soul Capturing yet.

If he used [Shadow Escape] to run away now, this Extreme-Grade Beast Soul would be wasted!

"Gentlemen."

Jiang Che subtly adjusted his stance to block the Demon Mantis’s corpse and said in a low voice:

"May I ask what business brings you here?"

"What business?"

The man on the right chuckled sinisterly and slowly approached:

"No reason in particular. It’s not every day you meet someone out here in the deep mountains. Thought we’d have a chat with you, little brother."

"A chat?"

Jiang Che sneered.

’Looking for a chat deep in the Black Mist Wood, a place crawling with Fierce Beasts?’

’Who are they trying to fool?’

Seeing the two slowly approach him in a pincer formation, the killing intent in their eyes no longer concealed, Jiang Che’s gaze turned completely cold, and he prepared to face them.

It turned out these two were Assassins from the Great Yan Kingdom who had infiltrated Lingzhou!

Their mission was to infiltrate the area near the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect and hunt down its talented disciples!

Through information provided by an informant inside the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, they learned that a direct-line prodigy would be coming here to train in a few days, so they lay in wait for the opportunity.

After encountering Jiang Che, they checked their intelligence and found that he was not one of those direct-line geniuses.

To avoid startling their true prey, they initially had no intention of making a move.

But after they witnessed Jiang Che use his Fourth Layer of the True Master Realm Cultivation to brutally pulverize a Seventh Layer Purple Spot Blood Scythe Demon Mantis...

The two men’s plans changed completely!

’This was no random passerby! This was clearly a top-tier prodigy who had yet to fully develop!’

’A cross-realm combat prowess of this level was even more terrifying than that of the direct-line prodigies mentioned in the intel!’