The corpse of the swordsman split open, hot blood spraying nearly as high as a man in the air! Qian Jin’s downward strike never slackened; with a twist of his wrist, he instantly transitioned the descending battle saber into a horizontal cut, smoothly executing the Academy Warrior basic technique: 【Horizontal Single Slash】!

Leg, waist, back, arm! The power of four sources twisted into a single rope, infused with the Battle Qi that amplified explosive force! If executed perfectly, a single strike could temporarily divert a waterfall!

Qian Jin’s 【Horizontal Single Slash】 couldn't stop a waterfall, but it was more than enough to sever bone!

Pffft, pffft...

The Jidu Zhanmadao carved a brilliant, sweeping arc across the air. Six swordsmen were collectively cut at the waist. Their torsos remained suspended momentarily, while their lower bodies and legs took two more steps before halting. Crimson pillars of blood shot skyward, resembling six red fountains.

As Qian Jin completed his strike, he pulled the Zhanmadao back behind him while simultaneously driving his left leg forcefully into the ground. The immense propulsive force shoved him directly in front of another swordsman. His right elbow shot upward like a spear, smashing the opponent’s jaw and launching the body high into the air. The Zhanmadao immediately swept forward from the rear.

Several swordsmen rushing to aid their comrades pressed their sabers downward and across their bodies in a defensive posture. The Zhanmadao instantly collided with the battle sabers, sparking a flurry of minor fire and ringing out with a sharp metallic clang. The Zhanmadao cleaved through several sabers with the ease of a heavily armored cavalry unit shattering a civilian procession.

Pffft, pffft, pffft, pffft...

Qian Jin angled the Zhanmadao upward in a swift slash across their throats, cleanly severing the heads of several opponents. He stepped forward over their falling forms, his boot crushing the shattered jawbone of a still-living swordsman’s head that lay on the ground.

The battle had erupted suddenly and concluded in the mere seconds it took Qian Jin to counterattack. A pungent stench of blood saturated the open ground outside the village.

Qian Jin was splashed with a considerable amount of gore. Looking at the fallen bodies, his stomach churned uncomfortably.

“Is this really a game? Or is it real?”

Qian Jin rubbed his roiling stomach, glanced again at the carnage of severed limbs and broken bodies, and quickly headed toward the West Mountain. He sternly warned himself that had he not killed those dozen swordsmen just now, he would be the one dead. And his opponent certainly wouldn't share his squeamishness.

Stepping into grass taller than a man, Qian Jin used his Zhanmadao to clear the green stalks blocking his path. He had barely walked a hundred meters through the thicket when another dozen swordsmen, dressed almost identically to the last group, lunged at him.

“Still coming?” Having learned from the previous exchange, Qian Jin dug his heels in, advancing rather than retreating, and brought the Jidu Zhanmadao down over the head of the foremost attacker.

After the last fight, Qian Jin began to understand that mercy had absolutely no place on the battlefield. He couldn't hesitate to kill simply because his opponents looked like humans.

Rumor held that the Demon Race possessed a branch known as the Meizu (Charm Clan), who had a unique ability to mimic human appearance, launching attacks while human warriors were momentarily stunned by surprise.

Qian Jin had always believed that even if he encountered human-like Meizu on the Human-Demon Battlefield, he would never show softness. After what had just happened, he realized that intent and action were vastly different things! If he hadn't run into these downtrodden swordsmen here, he might well have died on the actual Human-Demon Battlefield.

One slash, two slashes, three slashes…

Limbs and torsos littered the ground again, and the smell of blood once more filled the air. The swordsmen who had been vibrantly alive moments before were now completely extinguished.

Qian Jin raised a hand to wipe away a smear of blood from his forehead, then looked down at the Jidu Zhanmadao in his grip. A Battle Weapon truly was a Battle Weapon! Not only did it transmit Battle Force far beyond ordinary weapons, but its inherent toughness and hardness surpassed common weaponry. With one 【Horizontal Single Slash】, the battle sabers that could easily decapitate a man were as fragile as tofu before the Battle Weapon.

Lifting his gaze toward the distant West Mountain, Qian Jin quickened his pace.

Not long after, another wave of ragged swordsmen appeared, this time mingled with several wolves.

Qian Jin paid no mind to why the wolves weren't attacking the swordsmen. Gripping the Jidu Blade, he charged forward before the opponents could launch their assault.

Blade rose and fell, and brilliant flashes of steel danced through the melee.

One strike... another strike... yet another...

Qian Jin stormed into the West Mountain with the Jidu Zhanmadao in hand. The souls slain beneath his blade numbered easily between two hundred and three hundred. If he hadn't built up solid stamina and strength from years of blacksmithing practice, this continuous fighting would surely have exhausted him.

Entering the West Mountain, Qian Jin was coated head-to-toe in filthy blood. He had killed so much, so many living things, in such a short time, that his initial reluctance to strike had vanished, replaced by an immediate, unhesitating impulse to attack anything living and aggressive he encountered.

Another strike! A Red-Striped Tiger was sliced cleanly in half down the middle, when Qian Jin suddenly heard the system spirit’s voice chime in.

“Your Battle Force has advanced one level. Warrior rank is now Level Seven…”

Qian Jin stopped, leaning against a tree trunk. He focused his internal Battle Force and clenched his fist, a look of surprised delight spreading across his face: “It actually broke through? Level Seven Battle Force? Does that mean, from this moment on, I am the true strongest among the warrior students at the Aucklan Magic and Warrior Academy? Even the top third-year warrior students couldn't defeat me now?”

“Ha! Searching for the Hundred-Year Ice Iron Ore actually caused my Battle Force to break through again. This venture is profitable.” Qian Jin hefted the Jidu Blade and strode toward the higher reaches of the West Mountain: “Come on, bring on another group of Red-Striped Tigers.”

Perhaps it was the sheer amount of blood staining him, but after two hours of movement, the path behind Qian Jin was littered with the corpses of beasts and swordsmen alike.

“Hoo... huff... I’m dead tired! Can’t take much more of this…” Qian Jin climbed into a tree and pulled a vial of Battle Qi Recovery Potion from his leather pouch. All the Level Seven Battle Force he possessed had been completely drained by the continuous hacking and killing.

Staring at the pale blue liquid in the vial, Qian Jin felt a flicker of doubt: could this stuff really restore Battle Qi? The Qian family library, while not containing every text in the True Policy Dynasty, was certainly no less comprehensive than the libraries of the other two Ultimate Bloodline Warrior families or the Imperial Family itself.

Qian Jin had served as a page managing the Qian family library for two years and had read countless miscellaneous and fantastical accounts, yet he had never encountered any record of a potion that could restore Battle Qi just by drinking it. He had heard tales of Rune Masters creating gear that could rapidly restore Battle Qi through combinations of equipment and Battle Stones.

A potion? There were many types for healing injuries and curing sickness, but relying on a single draught to recover Battle Qi seemed utterly miraculous.

: It seems that Gao Lou was truly moved by Jing Suzhi Cheng’s thousand-character review; I have pinned and highlighted it. I forgot to mention one thing yesterday, so I’ll make up for it today: Happy Birthday. A belated birthday wish… B