On the other side of the valley, six people walked out. Four of them wore black armor that looked very impressive, much better than the standard gear used by the patrol team.
The other two wore more ordinary iron armor, which looked quite worn out, suggesting they were locals. One of them whistled, and three strong birds of prey came running from the dense forest. Their yellow-brown feathers were fluffed up, and their strong legs allowed them to move quickly.
Qin Ming recognized these as mutated creatures raised in Jinji Ridge. He had seen the three men ahead riding these ground birds through the forest just yesterday.
"Brother, you’ve got some skills. Standing alone at the valley entrance and taking down a blood snake is quite brave," said a young man in fine armor.
Qin Ming ignored him since this man was still holding a hard bow and had just tried to shoot him with an iron arrow.
"I apologize for earlier. I acted on impulse, wanting to test your skills, and I truly offended you," the young man continued.
Qin Ming looked at the young man with the bow and asked, "Do you really believe that?"
"Wow, you sound young. To have achieved a second rebirth at such a young age, your future is limitless," the young man said, surprised, staring at Qin Ming’s face covered by a black scarf.
He knew that in such a remote area, a young person with such achievements must be exceptionally talented.
The young man put away his black bow, thinking that Qin Ming was a promising talent. "Brother, I was indeed reckless earlier. My older brother was injured in the mountains and urgently needs spiritual items to recover. I acted out of concern and attacked you in a moment of desperation."
Qin Ming remained unmoved. Acting out of desperation and shooting someone without hesitation? That explanation was weak, showing a cold-hearted nature that didn’t care about others' lives.
He quickly stuffed the blood snake into a beast skin bag and asked, "If it was a misunderstanding, can I leave now?"
"Brother, no need to rush. Maybe we can become friends. Perhaps you don’t know, but we come from Chixia City..." The young man was clearly trying to win Qin Ming over.
Qin Ming stayed silent, observing the group. The young man’s older brother, whom he referred to, looked unwell, his face a bit bluish.
Something stirred in Qin Ming’s heart. That bluish skin looked familiar; after he fell into the crevice, he had been sick in a similar way.
The young man smiled and said, "Brother, see? The misunderstanding is resolved, and we really need spiritual items. But I don’t want to take your blood snake for free. I’d like to invite you to join us, and we will definitely compensate you later."
Qin Ming wanted to slap him. They wanted him to give up his spiritual items and then serve them?
Seeing that he didn’t respond enthusiastically, the young man casually touched the hilt of his knife, and the others began to spread out.
Qin Ming spoke up, "This isn’t Chixia City. No one is watching. You don’t have to be so hypocritical. I’ll ask you again: since the misunderstanding is cleared, can I leave?"
The young man’s face turned cold, and his words became blunt. "You’re asking for it!"
Qin Ming tore off two layers of armor to lighten himself, fearing it would slow him down. He quickly secured the beast skin bag on his back.
He looked at the long knife in his hand, which had a chip from cutting the blood snake, and noticed that several iron spear tips were also damaged, showing how tough the blood snake’s red scales were.
The group’s expressions turned cold as they either drew their large swords or readied their long bows. Since things had turned hostile, they were prepared to fight.
Only the young man with the bluish face didn’t move. He looked toward the dense forest and said, "You’re not in a hurry to run away because you’re waiting for another blood snake to return, hoping it will attack us indiscriminately? Alright, I admit I really need those blood snakes, and I won’t let it escape back into the valley."
At that moment, a red glow appeared in the forest as a fire-red snake returned. It hadn’t chased too far, since it would slow down in the freezing cold after a long time.
Seeing that he had been seen through, Qin Ming didn’t hide it anymore. He quickly threw the iron spear, and the nearby people were on guard, either hiding behind trees or preparing to block with their weapons.
However, they realized that the spear wasn’t aimed at them. With a series of thuds, three iron spears pierced the bodies of the three ground birds, causing a spray of blood.
At that moment, the blood snake arrived nearby. Seeing a group of people blocking its path, it immediately stood up and attacked without fear.
The bluish-faced young man said, "You deal with that boy, and I’ll take down this blood snake. The more spiritual items, the better."
"Big brother, can you handle it?" The earlier talkative young man worried about him.
The young man drew a long sword and replied, "I entered a special node to explore voluntarily, not by accident. I can still handle this level of injury."
Seeing the blood snake come, Qin Ming almost went mad with attack, no longer hesitating, and turned to escape toward his planned route.
The others naturally attacked, and the young man who had shot arrows earlier began to aim at him again.
Qin Ming dodged through the forest, using various large trees as cover. Once both sides started running, it would be difficult for the young man to draw arrows from his quiver without slowing down.
The bluish-faced young man was indeed strong. Holding a long sword, he resisted the blood snake, creating brilliant sword light that left several wounds on the snake’s body in an instant.
The few people chasing after Qin Ming looked back at this scene and relaxed.
Qin Ming twisted and turned in the forest, racing along the path he had scouted earlier in the night. He realized this group was quite difficult to deal with.
Among those pursuing him, two had achieved a second rebirth, and one of them was fast, getting closer to him.
Qin Ming was strong enough, but he wasn’t a true second rebirth practitioner, so he was still lacking in speed.
The talkative young man was also a second rebirth practitioner. Having shot a few arrows, he fell a bit behind.
When he reached a densely wooded area with branches blocking the way, Qin Ming carefully scanned for the only clear path and dashed through.
Clearly, the pursuers wouldn’t cut down the branches but would follow him closely.
"Ah..."
Suddenly, the second rebirth practitioner in front let out a scream, collapsing painfully in the snow, his face twisted in agony.
His right foot had been pierced by an iron spear hidden in the snow, bleeding profusely. The sharp spear tip was stained with blood, having completely gone through his foot, looking quite terrifying.
Qin Ming had only prepared for the worst, setting up three iron spears in this area with obstructing branches, not expecting to actually use them.
The only clear path was due to him breaking nearby branches himself. However, for the iron spears to hit his opponent, luck was also needed.
This person had accidentally avoided two iron spears but stepped on the third one while running full speed, resulting in a terrible injury to his right foot.
The others behind him saw this and their pupils shrank, feeling a phantom pain in their own right feet, followed by a wave of fear.
The earlier talkative young man’s face turned ugly as he gritted his teeth, saying, "Don’t scatter. Follow his footprints!"
He was also ruthless, not caring about his injured companion, and continued to chase with a large sword, gradually closing the distance due to his speed advantage.
He had already noticed that the other party’s speed was clearly inferior to his. Thus, he judged that although they were also second rebirth practitioners, their strength was weaker than theirs.
"After all, they are second rebirth practitioners from a remote place without secret meditation techniques or inner strength. Even if they have a second rebirth, their potential won’t be too high." This was his inner thought and the reason he felt confident to continue the pursuit.
Qin Ming knew he would be caught sooner or later. Rather than wait, he decided to take the initiative, intentionally slowing down his pace to eliminate a threatening opponent first.
"Are you still running? It’s just a few blood snakes; it’s better than losing your life," the young man said coldly as he approached.
The other two from Chixia City and the two from Jinji Ridge had only achieved one rebirth, so they were slower and had not caught up yet.
Qin Ming didn’t respond. He charged forward with the long black hammer, needing to end this quickly. His biggest concern was still the young man dealing with the blood snake. Despite his injuries, he remained the most dangerous.
The snow in the forest exploded as Qin Ming put all his strength into the attack. The first strike of the black hammer stunned the young man, making his right hand, which held the sword, tingle.
This slower young man, who should have been weaker after his second rebirth, how could he have such strength?
Qin Ming was highly focused and gave it his all. The long black hammer, despite its weight, moved like a series of black lightning bolts weaving through the night.
The young man was strong, clearly not an easy opponent, much stronger than Fu Entao. After initially losing, he quickly launched a counterattack.
However, he was shocked to find that this boy from a remote area was not as clumsy as he had imagined. He clearly mastered powerful combat techniques. The heavy hammer was almost dancing in the air, with each strike cutting through the night in an efficient killing move.
Then he realized that the boy was using sword techniques to execute his hammer strikes.
"This person is really strong; I need to achieve a second rebirth quickly!" Qin Ming thought, and suddenly, the black hammer slipped from his hand.
With a loud bang, the young man felt dizzy, tears streaming down his face. In the moment their weapons collided, the opponent had actually "slipped," and at such a close distance, that heavy hammer struck his chin, shattering the bone instantly.
He endured the intense pain to stay conscious and swung his large sword forward, knowing he couldn’t retreat now; he had to prevent the opponent from picking up the black hammer.
Clearly, he was dazed from the blow and his awareness was fading.
By the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late. Qin Ming drew the long knife from his body, blocking his large sword, then sliced off his right arm holding the sword and kicked him over.
Qin Ming picked up the long black hammer from the ground, said nothing, and charged forward to smash the young man’s head, then took his weapon and quickly moved toward the other three.
...
The bluish-faced young man easily killed the blood snake. He wasn’t arrogant; his strength was indeed formidable.
Liu Huaishan led the surviving patrol members back after a quick retreat. He judged that the blood snake must be exhausted. Even if it wouldn’t freeze in the icy weather, it would likely move slowly.
So he returned just in time to see the young man kill the blood snake.
The scene fell silent. Liu Huaishan and the others hadn’t expected anyone else to appear here, and they seemed quite powerful.
The young man tossed the blood snake to the ground and walked forward, sword in hand. He had quietly entered this area, hoping to keep a low profile since there were opponents around.
His situation wasn’t great, and he preferred to keep things secret, so his killing intent rose.
"Friends, we mean no harm. We’ll leave immediately; the blood snake is yours!" Liu Huaishan quickly shouted, signaling his team to retreat.
He felt this person was too dangerous; if it came to a fight, they would definitely be the ones to die. This opponent could easily cut through them.
These patrol members were experienced middle-aged men, already drawing their bows and aiming ahead for defense while quickly backing away.
The young man suddenly felt a bit of tightness in his chest. Exploring special nodes had indeed harmed his body, and he felt uncomfortable. Finally, he took a deep breath and nodded, allowing them to leave.
He took a moment to recover, and once that uncomfortable feeling faded, he immediately set off in the direction Qin Ming had fled.
Although snowflakes were falling from the sky, they couldn’t immediately cover the footprints. He raced along, and soon heard screams.
There was no doubt; Qin Ming had killed the two new practitioners from Jinji Ridge and the weakest one from Chixia City.
He turned back with their weapons, encountering the second rebirth practitioner whose right foot had been pierced by the iron spear.
When the bluish-faced young man appeared, he saw Qin Ming with his back turned, interrogating his people.
Instantly, his blood boiled with anger. He saw one person being tortured and wondered where the others were. What happened to his cousin? Had they all been killed?
"Quickly tell me, do you have any advanced inner strength techniques?" Qin Ming squatted there, holding the severely injured man with one hand.
At that moment, the man wanted to say something but couldn’t open his mouth, as it had already been hit by a hammer. The other side clearly didn’t want him to speak!
The man, unable to talk, saw the strongest member of his group approaching silently, and his pupils contracted as if he wanted to say something.
But with a bang, he was hit by another hammer, his vision darkening as he nearly fainted.
The bluish-faced young man noticed the injured man was covered in blood, his lower body buried in the snow, looking incredibly tragic. Without hesitation, he accelerated and charged forward.
Then, he let out a muffled grunt and fell into the snow.
This time, the young man didn’t step on an iron spear but on his cousin’s large sword.
Not long ago, Qin Ming had carefully set up this area, which looked like it had been through a fierce battle. Broken branches littered the ground, leaving only a few clear spots.
The intentionally cleared areas were all set with iron spears, large swords, long knives, etc. It seemed to have achieved the ideal effect.
With a loud bang, he smashed the earlier man’s life away with a hammer, then calmly faced the man whose foot was pierced by the large sword.
The bluish-faced young man, named Wang Nianzhu, was somewhat famous in Chixia City. He could lift 570 pounds during his first rebirth, which was quite strong.
After his second rebirth, his arms had nearly 1,200 pounds of strength. With such extraordinary abilities, how could he not be furious to find himself in this situation?
Especially since he considered the masked boy in front of him just a country bumpkin, yet he had suffered such a heavy blow.
Qin Ming stepped back and directly aimed Wang Nianzhu’s cousin’s bow and arrows at him.
"Ah..."
With his foot pierced, Wang Nianzhu couldn’t move well. Even though he was very strong and could jump despite the pain, he couldn’t maintain his original state for long before being shot.
Soon after, Qin Ming stepped forward and smashed the critically injured Wang Nianzhu’s head with the long black hammer.
"Looks like I got another blood snake. Thanks for the gift!" Qin Ming stuffed the second large snake into the beast skin bag. Today’s haul was truly significant.