C14 Mount Kunlun Saved Someone!

"No harm will come, as long as you do as you're told," the bald man said with a hearty laugh.

"That's a relief." Chu Xing had only recently ventured into the mountains when he noticed they were stealthily trailing him. Confident in his skills and courage, he was curious to see what they were up to.

"Come and take it if you can!" Chu Xing had been fervently honing his swordsmanship and was eager to test his mettle. The bald man had only reached the first layer of Qi Training, and the three youths were merely ordinary folks; Chu Xing felt no fear.

"Strutting around with that broken sword like you're something special. You three, get him," the bald man said dismissively.

"You got it," the three young men said, grinning as they approached Chu Xing.

As they closed in, Chu Xing swung his broken sword with his right hand, effortlessly severing their weapons. Before they could even exclaim in shock, the sword had already sliced across their arms. Chu Xing controlled his Mental Energy perfectly, inflicting only superficial wounds.

Still, the pain was enough to make them stagger backwards.

The bald man's face grew stern. "I underestimated you. You possess a spiritual root and have undergone training."

"Enough talk. Face my blade!" Chu Xing, unsatisfied with the few strokes he had executed earlier, was itching to engage further with his sword.

Chu Xing brandished his sword at the bald man, who blocked it with a steady grip on his blade. Chu Xing then switched to a horizontal sweep, forcing the bald man to retreat a step. Chu Xing pressed on with another forward slash, but the bald man, gripping his blade with both hands, deflected the broken sword to the side.

Recently, Chu Xing had been practicing only the fundamental sword techniques, limiting him to a handful of moves, especially with the broken sword lacking its tip. Chu Xing could see that the bald man was strong; though untrained in martial arts, he seemed no stranger to brawling.

Switching to a Yellow Grade Middle Rank sword, Chu Xing resumed his assault. The bald man was visibly frustrated, having never encountered someone who grew more thrilled with each exchange. He was beginning to regret his decision to attempt this robbery.

"Stop, enough!" The bald man gasped for air and called out to Chu Xing for a pause in the action.

Chu Xing, however, was not about to stop. He was accustomed to practicing his swordplay solo, but today he had the bald man as a sparring partner, allowing him to cycle through his repertoire of moves. It was as if his body, long suppressed, was now buzzing with excitement.

Roughly fifteen minutes into their duel, Chu Xing's swift strike sent the bald man's blade soaring through the air, with the sword's point coming to rest at the man's throat.

Drenched in sweat, the bald man's face was flushed as he struggled to catch his breath.

Chu Xing, too, was sweating, but he was faring much better. The three young men who had been watching had forgotten their own discomfort. Seeing their leader bested, they pleaded anxiously, "Brother, please let us go!"

Chu Xing had no intention of harming them further. To the bald man, he commanded, "Hand over the storage bag." With no other option, the bald man complied.

Upon inspecting the bag, Chu Xing found nothing more than basic necessities. "You guys are really broke," he remarked.

"We only discovered one relic, and even that was shared with others," the bald man replied, his spirit deflated.

Chu Xing had nothing to add. His own collection of self-defense treasures had grown out of necessity. He didn't bother retrieving the bald man's knife, now notched from their clash.

Without another word, Chu Xing climbed into the SUV and drove off, leaving the four bewildered men behind.

"Every boy harbors a wuxia dream," Chu Xing mused from the passenger seat, replaying the recent skirmish in his mind. At the wheel sat his mechanical clone, handling the vehicle with expert precision as it raced along.

The clone, a natural at manipulating metal, operated the machinery with ease. With each component of the car functioning perfectly under its control, they zipped past the abundant wildlife on the road. A sudden encounter with a leopard charging at the car was swiftly managed by the clone, which enveloped the animal with the vehicle. Once stopped, they quickly released the leopard to avoid any damage. Together, Chu Xing and his clone dealt with the wildcat.

"I've amassed 43 spirit stones now. It's time to use them to break through to the Second Layer of Qi Training!" Chu Xing had been stuck at the First Layer for quite some time, but he knew that with sufficient Qi, advancing to the Third Layer should be straightforward.

As night fell, Chu Xing decided to bunk in his car. With his mechanical clone on guard, it was a relatively secure option.

"I can't believe it took 20 spirit stones. The future's going to require even more," Chu Xing lamented. "That black ball is like a black hole, endlessly devouring Qi. Who knows how much it will need as it continues to grow?"

Reaching the Second Layer of Qi Training was a significant milestone for Chu Xing, as it allowed him to harness even more Qi, which was crucial for his progress.

The following day, they resumed their journey.

"Help, help..."

Chu Xing looked up to see a scene of chaos on a nearby hillside. Eight brown bears were besieging five individuals. A portly middle-aged man, around fifty, was cowering behind, shielded by four men. Two of the protectors were already wounded in the chest, and without assistance, their situation looked grim.

Without hesitation, Chu Xing drove straight into the fray, knocking down one bear before he and his clone leaped into the fight.

The brown bears were formidable adversaries. Chu Xing's broken sword was met with powerful swipes from the bears' paws, leaving only superficial cuts on their hides.

The four men, bolstered by Chu Xing and his clone's arrival, redoubled their efforts. Chu Xing noted that they were skilled martial artists, each displaying impressive prowess.

One wielded a sword that shimmered gold, another's blade glinted with a hint of green. Together, they fought with such ferocity that the bears howled in distress. All four men were at the First Layer of Qi Training, while the two injured were merely ordinary people.

Armed with Profound Grade Low Rank swords, Chu Xing and his clone gradually multiplied the bears' wounds. Before long, the eight brown bears retreated.

"Thank you so much. Without your help, we would have been in dire straits," the middle-aged man approached Chu Xing with gratitude, his square face framed by a shock of white hair.

"No need to thank me, it was just a small effort," Chu Xing responded. "How's your wound? We should probably find a place to get it treated quickly."

"Don't worry, someone will be here shortly to pick us up. Here's my business card, young man. You can call me Uncle Lin. What are your names?" The middle-aged man offered as he handed over his card.

Chu Xing accepted the card and introduced himself, "I'm Chu Xing, and this is Lin Yu. He's mute."

"Ah, such youth and already so formidable! I'll have to introduce you to my daughter later."

"No, we have to be on our way, but thank you."

"You're heading to the main peak of Mount Kunlun, right? Reliable sources say most animals have migrated to the Valley of Death. It might be worth your while to check it out."

"Thanks for the tip. We'll head out now."

"Make sure to give me a call when you're in Beijing. I'd like to thank you properly."

Chu Xing sat in the car, pondering over the business card he held. Lin Tianhe, chairman of the Tianhe Group—one of the top ten major corporations.

"The Tianhe Group is a major player," Chu Xing mused.

He decided to investigate the Valley of Death. Animals had sharper instincts than humans, and the mass migration suggested something valuable might be there.

The spiritual energy on Mount Kunlun was noticeably denser than in the Qin Mountain Range, and the vegetation was wildly overgrown. Trees towered, thick and robust, while the grass reached a height of thirty centimeters, making the car's progress challenging.

Suddenly, an attack jolted the car, flipping it to the side, its frame now grotesquely twisted.

Chu Xing, who had been deep in cultivation, hadn't been aware of his surroundings. He and his clone swiftly scrambled out of the wrecked vehicle, alert and cautious. A massive python emerged from the underbrush.

The python, with its twenty-centimeter-thick body adorned with dark brown patterns, flicked its tongue incessantly from its triangular mouth, its full length indiscernible.

Despite his fear, Chu Xing was no stranger to combat and did not shy away from a fight. He directed his sword's tip at the python, aiming for a strike, but it barely left a scratch. Agitated by the pain, the python lunged straight at Chu Xing.

The mechanical clone charged ahead, brandishing the broken sword and aiming a powerful slash at the python's head. The massive serpent was momentarily halted, and the clone was sent hurtling backward from the impact.

Chu Xing deftly maneuvered the sword's tip towards the python's eyes. The creature dodged with a swift tilt of its head, but in that instant, its lengthy tail coiled rapidly around the clone. The python's body ensnared the clone so tightly that, despite the clone's body being imbued with the strength of a Low Rank Yellow Grade magic treasure, it was contorted under the serpent's grip.

Undeterred, the clone morphed into a rope-like form and entwined itself around the python, raising the broken sword for another strike at the serpent's head. Seizing the moment when the python was distracted, Chu Xing plunged the sword's tip into its eye, driving it deeper with relentless thrusts.

The python's body convulsed wildly, its thrashing snapping the trees nearby. Chu Xing, with calculated precision, stirred the sword's tip within the serpent's skull until it lay motionless.

The area was left in complete disarray. Chu Xing sat on the ground, gasping for breath after the intense exertion of mental energy.

After a brief respite, distant voices reached his ears. Chu Xing hastily withdrew the sword from the python's body, disguised the clone with a mask and clothes, and stowed the serpent within the black ball.

"Big brother, it's just ahead," a man's gruff voice called out.

"Let's go check it out."

Preferring to avoid further conflict, Chu Xing was about to make his exit when he found himself encircled by four men.

"So it's you. You've got some skills," the man with the gruff voice remarked. Chu Xing recognized him as the pig-headed man he had encountered at the school's entrance.

"Little Pig, you know this guy?" inquired a man with a fresh scar marking his face.

"Yeah, big brother. Saw him once at my girlfriend's school. Was thinking about giving him a good thrashing then," the pig-headed man said with a smirk.

The others chuckled along, but the man with the scar scrutinized Chu Xing and his clone, noting the indifference in their gaze despite being surrounded.

"Only if he's powerful," the scarred man mused to himself.