Chapter 79: Breaking Records

  The mountains were desolate and the rocks were quiet. In the midst of this silence, an old man in a green robe felt increasingly intrigued, his eyes gleaming with amusement as he stared intently at a boulder.

  There, Li Ruo's body twisted into a strange shape, motionless and silent as the ancient rocks beside him. If not for constantly staring at him, the old man in green clothes wouldn't have noticed that there was a living person hiding there.

  It's been almost half a time now, and Li Ran's patience has secretly moved the old man in green clothes.

  At this moment, in the distant sky, a large bird with a color like raw iron unfolded its wings, which were several meters wide, and flew over the mountain top.

  In an instant, Li Ran's knife moved, a gleaming sword flashed out from beside the mountain rock, and the sharp sword intent emitted a piercing sound that shattered the air. The large bird suddenly encountered danger, let out a long cry, and flapped its wings rapidly to fly high into the sky, but it was too late. Li Ran had already calculated its flight path, and with one stroke of his long sword, the left wing was cut off from root to tip, neatly severed in two.

  A large bird tumbled down from the air, its broken wings flapping wildly, sending sand and rocks flying everywhere. As it saw Li's figure emerging from behind a boulder, its intact right wing suddenly swept across horizontally.

  Li Ran's sword stabbed out, and with a loud crash, it struck the large bird's wing. A surge of frantic power rushed forth, and both man and bird tumbled towards the deep chasm beside them. In an instant, they plummeted downwards like shooting stars from the mountaintop, their figures dwindling rapidly. Mid-air, the bird's mangled wings clashed with Li Ran's long sword in a frenzy of twists and turns, sparks flying everywhere as the sound of clashing steel echoed through the valley.

  In front of them, a boulder half as tall as a man fell first, exploding with a loud crash and shattering into powder.

  The old man in green clothes was drenched in cold sweat.

  Li Ruo's sword stabbed into the right wing of the large bird, sparks flying everywhere. At this moment, Li Ruo's wrist quickly rotated, and his long sword swooshed up to slash open a huge gash on the bird's right wing.

  The big bird lost control of its body in mid-air and plummeted towards the valley below. Li Ruo took advantage of the situation, using his long sword to point at the mountain wall, borrowing this force to buffer the heavy downward momentum. One foot stretched out and lightly tapped on a tree branch that was stretching out from the edge of the cliff. His entire skeletal system rattled with a "ka ka" sound, and the tree branch sank down underfoot, but then bounced back up again. Li Ruo took advantage of this rebounding force to completely dissipate his downward momentum, using the tree branch as a fulcrum to rise and fall with his body, proudly standing upright, only two or three zhang away from the valley floor.

  The old man in green clothes couldn't help but let out a loud cheer at this point.

  Li Ran's knife was about to fall, but he used the "shock bone" method to deflect it horizontally, and his light body technique was so amazing that even this old man from the Divine Movement period was stunned.

  The large bird's wings, which had been protecting its body, were now a bloody mess, but surprisingly it was not dead. It struggled to get up from the rocks, swaying unsteadily.

  Li Ruo's sword stood at a high place and suddenly jumped up, head down and feet down. The long sword flew like a meteor, and one sword pierced the big bird from its head to the ground.

  With a borrowed sword momentum, he flicked his wrist and the long sword was swiftly withdrawn, his body flying sideways to the other side.

  From ambush to assassination, Li Ran's dagger utilized the terrain and topography perfectly, killing a fierce bird with strength close to the peak of Jingyuan in just a few moves. The entire process was flawless, with every calculation accurate to the millimeter. The old man in green clothes nodded repeatedly as he watched.

  Almost ten times the strength of flying birds, with a high-altitude advantage, is much more difficult to deal with than that red bird, Li Ran's knife solved such an opponent in a few moves, really making people happy and admiring.

  Li Ran's eyes gleamed with a faint smile as he turned to face the enraged Akuma, who was rushing towards him from afar, and stood still, holding his sword.

  Only now did the old man in green realize his mistake and couldn't help but applaud with admiration.

  He only then knew that Li Ruo had been lurking there for more than half a time, intending to ambush the big bird. It was thought that Li Ruo had long noticed that there was a lone Crimson Fiend in this area, which could be killed and turned into his own achievement in the fourth layer. However, the fierce bird in the sky was really hindering him, and once they fought on the ground, the fierce bird would dive down, putting Li Ruo in danger.

  First, use covert means to assassinate the big bird, leaving only this Chi Yan, which has become a fish on Li Ran's knife.

  The old man in green nodded repeatedly: "In the midst of strong enemies, don't be impatient or flustered, good tactics!"

  This red fox had no suspense, after a hard fight, finally died under Li Ran's sword with a lingering regret, his whole body was bloody and blurred.

  Li Ran's knife quietly moved further away.

  Time flies, and I have been hiding in the fourth layer of the Phantom Spirit Cave for nearly three days.

  The deeper they went, the more spiritual beasts there were. With Li Ran's current strength, it was almost impossible to pass through and enter the next level's passage.

  In these three days, the old man in green had truly seen Li Ran's knife skills, assassinations and sneak attacks were not enough, even when fighting halfway, if he found danger, he would turn around and run away, never to fight to the end, calm and experienced like an old hunter who has been hunting in the deep mountains for many years, absolutely unlike a young man who had just left his hometown.

  The old man in green clothes became more and more excited as he looked on.

  On this day, in a valley, Li Ran's long sword was sharp as the wind, and he beheaded an akuma, leaving it with only half its life. Suddenly, five more akumas slid down from the surrounding mountain walls like five burning flames, spewing out white misty breaths, and rapidly closing in on him from all sides.

  The old man in green clothes suddenly glared up at him.

  "Run quickly, or you won't make it in time."

  This time it was five encirclements, blocking all the roads in all directions. If Li Ran didn't run out when the net of Chi Mai's encirclement tightened, he would probably be completely trapped inside.

  A beast with fivefold tenfold strength of power, but it's definitely not something that Li Ran can handle.

  Li Ran's sword flashed, the long sword was like wind, the sword intent was mysterious and unpredictable, amidst the hissing and howling, it once again slashed open a several-inch-deep gash on the red demon's abdomen, the muscle and flesh were exposed in a shocking manner, blood splattered everywhere, the red demon let out a mournful scream, the five other red demons that were far away had already approached to within tens of meters.

  The old man in green clothes slapped his thigh regretfully.

  "Child, this time you've gone too far and fallen into a precarious situation from which you can't extricate yourself."

  Five red foxes suddenly appeared and surrounded him with a loud cry.

  Li Ruo's eyes were also slightly red, watching the prey under his sword struggling to survive, and it would be settled in a few moves. However, he was disturbed by an external enemy, quickly spinning around with a narrow margin of safety to avoid the attack. The secret pattern on the long sword faintly revealed its light, and with a swift turn of his wrist, the sound of "dang dang" echoed, and one sword forced the five Akuma back at the same time. Taking advantage of this brief moment, Li Ruo suddenly jumped up and charged towards the central Akuma.

  That red fox pounced on Li Ran with its sharp claws.

  Li Ran's sword pierced through the air, lightly avoiding the double claws, and actually deceived its way in. The long sword was swiftly ejected, making a hissing sound, and this red demon was pierced by one sword, successfully beheading it.

  The five outer demons howled like madmen, pouncing on them again in unison. The old man in green robes had his heart in his throat, wondering what Li Ran could do in this desperate situation. Just then, a flash of light appeared from the stone, and it was Li Ran who had crushed the transmission symbol, his figure disappearing into thin air and reappearing in front of the old man in green robes.

  Li Ran's knife was used with great force, and his arms were numb and slightly trembling.

  The old man in green clothes was suddenly stunned, looking at Li Ruo who appeared in front of him and asked in surprise: "H-how did you get out?"

  Li Ran's eyes gleamed with a hint of a smile, his long sword still lodged in the ground: "Senior brother, I succeeded! I broke Shan Zhi senior brother's record. If one can't hold on any longer, they will naturally come out."

  "Oh?"

  The old man was greatly surprised, pinched his fingers to calculate carefully, and suddenly a big smile appeared on his face. He nodded repeatedly: "Not bad, not bad, in the fourth layer, you killed 81 spiritual beasts, exceeding Mountain Wisdom's record by 11 heads. You have entered the Golden Sword List! Haha, congratulations, congratulations to you!"

  After a series of intense killings, Li Ruo felt like he was about to collapse when he finally relaxed. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with force and was about to catch his breath when the old man in green clothes excitedly grabbed his hand: "Come on, let's go to Jin Jian Pavilion quickly and announce this achievement to everyone."

  Dragged out of the Phantom Spirit Cave by an old man in a green robe, they rushed towards a nearby majestic mountain peak.

  This mountain peak is three hundred miles away from the Thirteen Heaven Peak, towering and majestic. Along the mountain road, at the halfway point on the mountain platform, a golden wall shines brightly, like the essence of the entire mountain range, emitting a powerful aura that quietly spreads out.

  In the distance, Li Ran Jian saw that above the main gate of the building, there was a pale golden plaque with three large characters written in a dragon-like script: Golden Sword Pavilion.

  An old man in a green robe led Li Ruo Dao to the front of the Jin Jian Pavilion, letting him wait outside. He whispered, "The Jin Jian Pavilion is where the thirty-three main peak disciples discuss matters, it's not a place to be taken lightly. You can't enter rashly, wait here for now and enter when you're summoned."

  Li Ran nodded.

  The old man in the green robe couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes, and he quickly walked in, went straight up to the second floor, and in the open corridor facing the mountain, picked up a metal pillar as thick as an arm, turned around and struck it forcefully on the central pillar of the open corridor that was full of mysterious patterns.

  Two ancient tree trunks collided, emitting a low and muffled sound. The True Origin Force surged forth with a bright blue light, instantly activating the central ancient tree trunk in the pavilion. A brilliant beam of light shot out from the mountain, piercing straight through to the sky.

  Li Ranno stood outside the Golden Sword Pavilion, gazing at the soaring beam of light, and couldn't help but look up in admiration. He knew that this was a unique way of communication within the sect, and others who wore the Gongzheng Xuan Iron Ring would sense the summons and rush here immediately.