Sword in the Black Mist

**"ROOAAR!!"**

The two Demon Dragons saw the White Frost Race Battle King warriors who had been attacking them suddenly turn to flee, and erupted in fury. With a beat of their enormous wings, they launched into the sky and gave chase.

Seeing the dragons closing in, the White Frost Race warriors' expressions tightened. One of them — a Battle King clad in blue leather armor — quickly activated a Talisman, and the entire group poured on speed.

The Demon Dragons roared, but they clearly held no advantage in raw velocity. They could only watch, helpless, as the White Frost warriors vanished into the distance.

After the White Frost Race warriors disappeared into the forest, the two Demon Dragons let out a few final furious shrieks, then turned and began flying back toward their nest.

At that moment, Lu Yuan appeared directly in their path.

To find yet another small creature blocking their way —

Both Demon Dragons erupted into furious roars, snapping their jaws open and unleashing a volley of black fireballs.

The searing heat warped the air around each projectile. The fireballs looked devastatingly powerful.

Lu Yuan's expression didn't change. His body vanished in an instant, reappearing beside the larger of the two dragons.

His greatsword materialized in his grip, golden spiritual light shimmering along its edge. He swung — and a golden arc of sword-light carved across the dragon's neck.

The draconic defenses that six White Frost Race warriors had battered without result for half an hour crumbled before Lu Yuan's blade like wet paper. The golden sword-light tore through black scale armor and sliced clean across the throat.

Blood sprayed in a torrent. The Demon Dragon let out a wail of agony, its wings shuddering once — and then its massive body plummeted toward the earth below. Its life faded with it.

The smaller Demon Dragon witnessed this, eyes going crimson with rage. It unleashed a massive torrent of black dragon-breath.

Lu Yuan blinked out of existence, evaded the breath attack, and struck again. A golden flash of sword-light carved a savage, gaping wound across the second dragon's neck.

The Demon Dragon cried out once — and its corpse dropped from the sky.

Far off in the forest, the White Frost Race Battle King warriors who had fled moments earlier heard those dying cries, and their expressions shifted.

"What happened? Those sound like Demon Dragon cries."

"Should we go look?"

They crept to the tree line and peered out — just in time to see a hundred-meter blade of golden light extinguish the last Demon Dragon's life in a single strike.

The White Frost Race warriors stared, wide-eyed.

"Gods... what power. He took down a Beast King Demon Dragon that easily?"

"Who is he?"

"He's human... I feel like I've seen him somewhere before..."

"It's *him!* That's Lu Yuan — the former top ranker on the Prodigy Rankings!"

One of the warriors gasped under their breath, recognition hitting them all at once.

The others recalled it too, and shock flickered across their faces.

"Isn't he the one who defeated Bai Lin?"

"I heard he'd broken through to Battle King Rank before — but I never imagined his strength was this terrifying. Those were *Beast King* Demon Dragons. One strike each."

They quietly ducked back, not daring to stare any longer.

The group exchanged uncertain looks:

"So what do we do? Should we tell Bai Lin? He hates Lu Yuan something fierce."

"...Let it go. Lu Yuan's talent is extraordinary — we'd be better off staying well out of this. Besides, after watching that last sword strike, do you honestly think Bai Lin is any match for him?"

The one who'd asked fell silent, then slowly shook his head.

"Let's go. We don't want him noticing us — if he thinks we're hostile, that'll be trouble."

At that, the others gave quiet nods and slipped away into the trees.

Lu Yuan dropped from the sky after finishing the two Demon Dragons and surveyed the pair of enormous corpses.

From the bodies, Spirit Crystals and glowing orbs began to materialize.

Each Beast King Demon Dragon yielded a hundred Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals, plus two golden orbs.

He picked up the golden orbs and inspected them — King Grade crafting materials. A Demon Dragon Heart, a portion of Demon Dragon Blood, and two pieces of Demon Dragon Scale Armor.

No Transcendent Gene. No Gene Armament. A twinge of disappointment.

Still, these were Beast King Feral Beasts with Sovereign Grade bloodlines — the Spirit Crystals and materials were nothing to dismiss.

He pocketed everything and moved on.

Pressing deeper into the mountain range, the kills mounted steadily — more Demon Dragons, and other Feral Beasts besides.

By the end, he had cut down roughly three hundred Battle Venerable-tier Feral Beasts and over sixty Beast King-tier ones.

The haul came to approximately eight thousand Fourth-tier Spirit Crystals and four thousand Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals. Beyond that, a considerable quantity of Transcendent materials — and, most notably, one King Grade Fifth-rank Gene Armament: a suit of battle armor dropped by a Demon Dragon.

That was the prize of the run. Once evolved to Sovereign Grade, it would fetch at least several million Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals, possibly into the tens of millions.

By the time he'd hunted that many Feral Beasts, nearly ten hours had passed. Fatigue was beginning to settle in.

He planted a spatial coordinate on a mountain peak within the Demon Dragon Mountain Range — a waypoint for the future — then activated the coordinate he'd set in Red Maple City and vanished from the spot.

In the next instant, he was back in his rented room.

Lu Yuan glanced around the familiar space and allowed himself a small smile.

*Spatial Type Transcendent Genes really are something.*

Without one, covering eighty million kilometers — even aboard a King Grade warship — would take years. Yet here he was, flitting between two points instantaneously with nothing more than a spatial anchor.

That said, vessels with spatial jump capability were a different matter entirely. Anything that could cross distances like that would be well beyond King Grade.

After the hunt, he rested for a few hours, then returned to the Training Hall to cultivate. From then on, his days fell into a steady rhythm: cultivate in the Training Hall, use Starfield Roaming to jump to the Demon Dragon Mountain Range and hunt until exhaustion set in, return to rest, then start over.

Day after day, without break.

Twenty days later. The Demon Dragon Mountain Range.

Lu Yuan slew a peak Beast King Demon Dragon and claimed a King Grade Transcendent Gene from its remains — one called Demon Dragon Scale.

A formidable Guardian Type gene: beyond massively boosting defensive capability, it also offered solid gains to both strength and constitution.

If he put it up for auction, it would likely sell somewhere between a few million and ten million Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals — a tidy profit, enough to fund several more days of cultivation.

The downside was that King Grade Transcendent Genes had an even lower drop rate. He'd killed hundreds of Demon Dragons by now, and this was the first one to yield a Transcendent Gene. He'd done better from hunting other Feral Beasts — two Lord Grade Transcendent Genes there, which he planned to evolve up to Sovereign Grade and drop at the Auction House for some extra income.

With this modest windfall in hand, Lu Yuan left the dragon nest in good spirits and flew on, pressing deeper into the mountain range.

After he departed, a group of Gnolls materialized silently. They surveyed the dragon's corpse, eyes gleaming.

At their head was a Gnoll of extraordinary presence, his fur the dark red of dried blood. A grave expression settled over his scarred face as he spoke:

"I didn't expect to run into that bastard Lu Yuan here of all places. But his strength is even greater than we imagined — a peak Beast King Demon Dragon, one whose combat power could rival weaker Battle Sovereigns, and he cut it down just like that..."

They'd heard the sounds of battle and rushed over hoping to scavenge from the aftermath. They hadn't expected to find one of the Blood Bone Gnolls' most despised enemies — Lu Yuan himself.

Another Gnoll, his fur pitch black, spoke up with cold deliberateness:

"Hmph. Regardless — this human cost us Ice Vein Star and killed several of our prodigies. The fact that he has the nerve to show himself means we have to make him pay. Have you forgotten what Dushan and Lord Nidam said? The moment we find this human, we do not let him go. This time, he dies in the Land of Origin."

The blood-furred Gnoll gave a measured nod. "I know. But with just the two of us Battle Sovereigns, I don't feel confident enough. We should call in a few more before we move."

The Battle King warriors standing nearby weren't even worth considering in his calculation. Given what Lu Yuan had just demonstrated, those Battle Kings would contribute almost nothing.

The black-furred Gnoll mulled it over, then nodded. "Fair enough. Heh... kill this human and I'm sure Lord Dushan won't stint on our reward."

The others grinned.

"We tail him first — don't let him out of our sight!"

The blood-furred Gnoll fixed his gaze in the direction Lu Yuan had flown.

The black-furred one flashed his teeth. "Don't worry, he won't get away. But we need to be careful — this human is strange. Get too close and he might sense us. He appears to have Spatial Type Combat Techniques. If he spots us and bolts early, catching him again won't be easy."

As he spoke, dark energy rippled across his entire body.

In the next moment, black mist enveloped the entire group, and one by one they faded from sight.

None of them noticed that as they vanished, a shadow nearby shifted ever so slightly.

Far away, Lu Yuan's eyes were calm and unreadable as he withdrew from the shared perception link with his Shadow Clone.

The corner of his mouth curved into a quiet smile.

He'd deployed numerous Shadow Clones across the mountain range to efficiently locate Beast King Feral Beasts — since he was alone out here, there was no reason to worry about anyone noticing. And naturally, those same Shadow Clones could detect threats the moment they emerged, giving him advance warning.

He hadn't expected Gnoll warriors to show up, though.

Then again, thinking about it — the Demon Dragon Mountain Range was vast by ordinary standards, yet for Battle King and Battle Sovereign warriors, it was hardly an endless expanse. The Blood Bone Gnolls had no shortage of powerful fighters at both ranks, so running into some here wasn't particularly surprising.

What he *hadn't* expected was how cautious they were. Two Battle Sovereigns and four Battle Kings — and they still didn't think that was enough. They were calling in more Battle Sovereigns just to deal with him.

*Was he really that frightening?*

The thought left him mildly put out.

But then again... the more that came, the better.

He narrowed his eyes, a cold glint settling in his gaze.

Lu Yuan gave nothing away, continuing his hunt as though nothing had changed.

Beast King-tier creatures in the Demon Dragon Mountain Range weren't limited to Demon Dragons — many creatures with dragon-bloodline ancestry had reached that level, and there were plenty of non-dragon-lineage Beast Kings as well. With his Shadow Clones scouting the terrain, he located targets with ease, moving from kill to kill with smooth efficiency.

The Gnolls tailing him — invisible, hanging back more than ten kilometers — watched as he swept through Beast King after Beast King and looted each one in turn. Despite themselves, covetous looks crept over their faces.

"Damn... another King Grade Gene Armament!"

"His luck isn't bad — and his strength isn't either. That Black Dragon Eagle was practically at Sovereign Grade power, and on top of that it had a Sovereign Grade bloodline. Even the two of us together would've had to work for that kill. And he made it look *effortless*."

"Hmph. Once we kill him, all of this is ours."

"Have the others arrived yet?"

The blood-furred Gnoll muttered.

The black-furred one glanced at his Communication Crystal, and his eyes lit up.

"They're close. Pull back a little — we can't rendezvous here. If this human spots us, the whole plan falls apart."

"Agreed!"

The Gnolls silently fell back, increasing their distance until they could still just barely sense Lu Yuan's aura — then held their position.

Then several streaks of light closed in swiftly. Four more Gnolls arrived.

The four were variously clad — leather armor, battle plate, a mage's robe. Every one of them radiated the overwhelming aura of a Battle Sovereign.

At their head was a powerful white-furred Gnoll in heavy battle armor, clutching an enormous shield. He spoke in a measured tone:

"Xuemie, Shuimeng — you said you found Lu Yuan. Where is he?"

"Right ahead!"

The blood-furred Gnoll — Xuemie — pointed forward.

The black-furred Gnoll — Shuimeng — wore a grim expression. "He has Spatial Type Combat Techniques. Seal off the space the moment we engage — don't let him escape."

One of the robe-clad Gnolls let out a cold laugh. "Relax. I brought something special. He won't be going anywhere."

"Then let's move. Surround him!"

Shuimeng's lips twisted into a savage grin as he gave the order.

At that very moment, tendrils of pitch-black mist began curling up from the ground around them.

Within seconds, the mist thickened into a dense, choking shroud, swallowing all six Battle Sovereigns and four Battle Kings whole.

Every Gnoll in the group stiffened.

"What is this?!"

"When did this mist appear?!"

The Battle Sovereigns immediately swept their senses outward — and the color drained from their faces:

"Damn! This mist suppresses perception! Everyone stay sharp!"

In the span of that brief exchange, they realized they could no longer see clearly beyond a hundred meters.

Then a jet-black sword-light flashed through the murk. A Battle King Gnoll who'd been scanning the fog with every nerve wound tight went rigid — and a moment later, a thin red line split him cleanly down the middle, his body falling in two halves.

The others froze. Ice shot through them.

Not one of them had sensed who struck.

"Close ranks!"

Xuemie snarled. "There's a powerful Assassin Type warrior among us!"