Chapter 547: Chapter 547: Shadowfang Mountain Range

The figure of Kun Jue was once again forced out of his stealth state, glaring at the blood wolf who had found his scent and was now lunging at him. Kun Jue wished to tear it to pieces, but right now, every second made the difference between life and death.

“Sprint!”

At Kun Jue’s thought, his speed instantly increased, leaving phantom images behind him. From a distance, it appeared like a veil of illusion.

Sword Shadow Step!

Song Jian’s figure too, turned into a shadow. His speed surprisingly increased, keeping a close pursuit behind Kun Jue.

Earth Teeth Assault!

A tusk-shaped energy mass burst from beneath Song Jian’s feet, with a sharp shriek lunging at Kun Jue. The hard ground displayed a mark as though scraped by a long sword.

Bam!

The Earth Teeth Assault slammed into Kun Jue’s back, causing him to stumble.

Spiritual Sword Control Technique!

An ethereal long sword’s illusion emerged over Song Jian’s head. As he swept his sword forward, the ethereal sword whizzed towards Kun Jue.

Bang!

Kun Jue immediately felt as if his head had been severely chopped. After a moment of dizziness, sharp pain surged into his mind. It felt like his soul had been sliced by a sword, which made him let out a painful cry.

As an elite assassin of Death’s Scythe, Kun Jue could endure any physical injury. But this time, the pain was like his soul was being torn apart, which he couldn’t bear any longer. He held his head in his hands, incessantly rolling on the ground.

Song Jian rushed over in a few strides and swung his sword down at him.

Flash Thunder Strike!

Crackle, crackle, crackle~

A few flashes of lightning passed, and Kun Jue, who had previously only recovered about half his vitality points, was once again left in a near-death state.

“Don’t, please, don’t kill me! I’m a senior member of Death’s Scythe. If you kill me, the organization won’t let you off!” Kun Jue stopped Song Jian, who was showing no mercy and was about to slash at him.

With a cold expression on his face, Song Jian thrusted his long sword into Kun Jue’s throat. A fountain of blood spouted out, draining his last strand of vitality points.

“Hehe~” Kun Jue’s eyes bulged, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. The dagger dropped from his hands onto the ground. His hands tightly clung to Song Jian’s long sword. It seemed like he wanted to say something more, but he fell heavily, collapsing onto the ground, dead.

“Finally he’s dead!” Song Jian removed his sword, taking a deep breath. Kun Jue’s assassinating capability was truly intimidating. Even though in a direct confrontation he had been slightly inferior to Song Jian, his presence still lurked, ever ready to strike like a venomous snake hidden in the darkness.

In such a pursuit, Song Jian was ceaselessly in a state of extreme alertness. If this condition persisted, Song Jian’s capabilities would reduce by at least a third in three days.

In fact, every passing day had escalated Kun Jue’s probability of successfully assassinating Song Jian, which was why Song Jian intended to kill Kun Jue as soon as possible.

“My attack is sufficiently deadly, but I severely lack control abilities. If I had one or two control skills, this prolonged struggle wouldn’t have occurred. In the end, I had to rely on the blood wolf to kill him.” Song Jian, glancing at Kun Jue’s body, thought to himself.

He casually picked up the two daggers Kun Jue had dropped. This was the spoils of battle he left behind after his death.

The two daggers, one of silver quality, the other, surprisingly, a growth-type gold quality dagger. It wasn’t far off in comparison to the long sword in Song Jian’s hand.

He had already withdrawn the Crimson Fire Heart Ape Sword and the Golden Demonslaying Sword back into his body. Playing with the growth-type gold quality dagger, a mischievous smile appeared at the corner of Song Jian’s mouth.

“This dagger must not be sold. It can be given to a best friend or it can be a spare weapon for me. If I sell it and it ends up in the enemy’s hands, that’d be me shooting myself in the foot.” Song Jian thought to himself.

Having killed Kun Jue, Song Jian could finally rest. The blood crows and blood wolves, as previously arranged, were dispersed around him while Song Jian himself laid by the bonfire, deep in slumber.

His careful journey continued over the next few days. But the Death’s Scythe didn’t seem to send another assassin his way.

He had fended off two out of the three assassination attempts. If the Death’s Scythe failed again with the last one, it would probably stop dispatching assassins to hunt Song Jian, at least for a while.

“The second time was a level 30 assassin; could this third time be an assassin with a first-rank combat adept?” Song Jian thought to himself.

Perhaps the Death’s Scythe was evaluating Song Jian’s actual strength. With Song Jian having killed their level 30 assassin, Kun Jue, the person in charge of the Death’s Scythe had raised Song Jian’s appraisal to a very high level. Nonetheless, there weren’t many first-rank combat adept assassins even within the organization. To summon a first-rank combat adept assassin would require some time, which was why Song Jian hadn’t encountered another assassin for several days.

Two more days passed and Song Jian finally entered the Shadowfang Mountain Range.

This mountain range was filled with dense shadow energy. Large purple-grey trees covered the entire range, and the beasts within were all shadow beasts filled with shadow energy. Their bodies were semi-transparent, revealing their true forms only when attacking. This presented the adventurers in the Shadowfang Mountain Range with quite a headache.

Song Jian opened his map and glanced at it. If he bypassed the not-so-far-off level 30 monster domain and travelled another ten li, he would reach Dark Castle.

The meeting spot he and Qi Yun had agreed on was in a small valley not far from Dark Castle.

“The monster domain ahead is the territory of the level 30 shadow leopard. According to the map, not only are these beasts formidable, they are also extremely fast. If targeted, it’s hard to escape. The most important thing is that these monsters are usually in a stealth state, blending with their surroundings. It’s only when they strike that their existence is revealed. But when you notice that, it’s too late…” Song Jian frowned slightly. If he could cross this area, it would save at least half a day. To bypass it, he would have to travel an additional forty kilometers.

After some hesitation, Song Jian decided to bypass this area, considering the scarcity of supplies here. The closest supply base, a military camp, was three hundred li away and was impractical for resupply.

If he were to get caught up in a battle with the beasts here, even if he made it out alive, the expenditure would be too great, rendering the gains not worth the losses. In the event that he encountered issues due to a lack of supplies during the battle with the Shadow Giant Dragon, the results could be fatal.

As Song Jian was about to find an alternative route, he suddenly heard a scream and a low growl from ahead. Not long after, a group of people crawled out of the forest ahead, looking panicked.

…