But with a few quick dodges, Jiang Che evaded them all, swatting the rest away with a swing of his saber.

Seeing Jiang Che dodge everything, the two Thorny-skinned Pigs charged fiercely at him.

Jiang Che narrowed his eyes. More than one red line had appeared on each of the pigs’ heads.

As the Thorny-skinned Pigs drew closer, Jiang Che’s mind raced, calculating the optimal way to strike.

’I’ve got it!’

Jiang Che leaped into the air, bringing his saber down on the neck of one of the Thorny-skinned Pigs.

The strike landed perfectly on a weak point, instantly slicing through flesh and following the seam between the bones.

SWOOSH—

The massive pig’s head flew into the distance.

But Jiang Che didn’t stop. Tapping the ground with his toes, his body somersaulted through the air like a spinning buzzsaw, slicing upward into the other Thorny-skinned Pig’s neck.

The blade struck another deep red line, indicating its greatest weakness.

The saber sliced through the skin of its neck, severed its windpipe, and continued upward along the seam of the bone.

SWOOSH—

Another massive pig’s head flew into the air.

Jiang Che landed on the ground and slowly sheathed his saber.

He glanced at his clothes and noticed a small splash of blood on the corner of his hem.

He frowned.

’I actually got my clothes dirty. Still not perfect enough...’

After cutting off the ears and digging out the Black Crystals, Jiang Che hurried to the next location.

...

Niu Yan was in the forest, tracking a Black Beast. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Suddenly, he spotted the corpses of several Thorny-skinned Pigs up ahead.

He hurried over and found that the pigs had all been cut in half at the waist, seemingly with a single strike!

Although these Thorny-skinned Pigs were all at the Stone Skin Realm, even he couldn’t cut one in half with a single blow!

’This would require a Swordsman at the Late Iron Skin Realm, or even the Peak Level, to pull off! What in the world is going on?! Has some unknown master come here to hunt Thorny-skinned Pigs?’

He checked again and discovered that the ears of all the Thorny-skinned Pigs had been cut off!

’This... was it one of the people from before?!’

But he quickly shook his head.

’No, that’s not right. Besides me, no one in that group was at the Iron Skin Realm. It’s impossible for them to have done this...’

Niu Yan looked up into the distance, a complex expression in his eyes.

’So, someone brought in help!’

"Despicable!"

The thought that someone was trying to snatch the Qi Strength Pill from him sent him into a rage. He kicked one of the Thorny-skinned Pig corpses, sending it flying.

Suddenly, he thought of something, and his eyes gradually lit up.

"Cheating! That’s right, this person is cheating! I’m going to report him! Then the Qi Strength Pill will still be mine!"

The more Niu Yan thought about it, the more excited he became, and he followed the trail of corpses forward.

He pressed on, finding more and more corpses of Thorny-skinned Pigs.

All of them had been killed with a single slash. There were no secondary wounds.

Suddenly, he saw what looked like a Black Beast den up ahead, where over a dozen Thorny-skinned Pig corpses lay!

He walked forward, his pupils contracting abruptly.

Deepest inside, there were two Iron Skin Realm Thorny-skinned Pigs!

Niu Yan strode over and inspected them carefully.

’The Iron Skin Realm ones were also killed in a single strike...’

He was somewhat dazed.

’What kind of helper did this person find?!’

Suddenly, he heard the howls of Thorny-skinned Pigs from up ahead.

He hurried over.

He saw over a dozen Thorny-skinned Pigs surrounding a person dressed in white martial arts attire, wielding a massive long saber.

With every rise and fall of the person’s saber, several Thorny-skinned Pigs were slain. It was like mowing grass!

Even the Iron Skin Realm Thorny-skinned Pigs were felled with a single strike!

’That’s him! The cheater’s helper!’

Niu Yan was delighted and rushed forward.

"Heh, caught you red-handed!"

He muttered to himself.

However, when he got closer and took a look, he found that the person was a young man, just like himself.

And his Qi Blood was only at the Late-stage Stone Skin Realm!

’What is going on?!’

His mouth fell open, his face a mask of disbelief.

’Wait... this person... I think he was one of the people at the assembly earlier?! He’s not cheating?’

’But how can he do this as someone at the Stone Skin Realm?’

His mind instantly descended into chaos, his entire understanding of the world collapsing.

"Impossible... Impossible..."

He shook his head, muttering to himself.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on Jiang Che’s saber, and he seemed to have an epiphany.

’Right! It must be because of that saber! I’ve heard that some people’s strength skyrockets after obtaining a Treasure Saber! It must be the saber that’s powerful, not him!’