Chapter Twenty-Six: Whose Side Are You On?

Qin Chuan swept through the battlefield with his sword, cutting down foes one after another without caring which side they were on; whenever he saw spirit creatures locked in chaotic combat, he unleashed a powerful attack.

"Ding!..."

"Ding!..."

"Haha, the experience is soaring! This is just too exhilarating!" Qin Chuan darted and shifted through the grass, his black iron sword weaving in and out of the melee like a phantom, so stealthy that none of the spirit creatures noticed anything amiss.

After a fierce bout of fighting, more than half of the spirit creatures on the field had fallen. Qin Chuan alone had reaped over two hundred lives. Only then did he take up his black iron sword and rush toward the Iron Demon Tree Lord.

"Brothers, follow me! Take down this damnable Iron Demon Tree Lord!" Qin Chuan shouted as he charged forward, putting on a show of valiant leadership.

"Let's go! If we kill the Iron Demon Tree Lord, we can escape!"

"Charge!"

All the spirit creatures assumed the black sword was one of their own, so they followed eagerly—more than a dozen joining him at once.

"Haha, now both experience and essence will come to me of their own accord!" Qin Chuan was delighted, but when it came to killing the Iron Demon Tree Lord, he knew he had to be serious. So his attack was precise and deadly.

A piercing whistle sounded.

"Ding! Critical hit triggered; knockback effect activated."

A splatter.

As expected, his sword broke through all defenses, dealing massive damage.

The Iron Demon Tree Lord, thrown into the air and terrified, was relentlessly assaulted by Qin Chuan's furious attacks.

With his sword now at a higher rank and level, its sharpness was unparalleled. Within three seconds, he utterly destroyed the Iron Demon Tree Lord.

"Ding! You have slain the Level 14 Superior Mutant Iron Demon Tree Lord. You gain 10,500 experience points. Bonus for defeating a higher-level enemy: 100% additional experience. Congratulations, host, you have received 21,000 experience points."

As soon as the three-second window ended, the black iron sword whooshed back to its original place, while the dozen spirit creatures still surged toward the Iron Demon Tree Lord.

"What? What just happened? The Iron Demon Tree Lord is dead already?"

"Whoa, what a surprise! Everyone, run for your lives!"

Just as the spirit creatures, overjoyed, prepared to flee, an even greater surprise awaited them.

A flash of violet light, a hundred sword shadows rained down from the sky.

Swish, swish, swish!

Screams echoed.

In an instant, the dozen spirit creatures were blasted to dust.

"What’s going on?"

"Whose side is this black sword on, anyway?"

At last, some of the spirit creatures noticed something was wrong.

Meanwhile, the true form of Qin Chuan, the black iron sword, glowed faintly with a purple light, an aura of razor-sharp menace swirling around it.

For a moment, the black iron sword stood like a king, silently surveying the battlefield.

"Damn! I remember now: the One Sword, One Insect, and Two Bandits—he is that sword! They once wiped out both the Spirit-Hunting Beasts and the Spirit-Fruit Beasts!"

"Mother of mercy, that's right! How could I have forgotten!"

"We're doomed—run for your lives!"

The Iron Demon Tree Lord had been slain almost effortlessly, and the tales of the bandits made every spirit creature tremble with fear.

The four remaining lords were equally shocked. Without hesitation, they turned and fled.

"I must get back to my lair and hide, or it’ll be too late!"

All four of them had the same thought.

"Well, that's not very sporting—let's keep two of you here," Qin Chuan mused.

"Ding! You have slain the Level 14 Superior Mutant Ogre Sword Lord. You gain 10,500 experience points. Bonus for defeating a higher-level enemy: 100% additional experience. Congratulations, host, you have received 21,000 experience points."

"Ding! You have slain the Level 14 Superior Mutant Bloodrage Lion Lord. You gain 10,500 experience points. Bonus for defeating a higher-level enemy: 100% additional experience. Congratulations, host, you have received 21,000 experience points."

With his speed advantage, Qin Chuan quickly hunted down two of the lords, dispatching another dozen or so spirit creatures in the process.

The rest of the spirit creatures were lucky enough to escape—never daring to show themselves again.

Qin Chuan was ecstatic—the experience gained from this battle far exceeded any before.

"Devour the essence!"

The black iron sword trembled lightly, and an invisible force began to swirl in the air.

"Ding! Essence devoured successfully. You gain 1,575 evolution points."

"Ding! Essence devoured successfully. You gain 130 evolution points."

...

"Ha! A total of 263 kills—I'm rich!"

"Such a small trick, such a great reward—truly, with strategy in hand, the world is mine!"

Qin Chuan cheerfully checked his status panel.

Evolution points: 61,510 / 102,400

Experience: 210,400 / 819,200

Rage: 100 / 100

"Not bad—not bad at all. I've passed the halfway mark on essence, and my experience has jumped by a quarter."

"But as a bandit with ambition and ideals, I shouldn’t be satisfied so easily."

"My little darlings, wait for me!"

Qin Chuan was almost giddy with joy.

Though such chaos erupted in the outer reaches of Windgrove Valley, the innermost core remained eerily quiet, as if none of it concerned them.

After clearing the battlefield, Qin Chuan didn't rush to leave; instead, he returned to the grassy thicket from before and settled down to rest.

About half an hour later, the Sleepy Worm emerged from underground, panting.

"Boss... I’ve scouted it all out. I found the lairs of all five lords—didn’t miss a single one."

Qin Chuan was overjoyed. "Brother, you’ve done a great service!"

"Heh, it’s your cunning that made it possible, boss. These fellows were hiding deep, and if not for all this chaos, we’d never have found them."

"Heh, but your tracking skill is top-notch, little brother."

"Haha! You flatter me, boss—I’m almost embarrassed!"

"Alright, let’s get moving. We don’t want those five juicy targets to slip away."

"Right, right."

Soon after, Sword and Insect arrived at the Iron Demon Tree Lord’s lair. Without a word, they struck. With the lord gone, the iron demon trees inside were easily subdued.

Most importantly, the spoils were excellent.

In no time, Sword and Insect paid a visit to the Bloodrage Lion Lord’s lair and again reaped a bountiful harvest.

Both were in great spirits and hurried on to the Ogre Sword Lord’s lair.

But this time, they ran into a small surprise.

When they arrived, a fierce battle was underway inside the Ogre Sword Lord’s lair.

Dozens of spirit creatures had teamed up to attack the lair.

"Damn! These guys dare steal my loot!"

Qin Chuan recognized them as the very creatures who had fled earlier—clearly, they’d seen the Ogre Sword Lord had died and had come to take advantage of the situation.

"Boss, isn’t this just what you wanted? Another batch lining up to be slaughtered."

"Haha, I like the way you think, little brother. I’ll make sure none of them escape."

The battle inside was fierce; the spirit creatures, long oppressed by the Ogre Sword, fought with desperate ferocity.

But the Ogre Sword was no pushover, wielding its massive blade with formidable power.

"Falling Sky Strike!"

A flash of violet light, and a hundred sword shadows rained down at the heart of the melee.

Swish, swish, swish!

Screams filled the air.

Ding!...

Ding!...

Spirit creatures and Ogre Sword alike were blasted to pieces, while Qin Chuan leapt into the fray, darting about with ghostly agility.

"Ahhh!"

Ding!...

"Not good—the Black Demon Sword Bandit is here! Run!"

The moment Qin Chuan appeared, the spirit creatures were gripped by terror. All thoughts of fighting vanished—they just wanted to escape.

"Run? Not a chance!"