Martial Dao: I Can Enhance My Talents

Gu Changqing followed Fang Han’s gaze, and a sharp glint flashed in his cloudy eyes.

He looked away and turned to Fang Han, his expression turning serious.

"Find a safe place to hide. What comes next is not something you can get involved in."

"I understand."

Fang Han replied with a cupped-fist salute.

Gu Changqing said no more. He exchanged a look with Shen Mo and Hui Ming.

The three of them gave a slight nod. Then, with a flicker, their bodies drifted away like three wisps of smoke, silently moving northwest.

Fang Han stood his ground, watching the three figures disappear into the woods. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned and darted in the opposite direction.

A battle between Grandmasters—even the aftershocks would be enough to kill him.

「Several miles away, deep within a mountain ravine.」

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger lay coiled atop a massive boulder, its dark gold, slit-like pupils half-open as if it were dozing.

Suddenly, its eyes snapped open, the dark gold glow shining like two spectral lanterns in the twilight.

The muscles beneath its scales tensed abruptly, and a chill shot up its spine—the primal instinct of a beast facing mortal danger.

’Enemies.’

’And they’re a threat to me.’

Without the slightest hesitation, it pushed off with its four pillar-like legs. Its massive body shot forward like a bolt of black lightning, attempting to break out.

But it was too late.

A calm, aged voice drifted from its left.

"Vile beast, don’t even think of escaping!"

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger froze, its dark gold, slit-like pupils swiveling to the left.

A figure in a deep cyan robe emerged from the shadows of the ancient trees, his hair held in place by a Wooden Hairpin. It was Gu Changqing.

He held a simple, ancient longsword. The blade was a pale cyan, and it glowed with a soft luster in the twilight.

"Amitabha Buddha."

The chant rang out from the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s right.

Hui Ming emerged from behind the rocks on the other side, clad in a golden kasaya and holding a Demon-Slaying Pestle.

A faint golden light shimmered around him, making him look like a true wrathful deity.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger let out a low growl, its paws scraping the ground as it prepared to change direction.

But as soon as it turned, it saw a figure in gray robes standing in its path of retreat, hands clasped behind his back. An old longsword hung at his waist. With his plain face, it was none other than Shen Mo.

Three Grandmasters. Three directions.

Its escape was completely cut off.

"ROAR—!"

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger let out a deafening roar.

The roar materialized into a physical soundwave that blasted outward. In its wake, ancient trees snapped and rubble went flying.

It kicked off forcefully with its four paws, its massive body charging toward Gu Changqing like a small, moving mountain.

It swiped its claws, five foot-long, dark-gold talons tearing through the air with a piercing shriek as they aimed straight for Gu Changqing.

Gu Changqing’s expression remained unchanged as he casually swung his ancient longsword.

It was a simple, unadorned strike.

Yet, the moment the sword moved, the world itself seemed to freeze.

The pale cyan sword light wasn’t blinding, but it possessed a sharpness that made it impossible to look at directly—a Sword Intent far more powerful than Fang Han’s.

The sword light and claws clashed, creating a world-shattering boom.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s charge was brought to a dead halt. Its massive body slid backward uncontrollably, carving four deep trenches in the ground and sending dirt and rubble flying.

A flicker of terror crossed its dark gold, slit-like pupils as it looked down at its extended right foreclaw—

A sword mark slashed diagonally across it, several inches deep, with dark red blood already seeping out.

Gu Changqing remained standing, his ancient longsword hanging casually at his side. A single drop of dark red blood slid down the blade’s tip and fell to the earth.

He hadn’t moved an inch, as if he had just swatted away a pesky fly.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger let out a furious roar and lunged again.

But Hui Ming was already there.

He raised the Demon-Slaying Pestle high overhead, and the golden light around him intensified. A faint golden phantom materialized behind him. The apparition was dozens of feet tall, its face indistinct, but it radiated a suffocating pressure.

The Demon-Slaying Pestle crashed down with the force to shatter mountains, aiming straight for the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s spine.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger sensed the mortal danger and twisted its body violently, trying to dodge the blow.

But the Demon-Slaying Pestle was too fast. It only managed to avoid a fatal blow, and the heavy weapon slammed into its left side.

"BOOM—!"

A dull thud, like the beat of a great drum, echoed through the ravine.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s huge body was sent flying sideways by the blow. It smashed through several massive ancient trees and rolled across the ground a few times before finally coming to a stop.

On its left side, a dozen or so of its ink-black scales had shattered and fallen away, revealing a mangled patch of flesh.

Then, Shen Mo made his move.

He drew his old longsword and, from a distance of a hundred feet, made a light slash.

A transparent ripple, almost invisible to the naked eye, silently shot through the air toward the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger.

Its speed was unbelievable. The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger had no time to react before the ripple slashed across its right hind leg.

There was a soft, almost inaudible hiss.

A wound appeared out of thin air on the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s right hind leg, and blood began to seep from it.

It let out a pained roar, but its movements were not impaired.

Its formidable scaled armor, combined with its massive size, meant the injury was not severe.

「Several miles away.」

Fang Han stood atop a giant tree, his gaze piercing through the dense canopy to look toward the ravine.

Even from miles away, the earth-shattering sounds of the battle were still clearly audible.

Each boom was accompanied by a faint tremor in the ground, as if some colossal beast were stirring deep beneath the earth.

In the distant ravine, a column of smoke and dust billowed into the sky, dyeing it a hazy gray.

He could clearly see the ravine being destroyed at a visible rate.

Low hills were being leveled, and entire swaths of forest were felled as if scythed down by an invisible giant blade.

Boulders shattered, the earth was torn asunder, and even the winding stream had been dammed and rerouted.

Birds and beasts fled the forest in a mad panic. Countless birds shrieked as they took to the sky, blotting out the sun.

Land animals stampeded through the woods, converging into a black torrent as they fled for their lives into the distance.

In the wake of this stampede, countless more trees were knocked down and trampled.

’So this is a Grandmaster...’

Fang Han muttered to himself, his eyes filled with a mixture of shock and gravity.

’With my Cultivation at the Late Stage of Third Grade, the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique at the Minor Achievement Realm, and the Xuanwu True Skill at the Entry Realm, my combat strength is already close to that of a First Grade Martial Artist.’

’However, compared to those three Grandmasters, the difference is like that between heaven and earth.’

’A casual strike from any of their swords or the pestle would be powerful enough to kill me.’

’Even the aftershocks of the battle would be enough to injure me if I got too close.’

’Grandmasters and those beneath them, though all human, might as well be two different species. The gap in power is simply astronomical.’

In the ravine, the battle raged on.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger was drenched in blood. The initial rage and ferocity in its dark gold, slit-like pupils had been replaced by gravity and fear.

It had attempted to break through their encirclement several times, but was beaten back on each occasion.

The first time, it risked taking a blow from Hui Ming’s pestle and charged in Shen Mo’s direction.

But Shen Mo simply flickered, appearing before it like a ghost. His ancient longsword swept down, leaving a deep gash on its shoulder and forcing it back.

The second time, it used the smoke and dust filling the ravine as cover and tried to break out from the side.

But Gu Changqing’s Spiritual Perception had already locked onto it. A pale cyan sword light pierced the dust cloud and slashed its spine. Scales shattered and blood flew as it was once again forced back.

The third time, the fourth... Every attempt to break free ended in failure.

And every failure added new wounds to its body.

Its ink-black scales were soaked in blood. Shattered scales littered the ground, revealing the mangled flesh underneath.

If not for its astonishingly tough scaled armor, which was comparable to a Grandmaster Level defensive Martial Arts technique, it would have already fallen to the three Grandmasters’ assault.

Hui Ming brought his palms together in prayer. The Demon-Slaying Pestle hovered beside him, shimmering with golden light.

Gu Changqing stood with his sword, the ancient blade angled toward the ground, a pale cyan light flowing ceaselessly across its surface.

Shen Mo stood with his left hand behind his back, his right hand holding his sword. His eyes, as still as an ancient well, remained locked on the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s every move.

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s breathing grew heavier, and with each gasp, bloody foam bubbled from its mouth and nose.

Its dark gold, slit-like pupils swept over the three men. Then, it threw its head back and let out a roar.

This roar was entirely different from the ones before. There was no anger, no ferocity—only a deep, bone-piercing unwillingness to yield.

It had roamed these forests for over a century, growing from a mere Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger cub into a Grandmaster Level Demon.

The forests of all of Qingyang County were its territory, and thousands of Demons had submitted to its rule.

Yet today, it would all come to an end.

"AWOOOO—!"

The Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger lunged. This time, it didn’t try to break free. It charged straight at Gu Changqing.

Claws, fangs, and steel-like tail all came into play. Its assault was like a raging tempest, driven by a near-frenzied desperation.

Its dark-gold claws tore through the air with a piercing shriek.

Its bone-white fangs gleamed coldly, aiming for Gu Changqing’s throat.

Its long, thick tail whipped around like a steel lash, pulverizing the surrounding boulders.

Gu Changqing’s expression was unchanged as his ancient longsword spun like a wheel.

A web of pale cyan sword light crisscrossed, clashing violently with the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s claws, fangs, and tail.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG—!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out as densely as falling rain. Each impact unleashed a deafening boom and a staggering shockwave.

The ground cracked and splintered under the shockwaves. Rubble was thrown into the air, only to be pulverized by the subsequent blasts.

Hui Ming and Shen Mo closed in from the sides.

The Demon-Slaying Pestle, wreathed in dazzling golden light, smashed into the Ink-Scaled Demon Tiger’s spine and ribs again and again. Each blow sent large patches of its already-cracked scales flying.

Shen Mo swung his ancient longsword, each slash landing precisely on the tiger’s most vulnerable points—its joints and underbelly. Deep wounds were carved open, and blood gushed forth.