42: Chase all the way

“A Mountain Ghoul!” Lu Ming's eyes flashed with brilliance, and he immediately recognized the demon's identity.

This was a monkey-like monster, about two meters tall, with a sturdy build and a short tail.

Its fur was dark gray, its fangs were sharp, and its eyes were incredibly blood-red, filled with brutality and bestiality.

“It really is a demon causing trouble!” Despite being prepared, Luo Zhong was still startled by the monster's appearance.

The Demon Suppression Division is responsible for monitoring the situation in the areas near Lianbo City, and according to common sense, they should have a general understanding of the demons distributed around, even if they are difficult to eradicate, they would know about them.

However, regarding this suddenly appearing Mountain Ghoul, Luo Zhong was a bit confused; according to the Demon Suppression Division's internal demon area division, such a demon should not exist here.

Luo Zhong knew that now was not the time to think about these things.

After the Mountain Ghoul missed its pounce, it looked at Luo Zhong with a hideous face, its gaping maw revealing bits of flesh still between its teeth.

Without any hesitation, it pushed off with its feet and pounced towards Luo Zhong.

“Young Master Lu, save me!” Luo Zhong knew that he was no match for this Mountain Ghoul on his own, so he swung his saber to block while shouting for help.

Lu Ming was already prepared; he watched the pouncing Mountain Ghoul and suddenly kicked the bonfire.

Several burning pieces of wood arced through the air and heavily struck the Mountain Ghoul's body.

The high-temperature flames came into contact with the Mountain Ghoul's skin, and large areas of burn marks instantly appeared on its body, causing it to tremble violently and let out a tragic wail.

Amidst the flying sparks, Lu Ming, saber in hand, had already rushed forward.

The gilded long blade in his hand gathered a cold gleam, and as the sharp blade swung, a Blade Aura shot out, heading towards the Mountain Ghoul.

The Mountain Ghoul was completely unprepared and was directly hit by the fierce Blade Aura; a mist of blood erupted instantly.

The intense pain caused the Mountain Ghoul's wail to increase significantly. Perhaps the bleeding wound stimulated its bestiality, as the crimson light in its eyes flared, and green smoke began to rise from its skin.

Lu Ming frowned slightly, looking at the bloody wound left where the Blade Aura struck.

This Mountain Ghoul had thick skin and flesh; directly hit by a Blade Aura, it wasn't disemboweled, only a relatively deep bloody mark was left.

“Initial Realm?” Lu Ming took a stance and muttered to himself.

Thump, thump, with each step, Lu Ming charged forward, saber in hand.

What if it was Initial Realm? In his eyes, it was merely a demon life span to increase his own.

Lu Ming approached, and at this moment, the Mountain Ghoul suddenly opened its mouth, the green smoke gathered, and a thick cloud of poisonous mist actually sprayed out from its mouth.

The poisonous mist covered the front, and the green grass on the ground visibly withered at an astonishing speed, which was enough to show that the poison was not weak.

Lu Ming naturally wouldn't rush forward recklessly. Relying on his agile movement technique, he directly bypassed the spreading poisonous mist and came to the Mountain Ghoul's side.

The gilded long blade in his hand suddenly thrust out, the Mountain Ghoul let out a sharp shriek, and raised its massive palm to swat at him.

Its arm swung violently, and a gust of fierce wind surged from its palm. Lu Ming did not dodge; his Qi transformed into a continuous stream of strength, pouring into his limbs and bones, and the long saber cut through the air, emitting a sharp whistle.

Pfft!

The Protective Aura condensed on the long saber shattered the green Qi covering the Mountain Ghoul's palm, and the sharp blade met no resistance, easily piercing through the huge palm as if cutting tofu.

Blood splattered, Lu Ming steadied his steps, and with a follow-up slash of his gilded long blade, more than half of the thick palm was actually cut off by Lu Ming.

The pained Mountain Ghoul quickly retreated. It realized that the human in front of it was not to be trifled with, and in its fear, it turned to flee.

“Where do you think you're going!” Lu Ming swung his long saber, and another arc-shaped Blade Aura swept past, landing heavily on the Mountain Ghoul's back.

A deep gash was torn open on its back by the Blade Aura, and blood gushed out like a spring, but this still could not stop the Mountain Ghoul's determination to escape.

Seeing the Mountain Ghoul flee dozens of meters in the blink of an eye, Lu Ming naturally couldn't let it go.

“Captain Luo, you stay here. I'll handle that demon.”

With that, the Dragon Snake Eight Extremes Step was unleashed, Lu Ming's speed surged, and he quickly pursued in the direction the Mountain Ghoul fled.

“This…” Luo Zhong still wanted to dissuade him, but before he could finish his words, Lu Ming disappeared from sight.

Finally, his raised arm dropped, and his eyes showed a helpless expression.

Amidst the chaotic sounds of the night forest, two figures, one fleeing and one chasing, moved through the trees.

Despite being in the dark night, Lu Ming's vision was not greatly affected; his deep eyes stared intently in the direction the Mountain Ghoul fled.

The Mountain Ghoul seemed extremely familiar with this forest, easily crossing over the obstructing trees along the way.

For Lu Ming, however, these were obstacles hindering his pursuit.

Fortunately, the Mountain Ghoul was heavily injured, and combined with Lu Ming having elevated his Dragon Snake Eight Extremes Step to the ninth layer, these obstacles did not significantly affect him.

He pursued for about ten li, delving deeper into the heart of this mountain forest.

As time went on, more and more blood flowed from the Mountain Ghoul. Being closely pursued by Lu Ming, it had no time to recover from its injuries, which caused it to gradually weaken.

The gap between the two was gradually narrowing, and it seemed to realize that continuing to flee would not allow it to escape Lu Ming's pursuit.

The Mountain Ghoul's massive body suddenly stopped, and it let out an angry roar.

With a sudden burst of strength in its arms, it picked up a nearby boulder and threw it at Lu Ming, who was hot on its heels.

Looking at the crashing boulder, Lu Ming took a deep breath, stomped on the ground, and his entire body leaped into the air, landing steadily on the falling boulder.

Using the flying boulder to push off again, Lu Ming, like a shooting arrow, thrust a saber towards the Mountain Ghoul with a cold gaze.

The extremely weakened Mountain Ghoul had no time to dodge. As the sound of flesh being pierced rang out, the gilded long blade directly penetrated the demon's body.

The Mountain Ghoul, unwilling to give up, opened its gaping maw and bit at him.

Facing this desperate counterattack, Lu Ming remained calm, and the Protective Aura condensed on the blade was released in an instant.

The Blade Aura, carrying a sharp edge, tore apart the Mountain Ghoul's flesh from within, and a bloody hole directly appeared in its dark gray furred chest.

The last trace of strength dissipated, and the Mountain Ghoul's head tilted, completely losing all signs of life.

Congratulations on killing an Initial Realm Middle Stage Mountain Ghoul.

Mountain Ghoul life span: 342 years; obtained life span: 114 years.

Consumable demon life span: 226 years.

Lu Ming pulled out his long saber and kicked the Mountain Ghoul's corpse.

With a thud, the Mountain Ghoul's massive body fell heavily. He didn't care about the bloodstains on him, searched along the wound, and a look of joy appeared on Lu Ming's face when he found a light green demon core.