Chapter Fifty-Seven: Artistic Conception

The White Mist Owl—a terrifying avian species born from the Great Nirvana—was cloaked in feathers as ethereal as mist itself. Fond of darkness, it dwelled by water, able to condense moisture and summon fog, and always lived in flocks. An adult White Mist Owl was not particularly large, its wingspan reaching only five or six meters, yet it was already a lower-tier General-class beast. When its wings stretched over ten meters, it became a mid-tier General-class; at twenty meters, a high-tier General-class. But even this was not the limit of the White Mist Owl. Once white jade plumes grew from its head, it stepped into the Commander-class.

A single white jade plume, gleaming like true jade, marked the lowest Commander-tier; two signified the middle tier; with three, it attained the highest Commander-class. Just now, Qin Ming’s gaze swept across the flock and caught sight of a massive White Mist Owl, its head crowned with three white jade plumes swaying in the wind. This was a high-tier Commander, equivalent to a high-level War God. And if there was a high-tier, surely there were also mid- and lower-tier Commanders among them. How could Qin Ming not be alarmed? A flock of such beasts, with a high-tier Commander among them, would send even an Invincible War God fleeing—let alone the fact that these were all aerial predators.

Qin Ming’s speed reached five to six hundred meters per second, far surpassing the speed of sound, yet he still failed to escape before the White Mist Owls closed in. Fortunately, his Black God Battle Armor shifted, covering his hands and feet without hindering his movements, and even wrapped around his head, leaving only his eyes and nostrils exposed.

“Kill!”

A single blade split the air, cleaving a path through the sky. Feathers danced and blood sprayed. In the next instant, the gap was sealed as more owls surged in, leaving Qin Ming with nowhere to hide or dodge. He had no choice but to force his way forward.

Bang, bang, bang!

Claws and beaks struck him in a flurry—seven or eight blows in the blink of an eye. But the Black God Battle Armor’s formidable defense rendered the owls’ alloy-rending talons powerless. It could deflect ninety percent of the incoming force, dispersing the remainder across his body; with the physique of a mid-tier War God, he was unharmed.

Kill!

In a single second, Qin Ming swung his blade seventy-two times, hacking open a massive gap and plunging through it headlong. He was on the verge of escape when a White Mist Owl appeared ahead, crowned with two jade plumes—a mid-tier Commander.

“Die!”

With a long howl, Qin Ming unleashed the eighth stage of the Ninefold Thunder Blade. With seventy percent of his strength as the base, and the power of nine secret energies fused in the eighth stage, the force amplified 6.3 times. His usual strength of 200,000 kilograms now erupted to over 1.2 million. Not even a high-tier Commander could withstand such a blow.

A terrifying surge of power.

With a single slash, the world was split, heaven and earth sundered. The White Mist Owl ahead had no time to evade; it was cleaved in two. Qin Ming burst through the spray of blood.

Suddenly, the world opened wide before him.

“As vast as the sea for fish to leap, as high as the sky for birds to soar!”

In this moment, he understood the essence of that saying—freedom.

“Freedom!” Qin Ming cried out, performing his Step Across the Void, his speed pushed to the utmost. He even wished to spread his arms and embrace the heavens. But behind him came a dreadful sound. He turned slightly, a flash of white light struck him, and he was sent hurtling through the air. Tumbling and falling, he caught a glimpse—it was the high-tier Commander White Mist Owl that had attacked him.

In a streak, the White Mist Owl moved with lightning speed, closing in again.

“So fast!” Qin Ming was shaken. Its speed far surpassed his own, even his highest technique could not match it.

“The White Mist Owl reigns supreme in the sky!”

The thought flashed through his mind. Quickly steadying himself, he slashed out. But despite its massive form, the owl was astonishingly agile. Twisting its body, it came at him from the side, its talons hooking into his armor. Even with the Black God Battle Armor, the impact left Qin Ming breathless.

“Break!”

He twisted the Blood Shadow Blade and struck at the talons, sparks flying, scales falling from the Owl King’s claws. But hampered by his position, he couldn’t put his full strength into the blow.

The Owl King flung him into the air with a toss of its claws. Its sharp beak jabbed at his chest, caving in the armor; the force, even diminished, drove agony through Qin Ming’s body. He used the opportunity to retreat.

But three more White Mist Owls swept in—each a lower-tier Commander.

“In the air, you are kings. Then I’ll go down!”

With that thought, Qin Ming prepared to dive, but below, a vast host of White Mist Owls were already spreading out, ready to encircle him.

“Damn it!”

He cursed and, steeling himself, fell anyway.

With a splash, like a fish into water, he plunged into the flock. The Blood Shadow Blade whirled, unleashing a massacre. These ordinary White Mist Owls posed little threat—he could slay dozens every second. In moments, the ground below was littered with corpses.

The Owl King screeched, and the rest of the flock scattered, exposing Qin Ming. He tried to burrow into the flock again, but found his escape blocked.

“Then come at me!” Qin Ming’s wild nature surged as he charged the Owl King.

But the Owl King, wary of his fearsome power, avoided direct confrontation, relying on its speed to harry him with swipes and jabs. Though these did little real harm, they tormented him endlessly.

“Then I’ll pick the easy targets!”

With a turn and a step, Qin Ming appeared beside a lower-tier Commander White Mist Owl, blade poised—but the beast dodged away. At the same time, two other lower-tier Commanders and the Owl King surrounded him.

“Damn!”

It dawned on Qin Ming that the one he’d killed earlier was purely luck—or rather, that mid-tier Commander had underestimated him. At the Commander level, these beasts were no less intelligent than humans.

He exhaled, sword flashing as he blocked the Owl King’s strike and plummeted to the ground.

This time, he landed on solid earth.

“Go!”

With a step, he blinked several hundred meters away. The speed startled the pursuing owls, who then gave chase. On land, Qin Ming was much faster than in the air—none of the lower-tier Commanders could keep up, only the Owl King closed the gap.

“On the ground, I don’t believe you can catch me!”

He raced on, mountains and rivers flying past beneath his feet. Any beast in his way fell to a single stroke. Behind him, the Owl King drew steadily closer.

“My speed still isn’t enough!”

Qin Ming pushed his power to new heights, increasing the counterforce and gaining a burst of speed. Yet he could not sustain this method for long, or his ankles would shatter from the shock.

He shattered the air, leaving behind a sonic boom. Using Arrow Step, Blink Step, the footwork from the Ninefold Thunder Blade, and dozens of other movement techniques he’d mastered, he gradually wove them together in his mind.

With a leap, Qin Ming vaulted over a mountain peak—at the peak of speed and with newfound insight, he seemed to merge with heaven and earth. The air became not an obstacle but a force propelling him forward, his speed increasing yet again.

“This feeling—like a fish in water, utterly free and unrestrained!”

A great joy filled Qin Ming’s heart. He stepped through the void, walking in midair; this time, he was nearly twice as fast as before. A sudden understanding came to him.

“This is the Realm of Intent!”

“The Intent of Wind!”

Movement techniques had four levels: basic, subtle, perfect, and the realm of intent. Driven to desperation by the pursuit, battered from sky to earth, without the Black God Battle Armor he would have been torn to pieces. Yet it was this very chase that unlocked his potential and let him grasp the ultimate movement technique on Earth—the Realm of Intent.

“The Realm of Intent, ha!”

Qin Ming suddenly stopped, turned, and faced the pursuing Owl King.