Chapter 273: Real identity

"It looks like I won the match." Li Meng decided to rub it on the Keeper's face. Yet he was greeted with a fairly amused expression.

"You shouldn't count your fruits before they have reaped boy." The Keeper replied.

"What do you mean?" Li Meng was about to pose his second question when he saw the bandit leader's body shining with a faint light. He immediately pressed his sword to slash his neck, but it directly went through the figure. Li Meng couldn't understand the situation at first and tried to attack again, just to find the figure to have disappeared.

"I didn't expect someone from the Thunder academy to have come to hunt the bandits in the Taiwan mountains." The leader's voice sounded from afar. When Li Meng turned around, all he could see was a bloodied man standing 10 feet's away from him with a hunched posture. His legs were shaking, but the confidence in his eyes didn't seem to diminish one bit.

"How did you identify the force I belong to?"

"Lightning devil art is said to be one of the three top body refining scripture within the Thunder academy and is ranked second within the group. It was something that the Mad Lightning Emperor created during his training period. Who in the world would fail to recognize as scripture like that?"

Li Meng couldn't help but curse himself for this negligence. He forgot that the Lightning Devil art is an incredibly famous art within the whole of central plains. But it also meant that the Bandit leader did belong to a top tier organization for him to have detailed information about this art.

"Last I heard, Thunder-child was the most talented individual to have ever existed within the Thunder Academy. I didn't expect another monster who managed to connect with three Heavenly Laws to have appeared. I guess the central plains are still not informed about your achievements."

"I am surprised by the fact that you know so much about the powers of central plains. I believe that you too belong to a top tier power."

"This news is fairly common within the central plains." The bandit leader tried to deny it.

"Other news might be common news, but the detail about the Lightning Devil body is not something which could have been known by everyone. Only someone who belongs to a top tier power should be able to recognize on the first try. It would be even more explainable if the person had experienced the power somewhere before."

The Bandit leader couldn't help but laugh out loud. "I guess we should continue the fight. You need to defeat me first if you want any kind of information to come out of my mouth."

"I have already defeated you. I don't need to fight with an opponent whom I have defeated before."

"I have to apologize for underestimating you before. I thought that the Blazing dragon fist arts should be able to finish you off, but you used something I have never expected to see. I guess it is the Strike of Thunderous Palms, which was also created by the Mad Lightning emperor."

"I will now use everything single-core art which I have cultivated to date. Let's see how strong you really are."

The atmosphere around the guy changed instantly. Li Meng felt an incredibly threatening murderous aura seeping out of his body. The danger seems to be giving him the same feeling as the Blood general. A huge double-handed sword appeared in the leader's hand. The sword was dark red in colour and was emitting a bloodthirsty aura from its body.

"Be careful boy. I just felt him activating multiple artefacts. The sword is just one of them. It feels like blood tempered Weapons. It requires killing a huge number of cultivators to make a Weapon this potent. Incidentally, it is an Emperor grade weapon. Except for that, I could also feel a high-grade water element artefact. It must be the reason he could manipulate his body like this."

"There is also an unknown aura coming from his body.". This statement was followed by the Leader's body healing rapidly.

"You are the first person whom I have deemed worthy of using all my artefacts against. I hope you don't let me down." The leader rushed towards Li Meng at an incredible speed. Li Meng failed to react at the proper moment and an incredible deep cut appeared on his body seconds later. The leader attacks were incredibly accurate and the power contained within it was far more than before. 

A series of clashes resulted in multiple deep cuts appearing on Li Meng's body. He was injured near the abdomen and the blood flow had reached a critical level.

"I guess we need to utilize the full power to confront this bastard." Li Meng finally decided to utilize the power of his avatars to draw energy.

The aura increased exponentially, and to the leader's surprise, Li Meng also healed instantly. "I guess I am not the only one with means in here. I am sure your master must have provided you with enough artefact to protect itself. This fight will be won by the one who has got more card in his hands." The leader once again rushed towards Li Meng with all his power.

Li Meng took out all his blood refined weapons. Ten weapons directly appeared in the air giving a similar aura to the sword held by the Bandit leader. To his shock, the bloodthirsty aura coming out of the ten weapons were more powerful than the sword he held. Although it was an emperor grade weapon, the opponent held ten king rank weapons with a higher bloodthirst.

The bandit leader felt his confidence lowering with every passing second. He decided to attack continuously, and Li Meng responded in kind. The fight continued, and the blood refined weapons began to show their strength. One of the biggest strengths which Li meng obtained from the blood refining skills was life drain.

The technique was applicable through all of the blood refined weapons and hence the bandit leader was continuously losing his energy with every single injury he was inflicted with. Li Meng was using this technique for the first time since he learnt it. The opponent this time forced him to use up all his means.

The battle continued and the Bandit leader found it more and more difficult to hold his ground against Li Meng. It felt like his energy was being sucked dry by something. He tried to use more and more of it while attacking, but the energy being sucked increased with his attacks. Even the artefact which he used to recover his Qi couldn't restore the lost energy with adequate speed.

As the fight drew out, he was losing his ability to even confront himself properly with Li Meng. The wounds on his body were worsening and the blood lost in the confrontation couldn't be recovered in a short period of time. Li Meng took advantage of the leader's situation and attacked mercilessly at his weak points.

............

An hour later-

The leader was laying down within a pool of his own blood, in a near-death situation. His body no longer possessed the energy to resist Li Meng's attack. Li Meng was in a grievous situation as the whole process was incredibly taxing on both his body and mind. He finally managed to defeat the leader for good this time and imprisoned him with Qi restricting chains.

"The fight this time seems have opened your eyes to the reality of the world around you. This boy was just a realm above you yet he managed to drag the fight to this extent and forced you to use all your avatars while fighting. You need to understand how big the heavens actually are."

Li Meng had to agree with the Keeper's words. The fight this time was too taxing on his body. He had to develop his skill to a much higher level if he wanted to overpower an opponent like this easily in future. 

The two people soon regained their consciousness just to find themselves tied down with a cloth forced into their mouths.

"You woke up. I have been waiting forever to talk to you." Li Meng removed the cloth from his mouth and began his questionnaire. "Who are you?"

The leader tried to avoid the question, but Li Meng simply stuck his sword directly into the upper thigh of the Bandit leader. A miserable scream rang through the cave. After a long period of torture and many broken bones, the bandit leader finally lost his confidence and began to speak up.

"My name is Xuan Lao. I am an inner disciple of the Shengluo pavilion."

"Why would a disciple of Shengluo pavilion come to the Taiwan mountains and become a Bandit leader." The leader tried to ignore Li Meng's question, but another stab to the leg forced him to spell the truth out.

"I came here to completely awaken my blood sword and improve my cultivation for a forthcoming competition within my sect."