I transmigrated to a chaotic world and became the sole player.

Deep in the forest, ancient trees reach for the sky, vines entwine around them. A strong, pungent stench permeates the air.

Lu Zhao concealed his aura, like a stubborn rock, quietly lurking among the branches of a giant tree. His gaze pierced through the layers of leaves, locking onto a clearing not far ahead.

There, a colossal beast, as large as a small mountain, lay fast asleep on the ground.

This is a "Earthshaking Bear King," a peak third-tier demonic beast, equivalent to the Great Perfection of the Foundation Establishment stage for human cultivators. Its fur is earthy yellow, thick and heavy like armor, and its two paws are as large as millstones; a single swipe of its paw would turn even metal into dust.

"A demon king at the peak of the third tier is perfect for testing my sword." A hint of fighting spirit flashed in V Zhao's eyes.

He chose this demonic beast not only because of its formidable strength, but also because of its terrifying defensive capabilities. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators simply couldn't break through its defenses.

"The first level of the 'Sword Sutra of Annihilation' emphasizes 'when all things wither, a single sword returns to nothingness.' I wonder if my first strike, a novice's attempt, can break through this bear king's defenses."

With a thought, the Annihilation Dragon Qi within V Zhao's body began to circulate quietly. A faint gray aura emanated from his body, and the surrounding leaves began to wither and fall at a visible speed.

"Hmm?" The Earthshaker King, who was fast asleep, seemed to sense something and raised his huge head alertly, his nose twitching as he sniffed around.

"Roar!" It let out a low growl, full of warning.

"You've been discovered? Your senses are quite sharp." V Zhao no longer concealed himself. With a flash, he descended from the tree like a wisp of green smoke and stood steadily in front of the Bear King.

"Human!" The Earthshaker Bear King's eyes, as large as copper bells, flashed with a ferocious light when it saw Lu Zhao. "How dare you trespass into my territory! You're courting death!"

Although they cannot speak human language, demonic beasts that reach the level of demon kings have developed intelligence and can transmit information through divine sense.

"Use your head to test the sharpness of my sword." V Zhao smiled faintly, pointing the broken sword "Gui Xu" at the ground.

"Roar!" The Earthshaker Bear King was enraged. In its eyes, this insignificant human dared to provoke it in this way; it was simply unforgivable!

It stood upright, letting out a deafening roar, and its enormous bear paw, accompanied by a whistling sound, slammed down towards Lu Zhao's head! This single blow was enough to flatten a small hill!

Faced with this terrifying attack, V-Zhao neither dodged nor evaded. His eyes showed no fear, only absolute confidence in the way of the sword.

"Annihilation—Slay!**"

He uttered three words softly, and the broken sword in his hand drew a plain gray arc.

There was no earth-shattering sword energy, no ear-piercing sound of air being cut. This sword strike was just like an ordinary person casually swinging their sword.

However, when the gray sword arc touched the bear king's huge paw, a strange scene unfolded.

The incredibly tough, impervious bear paw, upon contact with the gray sword arc, was as if it had been splashed with strong acid; the flesh and blood rapidly melted and withered away!

"Aow!" The Earthshaking Bear King let out a shrill howl, retracting its paw as if electrocuted. A gaping, bloody hole had appeared in its massive paw! Moreover, the flesh around the hole was continuously turning black and dying, and no matter how much demonic power it channeled, it couldn't stop it!

"What...what kind of power is this?" For the first time, fear appeared in the eyes of the Earthshaker Bear King. Its instincts told it that the broken sword in the human's hand contained a terrifying power capable of completely destroying its life!

"It seems to be working well." V Zhao looked at the broken sword in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

The sword intent of annihilation can not only sever spiritual power, but also directly destroy life force! This is the terrifying aspect of the "Sword Scripture of Annihilation"!

"Again!" V Zhao shouted, taking the initiative to attack.

His figure moved like a ghost, constantly flashing around the Earthshaking Bear King. Each sword strike left a terrible wound on the Bear King's body.

The Bear King frantically swung its giant paws, repeatedly slamming them into the ground, unleashing shockwaves of earthy yellow in an attempt to force Lu Zhao out. However, Lu Zhao's movements were far too agile, always managing to dodge the attacks at the last possible moment.

What made the Bear King even more desperate was that its defenses were utterly useless against that broken sword! Neither its thick fur nor its solid earth-elemental demonic energy shield could withstand the impact of that gray sword light.

"Roar!" The Earthshaking Bear King let out a furious roar of unwillingness. Its body was covered with wounds of all sizes, and blood flowed like a stream, staining the ground red. Its life force was being steadily eroded by that eerie sword intent.

"It's over." V Zhao's figure appeared above the Bear King's head.

"The Sword of Return to the Void!"

The broken sword in his hand burst forth with a dazzling gray light, and he thrust it down at the top of the bear king's head!

"Thud!" The broken sword pierced the Bear King's head without any resistance. The Bear King's massive body stiffened abruptly, and all its movements stopped.

Its eyes quickly dimmed, and the life force within its body was instantly extinguished under the impact of the Annihilation Sword Intent.

"Boom!" The huge body crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The third-tier peak demon king, Earthshaking Bear King, is dead!

V Zhao landed on the ground, his face somewhat pale. Although the battle just now seemed easy, in reality, his use of the Annihilation Sword Intent had consumed a great deal of his mental energy and spiritual power.

"This 'Sword Sutra of Annihilation' is powerful, but it demands far too much from spiritual power and the soul." V Zhao gasped for breath. "With my current cultivation level, even if I go all out, I can only unleash three sword strikes. After that, I will be exhausted."

However, such a feat is already astonishing enough. To kill a defensive demon king of the same level with just three sword strikes—such combat power is terrifying even in the entire Southern Wilderness cultivation world.

He walked to the bear king's corpse, skillfully dissected its head with his broken sword, and extracted a yellowish-brown demon core. This demon core was the size of a fist and emitted pure earth-elemental spiritual energy fluctuations.

"A peak third-tier demon core is a good thing; it can sell for a lot of spirit stones." V Zhao put the demon core into his storage bag. Although he was already quite wealthy, on the path of cultivation, one could never have too many spirit stones—wealth, companions, methods, and land.

After packing up his spoils, V Zhao was about to leave when suddenly his brow furrowed slightly.

"Someone's coming." His divine sense detected several powerful auras rapidly approaching.

A moment later, three figures emerged from the dense forest and appeared before Lu Zhao.

Leading the group was a young man in a brocade robe, with an arrogant expression and a cultivation level at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Behind him were two middle-aged men, one at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and the other at the early Foundation Establishment stage, who appeared to be his guards.

The young man in the brocade robe spotted the corpse of the Earthshaking Bear King on the ground at a glance, and a look of greed immediately appeared in his eyes.

"A peak third-tier Earthshaking Bear King!" he exclaimed, then his gaze fell on Lu Zhao. "Boy, did you kill this Bear King?" His tone carried a condescending, interrogative tone.

V Zhao glanced at him indifferently: "So what if it is? So what if it isn't?"

"How dare you!" the mid-Foundation Establishment guard behind the young man in the brocade robe shouted sternly. "This is our Black Cloud City's young master! He should immediately pay his respects!"

"Black Cloud City?" V Zhao raised an eyebrow. He remembered that Black Cloud City was a cultivation city near the Cangyun Mountains, controlled by a force called the Black Cloud Sect. This sect wasn't particularly strong; its sect leader was only at the early Golden Core stage.

"So you're from Black Cloud City," V Zhao said calmly. "I'm a complete stranger to you. I killed the Bear King; it has nothing to do with you."

"None of our business?" The young man in brocade robes—the young master of Black Cloud City—sneered. "This forest is the hunting ground of my Black Cloud City! Every blade of grass, every tree, every bird, and every beast here is the property of my Black Cloud City! You killed my demon beast on my territory, and you still say it has nothing to do with me?" His gaze kept sweeping over Lu Zhao, as if assessing his strength.

In his view, V Zhao, with only the early Foundation Establishment stage cultivation (Lu Zhao concealed his true level using a secret technique), was able to kill the Earthshaking Bear King, so he must have used some special means or treasure. Moreover, after such a fierce battle, this person must have suffered considerable losses.

"Oh?" V-Zhao's eyes turned cold. "Then what do you want?"

"How about it?" The young master of Black Cloud City chuckled. "Simple. Hand over the bear king's corpse and demon core, and leave your storage bag as compensation. I might consider sparing your life."

His two guards moved in perfect unison, forming a triangular encirclement that surrounded V Zhao in the middle.

The smell of gunpowder suddenly intensified in the air.

V Zhao glanced at the three of them, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"Originally, I didn't want to cause trouble." He sighed softly, "But since someone insists on offering their face for me to hit, I have no choice but to grant your request."

"You ignorant fool! Seize him!" The young master of Black Cloud City roared in anger, waving his hand.

The two guards attacked simultaneously! One wielded a knife, the other a sword; two sharp bursts of energy, one from the left and one from the right, swept towards V Zhao!

Faced with such an attack, V-Zhao didn't even bother to draw his sword.

He simply raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together, using them as a sword, and lightly made a sweeping motion.

"Swoosh!" A thin, gray sword aura, as fine as a hair, shot out from his fingertips.

The two seemingly invincible streams of energy melted away silently the moment they encountered the gray sword energy, like snow meeting the blazing sun.

"What?!" The two guards' expressions changed drastically. Before they could react, the gray sword energy was already in front of them.

"Pfft! Pfft!" Two soft sounds.

Their protective auras were pierced as easily as paper, and a burst of blood erupted from their shoulders at the same time. They screamed in agony, flew backward, and crashed heavily to the ground.

"You...who are you?" The arrogance on the young master of Black Cloud City vanished instantly, replaced by deep terror. His two guards couldn't even withstand a single move from this opponent?

What kind of monster is this kid who looks like he's only at the early Foundation Establishment stage?

V Zhao did not answer him, but walked towards him step by step.

"You...you stay away! My father is the sect leader of the Black Cloud Sect! A Golden Core cultivator! If you dare touch me, my father will not let you get away with it!" The young master of Black Cloud City shouted fiercely but inwardly as he retreated.

"A Golden Core cultivator?" V Zhao paused, seemingly startled.

Seeing Lu Zhao stop, the young master of Black Cloud City assumed he was afraid and grew even bolder: "Not bad! Now kneel down and beg for mercy, offer up your treasures, and I might consider sparing your life!"

"Heh." V Zhao chuckled and shook his head. "Don't even mention that your father was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm; even if he were at the late stage, he couldn't save you today."

"You..." The young master of Black Cloud City's face turned pale.

"However, I won't kill you." V Zhao's tone shifted abruptly. "I need someone to guide me."

"Lead...lead the way?" The young master of Black Cloud City was taken aback.

"Good." V Zhao's gaze sharpened. "Take me to Black Cloud City. I have some things I want to inquire about."

Now that he knew he was near Black Cloud City, he could use the Black Cloud City's teleportation array to return to the Azure Cloud Sect. However, before going back, he needed to find out about the situation outside.

For example, did Zhao Wuji and Su Ningshuang escape from the Sword Tomb?

If they escaped, then the news that he had received the inheritance has probably already spread.

At that time, an unprecedented storm will await him!