At the foot of Mountain of Heaven, in a forest.

Moonlight slipped through the canopy, scattering a carpet of glittering shards of jade.

A hungry-looking young man rode sprawled atop a white beast as it walked along.

“Why are we here again...?”

The youth glanced at the sword mark beneath a tree up ahead and scratched his head with a woeful sigh.

Ever since coming down the mountain, everything had gone smoothly—except that he still couldn’t find anything to eat.

Even when they ran into a few lone magical beasts,

Xiaobai hadn’t even had time to unleash a Sword Qi Wave

before the beasts glanced their way and took off running for no apparent reason.

As if some ferocious monster were chasing them.

That is, until they came to this strange forest.

The boy and the beast had been wandering around here for ages.

No matter which way they went, they always ended up back at the spot where they’d first left a mark.

This time, they’d even tried walking straight ahead the whole way—and somehow ended up back here again...

It was downright hopeless. Am I right?

“Um... Great One...”

“Stop, stop, stop. Kitty, I told you to call me Master.”

“Then... Master, if I may be so bold... I’d like to suggest a solution.”

“Go on.”

“Master... why not use the sword strike you used back on Mountain of Heaven to destroy this forest? What do you think...?”

“Mm, good idea. You’re so clever, Kitty. How did I not think of that?”

“Thank you for the praise, Master~”

The discussion was over, and they’d found a way to solve the problem. Xiaobai was delighted.

So he hopped down from the White Tiger, drew the black sword at his waist, and poured his power into it.

The black sword shone with a brilliant glow the color of night. Xiaobai gripped the hilt in both hands, set his stance, and, just like before, swung diagonally upward from low to high.

That terrifying Sword Qi Wave appeared once more.

There was a single “crash!”

The forest ahead, struck by the attack, shattered like a mirror.

Nothing could stop the Sword Qi Wave.

So it continued onward until it finally faded away.

Everything in its path was reduced to nothing.

And just like that, a wide “road” appeared.

No matter how many times you saw it, the sight was stunning.

“This really is a good solution. From now on, whenever we run into something like this, we’ll handle it the same way.”

Xiaobai slid the black sword back into its sheath and nodded, satisfied.

What Xiaobai didn’t know was that

the instant the forest’s image was struck by the Sword Qi Wave...

“Pfft...”

A wisp of soul clinging to a nearby tree shuddered violently under the impact, then vanished completely.

“...”

Somewhere underground in Demon Beast Mountain Range, a soul.

“Aaaaaah!”

A heart-wrenching scream filled the entire dim space.

It was utterly pitiful.

“Which bastard did this? I’ll make you regret it!”

The soul’s curses echoed through the vast space. The destruction of one of its soul clones caused its true soul immense pain, leaving it furious.

If Xiaobai entered the forest again, it had a hundred ways to make him wish he were dead.

The reason Xiaobai had been going around in circles through that enormous forest was that it was filled with one illusion after another. To keep watch over each one, the soul had left a clone attached to something inside it.

Now one of those soul clones had vanished, and one of the illusions had been destroyed.

No matter. It still had more.

As long as you entered the forest, you’d never get out. The soul plotted, its thoughts full of malice.

Meanwhile, Xiaobai aboveground still had no idea what was going on. After unleashing that Sword Qi Wave, he felt refreshed from head to toe.

“Kitty, look! There’s a path now. Let’s keep going.”

“Yes, Master.”

What no one expected was that Xiaobai would get hooked on using Sword Qi Waves after unleashing just one.

After that, no one knew how many Sword Qi Waves Xiaobai unleashed along the way.

All anyone knew was that the “giant road” kept getting longer and longer.

More forest ahead? One Sword Qi Wave.

See a magical beast? One Sword Qi Wave.

Feeling a little down? One Sword Qi Wave.

His stomach rumbled? One Sword Qi Wave.

He had endless reasons.

Sword Qi Waves and all that—

he used them whenever he pleased.

He grew more practiced at unleashing Sword Qi Waves, and faster with every swing.

Lately, he could even unleash them instantly.

Even his sword swings had changed.

A normal diagonal slash: one Sword Qi Wave.

A reverse diagonal slash: one Sword Qi Wave.

A horizontal slash: one Sword Qi Wave.

A straight downward strike: one Sword Qi Wave.

He had every kind of move imaginable.

Xiaobai was having the time of his life. A bright smile stayed on his face the whole time.

Meanwhile, the Netherworld White Tiger was absolutely terrified.

Every time a Sword Qi Wave appeared, its poor little heart gave three fearful jolts.

It seemed that when Master first encountered it, his mood must’ve been pretty good.

Otherwise, if he’d unleashed Sword Qi Waves like this back on Mountain of Heaven... Oh my god. It couldn’t even imagine it...

And don’t forget the soul still lurking underground.

Its plans had long since fallen apart.

As one soul clone after another vanished,

it went from furious, to stunned, and finally to helpless.

This human didn’t play by the rules at all!

Weren’t attacks this powerful supposed to be usable only once?

And even if he could use them more than once, what was with getting hooked on them?

He didn’t care what was ahead of him. He just slashed.

He even slashed when there was nothing in front of him.

Who the hell could put up with someone like that?

It was only a soul now. If it still had a body, it might’ve wanted to drop to the ground and have a good cry.

If it could meet Xiaobai face-to-face,

it would even want to kneel before him and beg:

“I give up, Great One! I was wrong! Please spare me!”