Ambush

The arrival was none other than Lin Sheng, who had chased after them at full speed.

"Kid, have you lost your mind? There's a road to heaven, yet you refuse to take it; hell has no gate, yet you insist on barging in..."

Having finally come to their senses, Ma Qiang and Liu Jie exchanged a glance, then burst into laughter in unison.

Ma Qiang in particular was brimming with excitement as he stared fervently at Lin Sheng, who was approaching step by step.

"You worthless trash who hasn't even reached Body Tempering—today, I'll make you understand the consequences of provoking me, Ma Qiang."

As he spoke, he took the iron spear from his back and glanced at Liu Jie beside him.

"Brother Liu, leave this kid to me. Let me have some fun."

"Of course."

Liu Jie nodded without objection. He planted his steel saber into the ground, though he was already rolling a smooth pebble around in his hand.

Though he had no idea how this kid had appeared here, an ordinary man who was not even a martial artist naturally could not be a match for Ma Qiang, who had already entered the Body Tempering realm.

Still, just in case, he chose to support from the side. If anything unexpected happened, he would not hesitate to strike, lest some accident occur.

Ma Qiang's face was twisted with a savage smile as he carried his iron spear toward Lin Sheng, all the while continuing to speak.

"Kid, I don't know who gave you the courage to deliver yourself right to my doorstep. Don't tell me you still think things are like before. Now, I have already—"

Before he could finish, Lin Sheng suddenly raised the iron spear in his hand and hurled it straight at him.

Amid a piercing shriek through the air, the rough spearhead rapidly expanded in his vision.

Before Ma Qiang could react, a wet pfft rang out. The unmistakable sound of a blade piercing flesh followed, and a tidal wave of searing pain surged from his abdomen.

"Aah!!"

Ma Qiang let out a miserable howl. The iron spear's immense impact punched through his abdomen and drove his body backward, nailing him alive to the trunk of an ancient tree.

"You talk too much."

Lin Sheng cast a cold glance at Ma Qiang's twisted expression, then turned and walked toward Liu Jie.

"This..."

Only when Ma Qiang began letting out agonized screams again did Liu Jie, who had been watching from the side, finally react.

It was not that he was to blame. The scene just now had unfolded far too suddenly.

He had thought that even if Ma Qiang could not take down this kid, the two would at least have to fight for a while.

Who could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, Ma Qiang would be gravely injured? With such severe wounds in this environment, there was absolutely no chance of survival.

Thinking of Ma Long's formidable strength and ruthless ways, Liu Jie knew that if he failed to protect his younger brother, he would certainly face harsh punishment upon returning.

"Kid, you're courting death!!"

Fury surged within him. Without the slightest hesitation, he flicked his wrist, and the pebble shot toward Lin Sheng.

At this point, he could only bring this kid's head back and hope he would have an explanation to offer.

At the same time, his body shot forward like an arrow, steel saber raised as he charged at Lin Sheng.

Facing the whistling pebble, Lin Sheng merely clapped his palm as if swatting a fly, smashing it directly into powder.

Then he bent his legs slightly. In the next instant, his body shot forward like a cannonball, charging head-on at Liu Jie.

"Overestimating yourself."

Seeing that the other party's hands were empty, yet he actually clenched his fists to meet a steel saber head-on, Liu Jie sneered inwardly.

Yet he poured all his strength into his hands. The steel saber descended with a fierce howl, determined to chop off the other's hand in one strike.

He had already made up his mind. He would never let the other party die so easily. He would chop off his limbs one by one before taking his head.

But imagination was beautiful; reality was often far from satisfactory.

The steel saber flashing with a chilling gleam collided with a rough fist.

The imagined bloody scene of flesh flying everywhere did not appear.

Instead, those bare hands directly seized the steel saber.

"How is that possible!!?"

Liu Jie's eyes widened, as though he had witnessed something utterly impossible.

Though his steel saber was no divine weapon, it was not something an ordinary person could block—much less with bare hands.

Even if one had cultivated the Raging Bull Fist to minor mastery, those hands would certainly not survive his full-powered strike.

"Unless..."

Liu Jie seemed to think of something. His expression changed, and he cried out in shock.

"Your Raging Bull Fist has already reached major mastery!!"

"You're a Sinew Tempering martial artist!!"

"That's impossible. It's absolutely impossible..."

Before Lin Sheng could answer, Liu Jie was already shaking his head frantically, his face flushed red as he wildly mobilized all the strength in his body to pull the steel saber free.

Creak... creak... creak...

Yet no matter how he struggled, the steel saber did not budge in the slightest, as though it had been welded to Lin Sheng's palm.

"Is that all?"

Feeling the faint pain in his palm, Lin Sheng shook his head slightly, then suddenly exerted force.

With a crisp clang, the steel saber was crushed and snapped in two by his bare hand.

"Die!!"

Liu Jie had already recovered from his earlier shock. Seeing the saber break, he did not cling to it in the slightest. He released it and retreated, firing a white object from his robe.

It then burst apart, and a great cloud of white powder exploded outward. It was a small cloth pouch filled with lime powder.

But that was not the end. Liu Jie did not choose to flee. Instead, he drew out two more throwing darts and fired them into the white mist.

At that moment, Lin Sheng's figure burst from the white mist. He swung his arm and slapped one dart away, while the other landed on his shoulder.

Seeing this, Liu Jie was not alarmed but delighted. A cold smile appeared on his face as he rapidly retreated.

That dart was one of his hidden trump cards. It had long been coated with deadly poison. As long as it pierced the skin, once the poison entered the blood, the other party would soon breathe his last.

Yet the poisoning symptoms he had imagined—painful struggling, collapsing to his knees, gasping for breath—did not appear. Instead, Lin Sheng rapidly chased after him.

"Courting death. The more you circulate your blood and qi, the faster the poison will take effect. When the time comes, you won't even know how you died."

He fled backward at high speed. He was certain the other party could not hold on for more than a few breaths. The poison would soon take effect, and he would not give the other party a chance to perish together with him.

Clearly, he had immense confidence in his poison. He had paid a hefty price to obtain it. Even a Sinew Tempering martial artist would absolutely be unable to escape death.

Several breaths soon passed, yet Liu Jie discovered in astonishment that the poison still had not acted up. Instead, Lin Sheng was getting closer and closer.

"What's going on? Why hasn't the poison taken effect yet?"

Liu Jie's heart was full of doubt, but he was given no time to think. A dull thud sounded from behind him.

Lin Sheng's calf abruptly swelled by a full circle. With one stomp, he shattered the ground, and his speed instantly surged as he shot several meters forward in a single leap.

Liu Jie instinctively turned around, only to find a black boot already before him, its kick crashing into his back.

Amid cracking bones, Liu Jie was like a man struck by a speeding carriage. His body flew backward and plunged into a nearby clump of weeds.

At that moment, Liu Jie felt as though his entire body had fallen apart. He struggled to rise, but could not do so at all.

Watching Lin Sheng slowly approach, he widened his eyes as though wanting to say something. Yet with a wah, he only spat out a large mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.

Then, as though all strength had been drained from him, he collapsed weakly to the ground. His eyes remained wide open, and he died with them unclosed.

Lin Sheng walked over and searched Liu Jie's body.

Besides several throwing darts, a money pouch, and some miscellaneous items, he also found a thin booklet.

This made Lin Sheng inwardly delighted.

"Could it be another martial arts manual!"

The thought flashed through his mind, but he did not rush to inspect it.