Peak Intent, Breaking the Shackles

Zhao Huai felt the surge of power within him, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

This Peak Intent state of Qi Refining Level 9 actually had a trace of touching Foundation Establishment.

His physical body absorbed a large amount of heaven and earth spiritual Qi, all of which was converted into True Qi within his body, and the True Qi in his Dantian Qi Sea was constantly compressed, showing signs of condensing into True Essence.

One must know that only those in the Foundation Establishment Realm can gather the Dantian Qi Sea, compress spiritual Qi, and solidify it into True Essence.

Now, he had actually touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment.

"Whoosh!"

The Soul-Reaping Scholar hurriedly attacked, the sharp Six Fan Sword piercing towards Zhao Huai in a flash of lightning.

In the eyes of Li Yanqing and the others, they could only vaguely see a blurry afterimage.

But Zhao Huai's expression was calm as he extended two fingers, calmly catching the incoming blade.

Then, he exerted force with his index finger and flicked it slightly.

"Ding!"

A very crisp sound came from the sword.

During the sword control process, the Soul-Reaping Scholar felt a fierce force coming towards him.

He quickly united his mind and mobilized his True Qi to resist the attack.

"Splash!"

However, the suspended Six Fan Sword fell powerlessly under this attack, clanging to the ground, its surface blade broken into pieces, reduced to scrap metal.

With the blessing of Peak Intent, Zhao Huai's finger also had Ten Thousand Jin Strength, coupled with his full power, how could the Soul-Reaping Scholar resist? Seeing his defeat in one move, the Soul-Reaping Scholar retreated quickly, his face unsightly, his gloomy eyes sweeping over Li Yanqing and the others. From this posture, his fear was obvious.

Undoubtedly, he had developed the intention to retreat.

Assassination was not about courting death; as long as he lived, he would still be a good man.

"Want to leave?"

Zhao Huai was keenly aware and immediately noticed the other party's fear.

The Mysterious Ring flickered, and a double-edged, azure longsword with a deep blade hovered in front of Zhao Huai.

This was precisely that unknown precious sword.

The power of fist techniques and physical body was indeed good, but why not try swordplay?

No sooner said than done, Zhao Huai gripped the cold iron in his large hand, and immediately felt a heart-to-heart connection.

It was the [Swordplay Expertise] fate quietly operating, allowing him to adapt and obtain an excellent feel when using weapons.

His fists were already so powerful, what would happen when he used a sword?

A wave of fear flashed through the Soul-Reaping Scholar's mind.

Therefore, he stomped hard, splashing the bluestone slab, and flew more than ten meters away in an instant, running away.

Such a decisive escape undoubtedly left his back to Zhao Huai.

"An assassin with no fighting spirit at all?"

Zhao Huai chuckled, and with a forceful flick of his sword-wielding hand, the longsword was thrown out.

"Whoosh!"

The sound of tearing through the air exploded.

"Damn it!"

Seeing a sword coming towards him, the Soul-Reaping Scholar gritted his teeth.

With a wave of his large sleeve, eight sharp daggers shot out, trying to block the attack.

Seeing this, Zhao Huai moved and disappeared from the spot.

"Ding, ding, ding!"

All eight sharp daggers were deflected by the flying sword.

The next second, Zhao Huai appeared in mid-air, reaching out to catch the sword.

Immediately afterward, he swung it with force.

With the enhancement of Peak Intent, Zhao Huai's physical body was as if its shackles had been unlocked! The sword trembled, and a dragon-like, dark blue sword Qi emerged from the blade, tearing through the air along with the sword's edge.

As the sword Qi approached, a look of extreme horror flashed in the Soul-Reaping Scholar's eyes.

It was too late to resist.

"Pfft!"

The sword Qi shattered the Soul-Reaping Scholar's True Qi barrier, instantly pulverizing his heart meridians, causing him to spit out a large mouthful of blood.

His limp body fell heavily to the ground like a boneless rag doll.

Before his death, his eyes were wide open, clearly not expecting that this mishap would be at the hands of a seemingly ordinary young man.

"This unknown precious sword seems to be a Magical Treasure."

Zhao Huai wiped the blood off the sword with the Soul-Reaping Scholar's clothes, looking at the crystal-clear blade, muttering to himself.

Just then.

The Butcher's stiff body moved slightly, and the Butcher Knife at his waist was drawn with a "shua" sound, suspended in the air, parallel to the ground.

A pair of angry eyes opened, turning red.

On the other side, Zhao Huai's mind seemed to sense something.

He raised his eyelids, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

He threw his hand.

The long sword transformed into a dark blue lightning bolt, shooting out.

"Zheng!"

The sound of the sword was ethereal and clear, like a drop of water falling into a thousand-year-old cold pool.

"So strong..."

The Butcher, who had just sat up, was pinned to the mud wall by the long sword through his chest.

Immediately afterward, the Butcher Knife fell to the ground with a clang, blood trickling from the corner of the Butcher's mouth, the disbelief in his fierce eyes lingering for a long time.

Zhao Huai walked over slowly, pulled out the long sword from the wall, and sighed.

Leaving the other party alive probably wouldn't yield any information. With the previous lesson, he didn't plan to hold back this time.

"Are these assassins really here to kill me? I feel like they're acting on a whim."

"Could it be that they're here to assassinate the madam again?"

Zhao Huai pondered secretly.

Combining his experiences from last time and this time, it wasn't difficult for him to deduce that the assassins' original target was Yu Qinghan, but instead, they chose the weakest link and all came after him.

Zhao Huai felt that this wasn't a sustainable situation. Who could stand being assassinated every day?

He had to have an in-depth conversation with the madam tonight.

Some conflicts had to be resolved at the source.

"Senior! Senior!"

At this moment, Li Yanqing ran over excitedly, his followers almost unable to keep up.

"Your swordplay is amazing! Can you teach me?"

Li Yanqing's face was full of excitement, even more excited than the first time he went to a brothel! Zhao Huai put the sword back into the Mysterious Ring and said indifferently, "You're still too early. Focus on Qi Refining first."

Li Yanqing was not discouraged at all, grinning, "No problem!"

He felt that as long as he cultivated with such a master, what was there to fear about not being able to practice Qi Refining? The strength Zhao Huai displayed completely crushed those so-called cultivator experts his father had found!

Those unscrupulous sects, despite taking his father's money, sent a few ordinary disciples to teach him. Wasn't that just a way to brush him off? Zhao Huai collected the money pouches from the two corpses in front of him, counting them carefully. There was quite a bit of silver, over a thousand in silver notes, and hundreds of Spirit Stones, making for a small fortune.

Then, he took out two Fire Thunder Dao Talismans that he had refined from the Mysterious Ring.

"Senior, is that a talisman?"

Li Yanqing was quite perceptive, recognizing the yellow paper with various patterns Zhao Huai was drawing on with a single glance.

"Yes."

Zhao Huai responded softly, then threw the Fire Thunder Dao Talisman in his hand.

Vigorous flames spontaneously ignited from the Dao Talisman, and in the blink of an eye, the swift crimson flames engulfed the two corpses.

They were burned to nothing but a pile of black ash, which could be considered another use for the Fire Thunder Dao Talisman.

Once the breeze blew, it would all dissipate.

After destroying the evidence, there would naturally be no way to verify their deaths.

Zhao Huai thought to himself as he watched the ashes scatter.

In an instant, Zhao Huai suddenly remembered that there was still one thing he hadn't dealt with.

That was the four masked weirdos he had encountered at the auction. He remembered that these four were looking for trouble with him.

But where were they now? Zhao Huai hadn't forgotten the identities of the four masked weirdos; they were very likely Demons and Monsters.

There's one more chapter, don't worry.