Eradicate Evil to the End, Blood Stains the Idol!

Dead!

Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji, that terrifying martial artist at the peak of Organ Refining, was dead.

He had died at the hands of an unfamiliar Black-Clad Man.

More than a dozen bandits remained inside the Desolate Temple.

All of them stared at Lu Changsheng in trembling fear, their faces showing a trace of terror.

They seemed unable to believe that their leader, so powerful, had actually died.

Yet there were still a few fierce men who seemed to know they could not escape death. Instead, their savagery was roused, and they charged at Lu Changsheng.

Lu Changsheng's gaze was ice-cold.

His principle was to eradicate evil to the end and cut the grass out by the roots!

Every one of Li Ji's subordinates had blood on their hands. Not a single one was innocent.

Whoosh.

The next moment, Lu Changsheng's figure flashed, and the dagger in his hand made only a light slash.

Splurt.

One bandit after another clutched his throat and fell to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of bandits had collapsed to the floor.

The Desolate Temple was carpeted with corpses.

The thick stench of blood was enough to make one retch.

All of Li Ji's bandits were dead. Not one had managed to escape.

After all, with Lu Changsheng's speed, escaping before his eyes was practically impossible.

Lu Changsheng stood quietly inside the Desolate Temple. Strangely, despite killing so many people, scarcely any blood stained his body.

In a corner of the Desolate Temple, many people from Miraculous Garden were still crouching.

When Lu Changsheng's gaze fell upon the people of Miraculous Garden, Zheng Renxin and the others immediately turned pale.

Some of them even began trembling all over.

At this moment, Lu Changsheng appeared even more terrifying to them than Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji.

They did not know whether Lu Changsheng would kill them to silence them.

However, Lu Changsheng eventually turned away and began searching through the corpses of Li Ji and the others.

"What is he doing?"

"He seems to be looking for something?"

Zheng Renxin exchanged glances with the other Organ Refining martial artists, seemingly communicating with their eyes.

But no matter what Lu Changsheng was doing, they absolutely could not act rashly now, lest they provoke this mysterious man.

Lu Changsheng was indeed looting the corpses.

It was a good habit.

He found a large number of silver banknotes on the bodies.

Most of those silver banknotes had likely been looted from Miraculous Garden, but Lu Changsheng had no intention of returning them.

There was actually even more silver.

However, Lu Changsheng had no plans to leave Nanyang City. With several cartloads of silver like this, there was no way he could take it all with him, so he could only leave it behind.

"Hmm? This is... a Martial Arts Manual?"

Suddenly, Lu Changsheng found a mysterious Martial Arts Manual on Li Ji's body.

This Martial Arts Manual did not seem to be a Divine Strength Realm manual, yet it also did not appear to be an Organ Refining martial arts manual. It seemed exceedingly mysterious.

But Li Ji was already dead, so Lu Changsheng had no way to ask him about it.

From the other corpses, Lu Changsheng also found several martial arts techniques and Martial Skills.

Rumble, rumble.

Thunder rolled outside the Desolate Temple; inside, blood stained the idol.

Having finished searching the bodies, Lu Changsheng rose to his feet.

As he passed the people of Miraculous Garden, he did not even spare them a glance.

Whoosh.

Lu Changsheng's figure instantly vanished into the night, disappearing without a trace in moments.

"Whew..."

Zheng Renxin finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Quick, untie the ropes."

They had all been tied up.

But now that Li Ji's men were dead and no one was watching them, these ropes naturally could not hold them.

Very soon, everyone from Miraculous Garden had freed themselves.

Looking at the corpses strewn across the Desolate Temple, they still could not help but feel their hearts tremble.

"That masked man's methods were vicious indeed—he cut the grass at its roots and left no one alive."

Some of Miraculous Garden's martial artists murmured among themselves.

"Hmph."

"If he left no one alive, then what are we?"

Zheng Renxin snorted coldly, sweeping his gaze across the crowd. Everyone could only lower their heads.

Zheng Renxin was right. If the masked man had truly been so ruthless as to leave no survivors, how could they still be alive?

By rights, they should all have been killed.

"Could this person be connected to our Miraculous Garden?"

"But where would our Nanyang Zheng Clan find such a powerful friend?"

"Even Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji died at the masked man's hands. Below the Divine Strength Realm, no one like this can be found in all of Nanyang City..."

Just as everyone was discussing it, a series of creaking carriage wheels suddenly sounded from outside the Desolate Temple.

Zheng Renxin's expression shifted slightly, as though he had thought of something.

"Yifeng should be back."

"Since Li Ji is dead, we must root out evil completely. Every one of those bandits deserves to die!"

"Everyone, you must kill that pack of bandits..."

Zheng Renxin began making arrangements and preparations, waiting quietly.

Before long, a group of bandits arrived outside the Desolate Temple.

The bandits were escorting more than a dozen carts of valuables in a steady stream. Every one of them was beaming with delight, and before they had even entered the temple, they were already laughing loudly. "Heavenly King, we struck it rich this time—more than a dozen carts of gold and silver..."

The moment the bandits stepped into the Desolate Temple, they immediately caught the thick stench of blood.

At the same time, the ground was carpeted with their companions' corpses.

They even saw the body of Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji.

"Heavenly King!"

The bandits cried out in shock.

However, they were quite alert. They almost immediately turned and ran, but it was already too late.

"Die, you vile bandits!"

Zheng Renxin struck first, driving a blade into a bandit's back and piercing straight through him.

Blood mingled with rainwater and flowed across the ground.

"Kill!"

At Zheng Renxin's command, Miraculous Garden's many martial artists charged out as well, pouncing on the dozen or so bandits.

Moments later, the slaughter was over.

After all, Miraculous Garden held an overwhelming advantage.

Yet Zheng Renxin's expression was somewhat livid.

"Four Organ Refining Masters and several dozen martial artists surrounded and killed a mere dozen or so Blood Strengthening and Bone Forging Realm bandits, yet one of them actually escaped?"

Zheng Renxin was furious, but at the same time, helpless.

The Nanyang Zheng Clan had lived in wealth and comfort for too long. Having long been out of practice on the battlefield and rarely fighting others to the death, they had allowed someone to escape despite holding an absolute advantage.

Still, only one had escaped—a mere Bone Forging Realm martial artist.

Besides, the leader of this bandit gang, Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji, was already dead. A mere Bone Forging Realm martial artist could not stir up any great waves.

It was no great problem!

"Family Head, dealing with so many corpses will be troublesome. How about we report it to the authorities and hand everything over to the government for them to handle?"

Someone suggested.

"Report it to the authorities?"

Zheng Renxin's expression changed instantly, and he immediately rebuked him. "No. We absolutely cannot report this to the authorities."

"These bandits—Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji in particular—were already declared dead in an Imperial Court notice, supposedly wiped out by the Imperial Court's army."

"Not long ago, quite a number of officials were promoted because of this. If you report it now and say Li Ji was not dead, what do you think those promoted officials will think?"

"Heh heh, the Imperial Court's army falsely reported military achievements and may even have slaughtered innocents to claim credit. I do not know whether those officials will be punished, but if we report this to the authorities, Miraculous Garden will definitely be the one to suffer!"

"So, take men and deal with the bandits' corpses. Remember, keep your mouths shut to the outside world. Say they were just an ordinary gang of bandits. Do not mention Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji."

Everyone from Miraculous Garden felt their hearts tighten, realizing the gravity of the matter.

Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji had long been "dead." They absolutely could not "kill" him a second time.

They could only pretend they knew nothing.

"Right, that Mysterious Masked Man may have some connection to our Miraculous Garden..."

One of the Organ Refining martial artists said softly.

They were no fools. The Mysterious Masked Man had killed only Li Ji and the other bandits, yet had not touched a hair on their heads. That alone was suspicious.

"Do not investigate the mysterious man's identity any further."

"Pretend you never saw him. Remember, there was no mysterious man today, nor was there Blade-Dragging Heavenly King Li Ji. There was only an ordinary gang of bandits that our Miraculous Garden crushed."

"Yes, Family Head."

The group swiftly began burying the bodies and cleaning up the Desolate Temple.

Lu Changsheng changed out of his Nightwalker Robe and returned to the small courtyard.

He poured himself a cup of wine, then poured it onto the ground in the direction of Elder Wen's corpse.

"Elder Wen, I've avenged you..."

Lu Changsheng murmured in a low voice.

Having killed Li Ji, his heart finally settled.

With a tranquil heart, it was time to train!

Lu Changsheng's blood and qi surged as he began Bone Tempering.

Once, twice, three times...

Thunder rumbled outside and rain came down in sheets, yet Lu Changsheng's heart was incomparably calm. Even his training efficiency seemed to have improved greatly.

Boom.

Suddenly, amid the thunder, Lu Changsheng's entire body shuddered.

Immediately afterward, a line of small text appeared before his eyes.

Mighty Ox Bone Forging Technique complete. Comprehension +4.

PS: Thanks to "Guanshan Guyue" for the ten-thousand tip! Thanks, brother!