Captured

For the first time, Jiang Ping An faced an opponent this strong. He could not win, so he fled without hesitation.

But the Giant Eagle swooped down, blocked his path, and beat him back with a sweep of its wings.

Xu Hao launched a furious assault on Jiang Ping An.

"My father brought this blade technique back from his studies abroad. What right does a wretch like you have to learn it?"

Slash after slash struck Jiang Ping An's protective barrier, and its glow grew dimmer.

"Without that barrier, you're trash!"

Xu Hao kept attacking and belittling Jiang Ping An, trying to elevate himself by putting him down.

"Without your father, you're trash."

Even though he could barely fight back, Jiang Ping An kept resisting. Until the very end, he would not give up.

Jiang Ping An's taunt struck Xu Hao's fragile pride hard.

"You're asking to die!"

Xu Hao had always wanted to prove that his accomplishments had nothing to do with his father, yet he could never escape his father's care.

To someone who prided himself on his excellence, that was a humiliation.

Having someone say it aloud was worse.

Bang!

Xu Hao attacked with all his strength. His blade struck the barrier, and with a crack, it shattered.

"Haha! Die! Your lucky find is mine!"

Xu Hao's face twisted as he brought down the final slash.

"Then we die together!"

A wild look seized Jiang Ping An's face. His blade suddenly changed direction. Abandoning the attack before him, he slashed to the left.

Phantom Blade did not actually make the blade illusory.

It was a trick of the eye. As an afterimage formed, the blade slipped through a blind spot and around the opponent's attack.

If someone knew the blade's path and was fast enough, they could block it.

But Jiang Ping An had no intention of blocking. He would go around Xu Hao's attack and strike from the left, trading one life for another!

Splurt!

Blood sprayed.

Jiang Ping An took a blow to the chest, the wound deep enough to expose bone.

But Xu Hao was unharmed.

Golden light burst from Xu Hao's body and knocked Jiang Ping An's blade away.

A bead of sweat rolled down Xu Hao's forehead.

It had been that close.

That close. Without his Life-Preserving Talisman, he would have died!

Xu Hao shuddered with fear. Then his face contorted. He had nearly been killed by someone younger than himself, and he could not bear the humiliation.

"You wasted one of my precious Life-Preserving Talismans! You think you're the only one with a trump card? Let's see what else you've got!"

Xu Hao swung his blade in fury, ready to finish Jiang Ping An for good. He hated this brat whose talent surpassed his own.

Xu Hao's blade fell toward Jiang Ping An's neck.

That slash would surely send his head flying!

At the same time, Jiang Ping An kicked at him.

Xu Hao looked at him with contempt. What an idiot. He couldn't hurt me with a blade, and now a cultivator who hasn't learned any techniques thinks he can hurt me with a kick?

Xu Hao's blade and Jiang Ping An's foot landed at the same instant.

Bang!

Xu Hao was kicked away. He dropped to his knees in agony, clutching his groin as his body shook violently.

Jiang Ping An had put everything into that strike. He did not care whether it was underhanded. He was about to die—what place was there for such concerns?

"No... impossible."

The pain nearly made Xu Hao pass out.

He struggled to raise his head. At the sight of the green light around Jiang Ping An, shock flooded his face.

The Protective Amulet had clearly run out of power.

Why was it still protecting him?

Then Xu Hao caught sight of Jiang Ping An's waist.

Two Protective Amulets hung there!!

What kind of lucky find had this brat stumbled upon? How did he have so many treasures?

Even Xu Hao's father, with all his status, had given him only one Protective Talisman!

Yet Jiang Ping An had two Protective Amulets that lasted this long!

Two?

No. Ten.

Being hunted had left Jiang Ping An deeply uneasy, so he had set aside an entire day to copy ten Protective Amulets.

Only now did Jiang Ping An understand: something kept hidden like this was called a trump card.

He had let Xu Hao strike him earlier so the man would lower his guard. Only then would Jiang Ping An have a chance to kill him.

Otherwise, even dozens of Protective Amulets would eventually be broken through.

If that kick had failed to kill Xu Hao, Jiang Ping An really would have fled.

Jiang Ping An did not hesitate. While Xu Hao was still unable to rise, he snatched up the blade on the ground and charged.

"Beast! Protect me!" Xu Hao roared at the Giant Eagle, veins bulging across his forehead from the pain.

The Giant Eagle was about to move, but its eyes flickered. Suddenly, it spread its wings, soared into the sky, and fled.

It had long been oppressed, too afraid to escape. Today was its chance.

Xu Hao froze.

He had never imagined things would end this way.

Watching Jiang Ping An rush toward him, Xu Hao's face twisted. "My father is the Pingshui County General! If you kill me, my father will surely—"

Splurt!

Before Xu Hao could finish, his head hit the ground.

Jiang Ping An had struck without a moment's hesitation.

Xu Hao was so much older. How could he still be so childish?

Was there any chance of making peace between them? None at all.

In that case, he might as well let that general feel the grief of losing family.

With Xu Hao dead, pain swept across Jiang Ping An's face.

He looked down at his chest. Blood kept pouring out, and stark white bone showed through the wound.

While he had been fighting, he had barely felt it. Now that he had relaxed, the pain was excruciating.

He hurriedly took out his bottle of Trauma Medicine and poured it over his chest.

He had no idea how the medicine was made, but once it touched the wound, the bleeding quickly stopped.

His pursuers would arrive any moment. Before fleeing, Jiang Ping An crouched out of habit and searched Xu Hao's body.

Xu Hao held a high position. He ought to have plenty of treasures.

Suddenly, green light burst from Jiang Ping An's body.

His protective barrier was defending him on its own!

Who was attacking him?

Jiang Ping An spun around and saw a middle-aged man with a goatee.

The man held a small black flag covered in mysterious runes.

He poured spiritual energy into it and hurled it at Jiang Ping An, uttering a single word.

"Break."

A gap suddenly opened in Jiang Ping An's Protective Amulet. The Formation Banner slammed into his head.

Jiang Ping An's face changed. His Protective Amulet had failed!

Pain lanced through his mind. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

He did not know how long had passed when a basin of cold water splashed over him and woke him.

Jiang Ping An opened his eyes groggily.

It was dim all around him, and the air reeked.

He was in a cave—or rather, a dungeon.

He was bound to a strange iron post with chains. Torture instruments surrounded him, and several corpses lay nearby.

Their faces were twisted, as though they had suffered terribly before dying. Most had only one eye left; the other had been stabbed blind.

He raised his head. Before him stood the goateed man who had attacked him.

Jiang Ping An tried to stir his spiritual energy, but he could not sense any inside him.

"Don't waste your strength. I fed you a Spirit Dispersal Pill. There's no spiritual energy left in your body, and the Formation Banner beside you absorbs any that gathers. You won't recover it."

Goatee spoke at an unhurried pace, toying with two emerald-green Protective Amulets.

Jiang Ping An's heart sank. A Spirit Dispersal Pill? He had never heard of it, but it must be some kind of medicine.

Formation Banner?

Jiang Ping An looked down. A small black flag stood planted in the ground nearby, its runes flickering as it drew away spiritual energy.

The man had broken through his Protective Amulet to attack him. He had to be a cultivator too.

"Who are you?"

Crack!

Goatee lashed Jiang Ping An across the face. His youthful skin split open, and blood flowed.

"You think you have the right to question me?"

Jiang Ping An trembled with pain.

Goatee said coldly, "Where did you get your cultivation method and resources?"

"Someone gave them to me."

Enduring the pain, Jiang Ping An told him about meeting the cultivator that day.

"Oh? Then you should thank me. If we from Great King Mountain hadn't slaughtered your village, you'd never have caught a cultivator's attention or received those resources."

The goateed cultivator stroked his beard, staring at Jiang Ping An without a trace of feeling in his eyes.

Jiang Ping An's fists clenched.

So this man was one of the Bandits from Great King Mountain!

He was one of the killers too!

Crack!

Another lash struck Jiang Ping An's face.

"You think you have the right to be angry?" Yuan Bin's voice was ice-cold.