Packing Up

As he watched that mysterious figure appear out of nowhere, only to be abruptly sliced into more than a dozen pieces, the Core Forming fist master of the Demon Refining Hall felt his heart quake.

"Hun Soul!?"

Hun Soul!

The foremost assassin in Star Province's underworld.

No fewer than ten Core Forming experts had died by his hand.

That number surpassed the number of Core Forming powerhouses some Spirit Refining experts had slain in their entire lives.

His most glorious achievement had been single-handedly ambushing and killing an entire major sect. After a month, he had forced a True Person of Spirit Refining to abandon the sect and flee.

An assassin of such caliber, whose might while hidden in the shadows was no less than that of a Spirit Refining True Person, had actually died just like this!?

Died at the hands of this unknown powerhouse?

And died without making a sound?

The Core Forming fist master's mind roiled, but Gu Jinlai's all-out sword strike did not slow in the slightest. It came crashing down.

"Boom!"

Sword Qi exploded apart!

It was as though ten kilograms of explosives had detonated in midair.

The violent strike, infused with nearly all of Gu Jinlai's true qi, erupted and reverberated through the void.

A hurricane howled.

Sand and stones flew.

The Sword Qi that sprayed outward frenziedly carved across the smooth marble floor, leaving behind sword scars stretching several meters, even more than ten meters, in every direction.

The Core Forming fist master at the center of the assault shuddered violently. Under the scour of the Sword Qi, his entire body seemed to be flayed alive. Even with protective true qi, more than a dozen sword scars were torn across him.

His shoulder and thigh were pierced through by Sword Qi, and blood flowed freely.

The violent force also shook his internal organs and battered his body, sending him involuntarily flying backward.

"Second Senior Brother!"

Seeing this, the other two Gang Condensing cultivators did not give Gu Jinlai a chance to pursue. They swept across with their swords to intercept him!

But Gu Jinlai's sword edge flashed, stirring the web-like remnants of Formless Sword Qi. In an instant, they blanketed the two Gang Condensing cultivators rushing to intercept him.

However, unlike Hun Soul, the assassin who had barely dared to use true qi earlier to ensure the assassination's success, these two Gang Condensing cultivators were entirely different. The remnants of the Formless Sword Qi no longer possessed their full might, and the moment they wrapped around the two men, the men shook out their true qi and blocked it.

Though their clothes were torn and more than a dozen bloody marks appeared on their bodies, those wounds were not enough to sever them in half.

Even so, that strange, invisible attack still made the two Gang Condensing cultivators' expressions change drastically.

"Fall back!"

"Watch out for the Sword Qi!"

Facing life and death, the two Gang Condensing cultivators withdrew and retreated at their fastest speed.

The speed and agility they displayed in that instant left Gu Jinlai utterly outclassed.

"One Light Red Name, and the other two are Yellow Names."

Considering that he had come here to reclaim what belonged to him, not to vent his bloodlust by killing people,

after forcing the three men back, he spun around. His true qi surged through his body as he strode forward, seeming like a cannonball blasting into Yun Guantian's study.

"Bang!"

Wood splinters flew everywhere.

The door was smashed to pieces.

His gaze swept in all directions, and he quickly found several items and books that looked relatively valuable, bundling them all up in one go.

Then the force beneath his feet erupted. As the earth shook, he sprang through the air and slammed into the wall, directly collapsing the walls of the study and bedroom. Bricks and stones flew while dust rustled down.

Then he did what he always did.

If it caught his eye, he took it.

Whatever was valuable, he took.

All sorts of odds and ends were bundled into a pile at astonishing speed. Then he swept his sword, and a phantom Blood Lotus seemed to appear behind him.

In the next moment, the Blood Lotus phantom shattered, transforming into dozens of crisscrossing Sword Qi that howled through Yun Guantian's bedroom and study, washing over and tearing through them without restraint.

The sensation was like wielding a Gatling gun and spraying wildly in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree sweep, from the inside out.

Blue-brick tiles, white-jade flooring, carved dragons and painted phoenixes, glazed mirrors—everything shattered, sprayed apart, and exploded.

As the Sword Qi crisscrossed, Gu Jinlai quickly sensed something.

He leaped, pouring true qi into his body, and kicked down a wall. Amid the spraying stone fragments, he used his true qi to pull out a box hidden inside the wall.

After catching the box and confirming that he had not missed any secret passageways or hidden compartments, Gu Jinlai did not dare linger. He strode away at full speed, fleeing the scene.

Almost as soon as he charged out of the house, the building, whose foundation, beams, and walls had been almost completely destroyed, could no longer bear the weight. It collapsed with a thunderous crash, sending countless fragments and clouds of dust flying.

"Damn it."

The Core Forming fist master stared at the scene, eyes wide with shock and fury.

Rampant!

This bandit was far too rampant!

He had broken into their hall master's home, set it on fire, killed people, stolen things, and even torn the house apart!

Was there any justice left? Any law!?

"Second Senior Brother!"

At that moment, the two Gang Condensing cultivators, covered in blood and looking utterly miserable, came around.

"What are you standing around for!? Pursue him!"

The Core Forming fist master shouted harshly.

"Senior Brother, this man..."

One of the Gang Condensing cultivators glanced at Hun Soul's corpse, shattered into more than a dozen pieces, and fear flashed through his eyes. "This man is at the Core Forming peak. His movement technique must be superb. Never mind whether we can catch him—even if we do, if he turns around and strikes back, Master's losses will only be greater..."

"At present, we should invite Hall Master Zhang here as quickly as possible. Only Hall Master Zhang can kill this fiend!"

The other Gang Condensing cultivator chimed in.

The Second Senior Brother glanced at the two men.

That attacker had been a peak Core Forming expert capable of easily killing even Hun Soul.

He himself had been defeated in a single exchange. If the two junior brothers pursued him, they would only be throwing their lives away.

Before long, Zhang Xiu arrived with more than a dozen people, led by the Sixth Junior Brother.

"Yu Daoquan, you..."

Zhang Xiu glanced at the fist master, then his eyes fell on Hun Soul. His pupils abruptly contracted.

He had heard that the hall master had secretly recruited Hun Soul, a top assassin. However, that assassin had cultivated his concealment technique to the extreme. Unless he revealed killing intent, even a Spirit Refining True Person would have difficulty detecting him from ten paces away.

But now...

He had actually died here!?

"Hall Master Zhang, hurry and pursue him! The attacker fled toward the south of the city!"

Yu Daoquan said urgently.

"Did you identify his status? A Spirit Refining True Person? A Core Forming cultivator?"

"Core Forming. His cultivation has not reached Spirit Refining."

Yu Daoquan spoke with certainty.

"Someone below Spirit Refining killed..."

Zhang Xiu remembered that Hun Soul's identity could not be exposed and hurriedly changed his wording. "Someone below Spirit Refining severely wounded all three of you?"

"We... were careless for a moment."

Yu Daoquan hesitated for a moment.

He understood Zhang Xiu's misgivings.

A thousand people had a thousand different thoughts.

Even Yun Guantian's own disciples were afraid to pursue that attacker and unwilling to risk their lives to hold him back, let alone the other people of the Demon Refining Hall.

At that moment, Zhang Xiu nodded. "This man has acted wantonly in my Demon Refining Hall, showing no regard for us whatsoever. I'll have people investigate at once!"

He quickly assembled his forces and gave chase.

The commotion was considerable.

But after so much time had been wasted...

The attacker had long since vanished. Catching up now was nothing but wishful thinking.

"There was clearly a Spirit Refining True Person nearby, and Core Forming and Gang Condensing cultivators openly patrolled the house, yet they still had a top assassin hidden in the shadows to launch a killing strike. With defenses like that, any Core Forming cultivator who came today would have died. That was far too dangerous."

Gu Jinlai carried bundle after bundle as he ran toward the outskirts of Changjun City at full speed.

"Let's go, let's go. We're not coming back, not coming back."

Just thinking about it made his heart tremble with lingering fear.

He strode forward and soon reached the Jiang Family caravan in the southern part of the city.

In front of the caravan, Shao Hong watched the faint commotion coming from the city. Then he saw Gu Jinlai return with a huge pile of bundles, and an ominous feeling immediately welled up inside him.

"Elder Gu..."

"Oh, I've finished packing my things."

Gu Jinlai said.

Shao Hong's gaze lingered on him for several seconds. Then, as though he had not seen the bloodstains and dust on Gu Jinlai's clothes, he quickly said, "Then we'll set out at once. Elder Gu, please get in the carriage."

"The medicinal herbs at the Fang Family estate..."

"We won't wait. The moonlight will grow dim, which won't be conducive to moving the other medicinal herbs. We mustn't lose the greater gain for the sake of a lesser one."

"All right."

Gu Jinlai nodded and boarded the carriage.

The moment he got in, Shao Hong immediately hailed the caravan. The several dozen people set out at speed and left Changjun City.