Seeking Help

"Whoosh!"

Et's body flew backward four meters and slammed heavily into the wall with a muffled boom.

The wall, weathered by years of sun, wind, and rain, could not withstand the violent impact of his sturdy body. It collapsed at once with another thunderous roar, sending dust billowing into the air and nearly burying his fallen form.

On the other side of the wall, less than three meters away, lay Eddie's corpse in a pool of blood.

"Spirit... Spirit Refinement Manifestation!"

Blood spilled from Et's mouth as he glared at Baili Qingfeng, his eyes seeming to look at a monster.

"Whew!"

Baili Qingfeng exhaled a long breath, stopping the burden brought by the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art's release of his flesh. Leaning against the wall, he sat down heavily.

Tired. In pain!

Fortunately, it was...

finally over.

The terrifying future threat that Et might have become, one capable of bringing bloody storms, had also been strangled in its cradle.

"Not just Spirit Refinement Manifestation. You also know the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art."

Baili Qingfeng's gaze fell on Et as he spoke.

"The Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art?"

Et recalled the violent, savage aura that had erupted from Baili Qingfeng just now and suddenly laughed bitterly. "The Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art... After realizing that my son and I would never give up on the power of the Baili Family, you actually fought us to the death so decisively. You were willing to throw away your brilliant future just to kill us father and son. What decisiveness. What courage! Baili Qingfeng... I underestimated you..."

Although Baili Qingfeng vaguely sensed that something was off, it was a fact that Et and Eddie would not let the Baili Family go.

Eddie had said so, and now he had received confirmation from Et as well.

Therefore, he did not regret killing the two of them. His conscience was clear.

To protect his family, to preserve a peaceful life...

He was willing to shoulder all the sins himself.

Baili Qingfeng sat there, his eyes narrowing slightly as he gazed serenely at the night sky. His expression was utterly calm.

Et, meanwhile, coughed up another mouthful of blood.

All of his internal organs had been shattered by Baili Qingfeng. No matter how advanced the medical treatment, he could not be saved. Yet he still held on, staring at Baili Qingfeng as he sat there so peacefully, as though enjoying the final moments of his life before quietly waiting for death to arrive, just like him.

Who could have imagined...

that a man with a bright future would die at the hands of such a young man?

And that he would be forcibly killed by his opponent through the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art, in such a tragic manner that both sides would perish together?

Indeed...

One should never underestimate any opponent. Even when they had investigated everything thoroughly and thought they had everything under control, once pushed to the limit, their opponent might still act like a cornered dog leaping over the wall and drag them into eternal ruin.

Unfortunately...

By the time he understood this, it was already too late.

"Your vitality is quite tenacious. You're still not dead?"

After a moment, Baili Qingfeng's voice suddenly reached him, jolting Et's thoughts awake from their faint melancholy, regret, and remorse.

The scattered focus in Et's eyes tightened slightly, and his attention returned to Baili Qingfeng. He gave a bitter laugh. "You used the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art, so you won't survive either. Your potential... you have hope of reaching War-level in the future. To see a genius like you accompany me to the grave, it's barely... worth it..."

"Accompany you to the grave? I was just tired and sat down to rest."

Baili Qingfeng felt somewhat speechless.

After resting for a while, the aftereffects of the Heavenly Demon Disintegration Art had eased somewhat. He stood up again and walked expressionlessly to Et.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Et saw that Baili Qingfeng's complexion had actually regained a trace of rosiness. His eyes flew wide, and his emotions surged with disbelief. "How is this possible... You... you..."

The change in his emotions caused the breath he had stubbornly held together to disperse at once. A mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips again.

"Pfft!"

Baili Qingfeng raised his hand, clenched his fist, and aimed at the vital point of Et's temple...

"Now, I'll send you to reunite with your father."

"Mon... monster..."

Et stared at Baili Qingfeng and struggled to spit out three more words. His expression stiffened and froze.

His breath ran out, and he died.

Baili Qingfeng held up his fist and paused for a second.

"He's dead?"

In the end, he did not throw the punch.

"Although you father and son were utterly vicious, the dead are supreme. No matter how sinister and venomous you were in life, no matter how ruthless and heartless, how cruel and ungrateful, how hypocritical and bestial, how utterly devoid of conscience... when a person dies, the lamp goes out. I, Baili Qingfeng, am an upright man. I'm not so low as to abuse your corpses. From this day forward, our grievances are wiped clean."

Baili Qingfeng muttered this, lowered his fist, and sat down beside him again.

On one hand...

he needed to rest.

On the other hand...

what if these old foxes had some breath-holding technique that allowed them to fake their deaths?

Baili Qingfeng was merely a newcomer who had just stepped into the martial world. How could his experience compare with that of the Eddie father and son? Thus, he could only use this clumsy method and keep watch for half an hour.

No one could go half an hour without breathing or circulating blood.

The night air was cool as water.

The abandoned construction site was quiet and secluded. Besides, it was nighttime, so no one came over out of curiosity.

After watching for half an hour and confirming that the Eddie father and son were truly dead, Baili Qingfeng stood up again.

After half an hour of recuperation, his body had recovered as well, though his chest still throbbed faintly.

"Let's hurry back. I won't read tonight. I'll get a good night's sleep. It should stop hurting tomorrow."

Thinking this, Baili Qingfeng patted the pants he had dirtied slightly by sitting on the ground. He walked about three hundred meters, stopped at a bus stop by the roadside, waited four minutes, then boarded a bus heading toward Xia'er University.

The death of a head of the Stability Maintenance Group naturally caused quite a stir in Xia.

But...

no one connected the matter to Baili Qingfeng.

The Eddie father and son had come here bearing a major mission. They had already touched the interests of many people and clashed with multiple factions. Although the Baili Family, a local power, had been within the scope of those conflicts, anyone who made even a cursory investigation into the Baili Family's current circumstances would know that a family with only Baili Changkong to rely on was absolutely incapable of doing anything to the Eddie father and son.

Moreover, at the time of the incident, Baili Changkong had been singing, dancing, and practicing tai chi with some old friends in the town square. He had a clear alibi.

Baili Qingfeng's life finally returned to peace once more.

By the following afternoon, his two broken ribs had more or less healed.

Baili Qingfeng ate dinner in the school cafeteria, then returned to the courtyard he had bought at the foot of Qingyuan Mountain. He turned on his computer, logged into Sword Rain World, and first checked the cultivation manual section.

There had been no changes in the cultivation manual section. There were still 1,084 manuals.

"The moderator still hasn't been discharged. I wonder when he'll be able to update it. Waiting for an update is truly painful."

Baili Qingfeng said this as he stared at the 1,084 manuals and began searching through them.

During his battle with the Eddie father and son, he had realized his shortcomings. Thus, he planned to learn a horizontal training technique that could strengthen his physical body.

"Iron Essence Skill? You can tell from the name that its grade isn't good enough. Indestructible Body? It seems a little too common. Chaos Divine Body? Black and white mixed together makes chaos? That makes sense..."

After searching for a while, he found that among the 1,084 techniques on the forum, there were not many horizontal training methods—only nineteen. He looked through them one by one but was not satisfied.

This was a world with martial artists.

He did not expect to reach the highest realm and physically withstand a Nuclear Bomb, but surely he should at least be able to withstand a Gatling, right? Yet these techniques...

not one of them could even withstand bullets from a small-caliber pistol. They were practically joking around.

Fortunately, Baili Qingfeng knew his own limitations. He had only entered the martial world a few months ago. Compared to other people, his common sense was lacking by far more than a little.

Therefore, when he did not understand something, he asked. He sought guidance with an open mind.

He immediately logged into a chat application and posted a message: "Fellow experts, I'm a martial artist who yearns for peace and dislikes fighting. I only hope to protect myself when I encounter danger. I wonder if any of you can recommend the most top-tier horizontal training techniques? I'm not afraid if they're difficult to practice, and I'm not afraid of side effects either. The stronger the defensive effect, the better."