ChunJun

In the suburbs.

Outside an old courtyard with a history of over thirty years.

A sedan hurried over.

The vehicle came to a stop, and Shen Zhengxian hurriedly got out.

Property company personnel who had arrived ahead of time immediately came up to greet him.

"Mr. Shen."

A middle-aged man in a suit at the head of the group greeted him.

"Financial Planner, what happened?"

"Tie Zhu and A Hu both took people inside, but Screams came right after that, and then there was no more movement."

The suited man codenamed Financial Planner spoke in a low voice, a trace of fear in his eyes.

"Tie Zhu and A Hu?"

Shen Zhengxian's pupils contracted.

They were also two of his most capable subordinates.

Both were skilled fighters who had cultivated force.

When they usually collected garbage disposal fees, parking fees, cleaning fees, and the like from shops in their jurisdiction, no one dared refuse.

Against ordinary people with no training, each of them could take on ten.

"How many people did they take inside?"

"Tie Zhu took five, and A Hu took eight."

As Financial Planner spoke, he lowered his voice. "There's been no movement from any of them."

Hearing that, Shen Zhengxian looked at the courtyard whose gate stood wide open, yet from which not a single ray of light emerged, and a chill rose in his heart.

Black Panther had brought six people, Tie Zhu five, and A Hu eight...

This courtyard had taken down twenty-two of their company's best men?

Including three Martial Artists who had cultivated force?

"Li ChunJun and Li Wanqing... are they really ordinary civilians?"

Shen Zhengxian could not help asking.

"When we made our move a month ago, we investigated three generations of the Li family. They were all farmers, with no connections or network. After their parents divorced, they had gotten by rather poorly as well. One of them was even tricked into going abroad, and nobody knew whether they were dead or alive. The siblings Li ChunJun and Li Wanqing were ordinary people too... The only thing worth mentioning was that Li Wanqing was quite pretty. Otherwise, Young Master Xuan would never have taken an interest in her."

Financial Planner spoke quickly.

Shen Zhengxian frowned.

"Where's Thunder?"

"He'll be here any moment."

Financial Planner replied.

Less than half a minute later, a subwoofer-like rumble came from the distance.

Then, a burly man rode up on a motorcycle, speeding over amid a roar of noise.

At the sight of the man, a smile appeared on Shen Zhengxian's face. "Thunder."

"Boss."

The man removed his helmet and got off the motorcycle.

He crossed several steps to Shen Zhengxian. "Who am I killing?"

His expression was indifferent.

Clean and decisive.

"Inside."

Shen Zhengxian pointed toward the courtyard. "Be careful. Black Panther, Tie Zhu, and A Hu all went down."

"An Internal Strengthening Martial Artist?"

Thunder asked.

"Not sure. According to the information, we were only supposed to deal with two brats. We never expected such a huge blunder. It's a little strange."

Shen Zhengxian said.

"Mm."

Thunder answered and walked into the courtyard.

Shen Zhengxian, Financial Planner, and the dozen or so property company personnel surrounding the courtyard clearly had absolute confidence in Thunder, and they followed him inside.

In this world, cultivators stood high above all others.

But cultivating immortality depended heavily on talent. Those without Spirit Roots were practically barred from the immortal path.

And Spirit Roots were hard to find, fewer than one in ten thousand.

Fortunately, Heaven never sealed off every road.

If those without Spirit Roots could cultivate martial arts, open the bridge between Heaven and Earth, and comprehend Heaven and Earth Origin Qi, they could likewise absorb qi to cultivate and embark upon the path of a Body Cultivator.

Thus, beneath the Qi Refinement stage of immortal cultivation, martial arts were further divided into External Refinement, Internal Strengthening, Unity, and the Innate Realm.

External Refinement tempered the sinews and bones, Internal Strengthening fortified the organs, and Internal-External Unity connected one to Heaven and Earth.

Those who reached Outer Refinement Great Accomplishment could become the number-one thug of a small gang, or serve as an instructor at any martial arts school, earning several hundred thousand a year.

And Thunder...

Was an Internal Strengthening Martial Artist!

A Martial Artist who had achieved Internal Strengthening had all five organs and six bowels comprehensively enhanced, no different from a minor superhuman. So long as no weapons were involved, dozens or even a hundred adults would not be enough for one of them.

They could be called enemies of a hundred men.

Ever since cultivators came to rule the world, firearms and other modern weapons had been strictly prohibited. No one dared keep them in secret.

Under such circumstances, Internal Strengthening Martial Artists, armed with formidable martial strength, were figures of standing throughout Guangzhou City.

Even the captain of the guards for a great clan like the Jin Family was only at the Internal Strengthening level.

Samsung Property Company had been able to take over the management of hundreds of shops, dozens of residential compounds, and six malls in North City, freely collecting all manner of fees. Above, Jin Guangming pulled strings for them; below, they settled trouble...

Thunder, this Internal Strengthening Martial Artist, deserved the foremost Great Merit.

"Click."

Phone lights and flashlights were switched on one after another, driving away the darkness in the courtyard.

When they crossed the yard and entered the house, Shen Zhengxian, who had seen his fair share of storms, could not help sucking in a cold breath at the horrific scene inside.

Corpses!

Corpses lay scattered everywhere!

Blood flowed freely, severed limbs and broken arms filling the entire living room.

At a glance, it was as if they had entered an asura hell.

The faces of several Samsung Property Company personnel who followed inside went pale on the spot.

Especially when they recognized the identities of several of the corpses, their breathing immediately turned ragged, and they nearly vomited.

"It's Supervisor Tie."

"This is... Captain Hu!?"

"Who was it!? Who dared kill people!? Kill people from Samsung Property Company!?"

Suppressed cries of alarm, fear, and rage rang out incessantly.

The lights swept in all directions, searching for the killer.

Very quickly, every beam of light converged on a blood-soaked figure sitting at the foot of the stairs.

The loose hospital gown he wore had now been almost completely dyed red with blood, and his face and hair were covered in it as well.

And his eyes...

Were as calm as a windless sea.

Numb and unfeeling.

They conveyed no emotion whatsoever.

When the lights shone on him, he seemed to turn his gaze in that direction out of instinct.

Just meeting his eyes made everyone present feel a chill rise from the base of their spines, spread through their entire bodies, and shoot straight to the crowns of their heads.

Several people shuddered, their teeth chattering with cold terror.

"Someone's there!?"

"He's the only one alive. Did he kill them!?"

At that moment, someone let out an uncontrollable cry of alarm.

His tone was filled with disbelief.

That cry also made Shen Zhengxian collect himself slightly.

He stared at the blood-covered figure and, by the light, confirmed his identity as well.

Shen Zhengxian had always devoted twelve parts of his attention to anything Jin Guangming instructed him to handle. For that reason, he had looked over Li ChunJun's file and photograph no fewer than dozens of times. There was no way he could mistake him.

The person before him...

Was Li ChunJun!

But...

"How could that be!?"

According to the information, wasn't Li ChunJun an ordinary student?

Students nowadays did not even dare kill chickens, much less people!?

It had to be someone else!

"Who is it!? Who is opposing Samsung Property Company!?"

Shen Zhengxian shouted.

His voice echoed through the house.

At that moment, Li ChunJun, who had been sitting at the foot of the stairs, rose to his feet with a sword in hand.

"Did you see that?"

Li ChunJun lifted his hand. "My hand is shaking."

But Shen Zhengxian looked at the sword in his hand.

A Hu's sword.

A famous sword he had spent over a million to commission from a master swordsmith, a gift he had given A Hu when he had rendered a Great Merit.

But now...

"Playing tricks!"

Thunder, already wearing a pair of specially made gloves, stepped forward.

"Come die!"

With a furious shout, he charged and threw a punch.

Almost at the instant he broke from the crowd, Li ChunJun, sword in hand, suddenly exerted force beneath his feet.

The way he exerted force was strange and unprofessional.

Yet as immense strength whirled through him, his body shot out like a spring.

A vast force stacked itself along each vertebra of his spine and poured into his arm, making the sharp sword clenched in his hand flash with cold light as it pierced the air in an instant.

The sword was so fast that it tore out a piercing shriek through the black night!

Thunder's expression changed as he charged forward fiercely!

With Black Panther, Tie Zhu, and A Hu as precedents, he had already been fully alert.

But just as Shen Zhengxian could not believe that an ordinary student whose leg had been broken not long ago could be a fiendish Internal Strengthening Martial Artist who had killed over twenty people, Thunder had also focused most of his attention on the surroundings when he attacked, guarding against someone launching a sudden ambush.

Under those circumstances, when Li ChunJun's sword stabbed forth with a shriek that tore through the air, his reaction involuntarily slowed by half a beat.

However, the battle-hardened experience of an Internal Strengthening Martial Artist made him respond swiftly.

The Qi and Blood within him surged like magma.

His entire body entered a state of stress.

In that state, his speed and reactions directly rose to a new level.

His fist turned into a palm, which shot out with perfect precision. He actually reached out and seized that arrow-fast sword in one grasp!

The force on the sword transmitted through it, driving the blade straight ahead until it stopped merely three centimeters before Thunder's brow, unable to advance even half an inch further!

The specially made glove scraped violently against the blade, sending sparks flying.

The exquisite brilliance displayed in that grab brought Thunder's strength and courage as an Internal Strengthening Martial Artist into full play!

The instant he caught the sword, Thunder spread the five fingers of his other hand and clawed at Li ChunJun's throat. The next second, he would snap Li ChunJun's throat bone apart like a dragon's claw.

But before his Dragon-Capturing Claw could land, Li ChunJun, man and sword united as he lunged in for the kill, drove force through the toes of his left foot, launched himself into the air, raised his right leg, and smashed his lifted right knee viciously into Thunder's chest with all the gravitational acceleration of an eighty-kilogram body hurtling forward!

Bang!

Their bodies collided!

Thunder flew backward as though an eighty-kilometer-per-hour sedan had slammed into him.

The point of impact instantly caved in. Explosive force seemed to shatter most of his ribs, some even piercing his organs. While still in midair, he spat out a mouthful of black blood, and after crashing into the two people behind him, he died on the spot.

One strike!

Life and death decided!

In an armed fight to the death, there was not the slightest bit of flashy flourish.

Life or death lay in a single instant.

"Thunder!?"

"Boss!"

"This!?"

Shocked and horrified voices instantly rose and fell throughout the living room.

Utterly unbelievable!

Unimaginable!

Especially Shen Zhengxian, who had painstakingly gathered every scrap of information on Li ChunJun—even digging into three generations of his ancestors—his eyes widened in shock.

A common man with neither power nor wealth, neither connections nor influence, someone destined to remain at the bottom of society all his life, had not only caused Samsung Property Company to lose three batches of men in succession, but now, right before his eyes, had violently risen up and beaten the company's Double Red Staff to death!?

He had displayed terrifying, tyrannical martial force!?

This...

How was that possible!?

Amid Shen Zhengxian's horror, Li ChunJun, who had crushed Thunder to death with a single knee, had already landed.

The instant he touched down, his foot stomped fiercely.

Bang!

Force erupted.

The somewhat aged tiled floor beneath his foot cracked like a turtle shell.

Force rose from beneath the feet!

With all his strength unleashed, he seemed to transform into a terrifying beast, every hair standing on end as he savagely pounced on the nearest burly man.

That brutal, murderous intent crashed toward him in rolling waves, freezing the thoughts of the man locked beneath Li ChunJun's aura.

Force opened like a drawn bow; the sword emerged like a dragon.

Sshk!

The man locked beneath his aura had no time to react at all. He could only watch helplessly as the icy sword edge pierced through his throat and burst out from the back of his neck!

Then the blade swept sideways, brutally slicing halfway through the man's neck before continuing without losing momentum toward the throat of another man who had no time to retreat.

The weapon, forged by a master at a cost of over a million, showed exactly why it was worth every penny at this moment.

Its sharpness was peerless!

When that sword struck the man's throat, it severed his windpipe, esophagus, arteries, veins, and cervical vertebrae all at once!

Crimson blood sprayed from the severed artery, blossoming through the living room like fireworks.

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