The Killing

Li ChunJun dodged the brunt of the attack and leaped backward, landing midway up the stairs in an instant.

From this vantage point, he could clearly see dozens of Martial Artists surging through the hall like a tide, trying to climb the stairs and claim the first kill on the "prey" who represented fame and fortune.

Some clever ones saw the stairway packed with people and sped up, leaping into the air and flying in from the side.

But once they were airborne, with nowhere to push off, what awaited them was the precise thrust of Li ChunJun's Sharp Sword.

"Whoosh!"

The sword light split the air!

Before the first two Martial Artists could land on the stair rail, Li ChunJun's sword pierced through each of them—their throats and heads.

After killing the two, he didn't slow down for an instant. His Sharp Sword flashed around, its icy edge striking a blade that had swept up toward him.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew as he knocked the Battle Blade aside with a brutal thrust, even disrupting the sword technique of the man to his right.

Seizing the opening, Li ChunJun swept his sword down from above, slashing the head of the blade-wielding Martial Artist with the force of a thousand troops.

A burst of ferocious force erupted. Though his Sharp Sword was ill-suited for beheading, it cleaved the man's head open, chopping away half his skull!

The blade lost little of its force after splitting the man's head. It continued onward, sweeping past the sword expert who had been thrown off balance.

The sword expert was formidable—likely on par with Sun Yongxing, at the Inner Strength Great Accomplishment stage.

In the past, he might have changed his move in time to parry the blade before it took his head. But Li ChunJun's recent successive level-ups, along with the pure strength granted by each enhancement to his physique, had made this incoming sword faster than the man could possibly react.

The instant the sword expert finished raising his sword to block, the icy edge had already cut across his neck a tenth of a second earlier, tearing apart his Adam's apple, severing his cervical vertebrae, and opening his carotid artery.

Blood sprayed.

But in this moment of chaos, everyone was surging and charging up the stairs, afraid of falling behind.

So no one noticed that a renowned sword expert in Guangzhou City had collapsed in agony, blood pouring from his throat, only to be shoved aside by those behind him.

Some even thought he was in the way, blocking their path to fame and fortune.

Fame blinded them.

Greed clouded their hearts.

These Martial Artists, who were in truth no different from merchants, were acting out those two phrases to the fullest.

The surging crowd of Martial Artists seemed almost mad.

Under this frenzied tide, even a Unity martial master like Mo Lei would have felt a chill in his heart and his hair stand on end.

But Li ChunJun did not.

His gaze was terrifyingly calm.

The Martial Artists charging at him, attacking without pause, looked to him like monsters he had lured to a "farming spot."

Would anyone fear humanoid monsters that gave them "experience"?

No.

So his gaze didn't change in the slightest.

His thinking and reactions reached their peak at the very moment he needed them most.

Even from the corner of his eye, he could take in everything around him.

Which Martial Artist was about to leap at him.

Which one was planning to reach the second floor from the other side, then circle around behind him for a pincer attack.

Who carried a short weapon, and who wielded a long one...

He knew it all.

Just like a top player could easily remember an opponent's gold, item build, and equipment stats.

Based on each opponent's loadout, he chose to thrust, intercept, dodge, or retreat.

When three clever Martial Artists made it into the second-floor living room from another direction, intending to surround him from behind and attack from both sides, he abandoned the targets still streaming up the stairs in front of him.

Force erupted beneath his feet!

He shot forward like an arrow, breaking free of the Martial Artists' encirclement and charging at the three attackers coming from behind.

"Kill!"

"Rid the people of this menace! Uphold justice!"

"Today is the day we make our names!"

The three Martial Artists looked delighted and charged to meet him.

But the moment they moved, they realized...

Li ChunJun was fast!

Far faster than they had imagined!

The man in front had only just started to draw his sword when Li ChunJun came hurtling toward him and kicked him hard in the chest.

A burst of ferocious force tore through his body. His ribs and organs were pulverized, and the force passed straight through him, shredding the clothes on his back.

His seventy- or eighty-kilogram body was sent flying by the kick, crashing heavily into the man behind him.

As for Li ChunJun himself...

Using the Martial Artist's body as a foothold, he pushed off, gathered force, and twisted in midair. The Sharp Sword in his hand flashed like lightning and struck the blade of an expert charging in from the side.

"Clang!"

Sparks burst.

The expert's palm split open.

The saber he had been gripping flew from his hand, shaken loose by the ferocious force contained in the sword.

As the man stared in terror, Li ChunJun's other hand shot out and clamped hard around his head. His five fingers nearly covered the man's entire face.

Then, as Li ChunJun landed, his strength erupted. He shoved the man off his feet and sent him hurtling backward through the air, slamming into the wall two meters away.

"Thud!"

The back of his head struck the white wall with a dull crash!

Blood sprayed, and the wall instantly cracked!

Dust and debris filled the air.

Li ChunJun pressed down hard on the man's head, as if trying to force it into the wall.

Yet his own movements never stopped. He twisted around, relying on his razor-sharp reflexes and balance, and kicked again, landing precisely on the Battle Blade that had been knocked flying from the man's hand.

"Whoosh!"

The Martial Artist Li ChunJun had kicked away earlier had just managed to catch the man he'd sent flying. Before he could react, the Battle Blade, kicked with tremendous force, screamed through the air and pierced the chest of the man whose chest had caved in.

"Shnk!"

The one-meter blade passed through the Martial Artist's body, whose ribs were shattered and organs ruined, then continued without slowing, piercing the chest of the man who had caught him and splitting his heart.

The Martial Artist who had barely managed to catch the other man and steady himself suddenly widened his eyes, terror, shock, and disbelief filling them...

In the end, the two remained pressed tightly together as they fell backward with the force of the blow.

Crimson blood rapidly spread beneath their bodies.

The sight made several Martial Artists who had just charged up the stairs to the second floor falter. Along with their frenzy and excitement, a trace of fear finally appeared in their eyes.

But...

Those at the front were shaken by the sight, but more Martial Artists kept pouring up the stairs behind them, eager to behead a general and seize his banner.

Pushed forward by the crowd, the Martial Artists at the front couldn't control themselves. They stumbled forward against their will.

Li ChunJun didn't pause for an instant either. He raised his sword and plunged into the Martial Artists charging up at him.

At the second-floor stairway, another wave of blood surged!