Clearing Out

"Something's happening!"

"Over there... it's Kong Fang's team!"

"Send up a signal! Wang Yue, come with me—we're going to support them!"

Xuanyue Security was indeed worthy of being one of the top security companies in all of Xuan Province.

Setting cultivators aside, they were the strongest armed force that the wealthy could hire.

Less than ten seconds after the commotion broke out near Kong Fang, the two teams had combined into a ten-man unit. Led by two Unity masters, they rushed toward the scene.

One of them immediately fired a flare.

A streak of light flashed across the sky...

But the scene it illuminated made the ten elite guards hurrying to the rescue catch their breath.

"Whoosh!"

After Li ChunJun had cut through the middle-aged man and the gaunt martial artist like a hot knife through butter, his sword thrust sent him hurtling forward like an arrow loosed from a drawn bow. In an instant, he collided with Kong Fang, who was flying backward.

His speed was beyond compare, and Kong Fang's backward flight had left him unable to regain his balance. Even though he saw Li ChunJun's sword stabbing toward him, he couldn't manage any effective response.

The next moment, beneath the flare's glow and before everyone's eyes, the sword in Li ChunJun's hand plunged straight through Kong Fang's body.

No!

Not just Kong Fang!

Flying backward, Kong Fang crashed into the young man behind him. The two were piled atop each other, and as Li ChunJun's sword pierced through Kong Fang, its momentum carried it on through the young man behind him as well!

"Thud!"

Only then did the dull thump of their bodies colliding ring out from Kong Fang.

His chest had caved in. No one could say how many ribs had been broken.

The violent force of Li ChunJun's charge sent Kong Fang, already flying backward, crashing three or four meters away along with the young man behind him.

As the two were knocked away, the cold blade slid free, trailing a spray of scarlet blood. In the flare's light, it looked both bewitching and hauntingly beautiful.

The sight deeply shook Wang Yue and the other nine elite guards from Xuanyue Security who had rushed to the scene.

But...

Li ChunJun didn't pause for a moment.

By now, killing living beings no longer stirred even the slightest discomfort in him.

Nor did he hesitate to drive his sword into a person's body.

Just as a butcher who had slaughtered hundreds of pigs and sheep would no longer feel compassion.

With each animal they butchered, their technique only grew more practiced and their movements more efficient.

Li ChunJun flicked his arm, scattering the blood from his sword.

The treasured blade still gleamed coldly.

Without slowing, he charged straight toward the Jin Family's sixth manor.

Or rather...

He charged toward Wang Yue and the other nine, who had heard the commotion and hurried to reinforce their comrades—but had clearly arrived too late.

Crisp and decisive!

Smooth as flowing water!

The resolve etched across his expressionless face made Wang Yue and the others' scalps prickle.

Several of the younger guards felt a chill creep through their hearts.

But that state lasted only a moment. Their pride as elite members of Xuanyue Security, their confidence as Internal Strengthening martial artists at the very least, and the shame of witnessing their comrades killed quickly fanned the flames of rage in their hearts!

Killing intent surged!

"You dare... act so brazenly!"

"Brother Kong!? You'll pay blood for blood! No one can kill our Xuanyue Security comrades and get away with it!"

"Kill!"

With low shouts, the ten men brought out their blades, spears, swords, and other weapons all at once. Forming up, they charged straight at Li ChunJun.

Two Unity masters and eight Internal Strength Great Accomplishment martial artists could hold their own for a time even against a top master at the Circulating Energy Through the Heavens level.

Once Minister Lu and the others arrived with reinforcements...

It wouldn't matter what kind of top master you were. Death would be your only path.

That was the strength of Xuanyue Security!

It was also the confidence that had led Xuanyue Security to accept this contract, even knowing they might face a top master!

The two sides charged straight at each other, neither giving an inch.

When they were less than twenty meters apart, two members of Xuanyue Security skilled in concealed weapons suddenly hurled their weapons.

Short swords and throwing knives tore through the air.

Li ChunJun's pupils narrowed as he charged forward.

His repeated enhancements had given him not only astonishing hearing, but extraordinary eyesight as well.

Including dynamic vision.

Though the flare's glow had dimmed somewhat, his eyes still tracked the trajectories of both weapons as the men hurled their short sword and throwing knife.

He swept his sword aside and tilted his head.

The short sword was knocked away by his blade.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew.

As for the throwing knife, it skimmed past his left ear as he turned his head and vanished into the night.

By the time he had deflected the attack, the two sides had closed to less than ten meters as they raced toward each other.

Just as they were about to clash, Li ChunJun poured all the force in his body into his legs. His toes dug into the ground, and his strength erupted.

His already extreme speed surged even higher.

More importantly, the angle of his charge shifted. Instead of charging the ten men head-on, he veered toward one man at the edge of their formation.

The Unity master leading the group noticed and quickly shot a look at the two men beside him.

No words were needed.

Years of training and seamless teamwork let the other two instantly understand what their captain meant.

Their formation shifted.

They had only just finished rearranging their formation when Li ChunJun, charging at full speed, reached the man he had targeted—a man at the peak of Internal Strengthening.

The man knew he only had to hold Li ChunJun back for a moment. His teammates' coordinated attack would trap the terrifying assailant on the spot.

Then, in no more than twenty seconds, the rest of Xuanyue Security would arrive. The assailant would be killed right there, and they would complete this enormously lucrative contract in one fell swoop!

He would become the company's hero!

At the thought, the man's gaze turned resolute.

Facing Li ChunJun's explosive charge, he let out a fierce roar and brought down his Battle Blade with the force of splitting mountains and smashing rocks, as if sealing off all the space before him.

And then...

There was no then.

He had clearly overestimated his own strength.

Or perhaps he had underestimated the force of Li ChunJun's outburst.

A sword as forceful as thunder, trailing a piercing whistle, shattered the man's descending Battle Blade and pierced through his skull with the full weight of thunder.

Still charging at full speed, Li ChunJun slammed into the man's body, sending him crashing into another man to the side.

Then, rather than attack the man who had been struck, he leaped forward at full speed. With an explosive force far beyond anyone else's, he bypassed the formation's sharp edge, where the two Unity masters stood, and reached another man behind them.

Under the man's horrified gaze, his sword swept across his throat!

"Not good! Change formation!"

Captain Wang Yue shouted an order. The ten-man formation—or rather, the eight men left in it—quickly shifted its front to the rear, ready to trap Li ChunJun again.

But it was useless.

Li ChunJun was too powerful, too fast. He gave them no chance to draw him into their formation!

As long as they couldn't match his speed, he would retain control of the battle and could choose his next target at will.

That meant there was effectively only one person for him to deal with at any given moment.

"Whoosh!"

He spun sharply!

Li ChunJun evaded Wang Yue and the other Unity master as they lunged after him, then plunged back into the group of Internal Strengthening martial artists. His sword howled, leaving two more sprays of scarlet blood in its wake.

The sight left the two Unity masters' eyes bloodshot.

"Bastard!"

"Form up! Defend!"

Though furious, the two quickly issued their orders, shifting their formation from offense to defense and standing back-to-back to face Li ChunJun's attacks.

They only had to hold out for a while, until Minister Lu and the others arrived...

Just as the six remaining men prepared to hold their ground, the area around them suddenly grew dim.

The flare had burned out.