Lu Jing's pupils contracted sharply as he did everything he could to adjust to the pitch-black surroundings.
Only then did he suddenly realize...
Li ChunJun in front of him didn't look injured in the slightest!
He'd been tricked!?
So what if he'd been tricked!
Lu Jing steadied himself in an instant.
In the end, a Martial Artist had to let his strength do the talking!
"Whoosh!"
Just as Lu Jing calmed his mind and prepared to fight with everything he had, a streak of swordlight abruptly flashed into view, reflected in his eyes.
The sword darted like a swimming dragon, its strike a flash of brilliance!
Fast!
Unutterably fast!
That fleeting swordlight was like a Lei Long suddenly streaking across the sky, illuminating his entire field of vision in an instant.
It was faster than his reflexes could handle!
In that moment, the instinct to survive, roused by the deadly threat, made Lu Jing's entire body break out in gooseflesh!
An unprecedented terror drove his focus and vigilance to their limits. He did everything he could to trace the swordlight's path and raise his sword to block it!
But just as he opened his eyes wide to catch that sword strike, swift as a swimming dragon, the light faded.
It was gone!?
That strike...
Was gone!?
Not only could he no longer see the strike, but the swordsman had vanished as well!
Where was he!?
Where in the world was he!?
Amid the boundless terror, only one thought remained in Lu Jing's mind!
Find him!
I have to find him and block that strike!
Otherwise...
I'll die!
"Rumble!"
Just then, a thunderclap exploded beside his ear.
Like the thunder that followed a bolt of lightning streaking across the sky.
It shook him to the core.
As the sound reached him, Lu Jing suddenly felt a chill.
His neck felt cold.
At that very moment, a voice came from behind him.
"Weak. Far too weak."
It was the voice of that terrifying brute, Li ChunJun!
He seemed disappointed by Lu Jing's performance?
But how had he suddenly gotten behind him!?
Lu Jing instinctively turned around, wanting to see the terrifying opponent who made him shudder.
"No. I'm just too strong."
The voice continued.
And as Lu Jing turned...
His vision suddenly seemed wrong.
It felt as though he were falling.
As his head turned, his field of vision plunged toward the ground.
While he fell, he glimpsed a headless body, apparently decapitated by a single sword strike.
The strike had been so fast, and the blade so sharp, that only now did blood finally spray out.
But that body...
Why did it look so familiar!?
Was it me!?
Lu Jing's eyes flew wide open.
An unprecedented terror filled every corner of his consciousness.
At that moment...
He finally understood.
I lost?
I couldn't even withstand a single exchange.
I died by this fiend's sword?
What kind of opponent...
Had they chosen to face?
Bitterness, unwillingness, regret, grief, and countless other emotions surged through him. Gradually, they drowned the last remnants of his consciousness.
Li ChunJun didn't look at Lu Jing, whom he had killed with a single strike.
The moment he swung his sword, he already knew the outcome.
His limbs, internal organs, and senses had been perfectly coordinated by "completion," allowing him to develop his body to its utmost potential.
What he sensed was no different from what he saw with his own eyes.
He flicked the sword in his hand.
His exquisite technique for channeling force had left not a single drop of blood on the blade.
This profound ability, almost like absolute control, had made him stronger than ever before.
He didn't know if he could fight a cultivator.
But ordinary martial masters, even top-tier martial masters, could hardly be his match anymore.
Strong.
"But still not strong enough!"
Li ChunJun said.
If he wasn't strong enough to storm the Red Sun Sword Sect and kill one of its Nominal Disciples, how could he call himself a powerhouse? How could he dare claim he would never lose?
"Killed level 9 creature. Experience +208!"
Life Level: 11 (348/1000)
Sword in hand, Li ChunJun turned and continued toward the Jin Family Manor.
He hadn't gone three hundred meters before lights shone toward him.
A four-man squad appeared up ahead.
When Li ChunJun spotted them, the exceptionally alert men sensed something too.
"Minister!?"
The squad leader called out.
Li ChunJun's answer was to abruptly accelerate.
The change made the squad leader's expression tighten. He immediately barked, "Form up! Fire the signal!"
"Whoosh!"
A signal flare streaked across the night sky, trailing brilliant light.
By its glow, the squad leader saw the figure charging toward them, his expression turning grim to the extreme.
Still, they didn't think Minister Lu had met with disaster. They assumed the brute had used a diversion to shake him off.
Now that they'd fired the flare, they only had to hold on for a moment, and Minister Lu would surely...
"Wait! His aura doesn't seem injured at all..."
The squad leader looked horrified, a terrible premonition rising in his heart.
At that very moment, Li ChunJun, now right in front of them, accelerated again.
A cold gleam flashed!
The squad leader immediately swung his saber down.
The fierce blade-light whipped up a gale, its force astonishing.
But before his saber could come all the way down, Li ChunJun's sword had already pierced his throat.
A thrust, then a withdrawal!
His figure flickered as he slipped past the squad leader and continued toward the second man.
Another thrust, another withdrawal!
After piercing the second man's head, he flickered again and struck at the third!
Absolute speed, absolute strength, absolute perception, absolute reflexes!
Against these four Xuan Moon Security members, the strongest of whom had achieved Internal-External Unity, he held an overwhelming advantage.
When his sword came free of the fourth man's throat, he dodged the blood and continued forward. Only then did the squad leader, driven by the instinct to survive, clutch his throat as blood gushed out and crumple toward the ground in agony.
Everyone knew that a pierced throat didn't kill you instantly.
So, lying on the ground, he could still see his three teammates collapsing one after another.
And...
The figure already walking away with his sword, vanishing once more into the night.
At that moment, despair filled the squad leader's heart.
It was over.
They'd been far too naive.
The one who could kill a top-tier martial master might be another top-tier martial master, but it could also be...
Someone of the Innate Realm!
Or even...
A cultivator!
When Xuan Moon Security had been lured by the Jin Family's generous offer to take this job, they'd thoroughly investigated the brute. Learning he was only eighteen, they'd all assumed that no matter how strong he was, he couldn't be all that powerful.
They had never imagined that his strength was beyond anything they could comprehend.
This time...
They were doomed!
And in their line of work, a disastrous failure could well end with the entire team wiped out.
Jinghu Lakeside, Manor No. 6.
Dozens of members of the Jin Family had gathered together.
As they looked at the fully armed Xuan Moon Security personnel, they all tried to wear expressions of grief and sorrow over the company's heavy losses. But they could barely keep the smiles from their lips.
According to a message Minister Lu had sent not long ago, the brute was severely wounded and on the brink of death. He was pursuing him now to land the final blow.
As expected of Minister Lu.
The Jin Family had been driven to the point of considering fleeing Guang Province and living under assumed names.
But their assets, connections, and relationships were all in Guang Province. If they left, they'd be reduced to nothing more than wealthy people with modest fortunes.
And in any city, the wealthy without connections or backing were lambs waiting to be slaughtered by the powerful. Those in power could use hundreds of seemingly reasonable and lawful methods to strip them of every last bit of their wealth.
That was how they had operated all these years.
Of course, they themselves had no desire to flee in disgrace.
So in the end, they had spared no expense to hire Xuan Moon Security's elite, pinning their hopes on the most famous security company in Xuan Province.
It turned out they had bet on the right horse.
Before you continue