Where Rage Surged, Killing Intent Erupted

Half an hour later, Xu Yi appeared at the foot of Huiyin Mountain, a wild boar the size of a calf slung over his shoulder.

Having stepped into the Body Tempering Peak, Xu Yi felt the exhilaration of his body's strength far more keenly than before—a thrill of having everything firmly in hand.

In the past, he could have entered the mountains to hunt as well, but never with such ease as snapping branches into arrows, kneading dirt into pellets, and roaming as freely as the boundless sea.

He looked up at the sky. It was just past the Hour of the Rabbit, and the morning sun was climbing higher. On the lush terraced fields in the distance, countless farmers shouldered hoes, guided plows, or led oxen, moving amid the emerald green.

The picturesque scene diluted much of the turmoil in Xu Yi's heart. As he gazed intently, a plume of thick smoke rose in the northwest.

Turning his eyes toward it, Xu Yi flung the boar from his shoulder and shot toward the smoke like a bolt of lightning.

The billowing smoke came from the very small wooden hut that had sheltered Xu Yi and been passed down through two generations. Quite a few village farmers had gathered around it.

When they saw Xu Yi return, the villagers crowded around him and began talking over one another. Between the lines, they mostly blamed him for offending Young Master Zhou.

Xu Yi was already so enraged that the Three Corpse Gods danced wildly in his chest when a man covered head to toe in mud squeezed through the crowd, panting as he shouted, "Xu... Xu... ancestral... ancestral... graves..."

Every hair on Xu Yi's body stood on end. He raced toward the back mountain, and when he arrived, he saw that dozens of graves had all been violently dug open. Rotten corpses and white bones lay scattered everywhere.

"Ah!"

Xu Yi let out a miserable cry and dropped to his knees. It was as though thousands of silver needles had pierced his brain, as though a grasshopper had been stuffed into his temples, twitching and pounding without stop.

The original owner's emotions flared up again, leaving Xu Yi in agony beyond endurance.

He remained frozen before the graves for a full half hour before finally catching his breath. Then, over another two hours, he gathered the countless remains and moved them deep into the mountains, where he piled up a huge burial mound. After burning incense in sacrifice and bowing three times, he finally left.

By the time he returned, the burning house had already been reduced to a scorched patch of earth, and the villagers who had come to watch had dispersed. Xu Yi's heart was full of fury and his stomach empty. Reaching the Tan Stream by his former doorstep, he stopped, bent down, plunged his head into the water, and drank deeply. Then he sharpened a stick into a fork and, with more than ten swift throws, hauled out over a dozen plump, lively red carp unique to the Tan Stream.

He scraped off their scales, removed their innards, rinsed them two or three times in the stream, and began swallowing them raw in great mouthfuls.

Having cultivated to the Body Tempering Peak, Xu Yi's strength had increased greatly. His power surpassed that of an ox, and his appetite rivaled that of a tiger. More than a dozen huge red carp, weighing no less than fifty jin, disappeared into him skin, bones, and all!

After eating, Xu Yi did not move. He sat cross-legged beside the stream, quietly circulating his energy to restore his strength.

At that moment, thunder roiled in his chest, yet his face was as placid as a still lake. He waited quietly for the moment heaven and earth would collapse.

As the sun slanted westward and mountain winds swept in, the clinking of ornaments gradually sounded from a western mountain hollow. Though Xu Yi did not open his eyes, he recognized it as the clash of metal buckles on saddles and battle boots.

Sure enough, before long came the neighing of horses and the shouts of riders. Judging by the commotion, there were no fewer than ten mounted men.

Abruptly, Xu Yi rose to his feet. His toes tapped swiftly against the ground, and in no time, he had leaped onto the western mountain path.

The mountain wind howled and banners snapped. Young Master Zhou's hunting party once again returned laden from the Huiyin Mountain Range, every fine horse carrying heavy wild game on its back.

The joy of returning with full loads was written plainly on every face. Even the usually reserved Young Master Zhou could not help whistling.

The vulgar Bearded Man even began happily singing an out-of-tune mountain ditty. Its lyrics were filthy, yet they drew thunderous cheers from all the riders.

The Bearded Man was singing with great delight when the Eagle-nosed Middle-aged Man, riding immediately to Young Master Zhou's left, suddenly said, "Killing intent!"

The Eagle-nosed Middle-aged Man was the foremost retainer Young Master Zhou's family had recruited. His divine skills were unmatched, and his status was anything but ordinary. At his words, the entire group instantly fell solemn. With a clatter, blades left sheaths and bows were strung as they scanned the eight directions.

"No need to search. The killing intent is directly ahead!"

the Eagle-nosed retainer said coldly.

"Heh heh, I'd like to see who dares be so bold. Within a hundred li, is there really anyone who dares bare their teeth at my Zhou Family?"

Young Master Zhou cracked his whip, and the jujube-red steed beneath him suddenly accelerated, charging forward.

The other riders naturally lashed their horses and gave chase with all their strength.

As they galloped over a small slope, Xu Yi's solid figure, standing across the road, was fully revealed before them.

Seeing that it was Xu Yi, the Bearded Man's heroic spirit abruptly surged. He too was a Zhou Family retainer, but because his Martial Arts realm had remained at the Body Tempering Late Stage, his standing was far below that of the Eagle-nosed Middle-aged Man.

Yet this man loved nothing more than fighting for credit.

That morning, when the hunting party had passed Xu Yi's home, Young Master Zhou had failed to find Xu Yi. He had done no more than furrow his brow slightly before this man had let out a long howl, spurred his horse forward, and set Xu Yi's small hut ablaze. Then he had ridden to the back mountain and dug up Xu Yi's ancestral graves.

Now, seeing that Xu Yi was the one radiating killing intent, he regarded him as nothing more than an ant blocking the road, a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Xu Yi's fine head would merely add another stroke of ink to his record of merits.

Intent on snatching the credit, the Bearded Man fiercely cracked his whip. The black horse beneath him felt the pain and surged forward with all its might, actually overtaking Young Master Zhou, who had been galloping in front. He leaped into the lead and shouted with a cold, wild laugh, "What a feral dog! You've even learned to bare your teeth. Watch me skin you alive!"

Before his shout had faded, the Bearded Man yanked the reins. The fine horse reared, both hooves rising into the air, its bowl-sized hooves stomping straight down toward Xu Yi's head.

Just as the hooves were about to trample Xu Yi, who had stood unmoving all this time, he moved.

His body flashed like lightning. At the critical instant, he evaded the hooves, and his body, drawn tight like a bow, appeared beside the horse's neck. His compressed frame was like the strongest spring. The Wrathful Impact Heaven's Gate he had practiced thousands upon thousands of times burst forth. His iron-anvil-hard back slammed viciously into the horse's neck. The galloping steed's neck snapped with a crack, and its massive body flew diagonally through the air, smashing into the crowd.

The Bearded Man atop the horse had yet to comprehend what had happened when the shocking change erupted!

Of all the Zhou Family's lackeys, this Bearded Man had insulted Xu Yi the most viciously and most often.

And when the Bearded Man had uttered the words "skin you," Xu Yi's blood had surged wildly, and all the killing intent in his chest had rushed toward the Bearded Man.

After sending the horse flying, before the Bearded Man could recover his senses, Xu Yi's great hand seized out like a dragon's claw. With a low cry, he grabbed the Bearded Man by the vital vertebra and forcibly tore him from the horse.

At that very moment, the Eagle-nosed Middle-aged Man swooped in like an eagle and threw a punch through the air, striking straight at Xu Yi's back. The powerful force of the punch tore out a faint sonic boom.

More than three zhang of distance vanished in an instant. Just as that sudden punch was about to land solidly, Xu Yi seemed to have grown eyes on his back. Gripping the Bearded Man, he crushed a rider's spine beneath one kick and forcibly shifted sideways through the air by a fraction, narrowly evading the blow. The rider before him, however, had no such luck. The heaven-shaking punch struck him in the back. With a strange buzzing crack, his body abruptly exploded, sending up a great cloud of blood mist.