22. The Kill

"Black Sand Palm?"

Song Zhigao naturally recognized this widely circulated palm technique.

To be honest, it was a clumsy technique that required slow, painstaking practice to temper one's external strength, bones, and muscles. As someone who had received instruction from the Gui Ling Sect, he had never thought much of it.

But Song Zhigao could never have imagined that such an unremarkable palm technique would wield such immense power in his opponent's hands!

Their arms and palms collided. With a sharp crack, the grating sound of breaking bones rang out. Song Zhigao's arms burst with pain, and he let out a scream as he was sent flying, blood spraying from him in midair.

"Y-Your strength... You're a monster!"

He fell to the ground and stared at his broken arms, sucking in a breath through clenched teeth. He looked at Fang Yuan as if he were some kind of beast.

My Strength Path is probably close to twice that of an ordinary person! That's not just thanks to breaking through the gates, but also to the Red Jade Rice. It's given me a far stronger foundation than ordinary martial artists.

Watching the scene unfold, Fang Yuan came to a realization.

When experts fought, even the slightest difference could decide the outcome. Song Zhigao might also have been a Three Gates martial artist, but his physical qualities were inferior. What was more, he was long out of practice, used to being a purchaser, and afraid of death. He was even less capable than Fang Yuan, a complete novice. It was no surprise he had ended up like this after a single exchange.

"Who are you?"

Song Zhigao lay on the ground, his Eye Orb darting about as panic filled his face. "Don't kill me! I can give you plenty of gold and silver, even martial arts manuals..."

"You talk too much!"

Fang Yuan knew better than to waste words with a villain. He stepped forward and struck Song Zhigao on the crown of his head.

Bang!

After a loud crash, Song Zhigao's body crumpled to the ground.

"Ah!"

"Murder!"

The exchange had been so quick that by the time the servants and maids reacted, Fang Yuan had already casually snuffed out Song Zhigao's life.

"I'm not bloodthirsty!"

With his bamboo hat, face covering, and other disguises concealing him, he had no reason to worry about being identified or to slaughter everyone to cover his tracks. He strode forward and knocked out the loudest servants and maids with a palm strike each, then prepared to go inside and loot the place.

It was a habit he had brought back from that dream world.

After beating the boss, who wouldn't take the spoils?

But this time, Fang Yuan had miscalculated.

"You little thief! You dare act so brazenly after killing someone?"

Bang!

Accompanied by a furious shout, the doorframe shattered. Splinters shot toward Fang Yuan like a rain of blossoms!

Amid the flying wood chips, a figure lunged out at incredible speed. His right hand formed a sword with two fingers, thrusting straight through the center like a white rainbow piercing the sun, aimed at Fang Yuan's brow.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The force tore through the air with a pair of sharp whistles.

"An expert!"

Fang Yuan struck out with his palm, meeting the sword fingers in midair. He immediately retreated, his expression grave as he fixed his gaze on the young man who had just appeared.

"Third Martial Gate?"

The other man wore a Cyan Jade Robe, a golden belt around his waist and a Flawless Jade hanging from it. With handsome brows and sharp eyes, he looked carefree and dashing. Now, however, he regarded Fang Yuan with disdain. "You dared to kill the Gui Ling Sect's purchaser. You've got some nerve!"

"I was careless!"

Fang Yuan's expression remained blank as he looked at the red mark on his palm.

With his mastery of Black Sand Palm, he had driven his power to its limit. He could not claim to be impervious to blades and swords, but ordinary punches and palm strikes should have barely affected him by now.

Yet a sudden, searing pain flared in his palm.

"I never expected Song Zhigao to have a guest—and a formidable one, at that. A martial artist who's broken through four or five gates!"

Fang Yuan had already estimated his opponent's strength. The man had certainly broken through Du Gate, and his martial arts had been tempered through countless trials. Even with Fang Yuan's astonishing Physical Quality, and though he had previously beaten a seasoned master through sheer, wild force, he was still no match for this man.

"Not going to say?"

The young man approached at an unhurried pace. "It doesn't matter. I'll capture you and interrogate you at my leisure. I wonder how many of the Gui Ling Sect's Ten Tortures you'll endure... You dared to kill my man. You'll pay for it!"

"Your man?"

Fang Yuan spoke in a hoarse voice. "Are you Song Yujie?"

"Oh? You know me?"

The young martial artist's lips curled slightly, forming a strange smile.

"Phew..."

Fang Yuan didn't answer. He slowly exhaled.

If he had run into some other expert, he would definitely have turned and fled by now.

But Song Yujie?

To be honest, Song Zhigao was nothing more than his dog. This man was the real source of the trouble!

"My luck's been remarkably good today!"

Fang Yuan held out both palms. Veins suddenly bulged beneath their jade-white skin, which turned dark and hard as refined iron.

"To have trained Black Sand Palm to this level is certainly something to be proud of. But this external technique ranks too low. How could it possibly stand up to the miraculous arts of my Gui Ling Sect?"

Song Yujie sneered. He joined the fingers of his right hand, and a sharp hiss rang out as he thrust them forward like a sword. "Witness my Gui Ling Sword Technique!"

"Sword Qi!"

Fang Yuan's eyes narrowed.

This was internal force, highly concentrated and combined with swordsmanship. For Song Yujie to achieve this, he had to be a prodigy.

But Fang Yuan had no chance to retreat. Nor did he expect to outrun an expert who had broken through four or five martial gates. His expression hardened, and he charged forward like a madman. "Black Sand, Endless!"

Bang!

The sword Qi easily dispersed the palm wind, with only a trace of its force striking Song Yujie.

He lowered his head, looked at the small black mark on the back of his hand, then at Fang Yuan's chest, now pierced by a bloody hole. His expression twisted. "You actually dared to wound me?"

"That's not all... Cough, cough... I wounded you, and I'm going to kill you too!"

Fang Yuan coughed up a mouthful of bloody spittle, but he was still smiling.

The healing power brought by physical qualities nearly twice those of an ordinary person was terrifying. He knew his injuries were nowhere near as bad as they looked.

"Hmph! Still running your mouth!"

Song Yujie stepped forward and flicked his right hand. A snake-like glimmer flashed at his waist, bending and straightening—a flexible, soft sword!

After Fang Yuan had managed to hurt him, even if only slightly, he had finally begun to take things seriously.

"Looks like you weren't using your full strength just now. That really was lucky for me... Cough, cough..."

Fang Yuan sounded immensely relieved.

He knew that even with the help of the spirit seed, he had only had it for a short time. He still fell a little short of true prodigies from great sects.

If Song Yujie had used his soft sword from the start, Fang Yuan had no experience with weapons. He would likely have been killed without a grave to mark his end.

"Lucky..."

Song Yujie furrowed his brow.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see any chance that this mysterious man could turn the tables.

But just as he was about to step forward with his sword and sever the mysterious man's limbs so he could question him at leisure, a feeling that something was wrong suddenly rose in his heart.

"My right hand... It's numb..."

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the black mark on the back of his hand. "You poisoned me?! How despicable!"

"When your lives are on the line, what does 'despicable' even mean?"

Fang Yuan slowly walked toward him. He watched Song Yujie's face gradually turn a bluish black as the man frantically pulled out vials of medicine and poured them into his mouth. Fang Yuan shook his head. "There's no point. I tested this poison myself. Even experts at the Three Dangerous Gates can't resist it..."

As Fang Yuan spoke, Song Yujie had already fallen to the ground, staring in horror as his hand began to rot.

The poison in his body was the potent venom of a Mutated Pearl-tailed Snake!

Once Black Sand Palm reached its third level, it could be imbued with poison. Naturally, Fang Yuan had taken full advantage of this. With King of Hell's Post as his backing, he had directly tried mixing the Mutated Pearl-tailed Snake's venom into his palm force.

The result had been astonishing. It worked exceptionally well, immediately bringing down the unprepared Song Yujie.

"Black Sand Palm... with poison? Are you Kou Feng's Personal Disciple?"

Song Yujie screamed, his voice shaking the heavens. "Ah... You're dead! The Gui Ling Sect—and my father—will never let you go!"

"Still running your mouth with death staring you in the face?"

Fang Yuan stepped forward and struck Song Yujie on the crown of his head. With the man completely unable to fight back, he ended his suffering.

"Black Sand Palm, laced with poison—it seems to be a special technique that only the founder, Kou Feng, and his Personal Disciples can use?"

The last thing Song Yujie had let slip surprised Fang Yuan a little.

Even when his Black Sand Palm had only reached the first level, information about it had appeared. Later, refining the poison had come naturally, like an instinct.

"Could that be the system's doing? Does it bring every martial art to its utmost potential and uncover hidden abilities?"

There was too little evidence for now, so Fang Yuan could only guess.

"But I really need to leave now!"

He glanced around.

After killing two people in quick succession, he had thrown the entire Song Mansion into chaos. Cries and screams drifted from the Inner Quarters, while more servants and maids flung open doors and fled in every direction.

"This commotion will draw others here soon!"

Fang Yuan immediately abandoned his plan to search the Inner Quarters for spoils. He briefly searched Song Zhigao and Song Yujie's corpses, picked up a few odds and ends as trophies, then left without looking back, vaulting over the wall and speeding away.

Before leaving, he had also started a fire. He watched the great mansion, built with all of Song Zhigao's effort and savings, go up in flames.

He wasn't doing it to vent his anger. He was creating chaos and drawing everyone's attention to make his escape easier.

After all, if the authorities and everyone else let the fire burn, it might spread and devour half the county. That wouldn't do.

Black smoke billowed as flames surged into the sky.

Amid the chaos engulfing the county town, Fang Yuan calmly walked out the gate and vanished into the woods beside the road.

He had grown up in the mountains. Any forest was as easy to cross as flat ground, and he thoroughly erased his tracks.

"Exhilarating! That was truly exhilarating!"

After running for a long while, he came upon a small stream. Fang Yuan drank deeply from the spring, then took off his outer garment and bamboo hat and threw them into a fire.

Amid the roaring flames, a poem from the dream world surfaced in his mind for no apparent reason:

"Five thousand soldiers crossed by night, their mouths sealed tight; The general's secret orders were clear, his military token in hand. In a narrow alley, blades clashed at close quarters— Men fell like grass, and not a sound was heard."

"This time, I struck down the bandits in one blow. It wasn't exactly silent, which is a shame, but I've removed a great menace. It was truly exhilarating!"