Backstab

They exchanged glances, complex emotions churning in their eyes--

Gratitude, the relief of surviving, a debt for their lives...

But ultimately, when their gazes fell upon the Magic Stone Mine worth hundreds of millions, greed consumed all conscience.

Jin Chang'en's Adam's apple bobbed, his fingers silently reaching for the dagger at his waist, shimmering with a cold, azure light.

This was the C-class magic power weapon, the Poison Scale Blade, which he had acquired with most of his savings.

Its blade was coated with a mixed neurotoxin derived from several B-class Monsters, lethal upon contact with blood.

Since he couldn't find the Lizardman leader earlier, this final trump card naturally couldn't be used.

The giant axe wielder and the greatsword warrior also tightened their grips on their weapons.

They had seen the immense energy Xu Feng had expended during his battle, and the Qi and Blood steaming from his terrifying armor was gradually weakening...

An opportunity, perhaps their only one.

The moment Xu Feng stepped onto the mountaintop, his back to them, the dark red armor on his body began to disintegrate piece by piece, dissipating into Qi and Blood--

The three moved!

No shouts, no warnings, only the most despicable sneak attack!

The giant axe whistled through the air as it swung towards Xu Feng's nape!

The greatsword thrust directly at his back!

And Jin Chang'en's Poison Scale Blade transformed into an azure afterimage, silently slashing towards Xu Feng's side!

Xu Feng was indeed unprepared.

In his moral understanding.

I saved you, shouldn't you at least say thank you?

How could you repay kindness with enmity?

So, he was completely unguarded...

Slash!

The giant axe and greatsword struck his back, emitting dull thuds.

To the terror of the two, their full-power attacks couldn't even break Xu Feng's skin!

The recoil from the axe blade and sword edge caused their already injured arms to ache intensely, their wounds splitting open and blood splattering.

But Jin Chang'en's Poison Scale Blade succeeded.

The sharpness of the C-class magic power weapon, combined with the precision of the sneak attack, allowed the tip to barely pierce the skin of Xu Feng's lower back, which had just shed its armor, creating a shallow cut less than two centimeters long.

The azure toxin on the blade surged into the wound like a living thing!

"Got it!"

A flash of ecstasy crossed Jin Chang'en's eyes, but it quickly turned ferocious.

"Kid, some things aren't meant for you to touch! This is a mixed neurotoxin from a B-class Monster. Within thirty seconds, you'll be paralyzed, your heart and lungs will fail--"

His words cut off abruptly.

Because he saw Xu Feng slowly turn around.

On that young, handsome face, there was no fear, only a cold, almost tranquil expression, as if looking at a dead man.

What made Jin Chang'en's scalp tingle even more was that around the wound on Xu Feng's back, which had been cut by the Poison Scale Blade, the muscles were writhing and bulging unnaturally!

Black, toxic blood was being squeezed out of the wound by an invisible force, and it hissed and corroded the ground as it dripped.

Xu Feng reached out, his fingers like blades, and probed the bulging area on his back--

Rip!

A palm-sized piece of flesh, completely blackened and necrotic, was forcefully torn from his body!

The raw, red muscle fibers were clearly visible at the wound. Surprisingly little blood flowed out, and instead, the wound began to heal and grow at a visible rate!

The extreme control over his body after breaking through the Blood Replacement Realm allowed him to instantly seal the toxin's spread with Qi and Blood and forcibly strip away the infected tissue!

"Why...?"

Xu Feng's voice was soft, yet it sent the three plummeting into an ice cellar.

He threw the blackened piece of flesh to the ground and walked towards them step by step.

Jin Chang'en's face was deathly pale, but his eyes still held a desperate obsession.

"Man dies for wealth... birds die for food... this world... is inherently like this..."

The greatsword warrior and the giant axe wielder had collapsed to the ground.

They were already heavily injured, and the recoil from the sneak attack had worsened their condition.

Watching Xu Feng approach, fear and pleading filled their eyes. Their lips trembled, wanting to beg for mercy, but they couldn't form coherent sounds.

The giant axe wielder used his last bit of strength, his trembling hand reaching into his embrace--

There lay an open pocket watch, a photograph pasted to the inside of its cover:

He was holding a little girl, whose smile shone as brightly as the sun, in front of a carousel at an amusement park.

His eyes struggled between pleading and longing.

Xu Feng saw the pocket watch, saw the innocent smiling face in the photograph.

His footsteps paused.

Then, he continued forward.

"Everyone has a family, everyone has someone to care about."

Xu Feng's voice was calm, terrifyingly calm.

"Don't I... have anyone?"

He remembered his mother's weak cough.

He remembered his father's lifelong toil and struggle for this family.

He remembered his own original intention for desperately becoming stronger.

So, for your own families, you could unhesitatingly stab your savior in the back?

So, my family... should bear the pain of losing me?

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Three muffled thuds.

Clean and decisive, without hesitation.

Xu Feng crushed the heads of the greatsword warrior and the giant axe man, and blew apart Jin Chang'en's face with a single punch as he roared in unwilling fury.

[Breakthrough Points +8]

[Breakthrough Points +10]

[Breakthrough Points +9]

Then, he squatted down and began to dispose of the bodies.

He destroyed their hearts, dismembered their bodies, and threw the remains piece by piece into the churning swamp beside them.

Schools of carnivorous fish swarmed, tearing at the flesh ferociously, and the dark red blood soon dyed the water even deeper.

He did it meticulously, thoroughly.

The novels said it too, if you don't handle the corpses properly and let the enemies revive, it's a huge problem.

When the last limb was dragged underwater by the fish, Xu Feng picked up the pocket watch, now only half intact, from the mud.

The little girl's smile in the remaining photograph was still brilliant, completely unaware that the hand holding hers had vanished forever.

Xu Feng watched in silence for a few seconds.

A sarcastic, almost self-mocking smile slowly appeared on his face.

"This damned world."

He threw the pocket watch into the swamp, watching it sink.