Exposed

Axiu screamed, clutching her head.

She hadn't even heard the window break.

She only saw the terrifyingly built man's sinister grin instantly freeze on his face as his head tumbled off with a glug.

Leaving only a crimson-red neck.

Blood spurted out, a shocking sight.

[Killed a Ninth-Rate Martial Artist, gained one year and two months of potential cultivation time]
[Potential Cultivation] Remaining: 1 year and 10 months

Axiu watched a black-clad youth appear behind the headless corpse, a horizontal blade in his hand, offering her a brilliant smile.

But she found no comfort in it.

Her screams only grew louder.

"Thief! How dare you?!"

The black-clad leader roared, charging in through the front door, only to find his subordinate already dead by Shen Yi's blade.

Shen Yi grinned.

Raising his blade again.

Blade light scattered like a sky full of shattered stars, sweeping towards the leader and the black-clad helpers behind him.

At the same time.

Inside the main house.

Two black-clad figures stared at the empty room.

Their eyes immediately locked onto the space under the bed.

Old Jiang and Jiang-aunt were huddled beneath it, trembling.

Unlike the black-clad figure who died at Shen Yi's hands, these two had no perverse interests; they simply wanted to complete their mission as quickly as possible.

The slightly older one was more cautious.

He drew the broadsword from his waist.

Gathering power at the blade's edge, he slashed down at the wooden bed.

With a crisp crack, the wooden bed split in two before the wave-like blade force, revealing Old Jiang and his wife.

The black-clad figure's gaze sharpened.

Just a pair of country bumpkins.

Nevertheless, the remaining force of his blade continued to hurtle towards Old Jiang and his wife.

Even with the force waning, it would still be enough to cut them in half on the spot, ending their lives.

The two black-clad figures didn't care if they killed the wrong people.

Dead was dead.

Their other task was to silence witnesses anyway.

Suddenly.

A sharp whistling sound came from outside the window.

A black shadow shattered the window and plunged straight into the ground in front of Old Jiang and his wife – it was a broken blade!

The hilt was deep red, the body a profound black.

Engraved with intricate patterns.

With a clang!

The broken blade collided head-on with the blade force, its body trembling violently, emitting a long, dragon-like roar.

But it ultimately blocked the force.

Immediately after.

A tall, broad figure leaped in through the doors and windows of the backyard.

Qin Jianghe, covered in bandages.

Bursting through the doors and windows, he arrived just in time!

"If I were to let my saviors die before my eyes, what face would I have to live on in this world!"

Qin Jianghe strode to Old Jiang and his wife, shielding them with his body.

He picked up the broken blade from the ground.

Facing the two black-clad figures, he held the blade horizontally before him and said loudly:

"Come at me with whatever tricks you've got!"

The two Black Guards exchanged a look.

Both saw elation in the other's eyes.

"Qin Jianghe, you're exactly who we're looking for!"

Boom!

The two sides collided head-on like arrows released from a bow.

Crash.

The Black Guard leader's figure, along with the splintered wooden door, flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground.

Shen Yi walked out, a blade in one hand.

The corpse of another Black Guard dragged in the other.

He stood at the entrance to Axiu's room.

He casually tossed the Black Guard's corpse aside.

Shen Yi glanced toward the main house; he had just heard the sounds of fighting coming from within, suggesting another development.

Or perhaps.

That was the very purpose of these Black Guards' arrival.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much; he acted according to his heart, and he had already gained quite a bit from this fight.

After he had killed one person.

He continued to implement the strategy of attacking the weaker opponent.

He focused his attacks on the weaker Black Guard, using the "Unload" and "Entangle" principles against the Black Guard leader, engaging in a dance of evasion.

Shen Yi's swordsmanship already surpassed that of the Black Guards.

After changing his strategy.

The Black Guard couldn't withstand two moves, requiring the Black Guard leader to frequently come to his rescue, otherwise he would immediately die.

However, even with the Black Guard leader's protection.

His Black Guard subordinate was like the weak plank of a bucket; once Shen Yi targeted him, he couldn't escape his fate of death.

Shen Yi silently recited in his mind:

"Inject one year of secluded cultivation time into the Array Breaker Art fragment."

[You are thoroughly familiar with the Array Breaker Art fragment, and the path to perfection is crystal clear to you; all that remains is to take it one step at a time, until success is achieved.]

[After a year of secluded cultivation, your internal energy accumulates like a rushing river, ceaseless and untiring; your meridians expand as if water is dripping through stone, success is within reach.]

Using the instantaneous secluded cultivation.

In the midst of the battle, Shen Yi's internal energy became more abundant in an instant, surging like a river.

With one blade strike.

He deflected the Black Guard leader's steel fork.

Killing another person.

He took the life of that Black Guard subordinate.

Once again, he gained one year and three months of secluded cultivation time.

[Secluded Cultivation] Remaining: 2 years and 1 month

The Black Guard leader's eyes showed terror.

He had also heard the fighting in the main house.

Presumably, they had caught the hidden Qin Jianghe; the other party was seriously injured and at the end of his rope.

It should have been easy for them to capture him.

He didn't expect Shen Yi to appear halfway.

Just who was this person?

Suddenly.

A flash of inspiration struck the Black Guard leader's mind, and he shouted sharply:

"Your swordsmanship!"

"It's the Pacification Office's Wind Severing Blade!"

"Are you a Black Guard of the Pacification Office?!"

The Black Guard leader immediately shook his head:

"That's not right!"

"When the Black Guard go out, they're always in Black Guard Silver Crane uniforms, with Embroidered Spring Blades at their waists. You clearly don't want to be recognized!"

"You!"

The black-clad leader suddenly realized.

"I know!"

"You're Shen Yi, who defected from the Pacification Office the other day, and even has a bounty on his head from the Pacification Office!"

Shen Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.

He hadn't expected the other party to recognize his identity based on his saber technique alone.

The Wind Severing Blade was far too recognizable.

Immediately, an even stronger killing intent erupted in his eyes. Now that the other party had recognized him.

He couldn't let him live even more.

The black-clad leader also sensed the killing intent in Shen Yi's eyes and immediately understood that the other party wanted to silence him.

He quickly defended himself:

"Shen Yi!"

"You're currently wanted by the Pacification Office! You're like a homeless dog, isn't that pitiful?"

"But we of the Whale Gang aren't afraid of the Pacification Office."

"As long as you help us capture Qin Jianghe, we'll forget about the previous conflict, and we can even take you into the gang, giving you a place to stay!"

"What do you think?"

Shen Yi ran a single palm over the gleaming blade.

"I believe that your Whale Gang is powerful and not afraid of the Pacification Office, but can you, a mere second-rate, really make such a decision?"

"How can I believe that?"

The black-clad leader panicked.

"I am the Vice Incense Master of the Yaksha Branch of the Whale Gang, and I can speak to the Military Advisor. I can vouch for you!"

The black-clad leader saw that Shen Yi's killing intent was not diminishing, but rather increasing, and his words became even more trembling:

"As long as!"

"As long as you spare my life!"

Shen Yi grinned:

"I see you're quite knowledgeable."

"If you can recognize this saber technique, I will spare your life."

Shen Yi held the saber horizontally in front of him.

His feet were staggered, one in front of the other.

As the saber momentum gathered, everything became extremely quiet, and all sounds ceased.

In the silence.

The black-clad leader seemed to hear the sound of the wind rising.

Bang!