The Ambush

Lu Ming's pupils narrowed. Behind the murderous blade light in the rosy glow stood a pair of merciless eyes above a masked face, intent on ending his life.

This was a meticulously planned assassination!

If it had been anyone else, they would have been moving forward quickly at that moment. Combined with the sudden shift from darkness to brightness that made them squint, there would have been no time to retreat. Dodging this lethal slash would have been nearly impossible.

But Lu Ming was different. The situation in the city was complicated, and there was also the threat of demons. So... when he walked, he used Godly Movement's momentum, while keeping all of his strength in reserve.

Now, as the blade light came at him, a thought crossed his mind, and he withdrew the power of Godly Movement. His body instantly lost its forward momentum.

Then he used Smooth Ascent to the Clouds. The hallmark of the Cloud-Stepping Technique's lightness skill was its suddenness and speed.

With all his strength, Lu Ming abruptly shot backward. The blade light couldn't keep up with his movement.

"How is this possible?" The assassin stared in disbelief as Lu Ming abruptly retreated. He watched helplessly as the blade light skimmed past him without cutting even a single hair.

He was a Flesh Refining martial artist! Using his Flesh Refining strength to assassinate Lu Ming, a Skin Refining martial artist, was already like using a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken. With such meticulous planning on top of that, how could this be the result?

Wait! His gaze suddenly sharpened.

Something was wrong. Lu Ming had already broken through; his aura was that of a Skin Refining martial artist at Major Completion!

Damn it, when had that happened? A trace of chagrin appeared in the assassin's eyes.

Before he could make another move, a flash of red dropped from the sky, and a streak of green light shot from her hand.

"Who?" Seeing how swiftly and viciously the green light came at him, the assassin's pupils narrowed. He raised his blade to parry and retreated.

But his slash struck empty air. The green light veered slightly, then darted at him again from the side.

The assassin's expression changed dramatically. His move had run its course, and he could hardly defend himself. With a low growl, he forced his blade back to block. He grunted, suffering a slight internal injury.

With a sharp crack, he finally struck the streak of green light.

In the next instant, the green light spun with the force of his blow. The woman in red caught the other end and drove it forward, piercing him straight through the heart.

Pfft! The assassin spat blood. Dark-red blood soaked through the black cloth over his face and dripped from his chin.

The red figure and the green light came to a halt before him. In the glow of dusk, he finally saw that the green light was a translucent, lustrous bamboo stalk, and the figure in red was a beautiful woman dressed in fitted martial attire.

"The Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms! You're from the Green Bamboo Gang... Feng, Qing, Zhu!" Despair washed over the assassin's face.

Feng Qingzhu was only eighteen years old. Her cultivation was the same as his, in the Flesh Refining Realm, yet she had killed him in just two moves.

Thud!

Feng Qingzhu watched him indifferently and withdrew the emerald bamboo in her hand. The assassin's corpse fell to the ground.

In the dark alley, Lu Ming hadn't expected anyone to come after him. He didn't know if others were lying in wait nearby, and was about to make a quick getaway when Feng Qingzhu dropped from the sky and killed the assassin.

He promptly cupped his hands toward her from a distance.

"Thank you for saving me, Senior Sister Feng. I didn't expect the city to be in such chaos that even a Flesh Refining martial artist would lie in ambush to rob people."

He knew Feng Qingzhu, of course. She was one of the four hundred disciples who had joined the Military Service Bureau this year.

She and Liu Feilong's only daughter, Liu Yiyi, had both entered the Military Service Bureau as Flesh Refining martial artists. Ranked in the top ten, they had earned the right to skip the Martial Arts Arena early on, so he rarely saw them.

Even among the children of wealthy families, they stood in a league of their own, unlike Shen Jue and the others.

"He's no ordinary bandit. He's from the Wei Yuan Escort Agency." Feng Qingzhu turned around and glanced at him.

Lu Ming froze. The Wei Yuan Escort Agency?

The same Wei Yuan Escort Agency as Guo Yuan's?

"I've never had any beef with the Wei Yuan Escort Agency!" he said, puzzled.

If Yin Zheng, leader of the Red Snake Gang, had sent someone to kill him, that would have made sense. After all, he had killed the Red Snake Gang's Chu Wufeng in the tournament.

"Chief Escort Guo has been somewhat deranged lately. In any case, I'm looking after you at Junior Sister Li's request. Be careful from now on."

With that, she turned and left.

Lu Ming understood. So she was a friend of Li Youning's. He'd wondered why a martial arts prodigy like Feng Qingzhu would come to his rescue out of nowhere.

Right, Feng Qingzhu seemed to be the daughter of Feng Buping, leader of the Green Bamboo Gang. And the Green Bamboo Gang was one of the "Two Gangs, Three Halls, and Three Great Families," a first-rate force in the city!

Seeing Feng Qingzhu about to leave, he thought, Senior Sister Feng seems rather cold. Even though she came to save me, she doesn't seem particularly warm.

"Wait!" Lu Ming pulled a manual for the Six Harmonies Blade Technique from the assassin's body and called after her. "Senior Sister, you don't want this manual?"

Feng Qingzhu stopped. She saw the gleam in his eyes and shook her head inwardly.

He had already learned finger techniques, lightness skills, and palm techniques. Wasn't that enough? Could he really be planning to take up blade techniques too?

Without a word, she turned and left.

"Senior Sister, you're so generous!" Lu Ming said.

He carefully tucked away the manual, secretly delighted.

Blade techniques? Maybe he could try them out when he had time.

He took one last look at the corpse on the ground and thought, Guo Zhengwei of the Wei Yuan Escort Agency—I'll remember this grudge!

Not far away, a burly man stood by the window on the second floor of an abandoned courtyard building. It was none other than Shen Jue!

Seeing the assassin fail and Feng Qingzhu appear to save Lu Ming, his pupils contracted. Shock and jealousy filled his heart.

"Even Feng Qingzhu, a heaven-blessed prodigy, came to Lu Ming's rescue. What makes Lu Ming so special?"

Shen Jue's expression was terrible as he cursed the assassin inwardly for being useless.

Even after Feng Qingzhu showed up to save him, the assassin had still had at least one chance to kill Lu Ming. Yet he had failed.

Shen Jue gritted his teeth slightly. He watched Lu Ming look around, then leave quickly, turn a corner, and disappear from sight. Resentment churned inside him.

A few days ago, he had become certain there was no point in recruiting Lu Ming. He'd immediately decided to have him assassinated!

Otherwise, once Lu Ming grew stronger, Shen Jue's order that Wu San and his other subordinates take Lu Ming to meet Wei Jinlin would become the rope around his neck.

What's more, if he managed to kill Lu Ming, he could make up for his earlier mistake during the tournament, when Lu Ming had suddenly entered the fray and Shen Jue had failed to report it to his family in time.

Now that the attempt had failed, he felt vexed, but took a deep breath and slowly regained his composure.

Fortunately, people from families like his could have others do their dirty work, and wouldn't need to get their own hands dirty.

Guo Zhengwei of the Wei Yuan Escort Agency had been scared witless by the demons that day. Then the demons had killed his beloved son, leaving his mind somewhat unhinged. He had come to hate the Li Family and everyone who had taken part in that day's tournament.

After realizing that Yin Zheng, leader of the Red Snake Gang, had no intention of avenging Chu Wufeng, he had secretly approached people from the Wei Yuan Escort Agency and provided them with Lu Ming's whereabouts.

And so this assassination had come about.

Though it had failed, at least Shen Jue himself hadn't been exposed. He could scheme again another day.

Shen Jue thought this to himself, then turned to go downstairs.

The setting sun was fading as the stars and moon rose. The abandoned building, long neglected, was dim and hazy. The floorboards creaked underfoot.

"Found you." A low, eerie voice suddenly rang out, exploding like thunder in the silence and making his skin crawl.