The Zhao Family's front gate.
Two red doors stood before the entrance, with a stone lion crouched on either side. Eight household guards stood in two lines, blades hanging at their waists.
The strongest was a sixth-stage Martial Artist.
Lin Feng walked over from across the street.
One man.
One blade.
Without disguise or cloak, he swaggered straight toward the Zhao Family's gate.
When the guards saw him, they frowned.
Which young punk was wandering around the Zhao Family's gate with a blade in hand?
"Stop! This is Zhao Family territory. Unauthorized persons may not approach!"
Lin Feng didn't stop.
Two guards drew their blades and charged.
Mountain Splitter swept sideways.
The Gale Wind swept through, sending both guards flying, along with their blades. They crashed into the stone lions and died on the spot.
[Steel of the Blade: 499/500]
The remaining six guards were stunned with terror.
One quick-thinking guard turned and ran inside, shouting as he went.
"Someone's storming the gate! Someone's storming the gate!"
Lin Feng kicked the gate open.
The two doors snapped off their hinges and flew three or four meters in opposite directions, kicking up clouds of dust in the courtyard.
The Zhao Family's front courtyard was enormous.
Artificial mountains, flowing water, flowerbeds, and stone paths—it was exquisitely laid out.
But Lin Feng wasn't in the mood to admire the scenery. He had only one thought.
Kill!
A large group of people poured out of the side rooms and side gates.
More than twenty Martial Artists and over a dozen Martial Masters.
At their head was the Zhao Family's guard captain, a seventh-stage Martial Master with a face full of muscle and a thick-backed cleaver in his hand. He charged over, roaring.
"Who the hell are you?"
Lin Feng answered with a slash.
The Gale Wind from Mountain-Breaking Slash tore along the flagstone path, cleaving the five men before him in half.
The muscle-bound man's cleaver was still raised in midair, but the Gale Wind had already pierced straight through him.
[Steel of the Blade: 500/500! Ultimate stage activated!]
[Blade Critical Strike! Power equivalent to a full-strength strike at the peak of one major realm higher! No cooldown!]
Five hundred layers.
Full.
Mountain Splitter hummed in Lin Feng's hand. Every Dark Gold Spirit Pattern on the blade lit up, and a visible golden glow appeared across its surface.
Holding the blade, he could clearly feel the terrifying power layered along its edge.
Blade Critical Strike.
Every slash was equivalent to a full-strength attack from a second-stage Martial King.
No cooldown.
The others stared at the sight, stunned for a full second.
One second was enough.
Lin Feng charged into the crowd.
Mountain Splitter hacked left and right. Every slash carried both penetrating and critical-hit effects, and Martial Masters couldn't withstand it at all.
A fourth-stage Martial Master raised a shield to block him.
The shield shattered.
The man shattered.
Another sixth-stage Martial Master launched a sneak attack from the side, slashing toward Lin Feng's lower back.
Lost Trace Step let him slip aside. He countered with a slash that pierced beneath the man's arm and emerged through his shoulder.
Within a dozen seconds, bodies littered the front courtyard.
Lin Feng strode toward the Zhao Family's middle courtyard.
The screams in the courtyard had already alarmed the entire Zhao Family.
On the covered walkway in the middle courtyard stood a thin old man with his hands behind his back.
Zhao Kun.
The Zhao Family's Second Elder.
A Martial Ancestor.
The man Li Zhenguo had blasted back at the Sixth Defense Line last time.
He stared at Lin Feng as he walked over from the front courtyard, recognizing his face.
"It's you."
Zhao Kun's voice was low.
"Second Elder, long time no see." Lin Feng rested Mountain Splitter on his shoulder. Blood trickled down the blade.
Zhao Kun glanced at the bodies in the front courtyard. His temple twitched twice.
"Zhao Wei is dead. You did it?"
"Correct."
Zhao Kun clenched his fists.
Zhao Wei was his sworn junior brother.
"You're a Sergeant Major from the Northern Territory, and you came all the way to Qing Prefecture to slaughter my Zhao Family? Have you lost your mind?"
"You were the ones who came after me first." Lin Feng kept walking, step by step toward Zhao Kun. "Debt collectors, investigators, assassins—one wave after another. I got tired of dealing with you, so I came straight to your door."
Zhao Kun abruptly retreated three steps and thrust both palms forward.
A Martial Ancestor's qi and blood condensed into solid form, transforming into a translucent wall of energy that bore down on Lin Feng.
Lin Feng didn't dodge.
He brought Mountain Splitter down head-on.
The Gale Wind tore through the wall of energy, its momentum undiminished as it thundered toward Zhao Kun.
Zhao Kun's face changed drastically. He twisted aside to avoid the main force of the Gale Wind, but the shockwave sliced off a portion of his sleeve, leaving a half-foot-long gash on his arm.
"A Martial Ancestor? Since when did you..."
He didn't finish speaking.
Twelve Dark Blade Flying Daggers shot out of Lin Feng's cloth pack.
Controlled by telekinesis, they came from twelve directions, sealing off every possible escape route.
Zhao Kun desperately swung his palms, knocking two daggers away.
The third sank into his thigh.
The fourth pierced his left shoulder.
Lin Feng was already right in front of him.
Mountain Splitter swept upward.
Zhao Kun's body stiffened for a moment.
The bloodline running from his abdomen to his throat split open.
The Zhao Family's Second Elder's eyes bulged as his lips continued to move.
Then his whole body toppled backward, crashing into the covered walkway's railing and snapping two of its posts.
[Target killed: Zhao Kun (second-stage Martial Ancestor)]
"Good."
Lin Feng recalled his Flying Daggers and headed for the Zhao Family's rear courtyard.
The Zhao Family's treasury was underground in the rear courtyard. He had found the key on Zhao Kun.
The basement door was reinforced with alloy and more than ten centimeters thick.
Lin Feng didn't use the key.
He cleaved the door open with one slash.
The treasury was crammed full of goods.
Crates of Magic Cores.
There were D-Rank and C-Rank ones, but the most eye-catching was a locked iron case in the corner. Inside were three dark-gold Magic Cores, each larger than a fist.
B-Rank Magic Cores.
Each was worth at least two million.
Various Elixirs lined the shelves beside them.
Body Tempering Pills, Energy Recovery Pills, and Foundation Establishment Pills—the full range, in staggering quantities.
There were more than ten boxes of Body Tempering Pills alone.
Over a dozen long sabers and swords hung on the weapon rack, ranging in rank from D-Rank to B-Rank.
Inside the safe at the very back was a thick stack of bank certificates and contracts.
Lin Feng packed everything he could carry into the Storage Bag he'd found in the Zhao Family's possession.
Magic Cores, Elixirs, valuable weapons, bank certificates—not a thing remained.
As he carried away the last crate of Magic Cores, he heard footsteps overhead.
Heavy and slow.
They carried an oppressive force that made even the air feel stifled.
Lin Feng abruptly lifted his head. A figure had already appeared behind him.
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