First Kill-My Hand Was Shaking a Little

"Three."

Lu Heng silently counted to himself without looking back.

Three Dou Zhes. To those young masters accustomed to the comfort of Wutan City, that lineup would have been lethal. But for Lu Heng, who had a cheat...

It might not be a dead end.

"Lai San is seven-star, while the other two are eight-star and nine-star. I'll probably be at a disadvantage if I face them head-on. I need to split them up."

Having made up his mind, Lu Heng's previously unhurried pace suddenly quickened.

Azure Wood Dou Qi flowed into his legs. Though he had not learned any movement-type Dou Skills, this body's explosive power was nothing to scoff at.

Lu Heng instantly slipped into a thicket. Using the uneven terrain, he vanished after a few leaps.

Several dozen meters behind him.

"Fuck! Is that brat a rabbit or something?"

Scorpion spat and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Lai San, are you sure he didn't notice us?"

"Definitely not!"

Lai San panted heavily, his triangular eyes fixed on the direction where Lu Heng had disappeared. He greedily licked his lips.

"He's just a greenhorn! He's probably entering the mountains for the first time. He saw a magical beast's shadow or heard some movement and got scared out of his wits, so now he's running around blindly. Hurry! Don't let him run into the territory of a third-tier magical beast, or we won't even be able to collect his corpse!"

Scarface said nothing. He merely drew the long blade at his waist, pushed off with his feet, and charged ahead first.

The three of them instantly picked up speed, fanning out in a triangular formation as they closed in on where Lu Heng had vanished.

Eager to catch the "fat sheep," Lai San, the weakest among them, took the outermost route because of his lighter build. To take a shortcut, he deliberately circled around a massive ancient banyan tree.

Just as Lai San passed beneath the tree.

An incredibly faint sizzle came from the dense foliage overhead.

Lai San instinctively looked up.

In that instant, he saw a crimson-red fingertip.

Pfft!

A dark-red gust of finger force shot out so quickly that not even the retina could catch its afterimage, piercing straight through Lai San's forehead.

There was no scream.

Lai San remained frozen in his head-raised, mouth-open posture. A tiny scorched hole appeared between his brows, without even a drop of blood spilling out. The wound had instantly been cauterized shut by the intense heat.

The greed had not yet faded from his murky triangular eyes when his pupils had already dilated.

His corpse fell stiffly backward, crashing onto the thick layer of dead leaves with a dull thud.

On the tree trunk, Lu Heng gripped the bark tightly, his chest heaving violently.

That strike just now had been Lu Heng's low-grade Profound-tier Dou Skill—Blazing Sun Finger!

This was also Lu Heng's first time killing someone.

Lu Heng realized that he did not feel the nausea or urge to vomit he had imagined. His heart merely pounded as though it would burst through his ribs, each thump, thump, thump making his eardrums ache.

His fingers trembled slightly. It was not fear, but the exhilaration that came after an adrenaline surge!

"Whew..."

Lu Heng forced himself to hold his breath and suppress the urge to gasp for air.

He began circulating the Five Spirits Chaos Art. A cool sensation immediately spread through his body, soothing more than half of his tension away in an instant.

"Stop shaking."

Lu Heng stared at his right hand and viciously gripped his right wrist with his left.

"Two left."

At that moment, Scorpion and Scarface, who were searching nearby, heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

"Lai San?"

Scorpion called out, but there was no response.

"Did that idiot trip over a tree root?"

Scorpion cursed as he shoved aside the bushes. The previous finger strike had made too little noise, and with insects chirping and birds calling throughout the forest, neither of them had realized what had happened.

Not until he and Scarface saw Lai San lying on the ground with a black hole between his brows.

The expressions on their faces instantly froze, followed by terror as though they had seen a ghost.

"He's dead?" Scorpion's voice shook.

Scarface reacted swiftly. He instantly pressed his back against a tree, holding his long blade across his chest as his vicious eyes fixed firmly on the surrounding canopy.

"Who's there?! Get out here!"

Killed in a single blow!

He had not even managed to scream!

Lai San might have been trash, but he was still a seven-star Dou Zhe!

Anyone capable of killing him so silently was definitely no ordinary opponent!

However, by the time Lai San fell, Lu Heng had already recovered.

He swiftly popped a round Qi Recovery Pill from his Storage Ring and swept it into his mouth with his tongue.

The medicinal power dissolved in his mouth, instantly replenishing the Dou Qi he had just expended.

That was the extravagance of an alchemist—restoring mana before the fight was even over.

Azure Wood Seal!

Lu Heng shouted inwardly, spreading his arms as the Azure Wood Dou Qi within him surged wildly.

Two massive hand seals glowing with azure light condensed out of thin air before him.

"Go!"

Lu Heng thrust both palms forward.

The two Azure Wood Seals roared through the air, smashing toward the still-stunned Scorpion and Scarface respectively.

"Watch out! It's a Dou Skill!"

Scorpion was a nine-star Dou Zhe after all, and he reacted quickly.

With a furious roar, the pale yellow Dou Qi around his body swelled violently. He held the Ghost Head Broadsword across his chest and forcefully met the attack head-on.

Scarface, beside him, was half a beat slower. He could only hastily gather his Dou Qi and cross his arms in front of his head and face.

Bang! Bang!

Two dull explosions rang out, sending fallen leaves swirling through the forest.

Scorpion and Scarface both felt an immense force strike them. The soil beneath their feet exploded as the two slid back three or four meters before barely stopping.

"Fuck, that brat hits hard!" Scarface shook his numb arms. Just as he was about to curse a few more times, his expression abruptly changed.

The forearm he had used to block the attack now bore a patch of gray decay.

That patch seemed alive, spreading relentlessly outward. Wherever it touched, Dou Qi rapidly dissolved. Even the sleeve beneath it had become like rotten cloth weathered for a hundred years, crumbling to powder at the slightest touch.

A cold aura of death seeped into his flesh through his pores, leaving his entire arm weak and sore.

"W-What kind of evil Dou Skill is this?" Scarface cried in terror. "My Dou Qi is draining away!"

Scorpion's condition was slightly better. After all, his cultivation was one star higher. But as he stared at the section of dull, lifeless metal on his broadsword, his eyelids twitched furiously as well.

"This one's a tough nut!"

Scorpion spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his gaze turning incomparably fierce.

"That brat's Dou Skill is at least Profound-tier! Don't fight him at range. He's just a greenhorn—get close and kill him!"

"Go!"

The two exchanged a glance, their killing intent surging.

In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, killing people for treasure was commonplace. Since they had already become enemies, it was a fight to the death. If the other side possessed such high-grade Dou Skills, he surely had even more good things on him!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two figures charged at Lu Heng from the left and right like hungry wolves pouncing on prey.

Lu Heng watched the two rapidly approaching men and took a deep breath.

His attempt to kite them from afar had failed.

Then he could only fight them up close.

"Come on."

Rather than retreating, Lu Heng assumed a fighting stance.

The next second, a bloody wind rushed at his face.