Shocking Kill

Meanwhile, in Pig Cage Alley.

Inside the cramped, dilapidated wooden shack, the high temperature of the Blood-Qi Like a Furnace gradually subsided.

Successfully stepping into Bright Force, Lu Zhen felt as though his entire body had shed a heavy, old shell.

The most direct change was in his five senses.

He stood quietly in place, closing his eyes.

"Drip... patter..."

The drizzling winter rain outside battered the grey stone slabs and fell upon the crumbling grey tiles. The sound of every single water droplet shattering was vividly distinct in his ears.

Listening to the boundless threads of rain rustling down outside the window, a wisp of clear, profound enlightenment suddenly swept through Lu Zhen's mind.

"When martial artists fight to the bloody death, it has never been limited merely to the bursting forth of their own physical strength and blood-qi, but lies even more in their compliance with and mastery of the surrounding heavens and earth."

"An eagle striking the vast sky is called the master of the firmament; a tiger roaring in the mountain forest is rightly termed the king of the wild woods; a crocodile hiding in shallow shoals is most adept at lurking for a killing strike. Through the evolution of the ages, the ferocious beasts of this world each possess a domain upon which they rely to reign supreme."

"Yet once they leave their familiar territory, even a fierce tiger entering the plains or a flood dragon leaving the abyss will inevitably see its ferocious might and momentum greatly diminished."

"For a martial artist, this principle is the same."

"In the martial world, some pugilists have a solid foundation and excel at hard combat on flat ground; some have nimble footwork and are skilled at leaping and bounding among forests; others possess extraordinary swimming ability and specialize in contending on the surface of rivers... Different circumstances can cause their combat power to soar abruptly or cause their edge to be vastly dulled."

Lu Zhen's aura quietly and imperceptibly merged with the sound of the wind and rain outside.

"Yet martial arts experts who truly ascend to the absolute peak never seek to rigidly attach themselves to any particular tract of land, but rather to master all manner of circumstances!"

"They transform in accordance with the situation, turning all perilous and difficult traps into sharp weapons that assist them in breaking the enemy!"

Once this thought was thoroughly comprehended, Lu Zhen felt himself plunge into an indescribable state of etherealness.

If he could maintain this marvelous state, he was even confident that by exerting a single fraction of his strength, he could leverage the surrounding strategic terrain to deal a threefold, fatal blow!

Unfortunately, this enlightenment, which came like a flash of inspiration, arrived quickly and departed just as fast.

In a mere span of several breaths, that subtle feeling vanished like the morning dew without a trace, growing impossible to capture once more.

What a pity... Lu Zhen opened his eyes and shook his head inwardly. If I could steady this state, my combat power would inevitably skyrocket. If I have the opportunity in the future, I must certainly properly ask Master for guidance.

However, although that profound state had dissipated, after this fleeting baptism, Lu Zhen's awareness of his surrounding environment had already undergone a revolutionary transformation.

At least that was the case near this courtyard with which he was incomparably familiar.

Suddenly, Lu Zhen's brow twitched imperceptibly.

He was neither listening nor looking; rather, it was a pure perception.

Within that bitterly cold winter rain outside the house, three silent, lingering afterimages had appeared out of thin air.

Much like an infrared scanner, the exuberant blood-qi on those three people, far exceeding that of ordinary people, was like three torches in the dead of night amidst the cold wind, dazzling to the extreme.

The intruders' footsteps were extremely light, landing without a sound, and they were definitely no ordinary petty thieves.

Moreover, the direction in which these three pools of blood-qi moved was extremely clear, heading straight for his own dilapidated shack!

Inside the house, Lu Zhen stood quietly behind the door, listening to the sound of the rain separated by a single wall, and his profound eyes slowly narrowed.

The desolate winter rain scoured Pig Cage Alley.

Three figures draped in black coir raincapes silently drew close to the corner of the courtyard wall of Lu Zhen's dilapidated wooden shack.

Qi Biao, who led the way, slowly wiped the rain from his face, reversed his hand to draw the short blade at his waist, and lowered his gong-like voice: "Sun Gouzi, your lightness-skill foundation is the best.

Later, slip in through the side window and immediately deploy the Funeral Nail to seal his eyes and lower body.

Han Chuan, you guard the front door to cut off retreat, and be on guard against that brat acting in desperation and rushing out."

A ruthless glint flashed through Qi Biao's eyes: "The strike must be fast! The errand Second Master Duan entrusted us with must be done cleanly and neatly. Remember, once you succeed after going in, if there are any other breathing, living mouths in the room..."

His gaze turned chillingly cold, and he made a slashing gesture across his neck: "Leave none alive, slaughter them all!"

Sun Gouzi and Han Chuan wore expressionless faces, merely nodding silently with extreme competence.

The coordination among the three of them could be described as having reached their very bones.

In their early years, the three of them were merely the lowest-ranking homeless beggars on the docks of Ocean City. For half a moldy steamed bun, the three of them huddled together for warmth, fighting for their lives against others like wild dogs to contend for turf.

They had forged ahead through a sea of blades and blood, stepping over countless corpses, and step by step had stubbornly endured until they reached the Late Force Refining Realm, becoming terrifying elite suicide soldiers within the Black Dragon Water Stronghold.

What grand battle arrays had they not witnessed?

To kill a martial arts mud-legged brat who had just broken through his realm on the river was, in their view, merely a trivial matter easily accomplished.

Yet just as the three exchanged glances, preparing to leap over the wall and enter.

"BOOM--!!!"

A violent, howling gale erupted. Before the three could react, a dark shadow had already smashed through the curtain of rain, appearing without warning within less than three feet of their faces!

"Screeech--"

The boundless, desolate winter rain actually emitted sizzling sounds at the instant it drew within three feet of this figure's body.

The terrifying high temperature emanating outward through his body forcibly evaporated the night rain into water mist!

Force manifested externally, blood-qi like steel gang!

Qi Biao's face, originally filled with murderous intent, instantly froze solid.

"Blood-qi like gang... A, a Bright Force Martial Master?!"

Han Chuan and Sun Gouzi were frightened out of their wits, feeling a chill rushing straight from their skulls to the soles of their feet.

Didn't intelligence say that this brat had only just touched the threshold of the Late Force Refining Realm?!

How could this terrifying cultivation base, akin to roaring flames able to instantly evaporate winter rain into a force gang, appear in this shabby alleyway?!

Run!

Fight?

There was not a single shred of a chance!

A Late Force Refining realm cultivator in front of a true Bright Force Martial Master was like an ant facing an elephant—grazed and they were injured, touched and they died!

"Run in separate directions!"

Qi Biao let out a shrill, miserable wail akin to a cornered ghost, cursing wildly in his heart: Duan Hu, oh Duan Hu, you bastard have led me to my death!

You call this the Late Force Refining Realm?!

You are having your brothers come here to throw away their lives!

Qi Biao retreated frantically at a mad dash.

Yet he had only bolted two steps.

"Whoosh--!"

Behind him, the harsh sonic boom of the air bearing an unbearable load suddenly arrived.

With a cold expression, Lu Zhen stamped his foot down, his figure clinging like a shadow, and delivered an Iron Wire Fist carrying seven thousand catties of immense force and Bright Force gang, ruthlessly slamming toward Qi Biao's back.

"Bang!"

The sound of flesh bursting apart, dull to the extreme.

Qi Biao's thousand-times-hammered back was instantly shattered like a fragile paper lantern.

The violent Bright Force directly shook his internal organs into a heap of mush, and his corpse flew out over ten meters like a broken sack, smashing into a muddy puddle with a "squelch" and dying right on the spot.

On the other side, Han Chuan, who had just scrambled onto the mud wall and attempted to vault over, did not escape either.

Lu Zhen did not even pursue, merely casually executing an empty-air whip kick that blasted the air apart. The formidable force gang transmitting across the air was like an invisible heavy hammer, landing solidly upon Han Chuan's spine.

"Crack!" His bones shattered, Han Chuan spewed a mouthful of wild blood, pitched headfirst off the wall, and lost all breath.

In the blink of an eye, two consecutive Late Force Refining peak suicide soldiers were slain as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs!

The remaining third brother, Sun Gouzi, had just raised his foot to run, but at this moment seemed to have had his bones completely sucked dry.

With a "thud," he slumped limply onto the floor like a pile of mud.

Filthy fluids instantly soiled a pair of pants, his entire body trembling like chaff, and he no longer dared to make the slightest move.

Looking at Lu Zhen, who slowly turned around in the misty rain like a murderous deity, Sun Gouzi wore an expression of utter despair, his head smashing frantically against the ground as mud mixed with blood caked his entire face.

"Spare my life, Grandfather! Lord... I beg you to spare my life..."