Merely Killing

"What kind of rats are hiding here, setting ambushes and skulking about, too cowardly to show your faces!"

Xu Qianhuan's face was as sunken as water, his tiger-like eyes glaring. He had long sensed something amiss and had remained vigilant; though furious, he was not startled.

Quietly, he fished a three-inch flying sword from his storage pouch and flicked his wrist, launching it toward the forest on his left.

"Shhh!"

The flying sword vanished in a flash, transforming into a half-zhang-long giant blade mid-air before crashing into the thicket of trees.

Following two miserable screams, blood sprayed like a fountain, drenching the leaves and dripping slowly to the ground.

This sudden strike had claimed at least two lives.

"How bold!"

The trees shook violently as nine cultivators rose from the forests on both sides, all of them masking their faces.

Judging by their mana auras, five were at the middle stage of Qi Refining, and three were at the early stage.

The burly male cultivator leading them brandished a long spear and sneered, his own cultivation base revealed to be at the late stage of Qi Refining—the eighth level.

The hearts of the Xu Family members plummeted to the depths of the valley.

If it were king against king, the remaining situation would force the three middle-stage Xu cultivators to face five!

Those two extra middle-stage cultivators could either assist the late-stage leader in surrounding Xu Qianhuan or slaughter the elderly and weak within the horse formation.

The situation was dire!

"Attack! Make it quick; kill them all right here."

The burly cultivator did not dally or trade barbs; he ordered his men to strike while he charged straight at Xu Qianhuan.

"Boom!"

The burly cultivator struck, his spear erupting with blinding blood-red light, condensing into the phantom of a blood python that lunged with gaping jaws toward Xu Qianhuan's throat!

The others moved to engage as well.

Four masked bandits unleashed their magical artifacts, clashing with the three middle-stage Xu cultivators.

The remaining sixth-level masked bandit did not join the fray; instead, he skulked around the perimeter, sneaking behind Xu Qianhuan to attempt an assassination!

Facing the onslaught, Xu Qianhuan did not dare to be careless. He first activated a talisman, and a layer of hazy water screen immediately shielded him.

Then, the cyan light barrier projected by his jade pendant artifact contracted, wrapping tightly around his body.

Only then did he summon his flying sword again to collide with the blood python phantom.

For a moment, they were evenly matched.

"A perfect chance!"

Suddenly, the sixth-level masked bandit, who had been waiting like a viper in the grass, struck as a flash of light cut through the air.

With a "puff," the outer water screen was shattered.

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Xu Qianhuan's focus wavered.

A "boom" sounded almost simultaneously as the burly bandit coordinated his strike, seizing the opening to land a hit!

Xu Qianhuan's jade pendant artifact let out a mournful wail, and the cyan light barrier began to flicker and fail.

The stalemate began to tilt.

On the other side, the three middle-stage Xu cultivators were also in dire straits against the four bandits, having been outnumbered.

Seeing this, Master Mo gritted his teeth, slapped his flood-dragon horse, and charged into the fray.

Master Mo's foundation was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, but his body was aged and plagued by hidden injuries. He did not know how much strength he could truly muster, but he could not stand by any longer.

If any of the Xu Family's middle-stage cultivators were injured and forced to retreat, the situation would collapse instantly—and who would survive then?

Master Mo had roamed the cultivation world for many years; he was clear-eyed and decisive.

However, back at the original position, Shopkeeper Xu, Master Mo, and Lin Changheng had been working together to handle three third-level bandits. The two men possessed multiple artifacts and fought head-on, while Lin Changheng harassed them from the side with Fire Bullet Art and Entanglement Art.

Now that Master Mo had left, the pressure on the veteran third-level Shopkeeper Xu surged.

"I'm going to crush that annoying little bug over there."

One of the bandits, unable to bear the harassment any longer, cast a cold, murderous glance at Lin Changheng. He dropped the remark and broke away from the battle, maneuvering his hammer artifact to hunt him down.

The artifact danced, spitting out cold light!

"Giddy-up!"

Lin Changheng was startled, his face draining of color as he frantically turned his horse to flee.

"Hahahaha! Don't run, you wretch! You had the guts to harass your grandfather, but not the guts to pay with your life?"

Lin Changheng's cowardly flight only made the young bandit more arrogant as he gave chase.

Passing a Xu Family servant who had fallen from his horse with a broken leg, the bandit sneered and casually used his artifact to blast the man's head apart. There was no cry of pain—only a spray of red and white, as if he were slaughtering a chicken.

Watching the distance widen, he cast a gloomy look and slapped a Godly Travel Talisman onto himself.

His speed surged instantly, closing the gap rapidly as he sneered, "Die for me!"

Yet Lin Changheng, who appeared to be fleeing in a panic, showed not a hint of fear on his face; his pitch-black eyes held only a rare, chilling coldness.

Driving the incantation for the Fire Bullet Art while simultaneously imbuing it with the Fire Control Art: Agility, he grabbed a fist-sized fireball into existence with one hand and hurled it backward.

"So slow... Truly a petty trick, repeating the same old move!"

The young rogue cultivator glanced at it with disdain, shifting his body slightly to graze past the fireball with precision, while his magical tool flew out to close the distance and breach his attack range.

He would strike with fury and blow his head clean off!

"Hm?"

With a metallic clang, the fleeing man ahead suddenly raised his hand to unleash a flying blade, knocking his hammer-headed tool aside.

The young rogue cultivator was stunned—he had another magical tool?

The next instant, a wave of heat rushed toward his face, and he realized with belated horror that the fireball he had clearly dodged had turned in mid-air, following his body's movement with eerie precision...

"BOOM!"

He did not understand, but he would never have the chance to.

The fireball, its power forcibly compressed, slammed fiercely into his face, instantly detonating into a blinding, crimson flare.

The protective spell he had been desperately fueling was torn apart like thin paper; the high heat melted through skin and flesh, and his blood hissed as it vaporized. His entire body turned charred black in an instant, reduced to ash.

Lin Changheng reined in his horse and turned back, his killing done with such ease that the discomfort he had imagined never came.

He retrieved his flying blade, bent down to scoop up the rogue cultivator's fallen hammer-headed tool, and returned to the battlefield where Shopkeeper Xu was engaged.

"Changheng!"

"How is it you?"

Unlike the immense joy shown by Shopkeeper Xu, the two rogue cultivators at the third level of Qi Refining had their expressions change drastically, and they cried out in alarm.

Lin Changheng did not answer; instead, he keenly seized the moment of their distraction and immediately threw out a talisman.

Ice Talisman!

The talisman burst, and a bone-chilling coldness manifested out of thin air, which he controlled to envelop one of the men.

"Crack, crack!"

The man's movements slowed instantly as frost began to climb across his skin.

"Die!"

Shopkeeper Xu was overjoyed; how could he let such an opportunity slip? He immediately turned his magical tool to strike, and with a sharp hiss, an arm was severed, blood spraying across the ground as it fell.

"A pity!"

Lin Changheng shook his head; he had been a hair's breadth away from taking the man's head.

"Sigh!"

Shopkeeper Xu also shook his head, sighing as he had to admit he was getting old, before continuing to control his magical tool to press the attack.

But that rogue cultivator's combat effectiveness was gone; he could not even care for his severed arm and could only flee for his life.

The only remaining able-bodied rogue cultivator at the third level of Qi Refining was also stunned. How much time had passed? A three-on-two situation where the advantage was theirs had suddenly flipped into a one-on-two disadvantage!

Just as the choice of "fight or flee" flashed through his mind, a piercing sound of air being torn came from the direction of the Black Water River in the distance, and a magical boat was speeding toward them!