Third-Order Dao Principles: Time to Act

Silence.

Silence as still as death.

Everyone stared blankly at the head soaring skyward, disbelief and deep bewilderment in their eyes.

The dojo master.

He had died just like that?

"Grandpa!"

Kuroda Qing'er wiped the blood from her face. The sight of red on her fingertips snapped her out of her daze. She screamed and lunged forward.

But a chilling flash of blade light reached her first.

Kuroda Qing'er glimpsed only a streak of deathly white before all strength drained from her body. As darkness swallowed her consciousness, she dimly saw a sinewy hand take the family heirloom blade, Dragon Fang, from her grandfather's hand.

If only we'd given it to him in the first place—

The two instructors standing nearby clutched their throats in agony and collapsed to their knees. Soon, they too were still.

"Not bad. Another Origin Artifact of decent quality—"

Zhu Yu sensed the nine strands of Spirit Ruins Origin within Dragon Fang and nodded in satisfaction. He tucked it into his belt, then looked toward the wooden house.

He had intended to search it for anything valuable.

But his senses suddenly caught a wave of Fierce Baleful Intent several times stronger than the old man's momentary outburst. Its source was also in the prime of his life.

"The navy?"

Zhu Yu frowned and leaped onto the courtyard wall. He spotted a burly man in the distance leading a group in blue-and-white naval uniforms toward him. Bending his knees, he bounded away, vanishing into the town within a few leaps.

When the man saw him flee,

"Smart of you—"

The naval officer, nearly ten feet tall, led his men in a token pursuit beyond the town. Watching the boat speed away across the sea, he snorted and raised a hand. "Fall back."

"Yes, Major Sato."

The