Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique, Entering the Hall

Shouts of killing rang out through Creek River Village, and flames lit up half the night sky as bright as day.

It was not that Chen Jing had not considered going to help Wang Chong and the others. After all, there were still bandits in the village who had not been cleared out; one more person meant one more bit of strength.

But he understood even more clearly.

Butcher Zhang's strength was spent now, and so was his spirit.

Leaving him here alone, if any bandits who had slipped through the net came sneaking over, would be no different from sending him to his death.

Besides, Chen Jing himself had taken a blade wound. He was in no better condition. This was no time to play the hero; watching out for each other was the surest way for the two of them to survive.

Therefore, Chen Jing did not act rashly.

Leaning on the White Wax Pole as he sat atop the dirt slope, he regulated his breathing to recover his strength while silently tallying the gains from this journey in his heart.

From the village entrance all the way here, he had charged and fought, stabbing five bandits to death with the White Wax Pole. His spear technique proficiency had risen by fifty points.

He had cut down three more with the Butcher Knife.

His blade technique proficiency had risen by forty points.

That bald brute alone had contributed twenty of those points.

After giving it some thought, Chen Jing guessed that the bald man had been far stronger than ordinary petty thieves, which was why killing him had yielded double the reward.

Another thing worth noting was—

Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Minor Accomplishment: 490/500)

With another ten points of proficiency, the Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique could advance another level.

That meant just one more head.

The thought scratched at Chen Jing's heart like a feather, and his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward the mouth of the alley.

Firelight flickered there, while shouts of killing and miserable screams rose and fell. If he rushed out casually, he might well run into a bandit.

One slash to finish him, and ten proficiency points would be his.

But he merely tightened his grip on the hilt and suppressed the impulse. A breakthrough in blade technique was tempting, but not worth taking unnecessary risks for.

He had to keep guarding this place.

The chaotic battle in the village continued, but judging by the sounds, the fiercest clashes had already passed.

The cries of battle gradually grew scattered.

Just then.

A figure staggered out of the alley ahead.

The figure lurched along with a long saber in hand. He kept looking back as he ran, his face full of terror. Clearly, he had been chased into fleeing blindly.

When he reached the alley mouth.

He suddenly spotted someone sitting on the dirt slope and sprang back a step like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Once he saw by the firelight that there was only a blood-soaked youth on the slope, the bandit's terror instantly turned savage.

"Get lost!" He raised his long saber in a threatening gesture, his voice hoarse as a cracked gong. "Are you looking to die?"

Chen Jing neither moved nor spoke.

He simply sat with his head lowered on the dirt slope, the Butcher Knife resting across his knees and the White Wax Pole leaning against his shoulder. He looked like a corpse drained of all strength.

After cursing, the bandit saw that the person on the slope remained utterly motionless, and doubt crept into his heart instead.

The night was too dark. The firelight cast by burning houses in the distance flickered bright and dim, and he could not tell whether that youth was dead or alive.

Gripping his saber tight, the man hunched over and crept closer one step at a time.

His feet crunched softly over broken tiles. Three steps, two steps, one step—he drew near.

Then, a pair of eyes suddenly lifted.

Those pupils were dark and deep. It was as though a gleam of light leaped within them, like a blade catching the light.

He was alive!

The bandit's pupils shrank sharply. The tip of his saber turned as he raised it to stab, but Chen Jing was faster.

His crouched posture was like a spring compressed to its limit, and the instant the bandit raised his blade, he shot upright.

Like a Fierce Tiger descending the mountain, he pounced down from the dirt slope.

The Butcher Knife in his right hand thrust diagonally upward, its edge sliding into the gap in the cartilage beneath the Adam's apple.

Pfft.

The blade sank into the man's throat, its tip piercing out through the back of his neck.

The bandit's mouth hung open, but he could not cry out a single word. Only bloody foam spilled from the corner of his lips.

His body stiffened for an instant, then collapsed limply like a slaughtered hog that had been bled dry.

Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique proficiency +10

Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Minor Accomplishment: 500/500)

He had crossed that threshold exactly.

Before Chen Jing could even steady himself, a torrent of heat exploded through his body. This time, it was far more violent than when his blade technique had reached Minor Accomplishment.

It burst outward from the dantian in his lower abdomen, sweeping along his meridians and blood vessels to his limbs and bones, causing his vitality and Inner Force to rise like water lifting a boat.

Moreover, Chen Jing's mastery of the Butcher Knife was elevated at that very moment. It became as natural as moving his own arm, utterly at his command.

[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique, Entering the Hall!]
[Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique (Entering the Hall: 0/2000)]
[Talent upgraded: Butcher]

[Butcher]: You are extremely familiar with the Butcher Knife. While holding a Butcher Knife, your attack speed increases by 25%, and your strength increases by 25%.

Chen Jing froze for a moment, then was overjoyed.

He had thought that advancing his blade technique would merely increase his strength. He had not expected the Butcher talent to improve along with it.

It had changed from a 10% speed increase to a 25% boost to both speed and strength. The difference was as vast as heaven and earth.

This meant that as long as the Butcher Knife was in his hand, his strike speed was nearly thirty percent faster than anyone else's.

Thirty percent was no trifling amount. It was entirely possible that before someone else could even raise their blade, his Butcher Knife would already have pierced their throat.

But before he could properly savor this new strength.

A burst of hurried footsteps came from the alley mouth again.

Wang Chong, his face covered in blood, strode over with an iron spear in hand. Behind him followed four or five young, strong men, every one of them drenched in blood.

Some had wounds on their arms, while others had faces blackened by smoke, but all of them carried the fierce excitement and ruthlessness that came after a desperate battle.

"Chen Jing!"

Wang Chong spotted the youth on the dirt slope at once, as well as the corpse at his feet whose throat was still spurting blood. His steps paused.

Then he lowered his iron spear and strode forward.

"Are you hurt?"

"I took a slash to the back."

Chen Jing answered honestly, turning around to let Wang Chong inspect the wound. The cloth strips had already been soaked through with blood, and every movement tugged at the pain.

Wang Chong took one look at the wound and gave Chen Jing's shoulder a heavy pat. "Just flesh wounds. You won't die."

"Where's Old Zhang?"

"In the courtyard."

Chen Jing tipped his head toward the courtyard gate behind him. "We killed eight or nine bandits along the way. Master aggravated his old injury and has run out of strength."

Wang Chong strode into the courtyard and saw Butcher Zhang sitting with his back against the wall, the Bone-Carving Knife resting on his knees.

The blood on the blade had not yet dried.

Hearing the footsteps, Butcher Zhang lifted his eyelids and glanced at Wang Chong. He said nothing, only nodded.

Wang Chong did not waste words either. He turned and left the courtyard, saying to Chen Jing,

"We've basically finished clearing things up on our side too."

"There were over thirty bandits in this bunch. We killed more than twenty, a few ran off, and we're still chasing the rest."

"I'll go check the other places. Guard your master and don't let anything happen to him."

Chen Jing nodded. Pain kept flaring through the wound on his back, and he was not in good condition. He had no desire to risk himself further either.

After all, killing people increased proficiency, but proficiency could be gained through more than just killing. A person only had one life.

Wang Chong led his men farther into the village with their torches held high. Their footsteps and firelight gradually faded away, soon swallowed by the night.

Chen Jing continued sitting at the courtyard gate, separated from Butcher Zhang by the wall. Master and disciple, neither of them spoke.

From the other side of the village came the occasional scream or sharp clash of weapons, but they were growing ever more sparse.

A faint streak of gray-white appeared on the horizon. This turmoil had raged from night until dawn.