Kill

"We finally shook that bastard off!"

Of the three, one dropped straight down onto his backside.

"It's just a pity about Old Yang and the others. Why did that Ghost-Faced Crab suddenly go berserk?"

Another leaned against the wall, a huge claw mark across his chest—courtesy of the Ghost-Faced Crab.

"That thing was wounded. I'm afraid it mistook us for demon hunters."

Zhao Wenjie sat down cross-legged, took out a Spirit Stone, and began recovering.

He touched the wound on his left arm. If his reaction had been even a little slower, he would probably already be in that thing's belly by now.

"Speaking of which, how many Inedia Pills do you two still have?"

"I've got one left. Old Zhao, what about you?"

Zhao Wenjie checked, then said softly, "I only have one left too."

"I've only got one left as well. Tell me, if we go back, how do you think Senior Sister Yao will deal with us?"

The moment those words came out, all three fell silent.

But they also knew very well that now that the Ghost-Faced Crab had gone on a rampage, if some other Azure Cloud Sect disciples happened to see it, such fine qi-refining material would likely fall into someone else's hands.

Yao Yuzhi was already angry over the matter of the Mutated Oak Tree.

If they could not even get their hands on the Ghost-Faced Crab...

"Do you want to leave the Azure Cloud Sect?"

Zhao Wenjie opened his eyes and asked.

"Leave? Old Zhao, have you gone mad? With our bit of strength, even if we run, where could we run to?"

"Exactly, Old Zhao. You know Senior Sister Yao's temper. If she finds out we fled, she'll definitely send people to silence us. Hurry up and put that thought out of your head."

Zhao Wenjie neither agreed nor disagreed. He looked at the two of them and asked seriously:

"Then if we go back, will the result be good? Believe me or not, if we return like this, at best we'll be sent off to mine. At worst, we'll lose our lives."

The other two opened their mouths, but in the end, they could only sigh.

"Old Zhao, don't rush things yet. Haven't we already sent a message to Senior Sister? This place is so barren even birds don't shit here. I doubt many Azure Cloud Sect disciples will come."

"That's right! As long as we hold on until Senior Sister Yao arrives, everything will be fine!"

Zhao Wenjie's gaze flickered slightly, and he nodded.

"That works too. We've been through life and death together, after all. I still have a jug of wine here. Want some?"

With a flash in Zhao Wenjie's hand, a wine jug appeared out of thin air.

"Old Zhao, you even brought wine! I want some!"

"Me too! Having a storage pouch really is great. Old Zhao, when are you going to get one for your brothers too?"

Zhao Wenjie shook his head and took out two wine cups. "Hard to say. We lost the Oak Garden. Relying on the tiny bit of Spirit Stones the sect gives us? Hard."

The two drank a cup. Just as they were about to say something, they suddenly felt their throats tighten.

"Old Zhao, this wine has quite a kick! Why's it choking my throat?"

"Yeah, exactly. Get us some water. It's too dry!"

Zhao Wenjie put away the wine jug and looked at the two of them expressionlessly. "No need. I poisoned the wine. Consider it my way of seeing you two brothers off."

"What! Poisoned! Have you gone insane!"

"Zhao Wenjie! You!"

The two men's faces changed drastically, and they had just been about to rush over and grab him.

But in the next instant, both of them felt dizzy, their vision swimming. They toppled to the ground at once, convulsing nonstop, and before long, they breathed their last.

"Don't blame me. I have to leave this place. If you two go back alive, then Yao Yuzhi won't let me off."

Zhao Wenjie murmured aloud.

"This bastard really is vicious and ruthless."

In the shadows, Li Jun's eyes abruptly narrowed. He had not expected Zhao Wenjie to be so decisive.

Inside the cave, Zhao Wenjie got to his feet, walked over to the two men, and kicked them with his foot.

After confirming that they were completely dead, he searched all over their bodies.

Suddenly, a streak of sword light attacked him.

"Who's there!"

Every hair on Zhao Wenjie's body stood on end. He drew his longsword and thrust forward.

He saw an ink-black longsword pierce through the air and strike directly against his sword hilt.

Clang!

What shocked Zhao Wenjie was that his sword had actually shattered!

"How is this possible!"

Zhao Wenjie seized the chance to retreat, and only then did he get a clear look at the newcomer's appearance.

"Li Jun?! Why are you here?"

He looked at the young man walking out of the dark shadow, his mind thrown into chaos.

"Long time no see, Deacon Zhao. I trust you've been well."

Li Jun spoke, feeling a little regretful.

It was truly a pity that his sword just now hadn't managed to finish the man off.

Zhao Wenjie narrowed his eyes, sensing the strength of the spiritual energy on the other man—and it was actually the third level of Qi Refining!

This guy had only awakened his spiritual root a few months ago, and now he was already at the third level of Qi Refining?

"Li Jun, you really hid yourself well! I truly underestimated you."

Zhao Wenjie thought back to that day when he had tied the other man up with rope and sent him to the Alchemy Room.

Whether it had been his condition or his reactions, how had he looked anything like a cultivator?

Before, when Yao Yuzhi had said Li Jun might be a spy Shen Xiyue had planted in Oak Garden, he still hadn't quite believed it.

But seeing Li Jun before him now, he had no choice but to believe it.

"Same to you. I didn't expect Deacon Zhao to be so ruthless either. No matter what, they counted as people who had lived and died alongside you, yet you killed them just like that."

Li Jun circulated the spiritual energy within his body, his entire focus highly concentrated.

"Heh. I gave them a chance. They were the ones who failed to grasp it properly. Li Jun, tell me, were Liu Yan and the others killed by you? That bug in Oak Garden—was that your doing?"

Zhao Wenjie pressed him, his tone ice-cold.

However, the only response he received was a sword strike.

Li Jun closed in, not planning to waste words with Zhao Wenjie, striving to take him down in the shortest time possible.

"If you don't answer, then that's an admission. Li Jun, you worked under me for ten years. Ask your own conscience—shouldn't I have treated you fairly well? But how did you treat me? You destroyed Oak Garden, and you got your satisfaction, but did you ever think about those laborers who worked alongside you? They'll all be punished because of this."

Zhao Wenjie took out another flying sword and began tangling with Li Jun inside the cave.

Although Li Jun's longsword was incomparably sharp, Zhao Wenjie was, after all, a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining, rich in combat experience.

Even injured, he still brought Li Jun no small amount of pressure.

"Stop spouting nonsense. If not for you exploiting them every year, they would have saved enough Spirit Stones to go home long ago."

Li Jun remained unmoved, doing everything he could to swing his sword and thrust.

"Li Jun, your sword isn't bad, but you have too little combat experience, and you've never learned any specialized sword moves or spells. If you want to rely on that sword to kill me, you're still too tender."

After a few exchanges, Zhao Wenjie had also gotten a handle on Li Jun's strength, and his heart settled somewhat.

Originally, he had still been worried that Li Jun was hiding his strength, but judging from the situation now, the other man's strength really was only at the third level of Qi Refining.

"Fine, then. I'll let you see what real swordsmanship is!"

Zhao Wenjie's confidence swelled. With a twist of his wrist, sword light stabbed out in succession.

"Flowing Cloud Sword Art!"

Li Jun looked at the sword shadows before him, then suddenly put away the Awakening Sword and unleashed the movement technique Shadow-Folding Wandering Dragon Step with all his might.

The next second, under Zhao Wenjie's incredulous gaze, Li Jun actually passed through layer after layer of sword shadows and appeared directly in front of him.

"How is this possible! Fireball Technique!"

Zhao Wenjie's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly pulled his left hand back to defend while swiftly casting a spell.

However, just as his left hand formed a seal, two fingers gleaming with silver light, carrying a terrifying gust of force, jabbed straight into his chest!

"Pfft!"

Zhao Wenjie's chest exploded on the spot, blood spraying everywhere.

"You..."

Bloody foam spilled from his mouth. He wanted to say something, but the life force rapidly draining away from him turned all of it into a vain hope.

In the end, Zhao Wenjie's eyes rolled white, and he toppled straight down, dying with his eyes open.

"Whew! That was close!"

Feeling the emptiness of the spiritual energy within his body, Li Jun also let out a long breath.

He glanced at Zhao Wenjie on the ground. At last, he had taken care of him.

"I still have to raise my strength. At the very least, enough to let me use Star-Shattering Finger a few more times," Li Jun concluded.

Star-Shattering Finger was extremely powerful, but it needed time to prepare.

With his current spiritual energy, he had to hit with a single strike.

Otherwise, if he failed to hit the opponent, then with his spiritual energy depleted, he could only be slaughtered at someone else's mercy.

He stood up, walked over to Zhao Wenjie's side, grabbed the other man's storage pouch, and opened it.

"Good heavens, this much stuff??"