Kill Qin Xiangnan

Qin Xiangnan had been making a living at sea for years, so his reaction was extremely swift.

Almost the instant the water arrows came flying at him, he slammed a hand against his chest.

A flash of spiritual light burst from his chest, forming a pale blue shield of light that enveloped his entire body.

A protective talisman.

The first five water arrows slammed fiercely into the shield.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The shield shook violently, its spiritual light flickering madly as cracks spread across its surface.

Crack!

The shield shattered with a bang, dissolving into scattered spiritual light.

Qin Xiangnan let out a muffled groan and was blasted backward by the terrifying force, launched straight off the skiff in a sweeping arc through the air.

The force behind those five water arrows was terrifying beyond belief.

Qin Xiangnan stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Wang Mengde's mastery of the Water Arrow Technique was even more terrifying than he had anticipated.

Wang Mengde's gaze was icy. He gave Qin Xiangnan no chance to recover, directing several water arrows beneath him to shoot toward Qin Xiangnan at top speed.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Three dull impacts rang out.

Three water arrows pierced through Qin Xiangnan's shoulder, abdomen, and left leg, blasting three fist-sized bloody holes into him.

Blood sprayed wildly.

Qin Xiangnan screamed and crashed heavily into the seawater.

A patch of the sea was instantly dyed red.

Wang Mengde stood at the bow, watching Qin Xiangnan struggle in the water.

The spiritual power within him was truly down to less than ten percent.

A wave of weakness surged through every limb and bone.

Yet his gaze remained cold, without the slightest hesitation.

In an instant, he formed another hand seal.

Entwining Silk Technique.

Countless threads of spiritual power shot forth, instantly wrapping around Qin Xiangnan as he struggled in the sea and binding him tightly.

At the same time, Wang Mengde formed another seal with his other hand. The seawater churned again, beginning to gather into new water arrows.

Bound by the Entwining Silk Technique, Qin Xiangnan struggled desperately.

But those threads were incomparably tough, and he could not break free at all.

He looked up at Wang Mengde as he condensed water arrows once more, his eyes filled with terror and despair.

He frantically sent a voice transmission.

"Mengde, Mengde, spare me. I was confused for a moment."

His voice rang beside Wang Mengde's ear, tinged with tears.

"These past few years, I often came to you for guidance in spells. You taught me so much. We went out to sea together, drank together—we're friends."

"Spare me this once. I was confused for a moment, my heart was blinded by greed. I... I swear I'll never dare do it again."

There was not the slightest ripple in Wang Mengde's eyes.

On the contrary, the killing intent in his heart grew even stronger.

The water arrows in his hand condensed faster.

He had always been a man who clearly distinguished gratitude from grudges.

He believed that kindness must be repaid, and enmity avenged.

He truly had regarded the other man as a friend.

That was precisely why he had called out to him first when they were breaking through the encirclement.

That was precisely why he had given him fourteen Azure Jade Ghost Carp.

Yet this friend not only felt no gratitude whatsoever, but had even wanted to kill him.

If he had not kept watch with the corner of his eye, that sword strike just now would already have taken his life.

How could he possibly spare him?

Two water arrows condensed into shape before him.

They were crystal-clear from end to end, radiating a sharp, icy gleam.

Qin Xiangnan was terrified beyond measure. He knew Wang Mengde was about to strike.

He swiftly sent a voice transmission, roaring, "Wang Mengde, you can't kill me. My younger brother is an outer disciple of the Evergreen Sect."

"If you kill me, my brother will definitely find out. He won't let you off."

"Let me go, and I'll give you everything I have. From now on, we'll keep to our own sides of the river and never meddle in each other's affairs."

There was still not the slightest fluctuation in Wang Mengde's gaze.

So what if his brother was an outer disciple of the Evergreen Sect?

Out here on the vast sea, killing him meant killing him.

Who would know?

Even if someone did know, he still had to kill him.

Wang Mengde cast the Water Arrow Technique, and the two water arrows rapidly took shape.

With a thought from Wang Mengde.

The two water arrows shot out.

The first water arrow pierced fiercely through Qin Xiangnan's lower abdomen.

His dantian shattered.

Qin Xiangnan screamed. The spiritual power he had painstakingly cultivated poured frantically out of him like floodwaters through opened floodgates.

The second water arrow shot straight at his head.

Puff...

A mist of blood exploded.

A fist-sized bloody hole was left in Qin Xiangnan's head.

His body twitched once, then he completely ceased breathing.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Mengde used the Entwining Silk Technique to drag Qin Xiangnan's corpse onto the skiff.

After doing all this, less than five percent of his spiritual power remained.

A powerful wave of weakness struck him, making his body sway slightly.

But he did not dare delay.

Taking a deep breath, he swiftly cast the Entwining Silk Technique.

Threads of spiritual power shot out again, fishing up the flying sword floating on the sea's surface.

Then he picked up the flying sword and sliced open Qin Xiangnan's sleeve.

Sewn into the inner side of the sleeve was a gray pouch the size of a palm.

A storage pouch.

Two months ago, when his Spirit Eye Technique had just reached its peak, Wang Mengde had inadvertently seen this storage pouch inside Qin Xiangnan's cuff.

Just now, he had kept Qin Xiangnan in the corner of his eye and clearly saw him secretly activate the storage pouch and take out that flying sword.

That was why he had been able to dodge that sword strike at the critical moment.

Wang Mengde tucked the storage pouch into his robe.

Then he swiftly searched Qin Xiangnan's body.

He found several talismans and a money pouch.

He tossed them onto the skiff spirit vessel.

Then he threw Qin Xiangnan's corpse back into the sea.

Splash.

A spray of water rose from the surface, only to be dyed red by blood moments later.

Wang Mengde did not stop.

He cast the Entwining Silk Technique again, fishing Zhao Youming, Zhou Lie, and Sun He's corpses out of the sea.

He swiftly searched their bodies.

He took the talismans and money pouches from their bodies and tossed them onto the skiff.

Then he threw the three corpses back into the sea.

Wang Mengde cast the Entwining Silk Technique once more.

This time, his target was the Azure Jade Ghost Carp aboard Qin Xiangnan and the others' skiff spirit vessel.

Azure Jade Ghost Carp rose into the air one after another and landed on Wang Mengde's skiff.

Thirty-seven of them.

Their azure light shimmered as they piled into a small mountain.

Sweeping the area with his Spirit Eye Technique, Wang Mengde vaguely saw more than twenty Azure Jade Ghost Carp pursuing him from three thousand meters away.

He turned the skiff around and crazily poured spiritual power into it.

Like an arrow loosed from a bow, the skiff shot westward.

He sped onward all the way.

Half a quarter-hour later.

A reef field appeared ahead.

Reefs stood densely packed, rising above the sea's surface.

He drove the skiff into the reef field and found a concealed crevice between several enormous reefs, where he hid the skiff.

Standing on the skiff, spiritual light flowed within his eyes.

He pushed the Spirit Eye Technique to its limit.

His gaze pierced through the seawater and the reefs, sweeping his surroundings in all directions.

There were no Azure Jade Ghost Carp.

No other demon fish.

Nor were there any traces of cultivators.

He let out a slight sigh of relief.

He sat cross-legged on the skiff.

He took a small bottle from his robe.

Then poured out a pill the size of a longan.

A Qi-Replenishing Pill.

He opened his mouth and swallowed it.

The pill entered his stomach and instantly transformed into a warm current that spread through his body.

Wang Mengde closed his eyes and circulated the Luan-Phoenix Harmony Formula.

He swiftly guided the mild yet abundant energy into his dantian's sea of qi.

The Luan-Phoenix Harmony Formula refined medicinal power much faster than the Minor Five-Element Breath-Absorption Art.

In merely six breaths, he had fully absorbed and refined the Qi-Replenishing Pill's medicinal power.

The spiritual power within him had recovered to fifty percent.

He felt much more invigorated, and the weakness that had plagued him was swept away.