Killing Frenzy

"Black Armor Army!" Jinshi shouted sharply. "Form up!"

The Black Armor soldiers were well-trained, moving at the command.

Over a hundred men swiftly formed a battle formation, shielding Jinshi in the center. Each held a long spear, their tips uniformly aimed at Zhou Qi. Their movements were perfectly coordinated, without a trace of panic.

Standing within the formation, Jinshi's expression eased slightly.

Though these Black Armor soldiers were not individually powerful, they had weathered countless battles and worked together with practiced skill.

With a hundred men in formation, they could entangle even a peak ninth-layer cultivator.

As long as they held him for a moment, he would find an opportunity to strike.

He drew his sword. A faint azure glow rippled over the blade, making it clear at a glance that it was no ordinary weapon.

Zhou Qi moved.

Gale Step, unleashed at full force.

His figure became an afterimage, charging into the formation in an instant.

The Black Armor soldiers thrust their spears. Spearpoints came stabbing from all directions, sealing every route of retreat.

Their coordination was enough to leave one tongue-tied.

Zhou Qi swept his blade horizontally, releasing Blade Qi that knocked aside the incoming spears.

But even more spears had already stabbed toward him.

He twisted aside and slashed backhandedly to his left.

The blade flashed. Two Black Armor soldiers had their spears severed and staggered backward.

But spearpoints from the right had already reached him.

Zhou Qi could not evade in time. A spearpoint raked across his left arm, tearing his clothes and splitting open his flesh as blood poured out.

A light wound!

Jinshi's eyes lit up. Seizing the chance, he flashed forward and thrust his sword.

The sword light was fierce, aimed straight for Zhou Qi's heart.

Instead of retreating, Zhou Qi advanced, meeting it with a slash.

Blade and sword collided.

"Clang!"

Jinshi's expression changed. His tiger's mouth went numb, and the longsword in his hand nearly flew free.

Zhou Qi did not budge an inch, then swung another backhanded slash.

Jinshi hurriedly dodged, but the blade light was too fast. It still sliced across his shoulder, sending up a spray of blood.

Furious and terrified, Jinshi retreated several steps and hid within the Black Armor Army's formation.

"Keep him tied down!"

The Black Armor soldiers surged forward once more, their spears like a forest.

Zhou Qi stood where he was, his gaze sweeping over the spearpoints.

That spear strike just now had shown him a flaw.

The Black Armor Army's combined attack was indeed formidable. A hundred men moved as one, with both offense and defense.

But they were ultimately only Qi Refining Third Layer and fourth-layer cultivators. No matter how seamless their coordination, it had its limits.

Zhou Qi drew a deep breath and unleashed Gale Step again.

This time, he was even faster.

His figure weaved through the formation. With every slash, a Black Armor soldier fell.

One slash, two men.

Two slashes, four men.

Three slashes, eight men.

Wherever the blade light passed, Black Armor soldiers collapsed one after another, their screams rising and falling in succession.

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the hundred-plus Black Armor soldiers had been routed beyond repair, sprawled all over the ground.

Jinshi's face turned deathly pale.

He stared at Zhou Qi, his eyes filled with dread.

But gritting his teeth, he drew his sword and unleashed a sword technique.

It was a Lower Profound Grade technique his older brother had secretly taught him: the Startling Swan Sword.

As spiritual energy poured into it, the sword gleamed with spiritual light.

Jinshi had grown up following Jin Tie, and once he came of age, he had followed Jin Tie into the Marquis Residence.

Over more than forty years, the number of times he had truly fought for his life was few and far between.

Only when a book was needed did one regret having read too little; when blood splashed before one's eyes, the mind descended into chaos.

Even a Lower Profound Grade technique was difficult for him to display even one or two parts out of ten in his current state.

Sure enough, Sword Qi rose like a mountain and charged stiffly straight at Zhou Qi.

But Zhou Qi was no fool. With merely a sidestep, he evaded the overwhelmingly powerful strike.

The Startling Swan Sword, as its name implied, should have been swift as a startled swan—not a technique that only focused on gathering power.

The instant he evaded the strike—

Sky-Splitting Strike. Zhou Qi simultaneously unleashed his Sky-Splitting Blade, fast as lightning.

Jinshi barely managed to block it.

Then Mountain Severing. Zhou Qi neither retreated nor withdrew, continuing directly into the next move.

Jinshi could no longer hold on. Blood had already seeped from the tiger's mouth of his sword hand from the force of the impacts.

Heaven-Shaking Strike—the Sky-Splitting Blade's strongest killing move—erupted with an unstoppable momentum.

As the blade force descended, Jinshi raised his sword to block.

"Crack..."

Jinshi's treasured sword was cleaved in two. The blade force did not diminish, continuing down toward Jinshi's right arm.

"Aaaah..."

Agonizing pain tore through him. Jinshi's right arm, still clutching the broken sword, flew into the air before dropping softly to the ground.

Jinshi had been scared out of his wits. He fell to the ground, ignoring the searing pain as he scrambled several steps backward.

"You... you can't kill me! I'm one of the Champion Marquis's men! If you kill me, the Marquis won't let you off!"

Zhou Qi said nothing. Carrying his blade, he walked toward him one step at a time.

Jinshi retreated again and again, his voice trembling.

"You've gone mad! Do you still want your Yang Family? Aren't you afraid of having nine generations of your clan implicated?"

Zhou Qi stopped.

Thinking Zhou Qi was afraid, Jinshi rejoiced inwardly and continued.

"If you know what's good for you, it's not too late to stop now! I can pretend none of this ever happened..."

Before he could finish—

Blade light flared.

Jinshi's pupils shrank sharply as he tried to dodge.

But he was too slow.

Early ninth-layer Qi Refining against peak ninth-layer was already a vast disparity, not to mention that he was injured.

He only had time to see a snow-bright blade light flash before his eyes.

Then his head flew high into the air.

It spun several times in the air before landing on the ground with a thud.

His eyes still held an expression of disbelief, his mouth slightly open as though asking, "How dare you...?"

The headless corpse swayed, then crashed to the ground.

Blood gushed out, dyeing the earth beneath him red.

The entire scene fell deathly silent.

Zhao Dazhu hid behind a tree, trembling from head to toe.

Li Dehou braced himself against a tree, his face pale as he gasped for breath.

The guards who had hidden far away all stared wide-eyed, frozen in place like statues.

As for the remaining Black Armored Guards, they had long grown accustomed to life and death. Seeing Jinshi dead, they had already scattered and fled.

Zhou Qi sheathed his blade.

He glanced at the corpse on the ground, turned, and left.

After taking a few steps, he stopped and looked at Yang Hong, who had long since been scared senseless amid the crowd.

"Steward Yang."

Yang Hong shuddered all over and answered instinctively, "H-here!"

Zhou Qi spoke calmly. "Collect Fifth Elder's body. Have our people withdraw. We can't stay at this mine."

Yang Hong froze for a moment, then hurriedly nodded. "Y-yes!"

Zhou Qi's gaze swept across the crowd.

"Where is Wang Tianfu?"

Everyone looked at one another and shook their heads.

The scene had been too chaotic just now. No one had noticed when Wang Tianfu vanished.

Zhou Qi frowned slightly and turned toward the Wang Family Mine.

After only a few steps, he saw a fat figure desperately running toward the mine tunnel.

Wang Tianfu.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he looked back and was so frightened that his soul nearly fled his body.

"E-Elder Zhou! Spare me! It was all a misunderstanding! Wang Tiannan made me do it! I didn't do anything!"

He shouted as he ran, his legs pumping wildly.

Zhou Qi said nothing. He unleashed Gale Step and caught up in an instant.

Blade light flashed.

Wang Tianfu ran a few more steps before his body abruptly stiffened.

He lowered his head and looked at his chest. There, a bloody line ran diagonally from his shoulder to his waist.

"You..."

He only managed that one word before pitching forward, never to rise again.

Zhou Qi sheathed his blade and turned back.

Back at the Yang Family Mine, Yang Hong had already ordered men to place Yang Jinshan's body onto a carriage.

The body was wrapped in white cloth, the head and body laid together.

The Yang Family guards stood nearby, their faces pale. Their gazes toward Zhou Qi were filled with awe and fear.

Zhou Qi glanced at the carriage and said flatly,

"Get on. We're returning to Lin'an City."

He paused and looked at Yang Hong.

"You drive the carriage yourself and... take Fifth Elder home."

Yang Hong's eyes reddened, and he nodded forcefully.

The convoy slowly began moving, leaving the mine and heading onto the official road.

Behind them, the mine was a scene of chaos.

Zhao Dazhu, Li Dehou, and the guards and minor stewards from the various families stood where they were, watching the departing convoy, unable to speak for a long time.

There were not many survivors left in the Wang Family. Zhou Qi had casually killed them before leaving; those who ran fast were ignored, while those who ran slowly all died.

As for Jinshi, his corpse had remained on the ground until Zhou Qi left.

But after Zhou Qi's convoy had gone far away, Zhao and Li's families quickly gathered the body and placed it on a wooden bed not far from the mine entrance.

The sky had fallen!

This was the only thing they could do.

Li Dehou swiftly made arrangements.

Zhao Dazhu followed blindly.

They split into two groups. One went to send word to Lin'an City, while the other reported to Blackstone City.

As for whether another envoy from the Upper City would blame them, that was no longer something they could afford to consider.

The wind swept by, carrying a wave of blood stench that soon scattered into the wilderness.