First Blood, Erasing the Trail

After dealing with the troublesome Fourth Brother, Liu Yunche calmly turned around to face Ma San, who had long since exhausted his strength.

By now, Ma San had no reserve strength left. The crimson in his eyes had faded, leaving only hollow despair.

The hand gripping his saber trembled slightly, and his moves were chaotic and disorderly. None of his earlier savage ferocity remained. Clinging only to a stubborn refusal to die, he continued swinging his broadsword.

Liu Yunche seized that fleeting opening. With a twist of his wrist, the scabbard carried steady force and struck precisely at the joint of Ma San's saber-wielding wrist.

With a light crack, Ma San's wrist went numb, pain stabbing through his tendons and bones. He could no longer hold the broad saber, and it clattered from his hand onto the ground.

Before Ma San could react through the pain, Liu Yunche stepped lightly forward and drove a precise, vicious kick into the soft ribs at his churning left waist.

The force of that kick was measured perfectly. It was not fatal, but enough to shake his internal organs.

"Puh—"

Ma San's whole body jolted. Like a kite with its string cut, he shot backward and slammed hard into a thick tree trunk.

The violent impact sent his chest roiling, and he could no longer suppress the warm blood in his throat. He spat out a great mouthful of it.

All strength left his body, and he slid to the ground. His muscles and bones ached unbearably, his internal organs twisted in waves of pain, and he could not gather any strength in his body—not even enough to raise a hand.

The fierce bravado with which he had once run rampant through the mountains had vanished without a trace. All that remained was fear and wretchedness. Every shred of fighting spirit had been crushed; he no longer had the slightest will to fight again.

Fourth Brother lay on his back on the ground, teeth clenched tight. His voice trembled with tension as he forcibly suppressed his cries of pain, his chest heaving violently.

Pulling at his wound, he gave a self-mocking, bitter laugh. "I hunted geese all day, only to have the geese peck my eyes blind today..."

Liu Yunche approached slowly, his expression grave. His figure cast a broad shadow across the ground, carrying an oppressive presence.

"Kill us or carve us up. Do as you please."

Ma San's words carried a trace of helplessness. How could there be such a monster in this world? His saber realm utterly crushed Ma San's own.

"What was it that you buried in the soil just now?"

Liu Yunche raised Concealed Edge. Blood still dripped from its tip as it pointed straight at Fourth Brother's throat, and he asked indifferently.

Fourth Brother endured the pain and gritted his teeth, a fierce glint flashing through his eyes. "Kid... I'm dead anyway. Don't even think about getting an answer from me."

As his words fell, Fourth Brother arrogantly curled his lips into a bleak smile.

"That's right. If you've got the guts, then do it already. I got sick of this godforsaken world long ago." Ma San, lying nearby, roared as well.

Liu Yunche sighed softly. "Sometimes, death is a luxury..."

"Tell me everything cleanly and quickly, and I'll let you die cleanly and quickly too. Otherwise..."

Seeing the hesitation in their eyes, Liu Yunche pressed on.

"Skinning, flaying flesh, severing tendons, scraping bones. With my saber skills, I believe I can manage it."

"Since you are unwilling, I would be happy to give it a try."

Without waiting for the two to react, he pressed the blade downward against Fourth Brother's chest. It easily parted the skin, and in an instant, blood and flesh spilled forth.

Enduring the pain in his chest, Fourth Brother bellowed:

"Stop! Stop! I'll talk!"

"Running into you is our bad luck, brother."

Ma San clutched his chest and said haltingly:

"That was Demon-Luring Incense. The chief told us to bury it all over Azure Radiance Mountain. It can lure out the demon beasts from the depths."

Liu Yunche listened silently, and understanding dawned on him completely.

No wonder demon beast disturbances had become so frequent in the forest lately. Young beasts that should have remained hidden in the deep mountains had repeatedly fled outward.

It was not some change in the mountain forest at all. These bandits had deliberately created this chaos!

The Martial Academy's ten-day hunt had gathered all the city's disciples at Azure Radiance Mountain.

The bandits had laid Demon-Luring Incense over a vast area at this moment, intending to use demon beasts to slaughter the city's young disciples, throw Verdant Grain County into turmoil, and their intentions were vicious beyond measure.

"Did your chief give any other orders?" Liu Yunche asked with a frown.

Fourth Brother's entire body was wracked with pain. He now sought only a swift death, so he hurriedly added:

"We are only minor leaders. We were merely responsible for burying the Demon-Luring Incense. We know nothing of the rest."

At the brink of death, Ma San suddenly spoke, his words carrying a trace of hysterical madness:

"You ruined Blackwind Stronghold's plans. I'll be waiting for you below."

Liu Yunche nodded. Concealed Edge rose in his hand, its blade glinting coldly beneath the sunlight.

The two knew their time had come. They no longer struggled, merely gazing quietly at the sky.

A dark blade-light flashed past. After two soft sounds, the forest fell completely silent.

After dealing with the two of them, Liu Yunche did not pause for even a moment. He turned and walked toward the pit of earth from before.

Using his bare hands, he cleared away layers of rotten leaves and loose soil. Several gray-black incense pellets lay quietly at the bottom of the pit.

Liu Yunche picked one up and lightly fanned it with his left hand. A wisp of faint, almost imperceptible strange fragrance entered his nostrils.

The scent was subtle, difficult for ordinary people to notice, yet it could silently stir the violent nature of demon beasts.

"What a scheme."

Liu Yunche murmured softly.

He took only one incense pellet as evidence. As for the rest, he carefully covered them with earth and buried them again, while memorizing this location.

The Demon-Luring Incense had been laid over a vast area and in great quantities. This was far from the only place. He simply could not investigate every site in a short time, and taking them all away would be meaningless.

What mattered most now was to get through the hunting trial safely, accumulate points and resources, and stabilize his cultivation.

Liu Yunche rose and came to the two corpses. This was his first time killing someone—and he had killed two in succession.

The reason he had immediately turned and run toward the pit was to keep himself from feeling sick and vomiting.

The soil beneath his feet was stained with blood that had yet to dry. He took a deep breath of the forest's cool air, steadied his mind once more, and thoroughly stripped away the panic of having first blood on his hands.

Though waves of discomfort still remained, Liu Yunche stood silently for a while before slowly gathering his emotions and cleaning away the traces around him.

Then he turned, lifted the two corpses, and headed deeper into the mountains.

After walking for a long while, Liu Yunche finally found a great gorge. Below, the water rushed violently, splashing waves from time to time as undercurrents churned without end.

He casually threw the two corpses down. A moment later, after two soft splashes, Ma San and Fourth Brother vanished from sight.

After standing still for a moment, Liu Yunche removed his upper garment and tore off a section of one sleeve, casually hanging it from a treetop.

With the remaining garments, he raced and shifted through the forest, leaving behind a scrap of clothing from time to time.

Time passed, and the golden sun moved westward.

Bare-chested, Liu Yunche carried a tiger over his shoulder and returned to a cave.

His streamlined muscles seemed tempered by a thousand hammer blows. As they tensed, scale-like patterns surfaced beneath his skin, making it seem as though he wore a layer of iron skin.

Holding Concealed Edge, he easily parted the tiger hide with its blade. Thanks to his Saber Master ability, the tiger hide was not damaged in the slightest.

In no more than the time it took to burn an incense stick, Liu Yunche had stripped away an intact tiger hide.

Looking at the hide, Liu Yunche could not help recalling how, in his previous life, he had learned to sew clothes from his great-grandmother in the countryside as a child.

He lifted a tiger leg and made a few cuts. Using tiger teeth as needles and fine hemp as thread, he completed a crude tiger-hide garment in less than half an hour.

He picked up the remaining half of his clothing from the side and muttered to himself:

"Whether the scent Fourth Brother mentioned is real or not, I have left traces everywhere. Even if they have companions, they will never find me easily."

After considering it, he decided that tomorrow he would change direction and continue scattering pieces of clothing.

He lit a bonfire. As he dried the damp tiger-hide coat, he also roasted a tiger leg over the flames.

He raised his head to look at the deepening night outside the cave. Thinking of Shi Qingyue and the others scattered in different places, a trace of concern flashed through his eyes.

"Tomorrow, I should go find Qingyue and the others."