Killing Three Martial Artists

Diao Xiaolin pulled out the cork, and a scent mixed with blood and putrid stench instantly permeated the air.

Diao Xiaolin completely disregarded it, poured out two pills, and threw his head back to swallow them.

The medicinal pills entered his abdomen, and Diao Xiaolin's entire body abruptly stiffened as a force of extreme wildness burst forth from his dantian.

That drop of Blood Essence, which had originally grown dim, swelled wildly under the propulsion of this force. In just a single instant, the volume of that dark red liquid surged fourfold.

Diao Xiaolin's eyes suddenly widened; the whites of his eyes had turned dark red, and that dark red had completely covered even his pupils. Veins bulged all over his body, resembling a layer of tattoos.

The spot on his scapula where he had been slashed by Lu Hao's hand-blade also lost its sensation under the stimulation of this Blood Baleful Intent.

A blood qi, red to the point of purplish, steamed upward from his body, radiating waves of bloody and putrid odor with him at the center.

Diao Xiaolin threw his head back and let out a long howl, the screeching roar completely unlike a human voice.

He flicked his longsword and lunged toward Lu Hao.

The speed of this sword was much faster than before. Lu Hao sidestepped to evade, but his speed was still half a beat too slow, and a small cut was sliced open by the tip of the sword at his shoulder.

A chilling, numb, and itchy sensation that left one feeling unsettled immediately spread from the wound; this effect of disturbing a person's mind and spirit was precisely caused by the Blood Fiend Sword Art.

Looking at the somewhat demonic Diao Xiaolin, Lu Hao felt a secret shock in his heart, wondering what kind of medicinal pill Diao Xiaolin had taken just moments ago to make him instantly burst out with such a terrifying and perverse power.

Diao Xiaolin acted like a madman, waving his longsword unceasingly.

Lu Hao was driven to retreat step by step, and a few more tiny sword wounds were added to his body.

Soon, Lu Hao was forced to the base of the wall with no way left to retreat.

At this moment, Diao Xiaolin's longsword pierced toward his chest once again.

Lu Hao extended his left hand forward, gripping the blade, and Diao Xiaolin's thrusting longsword came to a halt.

Lu Hao shifted his stance sideways, and the longsword thrust into empty space.

Three drops of Blood Essence in Lu Hao's dantian burst forth, all of them channeling into his right palm, where a pale red battle qi emerged.

He executed the technique Black Tiger Plucks the Heart, bringing his hand-blade crashing down onto Diao Xiaolin's sword-wielding wrist.

With a crisp crack, Diao Xiaolin's wrist bone broke in response, and the longsword in his hand also clattered to the ground.

Two deep bloody gashes were also carved into Lu Hao's left hand, fresh blood dripping down his wrist to the ground.

Enduring the pain in his left hand, Lu Hao brought his fingertips together and thrust a Black Tiger Throat-Piercer toward Diao Xiaolin's throat.

Yet at this moment, the Blood Baleful Intent around Diao Xiaolin's entire body surged, and even when his fingertips touched Diao Xiaolin's throat, it merely forced Diao Xiaolin to retreat two steps.

Diao Xiaolin emitted another half-man, half-beast howl, his left fist fiercely smashing toward Lu Hao's face.

Lu Hao slightly flicked his figure, once again executing a Black Tiger Throat-Piercer with his right hand, only this time the target was Diao Xiaolin's left eye.

"Ah...!!!"

Only a miserable scream was heard from Diao Xiaolin as Lu Hao's fingertips completely sank into Diao Xiaolin's eye socket.

After Lu Hao pulled his right hand out, his left hand closely followed by executing a Black Tiger Throat-Piercer, jabbing toward Diao Xiaolin's right eye.

By the time Lu Hao pulled his left hand out, the fingertips of both hands were covered in fresh blood.

With his vision completely lost, Diao Xiaolin flailed his fists wildly, and the Blood Baleful Intent surrounding his body also dimmed a fraction.

By this time, Lu Hao had already circled to his flank, executing several consecutive strikes of the Black Tiger Downward Chop to Tear the Wind, hacking into Diao Xiaolin's ribs and smashing him to the ground.

Looking at the limp Diao Xiaolin on the ground, Lu Hao said, "I do not bully others, yet let not others bully me! Those who bully me shall be killed!"

As his voice fell, Lu Hao smoothly pressed forward, straddling Diao Xiaolin's body. He raised both fists and fiercely smashed them into Diao Xiaolin's face.

Following several successive punches, at first Diao Xiaolin still emitted hoarse roars and his body struggled.

After three or five punches, Diao Xiaolin's neck crooked, his body stiffened, and he breathed his last.

Looking again at Diao Xiaolin's face, it had been beaten to a pulp, completely unrecognizable from its original appearance. His two eye sockets were hollow holes, and his entire face was covered in fresh blood and shredded flesh.

Lu Hao let out a long breath and slowly stood up.

His entire body was covered in blood stains and shredded flesh, resembling a god of slaughter.

At this moment, the courtyard was dead silent.

The ten freight-escorts brought by Diao Xiaolin had long since been surrounded and slaughtered to the death by the members of the Black Tiger Gang, their corpses lying helter-skelter across the courtyard.

A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard, stirring the courtyard-full of bloody stench until it grew increasingly heavy.

The members of the Black Tiger Gang stood just like that, gazing at Lu Hao without the slightest sound.

After a long while, Shi Kang's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and stepped forward.

"Brother Hao! These three fellows are clearly martial artists, and yet you alone actually killed three martial artists. Especially that last one, Diao Xiaolin, who had grown terrifyingly strong. You couldn't possibly... have already broken through to Mid-Grade Bright Force, right?"

Having recovered his composure by now, Lu Hao glanced at Shi Kang and nodded.

Hearing this, the Black Tiger Gang members within the courtyard collectively drew in a cold breath. In an instant, the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"Mid-Grade Bright Force?"

"Hall Master Lu has only been a promoted martial artist for a few days, and he's already broken through to Mid-Grade Bright Force?"

"I'm afraid that even the elders of the main branch, in a one-on-one fight, might not necessarily be able to defeat Hall Master Lu now, right?"

Shi Kang stood frozen in place, thoughts churning within his heart.

He turned his head to look at the corpses of Diao Xiaolin and the other two, then looked back at Lu Hao, silently making up his mind. He too must practice desperately; otherwise, in days to come, he wouldn't even have the qualification to follow behind Lu Hao.

Lu Hao had Shi Kang assist in handling the subsequent matters.

Shi Kang first arranged for manpower to report the news to the main branch, then had people tally casualties and clear away the corpses. He sent condolence silver to the households of the fallen brothers and issued comfort silver to the injured ones. He also fetched ten liang of silver, sending a gang member to purchase wine and meat to reward everyone.

Before long, a gang member holding a pile of items walked up to Lu Hao.

At a single glance, Lu Hao spotted the small porcelain bottle where Diao Xiaolin had stored his medicinal pills; it was precisely by taking the pills from this bottle that Diao Xiaolin's realm had skyrocketed, nearly driving his sword into Lu Hao.

As he took the porcelain bottle into his hand, the system prompted:

[Equippable Item: Blood Fiend Pill]

[Effect: After equipping, Blood Essence surges eightfold, lasting for the duration of a quarter-hour. One quarter-hour later, limbs feel weak, and the state of debility lasts for three days]

[Whether to unequip the items in Equipment Slot 1 or 2, and equip the Blood Fiend Pill?]

A thought flickered in Lu Hao's mind, and he chose no.

He felt alarmed in his heart; the medicinal efficacy of this Blood Fiend Pill was truly tyrannical. It could actually cause a person's Blood Essence power to suddenly multiply eightfold. No wonder that after taking the pill, Diao Xiaolin had acted like a raving lunatic.

If he himself were to equip this Blood Fiend Pill, even against Upper-Grade Bright Force, he would possess the strength to fight. It was just that the period of debility—three days—was somewhat too long. If those three days were not spent in a safe place, wouldn't he simply become like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered at the mercy of others?

Lu Hao spotted over twenty liang of scattered silver and four silver notes. Taking the silver notes into his hand, he saw that each silver note was worth one hundred liang.

The gang member stated that the silver notes had been scavenged from the two martial artists. Inwardly, Lu Hao sighed with emotion; after becoming a martial artist, one really did have money. Two hundred liang of silver on each person—such a massive fortune was something he wouldn't even have dared to imagine in the past.

Lu Hao instructed everyone to split the silver notes, but they firmly refused, all saying that without Lu Hao, whether they could even keep their lives was a question. Instead, they only took the twenty-odd liang of scattered silver to divide among themselves.

Finally, Lu Hao produced one silver note and handed it to Shi Kang, telling him to henceforth purchase sufficient meat daily to supplement the Qi-Blood of the hall's gang members and raise their strength as quickly as possible.

Hearing this, the gathered gang members once again felt sentiments of gratitude and respect toward Lu Hao.

"Hall Master Lu is far too benevolent toward everyone!"

"Indeed, I must also practice martial arts diligently and strive to step into the Third Gate-Knocking Realm as soon as possible."

"Following Hall Master Lu is truly a blessing!"

Lu Hao flipped open another small booklet, which was precisely the Blood Fiend Sword Art given to Diao Xiaolin by Yu Wei.

Before he could even examine the Blood Fiend Sword Art in detail, the system panel displayed:

[Equippable Item Detected: Blood Fiend Sword Art]

[Synthesizable Item: Can synthesize "Golden Blade Method" and "Blood Fiend Sword Art" into "Golden Blade Blood Fiend Art (Green)"]

[Whether to synthesize?]