Settling the Score

Violent Blade Intent instantly engulfed Xu Hua.

Li Rui loosened his body. Relying on brute arm strength alone to swing a thirty-seven-jin broadsword would surely dislocate his shoulder in the end; he had to borrow the power of his waist and abdomen, his steps following the blade.

The White Ape Mantle Blade unleashed its full might.

"Exhilarating!"

Xu Hua's eyelid twitched. He too drew his blade, using its spine to parry the ferocious assault.

He was using the White Ape Mantle Blade as well.

"Damn it, it really is you!"

Xu Hua cursed furiously.

The longer they fought, the more stifled he felt.

His opponent's White Ape Mantle Blade was actually more refined than his own. In a contest of blade techniques, he had fallen into the disadvantage.

"Fuck!"

The rage in Xu Hua's heart had reached its peak, but one of his arms had been severed, and he had also taken a hammer blow from Dao Xiong. His strength was no longer what it had been.

He forcibly drew in a breath.

A sickly fervor appeared on his face.

"I'll fucking kill you!"

Li Rui's brows furrowed slightly. He could clearly feel that Xu Hua's strength had increased by more than double.

"What Cultivation Method is this?"

"A final burst before death?"

The force in his hands increased once more.

One slash, two slashes.

The thirty-seven-jin heavy blade spun so densely in his hands that not even a drop of rain falling from the nine heavens could pass through; the raindrops were knocked aside by the blade, becoming streaks of phantom shadows.

Xu Hua's heart jolted.

"Even my dead senior brother did not seem to possess blade skills this exquisite, did he?"

Within only a few breaths, he spotted the clue.

The White Ape Mantle Blade wielded by the anonymous expert before him looked identical to his own, yet in truth they differed by a thousand miles.

"Once I kill you, you'll naturally know."

Xu Hua bared his teeth in a cruel smile.

The next instant—

He flicked the empty sleeve on his right arm, and a sharp dagger flashing with cold light shot out in an instant, straight for Li Rui's vital points.

The dagger was far too fast.

It easily passed Li Rui's blade.

Li Rui was startled. "What a formidable hidden weapon."

Xu Hua truly could not be underestimated. Though one arm had been cut off, he had instead used that very fact to conceal a hidden weapon in his severed arm, making it impossible to guard against.

For the dagger to be so terrifyingly fast, he had clearly practiced with it for a long time.

"Unfortunately, you ran into me!"

Li Rui let go of his broadsword. At the same time, he drew a small dagger from his waist.

He flicked it upward.

Clang!

A crisp clash of metal rang out.

The dagger Xu Hua had fired traced an arc through the air, spinning as it flew back.

His eyes widened.

He had not expected to encounter a fellow practitioner; that man had hidden a blade as well.

"Fuck!"

In that flash of lightning, Li Rui lunged forward.

He gripped the broadsword still flying through the air once more, then, riding its momentum, brought down a heavy, devastating blow upon Xu Hua's head.

"No!"

Xu Hua's face flushed crimson. He could clearly hear the sound of bones fracturing in the hand gripping his blade.

Another slash!

With a thud, he dropped to his knees, leaving two hollows half a foot deep in the muddy ground.

Another slash.

Two slashes.

The bones throughout Xu Hua's body shattered inch by inch, crushed to pieces. In the end, nothing but a pile of minced flesh remained on the ground, blood flowing with the rainwater toward the ditch nearby.

Li Rui sheathed his blade. The rain had already soaked his clothes through.

He glanced at Xu Hua, now the same color as the earth.

"Whew."

He slowly exhaled.

In this battle, he had slain an eighth-rank Copper Bone Realm expert. It was his first time killing someone above his rank; even his heart, long as still as an ancient well, rippled faintly.

With a perfect life ahead of him, he would surely do this sort of thing often in the future.

He crouched down and searched carefully.

"He was actually a poor bastard?"

He had originally thought he could get something valuable from Xu Hua, a Huaqing Sect disciple. Yet not only did he find none of the pills he had expected, he did not even find a single silver note or a few taels of loose silver.

Xu Hua had likely been away from Huaqing Sect for too long; he had long since used up everything he possessed.

"Time to go."

He glanced at the darting figures in the distance. The battle was over.

The rain stopped, and droplets pattered down from the eaves.

One happened to land on Liang He's forehead.

"Whew!"

Liang He abruptly sat up. "That was close. I nearly died."

The moment he rose to his feet, he heard someone behind him laughingly curse, "Damn it, kid, you learned fast."

He turned around.

He saw Wu Tu using his broadsword as a crutch. There were several more blade wounds on his body; last night's battle against the Ghost Underworld Sect had exhausted him badly.

Liang He scratched his head sheepishly.

"Steward Wu, I couldn't beat them."

The moment their small squad had gone out last night, they had encountered a Ghost Underworld Sect ambush. His teammates had all been scattered amid the melee.

Liang He had only just entered the ranks and had barely experienced any real combat.

Yet he had started on nightmare difficulty.

So he chose to follow Steward Wu's advice—play dead.

Fortunately, he had survived in the end.

Wu Tu raised the back of his hand and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "You're not bad, kid. Old Brother Li has a good eye. I like your temperament. When you have time, come sit at Chengnan Gambling House. I'll treat you to drinks."

Whenever he met someone he liked, he treated them with sincerity, regardless of age or status.

"Alright!"

Liang He laughed heartily.

Surviving a life-or-death calamity, then befriending a high-status senior.

Wasn't this exactly the protagonist's plot from the storybooks?!

Liang He's eyes lit up.

Could it be that I'm the protagonist!

"Senior Wu, you will definitely be glad about what happened today."

"..."

Wu Tu looked at Liang He with a strange expression.

Was there something wrong with this kid's head?

He grinned, and the movement tugged painfully at his wounds.

"This time, I took a huge loss. I'll need at least three months to recover. Damn it, I did not even get to see that expert's face."

He had truly lost both wife and army.

"I should've learned from Old Li. How nice it would've been to hide in the branch hall and sleep."

Wu Tu muttered inwardly.

"Could Old Li have already anticipated what would happen tonight? Otherwise, why would he voluntarily give up such an opportunity?"

"Little He, did your Hall Master say anything before you left?"

Liang He thought seriously.

"Hall Master Li told me to give him a reason, or he would not let me go. I said that one who wished to accomplish great things had to undergo tempering. Only then did Hall Master agree to let me come."

Just as expected!

Wu Tu wore an expression that said he had known it all along. Now that he savored it, it was no wonder Li Rui had repeatedly tried to persuade him to give up this operation.

"It's my fault for not understanding at the time."

There was a saying in the martial world that heavenly secrets could not be spoken aloud; otherwise, the calamity that had yet to befall the other party would shift onto oneself.

That was what it meant for heavenly secrets not to be revealed.

That was why seasoned martial artists always spoke in vague, clouded terms. As for whether one could avoid calamity, that depended on one's own comprehension.

When Wu Tu recalled how Li Rui had once tried to enlighten him—

"Old Brother is a man of principle!"

Inside the Heaven and Earth Alliance branch hall.

Dao Xiong stared at a pile of flesh smashed beyond recognition.

"This lump... is Xu Hua?"

"We found a Huaqing Sect token, and there are finger bones from only one hand."

Kong Xiannian said, "Good. Xu Hua, the Huaqing Sect traitor, has been executed."

The person behind the Ghost Underworld Sect had already been slain by Jiang Linxian, and Liu Zhen had already returned to his sect to report.

His assignment had originally been simpler than Liu Zhen's. If he returned too late, the chance to become a full member would truly have nothing to do with him anymore.

Who cared whether it was really Xu Hua? As long as he could complete the assignment, that was enough.