The right way to plunder fortune

"The West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"They're the imperial court's running dogs!"

Watching the flickering torchlight in the distance and the figures racing through the curtain of rain, the experts from the various sects all registered slight changes in expression.

Behind Zhang Wuji, the Four Great Constables, whose identities had been exposed, felt their hearts sink as well.

The four exchanged glances, and Emotionless said quietly, "Attack!"

They had learned of the treasure's emergence too late to gather reinforcements. For this operation, only the four of them had come on behalf of the Great Song court. Otherwise, they would never have approached the Bright Moon Cult.

Now, experts from more than half the martial sects of the Ming Jianghu had gathered here, and even the Ming court's men had appeared. The situation was extremely unfavorable for them.

At a time like this, their only option was to wear down the enemy as much as possible and stir up infighting between the Ming court and the martial world. Only then would they have a chance to emerge as the final victors and seize the treasure.

Iron Hand and the other two understood this as well. Without a word, the three immediately darted out, charging toward Yu Huatian.

With his legs impaired, Emotionless did not join the charge. Yet a slight turn of his hands against his wheelchair sent several whistling sounds through the air. In the distance, several experts from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the West Depot who had just arrived instantly fell to the ground.

"Hidden weapons! Watch out!"

"Kill!"

The Four Great Constables' sudden attack instantly ignited the battlefield.

Led by Ma Jinliang, Lu Wenzhao, and the others, the experts from the West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard charged straight at the experts of every sect as soon as they arrived, without waiting for Yu Huatian's orders.

Yu Huatian had already laid out the plan for this operation: once the signal sounded, everyone present except their own people was to be killed without mercy.

Thus, the West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard had a clear objective. They made no distinction between righteous and demonic factions.

Anyone who was not one of their own was an enemy!

"Those damned court lackeys!"

"Fight them to the death!"

Seeing the West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard raise their butcher's blades against them without a word, many members of the martial sects immediately flew into a rage. They drew their weapons and began fighting back.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Meanwhile, seeing Iron Hand and the other two charging toward him, Yu Huatian tightened his grip on the Three-Pronged Sword, preparing to dispose of these three outsiders first.

But before he could strike, three more sounds of rushing air suddenly rang out in the night sky.

Then a cold voice came:

"Leave these three to us!"

Yu Huatian looked up and saw three dark silhouettes emerge from the night. Two were Duan Tianya and Guihai Yidao, whom he had encountered before.

The last was a figure dressed in white. Though she wore men's clothing, Yu Huatian could plainly see that she was a woman in disguise.

"First Rank of the Mysterious Division, Shangguan Haitang?"

Yu Huatian narrowed his eyes.

At that moment, Iron Hand and the other two also instantly recognized Duan Tianya's group.

"The three secret agents of Ming's Dragon Guard Mountain Villa!"

Iron Hand frowned slightly. Their target was Yu Huatian; they did not want to fight Duan Tianya and his companions.

But Duan Tianya's group was clearly coming for them. With no other choice, the three could only engage.

Rumble-

Within moments, the six were locked in battle amid the rain, the collisions of true qi ringing through the night sky.

Three against three, the six seemed closely matched. Their battle was unlikely to be decided anytime soon.

Yu Huatian paid them no further attention. He withdrew his gaze and looked straight ahead. Ding Xiu stood alone with his saber, blocking the Money Gang's path. Opposite him, Jing Wuming's eyes were icy, and the longsword in his hand hummed. Clearly, his killing intent had already risen.

"Leave him to me. Go deal with the others."

Yu Huatian slowly walked forward. With every step, his imposing presence grew stronger, and a cold aura rose from his body.

His goal was to pacify Ming and become its uncrowned king. That placed the entire martial world among his targets for purging, and the Money Gang was naturally no exception.

Jing Wuming was the Money Gang's foremost expert apart from Shangguan Jinhong. Killing him would be equivalent to severing Shangguan Jinhong's arm.

With such an opportunity before him, Yu Huatian naturally did not mind disposing of him along the way.

Ding Xiu said nothing. He cast Jing Wuming a cold glance, then slowly retreated, yielding the battlefield.

It was rare to encounter a worthy opponent, and he had wanted to finish Jing Wuming himself. But he had to admit that Jing Wuming's swordsmanship was formidable, and his overall strength far surpassed his own.

As he was now, he was no match for Jing Wuming.

"Since I took command of the West Depot, few people, whether in the court or the martial world, have dared disregard my words. You're the first."

Yu Huatian walked up to Jing Wuming and spoke calmly.

Jing Wuming's expression did not change, but his left hand instinctively tightened around his sword. "Should I feel honored, then?" he asked coldly.

"You needn't feel honored. The dead don't feel anything."

Hum-

The moment his words fell, a clear sword cry rang out. Yu Huatian struck.

Jing Wuming was an assassin. He followed the same path of death without survival and rarely paid any attention to defense.

Thus, Yu Huatian made no probing attacks. He opened with the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords. He wanted to see which was stronger: Jing Wuming's left-handed sword or the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords.

Clang-

The sword flashed with incredible speed, reaching Jing Wuming in an instant. His pupils contracted slightly. Reacting on instinct, he thrust his longsword with his left hand, once again exchanging wound for wound.

Only this time, his role and Ding Xiu's had reversed. He was now the one who had no confidence in stopping that breathtaking strike, so he could only attack in place of defending, forcing Yu Huatian to withdraw his sword.

But this time, he had miscalculated.

He was not Ding Xiu, and Yu Huatian was not him.

Though the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords contained no defense, Yu Huatian also possessed the Sunflower Manual's Seventy-Two Sword Forms, which included plenty of defensive moves for countering swords.

Seeing Jing Wuming's decisive thrust, Yu Huatian understood his intention. Acting just as instinctively, he unleashed a sword-countering move from the Seventy-Two Sword Forms.

But before that, Bow-Twisting Moon-Gazing, the move from the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords originally aimed at Jing Wuming's heart, shifted a few inches when he turned slightly sideways and struck his left shoulder. Only then did the sword-countering move from the Seventy-Two Sword Forms follow.

Clink-

A crisp clash rang out. Jing Wuming's Sword Momentum was blocked, and Yu Huatian's sword drove him backward. As he retreated, blood was already spraying from the wound in his left shoulder.

"Ngh..."

Jing Wuming stopped and let out a muffled grunt. He immediately pressed a point on his left chest to stop the bleeding, then raised his head toward Yu Huatian, his forehead already covered in cold sweat.

But before he could make out Yu Huatian's figure, he felt another surge of sword intent lock onto him. A cold gleam then grew before his eyes. Clearly, Yu Huatian had no intention of wasting words with him. He had come to take his life.

Jing Wuming's expression shifted slightly. The sword qi had damaged the meridians in his left shoulder, leaving him unable to wield his sword. He knew Yu Huatian had spotted this weakness and intended to kill him while he was crippled!

In an instant, Jing Wuming regained his composure. He simply watched the approaching sword light, making no move to dodge or defend.

Yet just as the sword light reached him, he instantly transferred his longsword from his left hand to his right. Without dodging or retreating, he thrust again-still all attack, with no defense.

At that moment, Jing Wuming's gaze was utterly calm. There was no worry or fear in it, only killing intent and madness!

Everyone knew Jing Wuming as a left-handed swordsman, but no one knew he could also wield a sword with his right hand-and that his right-handed swordsmanship was no weaker than his left.

He had seized this opportunity to make Yu Huatian believe that injuring his left arm had greatly diminished his strength, lulling him into contempt. Then, when he attacked with his right hand, Yu Huatian would surely be unable to evade in time.

This was his finest strike, and Yu Huatian was unprepared. Thus, even if they traded wounds, he was completely confident that he could kill Yu Huatian!

But the instant he thrust, he suddenly noticed that Yu Huatian showed no surprise at his right-handed attack. Instead, he saw a trace of mockery in Yu Huatian's eyes, and his sword move did not change in the slightest.

This is bad! Jing Wuming's heart jolted. He sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late to change his move or defend.

They were too close!

Shhk-

The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out. Then a jolt passed through Jing Wuming's palm as his longsword was blocked once again.

It was the same move as before.

But this time, the sword had not veered off target...

Jing Wuming lowered his head and looked at the sword wound over his heart. Then he raised his gaze toward the white-robed young man before him, whose beauty was like that of an immortal. A trace of bewilderment surfaced in his eyes.

"How did you know I could use my right hand?"

"Take a guess."

The corner of Yu Huatian's mouth lifted slightly. He withdrew his longsword, turned, and walked back, offering no further explanation.

Since he knew who Jing Wuming was, how could he possibly fail to guard against his right-handed sword?

Jing Wuming stared blankly at the retreating figure in the rain, his eyes filled with unwillingness and bewilderment. With his heart pierced and his life ebbing away, he could no longer hold on. He toppled backward and slammed heavily into the ground.

Thud!

[Fortune from Jing Wuming +5396.]

Amid the curtain of rain, Yu Huatian listened to the system notification in his mind. His expression remained cold, without the slightest flicker of emotion.

He turned and began surveying the battlefield.

The West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the righteous factions of Ming, and its demonic factions were now engaged in a three-way melee. The righteous and demonic factions had not joined forces against the West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Broadly speaking, the situation was this: the West Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard killed anyone they saw, regardless of whether they belonged to righteous sects or the Demonic Gate. Meanwhile, the martial sects fought off their experts while retreating, killing any Demonic Gate disciples they encountered along the way.

This completely enraged the various sects of the Demonic Gate, so they, too, stopped distinguishing between the court and the martial world. Anyone who was not one of their own was attacked on sight.

That was how the situation had become so chaotic.

What surprised Yu Huatian most was that Dongfang Bubai was actually fighting Zhang Wuji. Both were at the peak grandmaster level, and their battle was ferocious.

No wonder Jing Wuming had been his only opponent.

But why were they fighting each other instead of joining forces against me?

Was it simply because Zhang Wuji's earlier remarks had offended Dongfang Bubai?

Yu Huatian was somewhat puzzled.

Whatever the reason, though, Dongfang Bubai keeping Zhang Wuji occupied was a good thing. It gave him more opportunities to plunder fortune.

Yu Huatian looked at the experts from the various sects around him, his eyes gleaming slightly.

In anyone else's eyes, these people were either elite disciples of major sects or experts whose names resounded throughout the martial world.

But in his eyes, they were vast reserves of fortune!

Without further hesitation, Yu Huatian tightened his grip on his longsword. His figure flashed, and he joined the battlefield.

[Fortune from Li Yan +78.]

[Fortune from Jiang Meng +340.]

[Fortune from Zhou Dian +886.]

[Fortune from Ding Minjun +743.]

[Fortune from Hu Bao +936.]

Listening to the system notifications constantly ringing in his mind, Yu Huatian felt as though he had discovered the right way to plunder fortune.

He forcibly suppressed his excitement, transformed into an asura of the rainy night, and plunged into an utter killing frenzy.

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(End of chapter)