The killing began

Cao Jinxing rushed out of Wang Xuanying's quarters and headed straight for the rear mountain to prepare for the next phase of his plan. For some reason, a faint unease nagged at him.

Forget it. No point thinking about it. First, I'll find somewhere to convert my true qi into Cold Toad Art internal energy. Then... I'll chop those three bastards to pieces!

The Cold Toad Art was easy to learn-at least, he thought so.

In less than five minutes, he converted all his Origin Embracing Art internal energy into Cold Toad Art internal energy.

His true qi shrank drastically!

He had to spend another half hour or so meditating to replenish it, effectively increasing his true qi reserves.

He glanced at the sky. The sun was already sinking in the west and would soon disappear below the mountains.

He couldn't delay any longer!

Standing at the highest point of the rear mountain, Cao Jinxing looked down over the entire stronghold and smiled coldly. He was going to give them a gift they would never forget!

Meanwhile.

At Hoof Pass on Crouching Tiger Mountain.

Yan Baihu and the other two leaders were directing the bandits as they reinforced the mechanisms, filling the next five hundred meters with traps. Even if the experts from the Embroidered Uniform Guard somehow survived the rain of arrows, they would still die!

"Here. Bury the Storm Pear Blossom Needles."

"Put a crossbow here, aimed at the octagonal pavilion."

Han Dang came from the Thieves' Gate and knew all kinds of mechanisms and traps inside out. His arrangements were meticulous.

Inside the octagonal pavilion, Yan Baihu was listening to a trusted subordinate's report.

"The map was taken?"

"Yes."

The subordinate was sharp and articulate. "The man wore a black cloak, and his exposed skin was as pale as a ghost's. He seemed surprised when he got the map, then returned to the inn in Crouching Tiger Town to discuss a plan with his companions. I didn't dare follow him. Only after he'd been gone a good while did I take a roundabout route to question the owner of the Peace Inn. I confirmed that four men had arrived, all wearing iron-gray flying-fish robes."

Yan Baihu pondered. "Iron-gray..."

Wang Xuanying said, "Then they're hundred-household commanders! Iron-gray for hundred-household commanders, silver-gray for thousand-household commanders, cloud patterns for pacification commissioners, and golden flowers for commanders... Four hundred-household commanders. They certainly think highly of us!"

A hundred-household commander was at least at the peak of the Acquired realm!

Yan Baihu nodded and continued, "Any distinguishing features on the other three?"

The subordinate said, "One was blind in his left eye and lame in his right leg. He seemed to be the leader of the four. There was nothing distinctive about the remaining two."

"Third Brother."

"Elder Brother."

"Go question that spy again. See whether he knows those two. With features that obvious, if he still doesn't know... kill him! The Crouching Tiger Gang doesn't feed freeloaders."

"Understood."

He turned to leave, then suddenly froze.

Puzzled, Yan Baihu followed his gaze and sprang to his feet. Thick smoke was rising from the stronghold!

"The stronghold's on fire!"

The bandits noticed too, their faces changing dramatically. That was where they lived. If it burned down, they would be left sleeping in the open!

"This isn't an accident. Someone set those fires!"

Han Dang was observant enough to spot more than one source of the flames, one to the east and another to the west, several hundred meters apart. A sense of foreboding rose within him.

"How dare they!"

Furious, Yan Baihu roared, "Second Brother! Keep working with half the men. Third Brother and I will take the other half to fight the fires-and cripple the bastard who started them!"

"Right!"

The bandits moved in good order. The half closest to the stronghold gate immediately dropped their work and ran back.

Yan Baihu and Wang Xuanying had already gone ahead. Although their lightness skills fell short of Han Dang's, they were far beyond those of the ordinary bandits. Like two great birds, they soared onto the towering gate.

Wang Xuanying said, "Elder Brother, take the east. I'll take the west. That fire is burning right where the secret cell is, and the spy's still inside. He can't die yet!"

"Mm."

They split up.

By the time Wang Xuanying reached the cell door, he could smell a heavy stench of tung oil. Flames were already roaring, fiery tongues reaching toward the sky. The blaze was unstoppable.

"Damn it!"

Cursing furiously, Wang Xuanying drew the golden saber at his waist and hacked through the heavy lock. Then he kicked the door open and rushed inside, where he saw a man lying on the floor, covered in blood.

"Get up!"

Wang Xuanying reached to grab him, then suddenly sensed something was wrong.

Looking closely, he realized the man with his flesh torn open was Chen Long, not the Embroidered Uniform Guard spy at all!

Shit!

A shrill whistle suddenly cut through the crackling flames. A fierce gust swept toward him from behind, and Wang Xuanying hastily turned to block!

Clang-

The clash of metal was deafening!

Wang Xuanying saw the most ordinary chopping blade imaginable. Yet that plain blade unleashed astonishing force, making his golden saber hum violently and nearly splitting the web of his hand!

"It's you!"

Wang Xuanying had never imagined that the man delivering such a powerful blow would be that fifth-level Acquired-realm nobody!

Cao Jinxing didn't answer. In his eyes, the man was already dead. He slashed five more times in rapid succession, each blow fiercer than the last.

Having lost the initiative, Wang Xuanying felt as though his opponent's saber strikes were a raging storm, a surging sea. They were impossibly fast, and the force behind them kept growing!

By the sixth strike, Wang Xuanying was forced to muster every ounce of strength to raise his saber and block. Who could have expected Cao Jinxing to suddenly change tactics, attack his lower body, and sweep his legs out from under him?

Caught completely off guard, Wang Xuanying toppled to the ground. Cao Jinxing twisted in midair and slashed again, channeling the strength of his waist and limbs into a strike at his neck!

"Forcefully Split Mount Hua!"

The strike was simple, its momentum immense!

It was faster and fiercer than every blow before it!

Intimidated by that unstoppable momentum, Wang Xuanying's heart pounded. At that critical moment, he suddenly remembered that this man had swallowed a heart-boring venomous insect earlier. He immediately pursed his lips and whistled, trying to provoke the insect into attacking and disrupt the force of the blow:

"Fwee, fwee~"

"Whistle your fucking mother!"

Cao Jinxing brought his blade down!

Blood sprayed!

Head and body parted!

Cao Jinxing spat a curse, picked up the golden saber, and turned to leave.

A little while later, the bandits rushing over with buckets to fight the fire arrived to find Chen Long and Wang Xuanying lying in pools of blood.

The flames had already spread to their bodies.

"Third Chief!"

The bandits cried out in shock. None could believe the sight before them. Their buckets dropped to the ground, spilling water everywhere.

Elsewhere.

Yan Baihu's brow was tightly furrowed. The more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.

Why start two fires? And at the farthest points from each other, one east and one west? The secret cell isn't like the dining hall. All four walls are built from fired brick to stop hostages escaping! To get a fire that big, he'd have had to haul several large barrels of tung oil over from the cellar... It's far too much effort for too little gain... Unless setting fires was never his real objective...

Yan Baihu's heart lurched!

"Third Brother!"

He immediately turned and charged toward the secret cell.

Just then, a figure raced toward him from the distance, sparks flickering around his body. He was unmistakably using the Lightning Movement Step!

"Second Brother?"

The man wore the same kind of long blue robe as Han Dang. At first glance, Yan Baihu instinctively assumed Han Dang had come over, leaving him unguarded for a moment.

That instant was exactly what Cao Jinxing wanted!

He flashed across several dozen meters and appeared beside Yan Baihu.

"Second Brother, you too..."

The words had barely left Yan Baihu's mouth when a sharp, knife-like pain tore through his abdomen-an icy-blue palm had silently struck his belly!

Freezing true qi erupted in a torrent!

The Cold Toad Art's greatest strength lay in storing momentum and containing force without releasing it.

After killing Wang Xuanying, Cao Jinxing had held all his energy in reserve, concentrating solely on racing forward with the Lightning Movement Step. The spring inside his body compressed tighter and tighter!

When he reached Yan Baihu and struck with his palm, it was like opening floodgates. The pent-up, violent force found an outlet and poured entirely into Yan Baihu's body!

"Urgh!"

The heavy blow struck Yan Baihu's dantian, making him spray a mouthful of blood. It felt as though countless blades were slicing through his organs. The pain was unbearable.

But his foundation was solid. Seeing Cao Jinxing's second palm strike coming, he immediately activated the Golden Bell Shield to defend himself!

A resounding clang rang out.

Internal energy at the peak of the Acquired realm erupted, forming a huge golden bell. The overbearing recoil sent Cao Jinxing flying backward, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"The ninth-level Golden Bell Shield really is impressive..."

Cao Jinxing wiped away the blood without expression and drew the golden saber from his back. "Too bad I've already ruined it..."

Yan Baihu's eyes bulged, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Forcing his energy into a defense had only worsened the damage to his dantian. His internal injuries were growing more severe, and he could feel his true qi draining away...

"Despicable!"

Yan Baihu's face was ashen, his teeth clenched. The sight of the golden saber in Cao Jinxing's hand only heightened his shock and fury. "It was all an act... A member of the illustrious Embroidered Uniform Guard, stooping so low! Bowing and scraping-utterly shameless!"

He didn't believe Cao Jinxing could have risen three levels in a few hours. He assumed Cao Jinxing had used a secret art to conceal his cultivation and feign weakness.

Cao Jinxing said, "It's called winning through strategy... All right, mostly you lot played along. I'm always generous to the dead. Curse all you like. I'm coming to slaughter you!"

Holding the golden saber low, he charged and unleashed the Wild Wind Blade Technique's strongest combination!

Of the three brothers, Yan Baihu was a worthy martial artist in both attitude and ability, and the hardest to kill.

Against him, even after landing a successful ambush and breaking his Golden Bell Shield, Cao Jinxing couldn't afford the slightest carelessness.

Why had he killed Wang Xuanying first? To gain the advantage of better "equipment." The golden saber was far superior to a chopping blade!