"Little girl, how do you want to die?!"
Zhao Weiping recovered and walked into the rain, his face ashen.
His original plan had been to silently kill the people in the butcher shop, take enough supplies, and slip into the wilderness.
That was clearly no longer possible.
The commotion had been too great, and many people had noticed him.
He could only go back into hiding.
Most importantly,
the hundred-thousand-volt bolt of lightning had triggered a chain reaction, making his injuries much worse.
His current combat strength had plummeted.
He could no longer even reach the threshold of an official martial artist, though he was still somewhat stronger than someone in the Awakening Realm.
But with that level of strength, escaping Qingshan City would be harder than ever!
"You... you're a third-rank martial artist!"
Lu Mengyue coughed incessantly, lying on the ground, unable to get up. A complicated look of despair and fear appeared in her beautiful eyes.
Zhao Weiping had actually survived the hundred-thousand-volt lightning strike.
There were nine ranks among official martial artists, with the first as the starting point and the ninth as the peak. Each rise in rank brought an enormous increase in strength.
"Correct. Your reward is death!"
Murderous intent radiated from Zhao Weiping as he raised his right hand and went straight for Lu Mengyue, intending to kill her with one blow!
Whoosh!
A fierce wind howled.
If that punch landed, Lu Mengyue's head would burst like a watermelon.
That was exactly the effect Zhao Weiping wanted.
Only that could give vent to the fury in his heart.
Thud!
Lu Mengyue squeezed her eyes shut in terror. At the sound of a collision, her delicate body trembled uncontrollably.
To her surprise, however, nothing seemed to have happened. She wasn't dead, and she was still conscious.
Lu Mengyue hurriedly opened her eyes and looked.
Half a meter above her, a long, narrow saber was covered in cracks, looking as though it might shatter at any moment, yet it held firmly against Zhao Weiping's fist.
Ning Chuan had drawn his saber.
Looking at Zhao Weiping across from him, Ning Chuan felt his heart beat faster and faster with tension.
He didn't know why he had saved Lu Mengyue.
Perhaps he would have been caught even if he had run.
Perhaps he had simply wanted to save her.
Perhaps he had wanted to chop off Zhao Weiping's dog head and claim the reward.
"Playing the hero to save a beauty?"
Zhao Weiping raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
The hundred-thousand-volt lightning had injured him badly and aggravated the hidden injuries he had sustained during his earlier escape, but not enough for someone at Awakening Stage Six to stop him.
Never mind Awakening Stage Six-even someone at Awakening Stage Nine...
If he fought ruthlessly and disregarded his injuries, he could kill them in a few dozen seconds!
Ning Chuan suppressed his tension and said with a smile, "No, this girl is a famous rich second-generation heir at school.
"If I save her, I can definitely ask for a huge sum of money!"
"Of course, Brother Zhao, if you're willing to give me two hundred thousand, I'll turn around and leave!"
Ning Chuan grinned.
"Cash or an online transfer, Brother Zhao, whichever you want is fine by me!"
Ning Chuan was making conversation for the sake of it, trying to stall for as much time as possible.
The three of them were right in the middle of the street. Quite a few passersby nearby had noticed them and must have already called the police.
However, too many police officers had been drawn away by the fake Zhao Weiping.
They wouldn't be able to get here anytime soon.
"Trying to stall for time? Pretty clever!"
Zhao Weiping sneered, making no attempt to hide his scorn.
Boom!
Seeing that things were going badly, Ning Chuan unleashed a rumble of thunder from within his body and immediately attacked, hoping to strike first.
"Flash Thunder Slash!"
The Silver Blood Saber swept out, turning into a dazzling streak of silver light that sliced through the curtain of rain and slashed toward Zhao Weiping like lightning.
"Saber technique at the Minute Subtlety Realm! And it's not a low-level one, either! Looks like your talent is no worse than that girl's!"
A trace of surprise entered Zhao Weiping's voice.
The next moment,
a red light flashed beneath his left foot. Force erupted, propelling him half a meter sideways and allowing him to easily evade the incoming Silver Blood Saber.
"Die!"
Before Ning Chuan could withdraw his saber, Zhao Weiping curled his five fingers slightly. Red Force gathered at his fingertips, forming claws half a foot long. He swung them viciously at Ning Chuan's throat, so swiftly that an explosive roar rang out in the air.
Ning Chuan could only retreat, desperately using Gale Step. His figure seemed about to turn into a gale, sending rainwater flying.
Swish!
Ning Chuan narrowly dodged the claws formed from Force.
On his throat,
five bloody scratches were faintly visible.
Feeling the searing pain, Ning Chuan's heart turned cold.
Before Force, his third-layer Vajra Body was practically made of paper. It couldn't stop it at all.
If his Gale Step hadn't reached the limit of the Expert Realm,
Zhao Weiping's claw would have separated his head from his body!
This battle was completely different from his earlier fights with Ma Hai and Zhang Wensi.
Defeat meant losing his life!
It meant death!
Everything would come to nothing!
Rumble!
The rain poured down harder and harder, striking Ning Chuan in dense, cold sheets.
At that moment, deep in his heart, immense fear surged forth like floodwaters through an opened sluice gate.
Between life and death lay great terror!
He was no exception!
"Hoo-!"
Expressionless, Ning Chuan drew a deep breath. The cold of the rain seeped into his lungs with it, and he pressed down every last bit of his fear.
Things had come to this, and fearing death was useless.
It would only hasten his death.
Only by remaining calm, composed, and collected could he keep himself alive.
"Your movement technique is at such a high level too?!"
Across from him, Zhao Weiping stared blankly for a moment after his claw missed, then a cold, gratified smile appeared on his face.
"If I kill a genius like you, the Federation will probably feel the pain too, won't it?"
"You can't."
Ning Chuan's gaze was cold as he held the Silver Blood Saber upright before his chest.
"Zhao Weiping, you scum of the Federation, surrender with your hands on your head!"
"Little brother, we're coming to help!"
Just then, several kindhearted passersby ran over to help.
Zhao Weiping glanced at them from the corner of his eye, a vicious smile appearing on his lips.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Zhao Weiping's figure flickered.
Several more corpses lay in the street, washed by the icy rain.
Seeing this, the other passersby who had wanted to help immediately stopped in their tracks, their faces changing drastically with fright.
"Don't come over! Everyone, get away from here!"
Ning Chuan spoke coldly.
Although martial arts were prevalent in the Federation and everyone practiced them, people generally neglected their cultivation once they started working.
Most people were only at the Awakening Middle Stage.
Coming over to help fight would be like serving themselves up on a platter.
Not only would they be unable to help, they would also interfere with his movement technique.
"Th-then, little brother, be careful!"
A middle-aged man spoke in a trembling voice, then hurriedly retreated with the other passersby.
Zhao Wei did not pursue them. He turned and charged at Ning Chuan again.
For the two planets,
a thousand ordinary lives were not worth as much as one genius.
"Kill!"
Ning Chuan met him with his saber, and the two became locked in battle.
Killing intent surged in the rain.
Just then,
at the western end of the shopping plaza,
a van slowly came to a stop, the words "Qingshan City Television Station" displayed on its side.
"It's so unfair. Sister Li gets to report on the police arresting Zhao Weiping, while I have to come out in the rain to livestream the food at the shopping plaza!"
A pretty girl in her twenties complained from the front passenger seat.
Her makeup was ordinary, but she made up for it with naturally good looks.
Her large eyes still held a trace of youthful innocence.
The cameraman, a middle-aged man who also served as the driver, smiled and comforted her. "Ershui, you've only just started working, after all. Stick it out for a few more years and things will get better."
"I've already stuck it out for over half a year. When will I finally get to report a big story?"
Wang Ershui muttered as she got out of the van.
As soon as she looked up, she saw a large crowd fleeing the shopping plaza in panic.
She hurriedly stopped someone and asked what was happening.
"Zhao Weiping was discovered at the shopping plaza! He's gone on a killing spree, and several people are dead. A young man is fighting him right now!"
Wang Ershui froze at the news.
Hadn't the station said Zhao Weiping was fleeing along the highway?!
The next instant,
she came to her senses. Whatever the reason, this was big news!
Without even stopping to open an umbrella, Wang Ershui pulled the cameraman along and rushed into the shopping plaza.
After they had run a few hundred meters,
two figures fighting in the rain came into view.
"Start the livestream!"
Wang Ershui took out her microphone and spoke to the cameraman.