Strike first to gain the upper hand

As Zhou Wuji prayed devoutly, the statue of the North Pole Heavenly Emperor remained silent, but a voice came from behind him.

"Junior brother, what happened?"

Eldest Senior Brother Zhang Wuding strode into the main hall. He had a broad, square face, thick brows, and a thick beard. He wore a hunyuan headcloth, and even his loose blue Daoist robe could not conceal his powerful build.

Following Zhang Wuding was Fang Wuzhen, a short, wiry man whose small eyes gleamed keenly. He carried a sword, his face full of wariness.

The moment Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen entered, they smelled a strong stench of burning. Both their gazes fell on Li Yiyuan's corpse on the floor.

The charcoal-black corpse no longer bore any recognizable features, but its build and shape had not changed.

Both found the corpse strangely familiar. A thought struck them, and they immediately guessed that it was Li Yiyuan!

Zhang Wuding's and Fang Wuzhen's expressions changed drastically. Li Yiyuan was a formally registered Daoist who had undergone seventh-rank register reception. How could such an expert suddenly have met a violent death?

Shocked and uncertain, both looked toward Zhou Wuji, hoping to find an answer from him.

Zhou Wuji stood and brushed the drifting ash off himself. Only then did he turn toward Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen and sigh deeply. "Eldest senior brother, Junior Brother Wuzhen, Master suffered an accident while cultivating that triggered Yin Thunder. He met with misfortune."

Back then, his master had used the Seven Star Sword to sweep away all the demons, monsters, ghosts, and fiends on Huamei Mountain before establishing Hidden Dragon Temple.

As a branch altar of the North Pole Sect, Hidden Dragon Temple enjoyed harmonious relations with all the local powers in Siming County.

As the temple's master, Li Yiyuan had accepted many children from the county's prominent lineages as disciples, a means of cultivating good relations with those lineages.

Although Zhou Wuji was Li Yiyuan's closest direct disciple, he could only rank second among the many disciples. Zhang Wuding was the eldest senior brother.

Zhang Wuding was twenty-four. Before becoming a disciple, he had already cultivated his martial arts to the hidden force level and become an eighth-rank martial artist. The Zhang Household was also the largest lineage in Siming County.

When someone like him entered Li Yiyuan's tutelage, he naturally had to become the eldest senior brother. Zhou Wuji understood his master's intentions, of course, and would not compete with Zhang Wuding over anything.

With Li Yiyuan around, he had no need to compete. He would certainly never be left out of anything good.

Now that his teacher had met with disaster, Zhou Wuji only wanted to handle his funeral arrangements as soon as possible. He had no inclination to fight Zhang Wuding and the others.

Both Zhang Wuding's and Fang Wuzhen's expressions changed drastically. Even though they had already suspected it, confirmation that the corpse was Li Yiyuan's was still difficult to accept.

"Our most pressing concern is to see to Master's funeral arrangements..." Zhou Wuji said.

Zhang Wuding was about to speak, but Fang Wuzhen suddenly said, "Master's accidental death is no small matter. We must investigate it thoroughly!"

Fang Wuzhen stared at Zhou Wuji, undisguised suspicion all over his face. Zhou Wuji was younger than him, yet he was Li Yiyuan's direct personal disciple, while he and Zhang Wuding were merely nominal disciples.

Hidden Dragon Temple was a branch altar of the North Pole Sect, a genuine orthodox Daoist sect. Only direct personal disciples could study the North Pole Sect's higher vehicle secret methods.

Li Yiyuan had met with an accident, and Zhou Wuji happened to be present. Fang Wuzhen immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity to finish Zhou Wuji off.

Once Zhou Wuji was eliminated, he and Zhang Wuding could take control of Hidden Dragon Temple.

Although the temple had been established only a little over a decade ago, Daoist Yiyuan's prestige and ability had already given it considerable foundations.

Its temple lands alone amounted to several hundred mu. Its other possessions, such as gold, silver, valuables, and law artifacts, were worth far more than a thousand gold pieces.

Most importantly, Hidden Dragon Temple belonged to the Northern Pole Sect. By controlling it, they could attach themselves directly to Cloud Dragon Lower Court.

When that happened, they would both have a chance to work their way into the lower court and obtain the status of a True Disciple of the North Pole Sect.

This was no sudden whim of Fang Wuzhen's. He had been mulling it over ever since becoming a disciple.

Zhang Wuding looked at Fang Wuzhen in some confusion.

He was a little slow to react, and he usually got along reasonably well with Zhou Wuji. For a moment, he failed to understand why Fang Wuzhen was making trouble for him.

Fang Wuzhen gave Zhang Wuding a meaningful look, signaling for him to look at the Seven Star Sword at Zhou Wuji's waist.

At the sight of that seventh-rank ritual sword, realization dawned on Zhang Wuding. If they seized this opportunity to eliminate Zhou Wuji, they could obtain the Seven Star Sword.

The seventh-rank ritual sword itself was worth a thousand gold pieces. More importantly, it represented Li Yiyuan's Daoist succession.

Zhang Wuding's face immediately darkened as he barked, "In the dead of night, Master suddenly met with disaster for no apparent reason, yet his personal sword is in your hands.

"Zhou Wuji, Master treated you like his own son, yet you betrayed your master and ancestors! How dare you? How could you do such a thing?!"

By this point, both his voice and expression were fierce, his face filled with outrage.

Zhou Wuji was not angry. He even felt a little admiration for the two young men.

They had turned hostile the instant they spotted an opportunity-decisive and ruthless! He had underestimated them somewhat before.

Fortunately, he had made preparations as well.

After all, it had been more than ten years since he awakened the wisdom of his past life, and this was a chaotic world where martial artists ran rampant and demons were everywhere.

He was also someone who felt very little sense of security.

"Eldest senior brother, listen-"

Zhou Wuji began to defend himself with an innocent expression, but halfway through his words, he suddenly flung up his long sleeve.

A great cloud of white powder flew from his sleeve, spraying straight toward Zhang Wuding's and Fang Wuzhen's faces.

Both Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen had expected Zhou Wuji to offer a few words in his defense.

They had cultivated together for several years and shared at least some friendship. Even with their minds made up to kill Zhou Wuji, they needed a moment to work themselves up to it.

Neither had expected Zhou Wuji to be even more direct and attack at once.

What Zhou Wuji threw was not lime, but flour that had been finely ground repeatedly. He normally kept it in a gourd he carried with him.

Dust explosions worked in this world too. Moreover, flour could serve as food in a crisis, making it very useful.

When he saw Zhang Wuding and the other man enter, Zhou Wuji had already tucked the gourd into his sleeve in preparation. At the critical moment, he simply crushed the gourd and scattered the flour.

Caught off guard, Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen could not tell what the white powder was. Both covered their faces with their sleeves and rapidly retreated.

Seizing the opportunity, Zhou Wuji swung his fly whisk backhanded. Its horsetail-like tassels curled around the ever-burning lamp on the incense table like a whip and hurled it straight between the two men.

The splashing lamp oil became flecks of flame, meeting the dust drifting through the air.

In an instant, the flames blazed fiercely, erupting with a thunderous boom.

Both Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen were blasted several zhang away by the explosive flames. For a moment, the world spun and their vision went black.

By the time they recovered, the main hall was pitch-dark, and Zhou Wuji was nowhere to be found.

"What kind of technique was that?" Fang Wuzhen asked in shock and uncertainty.

"Just a trick. Once you've seen it, it won't work a second time."

Zhang Wuding, by contrast, was quite composed. His martial foundation was his family's Iron Tiger Fist, and his body was as tough as steel. Although the blast had seemed formidable, it had done him no actual harm, merely singeing a small patch of hair at his temple.

"Zhou Wuji reacted quickly enough," Zhang Wuding said. "But his martial arts are poor. He won't get far."

Then he sneered. "Zhou Wuji has been tripped up by his own cleverness. If he hadn't attacked, I would still have had a few reservations. Striking first and fleeing clearly shows a thief's guilty conscience.

"We'll gather the other junior brothers immediately and announce Zhou Wuji's crimes."

His face full of murderous intent, Zhang Wuding told Fang Wuzhen, "The mountains are crawling with demons and inhuman creatures at night. That brat won't get far.

"Once day breaks, we'll return to the county to find people. We must kill that brat."

The mountains stretched on and on, vast and unbroken, concealing untold numbers of demons, monsters, ghosts, and fiends. There was simply no killing or exterminating them all.

Even for martial artists and cultivators, venturing deep into the mountain forests at night was extremely dangerous.

With Zhou Wuji's abilities, his only option for escape was to follow the main road, which would inevitably take him through Siming County.

Unless Zhou Wuji could find a boat and escape by water. But where could he find a boat on such short notice?

Besides, the Nine Sources River was extremely dangerous at night too. Absolutely no one dared sail at night.

Fang Wuzhen nodded emphatically. If Zhou Wuji escaped and brought back help, that would be a major problem.

Since they had torn away all pretense, they had to leave no room for mercy!

A ruthless heart and vicious hands were the very foundation of securing a foothold in these chaotic times.

At that moment, however, Zhou Wuji had not fled far. Instead, he had gone to his master Li Yiyuan's room in the rear courtyard...