Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

"I don’t have the money on me."

Sensing the terrifying Gang Qi roaring toward his back, Yun Feng’s face twisted in alarm. With no time to flee, he whirled around and blasted out a wave of his own Gang Qi.

BANG!

The two streams of Gang Qi collided. Before the Silver Gang Qi that Xu Yang had cultivated with his Golden Gang Skill, Yun Feng’s Gang Qi was like paper, shattered in an instant.

In a flash of light, the silver glow of Xu Yang’s fist unstoppably shattered Yun Feng’s Protective Gang Qi before finally dissipating.

Yun Feng’s body convulsed. Although he had withstood the glowing fist, the backlash sent him plummeting from the air.

"Then forget it!"

Xu Yang shouted coldly and descended from the sky. He formed his hand into a Palm strike, and the air boomed as he thrust it forward.

"I am the young master of the Yun Family and a member of the Dawn Association! Do you dare kill me?"

Yun Feng blustered, trying to scare Xu Yang off with his status. "If you’re willing to call it even today, I’ll have my family give you ten thousand silver."

Along with the threat, he dangled a huge temptation.

"I’d feel much more at ease if you were dead."

Xu Yang was unmoved. His Palm tore through the air, radiating a powerful aura as he closed in on Yun Feng. In an instant, his Palm smashed into Yun Feng’s Protective Gang Qi.

BANG!

Yun Feng’s Protective Gang Qi shattered on impact. In a panic, he thrust both his hands forward, attempting to block the fatal Palm strike.

CRACK!

The instant their hands met, Yun Feng’s arms were shattered into several segments by the terrifying Force, and splintered bone jutted out from his shoulders.

With his Minor Achievement in Golden Gang Skill, Xu Yang could fight an ordinary Martial Artist at Gang Qi Minor Achievement using his physical strength alone. In comparison, a Martial Artist like Yun Feng, who had not even reached that level, was no different from a child.

AARGH...

Blood sprayed through the air as a heart-wrenching scream tore from Yun Feng’s throat, his face contorting in agony.

"Xu Yang, don’t kill me."

’Terror seized him. He regretted using his status as the Yun Family’s young master to threaten Xu Yang.’

’I don’t want to die! I haven’t even undergone Marrow Cleansing yet! I haven’t inherited the vast Yun Family fortune, or truly started to enjoy my life! I absolutely cannot die here!’

CRUNCH!

Xu Yang’s Palm slammed heavily into Yun Feng’s chest. Like a deflating ball, Yun Feng’s chest instantly caved in, and a mess of crushed organs was forced out of his mouth and nose. It was a gruesome sight.

Yun Feng’s body flew backward even faster. The look of defiance in his eyes slowly faded. By the time he hit the ground, his limbs were only twitching unconsciously. He couldn’t be more dead.

Hah!

Xu Yang let out a long breath. From the day Yun Feng had first threatened him, he had been searching for an opportunity to kill him. Now that he’d finally done it, he no longer had to worry about the Yun Family causing trouble for his relatives in Qingyuan County.

He strode over and began looting Yun Feng’s body. To his surprise, he found silver banknotes worth a thousand taels and over a dozen contribution points. In addition, there were a few unused Vein-Protecting Pills and Ice Spirit Pills. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

After finding a cliff to dispose of the body, Xu Yang resumed his escape. He ran for several more kilometers before finding a secluded spot to lie low.

BOOM!

’A massive firework exploded high in the distant sky. It was probably Liu Youzhen and the others, having found a chance to send a distress signal. Of course, it could also be the Blood Lotus Sect. They might have already killed everyone in the valley and are now using this to lure escapees like me back.’

About an hour later, another massive firework exploded in the sky.

Xu Yang remained hidden. Only at dusk, as the sun began to set, did he start to creep back toward the valley.

From a distance, he saw that the members of the Blood Lotus Sect had vanished. The valley floor was riddled with craters. A few figures were moving about, and he recognized some of them as disciples who, like himself, had managed to escape. He also spotted Gao Lin.

’The experts from the Purple Sun Sect must be here.’ Knowing this, he immediately revealed himself and entered the valley.

When Gao Lin saw it was Xu Yang, he quickly walked over. "Junior Brother Xu, are you alright?"

Xu Yang shook his head and cupped his fist. "Senior Brother Gao."

His gaze swept across the valley, where he saw a dozen or so bodies laid out side-by-side, the ground stained red with their blood.

Gao Lin said grimly, "Don’t look. Including you, there are only four survivors so far. Yun Feng and Shen Liang still haven’t returned. Even if they both made it, that’s still thirteen of our people dead."

’Yun Feng won’t be coming back.’

’Shen Liang, on the other hand, probably made it.’

Xu Yang’s heart sank. He had already seen the bodies of Song Runshu and Liu Youzhen—both Inner Sect Disciples were dead. And Luo Jiang, who had taken a Palm strike from one of the black-robed Blood Lotus Sect members, was now just a cold corpse.

He kept looking. The five Outer Disciples who had reached Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation were dead, as were Wen Hao and Fang Yu from the Ten Heroes List.

As geniuses on the Ten Heroes List, those two had been singled out. He, being somewhat well-known himself, had also been a priority target. He had only managed to break through the encirclement by sacrificing Luo Jiang’s life to create an opening for a surprise attack.

’If I hadn’t been hiding my true Cultivation level this whole time, I probably would’ve been in grave danger today as well.’

’He also noticed that the body of the Blood Lotus Sect disciple he’d killed was missing. He didn’t know if the Blood Lotus Sect had taken it, or if the experts from the Purple Sun Sect had.’

"Do you have any useful information?" Gao Lin asked grimly. "All the refined Forging Materials have been taken. the Sect is offering a generous reward for any useful information."

The Purple Sun Sect had suffered a devastating blow this time. Two Inner Sect Disciples, two geniuses from the Ten Heroes List, five disciples with Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation, and four ordinary disciples were all dead.

What was worse, that batch of special Forging Materials—items requiring purification by the Earth Vein Spiritual Fire—were rare treasures that couldn’t be bought on the open market, even for a high price.

Xu Yang said, "Before I escaped, I saw Zhu Yong. I believe he’s the Blood Lotus Sect’s mole."

Gao Lin shook his head. "He’s already escaped."

’Someone else must have seen Zhu Yong, too,’ Xu Yang thought. He then said, "I have no other news. I was being pursued by an expert and had a hard time losing him in the mountains."

’He was a little worried that someone might have seen him sacrifice Luo Jiang to kill that Blood Lotus Sect disciple. But everyone who could have seen it was dead. After he escaped, no one else had gotten out.’

’He had no intention of revealing that he’d killed a Blood Lotus Sect disciple. It would attract too much attention, and he’d rather forgo the reward.’

Unable to get any useful information, Gao Lin let Xu Yang go rest.

He wasn’t very familiar with the other three survivors. Still shaken, he sat down in the valley.

’Chen Chao, the one I knew best, is also dead. Not a single person I first met while smithing on Li Fire Peak survived.’

After a while, Shen Liang returned alive.

Gao Lin questioned him as well, but Shen Liang couldn’t provide any valuable information either. He had fled even faster than Xu Yang, so it was even more unlikely he’d know anything useful.

"Brother Xu, you made it out alive! That’s wonderful."

Seeing Xu Yang again, Shen Liang felt a sense of kinship. He remembered seeing Xu Yang tied up in a fight with a black-robed member of the Blood Lotus Sect as he was escaping.

Immediately after, he greeted the other three survivors. It wasn’t just him; everyone looked at each other with a sense of kinship.

After all, out of nineteen people, only the five of them had survived. They were comrades who had faced life and death together.

Shen Liang was on good terms with the other three, and with his inclusion, Xu Yang also began to chat idly with them.

"Everything was stolen. I’m afraid this past half-month of work was for nothing," said a man named An Ping.

He was still thinking about the contribution points.

"If it’s for nothing, it’s for nothing. It’s still better than being one of them lying over there," said Tang Xiao.

Looking at the already stiff corpses in the distance, everyone fell silent.

Shen Liang said, "We’ve faced life and death together. By the customs of the Jianghu, we could even become sworn brothers."

At his words, both An Ping’s and Tang Xiao’s eyes lit up. They had both been chosen for this mission through their connections and had their own backgrounds. If they became sworn brothers, they could support one another in the future.

Guo Huai shook his head. "Let’s forget about becoming sworn brothers, but we can certainly stay in closer contact from now on."

He was a Cyan Yang City native whose ancestors had also been disciples of the Purple Sun Sect. He looked down somewhat on these others who hailed from small counties.

Xu Yang hadn’t been keen on becoming sworn brothers with these unfamiliar people anyway. With Guo Huai’s objection, Shen Liang couldn’t press the matter, but he did take Guo Huai’s words to heart.

By nightfall, Yun Feng still hadn’t returned and was declared dead by Gao Lin.

The Inner Sect Disciples from Li Fire Peak who had been searching also returned one after another. They hadn’t found any trace of the Blood Lotus Sect group. Those people, along with the large batch of Forging Materials, seemed to have vanished into thin air.

However, the group didn’t return to the Purple Sun Sect. They still had to wait for the Tower Furnace to cool down before taking it back to the Purple Sun Sect first thing in the morning.