Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

"I am Yang Ji of the Dawn Association. Leave now, and we can let this slide. We’ve already memorized your auras, and we can find you in the future," shouted the other man, who was at the Minor Achievement level of Gang Qi Cultivation.

His cultivation was impressive. He was pressing his opponent, and it looked effortless.

’Gu Haoming, Cao Rong...’ A cold glint flashed in Xu Yang’s eyes.

Gu Haoming had threatened him before and had even revealed his killing intent at the Hundred Medicine Hall. He was on Xu Yang’s kill list.

He’d had no dealings with Cao Rong, but the Cao Family had put a bounty on his head. Furthermore, Cao Rong had sold out countless Martial Artists from Qingyuan County, so he was no saint either. Xu Yang wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if the opportunity arose.

Of course, the main reason was that they had won the bid for a bottle of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills.

’As for his uncle being Inner Sect Disciple Cao Jin? That connection isn’t worth a damn. Cao Jin isn’t here. If I kill them all, who’s going to know who did it?’

’If that connection were useful, these three men in black would have run away scared long ago.’ 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"Who dares harm my nephew!"

Just as Xu Yang was about to sneak over and slaughter both groups, he heard a loud shout from the distance.

Immediately after, a figure exuding a terrifying aura flew in from afar. While still dozens of yards away, he killed one of the men in black with a single blow.

"Uncle!" Cao Rong was overjoyed, shouting at the top of his lungs.

The remaining two men in black were scared out of their wits. They turned and fled.

’A Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist!’

Xu Yang’s pupils shrank. He immediately dove into the forest.

’Cao Jin actually showed up. Good thing I was a step too slow, or I would’ve been in danger, too.’

In that instant, the killing intent that had been sparked by the crisis with Xiao Hua subsided for the most part. He took a roundabout path toward the Purple Sun Sect, avoiding the main road for fear of running into Cao Jin.

As he neared the Purple Sun Sect, he went to his usual hiding spot, shed his black attire, and changed into the robes of an Outer Disciple of the Purple Sun Sect.

Back on the main path, he soon encountered Lu Ren.

Lu Ren looked to be in a sorry state. His robes were tattered, a smear of blood stained the corner of his mouth, and his aura was in disarray. He had clearly been through a tough battle.

"I’m surprised you made it back alive," Lu Ren said, a hint of astonishment in his voice.

But he didn’t attack. They were less than a kilometer from the Purple Sun Sect—within the safe zone. Few dared to make a move here.

Xu Yang smiled. "You look a little worse for wear."

Lu Ren snorted coldly and said no more.

"Impressive. You all made it back alive."

A voice drifted from up ahead. Xu Yang looked up to see Gu Haoming’s party, but it was only him, the man named Yang Ji, and Cao Rong. Cao Jin was nowhere to be seen.

Lu Ren shot the three of them a cold glance, his aura wavering for a moment. He said nothing.

But Xu Yang knew Lu Ren’s heart was likely surging with killing intent; he undoubtedly wanted to kill Gu Haoming’s trio.

Cao Rong’s gaze fell on Xu Yang. "How do you know the Flying Swallow Skill?"

Xu Yang’s heart sank. He typically used this True Qi Lightweight Skill to conceal his true cultivation, and he feared Cao Rong must have seen him at some point.

But his expression remained unchanged as he asked with feigned confusion, "What Flying Swallow Skill?"

Cao Rong was doubtful. ’Did I see wrong?’ He’d only caught a fleeting glimpse and wasn’t entirely certain that Xu Yang had been using the Flying Swallow Skill.

He said no more and walked on ahead with Gu Haoming. They soon encountered more people, very few of whom were uninjured. The auras of the majority were highly unstable.

Even Liu Xiao, who had placed third in the last competition in Qingyuan County, had bloodstains on his clothes.

Many people looked surprised to see that both Xu Yang and Lu Ren had returned alive. They were particularly stunned by Xu Yang, who didn’t have a single sign of a fight on him, as if he hadn’t been targeted at all.

After presenting his waist token to verify his identity, Xu Yang entered the Purple Sun Sect and headed straight back to his courtyard.

The courtyard was empty. He went directly to his room, bolted the door, and began to take stock of his haul.

Two thousand one hundred taels of silver. Adding what he already had on him, the total came to three thousand three hundred taels.

Forty contribution points, enough for one Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pill. Added to what he already had, he now possessed one hundred twenty points—enough for four Guiyuan Pills or three Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pills.

Five Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills. Adding the four he already had, he now had nine in total.

And a Pill Formula for the Gang Qi Realm.

This was, without a doubt, his biggest haul yet.

’Xiao Hua!’

The downside was that he might have completely fallen out with Xiao Hua.

’As long as my cultivation level remains hidden, he won’t necessarily suspect me. So many people were robbed and killed; someone else could have killed Ma Jun.’

’That’s a possibility, but I can’t get complacent. I have to prepare for the worst when it comes to Xiao Hua.’

Reigning in his thoughts, he put everything away securely. Then he sat cross-legged on his bed and began circulating his energy to refine the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill he had taken earlier.

...

At dusk, four figures appeared outside the Purple Sun Sect. It was Shen Liang and his three companions. They had deliberately avoided the post-auction ambushes, choosing to refine their pills at the Guo Family residence before returning.

"Xu Yang must be dead by now!" An Ping said.

Tang Xiao gloated, "Serves him right for hogging it all and not cutting us in. If he had hidden at Brother Guo’s place with us, who would have dared to touch him?"

They had clearly agreed to work together, but after Xu Yang snagged the Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills for cheap, he ditched them and took the entire bottle for himself.

He didn’t feel the slightest bit of pity.

Guo Huai sighed. "I’m afraid Lu Ren is probably dead too. The Ten Heroes List has lost two more geniuses."

"I’ll go find someone and ask."

Shen Liang jogged into the sect gate and soon ran into an acquaintance. He asked about Xu Yang and Lu Ren’s situation, only to find out that neither of them had died.

Lu Ren was a little injured, but Xu Yang had returned to the Purple Sun Sect completely unscathed.

"Wasn’t he ambushed?"

The group was dumbfounded. How could a fat sheep like Xu Yang not have been targeted?

"He got off easy," An Ping said sourly.

...

[Fuyue Bear Scripture Gang Qi Chapter · Minor Achievement (674/4000)]

Xu Yang opened his eyes. His progress on the Fuyue Bear Scripture had almost reached seven hundred. The Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill was indeed slightly better than the Guiyuan Pill, but not by much.

A Guiyuan Pill increased his progress by about one hundred points, while a Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill increased it by about one hundred and five. The difference wasn’t significant.

Only someone like him, who had a system panel and a Perfect Root Bone, could accurately differentiate between the effects of the two pills. An ordinary person would lack such an ability.

The Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pill didn’t convert directly into Gang Qi; some of its medicinal effects had yet to be absorbed.

He got out of bed and opened the door to see Sun Tao and the others had returned. They were sitting in the courtyard, chatting.

"So many died... a dozen, maybe two dozen. I heard many of them even had Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation. Life is so cheap," Sun Tao said, his voice laced with trepidation.

"Someone invited me to go with them. Good thing I didn’t... they died too," Jiang Ping said, his voice filled with residual fear.

Wan Hai said, "The reason I’ve lived this long is that I never go to these things."

Xu Yang asked curiously, "What happened?"

Sun Tao looked over at him. "The Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion auction was today. They say more than twenty people died on the road from Cyan Yang City to the Purple Sun Sect."

’Oh, so that’s what they’re talking about. And here I thought some major incident had occurred at the Purple Sun Sect.’

’Twenty-something people isn’t that many,’ he thought. ’I killed seven of them myself and saw another five corpses along the way. All told, a little over twenty isn’t that surprising. If Cao Jin hadn’t shown up, I probably would have slaughtered my way from the foot of the mountain to the summit. Who knows how many would have died then.’

"That auction is a real life-shortening talisman. Good thing I was too poor to go," Zhang Yong said.

Xu Cheng said, "Those people were just trying to get an edge before the Outer Sect Competition. They went to the auction to take a gamble but ended up gambling their lives away."

In reality, over twenty people had died, but Xu Yang estimated that only about half were Purple Sun Sect disciples. The rest were likely Martial Artists from Cyan Yang City. It wasn’t just sect disciples who were killed.

Jiang Ping said, "I heard a new powerhouse showed up, called the Blazing Blade. His saber technique is supposedly fierce and overwhelming."

Xu Yang was puzzled. "Blazing Blade?"

’I’m the one they’re talking about, how come I don’t know anything about this person?’

Jiang Ping nodded. "No one’s ever seen him. All we know is that out of the twenty-odd people who died, he killed seven of them all by himself. His saber technique is incredibly fast and fierce. He kills everyone in a single strike, no matter who they are. That includes two experts with Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation—they were also felled in one blow.

His blade is said to be blazing hot, and the wounds of his victims look like they’ve been seared by flames. That’s why someone gave him the nickname ’Blazing Blade’.

As for who it is, nobody knows."

’Blazing Blade... aren’t they talking about me? I have a nickname now? Blazing Blade?’

Zhang Yong added, "Some say he must have mastered a Saber Technique at the Great Success Level. They’re guessing he’s probably a disciple from our Purple Sun Sect, since only our sect has saber techniques that fierce."

Wang Weihua chimed in, "I heard he might even be an Inner Sect Disciple from Li Fire Peak. Only a disciple from Li Fire Peak could produce such a powerful, fiery blade strike."

’Inner Sect Disciple my ass!’

Xu Yang had no interest in hearing any more. He gave Sun Tao a meaningful look, and the two of them left the courtyard, finding a secluded spot to talk.