Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

’It’s over!’

Xu Yang was already at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation level! He had pinned Li Qiang underfoot with a single stomp.

Li Chuyang hadn’t even reached Marrow Cleansing yet. ’Why does he have this level of cultivation, yet he’s willing to be mocked as inferior to Lu Ren?’

’I’ve been opposing a monster like this all along!’

"Junior Brother Xu has already reached Marrow Cleansing?" Sun Tao was horrified.

He knew Xu Yang had the strength to kill Xiao Chen, but he’d assumed it took hundreds of moves. He never imagined Xu Yang had already achieved Marrow Cleansing.

If word got out that Xu Yang had long since reached Marrow Cleansing, the entire Purple Sun Sect would be shaken.

"Xu Yang, spare me! Spare me! We’re fellow sect members," Li Qiang’s terrified voice mumbled from the ground.

Xu Yang’s gaze was ice-cold. "Before... you said you wanted to ’take good care’ of my sister?"

As he spoke, he lifted his foot and stomped down.

Xu Qing was his one untouchable weakness. From the moment Li Qiang used her to provoke him, Li Qiang was doomed to a miserable end.

"CRACK!"

With the sharp sound of a breaking bone, one of Li Qiang’s legs snapped. The bone jutted out.

"AHHH..." Li Qiang nearly fainted from the pain, his bloodcurdling scream echoing through the mountains.

Gu Haoming’s face turned pale as he listened, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He had also used Xu Qing to provoke Xu Yang.

"Kill me!"

Li Qiang begged. He no longer hoped for mercy, only for a quick death.

"You wanted to ’take care’ of my sister, so I have to ’take good care’ of you, too."

With a few more stomps, Xu Yang broke all four of Li Qiang’s limbs. He left him to writhe and wail on the ground as he walked toward Gu Haoming.

"Xu Yang, it was all Li Qiang! He forced me!"

Gu Haoming managed a smile uglier than a grimace. His legs trembled, and he nearly pissed himself in fear.

"Oh? So the few times you tried to kill me before, that was also because Li Qiang forced you?" Xu Yang’s voice was calm.

Gu Haoming wished he could slap himself. ’Why couldn’t I just try to kill him? Why did I have to run my mouth? Now I’m in deep trouble.’

"It was Jin Lei and the others! They forced me," he said, biting the bullet.

"And at the Martial Arts Examination, when you wanted to report to Cao Rong and have my sister join the Sharp Wind Hall—who forced you then?"

Xu Yang’s indifferent gaze swept over him. The immense pressure made Gu Haoming’s legs buckle, and he collapsed to the ground.

"It was... It was..."

Gu Haoming stammered for a long time but couldn’t find anyone else to blame, sweat pouring down his panicked face.

"CRACK!"

Xu Yang stepped forward and stomped, snapping one of Gu Haoming’s legs and exposing the bone.

Gu Haoming nearly fainted from the pain. Hearing his screams made Sun Tao’s blood run cold and his eyelids twitch.

He’d thought from the start that Li Qiang and Gu Haoming were poking the bear by bringing up Xu Qing. And as he’d expected, they had touched Xu Yang’s one untouchable weakness. Now, even a quick death was a luxury.

"Brother Sun, for my sister Gu Fang’s sake, save me!" Gu Haoming’s face was a mask of agony, but he still forced himself to plead with Sun Tao.

Gu Fang and Sun Tao were acquainted, so he thought Sun Tao might save him.

"When you were about to kill me just now, you didn’t seem to remember my acquaintance with Gu Fang."

Sun Tao also despised a petty man like Gu Haoming. He stepped forward and broke one of Gu Haoming’s arms.

"Senior Brother, there’s no need."

Xu Yang shook his head, then broke Gu Haoming’s remaining arm and leg.

He knew Sun Tao was doing this out of fear of being silenced, offering a pledge of loyalty.

Hearing this, Sun Tao looked embarrassed. Xu Yang was too sharp; nothing got past him.

"Xu Yang, I curse you to a horrible death!" Li Qiang roared.

The pain was unbearable. After shouting, he severed his own heart meridians and died.

"You got off easy!"

Xu Yang paid it no mind and turned to Gu Haoming. "Li Qiang killed himself. Do you have the guts?"

"Just give me a quick death, I’m begging you," Gu Haoming pleaded, lacking the courage to end his own life.

"Forget it. I don’t have time to torture you. I’ll send you on your way."

After letting Gu Haoming wail for a little longer, Xu Yang glanced at the sky, snapped his neck, and began to loot the bodies.

’Damn. Did he bring all the Gu Family’s cash with him?’

He pulled a stack of silver banknotes from Gu Haoming’s body. A quick count revealed it was five thousand taels.

Other than the time with Qingfeng Stronghold, this was the most silver taels he’d ever gotten from a kill. The Gu Family could actually give Gu Haoming this much money at once.

Unfortunately, aside from the silver banknotes, Gu Haoming didn’t have any contribution points on him.

Xu Yang wasn’t short on money right now; what he wanted most were contribution points.

"Probably not. I’m guessing some of it was being carried to the Purple Sun Sect for other people," said Sun Tao.

For example, the Jiang Family and a few of his other friends’ families had entrusted him to bring money to the Purple Sun Sect.

Some of the money on Gu Haoming was probably being carried for others. After all, hiring an Escort Agency would mean paying a fee.

"Who cares? It’s our gain either way."

Xu Yang chuckled and went to loot Li Qiang’s body.

Compared to Gu Haoming, Li Qiang was a pauper. He only found a little over one hundred silver on him.

"Senior Brother, this is for you."

Xu Yang counted out five hundred taels for Sun Tao, splitting the loot. He pocketed the rest.

Sun Tao had barely lifted a finger and felt awkward taking it, but he accepted under Xu Yang’s insistence.

Then, the two of them worked together to throw the two corpses into the great canyon below.

"Senior Brother, please keep the matter of my Marrow Cleansing a secret. When we get back, we’ll just say we were ambushed by the Demon Sect, and Li Qiang and Gu Haoming died in battle."

Sun Tao nodded. "Don’t worry, Junior Brother Xu. I’ll take this secret to my grave."

The shock in his heart hadn’t faded. He continued, "Junior Brother Xu, how did you cultivate? To have already achieved Marrow Cleansing... If word of this got out, it would scare a lot of people to death."

Xu Yang smiled. "I just cultivated normally. Maybe it’s because my Comprehension is pretty good. I reached Marrow Cleansing before I even knew it."

The two found their horses, which had run off, mounted them, and continued toward the Purple Sun Sect.

The Yunling Mountain Range was vast, with several major paths leading into it. These paths corresponded to the Six Counties in the surrounding area.

The six county towns under the jurisdiction of the Purple Sun Sect each had different routes into the Yunling Mountain Range due to their different locations.

At this moment, at the entrance to the main path from Qingyuan County into the Yunling Mountain Range, four figures lay in wait among the trees like coiled vipers. Hidden in the dense canopy, they could see for several miles.

All four were dressed in green, their figures blending perfectly with the leaves. A casual glance would miss them entirely.

"We put out fake news, and the Purple Sun Sect actually believed we weren’t going to cause trouble at the Martial Arts Examination. Do they really think we’re that stupid?

A single county has over a dozen Martial Arts Halls, a dozen hall masters with Great Achievement in Gang Qi, and the City Guard Army. How many experts would we need to send to cause a scene at the examination?

They have no idea that our target isn’t the people at the Martial Arts Examination who haven’t even cultivated their Qi into Gang Qi. It’s the disciples they sent out as reinforcements."

A man in a horse-faced mask said with a self-satisfied smile, "This is the advantage of lurking in the shadows. We release a bit of false information, and the Purple Sun Sect falls right into our trap."

This man’s name was Luo Tong, a disciple of the Blood Lotus Sect. He had been ordered to lead an ambush here to kill the Purple Sun Sect members heading to Qingyuan County.

The other three on the mission with him were Ma Ming, Yang Chao, and He Kuan.

Yang Chao and He Kuan both had Minor Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation, while Luo Tong and Ma Ming both had Great Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation. The mission was led by the latter two.

Ma Ming smiled. "According to our intel, we’re ambushing Li Qiang, Xu Yang, Sun Tao, and Gu Haoming of the Purple Sun Sect. Of them, only Li Qiang has Great Achievement in Gang Qi Cultivation. Xu Yang, Sun Tao, and Gu Haoming are all just at Minor Achievement in Gang Qi.

This mission is a sure thing. When we make our move, you two just need to tie up your opponents. Luo Tong and I will handle the kills."

Hearing that the Purple Sun Sect side had only one person with Great Achievement in Gang Qi while their side had two, Ma Ming and Yang Chao both felt victory was assured. Not only would they earn easy merit, but they could also harvest the vital blood of Purple Sun Sect disciples.

Luo Tong took out a few portraits. "Take a good look. This is Xu Yang, one of the Purple Sun Sect’s Ten Heroes Geniuses. Killing him alone is worth as much merit as killing a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist. I spent a fortune pulling strings to snatch the opportunity to ambush him from the other teams. Don’t you dare let him escape."

He Kuan memorized Xu Yang’s face and puffed out his chest. "Don’t worry, Boss Luo. Yang Chao and I might not be able to kill a Ten Heroes Genius, but we can definitely keep him from getting away."

If he weren’t worried about making a promise he couldn’t keep, he would have boasted that he could kill Xu Yang himself.

Demon Techniques were insidious. Generally, at the same cultivation level, a Demon Sect disciple’s combat power surpassed that of a disciple from an orthodox sect.

"Looks like they’re here!" Yang Chao, who had been staring into the distance, suddenly hissed.