Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

They’re here?

Hearing Yang Chao’s words, Ma Ming and the others immediately fell silent, their gazes fixed on the distant mountain path. They saw two figures on horseback galloping wildly, kicking up a trail of dust as they rushed in their direction.

Luo Tong frowned. "Why is it only Xu Yang and Sun Tao? I don’t see Li Qiang and Gu Haoming."

The message he had received clearly stated that four people were heading to Qingyuan County, but now only Xu Yang and Sun Tao had appeared. Li Qiang and Gu Haoming were nowhere to be seen.

’Without one at Gang Qi Great Success and another at Gang Qi Minor Achievement, the merit we’ll earn will be much less.’

"Perhaps the intelligence was wrong," Ma Ming reasoned. "Or maybe after the Martial Arts Examination, those two decided to stay in Qingyuan County for a bit and aren’t returning to the Purple Sun Sect with Xu Yang and Sun Tao."

He never imagined that the four Purple Sun Sect disciples had fallen into infighting on their journey, and that Gu Haoming and Li Qiang were already dead.

Luo Tong nodded. "Whatever. Let’s kill Xu Yang and Sun Tao first. If we can take one alive, we’ll interrogate him to find out what’s going on."

Ma Ming commanded, "Spread out to your positions as planned. Let them enter the encirclement before you strike."

The moment he finished speaking, Luo Tong and Yang Chao floated down from the treetops like phantoms, hiding in the grass on both sides of the road and suppressing their breathing and heartbeats.

Ma Ming floated down from the canopy as well, finding a secluded spot to hide. His gaze was like a serpent in the shadows, fixed on the path ahead.

Soon, the sound of hoofbeats reached their ears, growing closer and closer, and the two figures on horseback appeared in their line of sight.

’A gaze filled with killing intent is on me. Could it be the Demon Sect?’

Xu Yang’s sharp senses quickly caught the murderous gaze. He remained outwardly calm, but his Gang Qi quickly coiled within his muscles, ready to unleash an all-out strike at a moment’s notice.

"It’s an ambush! Be careful, Senior Brother!"

At the same time, he used Secret Transmission to warn Sun Tao.

"An ambush?"

Sun Tao was shocked. His raised whip froze in mid-air as alarm bells screamed in his mind.

"Kill!"

The next moment, explosive shouts filled with immense killing intent erupted from the grass on both sides of the road.

BOOM! BOOM!

The tall grass erupted, and four masked figures in green robes shot out, radiating intense Gang Qi as they lunged at the two like bolts of lightning.

"Watch out! They might be from the Blood Lotus Sect! Whatever you do, don’t let their Gang Qi penetrate your body!"

Xu Yang shouted, the memory of the Blood Transformation Palm still fresh in his mind.

He was protected by his Golden Gang Qi. Unless his opponent’s Cultivation Realm far exceeded his own, their Gang Qi couldn’t breach his defenses.

Sun Tao, however, was a different story. If Xu Yang hadn’t warned him, he could have been struck down while unprepared.

"Kill Xu Yang, leave Sun Tao for questioning!" Luo Tong shouted.

A thick, blood-red aura flared around his body, so dense it looked like it might drip. Seething with killing intent, he charged at Xu Yang.

From another direction, Ma Ming—also at Gang Qi Great Success—shot up from the grass behind Xu Yang’s right. He wielded a short blade that pulsed with a heart-stopping light, and he too was aiming for Xu Yang.

Both Gang Qi Great Success masters from the Demon Sect wanted to be the first to kill Xu Yang and claim the glory.

He Kuan also flew toward Xu Yang, his palms glowing blood-red. Of the four ambushers, only Yang Chao lunged for Sun Tao.

Warned by Xu Yang, Sun Tao was prepared. He instantly leaped from his horse, drawing his sword as he rose.

In that same instant, Xu Yang moved.

His body vanished from the saddle. While still in the air, he thrust out a finger.

WHOOSH!

A piercing whistle, like an arrow splitting the air, rang out. Gang Qi erupted, and a golden light flashed for an instant before vanishing.

Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger!

The condensed Finger Force was as sharp as a blade, piercing through He Kuan’s Protective Gang Qi as easily as slicing through tofu.

SHLICK!

The Finger Force pierced He Kuan’s head. The ferocious power, wrapped in a gale-force wind, caused his head to explode on the spot. Brain matter splattered everywhere as the top of his skull was sent tumbling through the air, his mask shattering to pieces.

With a single finger, He Kuan, whose Cultivation was at Gang Qi Minor Achievement, was killed from over thirty feet away. The murderous look on his face hadn’t even had time to fade before he died.

In his last moment of consciousness, he didn’t even realize he was dead.

Xu Yang’s Pure Essence Gold-Splitting Finger had been so fast that he’d had no time to react.

"Marrow Cleansing! He’s at the Marrow Cleansing realm!"

Luo Tong shrieked, his soul nearly flying from his body in terror.

The surging aura of a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist—he finally realized that Xu Yang’s Cultivation wasn’t the rumored Gang Qi Minor Achievement, but the unimaginable Marrow Cleansing realm.

For them to ambush a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist... it was a complete death wish.

"What idiot was responsible for the intel?"

Ma Ming, his courage shattered, bellowed in terror.

This was a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist. Even if their numbers were doubled, Xu Yang would cut them all down.

Xu Yang paid no mind to the men who were scared out of their wits. After killing one with a single finger, he threw another punch in mid-air, blasting out a golden Fist Gang.

Wind-Breaking Fist.

This Fist Technique was all about one thing: speed.

BOOM!

The golden Fist Gang, looking as if it were forged from solid gold, shot forward like a meteor streaking across the sky. It flew with lightning speed toward Luo Tong, who was charging him head-on.

Before the Fist Gang even arrived, the piercing shriek it made cutting through the air made Luo Tong’s eardrums ache. A crushing weight, like a giant boulder, settled on his heart.

"Golden Gang Qi?"

His expression changed drastically, his face a mask of horror.

As a Gang Qi Great Success Martial Artist, he wasn’t like He Kuan, who couldn’t even clearly see Xu Yang’s attack. But it was precisely because he *could* see it clearly that he was so terrified.

Furthermore, he was the one who had charged toward Xu Yang in the first place, and now he was suspended in mid-air. Even though he could see the attack coming, he had no choice but to face it head-on.