The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

"It’s him!"

Dao Ji’s eyes narrowed. He hadn’t expected Bai Yuan to appear here.

But then, a cruel arc formed on his lips.

Bai Yuan had defeated him in the ring before. Although he claimed not to care, if a real opportunity arose, he wouldn’t mind killing the man to vent his frustration.

A Ghostwriter’s battlefield was always in the dark.

An open and honorable ring only allowed him to use half his strength.

But this... this was where he could truly cut loose.

A stray cloud drifted over, obscuring the moon and plunging the mountain forest into complete darkness.

’Perfect...’

A perversely excited expression appeared on Dao Ji’s face. He couldn’t wait to see Bai Yuan hacked to death.

He spotted Bai Yuan hiding behind a tree in the darkness.

"Die!"

Dao Ji raised his long saber high and chopped down at the crown of Bai Yuan’s head.

Bai Yuan reacted in a flash, raising his own blade in an upward slash to break Dao Ji’s fierce attack.

But just as the two blades were about to collide—

A thumb-sized bamboo tube emerged from the sleeve of Dao Ji’s sword hand.

SWISH!

With a soft sound, a dart shot toward the space between Bai Yuan’s eyebrows, impossible to dodge.

This was Dao Ji’s true killing move!

When fighting a Ghostwriter, a frontal assault was never the decisive factor.

The corners of Dao Ji’s mouth lifted slightly. He had used this trick to assassinate countless experts.

But then, the smile on his lips froze...

Just as the hidden dart was inches from his face, it bizarrely veered off its original course!

"Fuck, energy projection!!"

Dao Ji’s pupils dilated. He couldn’t fathom how a Strong Internal Martial Artist could possess energy projection.

But he had no time to think.

Bai Yuan’s curved saber had already bypassed his defense, heading straight for a vital point.

Dao Ji looked down at his left chest in disbelief.

A curved saber had pierced through his body.

"Damn it!"

Dao Ji cursed under his breath.

[Reinforcement Points +387]

Bai Yuan pulled out his long saber, his face devoid of expression. Dao Ji’s body slumped to the side, no longer breathing.

When he used his full strength, a Strong Internal Martial Artist could naturally only take one strike.

He bent down and pulled off the black cloth mask on Dao Ji’s face.

"Dao Ji?"

As soon as he saw the face beneath the mask, Bai Yuan’s eyebrows shot up.

He hadn’t expected that the "big job" Dao Ji had for him was to kill You Shengnan and Xiongshan.

’How ironic...’

Still, this also showed that Dao Ji probably didn’t know who the targets were this time, or he never would have approached him.

Bai Yuan turned his head and looked in the other direction.

You Shengnan and Xiongshan were struggling, already covered in wounds. If they kept fighting, they would surely die.

Looking at the scene before him, Bai Yuan had already pieced together the general sequence of events.

That paper ball must have been sent by Wang Changsheng. The goal was to wipe out all three of Old Dong’s disciples in one fell swoop.

But Bai Yuan had already fallen for the exact same trick at the hands of Elder Wu back in Qinghe; he wouldn’t be fooled so easily again.

That was why he had been hiding not far from the City God Temple all along.

Just as he expected, You Shengnan and Xiongshan had appeared at the City God Temple first, only to be surrounded by Wang Changsheng and his men.

An idea flashed in Bai Yuan’s eyes.

He hooked Dao Ji’s corpse with the tip of his foot and, with a gentle kick, sent it flying out of the bushes.

The combatants heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

"Who’s there?"

One of them saw what it was and turned pale with shock.

Wang Changsheng saw it too, and the killing intent in his hands faltered for a moment.

You Shengnan immediately pulled back, finally getting a chance to catch her breath. She was in a wretched state, almost completely exhausted.

A trace of fear appeared on Wang Changsheng’s face.

He had long known Dao Ji’s true identity, so he wasn’t too surprised that the mask was missing from the corpse.

He had seen Dao Ji charge into the bushes just now, but he never thought the man would become a corpse so quickly.

After all, Dao Ji was a famous Ghostwriter from Huanglong Prefecture.

His raw power might not have been top-tier, but his survival skills were first-rate. Yet he had been killed so cleanly, in no more than ten breaths of time.

’Three moves... to instantly kill a Ghostwriter who was a Strong Internal Martial Artist.’

Wang Changsheng wasn’t sure he could do the same.

Just as everyone was staring warily at the bushes, an aged voice slowly drifted out.

"Wang Changsheng, who gave you the nerve to touch my disciples? Was it Luo Chunyang?"

Hearing this voice, the color drained from Wang Changsheng’s face.

’Dong Wanjun!’

He hadn’t expected Dong Wanjun to be at the City God Temple. No wonder Dao Ji was slain in mere breaths. If it was Dong Wanjun, that speed could even be called merciful.

Before Dong Wanjun, even a Blood Refining Martial Master wouldn’t survive a single exchange.

And the Luo Chunyang the voice mentioned was none other than the Peak Master of San Yang Peak, his own backer.

In contrast to Wang Changsheng, You Shengnan and Xiongshan’s faces were filled with wild joy.

Old Dong was here. They weren’t going to die.

"Peak... Peak Master Dong, it’s all a misunderstanding."

Wang Changsheng’s voice trembled. Faced with a god of slaughter like Dong Wanjun, he was naturally terrified and could only bite the bullet and deny everything.

No matter how strong a Martial Artist was, they were still human. And all humans feared death.

Seeing Wang Changsheng’s state, the gloom in You Shengnan’s and Xiongshan’s hearts lifted.

The other Ghostwriters looked at each other in dismay.

Of course they knew of Dong Wanjun, the Thousand-Handed Butcher.

But wasn’t he supposed to be in Cao Valley County?

The only reason Wang Changsheng had dared to move against You Shengnan and Xiongshan was because he had reliable intelligence. He never thought he’d still end up being played by Old Dong.

These men wanted to flee, but who could escape from the palm of Dong Wanjun’s hand?

Behind the bushes...

Bai Yuan quietly observed the reactions of the crowd at the City God Temple, especially Wang Changsheng.

The man was a Blood Refining Martial Master. If he could scare him into retreating, he would naturally prefer not to risk a direct confrontation.

His ability to imitate Old Dong’s voice was all thanks to a vocal-changing skill from something called ’Divine Stratagem of Infinite Changes’.

Wang Changsheng and his men were in a state of high tension, so naturally they wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

Bai Yuan, of course, was also aware.

That was why he wisely chose not to speak.

In his past life, he’d seen plenty of interrogation scenes in movies; sometimes, the threat of silence was more terrifying than a hundred words.

The wild thoughts running through their own minds would be the last straw that broke them.

All Bai Yuan had to do now was wait patiently.

He wouldn’t have taken such a risk for anyone else, of course.

But You Shengnan and Xiongshan had treated him well, and he couldn’t just stand by and watch them die.

He had always been one to clearly distinguish between kindness and enmity. If a favor was shown, he would repay it a hundredfold.

Deathly silence filled the City God Temple. Wang Changsheng’s breathing grew heavy; Dong Wanjun’s silence was placing immense pressure on him, causing the Evil Technique of Stealing Yin inside him to begin circulating on its own.

’Something’s not right!’

The cool aura of the Stealing Yin Technique finally allowed him to calm down.

With a clear head, he quickly realized what was wrong with the voice from before.

It wasn’t Dong Wanjun’s voice at all!

Wang Changsheng was overjoyed, but at the same time, a savage killing intent enveloped his heart.

Right now, he wanted nothing more than to tear the person playing god into pieces.