The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

The Firewood Cutting Saber was finally unsheathed.

Having drunk its fill of blood, the Firewood Cutting Saber had grown ever more sinister. It glinted with a scarlet light in the moonlight—it was clearly a demonic blade!

This blood wasn’t just Bai Yuan’s own. It was also Han Tie’s, Wu Xin’s, Liu Hanshan’s... Huang Pizi’s... and that of countless wild beasts.

And so, this strike was strong.

A step back, a horizontal slash!

CLANG!

A crisp sound rang out.

Liu Jiuyan stared at the broken blade spinning through the air, his pupils constricting violently.

He hadn’t expected this junior brother of his to be so powerful!

"You shouldn’t have gone after Senior Brother Chu."

Bai Yuan said slowly.

He despised traitors to the sect like Liu Jiuyan more than anything.

Chu Yuan’s injuries enraged him. The kind and affable senior brother was one of the few friends he had in this world and had helped him a great deal.

The Blood Tiger Saber seemed to sense his fury, and its sanguine glow grew even more baleful.

A vertical chop!

Liu Jiuyan’s long saber was broken. A swordsman’s strength was greatly diminished without his blade. He no longer cared about hiding his identity as an assassin from the Soul-Chasing Tower. A flying needle, almost impossible to see with the naked eye, shot from his sleeve.

Bai Yuan had seen Liu Hanshan use such tricks before, so he naturally wouldn’t fall for it.

He dodged the silver needle with ease.

At the same time, the Firewood Cutting Saber landed on Liu Jiuyan’s right shoulder, shearing off his entire arm.

"Urgh..."

With a pained cry, Liu Jiuyan spat out a mouthful of blood. He clutched the wound on his right shoulder and collapsed into a corner, completely out of the fight.

The Firewood Cutting Saber made a spine-chilling sound as it dragged across the ground.

Gazing at Bai Yuan, who looked like a Demon God, Liu Jiuyan used his one remaining arm to prop himself up, trying to retreat. But he was already cornered. How could he possibly escape?

Just as he was trying to think of a countermeasure—

The door was violently kicked open.

The Huwei Arts Hall’s instructor, Zhang Yang, was the first to enter, followed by Ma Dingjun and Cheng Li. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Master?"

Liu Jiuyan swallowed the blood in his mouth as he watched Old Xue step through the doorway.

Old Xue and the white-bearded Lu Xiangtao from the Celestial One Pavilion stared coldly at the wretched Liu Jiuyan. They had clearly seen the moment he used the Soul-Chasing Tower’s Life-taking Needle.

"You wretched beast!"

Old Xue roared, his heart filled with regret.

Ever since he learned that the Liu Family had sided with the Soul-Chasing Tower, he had his suspicions.

Although Liu Jiuyan was just the illegitimate son of the Liu Family Patriarch, he still carried the family’s blood. It was highly likely he had also joined the Soul-Chasing Tower.

Now, his suspicions were confirmed.

But then, Liu Jiuyan dropped to his knees with a thud.

THUD, THUD, THUD...

He kowtowed repeatedly on the hard stone floor. Even with the physique of a Martial Artist, his forehead was already a bloody mess, a testament to the force of his impacts.

"Master, I was possessed! This disciple is willing to be imprisoned in the Martial Arts Hall for life as an Incense Gatherer. I beg you, Master, spare my life so I can atone for my sins."

Liu Jiuyan wept bitterly, appearing to have seen the error of his ways.

The so-called "Incense Gatherer" was just a euphemism. In Bai Yuan’s previous life, there was a professional title for it—shit-shoveler.

For a Martial Artist to willingly haul dung for the rest of his life was a fate worse than death.

Seeing Liu Jiuyan’s miserable state, both Ma Dingjun and Cheng Li felt a stir of pity.

They had been fellow disciples with Liu Jiuyan for nearly seven years and shared a good rapport. Now, with his right arm severed, his future in the Martial Dao was over. He was a cripple. Sparing his life seemed plausible.

Seeing this, Old Xue let out a long sigh.

’I’m getting old. My heart isn’t as hard as it used to be.’

Thirty years ago, he would have slapped Liu Jiuyan to death with a single palm strike.

Among the five True Disciples, Liu Jiuyan had actually spent the most time at the Martial Arts Hall, and his bond with Old Xue was quite deep.

Though he was the illegitimate son of the Liu Family Patriarch, he had never received any benefits from it. Instead, he was ostracized for his status, which was precisely why he was so determined to climb to the top, no matter the cost.

He had used the burial money charitably given by the Liu Family after his mother’s death to join the Huwei Arts Hall, where he slowly began to make a name for himself.

Old Xue had valued his near-paranoid fanaticism for the Martial Dao, which was why he took Liu Jiuyan as a True Disciple and cultivated him diligently. He never expected to reap such a bitter fruit.

"Bai Yuan, I’ll leave this matter for you to handle."

Old Xue waved his hand weakly. If Bai Yuan hadn’t notified them tonight, they would never have known that Liu Jiuyan had sided with the Soul-Chasing Tower and harmed his own sect brothers.

Hearing Old Xue’s words, a flash of delight crossed the eyes of Liu Jiuyan, who was still kneeling on the floor.

His head was pressed against the ground, so no one could see his expression.

’As long as I live, there’s still a chance to turn things around,’ Liu Jiuyan sneered internally.

’Kill, kill!

Once I get the chance, it won’t just be the Huwei Arts Hall. Everyone in all of Qinghe deserves to die.’

When he was young, he had sworn to crush all of Qinghe County under his heel. To do that, he had to become a disciple of the Divine Mansion Sect.

But he knew that Old Xue would never give that spot to someone with Liu Family blood. Chu Yuan and Bai Yuan were the best candidates.

So, he had no choice but to approach the Liu Family, hoping to secure a place in the Divine Mansion Sect.

That was when he joined the Soul-Chasing Tower.

But the Liu Family Patriarch was no simpleton. It was highly likely he would go back on his promised spot. To be absolutely sure, Liu Jiuyan decided to use the Divine Mansion Sect’s campaign to exterminate the Soul-Chasing Tower as an opportunity to eliminate Chu Yuan and Bai Yuan, pinning the blame on the Soul-Chasing Tower.

But Bai Yuan’s strength far exceeded his expectations, which was how he ended up in this miserable state.

’Old Xue leaving the matter for Bai Yuan to handle is, in reality, a sign of his soft heart.’

’I’ve already volunteered to become the most lowly Incense Gatherer. There’s no reason not to spare my life.’

"This disciple accepts."

Bai Yuan said flatly.

Old Xue’s eyelids drooped. He felt utterly exhausted. He and Lu Xiangtao turned and walked out of the room.

Although Ma Dingjun and Cheng Li looked at Liu Jiuyan with hatred in their eyes, they also felt that he had received his due punishment.

The Martial Artists of Xuan Yang were all incredibly proud. Spending every day with filth and dung was a fate more torturous than a quick death.

Bai Yuan walked up to Liu Jiuyan.

Liu Jiuyan raised his head to look at him. Though his face was covered in blood, one could still see the sincere repentance in his expression.

Just when everyone thought he would spare Liu Jiuyan—

He violently hoisted the massive Firewood Cutting Saber.

And brought it down...

Liu Jiuyan’s head rolled across the floor with a dull thumping sound. His eyes were wide open; even in death, he didn’t understand where he had lost.

It all happened so suddenly. Ma Dingjun and Cheng Li stared at Bai Yuan, their faces a mask of disbelief.

’This junior brother is ruthless!’

Outside the door, Old Xue heard the commotion and faltered in his step. In an instant, he seemed to have aged several more years.

A single wrong decision had cost him two True Disciples.

Bai Yuan stared coldly at the headless corpse on the ground.

’Trying to endure humiliation for the sake of future revenge?’

’Whether his repentance was genuine or just a superb act, Liu Jiuyan deserved to die.’

’Even if Old Xue didn’t kill him, I would have found a chance to let Liu Jiuyan drown in a cesspit.’

’Come to think of it, doesn’t that make me a good person?’