"Argh!"
Screams echoed from multiple locations within the Fire Valley.
The Blood Lotus Sect had dared to make a move because they had already scouted out the Cultivation of everyone in the valley. By now, some had already been killed, and the rest were being beaten back in a steady retreat.
The only one whose abilities they hadn’t grasped was Xu Yang, who had remained hidden the entire time.
BOOM!
In the distance, the hidden Third and Fourth Senior Brothers were also clashing with powerful foes, the battle causing the forest to collapse and sending dust billowing into the sky.
"Xu Yang, you bastard! You’ve killed another master from my Blood Lotus Sect. You will die today!"
Zhang Sai’s eyes were practically splitting with rage. He never imagined that right at the beginning, Li Shao would be killed by Xu Yang.
Last time, Xu Yang was the unexpected variable. This time, he absolutely would not be.
"Junior Brother Xu, hurry and join me! Let’s kill this beast!" Zhuang Tao roared.
He had already exchanged several blows with Zhang Sai and knew he couldn’t take him down alone.
Xu Yang had no intention of worrying about whether he lived or died.
’Zhuang Tao and Zhang Sai are evenly matched, so a victor won’t be decided anytime soon. I need to go rescue those Outer Disciples. If too many of them die, then even if we kill every member of the Blood Lotus Sect, the credit we receive will be greatly diminished. And while I’m at it, maybe I can find a chance to get rid of Qiao Yong. That guy’s talent isn’t much less than Kong Yu’s. Even if he could never become a threat to me in the future, I can’t just let someone who hates me continue to live.’
Just as he was about to move to kill the other Blood Lotus Sect disciples, he suddenly felt a chilling sensation, as if he were being watched by a venomous snake.
"Useless trash. To think he was killed with a single palm strike."
An indifferent voice sounded. A man completely shrouded in a black robe had appeared in the valley at some unknown point, emanating a tyrannical pressure.
"Marrow Cleansing Great Success!" Zhuang Tao cried out involuntarily.
’Isn’t this supposed to be a trap? Why haven’t any of the Purple Sun Sect’s experts appeared? Instead, the Blood Lotus Sect has one more expert.’
"Blood Envoy! That’s Xu Yang, the one the Lotus Envoy ordered must be killed! He’s already at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement and he killed Li Shao. Kill him! Quickly, kill him!" Zhang Sai roared.
"Relax, his death is certain!" The black-robed man known as the Blood Envoy said as he ambled in from outside the valley, his tyrannical pressure spreading like a tide.
"AHH!"
In the distance, a bloodcurdling scream rang out. The faces of both Xu Yang and Zhuang Tao changed.
That voice belonged to their Fourth Senior Brother, Chen Ji.
Their Fourth Senior Brother, a master at Marrow Cleansing Great Success, had actually been injured. Judging by the sound, it was definitely not a minor wound. Otherwise, with the willpower of a Marrow Cleansing Great Success Martial Artist, he would never have let out such a scream.
Reinforcements hadn’t appeared, and First Senior Brother Gao Lin was also nowhere to be seen. Xu Yang knew that the Purple Sun Sect had probably screwed up.
The Blood Lotus Sect had long since seen through the Purple Sun Sect’s arrangements and turned the tables on them.
’Flee!’
The thought instantly surfaced in Xu Yang’s mind. Although there was only one enemy at the Marrow Cleansing Great Success level before him, there were two more several hundred meters away.
Once those two finished off Third and Fourth Senior Brothers, even with a Half-Spirit Weapon in hand, he wasn’t confident he could simultaneously fight three Blood Lotus Sect masters at Marrow Cleansing Great Success.
Besides, judging by the fluctuations over there, it seemed Half-Spirit Weapons were clashing as well.
BOOM!
Without hesitation, he pushed Stepping on Gang and Chasing Wind to its absolute limit. Like a bolt of lightning, he shot forward, heading straight for the Black-robed Blood Envoy.
"How bold of you! You dare to take the initiative and attack me!"
The Black-robed Blood Envoy roared, his body erupting with Gang Qi as black as ink. The technique he cultivated was, surprisingly, also an Anomalous Gang Qi Technique.
His fist erupted with a black glow. He threw a punch through the air at the charging Xu Yang, and his figure vanished from its spot.
BOOM!
The black fist projection slammed into the ground, causing the earth to ripple like the surface of water as dust shot into the sky.
But Xu Yang, who had been charging the Black-robed Blood Envoy, had already vanished, bursting out of the valley from a different direction.
The Black-robed Blood Envoy froze for a moment, then flew into a rage, realizing Xu Yang hadn’t been attacking him at all—he was trying to escape.
"You think you can escape?"
With a flash of black light from his body, he turned and gave chase.
"Everyone, flee for your lives!" Zhuang Tao shouted. He also understood that the Purple Sun Sect had botched their plan and immediately fought desperately to break out.
PFFT!
Taking one of Zhang Sai’s punches head-on with his Gang Qi, he managed to escape the valley. But Zhang Sai was latched on to him like a dog, attacking from a distance with his Gang Qi.
WHOOSH!
The sound of rushing air came from behind. To Xu Yang’s five senses, the Black-robed Blood Envoy was rapidly closing the distance at a speed slightly faster than his own.
’Such incredible speed! I know it’s not that he’s fast, it’s that I’m slow. At my current level of Cultivation, Stepping on Gang and Chasing Wind is already starting to be insufficient.’
BANG!
A black fist projection struck him from the air. Xu Yang’s golden Protective Gang Qi vibrated violently, a dense web of cracks spreading across its surface.
He felt his blood and Qi surge chaotically and his organs tremble, and the impact sent his body flying forward even faster.
’As expected of the Golden Gang Qi. To withstand a long-range blast from my fist projection with only a Minor Achievement in Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation.’
The Black-robed Blood Envoy was shaken internally.
He also cultivated an Anomalous Gang Qi, and with his Cultivation at Marrow Cleansing Great Success, he was shocked that he hadn’t truly injured Xu Yang.
Of course, this was mainly because for a Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist, their true strength lay not in their Gang Qi, but in their physically transformed body. The offensive power of Gang Qi was inferior to the body itself; a real fight to the death required close-quarters combat.
"Die!"
An even denser Gang Qi erupted from the Black-robed Blood Envoy. He bent his legs and sprang off the ground, transforming into something like a black streak as his speed suddenly increased.
He didn’t bother to avoid the trees in his path, simply shattering them with his Gang Qi as he closed in on Xu Yang at an even more terrifying speed.
A cold glint flashed in Xu Yang’s eyes. ’Does he really think I’m out of options? If this were anywhere else, I might have activated my Golden Gang Skill to test the gap between myself and a Gang Qi Great Success Martial Artist. But there’s no need for that now. The sounds of battle from the valley have almost completely faded. The Outer Disciples are either all dead or have all fled.’