Xu Yang still wanted to kill and eat an Exotic Beast, but unfortunately, the Cyan-Scaled Eagle did not reappear over the next few days.
His life gradually grew peaceful. He cultivated daily, not much different from his time on Li Fire Peak in the Purple Sun Sect. The only difference was that he reduced his practice of the Blood Prison Heart Blade Scripture, always stopping before going too far and never completely depleting his Heart Spirit.
There was plenty of iron at the mine, and it was free, so he began to use his spare time to practice his Weapon Forging Skill.
The Weapon Forging Skill was more than just the Thousand Forging Technique. The Thousand Forging Technique was the foundation, but beyond that were the steps of forging the rough shape, forming it, sharpening the edge, and quenching. All of these required practice accumulated over days and months.
No matter how well one practiced the Thousand Forging Technique, if the blade they forged came out hideously ugly, it would likely be useless.
Techniques like the Iron Refining Hand and the Soldier Nurturing Skill also had to be practiced slowly over time.
The next few months were the perfect opportunity to practice his skills using the Mortal Iron here.
Time passed slowly. Xu Yang immersed himself in cultivation and smithing. The unrecognizable shapes he initially forged gradually took on distinct forms; his sabers looked like sabers, and his swords looked like swords.
On this day, a few miles from the mining camp, several figures appeared. To be precise, there were five of them.
It was none other than Cao Jin, Luo Xin, and their party, who had come to kill Xu Yang in the cradle.
If Xu Yang was allowed to fully mature, their deaths would be certain. So, even though killing one of the Ten Heroes Disciples might be traced back to them by the Sect, they had to take the risk.
"Let’s stop here. Any further and we’ll be at Moon Lake." Luo Xin raised a hand, and Cao Jin and the others halted.
He had been stationed at Moon Lake before and was very familiar with the surrounding area.
"Aren’t we going to charge in and kill him directly?" Yun Heng asked, his face filled with murderous intent.
Of the five, he hated Xu Yang the most. The others had only had verbal spars with Xu Yang, but Yun Heng had his arm broken by him, and it had yet to heal completely.
Luo Xin said, "Let’s discuss the details first. Killing one of the Ten Heroes Disciples is no small matter. If we leave the slightest clue, it could all be traced back to us."
Liu Qing nodded. "We do need to plan this out. When we make our move, we should do our best not to use any Martial Techniques we learned from the Sect. I imagine everyone has some skills that didn’t come from the Sect, right?"
They were all wily veterans. The longest-serving among them had been in the Purple Sun Sect for over a decade; it was impossible that they only knew techniques taught by the Sect.
The others all nodded.
Wang Jianxing said, "Brother Luo, you were stationed here before, so you must be familiar with the place. Why don’t you start by telling us how many experts are here."
Luo Xin nodded. "The output of Profound Iron and Spirit Iron here isn’t very high, so there aren’t any real masters. Other than Xu Yang, only Steward Chen Yong could be considered an expert, but he’s only just entered the Minor Success Realm of Marrow Cleansing. He’s not worth mentioning."
"We can’t just kill Xu Yang; that would make our objective too obvious. After the killing, we should take some Profound Iron Ore to make it look like we’re mountain bandits here to raid the mine," said Cao Jin.
"Do we have to kill everyone?" Wang Jianxing asked with a slight frown.
He only wanted to kill Xu Yang; he had no desire to massacre the innocent.
In truth, he didn’t want to be involved in this at all. Xu Yang had told him that day that since he hadn’t participated in bullying Xu Qing, Xu Yang would not hold it against him.
But Liu Qing and the others didn’t know this; they still thought there was a deep-seated hatred between him and Xu Yang.
It was only when he met Liu Qing and the others in Cyan Yang City that he learned they had summoned him to join forces to kill Xu Yang. By then, he was not in a position to refuse—refusal meant being silenced permanently. He could only bite the bullet and agree.
Luo Xin snorted coldly. "If we want to torture him for the Cultivation Technique he uses to cultivate the Golden Gang Qi, then we can’t leave any witnesses. At the very least, we can’t hold back when we attack."
Wang Jianxing fell silent. He knew Luo Xin had a point. Being too selective would arouse suspicion. They weren’t supposed to be here for revenge; they were supposed to be mountain bandits targeting the mine. And what kind of mountain bandit doesn’t massacre the innocent?
"It’s not that we have to kill everyone. We can choose to strike when the miners have gone into the mine shafts. That way, we only need to kill Xu Yang, Chen Yong, and the others on the surface. The miners deep in the shafts will have no idea what happened outside."
Luo Xin added, "But if we do that, we’ll have to strike during the day!"
"Then we’ll strike during the day. Luo Xin and I have the highest Cultivation. We’ll take on Xu Yang directly, and the rest of you will provide support and cut off his escape," Liu Qing decided, finalizing the plan.
He and Luo Xin had the highest Cultivation, so after he spoke, none of the others objected.
"Rest for a while. Eat something to replenish your energy. We move in two hours."
Luo Xin was the first to sit down, pulling out dried rations and starting to gnaw on them. Liu Qing and the others followed suit. They finished their meal quickly, and the group began to meditate and regulate their breathing.
Two hours later, Luo Xin was the first to rise, pulling a mask from his robes and putting it on. "Time to move! Kill Xu Yang and eliminate this threat for good."
"Kill Xu Yang and eliminate the threat!"
Cao Jin and the others also rose, each pulling out a prepared mask and putting it on, brimming with murderous intent.
"Follow me!"
Luo Xin barked, taking the lead and sprinting toward Moon Lake.
A short while later, a crescent-shaped lake and a cluster of stone houses built against the mountainside came into view.
"Charge straight in and kill them!" Luo Xin ordered.
Aside from Xu Yang, no one else at Moon Lake was worth worrying about. There was no need for stealth or surprise attacks.
BOOM! BOOM!
The group unleashed the full power of their Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement cultivation. Gang Qi erupted from beneath their feet, cracking the very ground they stood on. Like arrows loosed from a bow, the five figures shot toward the mine entrance.
At the entrance to the mine, Zhou Jiang, who was leading the guards on duty, was the first to spot the figures approaching in a cloud of dust.
"We’re under attack!"
Without hesitation, he roared with all the Force in his body, simultaneously smashing a fist into the bronze gong beside him. The intruders were masked and moving as fast as lightning, their target clearly the mine.