CLANG!
The shout, accompanied by the ringing of a gong, instantly spread throughout the entire mining site.
SHING! SHING!
The disciples with him drew their Treasure Sabers, their bodies surging with Gang Qi as they took a battle stance.
"What brazen thieves dare to seize a Purple Sun Sect mine? They’re simply courting death," one disciple shouted, eager for a fight.
If their watch here was uneventful, they wouldn’t earn many contribution points. Only by killing enemies and earning merit would their rewards increase.
"Run! These people are all Bone Marrow Cleansing Masters!"
Zhou Jiang’s voice trembled. The five masked figures were terrifyingly fast; they couldn’t possibly be at the Gang Qi Cultivation level.
Fighting them would be suicide.
"What?"
"Marrow Cleansing?"
His companions cried out in alarm. Turning, they saw that Zhou Jiang had already fled into the mining site, running in Xu Yang’s direction.
Without hesitation, they unleashed their Body Techniques and followed him into the mine, fleeing like dogs with their tails between their legs.
Five Marrow Cleansing experts. If even one or two of them were at the Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement stage, no one at the mining site would survive.
"Hide in the mine shafts! It might be our only chance to live!" Zhou Jiang shouted.
The mine shafts crisscrossed in a labyrinth of innumerable forks and branches. As long as they didn’t face these people head-on, there was still a chance to survive.
But given their pursuers’ speed, he feared they would be caught before they even reached the shafts.
Xu Yang hadn’t expected so much trouble at this mining site. It had only been a few days, and now the gong was sounding again.
He grabbed Red Blood and ran out of his courtyard, just in time to see Zhou Jiang and the others stumble in from the entrance, their faces utterly drained of color.
"Brother Xu, five masters have come, all at least at the Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation! Forget the valuables, run to the mine shafts to save your life!" Zhou Jiang yelled.
Xu Yang was only at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement; he was no match for those five. Their speed and aura were nothing like someone who had just entered the Marrow Cleansing stage—they all seemed to be masters at the Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement level.
Not far away, Chen Yong and the other disciples also came out of their rooms. Hearing Zhou Jiang’s words, their expressions changed drastically.
"Into the shafts! Forget the Profound Iron!" Chen Yong roared.
A force of this magnitude was far beyond what they could handle. Even if they lost everything, the Sect would not punish them.
Even if they were punished, it would be a fine of contribution points or solitary confinement at worst. That was far better than losing their lives!
"It’s too late!"
Xu Yang could already see five phantom-like figures closing in. He could make it to the mine shafts, but Zhou Jiang and the others definitely couldn’t; they were still a hundred zhang away.
At this moment, he could sense the cultivation of his attackers. All five of them were at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, not beginners who had just entered the Marrow Cleansing stage.
"Hide yourselves!"
Xu Yang strode forward, moving past Zhou Jiang and the others to face the approaching figures head-on.
Instantly, through his perception, he felt the killing intent from the five masked figures intensify. Their gazes were all fixed on him, filled with hatred.
’So, they were here for me after all,’ he realized in an instant.
’The mine only has some Profound Iron. While valuable, it isn’t enough to attract five Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement Martial Artists at once. Unless they had struck Spirit Iron... but no, it turned out they were here to kill me.’
’Yun Heng, Luo Xin?’
’I recognize their two familiar auras. As for the other three, I can’t get a read on them, which probably means I have never fought them before. Still, I can guess their likely identities—they have to be disciples of the Purple Sun Sect.’
"Xu Yang!"
Seeing Xu Yang appear, killing intent exploded in Luo Xin’s eyes.
He had once groveled, begging Xu Yang for reconciliation, but Xu Yang hadn’t said a single word to him. He had been utterly humiliated in front of the other Li Fire Peak disciples.
Recently, no one even dared to speak to him, afraid that associating with him would earn them Xu Yang’s enmity. He could no longer suppress his murderous urge toward Xu Yang.
BOOM!
He suddenly accelerated, breaking away from Cao Jin and the others. Taking the lead, he charged at Xu Yang, his aura kicking up a cloud of dust.
Gang Qi surged like a tide, glowing crimson before rapidly converging to form a red Fist Gang that enveloped his fist.
"Don’t kill him! We still need to interrogate him for the cultivation method of the Golden Gang Qi!"
Liu Qing sent a sound transmission. Seeing Luo Xin’s overwhelming killing intent, he feared Luo Xin wouldn’t be able to hold back and would kill Xu Yang. He hurriedly broke away from Cao Jin’s group as well, his own Gang Qi flaring.
A booming sound echoed from his bones and tendons. His aura spread across the ground like a tidal wave, cracking the earth and kicking up billowing dust in its wake.
"Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement!"
"All five of them are at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement."
At such close range, Zhou Jiang and the others finally realized the true Cultivation of Cao Jin’s group, and their faces turned deathly pale with terror.
If even one of the five was at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, their chances today would have been slim. But five of them? Even a master at Marrow Cleansing Great Success would have a tough fight on their hands.
’We haven’t even found any Spirit Iron, so why has such a group of terrifying masters shown up?’
’There’s no escape!’
’No escape at all. Their pursuers will surely catch us before we can reach the mine shafts.’
"Run!"
Chen Yong roared, desperately trying to shake off the pressure and fear brought on by the five Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement masters.
It wasn’t that they had no chance to escape. If Xu Yang could hold off the five for a few breaths, they might be able to flee into the mine shafts.
"It’s useless!"
Zhou Jiang’s face was ashen. If Xu Yang were at Marrow Cleansing Great Success, he might be able to hold them off for a while. But Xu Yang had only reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement a little over a month ago. Facing five masters of the same level, he couldn’t possibly make a difference and would be crushed with ease.
Just one of the five could break off and slaughter them all before they reached the shafts.
BOOM!
The crimson Fist Gang, as red as a ruby, shot through the air like a meteor. Its aura crushed a path forward, gouging a scar into the ground.
Following behind the Fist Gang, Liu Qing and Luo Xin leaped up simultaneously, their fingers hooked into claws as they reached for Xu Yang’s left and right shoulders, intending to capture him alive.
His right hand had, at some point, come to rest on his saber’s hilt. His indifferent eyes sharpened in an instant as he raised his arm in a diagonal arc, drawing the blade in an upward slash.
VMMMMMM...
The sound of the blade was like a dragon’s roar. A flash of blood-red light burst from the sheath, and a bloody Evil Qi sliced through the crushing aura, shattering the incoming Fist Gang.
At that moment, the aura of a Half-Spirit Weapon erupted without reservation, like a tiger uncaged, baring its fangs and claws to display its unique, sharp edge.
Xu Yang’s gaze swept over the two lunging figures. Without hesitation, he swung the Half-Spirit Weapon, Red Blood, in a horizontal arc.
BOOM!
Golden Blade Qi erupted, sweeping out like a golden crescent moon. The energy tore across the ground, shattering it completely as if it had been struck by ten thousand blades.
The ferocious Blade Qi seemed sharp enough to cleave a mountain in two, possessing an indomitable edge.
"A Half-Spirit Weapon!" Luo Xin and Liu Qing shrieked in unison, their pupils contracting violently. They felt a prickling on their backs, as if their scalps were about to explode.
’The saber in Xu Yang’s hand is a Half-Spirit Weapon! Where did he get a Half-Spirit Weapon?’
The two were terrified beyond belief. The aura of the Half-Spirit Weapon scared them out of their wits. They wanted to flee, but it was too late. All they could do was watch in horror as the Golden Blade Qi hacked down upon them.
BANG!
The Golden Blade Qi tore through them like a hot knife through butter, slicing through their Protective Gang Qi as if it were tofu before heavily striking their chests.
PFFT!
The two spat out mouthfuls of blood. Like sandbags thrown through the air, they were sent flying backward screaming, even faster than they had charged in, soaring over the heads of Cao Jin and the others.
A ghastly wound of mangled flesh stretched from left to right, splitting open their chests and revealing their pulsing internal organs.
"A Half-Spirit Weapon!"
"Not good!"
Following close behind, Cao Jin, Yun Heng, and the third man were scared witless, their faces paling as they came to a sudden halt.
’Xu Yang has a Half-Spirit Weapon!’
’Elder Huoyun gave Xu Yang a Half-Spirit Weapon for protection, and that idiot Luo Xin didn’t even know! He led us here to assassinate a man who owns a Half-Spirit Weapon!’
The three shrieked in terror, not even noticing that their screams had revealed their identities.
BOOM!
Mud splattered as Xu Yang took a step forward, shooting out like an arrow from a bow. The turbulent aura he released carved a trench in the ground. A flash of blood-red saber light descended from above, cleaving down upon Wang Jianxing’s head.
SQUELCH!
A line of blood trickled down from his forehead as the Blade Qi tore open the earth beneath his feet.
Wang Jianxing’s eyes went wide as his body split in two. His internal organs spilled out onto the ground with a wet slap.