"Aaargh..."
Song Wenshan let out a heart-wrenching scream, flying backward with a look of utter despair. He knew he couldn’t escape.
He couldn’t bring news of Xu Yang back to his family and ask a Celestial Essence Strong Person to eliminate him. In one or two years, at most, not even the Celestial Essence Ancestor would be able to do anything to Xu Yang.
"BOOM!"
The earth beneath Xu Yang’s feet shattered as he shot forward like a bolt of golden lightning across the night sky. Red Blood tore through the air as he slashed out.
Song Wenshan desperately raised his Protective Gang Qi and tried to sidestep, but it was useless. Red Blood was moving at extreme speed. Before his body could even get out of the way, Red Blood had already struck him.
"PFFT!"
The sharp Half-Spirit Weapon, Red Blood, easily sliced through Song Wenshan’s flesh and severed his bones.
Blood sprayed. Song Wenshan’s eyes widened as his body was split in two mid-air. After he landed, the life had already drained from his face.
"My Song Family should never have provoked you..." Song Wenshan said, using the last of his strength.
He could already foresee the Song Family’s fate.
’The most terrifying thing about Xu Yang isn’t his unparalleled talent in the Purple Sun Sect, but his forbearance and low-profile nature. Despite possessing talent that surpasses everyone in the Purple Sun Sect, he hides it, letting no one know. He has none of the flamboyance or hot-blooded passion typical of youth.’
’If you provoke someone like that and can’t kill them immediately, you’ll be the one who dies when he gets stronger. He’s like a hidden viper; you never know when he’ll strike and inject you with deadly venom.’
"I didn’t want to provoke the Song Family either," Xu Yang said calmly.
’After Liu Xunjiang brought Song Wenxuan to the mine, I actually hesitated about whether to help. After all, if I didn’t save a member of a great clan like the Song Family, they would resent me for it.’
’Unfortunately, the Song Family just had to be on intimate terms with Liu Qingyuan. I knew that even if I saved Song Wenxuan, it would just be a reenactment of the story of the farmer and the snake. So, in the end, I used the Wushan Four Fiends to kill Song Wenxuan and his men.’
Song Wenshan could no longer speak. His eyes gradually lost their focus.
’He knew Xu Yang was probably telling the truth. People who were this patient and low-key hated trouble the most, so Xu Yang truly hadn’t wanted to provoke the Song Family.’
’Unfortunately, the Song Family was a great clan in Cyan Yang City, presided over by a Celestial Essence Strong Person. They were used to being high and mighty. If someone didn’t save a member of their Song Family, they would kill them to avenge the slight. They never even considered the rights or wrongs of the matter; all they knew was that someone from their Song Family had died because Xu Yang refused to save them.’
The golden glow on Xu Yang’s body faded, and he returned to normal. Then, he began to loot the corpses.
The silver from the four bodies didn’t amount to much, only a little over two thousand taels. After all, in a place like the Yunling Mountain Range, there was nowhere to spend money, so they hadn’t carried much.
What they did have a lot of was Elixirs. From the four bodies, Xu Yang managed to find ten Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pills.
"As expected of one of the ten great families!" Xu Yang exclaimed in admiration.
The biggest haul was the Half-Spirit Weapons. The four Marrow Cleansing Great Success Martial Artists from the Song Family all had them.
The first two unlucky bastards were killed before they even had a chance to draw their Half-Spirit Weapons.
’This is getting to be too much.’
’I have too many Half-Spirit Weapons now. There’s Cold Abyss, Red Blood, the one from Song Wenxuan and his group, the one from the Wushan Four Fiends, the one from the Earth Vein Fire Valley, Guan Du’s, and now these four. That makes a total of ten Half-Spirit Weapons for me alone. I can’t possibly use them all.’
’Selling them would be difficult, too. They’re all stolen goods that can’t see the light of day. Still, I should take all four Half-Spirit Weapons. When I get back, I’ll have to find a way to ask around and see if there’s anyone who dares to buy items with such a shady history.’
After digging a pit and burying the four men, Xu Yang picked up his spoils and slipped back to the mine like a phantom. No one knew that the four Marrow Cleansing Great Success experts sent by the Song Family to hunt the Wushan Four Fiends had been wiped out by him in one fell swoop.
’I didn’t actually have to deal with Song Wenshan and his men so silently. I could have waited for the four of them to attack the mine before killing them. That way, I would have earned merit and could have used the Song Family’s attack on the mine as a pretext to get the Purple Sun Sect to move against them.’
’But that would have had its downsides. My true talent would have been exposed. Besides, I wasn’t certain what the outcome would be—whether the Purple Sun Sect would actually destroy the Song Family. After all, a Song Family ancestor was once a Peak Master in the Purple Sun Sect, and many of their descendants are still in the sect now. It’s possible that a current Peak Master is a disciple or grand-disciple of that Song Family ancestor. Therefore, I guessed it was unlikely the Purple Sun Sect would just wipe out the Song Family.’
’If the Purple Sun Sect didn’t eliminate the Song Family, exposing my talent would only put me in danger. That’s why I ultimately decided to kill Song Wenshan’s group silently outside the mine, forgoing any merit.’
After hiding the four new Half-Spirit Weapons with the others, Xu Yang went to bed. The next day, he woke up as if nothing had happened.
Having finished his morning exercises, he opened the door to wash up, only to find that the breakfast that should have been delivered by now was nowhere to be seen.
"What’s going on?" Xu Yang frowned.
’After Zhao Qing arrived, he had managed the mine in a very orderly fashion. Logically, he wouldn’t forget something as simple as my meal.’
After washing up, he walked out of his courtyard. He saw that many of the workers hadn’t gone to the mine shafts but were instead tidying up various parts of the mine. Zhao Qing was also busy, leading a few Outer Disciples.
"Apologies, Junior Brother Xu. I forgot to arrange for someone to bring you your meal." Seeing Xu Yang, Zhao Qing finally realized his oversight.
Xu Yang asked curiously, "What are you all busy with?"
Zhao Qing was speechless for a moment. "You’ve really been too absorbed in your cultivation. The New Year is in just a few days. Since none of us can go home, we naturally have to decorate the mine a bit. Besides, an Elder is coming for an inspection. If they see any problems with the mine, we’ll be held responsible."
Only then did Xu Yang realize that he had been at the mine for over three months, and the New Year was just a few days away.