“Boom!”
A thunderous crash echoed like a sudden clap of lightning. The already dilapidated wooden door shattered into pieces, splintered wood and fresh blood scattering across the ground.
Through the opening, Chen Yu saw a short, stocky middle-aged man standing outside the temple. His appearance was ugly, with a purplish tumor growing on his jaw.
It was Ma Er.
How a woman like Liu Hui could stomach a man that ugly was beyond him.
Chen Yu couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
Having recovered, he first slapped Liu Hui—who had treated him like a fool—sending her flying, then strode out swiftly.
Only then did Liu Hui come back to her senses. Covering her bloodied, swollen cheek, she wailed, “Chen Yu! You actually dare hit me! Brother Ma, you have to stand up for me!”
The sudden turn of events caught Ma Er off guard. However, seeing Chen Yu standing there with a mocking expression, he immediately realized his scheme had been exposed. Rage surged within him as he activated his palm technique and charged forward with a roar.
“You little bastard, you’re courting death!”
The one courting death is you, Chen Yu’s eyes flashed coldly.
With the Nine Yang Manual supporting him and the newly gained pure inner strength, Ma Er’s movements appeared painfully slow in his eyes, like those of a child.
Chen Yu formed his right hand into a palm, channeling energy from his dantian. With a casual motion, he neutralized Ma Er’s attack.
Ma Er, who had thought victory was certain, finally sensed something was wrong. Chen Yu’s palm force was incredibly fierce. Even just blocking, without striking back, sent tremors through his entire body, as though his internal organs were about to shatter.
Shock and fury filled Ma Er’s mind. Just three days ago, Chen Yu had been like a dead dog under his beating. How had he suddenly become like a completely different person? He even seemed to have mastered some strange martial art.
Chen Yu hadn’t even fully circulated the Nine Yang Manual, merely using a restrained version of the Founding Sovereign Long Fist to defend.
After taking several heavy blows, Ma Er’s face became bruised and swollen. Humiliated and enraged, he broke free, his face flushed red as he grabbed the large blade he had brought and roared while charging forward.
“I’ll kill you, you little bastard!”
“Good. Let’s see who kills who,” Chen Yu sneered.
Earlier, he had only been testing his strength, further familiarizing himself with this body. After all, in his previous life, he had been bedridden for over a decade.
Now he was done playing. Killing someone like Ma Er carried no burden at all.
He shifted his left leg sideways, easily dodging the incoming slash. Channeling his inner strength, he kicked upward along the blade’s shaft with his right leg, sending the weapon flying. Then he leapt forward, catching the airborne blade in his hand.
Without pause, he brought it down in a sweeping strike.
“Ahhh!”
Ma Er’s miserable scream echoed through the temple.
Forcing his eyes open through the pain, he saw that the left arm he had instinctively raised to block had already been severed. Blood sprayed out violently.
Opposite him, Chen Yu stood with the blade in hand, advancing step by step.
“I… my elder brother is Vice Sect Master Ma! Chen Yu, have you forgotten? You’re cutting yourself off from the Beggar Sect!” Ma Er cried in terror, clutching his wound as he stumbled backward.
“So what?” Chen Yu’s face showed no fear.
Even if Ma Er’s sworn brother was Ma Dayuan, the Vice Sect Master skilled in throat-locking grappling techniques, it changed nothing.
He was in the right. If Ma Dayuan couldn’t distinguish right from wrong, then he would kill him too.
Since he had transmigrated into a martial arts world, if he still acted like some moral gentleman and couldn’t settle grudges freely, then what was the point of coming here?
“Murder! Help! Someone help!”
Liu Hui had long been frightened out of her wits. Screaming, she struggled to run outside.
However, before she could leave the temple, she collided head-on with a graceful, slender figure.
“Ah!”
The clear, delicate exclamation immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Seeing the newcomer, Ma Er’s despairing face suddenly lit up with hope, like a drowning man spotting a lifeline.
“Sister-in-law, save me!”
The person who had arrived was none other than Kang Min, the wife of Vice Sect Master Ma Dayuan.
Chen Yu lifted his gaze.
Surrounded by several plain-clothed disciples stood a stunningly beautiful woman. She appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, her features exquisite. Her black hair was pinned up neatly, and her fair, smooth skin required only the lightest touch of makeup to appear breathtaking.
Her pink dress wasn’t particularly extravagant, yet it perfectly accentuated her graceful figure. Though her beauty was elegant, there was a faint hint of seduction hidden at the corners of her eyes.
Kang Min.
Chen Yu remembered this name clearly.
If one spoke of vicious women, few could compare to her.
In martial arts novels, she was a notorious femme fatale, venomous and ruthless to an almost twisted degree. In her youth, she had an ambiguous relationship with Duan Zhengchun, the Prince of Southern Dali. After marrying Ma Dayuan, she continued to seduce multiple men. Simply because Qiao Feng didn’t favor her, she used every method to frame him. When Ma Dayuan refused to expose Qiao Feng’s background for her, she conspired with Bai Shijing to murder her own husband.
Of course, her ending was deeply satisfying. She was tortured by Ah Zi, who cut open her skin, smeared it with honey, and let ants devour her. After enduring immense suffering, she saw her own disfigured face and died in despair.
It was a fitting end for all the evil she had committed.
Someone like her having no malicious thoughts would be impossible.
Sure enough, as Chen Yu looked at her, prompts quickly appeared above her head.
[Target: Kang Min]
[Malicious Thought 1: Ma Dayuan is useless. He didn’t even dare expose Qiao Feng’s identity. He deserves to die. I want to kill him!] Advanced reward
[Malicious Thought 2: Qiao Feng, you dare not like me? You deserve death. I will ruin your reputation and make sure you die without a burial!] Special reward
[Malicious Thought 3: That one-bag disciple standing not far away… why haven’t I seen him before? Why isn’t he looking at me with burning desire? All men in the world should fall in love with me. Do you look down on me too? Then you should die as well!] Initial reward
What the hell…
Chen Yu couldn’t help but inhale sharply.
Kang Min truly lived up to her title as a snake-hearted beauty.
All three malicious thoughts involved killing. She even wanted him dead just for not falling for her at first glance.
Just because I didn’t fall in love with you instantly?
This kind of woman is terrifying.
However, the rewards tied to her malicious thoughts were also extremely generous.
Unlike Liu Hui, Kang Min was far more vicious. Even her casual thoughts granted advanced rewards, and there was even a special reward.
But right now, killing Ma Dayuan or Qiao Feng was unrealistic.
The third one, however, was simple.
At that thought, Chen Yu decisively rubbed his eyes. When he looked at her again, his gaze suddenly burned with intense admiration, as if he were seeing a celestial maiden.
“Greetings, Madam,” Chen Yu said respectfully.
Seeing this, Kang Min finally narrowed her eyes in satisfaction. Only then did she speak in a soft, delicate voice, “So much blood… what exactly happened here?”
[Malicious Thought 3: That one-bag disciple I’ve never seen should look at me with burning desire… Completed.]
[Initial reward obtained: Lightness Skill Phantom Ripple Steps Minor Achievement Card]
Chen Yu lowered his head, but the smile at the corner of his lips was impossible to hide.
What an excellent movement technique!
Phantom Ripple Steps was the exclusive lightness skill of the Carefree Sect. Though Chen Yu’s memory wasn’t perfect, he still remembered that it was Duan Yu’s signature technique.
As one of the three overpowered figures in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, Duan Yu relied on Phantom Ripple Steps and the Six Meridian Divine Sword, effectively becoming a walking turret.
He could hit others, while others couldn’t hit him. And if anyone got close, he could activate the Beiming Divine Artand drain their energy.
One could say his combat style was extremely refined.
The only reason he often suffered setbacks was because his martial arts were inconsistent and he was overly infatuated with women.
Although Chen Yu already possessed the Nine Yang Manual, this was a world where countless martial arts coexisted. Who knew what kind of monsters lurked within?
Having a top-tier escape technique was always a good thing. Better to be prepared.
“Ahem.”
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice. Looking up, he saw Kang Min staring at him, her beautiful eyes blinking gently.
She spoke in a soft, coquettish tone, half reproachful, half teasing, “I’m asking what happened, and none of you are answering?”