Xu Guang held his breath as he crept along the base of the wall to the back of the ancestral hall, pressing his ear against the cold surface to listen to the movements inside.
He was absolutely determined to get the Creation Pill.
Inside the hall, a man looked exasperated, a fierce, savage gleam in his eyes.
"That old fart from the Lei family dared to trick me!" he fumed inwardly. "There’s nothing in this ancestral hall! He was clearly tortured out of his mind, yet he still dared to lie to me!"
Recalling everything that had happened in Suiyang City, the Lei family had offended the State Chief and was secretly wiped out by forces from the State Capital. As a Prison Guard, he had participated in interrogating them about the Lei family’s hidden wealth.
That old man of the Lei family had confessed everything—even peeping at a widow bathing when he was six and having improper thoughts about his own granddaughter. How could he still dare to hide something?
A sinister look slowly crept over his face. He gritted his teeth and spat, "I’ll make sure the Lei family’s bloodline ends here!"
With that, he swept all the ancestral tablets in front of him to the ground, tossed a lit flint onto the pile, and turned to leave.
Suddenly sensing something, a chilling smile curled his lips. "There’s a little mouse here, too!"
Failing to find the Treasure had left him irritable. Killing a little mouse would serve nicely to vent his frustration.
"Let’s see where you are, little mouse. Your daddy’s coming for you~"
Xu Guang, crouching in the corner, felt a surge of anger. He had only wanted to wait for the man to leave before searching for the Treasure, but this guy...
Not only did he covet his Treasure, but he also wanted to kill him!
Then he didn’t need to live anymore!
Just as the man strode brazenly to the doorway, a sudden gust of eerie wind blew past.
PUFF!
A handful of white powder was thrown directly into his face.
The man’s heart tightened. Caught off guard, he squeezed his eyes shut, barely avoiding being blinded by the dust.
His mind raced. Could it be someone from the State Capital who had come with him? Did they suspect him?
However, as a Martial Artist, he had developed a firm Will through Skin Polishing. In a split second, he cast aside his stray thoughts. Before the white ash could get into his eyes, he swept his arms horizontally in rapid succession, generating gusts of Force that blew the powder away.
SHNK!
A butcher knife suddenly thrust out from somewhere within the cloud of white dust, piercing right into his palm.
The tough skin of the Skin Grinding Realm mitigated much of the damage. The butcher knife only embedded itself into his palm; it didn’t pierce all the way through.
A ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He raised his right leg, transforming it into a deadly whip that swept toward Xu Guang’s position.
To his surprise, the resistance on his palm suddenly vanished—his attacker had abandoned the butcher knife. When his right leg brushed against another cold blade, the man’s expression turned stern. His battle-hardened reflexes instinctively forced his leg down, extending his foot forward.
Xu Guang narrowed his eyes. He instantly raised his foot high and stomped down ruthlessly.
"Ah!"
Xu Guang’s strength was immense. While he couldn’t compare to General Giant Spirit, who was also one of the Abnormal People, he far surpassed an ordinary martial artist at Skin Grinding Mastery.
The man let out a miserable shriek. He almost lost all feeling in his foot, as if the bones had been completely shattered.
He quickly pulled back, launching a rapid kick with his other leg as he propelled his entire body into the air.
BAM BAM BAM!
It was a lethal combination, raining down like a torrential storm.
The Golden Willow Skill feared this kind of frantic, storm-like assault the least. Xu Guang’s body swayed. Using the Golden Willow Step Method, he drifted through the white ash like a butterfly fluttering through flowers, evading every incoming kick.
Unexpectedly, the man’s mid-air kicks shifted again, mixing feints with real strikes. The technique was several times more formidable than what Wang Ming had displayed a few days prior.
Caught off guard, Xu Guang took a heavy kick to the chest, stumbling back three steps.
As the white ash dissipated, Xu Guang’s figure vanished from sight.
The man looked down at his slightly flattened foot, his expression dark and gloomy. "It’s not those people. It’s just a petty thief, yet so insidious...
"Stomping on feet and throwing quicklime—all despicable, low-blow tactics."
He had only planned to wait for the white powder to clear before crushing his opponent with the momentum of a Thunderbolt, but he never expected the guy to simply run away.
The worst part was that, from beginning to end, he hadn’t even gotten a clear look at who was attacking him.
With a cautious expression, the man walked down the steps of the ancestral hall.
Xu Guang pressed himself tightly against a pillar. Using the strength of his legs, he clung to the ceiling like a bat. He glanced at the location of the Creation Pill on the Searcher and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Though he hadn’t killed the man just now, the Creation Pill was still there. That was good enough.
"Has no one ever told you not to be too clever for your own good?"
Simultaneously, a sharp gust of Force blasted toward his scalp.
Startled, Xu Guang instinctively let go, dropping into a freefall.
In mid-air, he contorted his body at an impossible angle. Clenching one hand into a fist, he fiercely unleashed the Gale Fist.
BAM!
Xu Guang’s body was knocked backward like a kite with a broken string.
"Someone from the Lei family? To have such strength at mere Skin Polishing... Unfortunately, your Fist Technique is terrible, and your training is just as bad. You’re dead!"
The man’s face was menacing. The knife in his hand had gotten stuck in the pillar when he slashed at Xu Guang earlier. However, having exchanged a punch with Xu Guang, he now knew the depth of his opponent’s strength and was in no rush to retrieve the long blade lodged high above.
He moved his feet, dashing forward three steps. His uninjured right leg lashed out once more, a flurry of feints and real strikes.
PUFF!
In that split second, Xu Guang’s fist abruptly opened, tossing another handful of white ash directly into the man’s face.
The man froze, his expression twisted with malice. "You are truly... too insidious!"
But unnoticed, a faint, sweet fragrance had slowly begun to rise in the air.
The Golden Willow Step was completely silent. Ignoring everything else, Xu Guang suddenly charged at the man, executing She Feng, the most lethal move of the Gale Fist.
He looked as though he fully intended to take them both down together.
The man’s palms whipped up a gale, acting like a blender to scatter the endless white powder, which only made the sweet fragrance grow stronger.
Xu Guang suddenly dropped low, throwing his shoulder heavily into his opponent.
THUD!
The man struck Xu Guang’s chest with his palm, while Xu Guang’s shoulder hit its target, though it didn’t land with full impact.
CRACK!
The man clutched his crotch, howling in agony. Had he not narrowly dodged, Xu Guang’s tackle would have permanently ended his family line.
"You despicable coward! If you have the guts, stop using these dirty tricks and fight me one-on-one!" he bellowed in a towering rage.
With reckless abandon, his palms continually blasted toward Xu Guang.
Xu Guang shrunk back, forcibly enduring three palm strikes. A trail of blood immediately trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He leaped up abruptly, vanishing back into the swirling white ash.
With a dark expression, the man stood completely still, closing his eyes to carefully sense Xu Guang’s location.
Xu Guang rolled away, tumbling five or six meters across the floor before clutching his chest.
His opponent’s Realm was far higher than his own, having completed at least a third of Bone Forging. If he hadn’t launched a preemptive sneak attack to injure the man’s left foot, dodging that final lethal strike would have been near impossible.
However, this only ignited the brutal hostility in Xu Guang’s heart.
"You cowardly little rat hiding in the shadows! Come out if you dare! Are you feeling weak all over? Having trouble breathing? Come out obediently, and I’ll give you a chance to live."
Xu Guang’s heart stirred. He had held his breath the moment he smelled the fragrance, but the ensuing clash had been too intense; some poisonous gas had inevitably entered his body. Yet, he didn’t feel any symptoms.
It seemed... he wasn’t poisoned at all.
What was going on?
"My Spring Flower Poison saps your vitality. You’re merely at Skin Polishing—your blood vitality is limited. You can last an hour at most. Come out like a good boy, and I won’t kill you."
Blood vitality?
Realizing something, Xu Guang checked his Blood Eye. Sure enough, the Essence Blood within had weakened a bit more.
"If I come out, you really won’t kill me?"
Hearing Xu Guang’s response, the man was thrilled and replied, "Of course, I’m a man of my word. You must be from the Lei family, right? Just take me to fetch the treasures in the ancestral mansion, and I’ll let you off."
After a moment of silence, the man heard the words that sent him into ecstasy.
"Alright!"
The white ash slowly settled, revealing Xu Guang’s figure.
"Come here," the man said, overjoyed.
Xu Guang slowly walked forward, and then suddenly... his pace quickened.
He ruthlessly stomped down on the man’s intact right foot.
"You! You stepped on my foot again!"
The man furiously launched a palm strike.
Xu Guang was fully prepared. He dodged gracefully, deploying another cloud of white powder, and plunged the butcher knife into the man’s waist.
He then darted to the side and waited patiently.
The man howled and screamed in impotent rage. He was undeniably strong.
Even with both feet injured, he could still manage to catch up to Xu Guang. But whenever he did, he was only greeted by more white ash and Xu Guang’s butcher knife.
A bad feeling arose in the man’s heart. "Who exactly are you? How do you have the antidote for my Chun Hua? Who gave it to you?"
Throughout the chase, the wounds on his body multiplied. He was losing a massive amount of blood, and his vitality was severely depleted.
Thoughts of retreating surfaced in his mind; he just wanted to escape.
But Xu Guang remained cautious, only occasionally popping out to exchange a few blows, realizing that the man’s strength was fading fast.
The tables turned, and it was now Xu Guang relentlessly pressing the attack.
To resist the Spring Flower Poison, Xu Guang had consumed too much energy—two entire drops of his painstakingly accumulated Essence Blood were gone.
He just wanted to kill the man and drain him of all his blood.
Before they knew it, they had chased each other around the ancestral hall twice. The man was panting like a dying ox, while Xu Guang’s expression remained perfectly calm, nourished by continuous trickles of warmth from the Essence Blood in his Blood Eye.
Another fifteen minutes passed. The man finally collapsed onto the ground. Xu Guang stood quietly under a distant tree, watching him.
WHOOSH!
A rock flew toward the man. He suddenly raised his leg and kicked the stone away.
"He really is playing dead," Xu Guang noted silently.
"Who the hell are you? Who sent you to kill me?" the man demanded loudly.
He had only arrived in Feiyun City two days ago for a mission and hadn’t offended anyone. Why would someone specifically ambush him when he came to the Lei family’s estate?
Xu Guang dashed out, thrusting a fierce punch forward. Mid-strike, his hand abruptly opened, and the man instinctively closed his eyes and raised his arms to guard against more ash.
But Xu Guang had long run out of quicklime. What remained was his butcher knife!
Realizing the trick, the man tried to fight back. However, with his free hand, Xu Guang suddenly ripped away the white bandage on his forehead. A thin red line on his brow slowly cracked open like an eye, radiating an aura that was ferocious, noble, and majestic.
For a split second, the man couldn’t help but fall into a daze.
STAB!
It was the first time Xu Guang’s butcher knife pierced his vitals, and it would be the last.
The man’s palms flailed madly in the air. Feeling the rapidly fading strength in his body, his face twisted in deep indignation. After years of grueling martial arts training, he had ultimately fallen at the hands of a mere brat.
"What... is that?"
He was asking about the eye in the middle of Xu Guang’s forehead.
Having already stepped back to let the blood spray like a fountain, Xu Guang replied in a cold, indifferent tone.
"You’re a dying man. Knowing too much will only keep you from reincarnating."
"You—!"
THUD!
With the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground, everything fell utterly silent.
Expressionless, Xu Guang raised his butcher knife and stabbed the man’s vitals a few more times to ensure he was entirely dead. Then, stretching out both arms, he pressed his hands against the man’s major arteries and began to absorb his blood.