"Ding! After surviving a remarkable and intense battle, you have gained new insight into all your abilities (excluding Swordsmanship). All abilities (excluding Swordsmanship) proficiency +400!"
The system prompt had barely faded—
When wild, hysterical laughter erupted from within the collapsed ruins of the base.
The laughter was manic.
Triumphant.
Unrestrained.
It lasted for several long minutes before gradually quieting down.
Rustle—rustle—
Dragging his exhausted body, Zhao Xuan staggered out of the ruins. He walked, step by step, toward the corpse of the sixth-rank grandmaster.
His cold gaze lingered on the dead man's still-wide, unwilling eyes.
A vicious glint flashed across Zhao Xuan's face.
With a thought, he closed the relic entrance completely, then immediately sat down cross-legged.
He grabbed two pouches of mid-grade energy fluid and chugged them like water.
After downing both packs in one breath, he pulled out a Monkey King Fruit and devoured it.
Only then did Zhao Xuan close his eyes, entering full recovery—restoring stamina and mental energy with complete focus.
The desert relic fell into absolute silence.
Time slipped by quietly.
After twenty minutes or so, Zhao Xuan's eyes slowly reopened—
And an overwhelming killing intent surged out from them like a tidal wave.
"Next… it's the three fifth-rank bugs' turn."
Yes—
Bugs.
That was how Zhao Xuan viewed those three fifth-rank masters.
Without hesitation, he reopened the relic entrance and stepped out, retracing the path he had come from.
If weeds aren't uprooted, they grow back in the spring.
Zhao Xuan was never the merciful or soft-hearted type.
He was not a saint.
He was not a Bodhisattva.
All those sayings like "Spare others for future goodwill," or "Mercy brings virtue"—
Nonsense.
Kill who should be killed.
Let the dead stay dead.
Why leave an enemy alive?
Just to imitate those idiotic villains in novels?
The ones who could kill the protagonist easily but instead chose to talk, mock, and "give one more chance," only to be overthrown and killed afterward?
Zhao Xuan had mocked those villains countless times in his previous life.
He didn't believe those three men—already in their thirties or forties, still only fifth-rank—would ever threaten him.
But there was a saying:
Don't fear ten thousand possibilities—fear the one.
What if one of them found some miraculous encounter in the wilderness one day and skyrocketed in strength?
The likelihood was almost zero—
But the world was vast and full of absurdities.
Even the current strongest man in the Nine Provinces, ninth-rank Emperor-level powerhouse Zhang Ping—the Supreme Commander of the Capital—was not originally talented. Only after obtaining the corpse of a ninth-rank Sea King during an expedition into the Endless Sea did he rise step by step to his current height.
Aside from that—
Zhao Xuan had an even simpler reason to kill them:
If he didn't, he would feel suffocated.
Like a knot stuck in his heart.
If he didn't vent this anger, it would hinder his cultivation.
That alone made sparing them impossible.
At the flattened mountain peak—
The three fifth-rank masters stood together, faces dark and grim.
"Zhu Si, found anything?"
"No. You two?"
"Nothing."
"Damn it… where did Huang Jiong go?"
The three were enveloped in a heavy silence.
After a while—
The bald brute, Zhu Si, suddenly spoke.
"You think… Huang Jiong ran away?"
"Ran?"
"What do you mean?"
The other two frowned.
"He might be afraid this whole assassination will be exposed and we'll all be hunted by the authorities. Maybe he didn't want to get dragged down with us, so he ran."
"Do you think that's possible?" another scoffed.
"We've done this kind of thing for years. His hands have been stained with the blood of countless geniuses. Running now? What use would it be? Even if he turned himself in and confessed everything, the authorities would never spare his life."
"Then…" Zhu Si's expression darkened. "There's only one possibility left."
The other two snapped their gazes to him.
Zhu Si inhaled sharply and said in a low voice:
"He was killed by Zhao Xuan. Instantly.
So fast we didn't even sense the slightest energy fluctuation."
Silence crashed over the mountaintop.
"But… but Zhao Xuan is only fourth-rank. Huang Jiong is an old fifth-rank master! Even if Zhao Xuan is a monstrous talent, he couldn't possibly kill Huang Jiong instantly, without giving him a chance to cry out… right?" one hesitated.
"I can't think of any other explanation."
Zhu Si's face grew gloomier.
The atmosphere thickened again.
Then—
One of them suddenly forced a laugh.
"Hahaha—fine! Let's assume Huang Jiong was instantly killed. So what?"
"You saw Zhao Xuan's condition when he ran—he was a mess. Barely breathing!"
"And our leader is the one chasing him."
"No matter how monstrous Zhao Xuan is, no matter if he can instantly kill a fifth-rank—there's no way he can defeat a sixth-rank grandmaster!"
"As for him 'scaring a seventh-rank Demon Sect elder to death,' Manager Li told us that elder had already been gravely injured by the old guildmaster. Zhao Xuan simply took the credit!"
Hearing this, Zhu Si and the other sighed in relief.
"You're right."
"With our leader there, that fourth-rank brat is dead for sure!"
The talkative fifth-rank even chuckled.
"Huang Jiong dying isn't necessarily bad. One less person means more money for us."
Zhu Si's and the other man's eyes gleamed.
The oppressive tension faded, replaced by light conversation.
Time passed.
But after ten minutes—
The atmosphere slowly tightened again.
Their smiles vanished.
"…It's been almost fifteen minutes," Zhu Si muttered. "Why isn't the leader back yet?"
"Yeah. With the state that brat was in, he shouldn't last long. The leader's speed should've caught him already."
"Maybe Zhao Xuan had some life-saving methods. And we haven't sensed any big battle fluctuations—that means the leader probably didn't catch him yet," one reasoned.
"That makes sense…"
Silence returned.
Ten minutes passed again.
They could no longer sit still.
One paced anxiously.
"What's going on!? How can the leader still not be back!? That kid is just a fourth-rank! How could he escape a sixth-rank grandmaster for this long!?"
Zhu Si and the other exchanged uneasy looks.
Suddenly, Zhu Si's eyes lit up.
"The brat hid."
"Hid?"
"You forget?" Zhu Si said sharply. "He might have a space-type relic core. Maybe he slipped into the relic when the leader wasn't watching!"
His companions' eyes widened.
"That must be it! That must be it!"
"Our leader is definitely guarding the relic entrance waiting for Zhao Xuan to exit!"
Excited, Zhu Si shouted:
"Niulang! Use your dog nose! Track the leader—we'll regroup with him!"
"Okay!"
Niulang pulled out the cloth pouch Zhao Xuan once used—
Just as—
Footsteps echoed from the distance.
"The leader's back!"
"It must be him!"
They turned with relief—
Only for a blood-soaked corpse to be hurled onto the ground before them.
Their eyes widened.
They recognized the face instantly.
Before they could react—
BOOM!!!!
A terrifying gust of force surged toward them.
Zhao Xuan attacked mercilessly.
He struck the instant they were stunned by the sight of their leader's corpse.
No hesitation.
No mercy.
Only killing intent.
His lightning-wrapped kick swept across the air—
And smashed into Niulang's chest.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
Ribs shattered violently.
Niulang spat a mouthful of pus-tinged blood as he flew backward.
Zhao Xuan didn't follow up.
Instead he turned—
And struck the second fifth-rank master with a thunderous punch.
BOOM!
His head caved in on one side as he was blasted dozens of meters away.
Only then did Zhu Si recover from shock.
Seeing Zhao Xuan rushing toward him with murderous intent—
Seeing the corpse of his leader, the sixth-rank grandmaster—
Terror swallowed every fiber of his being.
He didn't think.
He didn't scream.
He simply ran.
"You want to run?"
Zhao Xuan's voice was ice.
"There is no escape."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
He used Shave and closed the distance instantly.
Zhu Si ran wildly, desperately.
Regret, fear, panic—everything crashed through him.
"Zhao Xuan! I was wrong! I won't dare again! Please! Spare me! Spare me!!"
Zhao Xuan ignored every word.
He caught up within seconds.
BAM!
A heavy fist smashed into Zhu Si's back.
He flew forward, hit the ground hard—yet scrambled up again, crawling frantically before running once more.
His terror only made his death certain.
Zhao Xuan reached him again.
Another blow sent him crashing down.
When Zhu Si tried to crawl again—
Zhao Xuan stomped him into the ground.
"Please… Zhao Xuan… don't kill me… I—I was wrong… I won't—"
BOOM!!!
Zhao Xuan showed no hesitation.
Lightning and Armament-wrapped fists rose high—
And then came crashing down.
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