by D cat
"You only know how to boast. If really you know what's good for you, then hand over the saber in your hands. I will be willing to show mercy by giving you a quick death if you do so!"
The group of hooligans revealed bewildered expressions before they burst into fits of laughter.
"A spoiled brat like you really don't shed tears until you see the coffin."
Tan Zicheng slowly pulled out a shiny dagger and said, "Before I kill you, I would like to thank you for the Body Tempering Pill and that sumptuous lunch in advance!"
"Did you know why I treated you to such a sumptuous meal?"
Su Lang's eyes were full of smiles as he stated, "If you didn't have any ill intentions, it would have been a great reward for your hard work. Otherwise, it would serve as your last meal!"
"My last meal?"
Tan Zicheng's body radiated with killing intent as he shouted, "How arrogant of you! Go, remember to keep him alive!"
Upon hearing his commands, the other hooligans immediately rushed towards Su Lang with sinister smiles.
"Haha, did you really think you could take me on?"
Su Lang pulled out his long blade from its sheath and shouted angrily, "Get out of my sights!"
In that instant, his body fluctuated with waves of Spiritual Qi unique to the breakthroughs of the Body Tempering Realm.
Originally, Su Lang only needed four hours to break through to the Advance Body Tempering Realm. After consuming the medicinal pills, on the other hand, he only needed less than two hours.
Coincidentally, it had already been two hours since he last consumed those pills.
Su Lang's Sea of Cultivation had long since overflowed with Spiritual Qi. At this point, it was only a matter of thought before he broke through yet again.
Of course, breaking through at the last minute was as simple as eating and drinking to Su Lang. To Tan Zicheng and the others, on the other hand, it was a completely unbelievable feat.
"He's breaking through now?!
"Damn it, he broke through to Advance Body Tempering Realm!"
"How could this be? Why did he break through now of all times?!"
"Ever since I met him, I didn't see him circulating his Spiritual Qi or cultivating even once. Instead, he had only been walking. How could he possibly break through?"
Tan Zicheng and his men turned pale with fright. Terrified by the unexpected turn of events, their scapls were about to explode.
Fighting against someone in the Advance Body Tempering Realm as a cultivator in the Intermediate Body Tempering Realm would be equivalent to smashing an egg into a rock. They would simply be asking for their own deaths!
Despite knowing that fact, they have already charged up the string of the bow. Since the five of them already made their moves, they could no longer turn back from their actions.
The two sides instantly clashed!
"Go to hell!"
Su Lang slashed horizontally without any fancy moves.
"No!"
When the two Initial Body Tempering cultivators noticed the Tang Blade approaching them, their pupils shrank into the size of a grain of sand.
By the time they noticed Su Lang's fast attack, they already did not have time to dodge.
*Swash!"
With a flash of the blade, blood spurted out of the two cultivators' heads like a water fountain.
Despite taking down two targets with one attack, Su Lang did not slow down his raging assault as he slashed his next attack down on Tan Zicheng.
"Shiiing!"
As his blade parried with Tan Zicheng's dagger, the metallic sound echoed through the entire forest. Unable to withstand Su Lang's overwhelming strength any longer, Tan Zicheng's dagger flew into the sky.
"Die!"
Noticing the opening behind Su Lang, one of the Intermediate Body Tempering hooligan seized the opportunity and aimed his dagger down on Su Lang's neck.
"Did you think that I'm only capable of using a blade?"
Su Lang sneered before twisting his body and sednig the bandit flying with a whip kick.
The remaining Initial Body Tempering hooligan — taken aback by the turn of events — closed his eyes and charged forward, hoping for the best. However, Su Lang dodged the attack with ease.
"Retreat!"
Tan Zicheng immediately turned around and fled when he noticed their dire situation.
"Did you think you could escape?"
Su Lang flashed forward and chased after Tan Zicheng.
Having broken through to the Advance Body Tempering Realm, his movement speed had increased at an explosive rate.
Since Tan Zicheng was but a mere Intermediate Body Tempering cultivator, how could he outrun Su Lang? In just a few seconds, Su Lang had already caught up to him and amputated both his legs.
"Aghhh!"
Tan Zicheng screamed in agonizing pain as blood spurted uncontrollably out of his legs.
Instead of stopping then, Su Lang turned around like a swallow spinning in the air and chased after the two remaining hooligans.
The two other hooligans were much weaker than Tan Zicheng and were killed with just two slashes.
"Hehe! Oh, how the tables have turned."
Su Lang revealed a wicked smile as he walked slowly to Tan Zicheng, who was missing both of his legs.
CHAPTER 15 - TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT ME!
"No! Please don't kill me! Please spare my life!"
"As long as you let me go, I will be willing to do anything! Please... I beg of you!"
"Please be magnanimous... and show mercy on me. I have elders and children to take care of at home. A-All of them... counting on me...."
Tan Zicheng's entire face flowed with snot and tears as he looked up at Su Lang, who was holding the crimson-stained Tang Blade in his hand. He was so scared that his entire body trembled involuntarily.
"All of them count on you to kill innocent people in order to feed them, right?"
Su Lang said with the same smile before turning his wrist and slashing down the crimson blade like a bolt of lightning.
"No——!"
Tan Zicheng's shriek last for a moment before the forest turned silent. As the blade flashed past his neck, his head flew into the air and slowly rolled down onto the ground.
"Swoosh!"
Su Lang flicked away the blood on his blade and placed it back into its sheathe.
As the corner of his lips curled up into a smile, Su Lang began digging for the spoils of the battle.
What Su Lang did not expect was that these few Body Tempering Realm fellows had collected a total of 85 gold coins, a number of silver coins, and copper coins. Furthermore, their four weapons added up to about five or six gold coins.
"How many Body Tempering Realm cultivators did they rob? These bastards deserved to die!"
Su Lang spat down on Tan Zicheng's corpse before picking up his backpack and running towards the stronghold of the Broken Axe Hunting Group.
The path that Tan Zicheng chose was indeed a shortcut. Furthermore, it was a safe route to take.
Two hours later, Su Lang noticed the black and red thorns a short distance away.
"Those are the Crimson Thorns unique to F-class Wind Wolves! I have finally arrived!"
Su Lang slowed down his pace and trudged through the shadows with utmost care.
Although the Broken Axe Hunting Group would certainly arrange patrols outside the stronghold, the ones doing them were most likely low-level fellows. Thus, Su Lang did not show even a hint of fear whatsoever.
Carefully avoiding the Crimson Thorns, Su Lang slowly entered the territory of the F-class Wind Wolves.
Soon, Su Lang realized that something was amiss and stopped in his tracks.
"Eh? Why is there no one here?"
"Furthermore, I don't even see a single one of those Wind Wolves!"
"Oh, right! Chu Gang said that Dou Zhong and Cai Feng went back to the stronghold early in the morning for some unknown reason. He had even brought a group of people with
him."
"Judging from the situation here, something must have definitely happened in the stronghold of Broken Axe Hunting Group."
After further analysis, Su Lang's brows slowly relaxed.
"I should observe the situation first."
Su Lang took a step forward and jumped lightly in the shadows.
After five minutes of sneaking around, Su Lang finally saw noticed a tall watchtower in front of him.
On top of the watchtower stood an Initial Body Tempering cultivator who seemed to be dozing off in his post.
"It's him!"
A cold light flashed across Su Lang's eyes.
He recognized the man on the watchtower as one of the two bullies who beat the original host of the body to death — Cai Feng!
"This is revenge for having killed me before!"
Su Lang narrowed his eyes as sent his killing intent overflowing in all directions. Immediately, he pulled out the Tang Blade and moved towards the watchtower.
Thanks to his experience as an assassin in his previous life, Su Lang successfully sneaked under the watchtower and climbed up the stairs.
At this time, Cai Feng was still holding onto the railing, not realizing that his inevitable death was gradually approaching.
"Ah!"
After slacking off for a while, Cai Feng took out his mechanical watch and looked at the time. Suddenly, he felt energized.
"Hell yeah! My shift will only last for ten more minutes! When the time comes, I can finally relax and have a good time!"
Cai Feng noticed his body burning with passion from head to toe upon thinking of the women who were at his mercy back at the stronghold.
But at this moment, he suddenly realized that a shiny blade was placed under his chin.
At the same time, he felt an ice-cold chill shivering down his spine.
This was the feeling of death!
In an instant, all the hair on Cai Feng's body shot straight up. The burning passion in his body was instantly extinguished and frozen rigid.
"Kneel down. Don't make a sound if you want to live."
Su Lang's cold voice sounded from behind Cai Feng.
Cai Feng could not help but tremble before kneeling on the ground in fear.
"Very good! You may now raise your head and take a good look at me!"
Su Lang smirked as he turned toward Cai Feng.
Cai Feng raised his chin and looked at Su Lang. The next moment, his eyes widened in shock.
This man!
Wasn't he seriously injured and on the verge of death yesterday?
Why did he appear here? And how did he sneak up on him in the watch tower? Wasn't he just an ordinary person?
"How is it? Did I surprise you? Are you afraid?"
Su Lang revealed a sinister grin, similar to that of the devil.
CHAPTER 16 - SPEAK OR DIE
"You.... Did you come back as a ghost?!"
Cai Feng was so scared out of his wits that his body was trembling while his teeth were clattering.
"You don't need to know."
Su Lang revealed an indifferent smile and said, "All you need to know is that you are going to die!"
In the next moment, Su Lang grasped tightly onto his blade and slightly pressed down on Cai Feng's neck as a string of blood revealed itself from under.
"No! Don't kill me! I had no other choice!"
Feeling that his neck was about to be sliced open, Cai Feng — terrified out of this world — kept begging for mercy and forgiveness.
If Su Lang's Tang knife was not on his neck, he would have gotten down on his knees and kowtowed.
"You were left with no other choice?"
Su Lang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Did someone order you to do so?"
"Yes, it's a mission assigned by our Deputy Sect Master!"
Cai Feng saw the light of hope in his sights and hurriedly added, "Otherwise, we wouldn't have dared to murder you in the city since it's against the law!"
"Why did he order you to attack an ordinary person like me?"
Su Lang revealed a waning frown. The original host's parents did not have any enemies when they were alive. Even after their deaths, they did not leave behind anything worthy of being coveted by others.
"I don't know either."
Cai Feng said on the verge of tears, "We were just following orders. Please forgive me."
"Humph."
Su Lang gave a cold snort and said, "Let me ask you another question. Did something happen within your stronghold?"
"Ho-How did you know?"
Upon hearing his question, Cai Feng was completely dumbstruck. Since the matter was related to a type of precious medicine, the information should not have been leaked from the stronghold.
"Sure enough... tell me what happened."
The corner of Su Lang's mouth curled up into a smile. "If your answer satisfies me, I will show mercy and spare you life."
"But... I will die If I leak the secret!"
Cai Feng swallowed his saliva with utmost difficulty as a trace of hesitation appeared on his face.
"Speak or die!"
At that moment, Su Lang put even more pressure on his Tang Blade, causing the vein on Cai Feng's neck to be sliced open. With that, the string of blood turned into a crimson stream as it flowed down his neck."
"Please don't do it! I'll open my mouth!"
Horrified by the feeling of blood flowing down his neck, Cai Feng began speaking in a wavering tone, "The members of our stronghold discovered a stalk of Tier 5 medicinal herb. Since it was guarded by an E-class Wind Wolf, however, every single one of our guards and experts in the stronghold went there to obtain the herb."
After leaking the information, Cai Feng's face turned glum. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before the matter of him leaking the secret would be spread around the group. Thus, the only thing that awaited him was endless torture.
"Tier 5 medicinal herb?"
Su Lang's eyes lit up as he thought to himself, "That precious medicinal herb can be used to concoct Tier 5 medicinal pills!"
The higher the tiers of medicinal pills, the more their value would multiply. Even the lowest grade Tier 5 medicinal pills would end up being sold for seven to eight hundred gold coins!
As for the precious medicinal herb that serves as the main ingredient of the medicinal pill, it would be worth at least half of the medicinal pill's price — around four hundred gold coins!
This medicinal herb became an incomparable temptation for Su Lang since he urgently needed more gold coins to upgrade the One-Click Cultivation Function.
"Tell me, where is the location of the Tier 5 medicinal herb?"
Su Lang asked Cai Feng with a "gentle" smile.
"It is in the Gourd Valley to the west of the stronghold. It will take you more than half an hour to get there."
Cai Feng said nervously, "That's all I know. Please let me go."
"One last question."
Su Lang asked seriously, "When will the experts in the stronghold leave?"
"Well... they just left not long ago."
Cai Feng answered his question obediently before revealing a look of disbelief. "You're not going to take advantage of that and enter the place, right?"
"You're just an ordinary person who even relied on luck to subdue me. If you dare to go to the stronghold, you will definitely be tortured to death!"
"An ordinary person? I certainly was half a day ago," Su Lang smiled.
"Half.... Half a day ago?"
Cai Feng muttered as his eyes filled with fear and shock, "You broke through to the Body Tempering Realm? Even then, you're still a newbie when it comes to these things...."
"I don't need you to worry about me."
Su Lang moved his blade even closer and stated, "Tell me the structure of the stronghold, and I will let you go."
"Yes, of course...."
Cai Feng's eyes sparkled with a glint of hope.
Immediately after, he began describing the i
nner and outer structures of the stronghold.
Not only did he include every single minor detail about the stronghold, he even mentioned something about a secret passageway that led to the inner parts of the stronghold.
Although most of the experts in the stronghold had gone to deal with the E-rank Wind Wolf, Cai Feng did not think that Su Lang — who he believed to have just broken through to the Initial Body Tempering Realm — was capable of dealing with the remaining Intermediate Body Tempering cultivators left behind to defend the stronghold.
If Su Lang really was to enter the stronghold, he would absolutely not be able to fight back against the group of cultivators inside, let alone escape from the place.
CHAPTER 17 - INEVITABLE DEATH
"That's.... That's everything I know about the place. Could you please let me go now?"
After telling Su Lang everything he knew about the stronghold, Cai Feng looked at Su Lang and begged to be spared.
Although he may looked eager to let him go on the surface, there still a trace of hatred lingering in his heart, urging him to take revenge.
Having seen Su Lang on the verge of death a few days prior, Cai Feng assumed that Su Lang must just have broken through to the Initial Body Tempering Realm. Thus, he would never have expected Su Lang to already be at the Advance Body Tempering Realm.
Furthermore, Su Lang would even be able to break through to the Peak Body Tempering Realm in a matter of a few hours!
With the strength of a martial cultivator in that realm, Su Lang would be able to run amok in the stronghold with fear, especially since the stronghold was not being thoroughly guarding right now.
"Alright... I will fulfill my promise and spare your life."
Su Lang pulled the Tang Blade back from Cai Feng's neck and smiled in satisfaction, revealing his sparkling white teeth.
"In that case, I will be taking my leave. I will forever be grateful to you for sparing my life!"
Taken aback by Su Lang's sudden magnanimity, Cai Feng hurriedly clasped his hands and thanked Su Lang before turning in the other direction.
"Wait!"
Su Lang's lips curled up into a cunning smile as he shouted at Cai Feng, "Did I ever say that I would let you go?"
