Chapter 35: Strike Down One Man
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“Looks like this little courtyard is quite a fine place.”
After glancing at the two men before him, Yang Le did not hurry to attack. Instead, he seriously surveyed his surroundings.
The courtyard Yang Le had chosen in Linqing City was secluded, precisely so that no one would disturb him. The surrounding environment was pleasant as well.
He had already been quite satisfied with it.
That was until his gaze settled deep within the bamboo grove, where he discovered a mound of earth piled up from yellow soil.
At that moment, Yang Le suddenly understood something: this courtyard was not merely comfortable to live in.
It was also an excellent place to kill someone, bury the body, and deal with troublesome matters.
“Gentlemen, you have come to the wrong place.”
Having already chosen a burial ground for the two men before him, Yang Le stepped directly out of the courtyard.
With his sword in hand, he completely blocked their path.
If these two advanced even one step farther, blood would inevitably stain the courtyard.
That would only make things more troublesome.
“Where is that slut Xu Ruyan?”
“The scent of Soul-Seeking Incense is still lingering nearby. That means Xu Ruyan must be somewhere around here.”
“Let us kill this boy first. He thinks that merely standing before us with a sword means he can stop us? He is simply courting death.”
When Yang Le appeared before them, the two men’s eyes flickered slightly, but they did not take him seriously at all.
The next moment, after confirming that the scent of Soul-Seeking Incense on Xu Ruyan was still nearby and had not shifted, the bald man decisively attacked Yang Le.
The other swordsman did not move. He merely stood to one side, watching Yang Le.
His face was filled with disdain and savagery. A seventh-grade martial cultivator, all alone, actually dared to speak to the two brothers in such a tone.
He was practically begging to die.
“Boy, you brought this upon yourself. If you had obediently hidden away, perhaps the two of us might have spared you.”
“But you chose to step out and seek your own death.”
Bare-chested, his entire body covered in bulging muscles, the bald strongman charged at Yang Le from the left. His fists seethed with violent force, and the momentum of his punches was as fierce as the wind.
Behind him appeared the illusory image of a ferocious tiger. Its murderous might was almost tangible.
“To die beneath my Heaven-Shattering Tiger Forest Cangbei Fist is your honor!”
A savage expression surfaced on Lin Cangbei’s face.
“Die!”
“An illusory tiger? So this is the force of a fist?”
Even in such a perilous situation, Yang Le remained neither frightened nor flustered. Instead, his sharp gaze focused intently on the power behind Lin Cangbei’s punch.
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A trace of curiosity flickered in his eyes. After all, this was the first time Yang Le had witnessed a martial force other than his own sword force.
But as Lin Cangbei arrived before him, the wind of force accompanying the illusory tiger whipped up Yang Le’s robe. Only then did Yang Le make a slight response.
“Then let me see whether this tiger truly eats men—or whether it is no better than a cat.”
As his words fell, the sword in Yang Le’s hand leapt from its sheath. It moved so swiftly that only the tearing ring of the trembling blade could be heard.
The sound resembled a dragon’s cry, echoing through the air and lingering for a long time.
Then Yang Le attacked.
He leapt into the air and swung the sword in his hand directly at the illusory tiger that was rushing toward him amid the force and momentum of the punch.
The force of a fist?
Perhaps it could still be severed.
“He uses a sword? Another foolish swordsman. Ye Yun, let me show you the fundamental reason you have always remained beneath me. Great Qian’s swordsmanship has no force!”
When Lin Cangbei saw that the weapon in Yang Le’s hand was a sword, he suddenly stopped and burst into laughter.
“Lin Cangbei, enough nonsense. I am the young master of the Sword-Burying Manor in Xuzhou. Even without sword force, I can still kill you.”
Ye Yun, standing nearby, felt as though he had swallowed filth upon hearing those words, for he was a swordsman as well.
Although he had defected to Great Qian and exchanged all the techniques of the Sword-Burying Manor for a demon-clan technique called Blood Exchange, he had only barely gained the ability to fight martial cultivators of the same rank.
But the sword…
It was still the only thing he had known throughout his first thirty years.
Hearing such words, Ye Yun could not help but retort, and there was even a trace of agitation in his voice.
“Hahaha! Then once I have dealt with this brat, shall we have a contest?”
Lin Cangbei paid no attention to Ye Yun’s anger. Instead, he mocked him even more brazenly.
“Hmph! A swordsman must cultivate inner composure. I disdain fighting with you.”
The instant Ye Yun sensed the battle intent in Lin Cangbei’s eyes, he calmed down. He did not dare say another word.
“A good-for-nothing is still a good-for-nothing. I wonder what Prefect Yin saw in you. A fifth-grade cultivator who cannot even defeat a seventh-grade demon cultivator!”
After glancing at Ye Yun, who stood silently to the side, enduring the humiliation and lacking even the courage to answer him, Lin Cangbei turned his gaze back to Yang Le.
“I am in a good mood today, so I will grant you an intact corpse.”
In Lin Cangbei’s eyes, Yang Le was utterly insignificant. When he saw that Yang Le’s weapon was merely a longsword, Lin Cangbei laughed outright.
A seventh-grade martial cultivator who used a sword actually dared to appear before him.
Today, Lin Cangbei would use his fists to tell this man that the swordsmen of Great Qian—
Were all useless!
That included the Third Young Master of the Sword-Burying Manor in Xuzhou, Ye Yun, known as the Sword in the Clouds, who stood behind him.
As for whether Yang Le could pose even the slightest threat to him—
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Fifth-grade swordsmen were merely toys beneath the force of his fists, let alone a seventh-grade one.
After setting aside his mockery and disdain for Yang Le, Lin Cangbei gathered his fist force once more.
It was rare to encounter a swordsman who could provide him with some amusement, and Lin Cangbei considered himself to be in a rather good mood.
So…
He would leave this ignorant fool with an intact corpse.
“Who told you that Great Qian’s swordsmen possess no force?”
Unfortunately, before Lin Cangbei could attack again, Yang Le struck first.
A sixth-grade martial cultivator…
His fist force was crude, his vital force not even one-tenth that of the Ashen Daoist, and his blood vitality inferior even to that of the seventh-grade Changsun Ji.
A man like this—
How dare he speak such words before Yang Le?
In truth, Lin Cangbei should already have been dead. It was only because he had mentioned Ye Yun, the swordsman behind him, that Yang Le had given him a little more time.
Yang Le had originally intended to take this opportunity to learn what the other swordsmen of Great Qian were like.
But after hearing Lin Cangbei’s words, Yang Le was even angrier.
One might even say that this had become a waste of time.
Therefore, Lin Cangbei—
Deserved to die.
“What?”
Lin Cangbei was somewhat bewildered. He truly had not expected Yang Le to take the initiative and attack him.
“You have quite a lot of nerve.”
“It does not matter if you do not understand. You are going to die anyway.”
“What an arrogant brat. Anyone who did not know better might think you were a first-grade Innate cultivator. You are courting death!”
“One day, I will be.”
As his words fell, Yang Le drew his sword.
It was still the same standard Great Qian military longsword, a weapon no one in the army bothered to use. Because of the material from which it was made, its pitch-black blade was already mottled.
But—
Beneath the force of the sword,
Yang Le cut Lin Cangbei down with a single stroke.
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