Translator: CinderTL
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Lu Jing's pupils contracted violently as he tried his best to adapt to the pitch-black environment around him.
It was at this moment that he suddenly realized...
The Li Chunjun in front of him didn't appear to be injured at all!
He had fallen for a trap!?
But even if it was a trap, so what?
Lu Jing quickly adjusted his mindset.
A martial artist, in the end, must rely on their own strength!
"Whoosh!"
Just as Lu Jing was about to focus and prepare for battle, a flash of sword light suddenly appeared, reflected in his pupils.
The sword, like a swimming dragon, struck like a startled swan!
Fast!
Inexpressibly fast!
The sword light, which appeared like a fleeting dragon across the sky, illuminated his entire vision in an instant.
It was so fast it exceeded his reaction limit!
In that moment, the life-threatening instinct triggered a chilling fear that made every hair on Lu Jing's body stand on end!
An unprecedented panic surged through him, forcing his mind and defenses to the utmost as he desperately tried to track the sword's trajectory and counter it!
But when he widened his eyes to capture the elusive sword's path, the light faded.
Gone!?
The sword...
Not only the sword, but the person who had wielded it was also nowhere to be found!
Where!?
Where was he!?
In the face of unimaginable terror, Lu Jing's mind was filled with a single thought!
Find him!
I must find his position and block that sword!
Otherwise...
I will die!
"Boom!"
At this moment, a thunderous sound exploded in his ears.
It was like the sound of thunder following a flash of lightning across the sky.
The sound was deafening.
As the sound reached him, Lu Jing suddenly felt a chill.
His neck felt cold.
At that moment, a voice came from behind him.
"Weak. Too weak."
It was the voice of the terrifying thug Li Chunjun!
He seemed disappointed in Lu Jing's performance?
But how did he suddenly appear behind him!?
Lu Jing instinctively turned around to face the terrifying opponent who had sent a chill down his spine.
"No, it's because I'm too strong."
The voice continued.
And when Lu Jing turned...
He felt something was off with his vision.
It felt like he was falling.
As his head turned, his vision seemed to plummet toward the ground.
And in that moment of falling, he vaguely saw a headless body, as if severed by a single sword.
The sword strike had been so fast and sharp that only now was blood beginning to spill from the body.
But that body...
Why did it look so familiar!?
Is it... me!?
Lu Jing's eyes widened in shock.
An unprecedented fear filled every corner of his consciousness.
At this moment...
He finally realized something.
I lost?
I couldn't even survive a single exchange.
I died under this thug's sword?
What kind of opponent did they choose...?
Bitterness, unwillingness, regret, sorrow, and many other emotions surged through his mind, gradually drowning out the remnants of his awareness.
...
Li Chunjun did not look at Lu Jing, who had been killed with a single stroke.
The moment he struck, he already knew the outcome.
His body, limbs, internal organs, and senses had been "perfectly" coordinated, allowing him to push his physical functions to the limit.
What he sensed with his "perception" and what he saw with his eyes were indistinguishable.
He shook the sword in his hand.
The exquisitely precise technique left not a single drop of blood on the blade.
This near-absolute mastery made him more powerful than ever before.
Whether he could defeat a cultivator, he wasn't sure.
But ordinary martial artists, including top-tier ones, were already no match for him.
He was strong.
"But, not strong enough!"
Li Chunjun said.
Without the strength to kill even one of the named disciples of the Chiyang Sword Sect, how could one claim to be a strong person? How could one have the courage to say they are undefeated?
...
"Killed a Level 9 creature, experience +208!"
...
[Life Level: 11 (348/1000)]
...
Li Chunjun, sword in hand, turned and continued towards the Jin family estate.
Less than three hundred meters into his path, lights appeared.
A four-person team appeared ahead.
When Li Chunjun saw them, they, too, sensed something and reacted with extreme alertness.
"Leader!?"
The captain of the team called out.
What greeted him was Li Chunjun suddenly accelerating.
This change caused the captain's expression to harden, and he immediately shouted, "Form a formation! Send the signal!"
"Whoosh!"
A flare shot across the night sky with a blinding light.
Using the flare's illumination, the captain saw the shadow of someone rushing toward them, his expression growing incredibly grim.
However, they did not think that Leader Lu had encountered any danger. They assumed he had fallen for a trick, being misled by the thug.
Now that the flare had been fired, they only needed to hold on for a moment, and Leader Lu would...
"Wait!? His aura doesn't seem like he's injured…"
The captain's face turned pale as an ominous premonition gripped his heart.
Just as he realized this, Li Chunjun suddenly sped up, rushing directly toward them.
Cold light flashed!
The captain immediately swung his knife down.
The sharp blade cut through the air with a powerful wind, its momentum impressive.
But before he could finish his strike, Li Chunjun's sword had already pierced his throat.
Thrust sword, withdraw sword!
In an instant, Li Chunjun flickered out of sight, bypassing the captain's body, and continued to kill the second person.
Again, thrust sword, withdraw sword!
After piercing the second person's skull, Li Chunjun flashed again, moving toward the third person!
Absolute speed, absolute power, absolute perception, absolute reaction!
This combination overwhelmed the four strongest members of Xuan Yue Security, who practiced internal and external martial arts, with an absolute crushing force.
When his sword was withdrawn from the fourth team member's throat, Li Chunjun dodged the blood splatter and continued moving forward. Only then did the captain, driven by his survival instincts, clutch his throat, desperately trying to stop the blood that poured out as he painfully collapsed to the ground.
It's common knowledge that a person with a pierced throat doesn't immediately die.
So, as he lay on the ground, he could still see the three team members who had fallen right after him.
And...
The figure that had already sheathed his sword and disappeared back into the darkness.
In that moment, the captain felt utter despair.
It's over.
They had been too naive.
The one capable of killing top-tier martial artists might be another top-tier martial artist, but it might also be...
A natural-born talent!
Even...
A cultivator!
Xuan Yue Security, tempted by the Jin family's generous reward, had conducted a detailed investigation into this thug when they took on the job, learning he was only eighteen. Each of them thought that, no matter how strong he was, it wouldn't be beyond reason.
They never imagined the thug's strength was beyond anything they could imagine.
This time...
They were doomed!
And in their line of work, when you make a fatal mistake, the consequences could be disastrous, possibly leading to total annihilation.
...
At the Sixth Manor on Jinghu Lake.
The Jin family, dozens of people gathered together.
As they watched the fully armed Xuan Yue Security members, they all tried to wear faces of sorrow, pretending to grieve the loss of their comrades. Yet, they could hardly suppress the smile creeping up at the corners of their mouths.
According to the message sent by Leader Lu not long ago, the thug was severely injured and on the brink of death, and Lu was chasing him to deliver the final blow.
Truly worthy of Leader Lu.
The Jin family had once been forced to consider fleeing Guangzhou and going into hiding, but their assets, connections, and relationships were all tied to this city. If they left Guangzhou, they would just be small-time wealthy people at best.
Without connections or backing, wealthy people in any city are simply lambs waiting to be slaughtered by the powerful, who can seize their wealth using hundreds of legal methods.
That's how they've operated for years.
Of course, they also didn't want to flee in disgrace.
So, they had ultimately decided to spend a large sum of money to hire Xuan Yue Security's elite team, pinning their hopes on the most famous security company in the Xuan Zhou region.
It turned out they had made the right bet.
(End of the Chapter)
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