C26 Wang Jiang

The leader of the trio, eyes wide with terror, yelled to another brother, "Run for it!"

He then charged at Ye Xiao, swinging his knife. Ye Xiao parried with his sword and countered with a palm strike. In a flash, their fists and palms collided with a thunderous "Boom!" followed by a pained howl.

Ye Xiao stepped back, steadying himself with a tap of his toe. The man, however, was blasted five or six meters away by the powerful Qi, crashing to the ground and coughing up blood.

His eyes brimmed with disbelief. "You... are you a Yuan Master?" he gasped, his voice tinged with resentment and inquiry.

Ye Xiao remained silent.

"Can you spare my brother?" the man pleaded, his face etched with bitterness. Who had claimed this man was merely a Primitive? Could such a mighty Primitive exist, capable of defeating a ninth-level Primitive with a single blow?

Ye Xiao sighed and shook his head. "We are enemies by nature; mercy has no place here. You have the heart of a warrior, but I cannot afford compassion."

"We are enemies..." the man murmured to himself. Ye Xiao's palm struck his chest, and he collapsed, his eyes losing their luster.

Suddenly, a white streak shot through the air, and another stunned man watched in disbelief as a black sword flew towards him.

A sharp pain pierced his chest, and looking down, he saw the tip of a dark, broken sword protruding from his front.

Miles away in the forest, groups of Royal Guards were either searching diligently or taking a moment to rest.

Then, a purple light pillar burst forth in the sky.

"There's trouble; let's move!"

"The Masked Man has appeared; we need to get there fast!"

"This damned guy finally shows up after making us search all night. Let's finish him off and I'll buy the drinks when we get back!"

Teams of men raced towards the purple light pillar.

Wang Jiang, leading three others, was only three or four kilometers from the light pillar. Spotting the signal, he squinted, "That direction... isn't that where Old Qin went?"

A man stepped forward respectfully, "Captain, that's Old Qin's area. He's a ninth-level Primitive; he'll surely hold that fellow off."

Wang Jiang gave a slight nod. "You guys need to hurry up and get here; I'm heading out first!"

"The captain will surely triumph and take down that kid!" the person behind him declared with respect.

Before the echo of his words faded, Wang Jiang had already burst forth, vanishing into the dense forest.

Sunlight filtered through the leafy canopy of the dense woods, casting speckled light upon the ground. The golden carpet of fallen leaves lent the entire forest an ethereal, dreamlike quality.

The tranquility of the forest was abruptly disrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching. Soon, three figures emerged from the thicket, a small squad from the Royal Guard, bantering and bickering among themselves.

A sudden whooshing sound made them look up just in time to see a figure plummeting from a large tree overhead. The force and gust of the descent shifted the leader's expression to one of alarm, prompting all three to swiftly backpedal over ten meters.

The newcomer was Ye Xiao.

"This kid's got some slick moves, evading even Brother Qin San and the others," one guard remarked. "But with our forces converging nearby, there's no way he can slip away."

The other two guards nodded in agreement. Third Brother Qin was one of the three ninth-level Primitives in their squad, and despite their disbelief, they had to accept that within a mere ten minutes, this masked man had slain him.

Ye Xiao, after dispatching the three men, hadn't retreated into hiding as he had before; instead, he had chosen to confront the next squad head-on.

As the guards finished their exchange, Ye Xiao, who had just touched down, sprang into action. In an instant, he was before them, his punch cutting through the air and striking the leader's chest with lightning speed. The man was sent reeling back into a tree trunk, blood spurting from his mouth as he struggled to rise, leaning heavily against the bark for support.

The other two guards, startled but resolute, barked, "Attack!" One brandished a blade and the other a shield as they charged at Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao's hand, wielding the broken sword, traced a flourish. A streak of white light followed, and the long sword came crashing down upon the shield with a resounding clang.

With a resounding 'bang,' a violent surge of Essence Qi burst through the shield, overwhelming the two who could no longer hold their ground and sent them rolling to the dirt.

Ye Xiao halted abruptly, his broken sword still in hand. In his past life, he had been the supreme assassin, his hands responsible for countless lost souls, each with their own destined end. Now, eight lives had fallen to his blade just yesterday. Had the world changed him? He had his reasons for each kill, but how could he truly discern right from wrong?

Heaving a long sigh, Ye Xiao's form flickered as he launched three swift punches. The attackers, already down, coughed up blood and succumbed to unconsciousness.

Once Ye Xiao vanished, the sound of hurried movement echoed from another direction. Moments later, Wang Jiang burst from the dense forest, arriving alone with urgency.

Upon seeing the bloodied and fallen trio, Wang Jiang bellowed, "Cowards, hiding in the shadows, show yourselves!"

His voice trembled the leaves in its wake.

Ye Xiao, from a distance, heard the furious cry and smirked with contempt. A confrontation with Wang Jiang was inevitable, but first, he needed to dispatch his underlings. Despite his profound Essence Qi, Ye Xiao knew he couldn't withstand an assault from a dozen men at once.

Wang Jiang's expression darkened as he pressed on, only to discover the lifeless bodies of Old Qin and his brothers. His eyes turned crimson with rage. In just one day, he had lost three teams; the Wang Family's Royal Guard consisted of three squads, totaling over sixty men. Now, ten were gone—a loss too great for a mere guard captain to bear without severe repercussions. Wang Jiang's fury was palpable, his hatred for Ye Xiao bone-deep.

A sudden thought struck him, and he scaled a towering tree, calling out, "All units, converge on my position, now!" His command roared across the land.

With all three teams decimated, Wang Jiang could no longer underestimate Ye Xiao. He was confident in a one-on-one battle, but if Ye Xiao were to divide and conquer the remaining groups, Wang Jiang feared he wouldn't be able to intervene in time.

Moments later, a group of people hurriedly approached. Wang Jiang's expression softened slightly as the newcomers surveyed the bodies strewn across the ground, their shock evident. They glanced up at the enraged Wang Jiang perched in the tree and, not daring to utter a word, stood in silence below.

Before long, another group arrived, easing Wang Jiang's worries. With all the groups united, there would be no further losses.

In total, seven teams had been sent out, and three had been lost in two days. Now, two teams were still missing.

Yet, after an additional ten minutes, there was still no sign of the remaining groups. Wang Jiang's complexion turned steely as he began to suspect the worst.

Another tense ten minutes passed, and Wang Jiang's face darkened with realization. By now, even the slowest of the two groups should have arrived. Their absence pointed to only one grim possibility.

In a fit of rage, Wang Jiang snapped a thick branch from the tree beside him, releasing the fury within. He then gracefully descended from his arboreal lookout.

Mid-descent, a sudden beam of light streaked towards him from one direction, swift as lightning.

Caught midair with no leverage, Wang Jiang swung his greatsword and bellowed, "Sky Origin Slash!" A surge of white Essence Qi burst forth from the blade, clashing with the incoming sword light.

The resulting explosion sent both figures hurtling back. Wang Jiang steadied himself with his sword, rising to his feet, while across from him, Ye Xiao, donning a sinister mask, forcefully struck the ground with his palm, vaulting to his feet. Sword and blade now stood poised, ready to face off in the dense forest.