Chapter 31: The Young Man’s First Kill

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

The east wind did not blow away one’s worries, but the spring sun could provoke hatred for a long time.

On the cold spring night, the fierce collision in the small courtyard seemed to have ended in a breath. The cold wind blew at night as if it attracted long-lasting resentment.

This resentment naturally came from Hu Jingang, who was lying on the ground. He hated the benefactor who had asked him to kill the young man and the coachman outside the alley.

From the moment the young man’s Embryonic Breath mental power appeared and he flicked his chopsticks like flying swords, his heart had been clouded and he had a bad feeling.

The error of the information made him furious, but it was not impossible for him to fight an Embryonic Breath cultivator with perfected-stage Qi Blood Awakening.

However, when the young man sitting quietly stood up and suddenly transformed into a ferocious tiger, the Qi and blood flowing under his skin and meridians were stronger and more majestic than him. Hu Jingang even had the thought of cursing in his heart.

What kind of rubbish information was this? It was a scam!

The young man had perfected-stage Qi Blood and his aura was like a living tiger. In an instant, Hu Jingang was defeated. It could be seen that the Body Tempering technique that the young man had learned was definitely of an extremely high grade. It was definitely not something that what he had learned could compare to.

Spirit Refinement, Embryonic Breath, and Body Tempering were both perfected-stage Qi Blood. The other party’s cultivation technique was of a higher grade. What was there to kill?

With one move, Hu Jingang was sent flying. His back slid along the ground, but he was experienced after all. He stood up from the ground with a carp flip.

The young man was charging at him with Bird Form!

Among the Five Animals Body Tempering, the Tiger Form was fierce, the Bear Form was stable, the Deer Form and the Ape Form were all agile, and the Bird Form was like a sword. It was most compatible with An Le, who had evolved his Innate Swordsman Dao Fruit.

Although he did not have a sword in his hand, when he executed the Bird Form, it was like a sword in his hand!

The Qi Blood in Hu Jingang’s meridians exerted force. Before Hu Jingang could react, An Le had already closed in on him with Deer Form. His sword-like palm struck his chest repeatedly.

Hu Jingang was sent flying again and landed heavily on the ground. His skin was badly mutilated, and several of his ribs were broken. The organs protected by his bones seemed to have cracked, and blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth. His expression was dark, and he could no longer resist.

An Le ended the battle with Bird Form and looked at Hu Jingang indifferently. The excitement in his heart slowly calmed down.

The battle could be said to be crushing. With the addition of fifteen wisps of Age Qi, the might of the Five Animals’ Tiger Pounce increased greatly. Coupled with the perfected-stage Qi Blood, the slap was as powerful as a tiger. Hu Jingang was almost slapped to death.

Coupled with the continuous attacks of the Bird Form, Hu Jingang was completely beaten up like a sandbag.

An Le understood that although they were both at the perfected-stage Qi Blood Awakening Realm, there was a difference between the two. This difference… came from cultivation techniques.

It was just like how Hu Jingang had used the common “Zhao Zu’s Long Fist” against An Le’s “Five Animals Body Tempering Technique” to fight. It was naturally not wrong for him to be beaten up.

The leaves of the large locust tree rustled under the cold spring night wind.

An Le grabbed the thick saber on the ground that Hu Jingang had used as a hidden weapon. The saber was rather heavy, but with An Le’s current Qi Blood strength, it was not difficult to grab it.

“Little brother, can you spare my life?” Hu Jingang begged as he bled.

An Le dragged the knife and walked to his side. He looked down at Hu Jingang who was lying on the ground.

“Reason,” An Le said.

“I can give you all my assets. There are a total of 18 Origin Spirit Coins hidden in a secret place. If I live, I can bring them to you,” Hu Jingang endured the pain of his bones breaking and said slowly.

“Only 18 Origin Spirit Coins? Poor fellow, each painting I make for the Lin Residence earns me 10 Origin Spirit Coins.”

An Le leaned on his knife and glared at him.

Hu Jingang was silent.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in anger. He bit the tip of his tongue and the blood in his body surged. He actually bounced up from the ground and rushed towards An Le at lightning speed. He wanted to take advantage of An Le’s relaxed state to fight to the death.

Swoosh!

However, An Le’s Embryonic Breath’s mental power was tense and he was already prepared. He kicked the thick-backed saber and swung it, drawing a star-like arc. A huge head surged into the sky with surging blood qi!

The blood gradually dyed An Le’s white clothes, causing his cold face to tremble slightly.

This was the first time he had killed someone, but it would never be the last.

Hu Jingang’s head fell to the ground, and his body lost its momentum. He fell straight back and lingered in the spring night with a muffled sound.

Blood flowed all over the small courtyard, accompanied by An Le’s slight panting. It was filled with killing intent.

…

Qingbo Street was still silent. A few lights were extinguished and they fell asleep.

There were no pedestrians on the street, not even a cat that liked to walk alone in the dark.

The carriage stopped quietly. The coachman sat in the carriage and slowly opened his eyes. The wind and waves from the alley carried the pungent smell of blood.

The coachman’s face under the bamboo hat was hidden in the darkness. His expression and emotions could not be seen.

When his mental perception entered the small courtyard in the alley, it was swept away by the powerful Qi Blood of the two of them and could not be observed clearly.

He had stepped into the Inner Core in Body Tempering, but his Spirit Refinement was only at the Embryonic Breath.

The mental power of the Embryonic Breath Realm could barely be seen from the outside, but it was like a ghost. It was afraid of the things of the sun. If it dissipated far away, its control would be weaker and it would be easily dispersed.

“Is he dead?”

The coachman sniffed the scent of blood in the air. Was it the young man’s blood?

He looked at the dark alley that was not favored by the starlight and moonlight.

The sound of a knife scraping against the ground could be heard in the alley, accompanied by footsteps.

The coachman slowly straightened his burly body and raised his head slightly. His face under the bamboo hat gradually became clearer as he looked at the alley, welcoming Hu Jingang’s return.

If Hu Jingang killed the youth, he still had to escort Hu Jingang out of Lin’an Prefecture. He couldn’t ruin Mr. Luo’s reputation.

Suddenly, the coachman’s grip on the reins froze, and a look of disbelief flashed across his eyes.

That was because the person who slowly broke through the darkness in the alley was not Hu Jingang!

It was a young man in a blood-stained white robe.

With one hand holding a knife and the other holding a head that died with remaining grievances.

Drops of ink-like blood dripped from the incision on his head. The young man stepped out of the dense darkness in the alley.

The western winds were so austere that yellow flowers bloomed everywhere they went!

At this moment, the young man carried a biting cold killing intent. He was like a three-inch blade that had been unsheathed and emitted a cold light.

The coachman’s eyes widened slightly under the bamboo hat, and his breathing quickened.

The young man stood at the entrance of Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley with a smile on his lips. His white clothes were stained with blood like red plums as he looked at the familiar burly coachman sitting on the shaft of the gorgeous carriage.

“As expected…”

An Le seemed to come to a realization and seemed to be sneering.

It was indeed not a coincidence that Hu Jingang came to kill him. This criminal who should have been captured by the Black Office constables was saved by the so-called benefactor. Then, he turned into a benefactor’s knife to kill him.

For Hu Jingang to be willing to kill him, he must have made some kind of promise.

Perhaps it was the life of a young Provincial Scholar like him in exchange for the life of this criminal whose hands were stained with the blood of more than a hundred lives.

However, this time, the young man used his own strength to kill this criminal and break the saber handed to him by the benefactor. The situation was much better than last time.

Thud.

The young man threw out the head he was holding. The head flew in a parabola and landed in front of the carriage. It rolled on the ground for a few weeks and hit the wheel hub before stopping.

The coachman did not even look at the head on the ground. He stared at the youth from afar and saw the mockery and killing intent in the youth’s eyes.

That day in the spring rain, the young man’s backbone was like bamboo as he stood proudly in the mortal world. Even the pressure of Mr. Luo could not make him bow down. The image once again jumped into the coachman’s mind.

His constricted pupils slowly relaxed, and a wisp of dense killing intent burst forth from the coachman’s eyes.

He really wanted to kill this young man now to prevent future troubles.

However, the coachman did not dare to do so.

That day, Madam Hua unleashed 3,000 droplets of spring rain. Just one of them shattered his bamboo hat. Perhaps shattering his head was just adding another droplet of rain with a flick of her finger.

It was said that Madam Hua wanted to be this young man’s Dao Protector, since she had a Dao Protector, it would be against the rules for him to bully the weak. If he was beaten and killed, Mr. Luo would not even seek justice for him.

An Le looked at the burly coachman sitting on the shaft of the carriage, Luo Qingchen’s coachman, and slowly raised the thick-backed saber in his hand. The Qi Blood force in his body instantly surged, and his mental power surged. The intent of the “Sword Waterfall Diagram” flowed in front of his eyes, and the saber in his hand seemed to have transformed into a sword.

He suddenly swung his saber at the carriage with a straight posture.

When the coachman saw the saber whistling over, heat waves surged under his skin. His Qi Blood circulated like a furnace starting a fire to refine an Inner Core!

With a clench of his fingers, he grabbed the saber that An Le threw at him and slammed it into the shaft of the carriage. The coachman let out a shaky breath and did not look at the young man.

The reins whipped and the red date horse raised its hooves to pull the carriage. The wheels mercilessly rolled over the head and slowly disappeared into the dark and quiet night of Qingbo Street.

An Le watched the carriage leave before turning around and returning to the courtyard.

After the carriage drove out of Qingbo Street, the coachman suddenly collapsed on the shaft of the carriage with deep fear in his eyes.

If he had really killed An Le just now, he would have been killed by a sword intent in an instant. The sword intent was present at all times and pressed against his throat. It only dissipated after leaving Qingbo Street.

“Is that sword intent Madam Hua of the Lin Residence? It can only be Madam Hua… I didn’t expect Madam Hua to really value this young man so much…”

“What Mr. Luo said is indeed true. I have to go back and report it carefully immediately.”

…

The cold spring breeze woke him up. It was slightly cold.

On the quiet Clear Wave Street, a plain-clothed old man stood quietly with a bamboo cane in his hand, squinting in the direction of the carriage.

“At least you know what’s good for you, coachman. If you bully my young friend with your Qi Blood Inner Core, I’ll have to add another head to the ground.”

The old man’s long eyebrows fluttered in the wind. He stroked his beard and slowly walked towards the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the distance.

In the cold night and spring breeze, an old man chuckled.

“From whichever direction the winds leap, I remain strong, though dealt many a blow.”

“Young Friend An wants to reach this realm? Tsk, you have a long way to go.”