Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 305: Chapter 173: Killing Intent (Part 2)

The auction began shortly, but Xu Yang was only interested in the main ingredients for the Gathering Essence Pill.

After a short wait, three stalks of Tiger Bone Vine finally appeared.

He immediately called out a high price of four hundred taels, and no one bid against him. Nearby, Guo Huai’s group also won a bottle of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills, as did Cao Rong.

Nothing else Xu Yang needed appeared for the remainder of the auction.

The crowd rose and began to disperse.

"Brother Guo, are we heading to your place first again?" An Ping asked with a smile.

Guo Huai shook his head. "We’ve all reached Gang Qi Great Success now. Who would try to rob and kill four masters at our level for a mere bottle of Guiyuan Pills?"

Against four Gang Qi Great Success Martial Artists, only a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist would stand a chance, and someone of that level wouldn’t care about a single bottle of Guiyuan Pills.

Tang Xiao nodded with a smile. "Brother Guo has a point. With the four of us at our current cultivation, it’s already a good thing we’re not the ones out robbing people."

Hearing this, An Ping’s eyes lit up. His gaze swept over Xu Yang, who stood a short distance away. "Why don’t we go rob someone?" he suggested.

With four Gang Qi Great Success masters working together, as long as they didn’t try to rob a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist, success wasn’t guaranteed, but at least their lives wouldn’t be in danger.

"You want to rob Xu Yang?" Guo Huai’s gaze hardened as he sent the message via voice transmission.

"Why not? We’re all at Gang Qi Great Success, just like him. There’s no need to fear him. He comes to every auction, and the amount he spends each time is no less than what all of us spend combined. He must have a lot of money on him," An Ping said, his eyes burning with greed.

He wasn’t sure when it had started, but he had become obsessed with killing Xu Yang. ’A low-born peasant, yet he’s embarrassed me multiple times. If I’d had the strength, I would have acted long ago.’

"Xu Yang is certainly strange. It feels like he has more money than us," Tang Xiao said, tempted.

"Shen Liang, what do you think?" Guo Huai asked, turning to him.

Shen Liang’s expression shifted. "I want no part of this. If you’re going to do it, do it yourselves. He’s a Ten Heroes Genius, at Gang Qi Perfection no less. The four of us together might be able to defeat him, but it would be almost impossible to kill him.

If he manages to escape and learns our identities, we’d just be waiting for death."

Guo Huai nodded. "Shen Liang has a point. It’s better not to take the risk. If we’re going to ambush someone, we should pick a target we’re sure we can handle."

An Ping privately thought it was a shame but knew Shen Liang had a point. The four of them together might be able to overwhelm Xu Yang, but they had no confidence they could actually kill a master at Gang Qi Perfection.

’Directing killing intent at me?’ Xu Yang’s gaze turned frigid.

His five senses had already picked up the killing intent in An Ping’s glance. He wasn’t particularly angry; he had planned on using this opportunity to kill An Ping anyway.

"Brother Xu, why don’t we head back to the sect together? I see you bought something, too. We can watch each other’s backs on the road," Cao Rong said, sidling up with a smile.

"Sure!" Xu Yang replied with a smile.

He hadn’t expected Cao Rong to treat him like a friend, even inviting him to travel back to the Purple Sun Sect together. ’Is he just being naive,’ Xu Yang wondered, ’or does he have some other motive?’

The two of them left the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion and headed straight out of Cyan Yang City.

"Brother Xu, I’ve noticed you haven’t joined any faction. Why not join my Sharp Wind Hall? We’d be equals, and we could surely accomplish great things in the future," Cao Rong suddenly proposed.

With Lu Ren having left Sharp Wind Hall and both Yun Feng and Gu Haoming dead, Cao Rong had no one reliable left. He was starting to lose his grip on the hall, as many members who reached Gang Qi Great Success no longer wanted to pay their dues. He desperately needed to recruit a master with high potential.

As a Ten Heroes Genius, Xu Yang was undoubtedly the best candidate. If Xu Yang were to join, those thinking of rebelling would surely have second thoughts.

"And become your sworn brother?" Xu Yang chuckled.

Cao Rong nodded. "If you’re willing, Brother Xu, you’ll be my sworn brother. Once our three-year term is up, my uncle, Cao Jin, will help us arrange things so we can find a good master."

"I wouldn’t dare become your sworn brother. All the people who did are now just objects for you to exploit," Xu Yang said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

An embarrassed look appeared on Cao Rong’s face, but he quickly followed up with a sincere tone, "Of course, Brother Xu, you’re different from them. Once you join, it will be the two of us exploiting them together. I’m being completely sincere with you, Brother Xu."

"If you’re so sincere, then why did you help Xiao Hua try to kill me before?"

Xu Yang’s tone was light, but his words struck Cao Rong’s ears like a clap of thunder, his pupils shrinking in shock.

’He knows everything! He knows I helped Xiao Hua try to kill him! He’s just been playing along this whole time. I’ve completely misjudged everything... and here I was, trying to make friends with him.’

Instinctively, Cao Rong tried to pull away from Xu Yang, but it was already too late.

The thought of pulling away had barely formed in his mind when Xu Yang’s hand struck his chest like a bolt of lightning.

CRACK!

As if struck by a sledgehammer, Cao Rong’s chest caved in. He flew backward spitting blood, coughing up several more mouthfuls in mid-air as his limbs twitched uncontrollably.

Xu Yang strode forward, snatched the bottle of Ten-Perfection Rejuvenation Pills from inside Cao Rong’s robes, and with one hand, slammed him violently into the ground.

BOOM!

The ground trembled and dirt flew as Cao Rong’s entire body was embedded in the earth. He was barely breathing, his face a mask of agony and terror.

"You’ve... already achieved Marrow Cleansing..."

He used his final ounce of strength to speak, then his head lolled to one side, and his breath ceased.

Xu Yang took the silver banknotes and contribution points from the body, then picked up the corpse and disappeared into the forest.

"Someone was ambushed. Was it Xu Yang and Cao Rong?"

A short while later, several figures strolled into view—it was Shen Liang, An Ping, and the other two.

Staring at the fresh bloodstains on the ground and the large, man-shaped crater, Tang Xiao’s expression turned grave.

"There are no signs of a struggle. It looks like a one-hit kill," Guo Huai said grimly.

A fight between opponents of the same level wouldn’t be such a complete rout.

"Maybe it was someone else who got ambushed. Xu Yang and Cao Rong are both at Gang Qi Great Success. Why would a Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist target them?" An Ping shook his head, feeling it was unlikely that the two of them were the victims.

A Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist would go after someone who had won a valuable item, not waste their time on Xu Yang and Cao Rong.

"Let’s get out of here! I have a bad feeling," Shen Liang urged.

His sense of danger was always sharp; it had helped him escape death many times.

"You coward. With the four of us together, what’s there to be afraid of? If some blind fool of a thief jumps out, they’ll just be delivering their money to us," An Ping sneered.

Tang Xiao added, "If he wasn’t such a coward, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to greet Xu Yang earlier. Nobody can stand Xu Yang anymore, yet he’s still trying to be friendly with him. Is there really any need to..."

The final word of his question caught in his throat, never to be spoken.

An Ping and the others only saw a flash of golden light and a spray of blood. A bloody, finger-sized hole had appeared on Tang Xiao’s forehead, a mixture of blood and white brain matter oozing out.

With a full-body shudder, Tang Xiao’s eyes bulged wide as his stiff body toppled backward.

"Aaaah...!"

Splattered across the face with blood, An Ping was scared out of his wits and let out a piercing scream. The man who had been talking and laughing just a moment ago was dead, just like that.

Shen Liang’s face went white, his spirit nearly leaving his body. ’I told them to leave, but they wouldn’t listen,’ he thought in terror. ’Now we’re done for. To kill Tang Xiao without even being seen... it must be a Bone Marrow Cleansing Master!’

"I am Guo Huai of the Guo Family! May I ask which friend on the path is conducting business here?"

Guo Huai remained relatively calm. He cupped his fists to the surrounding area and announced his background.

The Guo Family wasn’t a top-tier family in Cyan Yang City, but they did have two Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artists in their ranks, so most people would show them some respect.

The sound of footsteps echoed as a tall, masked figure emerged from the woods.

The pupils of the three survivors contracted sharply. Although the man was masked, his clothes were clearly the ones Xu Yang had been wearing. His build, height, and even his hairstyle were identical to Xu Yang’s.

BOOM!

The next moment, dust exploded upwards. The masked man moved like a thunderclap, his figure vanishing as the aura of a Marrow Cleansing expert surged forth like a tidal wave.

"A Bone Marrow Cleansing Martial Artist!"

"Run!"

With no time to wonder whether this person was actually Xu Yang, An Ping and Guo Huai fled for their lives, utterly terrified.