The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 276: Chapter 273: One Must Earn Their Own Life

Perhaps it was because Kuaidong had already arrived in Huaiyuan Prefecture, but the demons below the city walls were far more numerous than usual.

Even with the Five Directions Alliance working together, they were struggling. Everyone was shocked by the strength of the Dingzhou Demon Sect.

Bai Yuan was perhaps the only person in Huaiyuan City who was happy to see this.

If he wasn’t afraid of revealing too many of his methods, he would have released a toxic mist to increase his monster-grinding efficiency.

But in the end, he suppressed the impulse.

After all, the Jianghu knew him as the Ten Thousand Poison Yama; he couldn’t very well admit it himself.

People who loudly proclaimed themselves to be old poison masters were undoubtedly fools.

Using poison was like assassination—it was most effective when unexpected. Therefore, it was best not to use it on a daily basis, to maintain an air of mystery.

Besides, revealing too many of his abilities would likely attract the attention of the Demon Sect’s experts and invite a fatal disaster.

The demons below the South City Gate were slaughtered clean.

As usual, Bai Yuan stayed outside the city for an extra hour.

Just as he finished cleaning up the battlefield and walked into the city, he saw Yang Fangyu and Li Huan standing on the street.

"Maybe Kuaidong doesn’t plan to make a move?"

"Impossible. He didn’t just take a stroll to Huaiyuan Prefecture for fun."

"Then why hasn’t he acted after all this time?"

"Who knows."

...

"Ah Yuan."

Just then, Yang Fangyu saw Bai Yuan walking in from the city gate and raised a hand in greeting.

Bai Yuan walked up to the two of them.

Li Huan still had the air of a young master. He hardly ever participated in the fighting.

After all, as the Prince of Qingzhou, he didn’t need to use military achievements to prove himself.

"Where do you think Kuaidong went?"

Yang Fangyu asked.

Bai Yuan shook his head. "How would I know?"

Ever since they learned Kuaidong was less than five miles from Huaiyuan, the Five Directions Alliance had sent out scouts every day to track his movements.

Unfortunately, ever since Bai Yuan and Lu Yu had last seen him, Kuaidong seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth, leaving no trace.

No matter how the scouts searched the mountains, they couldn’t find Kuaidong.

At one point, some people thought Lu Yu had filed a false military report.

However, the five leaders had already visited that small mountain village. Judging from the wounds on the corpses, they confirmed that the attacker was indeed Kuaidong.

Only then were the rumors suppressed.

The pressure from an enemy is greatest before they arrive, especially when that powerful enemy cannot be found.

For the past several days, the people of Huaiyuan City had been in a state of panic.

Yang Fangyu had a headache. "If this keeps up, my family members are going to lose their minds."

The Yang Family had been in Dingzhou for a month.

During this time, it was nothing but killing, day in and day out. This was manageable for those with ample Jianghu experience, but the younger family members, who had never faced such hardships, had suffered greatly.

Some had even gone mad without any warning.

Bai Yuan knew very well that in his previous life, there was a professional term for this: post-traumatic stress disorder.

An entire city, suppressed by a single person and unable to vent, was bound to go mad.

Bai Yuan looked at Yang Fangyu.

Even someone as tough as Yang Fangyu was now visibly worn out.

He was somewhat glad he had a cheat.

The thrill of grinding and leveling up quickly had dulled the cruelty of war, turning him into a merciless killing machine.

Bai Yuan just patted Yang Fangyu’s shoulder.

Such situations were common in the army. There was no solution except to use the strictest military discipline to suppress human nature. Whoever could endure to the end would be the victor.

The cruelty of war was never limited to just the dead.

Bai Yuan walked back to his own courtyard residence.

He made a special trip to the inn where the Firearms Team was staying.

"Tiger Commander, how have the brothers been lately?"

Hu Ben scratched his head. "Just getting restless without any women. Nothing else to report."

"..."

Only then did Bai Yuan feel relieved.

The Firearms Team was almost entirely selected from the Divine Mansion Army. They were soldiers to begin with, so their ability to adapt to war was naturally stronger than others.

...

Time flowed on, and another seven days passed.

The Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect still hadn’t appeared. As if by some unspoken agreement, Kuaidong also remained missing.

The oppressive atmosphere in Huaiyuan City grew even thicker.

Aside from those who had to go to the city walls to fight, the others gradually became addicted to gambling.

Bai Yuan slaughtered another wave of demons and returned from the city gate.

He was the person in the city who participated in the most battles. Apart from sleeping and eating, he spent almost all his time killing demons.

When people in the city saw him, they would give him a wide berth.

Everyone said this young General from Ling Province was the Ten Thousand Poison Yama. Now it seemed the "Ten Thousand Poison" part was true, and the "Yama" part was even truer. The Demon Sect People who had died at his hands could probably form a long line on the Yellow Springs Road by now.

Weren’t these the methods of King Yama himself?

The soldiers from the various families patrolling the streets couldn’t help but look tense whenever they saw Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan paid it no mind.

As he walked down the street, he could hear the shouts of gamblers everywhere.

"I bet big! Reveal!"

"Reveal!"

"DAMN IT, you son of a bitch must be cheating!"

This was followed by a commotion, mixed with the sound of tables and chairs being smashed.

’Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad...’

Bai Yuan shook his head.

Ordinarily, with the capabilities of the five major powers, staying in Dingzhou for another half a year wouldn’t have provoked such a strong reaction.

It was just that Kuaidong’s appearance had put Huaiyuan under a state of near-siege, accelerating the process.

Bai Yuan even suspected that Kuaidong was doing all of this intentionally, precisely to make everyone live in fear.

He heard from Yang Fangyu that a Yang Family Member had suddenly gone berserk the day before, using a saber to cut off the right arm of the person sleeping next to him.

Yang Fangyu had no choice but to lock the man up.

Ancient medicine could do nothing for such mental problems.

Bai Yuan’s pace quickened unconsciously.

"Hm?"

As he passed a dilapidated, empty residence, he froze.

’Demonic energy?’

He actually smelled demonic energy in this residence. Although it was very faint, it couldn’t escape his keen Demon Hunter’s senses.

Things like this had happened a few times before.

Some demons skilled in earth-burrowing could easily bypass the city walls and slip into the city.

That was why the five powers had arranged for patrol teams within the city—to prevent those demons from causing trouble.

Bai Yuan’s right hand reached back and gripped the hilt of his saber. He was just about to force the door open.

But just as the long saber was about to be drawn, he hesitated.

Suddenly!

He retreated explosively.

It was an almost instinctual judgment.

He knew very well that this was the precognitive warning ability he’d gained from practicing the Four-Nine Book. It rarely appeared, but when it did, it was almost never wrong.

In almost the exact instant Bai Yuan fell back, a pair of large hands burst violently through the door.

Bai Yuan’s pupils shrank when he saw the familiar animal hide.

’Kuaidong!’

’Kuaidong had been hiding in Huaiyuan City all along!’

At this thought, a chill ran down Bai Yuan’s spine. It felt as if he had been sleeping next to a ferocious tiger.

Kuaidong was incredibly strong. He was much faster than Bai Yuan. In just an instant, his large hands were about to touch Bai Yuan’s right chest.

The reason he had appeared here was precisely to kill Bai Yuan.

Or rather, for Han Min...

Even among the Demon Sect People, very few knew that Han Min was a sleeper agent Kuaidong had planted in Xuan Yang.

When Han Min was just a despised Little Cat Demon, Kuaidong had taken her in. He then taught her how to transform and sent her to Xuan Yang, to Ling Province, to the Soul-Chasing Tower.

That was why Han Min feared Kuaidong down to her very soul.

But she had been killed by Bai Yuan...

Before Kuaidong destroyed this city, he would first kill the young man before him.

Staring at the large hands about to tear through his body, Bai Yuan gritted his teeth. The poison power within him erupted, and he pushed his Demon Transformation Art to its absolute limit.

’Soul Plunder!’

Kuaidong was dazed for an instant.

Although it didn’t affect him much, the speed of his hands still slowed by a fraction.

Bai Yuan seized that instant, meeting Kuaidong’s large hands with a palm strike of his own.

BANG!

A muffled thud rang out.

Bai Yuan flew backward like a kite with a snapped string, crashing through the courtyard wall behind him.

Kuaidong’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

He was somewhat surprised that his palm strike hadn’t killed the young man before him.

Just as he took a step forward to erase this surprise, an old man who looked like one of the old masters from a private school appeared before him.

"You’ve been hard to find."

The old man spoke with a flawless, standard Northern Lands accent.

Kuaidong stared at the old man, his face expressionless.

At that moment, five other figures appeared on the street.

It was Yang Jiuyan and the other four, who had rushed over after hearing the commotion.

When Monk Fa Ding saw the old scholar-like man, a look of joyful surprise appeared on his face. "Sect Leader!"

That’s right. The man before them was none other than the Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect, Shangguan Yang.

Shangguan Yang and Kuaidong faced off, but neither seemed to have any intention of making a move.

Kuaidong had been hiding in Huaiyuan City, but hadn’t he done the same?

Yang Jiuyan and the other four stared at Kuaidong as if facing a great enemy.

But since not even the Sect Leader of the Celestial Profound Sect had made a move, they naturally didn’t dare to act rashly. The situation was at a stalemate.

After a long time, Kuaidong finally spoke slowly, "I’m leaving."

As soon as he said this, Monk Fa Ding’s brow furrowed.

Kuaidong was surrounded by the six of them. How could he just leave as he pleased?

But to the surprise of the five, Shangguan Yang slowly said, "You have your own feet. Just walk."

Before his voice had even faded, Kuaidong actually did start striding toward the city gate.

He even brushed past Monk Fa Ding, but since his own Sect Leader showed no intention of stopping him, Monk Fa Ding naturally didn’t dare to say anything.

Kuaidong’s pace grew faster and his strides longer, until finally, he leaped over the city wall in a single bound.

Only after Kuaidong had left did Monk Fa Ding approach Shangguan Yang’s side.

"Sect Leader, why didn’t you stop Kuaidong?"

Shangguan Yang shook his head and said just three words faintly: "Couldn’t stop him."

During their standoff just now, they had actually been competing secretly with their mental strength—a mysterious power possessed only by Mingxin Powerhouses.

That was how he knew for certain that while he might be able to defeat Kuaidong, he definitely couldn’t kill him.

Kuaidong’s physical body was simply too strong.

He couldn’t kill Kuaidong, but Kuaidong could kill Monk Fa Ding and the other four.

Shangguan Yang felt that fight wasn’t worth it. And since it wasn’t worth it, there was no need to fight.

Hearing Shangguan Yang’s answer, the old Monk Fa Ding asked no more questions.

Just then, Yang Jiuyan carried Bai Yuan out from a pile of rubble.

The old Monk Fa Ding glanced over. Still breathing. Not dead.

He couldn’t help but be shocked. To take a palm strike from Kuaidong and not die—such a young person was extremely rare, even in the Celestial Profound Sect.

The Celestial Profound Sect’s Leader, Shangguan Yang, suddenly spoke.

"So this is Bai Yuan?"