Chapter 8 - Murder and Robbery

Blood stained the white robes, and the disciples of Water Moon Cave Heavens were gradually losing their strength. The black-robed members of the evil sect also looked extremely haggard, appearing to be at the end of their strength. Leng Yan, however, was secretly delighted.

But just then, a faint sound of wind reached his ears-someone was moving quickly. Leng Yan hurriedly hid.

Soon after, a young man in gray clothes came running and stopped about ten meters away from Leng Yan.

“This person is only at the Innate Realm yet dares to come here. It seems he must have something to protect his life. He looks like a fat sheep, and judging by his attire, he should be from the evil sect. Robbing and killing him wouldn’t weigh on my conscience. Amitabha! However, I shouldn’t act rashly without understanding the situation first; I might alert the prey,” Leng Yan quickly devised a plan, hiding his body and watching his prey coldly like a hunter.

“You want to kill me? Dream on. One day, I will avenge today’s grudge!” The disciple of Water Moon Cave Heavens, heavily injured and feeling he wasn’t the opponent’s match, decided to retreat. He launched a few rapid attacks and then jumped back to flee.

“Trying to escape? Not so easy! Die!” The evil sect disciple sneered, clenching his palm.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Three black needles shot out in the night like deadly specters, piercing the body of the Water Moon Cave Heavens disciple.

“Ah!” A tragic scream echoed, and black mist surged from the disciple’s body, quickly turning him into a pool of blood. A white light orb flew toward the evil sect disciple.

The evil sect disciple clutched his chest, breathing hurriedly, and quickly took out a Primordial Spirit Elixir to replenish his vital energy with spiritual power.

At that moment, three black shadows leaped out from the forest behind him. Their eyes were also filled with surprise, perhaps not expecting someone else to have been waiting for this opportunity as well.

Nonetheless, now that they were exposed, there was no reason to retreat. The three of them launched a coordinated attack on the evil sect disciple.

“You all!” The evil sect disciple hadn’t even had time to react before being pierced through by the three. His life’s force dissipated, and he fell to the ground, dead.

The three black-clad figures then simultaneously reached for the dead man’s mission jade slip, unwilling to give way to each other, and a chaotic brawl ensued.

Leng Yan didn’t expect that there were people ambushing on the other side. Fortunately, the arrival of the Innate Realm individual gave him caution.

Otherwise, if he had made a move, he would definitely have become the target of the three evil sect members, working together against him. He had to thank that Innate Realm man.

As a repayment, he would give him a swift death.

However, Leng Yan felt that this person wasn’t so simple. His face showed no emotional change, as if he knew someone would make a move all along.

In this situation, there were only two possibilities: one was that he could sense the presence of the three. If that was the case, then Leng Yan should have been discovered by him as well. But the man had never looked in Leng Yan’s direction, so this possibility was unlikely.

The other possibility was that this person was deeply scheming and could endure without revealing his intentions until he was fully confident. If so, this man was truly formidable.

The fight among the three continued, with none willing to back down. It seemed it would last a long time, which might attract more people.

“Huh? He’s making a move! How is that possible, did he discover me?” Leng Yan suddenly noticed that the Innate Realm man had moved. But the following actions made Leng Yan’s heart skip a beat because the gray-clad Innate Realm man looked directly at him and even smiled slightly.

This gray-clad man was named “Chu Jianfeng,” a disciple of the Corpse Yin Sect. By chance, he had obtained a “True Essence Pearl,” a low-grade treasure tool that could reflect the surroundings to its holder and had extremely strong defense capabilities. Unless attacked by another treasure tool or by a force of comparable or greater strength, its defense was nearly impenetrable.

Moreover, he possessed a middle-grade spiritual weapon called “Phantom Boots” that could create illusions to mislead enemies. Even if he couldn’t win, he could still escape.

Chu Jianfeng had noticed Leng Yan as soon as he arrived. He initially planned to pretend he hadn’t seen Leng Yan, luring him to attack and then counterattacking to kill him.

But Leng Yan never made a move, and the battle among the three grew fiercer, likely attracting more people, leaving Chu Jianfeng with nothing.

Helpless, he looked at Leng Yan, seeking cooperation.

Leng Yan, though initially shocked, quickly understood the reasoning behind Chu Jianfeng’s actions and developed a sense of admiration for him.

Since Chu Jianfeng had indicated his intentions, Leng Yan stopped hiding and approached him. “Do you have something to say?”

“How about a collaboration?” Chu Jianfeng said with a smile.

“Oh? Let’s hear it,” Leng Yan replied curiously.

“The mission jade slip of these evil sect disciples is useless to you, but the water moon cave heavens disciple is beneficial. How about this: I’ll draw away these three, and we each get what we need. How does that sound?” Chu Jianfeng suggested with a smile.

Leng Yan was interested in Chu Jianfeng’s magical treasures; the mission jade slip was merely an accessory. Since he had been noticed, he decided to go along with Chu Jianfeng’s plan and wait for an opportunity. “That sounds good. Let’s each get what we need.”

“Alright, I’ll distract these three first. There is another person hiding to our left; you take care of them. How about that?” Chu Jianfeng proposed in a low voice.

“Agreed. Let’s begin,” Leng Yan responded. He understood Chu Jianfeng’s intentions-to test Leng Yan’s strength before deciding whether to make a move against him.

Since that was the case, Leng Yan decided to use his Mystic Ice Sword to intimidate Chu Jianfeng, making him wary and reluctant to act rashly.

With nothing more to say, Chu Jianfeng turned around swiftly, and immediately, an identical phantom dashed out at an astonishing speed.

The phantom approached the corpses, bent down, and picked up a jade slip before retreating. Leng Yan could tell that the jade slip was also an illusion, heightening his caution towards Chu Jianfeng.

The three who were fighting saw someone grabbing what they considered theirs and were infuriated.

“How dare you steal our things! Do you have a death wish?”

“Get back here, you son of a…!”

“Chase him! We can’t let him get away with it, or we’ll be disgraced!”

As the three argued, they chased after the phantom. Chu Jianfeng, seeing that his plan had worked, dashed out like a leopard. Leng Yan also moved toward the disciple of the water moon immortal’s abode.

Just as Leng Yan was about to grab the jade slip, a green-robed man wielding a sword emerged, slashing at him with a powerful burst of sword qi.

“How dare you attack me! Courting death!” Leng Yan also unleashed a burst of sword qi, neutralizing the opponent’s strike. Simultaneously, he put away his magical sword and drew out his Mystic Ice Sword, charging directly at the green-robed man.

A frost-like cold air emanated, causing the surrounding Water Qi to freeze as if covered in frost. The temperature around them plummeted rapidly.

“Mystic Ice Slash!”

Leng Yan channeled his energy into the sword, and an intense cold light surged forth. A wave of icy energy over a meter long roared out.

The green-robed man had no time to evade and instantly turned into an ice sculpture, emanating cold air, completely encircled in icy fog.

Bending down, Leng Yan picked up the jade slip and crushed it with a “crack.” Three black light masses merged into his mission jade slip, where Leng Yan could sense the number three.

“Unexpected! You possess a supreme-grade spiritual weapon!” Chu Jianfeng was genuinely surprised. Initially intending to make a move, he now decided against it, realizing his odds of success were too low. Who knew what other trump cards Leng Yan might have?

“Haha! We both have our secrets. I believe you have more skills than this.” Leng Yan sheathed his Mystic Ice Sword, switched back to his magical sword, and thrust it into the green-robed man’s heart, staining the sword with blood.

He then crushed the green-robed man’s jade slip as well, with two more black light masses merging into his own jade slip, bringing his total to five kills.

“Alright! Now is not the time for idle chat; those three will be back soon. Let’s leave here first,” Chu Jianfeng suggested with a changed expression, indicating his phantom had been broken.

“Leave? Why should we leave? With both our strengths, we can easily take out those three, don’t you think?” Leng Yan said coldly, counting the Primordial Spirit Elixirs left by the fallen, a cruel smile on his lips.

“We can indeed effortlessly kill those three together! But, are you willing to team up with me again?” Chu Jianfeng asked with a smile.

“We’ve already teamed up once; why not again? You help me restrain them while I do the killing. Once it’s done, their jade slips are all yours. How about that?” Leng Yan proposed, wiping his magical sword with a cold smile, as if all this was trivial to him.

“Alright! Fair enough. Let’s prepare for a massacre! Haha!” Chu Jianfeng laughed joyfully, imagining the rapid increase in the headcount on his jade slip.