Chapter 339 - 336: Search
Chapter 339: Chapter 336: Search
Screams rang out from time to time.
Fang Han was a butterfly flitting through flowers, a life-reaping Asura carving a bloody swath through the crowd.
The Wind and Cloud Escape granted him an uncanny Body Technique, always allowing him to evade deadly, coordinated attacks by a hair’s breadth.
The Nine Swords of Sky Splitting, in turn, provided an unstoppable Power of Attack. Wherever the light of his sword flashed, it left death or injury in its wake.
"Work together! Trap him!"
A saber-wielding Fourth-Grade Martial Artist roared, exchanging a look with another Fourth-Grade Martial Artist who wielded an axe.
Their saber and axe combined in a pincer attack, one from the left and one from the right, sealing off Fang Han’s space to evade and multiplying their power.
The other three Fourth-Grade Martial Artists also reacted, each unleashing their ultimate techniques as they attacked fiercely from different directions.
The five Fourth-Grade warriors were finally starting to cooperate with real synergy, no longer giving Fang Han the chance to defeat them one by one.
SWISH!
As the pressure skyrocketed, Fang Han’s eyes hardened. Inner Qi surged wildly through his body and into his sword. The Cloud Splitting Sword erupted with brilliant cyan light, unleashing the full, maximized power of his Great Success-level Nine Swords of Sky Splitting.
He spotted a minuscule pause in the transition between the joint attacks of the saber- and axe-wielding Fourth-Grade Martial Artists, and his figure abruptly shot forward.
He didn’t dodge or evade, charging straight into the center of their intersecting blades.
"You’re courting death!"
Both shocked and overjoyed, they put another thirty percent of their strength into their saber and axe, vowing to slice Fang Han into three pieces.
However, in the instant the blades were about to make contact, Fang Han’s figure wavered slightly, like a reflection in water.
The next moment, his true form had appeared at their sides as if he’d teleported!
It wasn’t a direct charge. He had used a highly advanced Body Technique skill from the Wind and Cloud Escape to create the afterimage of a forward rush, while his real body slid past the saber and axe blades by the narrowest of margins.
"Die!"
He let out a low cry, unleashing one of the killing blows only available after reaching Great Success in the Nine Swords of Sky Splitting.
The Cloud Splitting Sword transformed into an incredibly condensed, fine cyan line that seemed capable of slicing through space itself. Accompanied by a piercing shriek, it stabbed out in a rapid sequence, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
PFFT! PFFT!
Two faint sounds, like tearing fabric.
The two Fourth-Grade Martial Artists—the one with the saber and the one with the axe—froze, their faces filled with utter disbelief and horror.
A small, bloody hole had appeared on each of them—one between the eyes, the other over the heart—and blood gushed forth.
THUD!
Their bodies hit the ground almost simultaneously.
A double kill with a single sword move! And against two Fourth-Grade Martial Artists who had been coordinating perfectly.
"What terrifying Swordsmanship... What kind of monster is he?!"
The three remaining Fourth-Grade Martial Artists, as well as the surrounding Middle-Grade Martial Artists who were still alive, were all scared out of their wits.
Pressing his advantage, Fang Han moved again, pouncing on the old man who wielded a Judge’s Pen.
The old man was already frozen with fear. Seeing Fang Han rush toward him like a god of slaughter, he let out a strange cry, threw his Judge’s Pen as a Hidden Weapon, and desperately tried to flee.
"You think you can escape?"
A flash of Fang Han’s sword sent the Judge’s Pen flying. Tapping his feet, he accelerated by another thirty percent, instantly appearing behind the old man.
Feeling the lethal sharpness at his back, the old man turned in despair and thrust out both palms in a final, desperate gamble.
Fang Han neither dodged nor retreated. The Cloud Splitting Sword stabbed straight forward—a single point to break a wide surface!
SHHNK!
The sword’s tip pierced the Palm Force and plunged into the old man’s throat.
Another Fourth-Grade expert, dead.
The last two Fourth-Grade Martial Artists looked at each other, and both saw the terror in the other’s eyes.
The Howling Moon Spirit Deer Antlers, their alliance—none of it was worth a thing in the face of death.
"Split up and run!"
As if by silent agreement, the two of them bolted in opposite directions, running for their lives.
"Hmph."
Fang Han snorted coldly. Activating the Wind and Cloud Escape, he shot off like a bolt of lightning after one of them.
Hearing the wind whistling behind him, the man was utterly terrified, pushing his Body Technique to its absolute limit.
But Fang Han was faster. He caught up within a few breaths and ended the man’s life with a single strike.
Without pausing, he wheeled around and pursued the other fleeing man, who had already covered nearly a hundred zhang and was about to turn onto another street.
SWOOSH!
Fang Han’s gaze hardened. Inner Qi surged through him as he pushed the Wind and Cloud Escape to its limit, his speed increasing once more.
In the blink of an eye, he was behind the second man, his longsword thrusting straight forward.
PFFT!
The man was still running for his life when he suddenly felt a cold sensation in his back, followed by excruciating pain. He looked down and saw a blood-soaked sword tip emerging from his chest.
"Ugh..."
He collapsed to the ground, dead.
"Haaaah—"
Fang Han stopped, panting slightly.
The continuous, high-intensity use of his Body Technique and Sword Techniques, especially the final burst of speed for the chase, had consumed a significant amount of his Inner Qi.
He glanced around.
Dozens of bodies lay strewn across the street and rooftops. Blood flowed like a river. It was an Asura’s slaughterhouse.
The night wind carried the nauseatingly thick stench of blood.
In the distance, the faint sounds of commotion and hurried footsteps began to rise. The huge disturbance had clearly alerted many people.
SWOOSH!
Fearing another attack, Fang Han didn’t have time to loot the corpses. He pushed his Wind and Cloud Escape to its absolute limit.
His figure became a barely perceptible wisp of green smoke, melting into the dark night and the labyrinthine alleyways. After a few bounds, he vanished completely.
He left behind nothing but a street full of corpses and blood, a silent testament under the cold moonlight to the brief, brutal slaughter that had just taken place.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH!
Fang Han’s figure sped through the crisscrossing alleyways. Pushing the Wind and Cloud Escape to its limit, he became a faint shadow that all but merged with the night wind.
With every turn, every leap and dip, he precisely used the shadows of buildings and the corners of walls to conceal his movements as much as possible.
The faint commotion and urgent footsteps from the brutal slaughter moments ago were already far behind him, fading into ambiguity.
But the thick, cloying stench of blood, and several faint yet powerful auras, were still clearly perceptible.
He knew he had caused too great a stir.
In two separate waves, he had killed over forty Martial Artists, among them seven Fourth-Grade experts. Such losses were enough to make the predatory factions of Cuihua City sting with pain, enough to drive them into a frenzy.
Right now, the leaders of the factions that had lost men were probably seething with rage and ordering a city-wide manhunt.
’Spirit Smelling Technique.’
After fleeing a good distance, he focused his thoughts, fully activating the Spirit Smelling Technique, which he had already brought to the Mastery Realm.
In an instant, the complex scents of the surrounding world presented themselves with unparalleled clarity to his senses.
The earthy tang of the soil, the musty scent of moss, the sour stench from a distant gutter, the faint aroma of food wafting from a house even farther away... and, most crucially, the aura of humans.
His nostrils flared almost imperceptibly. With intense focus, his mind acted like the finest sieve, rapidly filtering and identifying the unfamiliar scents lingering in the air.
Within a radius of several li... there was no scent of pursuers hot on his heels.
But this didn’t mean he was safe.
These local gangs had been entrenched here for years. They had eyes and ears everywhere and knew the city’s alleyways and potential hiding spots like the backs of their hands.
He absolutely could not return to the inn.
He had to leave Cuihua City as soon as possible. Every moment he delayed increased the risk of being surrounded and killed.
’Returning Ruins Hidden Essence Skill.’
Confirming that no one was on his tail for the moment, Fang Han began to circulate a Stealth Secret Technique he rarely used but which could be a lifesaver in a crisis.
The sole purpose of this technique was to suppress his own aura to the greatest possible extent, simulating a state of near "nothingness."
VMMMM—
As the Technique circulated, the burgeoning life force and the energy fluctuations naturally emitted by the flow of his Inner Qi—all characteristic of a Martial Artist at the Middle Stage of Fourth Grade—swiftly receded and fell silent, like a subsiding tide.
His skin temperature dropped slightly, his heartbeat grew slow and deep, and his breathing became nearly imperceptible.
Even the sharp light in his eyes, which gleamed in the darkness, quietly dimmed, as if he were truly merging with the cold wall behind him.
Right now, if one were to rely solely on sensing auras and not sight, they would likely mistake him for a lifeless rock or a piece of rotting wood.
SHH!
With his aura completely concealed, Fang Han no longer hesitated and made for the edge of the city.
The city gates would be tightly shut after dark and guarded by soldiers. Forcing them would cause too much of a commotion, so it was not an option unless absolutely necessary.
That left only one option: scale the city walls.
With his current Cultivation at the Middle Stage of Fourth Grade, supplemented by his Wind and Cloud Escape which had reached the Minor Achievement Realm, scaling Cuihua City’s hundred-foot-high wall would be difficult, but not impossible.
His mind raced, and in an instant, he had made his decision.
...
Within Cuihua City, in several residences and guild halls, some luxurious and some hidden, roars of suppressed fury and the grating sound of shattering porcelain erupted almost simultaneously.
「In the western part of the city, at the Tiger Evil Gang headquarters.」
Gang Leader Han Tieshan, "Monument-Breaking Hand," had an ashen face. He smashed the ironwood tea table beside him to smithereens with a single palm strike, sending splinters flying.
"Useless! All of them! Two Fourth-Grade Incense Masters leading eight of our best men, and they all died at the hands of some out-of-town brat."
"They died without even figuring out who he was. They’ve utterly disgraced the Tiger Evil Gang!"
Below, the various chieftains were silent as cicadas in winter, none daring to utter a word.
The force the Tiger Evil Gang had sent for the ambush was undeniably strong, yet they had been completely annihilated. The young man’s terrifying power had far exceeded their estimations.
"Find him! Find out where that brat is staying. Even if you have to dig three feet underground, you will find him and drag him before me!"
A vicious glint flickered in Han Tieshan’s eyes as he ground his teeth in rage.
「In the northern part of the city, at Xiyu Building.」
The mistress of the building, Liu Sanniang, the "Jade-faced Fox," wore a frosty expression. Her usually gentle and charming eyes were now as cold as daggers.
Before her knelt a trembling Steward.
"You’re telling me... the people we sent, along with those from the Yinsha Sect and the Tiger Evil Gang—dozens of men in total, including five at the Fourth Grade—are all dead?"
"Y-Yes, Mistress... That brat... he’s not human. His Swordsmanship is too fast to see, and his Body Technique is like a ghost’s..."
The Steward’s voice trembled.
Liu Sanniang fell silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a cold sneer.
"Good. Very good! It seems we have a fierce dragon crossing the river... But even a fierce dragon must learn to coil up when it enters my domain of Cuihua City!"
"Send out the order. Activate all of our hidden agents and informants, and put everything into finding this man. Also, go and get Liu the Seventh, the ’Ghost Nose.’ It’s time to put his ’Tracking Dog’ and his Tracking Technique to use."
Similar scenes were playing out in the strongholds of the Yinsha Sect and other factions.
While Fang Han’s power certainly shocked them, the temptation of the Howling Moon Spirit Deer Antlers, combined with the fury over their own grievous losses, completely suppressed any trace of fear.
Several factions that normally schemed and fought amongst themselves, some even holding deep grudges, now temporarily set aside their differences. They unanimously aimed their spears at the same target: the outsider, Fang Han.
Order after order was rapidly passed down. The dark corners of Cuihua City began to stir. Countless informants were mobilized, and experts skilled in Tracking were assembled.
An invisible net began to spread rapidly across the city, closing in on all possible hiding places.