Chapter 375

"Ah Jie!"

Su Su Qiming's face changed drastically; this wail of agony came from his disciple, Su Jie.

There was no sound of a fight at all; how had Su Jie come to harm?

Not daring to investigate further, his Bone-Refining cultivation base erupted like a mountain flood, and his body suddenly accelerated, rushing forward.

A few breaths later, in an open clearing, he saw his disciple Su Jie held by the throat by Xu Yang, forced to kneel on the ground with his head bowed, looking utterly wretched.

One hand was twisted like a twisted dough stick, bones broken and tendons snapped; the other was pinned behind his back, nearly broken as well.

"Master, save me!" Su Jie shouted.

Intense agony nearly made him faint; his whole body trembled.

As a Pill Master, his will was not firm, and he had never endured such suffering.

"Shut up!"

Xu Yang tightened his grip on Su Jie's throat, forcing his hand; spiritual energy seeped in, silencing him.

"Let him go, and I will give you an intact corpse. If you dare kill him, I will make it so you cannot live nor die."

Su Su Qiming spoke with stern voice and fierce expression, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes.

Su Jie was a Pill Master cultivated by the Su family since childhood; the silver the Su family spent on Su Jie was at least tens of thousands of taels. If he truly died in Xu Yang's hands, the Su family's loss would be enormous.

Even his own status would be punished.

Money was a small matter; the main issue was that people with talent for alchemy were too few.

At the same time, confusion flashed in his eyes; he could not figure out what exactly had happened, as Su Jie had been broken in one arm and subdued by Xu Yang in an instant.

Could this disciple of mine truly be a complete waste in combat, subdued in just a few moves despite having a cultivation base far higher than Xu Yang's?

"Who are you two, and why have you plotted so carefully to kill me here?"

Xu Yang's gaze was ice-cold; he did not care about the other's threat; he mainly wanted to figure out the identities of these two.

Because he had no impression of either of them and did not know why they had come specifically here to intercept and kill him.

"Su Che, do you still remember? I am his father, Su Su Qiming," Su Su Qiming roared.

Xu Yang's heart stirred; this middle-aged man with a Bone-Refining cultivation base was actually the Pill Master father of Su Che. He wondered whether this old fellow carried any pill formulas on his person.

"Su Che was not killed by me; he was killed by the Fiery Blade Swordsman. Why seek revenge on me?" Xu Yang said.

Anger surged in Su Su Qiming's eyes: "Although he was not killed by you, if you had not quarreled with him, causing him to leave the city to kill you, how would he have met the Fiery Blade Swordsman?"

Chasing me out of the city to kill me, then blaming me when someone else killed him; this father and son are exactly alike. No wonder Su Che wanted to kill me over such a trifling matter.

Accustomed to looking down from on high, they could not tolerate even the slightest defiance from others; truly domineering.

Xu Yang's killing intent burned fiercely, his gaze growing even colder: "Break one of your own arms now, and I will release him. Otherwise, wait to collect your disciple's corpse."

He did not believe Su Su Qiming would refuse.

It was not that he was certain of the depth of the master-disciple bond between Su Su Qiming and Su Jie, but he knew the preciousness of a Pill Master; a Pill Master was worth more than an equal amount of Huang Jin.

This was merely the silver spent on daily practice; what was truly precious was that people with talent for alchemy were very few.

Among a hundred martial artists, there might not even be one with talent for alchemy.

"You dare!" Su Su Qiming shouted fiercely, truly afraid Xu Yang would kill Su Jie.

"You are about to kill me; what do I have to fear? Death is death either way; having a Su family Pill Master accompany me to the grave is worth it."

Xu Yang roared: "I give you ten breaths to consider. Cripple one arm and retreat ten li, and I will release him. Otherwise, I will perish together with your Su family Pill Master."

Su Su Qiming finally felt the situation was thorny: "We admit defeat. Release Su Jie, and I guarantee I will never trouble you again."

"You have no right to bargain. Words from people like you are like passing wind; I do not believe them. You may consider for ten breaths whether to do as I demand or die together with your Su family Pill Master!"

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

Xu Yang began counting down.

"Xu Yang, do not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a bitter cup. Do you truly want to bring ruin upon both our families?" Su Su Qiming's eyes flashed with cold light, his killing intent burning fiercely.

He feared that even losing an arm would not save Su Jie.

He had not considered that losing an arm would lead to Xu Yang killing him.

"It seems your disciple's life is not as precious as one of your arms. Let us all die together." Xu Yang made a move as if to kill Su Jie.

"Wait!" Su Su Qiming hurriedly shouted.

Su Jie had learned alchemy by his side since childhood; though not his own son, their emotional bond was nearly the same, mainly because the Su family could not afford to lose a Pill Master.

"I hope you keep your word; otherwise, from one end of the world to the other, the Su family will hunt you to the ends of the earth." Su Su Qiming finally compromised.

A broken arm could be healed; if Su Jie died, he could not be saved.

At this moment, he wished he could slap himself several times. If he had known Su Jie was such a waste, he would have killed Xu Yang himself.

He had intended to temper this disciple, never expecting things to turn out this way.

Raising his palm, he struck his own arm without hesitation; a fierce wind whistled, and spiritual energy burst forth.

"Crack!"

Accompanied by the crisp sound of bone breaking, Su Su Qiming let out a painful, muffled groan; one arm hung limp.

Intense pain made his vision go black; his figure staggered. The taste of breaking his own arm made his killing intent surge in his heart; he vowed to kill Xu Yang.

Fortunately, he knew the gravity of the situation when he struck; although the bone was broken, it could recover completely after some rest.

He truly complied!

A smile curled Xu Yang's lips: "I said cut it off, not merely break the bone."

Su Su Qiming, who had already planned to retreat as demanded, heard this and nearly had his nose twisted from anger.

A broken arm bone and cutting it off are completely two different matters.

Even for a Bone-Refining expert with a powerful body, a severed arm could be reattached, but it could not recover so fully unless there existed a divine pill like the Life-Restoring Pill capable of reattaching severed limbs.

Otherwise, even if he were taken back, he would suffer great consequences.

But the Su family does not have such a thing.

He is a Pill Master; his entire skill lies in his hands. If his hands are ruined, his entire skill is ruined.

"You are dreaming!"

Su Su Qiming felt as though he had been played; murderous intent surged like a tide: "If you push your luck further, we will all perish together."

Compared to Su Jie, his value to the Su family is far greater; he absolutely cannot be ruined, so he cannot possibly agree to have his own arm severed.

"Perish together, then perish together!" Xu Yang shouted fiercely, his eyes flashing with a vicious light.

He knew that forcing Su Su Qiming to break one of his own arms was already the limit; he could not make Su Su Qiming sever his hand, for no matter how valuable Su Jie was, he was not Su Su Qiming, an old veteran Pill Master.

However, with Su Su Qiming missing an arm, Xu Yang felt quite confident in killing him.

"You dare!" Su Su Qiming roared in fury.

He never expected that even with a broken arm, he still could not save Su Jie; even if he managed to kill Xu Yang, he would face trouble upon returning.

He desperately wanted to rush forward and kill Xu Yang, but since Xu Yang had not yet killed Su Jie, he could only suppress the surging murderous intent.

"Tell your Master your last words!"

A smile curled Xu Yang's lips; his five fingers relaxed, releasing the protective qi that had sealed Su Jie's vocal cords.

"Master, be careful! He is already a Marrow-Cleansing Martial Artist!" Su Jie cried out in alarm.

As soon as he could speak, he shouted immediately to warn Su Su Qiming.

He never expected Xu Yang to be so despicable, using him to force his Master, Su Su Qiming, to sever his own arm.

Just now, he thought Xu Yang dared not kill him due to his identity, so he did not immediately tell his Master that Xu Yang was a Marrow-Cleansing Martial Artist; he also thought his Master could guess Xu Yang's status, never imagining things would develop this way.

"What?"

Xu Yang is a Marrow-Cleansing Martial Artist?

Su Su Qiming's pupils contracted violently; a storm of shock surged in his heart, and he finally understood why Su Jie had been subdued by Xu Yang in just a few moves.

This little beast has already achieved Marrow Cleansing; wasn't he just at the Great Perfection of protective qi?

"Despicable! Such deep scheming! The information he released to the outside has always been false."

Only now did he realize that Xu Yang had always displayed false cultivation base and false talent to the outside; his true talent might be terrifying, possibly surpassing even Li Li Chuyang and others.

He had actually provoked such a venomous snake hidden in the darkness, and he had guarded him for several days.

Thinking of this, Su Su Qiming felt a chill run down his spine.

Now that he has already lost an arm, and Xu Yang's cultivation base has shifted from Great Perfection of protective qi to Marrow Cleansing, even though Su Su Qiming himself has been Marrow-Cleansed for many years...

Disaster is coming!

This damn thing, Su Jie, actually did not immediately tell him about Xu Yang's Marrow Cleansing status.

"Crack!"