Chapter 325 - 162: Sharp Edge (Part 3)

Xiang Jiarem nodded, turned with his granddaughter Xiang Xiaoling, and started walking away from the tea shed.

However, they had only taken a few steps from the tea shed when disaster struck!

A panicked and terrified roar echoed from the mountain path ahead. A figure came rushing toward them like a beaten cur, stumbling along with his clothes torn and bloody.

The newcomer was none other than Zhu Xin, the second master of the Zhu Family!

He was utterly terrified, focused only on fleeing for his life. Seeing people blocking his path, he showed no hesitation; instead, a vicious, ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.

"Get out! Get the hell out of my way!"

He roared, and instead of slowing down, the True Qi in his body erupted. His palms took on a blackish-red glow, and stirring up a sharp, foul-smelling wind, he struck out indiscriminately toward Xiang Jiarem and Xiang Xiaoling!

Clearly, he wasn’t just trying to clear a path to escape; he wanted to create chaos in search of a sliver of hope for survival!

Although Xiang Jiarem had some Cultivation, he was old and specialized in medicine, not combat. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, he felt the terrifying Power contained within the palm wind. His face paled, and cold sweat dripped down.

His first reaction wasn’t to protect himself, but to desperately try to push his granddaughter Xiang Xiaoling away. However, Zhu Xin’s desperate, all-or-nothing strike was too fast and too fierce; the force of the palm was already bearing down on them!

Xiang Xiaoling was so frightened her face drained of color, a scream caught in her throat.

Inside and outside the tea shed, all eyes were instantly drawn to this sudden turn of events.

Just as the palm, wreathed in blackish-red True Qi, was about to strike the center of Xiang Jiarem’s back, in the instant Xiang Xiaoling’s face drained of all color—

A dark cyan figure moved!

With the speed of a startled swan tearing through the haze!

The ground beneath Chen Qing’s feet trembled slightly as his body shot out like an arrow from a bow. Though he moved second, he arrived first!

He didn’t meet Zhu Xin’s desperate Palm Power head-on. Instead, he executed the exquisite Step Technique from the Startled Swan Escape Shadow Technique, his form slipping like a phantom into the narrow gap between Zhu Xin and the Xiang grandfather and granddaughter.

With a sweep of his left arm, a gentle yet deft Power sent the stunned Xiang Xiaoling and Xiang Jiarem flying backward, pushing them steadily toward the tea shed.

At the same time, the muscles of his right arm bulged, and his Cyan Wood True Qi surged relentlessly. Not using his spear, he instead formed his fingers into a blade. This hand-chop, carrying a profound and domineering Power, sliced with absolute precision toward Zhu Xin’s striking wrist!

"WHUMP!"

The clash of Qi Forces produced a muffled bang!

Zhu Xin was already suffering from internal injuries and exhausted from a long battle. He was running on nothing but a vicious will to survive. How could he possibly block Chen Qing’s fully-charged strike?

With a sharp CRACK and a pained grunt from Zhu Xin, Chen Qing’s hand-chop had snapped the bones and torn the tendons in the arm he had attacked with!

The blackish-red True Qi dissipated instantly!

Pressing his advantage, Chen Qing didn’t let up. His Step Technique shifted again, and he stuck to Zhu Xin like a shadow, closing in on his Central Palace.

His right hand shifted from a blade to a palm, the center of which glowed with a faint cyan light. Carrying a colossal force that could topple mountains and overturn seas, it pressed toward Zhu Xin’s wide-open chest!

Zhu Xin’s soul nearly left his body in terror. He barely managed to raise his other, uninjured arm to block.

"BOOM!"

Another loud bang! Zhu Xin’s blocking arm was violently knocked aside by an irresistible force. Without losing any of its momentum, Chen Qing’s palm, which contained the full might of his vast Cyan Wood True Qi, landed squarely on his chest!

"PFFT—!"

As if struck by a sledgehammer, Zhu Xin’s eyes bulged. He violently sprayed a mouthful of blood as his body flew backward like a kite with a snapped string. He crashed heavily onto the ground dozens of feet away, rolled a few times, and then went still. He was only breathing out, not in. It was clear he wasn’t going to make it.

It all happened too fast!

The entire exchange was over in the blink of an eye!

Three moves!

In just three moves, Chen Qing had crippled an arm, shattered his opponent’s defense, and killed his enemy with the force of a thunderbolt!

His actions were clean and efficient, ruthless and decisive, with no wasted motion whatsoever!

A dead silence fell over the tea shed and its surroundings.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden and incredibly swift battle.

One after another, horrified gazes shifted from the calm-faced young man to Zhu Xin’s lifeless body on the ground, and many couldn’t help but gasp.

"Hiss... So... so ruthless!"

"That’s... Chen Qing of the Wutai Sect! His reputation is certainly well-deserved!"

"Zhu Xin was a Late-stage Embracing Pill Force expert, after all. Even injured, to think he was finished in just three moves..."

Luo Wei, the Chief of the Debao Escort Agency, was particularly shaken. His pupils contracted as a storm of shock raged within him.

He knew he could have defeated the injured Zhu Xin, but it would have been absolutely impossible to do it so cleanly, to take his life in just three moves!

’This Chen Qing’s strength is probably even more terrifying than the rumors suggest!’

’The sheer depth of his True Qi and the ferocious might of his attacks are simply terrifying.’

"Grandpa!" Xiang Xiaoling cried, still shaken, and rushed to Xiang Jiarem’s side.

"I’m alright, I’m alright..."

Xiang Jiarem’s old face was ashen. He clutched his granddaughter’s hand, taking several deep breaths to compose himself before quickly pulling Xiang Xiaoling in front of Chen Qing. He bowed deeply, his voice filled with lingering fear and immense gratitude. "Thank you, Chief Chen, for saving our lives! If you hadn’t acted, it wouldn’t have mattered if an old man like me perished here, but my granddaughter...唉! Words cannot express such a great kindness. In the future, if you have any need, Chief Chen, as long as it does not go against what is right, I will do everything in my power to assist you!"

Xiang Xiaoling’s eyes were also filled with gratitude as she bowed repeatedly to Chen Qing.

Chen Qing’s expression was calm. He made a gesture to help the old man up. "Senior Xiang, you overstate things. It was a trivial matter."

His gaze shifted to Zhu Xin’s corpse on the ground. He walked over, rummaged in the man’s robes for a moment, and pulled out a heavy bundle.

He untied the bundle. Inside was a thick stack of high-denomination silver notes, a few stalks of Treasure Medicine, and, most eye-catching of all, a perfectly square, jet-black box.