Chapter 48

Half a month later, in a vast mountain range.

A man walked slowly through the mountains, leading a gray mule; the path was narrow and rugged, stretching endlessly into the distant peaks.

It was Wang Yu, who had set out two days ago to find Guangyuan Market.

Though he now had a storage pouch, its space was insufficient, so he had bought a mule to carry his extra supplies.

He did not know the exact location of Guangyuan Market, so he had traveled northeast from Tongzhou City, eventually plunging into this unknown mountain range.

As the man and mule passed a treacherous stretch of mountain trail, they suddenly reached a three-way fork.

Wang Yu glanced at the junction ahead and his expression changed slightly—he halted abruptly.

In the suddenly open space of the fork lay over a dozen corpses, men and women alike, mostly dressed as armed guards wielding swords and knives, alongside seven or eight dead pack animals burdened with heavy bundles.

“Overclock”

In an instant, Wang Yu silently entered Overclock Sync mode; with his senses amplified, every detail of the distant corpses became crystal clear.

Both human and animal corpses oozed black blood from all seven orifices, yet showed no external wounds whatsoever.

The guards’ faces bore strange, faint smiles—as if the entire party had collapsed and died in a single moment, without a trace of struggle or pain.

“Shhh”

Wang Yu snatched the iron-steel long knife from his waist, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the surrounding area.

Suddenly, his ears twitched; his eyes snapped to the ground just a few zhang ahead, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.

“Boom”

From beneath the earth, two figures burst upward—one in front, one behind, kicking up clods of dirt.

The slender figure ahead seemed struck by an invisible force; she cried out softly and tumbled to the ground before Wang Yu—a woman in a white gown, her face like peach blossoms, her figure graceful.

The beautiful woman, seemingly no more than twenty, was stained with blood at her waist; in her hand she clutched a yellow short ruler, now broken in half, and the faint yellow aura shielding her body flickered wildly, on the verge of collapse.

"Brother, save me! This man is a bandit cultivator! My father is the Tianhe Marquis of Tianhe Prefecture! If you help me, the Tianhe Marquis’s mansion will reward you handsomely!" The white-gowned woman barely lifted half her body, finally noticing Wang Yu so close—her eyes sparkled with desperate hope, her delicate features lending her an aura of heartbreaking vulnerability that made one want to pull her into one’s arms.

Tianhe Marquis—this woman was of the imperial family!

“Tianhe Prefecture” isn’t one of Wu Kingdom’s twelve prefectural cities, right next to Great Ming Prefecture’s capital!

Hearing this, Wang Yu froze for a moment.

“Another traveler passing by at this hour? Is it your bad luck—or her good fortune?”

The man behind stepped out of the dust—a grotesque male, wielding a silver hammer, his wild hair tangled, his teeth uneven and yellow.

He was slightly surprised to see Wang Yu, but immediately pointed the silver hammer at him with a casual flick, snarling.

Bad!

In Overclock Sync, Wang Yu’s senses were razor-sharp; without hesitation, he twisted sideways and lunged away, while the palace-dressed woman also shrieked and flung herself to the opposite side.

“Boom”

The ground where they had stood erupted open, leaving a half-meter-deep crater.

The white-clad woman, caught in the shockwave, saw her protective shield flicker twice before shattering completely; she staggered backward, collapsed onto the ground, and could not rise again.

“You actually dodged my strike?”

The grotesque man’s face showed a flicker of surprise.

He knew his silver hammer was a spiritual artifact capable of striking invisibly from afar; he had used it to ambush unsuspecting opponents, and nine out of ten times, it landed a killing blow.

“My eyes aren’t blind—I saw clearly just now how you struck from afar. I’m just passing through. Are you truly determined to kill me too?” Wang Yu stared at the crater beside him; his spiritual sense faintly sensed the man’s spiritual energy, far surpassing his own—his face darkened.

The man was likely a Qi Condensation fifth or sixth-layer cultivator, and his hammer was clearly a ranked spiritual artifact—otherwise, it couldn’t have produced such devastating power.

“Fine. If you leave now and don’t interfere in this girl’s fate, I won’t trouble myself further.” The grotesque man narrowed his eyes, planted his silver hammer firmly into the ground with one hand—the hammerhead sank halfway into the earth with a rumble—as he replied coldly.

The man’s strength was equally formidable.

“Agreed.”

After a brief flicker of thought, Wang Yu sheathed his long knife, took hold of the mule’s lead, and walked sideways along the mountain path, clearly intending to detour far away from both the grotesque man and the white-clad woman.

“Brother, don’t listen to him! He’s vile and treacherous—he ambushed us here to kill fellow cultivators! He poisoned my guards with poison, and he carries a Digging Talisman!”

“After he kills me, he’ll kill you to silence you. Oh! I have another powerful companion fighting one of his allies over there—we three together still have a chance to win!” The white-clad woman panicked, pleading desperately to Wang Yu.

Wang Yu’s steps paused slightly, then accelerated again—he showed no intention of stopping.

“Hah! Wise of you, brother! This girl shouted her identity to drag you into this, hoping to incite conflict between us so she could escape!” The grotesque man laughed loudly.

Wang Yu ignored both of them, trudging forward without looking back; within moments, he had already moved over twenty zhang away.

Watching this, the white-clad woman clenched her broken ruler helplessly, despair darkening her beautiful face.

The grotesque man watched Wang Yu’s retreating back, his smile fading; a flash of cold light passed through his eyes. Hidden in his sleeve, a yellow talisman suddenly ignited, its yellow spiritual light silently sinking into the soil beneath his feet. He seized his silver hammer and swung it through the air toward Wang Yu’s back.

The moment the grotesque man moved, Wang Yu—who had his back turned—reacted as if he’d anticipated it: he spun around instantly, the iron-steel long knife reappearing in his hand. But the ground beneath his feet collapsed suddenly, swallowing his legs halfway into the earth—he was immobilized.

Simultaneously, a massive invisible wind pressure surged from above, crushing down mercilessly, leaving no room to evade.

Wang Yu’s pupils contracted sharply; he let out a low roar, pushed upward with all his strength, and leapt from the earth with tremendous force, soaring over a zhang high. His free hand flipped once—and a silver folding fan materialized in his grip, which he swung upward with all his might.

“Whooosh”

A blinding white gale erupted skyward, colliding with the invisible wind pressure above—a thunderous boom erupted, and violent winds tore in all directions, kicking up dust and stones so thick that no one nearby could open their eyes.

Seeing this, the grotesque man’s face changed; he pulled out another talisman, slapped it onto his body, and chanted fluently. Yellow light flickered across his form, and a faint yellow aura shimmered into existence around him.

Amidst the swirling dust and stones, Wang Yu landed, flipped his body, and as his feet touched the ground, his long knife slid silently back into its sheath. One hand gripped the hilt, his right leg’s tendons bulged violently—he pushed off with all his strength and shot forward like a cannonball, kicking up clods of earth.

Drawn Blade Technique!

A sharp cry rang out—and a brilliant white blade-light flashed before the grotesque man’s face.