Chapter 34: Slaughter Them All

Afternoon.

The warm sun was high in the sky.

On the official road leading to the Prefecture City, six or seven carriages were traveling; due to being heavily loaded, they emitted "creaking" sounds on the road surface.

Several flags were stuck around the carriages, with a large "Huang" character written on them.

Several figures in front were dressed in tight martial attire, riding tall horses, with long blades at their waists, scanning their surroundings with vigilant faces.

The person in the lead had a sinister face, his eyes as sharp as knives.

This person was none other than the top general under Wang Yong, the Hall Master of the Sanhe Gang's Wind-Thunder Hall—Wang Shouren.

As a Flesh-Refining expert, he was quite famous throughout the entire Sanhe Gang.

"Protector Wang, today is just some ordinary cargo; why bother you to make the trip?"

A young man in black had a puzzled face.

Who in this vicinity dared not give face to their Sanhe Gang? According to custom, it was usually ordinary Skin-Refining perfection martial artists who went to provide escort.

A Flesh-Refining expert's status within the gang was still quite prominent.

The five men nearby also had traces of curiosity in their gazes.

"This Protector naturally has important business; you all need not inquire."

Wang Shouren's expression was plain, and he did not offer much explanation.

"Whoosh..."

Just as the few were talking, a tall man in black quickly darted out from the mountain forest, holding a long blade in his hand, his face full of murderous aura.

The person who arrived was none other than Lu Zhangsheng, who had been waiting for a long time.

Upon seeing the other party's caravan, he jumped out without hesitation, forcing the caravan to a stop.

"Who are you, sir? How dare you intercept our Sanhe Gang's caravan?"

Wang Shouren narrowed his eyes, his right hand directly gripping the hilt of his blade, his aura erupting and pressing toward Lu Zhangsheng.

The group of Sanhe Gang members around him also had murderous faces.

"I'm a bit short on cash lately, so I'm looking to borrow some things from you."

Lu Zhangsheng shrugged his shoulders, his face full of laziness.

Today, he did not intend to let these people leave alive.

After several days of investigation, he had generally learned about some of the Sanhe Gang's martial Dao experts.

He knew the information about this Protector Wang Shouren; the other party was only at the mid-stage of Flesh-Refining and was no match for him.

After a martial artist enters Flesh-Refining, according to the progress of tempering the muscles of the whole body, it is divided into Flesh-Refining early stage, mid-stage, late stage, and perfection.

After Lu Zhangsheng broke through to Flesh-Refining with the foundation of perfect skin membranes, he was enough to rival some late-stage Flesh-Refining experts, and even some Flesh-Refining perfection martial artists could not keep him.

"Truly courting death."

Wang Shouren's face tightened, murderous intent boiling in his heart.

He had walked the Jianghu for so many years and had never encountered anyone near Changping County who dared to rob their Sanhe Gang.

It had always been them robbing others; this time it was the other way around—it was simply turning the heavens upside down.

"This Seat will twist your head off to feed the dogs."

His tone was grim, his cold gaze fixed tightly on Lu Zhangsheng.

Afterward, he quickly drew the long blade in his hand, leaped up, and slashed fiercely at Lu Zhangsheng from mid-air.

He used his full strength, and with the momentum from the air, the attack was extremely fierce.

With this strike, he intended to completely slaughter this madman before him.

Lu Zhangsheng's expression was plain as he swung his blade in a light slash.

This horizontal slash from the Five Tigers Door-Breaking Blade was executed very lightly in his hands, as if it were a casual strike.

This was already one of the signs of a perfected blade technique; the attack power was condensed into a single line, without the slightest waste.

Looking at the other party, although the momentum looked fierce, it was actually strong on the outside but weak on the inside; he had not learned the true intent of the blade technique.

The group of Sanhe Gang members around them all looked at Lu Zhangsheng with playful faces.

As if the next moment would be the time he lost his life on the spot.

"Crack..."

In an instant, the two long blades clashed together.

With a light sound, the long blade in Wang Shouren's hand was directly cut into two pieces, the cut smooth and flat.

Afterward, the slaughtering knife in Lu Zhangsheng's hand did not lose momentum, slashing toward the other party's head.

"Ah..."

In Wang Shouren's shocked gaze, he saw a cold light flash across his neck.

A large head rolled onto the ground, blood gushing out and staining the surrounding grass red.

One strike, and Wang Shouren was directly beheaded.

The other party didn't even have time to react.

This outcome was also within Lu Zhangsheng's expectations. His strength was over fifteen thousand jin, much stronger than the other party's, and coupled with the sharpness and armor-piercing effects of the slaughtering knife in his hand, as well as his perfected blade technique, the multiple layers of advantages had already formed a complete crushing momentum.

Of course, if this person had put away his contempt and defended with all his might, he could have lasted a few moves, but the outcome would have been much the same.

"This... impossible. Who exactly are you? How could such an expert suddenly pop up in Changping County?"

The group of gang members had fearful faces, their voices trembling.

"Run."

A middle-aged man directly turned his horse and fled toward the back.

"Crack..."

But before the other party could act, a cold light flashed, and the other party's head rolled onto the ground, eyes wide open, looking very eerie.

Seeing this terrifying scene, the remaining few seemed scared silly and knelt on the ground one after another.

"Hero, spare our lives! We have eighty-year-old mothers above and infants waiting to be fed below; we implore the hero to spare us a path to live..."

The remaining group kowtowed repeatedly.

It wasn't that they didn't want to resist, but the person who could behead Protector Wang in one strike was definitely not someone they could withstand.

Even if their numbers were doubled, they couldn't surround and kill a Flesh-Refining perfection expert.

Let alone these few ordinary Skin-Refining martial artists.

"Spare your lives?"

Lu Zhangsheng sneered.

Which of these gang members didn't have hands stained with blood, practicing martial arts while eating human-blood buns?

Long-term collection of protection fees and usury, sucking the marrow from the common people—he still remembered the tragic sight of the Chen family's wife and daughter jumping into a well.

At that time, these people were present.

If he hadn't risen to power, his own fate likely wouldn't have been much better.

Returning good for evil is what a fool does.

He, Lu Zhangsheng, wanted to stop killing with killing and sweep away all the filth and demons in the world.

"Kill."

Lu Zhangsheng swung his blade.

A bright cold light flashed from the void, like a lamp in the dawn, illuminating the path forward.

The group of gang members below had fearful faces, their lower bodies leaking filth; under the pressure of death, the crowd directly collapsed.

"Ah..."

Following a series of screams, several heads rolled in all directions, blood staining a large area of the nearby land red.

Lu Zhangsheng sheathed his blade with a plain face and then walked toward the carriages in the back.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Arriving at the back of the carriages, Lu Zhangsheng pried open the boxes on the carts with force.

A pile of pitch-black ore appeared in the wooden box, shimmering with a ghostly light.

Then he went to the back of the remaining carriages one by one and pried open the wooden boxes on them.

Until the last box was opened, the scene before him made his face light up with joy.

He saw a large pile of medicinal herbs stacked in the wooden box, the fragrance hitting his nose, making one intoxicated.

Judging by the quality, although there were no century-old fine medicines, there were quite a few herbs around fifty years old.

This was also an unexpected joy.

Presumably, these things were being sent by the Sanhe Gang to the Prefecture City to grease the palms of various parties.

For martial artists, the most important thing was medicinal baths; without medicinal herbs and meat, it was almost impossible to cultivate into a martial Dao expert.

He walked to the wooden boxes and collected all these medicinal herbs and ores into the system space.

Soon, only a few lonely carriages remained on the road.

After doing all this, Lu Zhangsheng came to the corpses of Wang Shouren and the others, squatted down, and began his daily looting of the corpses.

A moment later, a large pile of silver notes and several martial arts secret manuals appeared in his hands, along with a strange letter.

Having such a big harvest on his first move made him very satisfied.

With these martial arts manuals and resources, he could raise his blade technique and footwork by another notch.

His own strength could also advance further.

For martial artists, the martial Dao realm was of course the foundation, but attack methods and footwork were also extremely important.

If it weren't for his perfected blade technique this time, he wouldn't have won so easily.

With the Attribute Modifier, he naturally wanted to improve his strength in all aspects; any shortcoming could often be fatal at certain times.

He dared not be the slightest bit careless.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 35 =====