Free Web NovelChapter 133: Chapter 127: Deception
As the steward in charge of mining operations, Cao Xiong had a sizable courtyard on the barren, desolate mountain.
Although it was built entirely of stacked stones, it still looked quite respectable.
"Senior Brother."
Bai Er rushed in from outside and said in a hushed voice:
"There’s a big commotion outside. The disciples patrolling the mine tunnels have all been transferred away. They shouldn’t be back anytime soon."
"That fellow named Zhu went to see Mu Tian. He’s definitely not coming back."
Cao Xiong sat enthroned on a large, tiger-skin chair. In the glow of the oil lamp, his burly frame resembled a seated black bear.
Upon hearing this, he slowly opened his eyes, a cold, dark glint flashing through them.
"Let’s begin."
"Have Xiao Bufan’s team of miners take the Iron Evil Ore over. Make sure they conceal their presence and erase their tracks."
"Yes, sir." A man behind him acknowledged the order and quickly departed.
"Senior Brother," Bai Er said, frowning at the situation.
"I’m afraid Xiao Bufan can’t be trusted."
"He may seem to have surrendered, but no one knows what he’s really thinking. I’m worried he harbors a grudge against you."
After all, the man’s parents died in the mines.
The key issue was that Bai Er and Xiao Bufan both worked under Cao Xiong and had been at odds with each other for a long time.
"Heh..." Cao Xiong gave a cold smirk.
"You’re right. Using someone like him always makes one nervous. That’s why we’ll just let the Five Poison Sect handle him."
"Oh!" Bai Er’s eyes lit up.
"Senior Brother, you mean..."
"Kill him!"
He made a throat-slitting gesture. Upon receiving confirmation, he couldn’t help but let out a series of sinister chuckles.
’So, Xiao, your day has finally come!’
"Let’s go!"
Cao Xiong waved his hand.
"Let’s take a look outside."
As the mine’s steward, with chaos breaking out on the mountain, he had to make an appearance one way or another.
Bai Er assented and followed with two guards.
The group had just stepped into the courtyard when they heard a gust of wind sweep in from outside, and their bodies instinctively tensed.
"Who’s there?"
"It’s me."
A cold, female voice rang out.
A lovely figure in purple robes floated down from the sky. Her beautiful eyes swept over them, devoid of any emotion.
"Senior Sister Pei!"
Seeing who it was, Cao Xiong’s face instantly went deathly pale. A chill shot from the back of his neck and enveloped his entire body.
’Why would Pei Jingque be here at a time like this?’
’Could it be...’
’Has what we’ve done been discovered?’
At the thought of the consequences if his deeds were exposed, Cao Xiong’s body stiffened, and a look of terror appeared in his eyes.
’Fight?’
’I’m no match for her!’
If he was like this, the three men behind him were in even worse shape. Bai Er was so scared he nearly wet his pants on the spot.
’It’s over!’
"Senior Sister."
Cao Xiong gritted his steel-like teeth, lowering his head to hide the panic in his eyes as his True Qi began to circulate wildly within him.
"What brings you here?"
’Surrender without a fight?’
’Absolutely not!’
’In that case, my only option is to risk it all.’ ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"A thief fled to this area. I came to take a look," Pei Jingque said, her voice cold, flat, and monotonous.
"Have you seen anyone?"
"No." Cao Xiong shook his head repeatedly.
"We haven’t seen anyone."
In the short time it took to exchange those few words, a layer of cold sweat had already formed on his back, but his heart was wild with joy.
’She’s not here because of what I did!’
’That scared me to death!’
As for the slight strangeness in her voice, they had so little contact with her that they naturally didn’t notice.
"Why are you all so nervous?" Pei Jingque’s eyebrow arched slightly, as if she had already seen through them.
"Circulating your True Qi so quickly?"
"No! Not at all." Cao Xiong waved his hands frantically, relaxing his tense body and suppressing the qi within him.
"We were just a little nervous from seeing you so suddenly, Senior Sister."
"Yes." Bai Er went even further, retracting all of his True Qi into his Dantian and saying with a fawning smile:
"Is there anything we can do for you, Senior Sister? If so, just give the word. We would go through fire and water for you."
"As a matter of fact, there is," Pei Jingque said with a captivating smile.
"Oh!" Cao Xiong slapped his chest.
"Please, give us your command, Senior Sister."
"Lend me your heads!"
Pei Jingque’s voice suddenly turned frigid. Five streaks of cold light burst from her figure, flashing like lightning and instantly streaking past the men.
Five Elements Sword Control Technique!
The attack was too sudden, and the distance was point-blank. The men had no time to react at all.
Besides, to avoid displeasing ’Pei Jingque’, they had actively suppressed their True Qi. Now, it was too late to do anything.
PFFT!
PSHK! PSHK!
A crimson line appeared on the throats of Bai Er and the two guards simultaneously, pierced through by the Flying Sabers.
As for Cao Xiong, two Flying Sabers—one aimed at his throat, the other at the space between his eyebrows—struck him as if they had hit solid rock, their momentum abruptly halting.
’Hm?’
Zhu Ju’s expression hardened.
’Such a powerful Physical Body!’
He had discovered before, when he used the Flying Sabers to kill Sunx Jiuzhi and his companion, that not all Innates were the same.
Sunx Jiuzhi, who cultivated the Earth Evil True Body, had a dense Physical Body that was difficult for even the Five-Pointed Flying Saber to break through.
But the Innate from the Five Poison Sect was as easy to kill with the Flying Sabers as slaughtering a chicken.
That was why he had just used words to lure them into voluntarily dropping their defenses before launching his surprise attack.
But he hadn’t expected that even after dropping his active defenses, Cao Xiong’s Physical Body was still so formidable. His Earth Evil True Body, if not yet at Great Success, was likely not far from it.
Though his thoughts were racing, Zhu Ju’s actions didn’t hesitate for a moment. The ’Magical Power’ in his body circulated madly.
"HAA!"
The two Flying Sabers became like drills, boring into his throat and skull, while the other three Flying Sabers rapidly reversed course.
"AHH!"
The intense pain made Cao Xiong scream, and the qi within his body suddenly surged.
"Damn you!"
"Who the hell are you?"
The Skin Painting Technique could simulate another’s aura, which was how the illusion of ’Pei Jingque’ had been so convincing just now.
Of course, it was also because the men were too frightened to observe carefully; otherwise, they would have certainly noticed something was wrong.
"Die!"
Zhu Ju didn’t respond. Gritting his teeth, he furiously urged his Magical Power, and the Five-Pointed Flying Saber began to grind wildly against Cao Xiong’s face.
TZZZ...
SQUELCH!
In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere.
One of Cao Xiong’s eyeballs was sliced to pieces by the blade, and half his face became a bloody, mangled mess, revealing cracks in the skull beneath.
"AHH!"
"Get off me!"
Earth Evil True Body!
Dongming Force!
A secret art that should only be cultivated by Inner Sect Disciples was now being unleashed by Cao Xiong, sending waves of Powerful Qi blasting toward the Five-Pointed Flying Saber.
The Powerful Qi was like a torrential downpour, dense as a curtain.
The Five-Pointed Flying Saber was forced to retreat from Cao Xiong’s face, but then it swirled like a millstone and wrapped around his left arm.
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
In the blink of an eye, the Flying Sabers had scraped off a tenth of the skin and flesh from Cao Xiong’s arm, revealing the stark white bone beneath.
"AHHH!"
"Bastard! Bastard..."
"I’ll kill you!"
Pain, rage, and terror intertwined in his heart. Cao Xiong roared and pounced toward Zhu Ju like a ferocious tiger.
With a pounce and a leap, his seemingly ordinary movements naturally stirred the Power of Heaven and Earth.
For a dizzying moment, it felt as if it wasn’t a person pouncing, but the world itself.
Clearly, this too was an extraordinary Cultivation Technique.
SHING!
Zhu Ju drew his saber.
The Cross and Vertical Saber slashed through the void, seemingly slow but actually swift, splitting the Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy in two as its blade pointed directly at Cao Xiong.
Demon Saber—Shocking God!
In his fury and haste, Cao Xiong had no time to dodge. He could only roar and grab for the blade with his other, uninjured arm.
CRACK!
As a Breaking Three Acupoints Innate with his Earth Evil True Body nearing Great Success, he managed to catch the Cross and Vertical Saber firmly in his hand.
The two figures then collided head-on.
BANG!
Zhu Ju felt as if he had been hit head-on by a charging elephant. His body trembled, and an ache spread through him.
However, he seized the opportunity to land a palm strike right on his opponent’s chest.
Five Elements Palm!
On the surface, he was a Breaking One Acupoint Innate, but he had actually also broken his Forehead Ancestral Acupoint, making him equivalent to a Breaking Two Acupoints Innate.
Coupled with the subtlety of the Five Elements Palm, Cao Xiong’s body faltered for a moment.
Five-Pointed Flying Saber!
Cross and Vertical Saber! frёewebnoѵēl.com
Five Elements Palm!
Zhu Ju suppressed the turbulent Qi Blood within him, unleashing his long saber in one hand, the Palm Technique with the other, and the Five-Pointed Flying Saber all at once.
The Demon Saber for shock, the Five Elements for subtlety, the Flying Saber for the kill.
THUD!
Within the space of a few breaths, as the Flying Saber drove through the wound into Cao Xiong’s chest and abdomen, his mountain-like body crashed to the ground.
Zhu Ju stood a short distance away, his face pale and his body trembling slightly. He took a deep breath to stabilize his qi.
"That guy..."
"...he was probably no weaker than a Four Acupoints Innate!"
One had to understand that many Middle-Stage Innate Qi Refiners in the Dragon Head Lineage had failed to cultivate the Earth Evil True Body to Great Success.
Although Cao Xiong hadn’t reached it, he wasn’t far off.
If Zhu Ju hadn’t used deceitful words to gain the upper hand, first disabling one of his opponent’s eyes and an arm, he would have had almost no chance of winning in a direct confrontation.
Not to mention the help from Bai Er and the others.
"But..."
’In the end... I still won!’
With a flicker, Zhu Ju’s figure flashed across the area, collecting the Qiankun Bags from each of the bodies.
"Hm?"
Just as he was about to leave, his eyebrow twitched, and he looked toward the building that had been damaged during their fight.
"A secret room?"
Cao Xiong’s courtyard actually had a secret room hidden within it.
WHOOSH!
With another flash, Zhu Ju rushed into the secret room, plundered it, and hurried away before anyone else could arrive.
*
*
*
A dead silence.
Pei Jingque stood in the middle of the scene with a cold expression, surveying the wrecked courtyard as a murderous aura filled the air.
"Flying Sabers."
Shen You said after inspecting the bodies on the ground:
"To be able to control Magical Artifacts and kill Cao Xiong and his men, the perpetrator’s strength must not be weak."
"Senior Brother."
Xu Lai cupped his hands.
"Because of the chaos outside, most of our people were transferred away, so there was no one near Senior Brother Cao’s courtyard."
"By the time we heard the commotion and rushed over..."
"...it was already too late!"
"Good! Very good!" Pei Jingque gritted her teeth.
"Do they really think our Dragon Head Lineage is easy to bully? First, an Inner Sect Disciple was assassinated at the Sect’s residence, and now a steward at a crucial mining site has been murdered."
"This is going too far!"
"Senior Sister," Shen You said, prodding Cao Xiong’s corpse with a look of surprise.
"Junior Brother Cao’s Physical Body was already close to the Great Success stage of the Earth Evil True Body. This... is rather strange."
The Cultivation of the Earth Evil True Body is inseparable from the nourishment of True Qi.
In theory, even with exceptional Talent for Hard Skills, one would need to reach Breaking Four Acupoints or even Breaking Five Acupoints to achieve Great Success with the true body.
Cao Xiong was not such a talent.
To reach such a level at Breaking Three Acupoints, he most likely relied on external aids—in all probability, Body Tempering Elixirs.
And not just one or two.
But a large quantity of high-quality Elixirs.
’Where did he get so many Spirit Stones?’
"Huh?"
An oddity on the head made Shen You’s eyes twitch. He subconsciously reached out to touch it, just as Pei Jingque suddenly cried out.
"Be careful!"
SWISH!
A cold glint flashed and vanished.
The corpse of a strange, earth-brown insect fell at their feet.
"This is..." Shen You’s expression changed.
"A Heart-Devouring Insect!"
"A technique of the Five Poison Sect... Cao Xiong was implanted with a Heart-Devouring Insect by the Five Poison Sect?"
