Martial Saint with Passives

Through a message from his crow, Jiang Che learned that Xu Zhouzi had killed Mo Wuhen and let the gravely wounded Xie Songnian go.

His mind instantly began to race.

’Xu Zhouzi actually let that old dog go. What misplaced compassion...’

’But...’

’Xie Songnian is on his last breath...’

’This is...’

’The perfect time to kill him!’

’Once he recovers, finding another chance like this will be next to impossible!’

’This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!’

The thought of what he was about to do—assassinate a top expert at the Fifth Layer of the True Master Realm—

...made even the iron-willed Jiang Che’s breath involuntarily quicken.

He quickly scanned his surroundings to ensure no one had noticed him.

Without another moment’s hesitation, his figure flickered. He transformed into a black streak of lightning and shot off madly in the direction his crow had indicated!

「...」

Xie Songnian fled for his life.

The speed he’d gained by burning his Spirit Blood was pushed to its absolute limit, transforming him into a crimson streak of lightning.

He didn’t dare pause for an instant, let alone look back.

He knew that people from either the Qilin Army or the Cangyun Sect could catch up to him at any moment!

After fleeing for an unknown amount of time, just as the violent power generated from burning his Spirit Blood was about to run out, he finally dove into a desolate, rarely-trodden mountain range.

After navigating a series of twists and turns, he slipped into an extremely well-hidden cave.

The cave was pitch-black and filled with a damp, musty stench—a mixture of soil and rotting leaves.

THUMP!

Xie Songnian could no longer support himself and collapsed like a heap of mud onto the cold ground.

He gasped for breath, his chest heaving violently like a pair of old, broken bellows.

He slowly raised a hand, examining his current state in the faint light filtering in from the cave entrance.

His hands were no longer the ruddy, powerful hands of before. They had become as withered and gaunt as a chicken’s claws, the wrinkled skin clinging tightly to the bone.

It was as if his entire body had been drained of all its Life Energy in an instant, turning him into a horrifying skeleton wrapped in a single layer of skin!

”Cough... Ahem, cough...”

He coughed violently, each hack bringing up clots of black blood.

That palm strike from Xu Zhouzi had long since shattered his internal organs!

Forcibly burning his Spirit Blood on top of that had completely exhausted his already dwindling lifespan!

He knew that if he didn’t receive treatment...

...he wouldn’t last more than a few days.

He struggled to pull a Jade Bottle from a hidden pocket in his robes. He tipped out a handful of soybean-sized Elixir Pills, stuffed them all into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

A moment later, a hint of color finally returned to his face.

”I did nothing wrong...”

He lay on the cold ground, muttering to himself.

His murky eyes were filled with bone-deep hatred.

”Winner takes all... I just happened to lose!”

”It’s all your fault!”

”It’s all that old bastard Xu Zhouzi’s fault!”

”And it’s all that ungrateful mad dog Qin Fuhu’s fault!”

He began to curse wildly.

It was as if this could somehow lessen his pain.

”But it’s fine... It’s fine. I was prepared!”

”I knew that bastard Qin Fuhu was no good. Good thing I already arranged an escape route!”

”As long as... as long as I can get to the Medicine King Valley in Taizhou Prefecture... I can still be saved!”

”Once I’ve recovered...”

”I will make you all... pay for this in blood!”

”Cangyun Sect! I’ll slaughter every last one of you!”

”Xu Zhouzi! Did you think I’d be grateful because you let me go? In your dreams! It’s all your fault... all your fault!”

”Cough, cough, cough...”

All the talking agitated his wounds, sending him into another violent coughing fit.

”Xingwen...”

”My Xingwen...”

He suddenly thought of his son, who had died a tragic death.

”And... Jiang Che!”

A terrifying glint instantly erupted from his murky eyes!

”When the time comes... I will tear you, you little bastard... limb from limb!”

「...」

Just as Xie Songnian was clinging to his fantasies of the future and planning his grand revenge...

...fifty meters outside the cave.

Jiang Che, having already activated his [Shadow Escape], had long since followed him in silence.

’This old dog... is still thinking about killing me...’

Listening to the man’s venom-filled monologue, Jiang Che’s eyes turned instantly to ice.

’Good thing I followed him!’

He didn’t hesitate for another second.

Mercy toward an enemy is cruelty to oneself!

He immediately assumed his Black Armor Form, raising an arm as thick as a giant python. He mimed the action of drawing a bowstring, aiming toward Xie Songnian inside the cave.

”Twenty-Fifthfold Strike...”

”Silent Extinction Star-Chasing Arrow!”

BOOM!!!

A terrifying surge of energy exploded without warning outside the silent cave!

Inside the cave, still lost in his fantasies of revenge, alarm bells suddenly shrieked in Xie Songnian’s mind!

”What was that?!”

He looked up in horror to see an Arrow of destruction, as black as ink and seemingly capable of swallowing all light, hurtling toward him at a terrifying speed!

He wanted to dodge!

But in his gravely wounded state, he didn’t even have the strength to stand. How could he possibly dodge?!

At the last second, he could only use the final shred of True Qi in his body to form a True Qi Shield in front of him!

Though he was shocked and bewildered, he wasn’t particularly afraid.

’The power of this attack... is at the level of the Third or Fourth Layers of the True Master Realm at most... Even without much True Qi, it shouldn’t be able to do anything to me...’

However, the very instant that thought flashed through his mind...

...the pitch-black Arrow traced a bizarre arc through the air, bypassing his True Qi Shield and slamming with pinpoint accuracy into his lower body!

’The Arrow... it can curve?!’

This sudden turn of events left him utterly horrified!

RUMBLE!!!!!!

The terrifying explosion instantly engulfed the entire cave!

Broken Stone flew everywhere as dust and smoke billowed into the sky!

The entire hill seemed to tremble violently under the world-ending impact!

When the dust finally began to settle...

...a wretched figure could be seen in the ruins of the flattened cave, struggling to crawl, inch by inch, out of the rubble.

It was Xie Songnian!

He wasn’t dead!

But his current state was barely human.

His entire lower body, including both legs, had been completely vaporized in the terrifying explosion, vanishing without a trace!

His arms were reduced to bare, gleaming bone, all the flesh stripped away!

But he still wasn’t dead!

The Life Energy of a True Master Realm expert was far beyond that of an ordinary Martial Artist!

He struggled, using his two bony arms to prop himself up, and slowly raised his head.

He had to know who it was!

Who had driven him to this desperate end!

However, when he finally made out the figure standing outside the ruins, he was utterly dumbfounded.

Outside the ruins stood a giant over three meters tall, covered in menacing Black Armor. It watched him dispassionately with eyes that burned with dark red flames.

”Who... who are you?!” Xie Songnian managed to squeeze a few words from his throat. ”Why... why are you killing me?!”

The reply was a cold whisper, like that of a Demon.

”Who am I?”

”I’m the one... who killed your son!”

”So... who do you think I am?”

”You... you’re... Jiang Che?!”

Xie Songnian’s eyes widened, his face a mask of shock and disbelief.

But he would never get an answer.

The only answer he received was another beam of black light!

”Twenty-fifthfold!”

”Azure Dragon... Silent Extinction!”

SQUELCH!

Xie Songnian’s head, filled with resentment and venom, instantly burst like a popped balloon!

His ruined body was also completely pierced through the center by the beam of destruction!

Xie Songnian, a formidable figure of his generation and Vice Sect Leader of the Cangyun Sect.

...was, from this day forward, utterly obliterated.

「...」

Jiang Che slowly reverted from his Black Armor Form.

Looking down at the mangled, inhuman corpse on the ground, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

The great threat that had hung over his head like the sword of Damocles for so long...

...was finally...

...gone.

He then crouched down and began to carefully search the bloody, mangled corpse.

’A man as prominent as the Vice Sect Leader must have some good stuff on him!’

’Although those last two attacks might have destroyed some things...’

’...there must be something that survived!’

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before his fingertips brushed against a cold, hard object.

He pushed aside flesh and bone fragments to retrieve a palm-sized, exquisite Jade Box crafted from some unknown White Jade.

The Jade Box was warm to the touch, its surface intricately carved with cloud patterns. It had somehow survived the terrifying explosion completely unscathed!

His heart stirred as he slowly opened the lid.

HUMMM—

A strange medicinal fragrance, many times purer and more potent than the substitute True Essence Pill he had found before, instantly billowed out of the box!

Inside the Jade Box lay a single, longan-sized Elixir Pill. It was a brilliant gold, and wisps of tangible golden mist swirled around its surface!

Just from smelling the fragrance, Jiang Che felt the supposedly indestructible barrier at his Baihui Acupoint show faint signs of loosening!

’Could this... could this be...’

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

’A True... True Essence Pill!’

In that moment, Jiang Che’s heart began to pound uncontrollably.

He quickly closed the Jade Box and carefully tucked it into his robes.

Then, he continued to search.

Soon, he found another item that was also completely intact.

It was a simple, palm-sized mirror forged from some unknown type of bronze.

Inscribed upon the mirror’s surface were a series of strange, impossibly profound runes.

On the back of the mirror were carved two ancient words in seal script.

”Illusory Truth.”

’I wonder what this mirror is for...’

Jiang Che studied it for a while but couldn’t figure it out.

’Whatever. I’ll figure it out when I get back...’

Jiang Che carefully put away the ancient Bronze Mirror. After rummaging through the bloody mess for another moment and confirming there was nothing else of value...

...he took out the Corpse-Dissolving Water he had prepared in advance. He poured it over Xie Songnian’s mangled corpse and all the surrounding bloodstains, dissolving everything into a clear liquid that soaked into the earth, leaving not a single trace behind.

Once that was done, his figure flickered, and he quickly departed.

「...」