C22 Cutting Grass to Get Rid of the Roots

Lee Sanshui's eyes glinted coldly as he advanced step by step, forcing Woo Zhengyang to retreat rapidly. At first glance, Woo Zhengyang seemed to be at a disadvantage. However, it wasn't long before his tense expression relaxed, and he chuckled lightly, "How long can you keep this up?"

After the initial panic, Woo Zhengyang found his composure. After all, he was a Five-star Martial Disciple, while his opponent had just reached the level of a Four-star Martial Disciple, relying heavily on his energy to enhance his physical abilities. His speed couldn't match Woo Zhengyang's.

No matter how impressive the sword skill was, what use was it if it couldn't land a hit?

"What... what level are you?" Lee Sanshui realized something was off. He had pushed his speed to the limit but still couldn't catch up, rendering his sword moves ineffective.

As Woo Zhengyang had mentioned, sword skills consumed a lot of energy, and with his Four-star Martial Disciple level, Lee couldn't sustain it for long. Woo Zhengyang didn't answer, which only increased Lee's uncertainty. Seeing his energy nearly depleted, he prepared to retreat.

The myriad of sword shadows vanished as Lee Sanshui's Green Steel Sword was revealed. He threw it towards Woo Zhengyang, using the opportunity to turn and flee.

"As a swordsman, abandoning your sword to escape—how disgraceful," Woo Zhengyang remarked, dodging the flying Green Steel Sword. He then pushed off the ground with a sudden burst of speed, pursuing Lee Sanshui.

"Don't kill me! We can team up and take down Yun Shaoqing. Then, you can be the boss of Six-union Valley," Lee Sanshui pleaded, sensing Woo Zhengyang closing in from behind.

His plea was met with a swift kick from Woo Zhengyang.

"Thud..."

Lee Sanshui, being somewhat short, took the full force of the kick to the back of his head. The power behind Woo Zhengyang's kick was more than any ordinary person could endure. Lee Sanshui was knocked out cold, stumbling forward and collapsing into the thick layer of leaves on the ground, silent and still.

Landing on his feet, Woo Zhengyang stepped over to Lee Sanshui and delivered a punch to his back.

"Crack..."

The sound of a spine breaking echoed as red leaves scattered. Lee Sanshui was unmistakably dead.

This was Woo Zhengyang's first time killing, and he had taken two lives. Yet, he felt little emotion about it. In this world, the strong thrive while the weak perish, a reality everyone, including Woo Zhengyang, accepted.

With Lee Sanshui dead, Woo Zhengyang turned his attention to the Iron Armored Beast. Despite the commotion, the beast hadn't reacted, which was unusual.

As he approached, Woo Zhengyang realized the Iron Armored Beast was just a corpse, strategically placed by Lee Sanshui and his partner as bait to lure him in. They hadn't anticipated that Woo Zhengyang would take the bait, but they paid with their lives.

With a gentle touch, the Iron Armored Beast's body collapsed to the ground. At the softest part of its neck was a fist-sized wound, but to keep the beast intact, Woo Zhengyang and his companions didn't search for the demon core.

Drawing his long sword, the beast's body was swiftly cut open, and Woo Zhengyang finally obtained the last demon core, completing his mission. As he retrieved the core, he realized that in this world, killing and looting were inseparable. Leaving after taking a life showed his inexperience.

Turning back to the bodies of Lee Sanshui and Liu Tieniu, Woo Zhengyang began to gather his spoils. The Green Steel Sword was off-limits; not only was its value uncertain, but it bore the mark of the Profound Heaven Sect, which could spell trouble. Identification tokens were also untouchable.

Aside from these, Lee and Liu were pitifully poor. After a thorough search, Woo Zhengyang found only a few scattered silver coins—better than nothing.

With twenty demon cores from the Iron Armored Beasts in hand and the mission complete, Woo Zhengyang planned to venture deeper into the Falling Leaf Mountains to further hone his skills in the secondary area. The unexpected encounter with Lee Sanshui and Liu Tieniu disrupted his plans, giving him a new task: to eliminate any remaining threats.

Woo Zhengyang knew that Yun Shaoqing had followed him here, and he certainly couldn’t let him go back. Not only would it leave a potential threat, but Yun might also reveal the incident of Lee Sanshui and Liu Tieniu's deaths to the Profound Heaven Sect, which could cause trouble.

The only solution was to keep Yun Shaoqing here. Even if someone reported this to the Profound Heaven Sect, there would be no evidence, and the sect wouldn’t trouble itself over three dead people.

The vastness of the Falling Leaf Mountains made finding someone extremely difficult. Woo Zhengyang decided to turn this to his advantage and fully commit to Yun Shaoqing's plan of lying in wait.

Judging by the condition of the Iron Armored Beast, it was unlikely that Lee Sanshui and Liu Tieniu could have easily struck its vital points. Yun Shaoqing must have helped them as bait, meaning he knew this place well and would come sooner or later. To avoid alerting him prematurely, Woo Zhengyang needed to prepare a simple setup.

The battered Iron Armored Beast lay resting on the ground, while the severely injured Lee Sanshui and Liu Tieniu leaned against a fiery cloud locust tree, half-reclining.

Woo Zhengyang found a lush fiery cloud locust tree, climbed up, and began meditating. As he focused, sword-shaped genuine qi formed around him, and the afternoon passed. As dusk approached, Yun Shaoqing's figure appeared among the trees. Despite his light steps, the dry leaves underfoot rustled, prompting Woo Zhengyang to open his eyes.

"You two seem pretty relaxed, already down here taking a break. Looks like you didn't wait for that kid, huh?" Yun Shaoqing called out with a teasing grin as he spotted Lee Sanshui and Liu Tieniu from a distance.

Usually, the moment Yun Shaoqing appeared, Lee Sanshui would rush over. But today, even after Yun spoke, neither Lee nor Liu moved, which made Yun realize something was off. He stopped in his tracks, cautiously scanning the surroundings.

"They're waiting for me, and I'm waiting for you!" Woo Zhengyang announced as he jumped down from a tree.

The setup was simple, just enough to draw Yun Shaoqing closer without suspicion. Woo Zhengyang hadn't planned on Yun being careless enough to allow a sneak attack, nor did he intend to ambush him. Even though Yun was a Five-star Martial Disciple, as long as he didn't flee immediately, Woo was confident he could keep him there with Lee and the others.

"Woo Zhengyang!" Yun exclaimed in shock upon seeing him, instantly realizing that Lee and Liu were likely in trouble.

As he spoke, Yun took two steps back, warily eyeing his surroundings.

"What? You think I've got people lying in wait for you, just like you would?" Woo chuckled, reading Yun's thoughts.

"What else? Do you really think you alone can handle the two of them? Looks like I've been caught this time. Go ahead, bring your people out!" Yun said, tossing aside his folding fan and drawing the long sword from his waist.

Yun Shaoqing's longsword emitted a soft, bluish glow, with a mist-like aura swirling around its blade. This was a lower-grade magical weapon known as the Misty Blue Sword.

While both were longswords, the difference between an ordinary one and a magical weapon was vast. Even as a lower-grade magical weapon, the Misty Blue Sword far surpassed a hundred Green Steel Swords.

A sword of this caliber could also be called a treasured sword. As the only treasured sword in Six-union Valley, the Misty Blue Sword was something Woo Zhengyang had heard of.

With Yun Shaoqing brandishing his treasured sword, Woo Zhengyang wasted no time and charged straight at him.