8: Chapter 8: Slaying the Assassin!

Jiang Qian stood sideways, meeting the attack with the dagger in his hand.

This Sharp Weapon, which had accompanied him in slaying countless enemies, snapped instantly.

The pressure released by the Corpse Collector before him was so intense that he couldn't help but tremble...

The Jin Kingdom assassin finally realized that the person in front of him was not the nobody he had imagined.

With no time to think, a fierce blade momentum lunged at him once again.

Moreover, within this blade momentum, there was a faint entanglement of thunder and lightning.

Jiang Qian felt his body go numb; his attempts to control his movements were no longer as agile.

Such a blade technique was clearly no ordinary Martial Skill!

The second Move Li Yuan swung directly injured him.

His originally casual expression turned solemn, and after being wounded, that solemnity turned into panic.

He felt his life was in danger!

Without further hesitation, Jiang Qian directly activated his movement technique's Moves, his figure flashing as he fled toward the Jin Kingdom.

As an assassin, fleeing was perfectly normal in his eyes.

But this time, he felt a sense of grievance in his heart.

A mere Corpse Collector he hadn't even spared a glance for had pushed him to such a state.

The Corpse Collector of Yingyang Pass was actually a hidden powerhouse.

Jiang Qian thought of a countermeasure; after returning, he might have to invite a helper to deal with this person.

In his view, since he had chosen to flee, he was bound to be safe.

Though he was a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist, in terms of movement technique and strength, he could fully compete with an entry-level Eighth-Grade Martial Artist.

An Eighth-Grade Martial Artist possessed the strength of an enshrined expert in various military camps.

The opponent before him had a terrifying and invincible blade technique that he indeed could not match.

But when it came to movement techniques, Jiang Qian had absolute confidence.

This was his greatest specialty; that the Corpse Collector was so young yet possessed such strong Martial Skills was already unexpected.

The skill of movement techniques required years of cultivation and tempering.

For him, Jiang Qian, to reach this step in his forties was already the limit.

With this confidence, he looked ahead only to find that Li Yuan was already blocking his path with blade in hand.

His speed was extremely fast, but Li Yuan was even faster.

Jiang Qian's face turned deathly pale, and his heart was filled with a surge of horror.

His figure flickered like a shadow as he prepared to evade toward the west.

But Li Yuan activated the Cloud Mist Step; not only was he not shaken off, but he easily caught up.

Immediately after, the Heavenly Thunder Blade released a surging blade momentum that lunged toward him.

The breath of thunder and lightning seemed hidden within the blade momentum, making Jiang Qian's limbs go numb and his steps even slower...

"It seems my luck is alright, while yours is rather poor."

Li Yuan blocked his path once again.

He spoke softly, throwing back the words the other had said earlier.

"Ex... Exalted One, have mercy. This lowly one did not know of your prowess; please spare my life.

This lowly one is willing to pass on my exclusive martial arts, only asking that you spare my dog's life..."

These assassins seemed to be capable of both yielding and standing firm.

Begging for mercy to save their lives was a very practiced skill.

But since Li Yuan had already revealed his strength, there was no reason to leave him alive.

He had intended to kill Li Yuan, so he could not be easily forgiven.

"As for martial arts, I don't need you to teach me. I'll have a way to extract them from your body."

As his voice fell, a fierce blade momentum descended.

The broken blade sliced directly through his throat.

This top assassin of the Jin Kingdom perished just like that.

An assassin who even the City Lord of Yingyang Pass feared died at the hands of a Corpse Collector.

Watching him breathe his last, a moment later, a purple speck of light floated up from the assassin's body.

He reached out to touch it, and the next moment, a prompt appeared before his eyes.

Li Yuan hadn't lied to him; he truly didn't need him to teach any Cultivation Techniques.

[Corpse Looting Technique (Level 3): Picked up Jiang Qian's martial dao experience, thirty-four years of martial dao Internal Energy, Langhe Breath-Hiding Art, and Langhe Cloud-Treading Steps]

Among these, the Langhe Breath-Hiding Art was his exclusive secret technique.

Li Yuan examined the martial dao experience gained in his mind and soon understood the function of this Breath-Hiding Art.

When Martial Artists clash, observing and gathering information is the first step.

By learning this technique, one could hide their aura for a good period of time.

Even when fighting in such an open area, it still had an effect.

Under the breath-hiding state, the impact of all one's actions would be significantly weakened.

If accompanied by the cover of night, it would be even more powerful!

Besides that, it was also a great help in concealing one's strength.

As a Martial Artist's cultivation improves, their physique and blood energy grow significantly, supported by powerful Internal Energy.

Even without a fight, many experts can guess a person's strength by observing their breathing and stature.

Cultivating this Langhe Breath-Hiding Art was very useful for hiding his identity.

As for the other technique, Langhe Cloud-Treading Steps, it should be the movement technique Moves Jiang Qian usually utilized.

Li Yuan didn't particularly care about this movement technique.

Through Jiang Qian's martial dao experience, Li Yuan could judge the quality of this movement technique.

In comparison, the Ninth-Grade Mortal Immortal Senior Xie Zhou's Cloud Mist Step was clearly stronger.

However, the Langhe Cloud-Treading Steps also had its advantages; these movement Moves could be used for wading and diving.

Even if one fell into deep water, they would not be affected by the current and could Move at will.

Li Yuan's harvest from Jiang Qian was actually quite substantial.

Since Jiang Qian was a specialist in movement techniques, by borrowing his experience in cultivating and practicing them, Li Yuan could also improve his Cloud Mist Step by a significant margin.

With a little more practice, his movement technique strength could rival that of a top-tier Eighth-Grade Perfection powerhouse!

One must know that he was currently only at the Sixth Grade of the martial dao.

Faced with an Eighth-Grade Martial Artist, he would have complete confidence in saving his own life.

After tallying these gains, Li Yuan pulled his thoughts back.

He definitely had to practice this Langhe Breath-Hiding Art; with Jiang Qian's martial dao experience, it wouldn't take much effort.

But for now, he had to deal with this person's corpse first.

Li Yuan searched around and found Jiang Qian's original clothes.

He put them back on him, intending to take the corpse back with him.

This top assassin of the Jin Kingdom had recently caused panic and fear among the people of Yingyang Pass.

City Lord Liu was even asking the imperial court for reinforcements, which was not something Li Yuan wanted to see.

The people sent by the court could very likely pose a threat to him.

Bringing back the Jin Kingdom assassin's corpse to stabilize Yingyang Pass was what Li Yuan truly wanted.

Keeping small-scale friction at the border to give himself time to develop was most beneficial for him.

Currently, his martial dao Internal Energy had already reached the Seventh-Grade Perfection Realm.

Once his physical strength caught up, he would soon be able to step into the Seventh Grade.

But the Seventh Grade was far from enough to satisfy Li Yuan; it wouldn't even be enough to protect himself if his identity were exposed.

He still needed time to improve!

After loading several corpses onto the wooden cart, Li Yuan prepared to transport them back to Yingyang Pass.

Through the Corpse Looting Technique, Li Yuan would sometimes obtain last words.

If the last words were for their families, Li Yuan would help them write letters and bring them to their kin.

For his fellow soldiers, Li Yuan did his best to help them fulfill their final wishes.

As for this Jin Kingdom assassin, he naturally didn't bother.

Bringing him back was merely to serve as proof.

He pushed the wooden cart toward the military camp.

In Yingyang Pass, everyone very much disliked seeing Li Yuan return pushing his wooden cart.

Whenever this situation occurred, it meant that more soldiers had perished on the front lines.