174: Chapter 173 I swear I will not rest until I avenge this wrong!

Jian Wuhen tossed the iron sword in his hand, and after it spun twice in the air, it landed directly back into the scabbard on his back.

"I thought you were strong, but it turns out you're just so-so."

After Jian Wuhen finished speaking, he gave the other party a disdainful look and then turned directly to walk forward.

"Bastard! Enjoy your moment, because before long, you'll be kneeling at my feet like a dog, begging for mercy!"

Master Cao knelt on the ground, one hand clutching the sword scar on his chest, his expression extremely ugly. He turned to look at Jian Wuhen's back as it gradually disappeared into the thick mist and couldn't help but let out a low growl.

"Hmm!? I was going to let you off, but you're still looking for death!?"

Jian Wuhen, who had just walked several miles away, naturally heard Master Cao's impotent rage and couldn't help but sneer. He hadn't killed the man just now not because he was kind-hearted, but because he didn't want to cause trouble for himself.

After all, although this was within the Lightning Pool Trial, it was still within the range of the Shrine. If he were to kill someone directly and someone caught wind of it, it would eventually become a hidden danger.

But... if they died in an accident, that would be a different story.

A sharp light shot from his eyes. Immediately after, dozens of sharp Sword Qi erupted from his body, flying in all directions into the thick mist for dozens of miles around.

In an instant, Sword Qi crisscrossed, throwing the thick mist into total chaos.

The corners of Jian Wuhen's mouth curled up slightly. He remembered clearly that Master Cao had said just now that in this Lightning Pool Trial, being struck to death by Heavenly Lightning or killed by a Lightning Beast was perfectly normal.

In that case, he would create a "normal" accident for the other party.

"What a pity. If this fellow had offended Brother Xia, his end would probably have been even more miserable! I am still too merciful!" Jian Wuhen sighed softly, shook his head, and continued walking forward.

But behind him came the sound of intense thunderstorms, rumbling throughout the entire area. Following that, several shrill screams pierced through the thunderstorms and vaguely reached his ears.

"If you can survive even this, then you're truly lucky!!" Jian Wuhen looked back, sneered, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

...

But not long after he left, the sound of thunderstorms in that area gradually dispersed.

The originally scattered thick mist began to gather again, covering up the messy battlefield.

"Bastard!! Bastard!! Bastard!!"

On the ground, the bloodied Master Cao gasped for air, his teeth clenched around two white beads that had shattered into halves. But those two beads were now covered in cracks and their luster was dim; they were clearly completely ruined.

Beside him, there were only two piles of black ash. After a gust of wind blew past, they faded even more.

That's right, these were the only traces left by those two unlucky fellows. Under the thunderstorm caused by Jian Wuhen just now, after Master Cao snatched their lightning protection beads, the two didn't even leave behind a corpse.

"A gentleman must have his revenge; I swear I am not human if I don't!"

Master Cao painfully spat out the two broken lightning protection beads, his eyes flashing with overwhelming hatred. If he hadn't used his last bit of strength at the critical moment to forcibly snatch the lightning protection beads from the other two, he would probably be dead or have lost half his life by now.

But even so, he was now heavily injured, with not a single part of his body left unscathed.

After resting on the spot for a moment, Master Cao took out a piece of yellowed copper coin paper from his robes and lit it. The paper produced a trail of green smoke as it burned, which circled around him once before shooting directly into the sky.

Having done all this, he lay down with a bit more peace of mind, putting all his effort into recovering from his injuries.

Half an hour later.

"Swoosh!"

A pitch-black iron rod fell from the sky, stabbing fiercely into the ground not far from Master Cao. The massive shockwave caused the ground to cave in, but strangely, the impact dissipated like green smoke just before it reached Master Cao.

Following that, a figure also descended from the sky, standing steadily on top of the iron rod.

It was a lean middle-aged man with incredibly agile eyes. He crossed his arms and looked down at Master Cao lying on the ground.

"Third Brother!"

Master Cao had recovered a lot by now. Seeing the newcomer, a look of joy immediately appeared on his face, and he hurriedly scrambled up to stand before him.

"How did you end up in this state!?"

The man Master Cao called Third Brother frowned, jumped down from the iron rod, and looked at Master Cao's injuries. When he saw the sword wound on his chest and the marks of the Heavenly Lightning burns around it, his gaze suddenly became sharp.

"Who did this!!" A powerful killing intent caused the surrounding thick mist to retreat frantically.

Master Cao's face turned gloomy, and his eyes were filled with hatred as he immediately began to explain.

"It's a long story! Third Brother, I originally just wanted to teach that fellow from the Dongxuan Continent a lesson. After all, they killed one of the newcomers from our Tianqi Continent who entered the Shrine..." By the end, his voice was full of malice and resentment:

"Third Brother, that kid is just a newcomer, and he's from that impoverished Dongxuan Continent, yet he's so arrogant and overbearing! If I lost, I lost, but I didn't expect this guy to actually want my life!! And he used such underhanded methods!"

After speaking, Master Cao subconsciously glanced at the other man, a hint of his scheme succeeding flashing deep in his eyes.

The other man didn't doubt him after hearing this. He sneered, a cold killing intent flashing in his eyes: "He dares to bully my, Tian Hong's, brother? I think he's tired of living!"

Having said that, he took out a Medicinal Pill from his robes and tossed it to Master Cao: "Take this Medicinal Pill first and recover from your injuries quickly. That swordsman and his two companions—not a single one of them will escape. I'll make those fellows kneel obediently before you!"

Master Cao hurriedly caught the Medicinal Pill as if it were a precious treasure and swallowed it, saying, "Thank you, Third Brother! Thank you, Third Brother!"

Tian Hong said no more. He grabbed the iron rod, pulled it out, and then slammed it hard against the ground.

The iron rod seemed to be in sync with his mind, bending slightly. The massive impact sent both man and rod flying like a beam of light, disappearing from before Master Cao.

"Hmph!! With my Third Brother taking action, don't even think about passing this Lightning Pool assessment!"