Chapter 28: The Black-Masked Villain

Chapter 28: The Black-Masked Thieves

"Big brother, stop wasting words with this kid. He should have quite a bit of silver on him; after all, that Howling Moon Wolf alone could sell for thirty or forty thousand."

"Right, kill this kid, and he'll definitely have banknotes on him!"

The two black-masked thieves exchanged a glance, greed flashing in their eyes. Attacking from both sides, they brandished their long sabers and lunged at Ling Xiao.

The combined momentum of two third-stage Martial Vein practitioners was not weak; the blades tore through the air, bringing with them bursts of fierce wind.

"Ignorant fools!"

Ling Xiao gave a disdainful laugh. Had it been before his breakthrough, he might have felt some trepidation, but today...

He could just take these two black-masked thieves to claim a reward.

As the attack came, Ling Xiao’s feet moved lightly, and he had already soared gracefully, landing behind them.

"Kid, if you have guts, don't run!"

"Heh, do I need to run?"

"Hundred-Step Flying Sword!"

He suddenly raised his hand, and the flying sword unsheathed from his back, shooting out like an arrow. The Clear Wind Sword turned into a bolt of lightning, piercing directly through one of their throats.

"Ah—!"

The scream cut off abruptly. The black-masked thief reached out as if to grab Ling Xiao, but his eyes had already lost focus, his pupils dilating.

A moment later, he slumped to the ground, motionless.

"You killed my big brother! I'll have your life!"

The other man did not flee; instead, his long saber surged with true qi as he threw himself at Ling Xiao in a desperate strike.

However, with such mediocre saber techniques, Ling Xiao didn't even need to look.

This time, he didn't bother with the Hundred-Step Flying Sword technique. He simply moved his feet, activating the "Cloud-Soaring Steps" to leap forward. He instantly crashed into the thief's chest and unleashed a punch.

A hole the size of a bowl was blasted directly through the thief's heart.

"You! You! How is this possible!"

Even in death, the slain thief could not comprehend how the gap could be so vast between two third-stage Martial Vein practitioners.

Meanwhile, about several hundred meters away, a pair of eyes flickered with terror.

"If this boy is not eliminated, he will surely become a problem later. That speed is too terrifying..."

This person was none other than Li Xingyun.

He had originally thought that even if the two black-masked thieves couldn't kill Ling Xiao, they could at least leave him heavily injured. At that point, he could step in and ensure a flawless victory.

Who would have thought the result would defy his expectations so greatly?

Ling Xiao's strength was already not much inferior to his own, and his speed far surpassed him.

If not for the fact that he possessed high-level martial arts, Li Xingyun would hardly even dare to think of opposing Ling Xiao now.

Ling Xiao glanced in that direction, whether intentionally or not, and gave a disdainful smile before searching the bodies of the two thieves.

These two actually had two hundred taels of silver and two Breakthrough Pills on them; this was quite a profit.

After taking these items and placing them directly into the Mountain and River Map, Ling Xiao hoisted the two corpses onto his shoulders like a pig and took to the sky, flying toward the Ling family estate.

As soon as he arrived at the gates of the Ling family, the disciples who had once looked upon Ling Xiao with cold disdain showed expressions of shock.

"Hey, aren't those black-masked thieves? I heard even the weakest ones are at the third stage of the Martial Vein!"

"He couldn't have killed them, right? He's only at the second stage... Wait, that's not right, how did Ling Xiao break through to the third stage! That's too fast!"

"It's true! What's going on?"

These people knew very well that just over ten days ago, Ling Xiao was merely a first-stage Martial Vein student.

Back then, anyone could bully him.

But now, Ling Xiao was actually a third-stage Martial Vein practitioner.

The sheer speed of his progress was staggering.

"There are rumors outside saying that Ling Xiao entered the Fulong Mountains a few days ago and happened to encounter a heavily injured Howling Moon Wolf and a field full of medicinal herbs."

"I heard that too. That Howling Moon Wolf was apparently wounded by Li Xingyun and the Li family disciples. Unfortunately, the Li family lost three or four disciples because of it, even that Li Rui died. While they were going back to find reinforcements, this kid swooped in and took the profit."

"How shameless!"

"He's a disgrace to the Ling family!"

"Exactly! If I had those materials from the Howling Moon Wolf and those herbs, I could have broken through too!"

"I bet he just scavenged those two black-masked thieves as well."

"Definitely!"

...

Hearing this buzzing, like a swarm of flies, Ling Xiao was not angry. Instead, he wore a proud smile.

In the past, no one would have noticed him; people only thought of him when they wanted someone to vent their frustrations on.

But today, their words were filled with jealousy and envy, which made him feel quite honored.

Although the events in the Fulong Mountains were being described in a completely distorted way, as long as the Li family didn't come looking for trouble, it was fine.

Currently, he was only a ninth-grade family member; if the family decided to abandon him, they would.

If he could achieve results in the annual grand competition or earn one hundred merit points, he could secure the protection of the Ling family.

After going to the Hall of Rewarding Good and Punishing Evil to hand over the two black-masked thief corpses, he received a reward of two hundred taels of silver and twenty merit points.

Ling Xiao went straight to rent a house. In the Ling family, as long as you had money, it was actually quite easy to rent a good house.

Since he was only staying for a few months, Ling Xiao simply rented a large house for a monthly rent of one hundred taels.

It was fully equipped.

It had a training room, two spacious bedrooms, a living room, a courtyard, a kitchen, and even two servants.

After paying the silver and receiving the contract, Ling Xiao returned to his old dilapidated house. A construction crew had already arrived and begun demolishing the old structure in preparation for reconstruction.

Ling Xiao didn't plan to make the new house too large; he wouldn't be living here forever, and besides, with just him and his grandfather, a house that was too big would be inconvenient to clean.

So, two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a training room would be enough.

However, the materials had to be high quality.

Once the house matters were settled, Ling Xiao and his grandfather, Hong Qi, moved their belongings into the rented house with the help of the construction crew.

After finishing all this, Ling Xiao entered a state of secluded cultivation once again.

Having a dedicated training room was much better than a regular bedroom; at the very least, it was safe and free from disturbances.

Furthermore, training rooms were generally built with special structures capable of defending against intense vibrations.

Even a force of ten thousand catties would be unable to blast it open, providing Ling Xiao with much better conditions for practice.

Closing his eyes, Ling Xiao first entered the Mountain and River Map to conduct an inspection.

The medicinal herbs were growing very well, and the several raised demon beast cubs were living happily, making Ling Xiao feel a bit guilty about ever treating them as medicinal ingredients.

"Congratulations, your Mountain and River Map has upgraded to Level 3. You have obtained new cards: Level 3 Farmer, Level 3 Herder, and Level 3 Craftsman."

"Craftsman? That's a new profession."

Intrigued, Ling Xiao clicked on the Craftsman card to read the description and couldn't help but smile.

"This is a group of omnipotent craftsmen. They can forge various weapons, equipment, and tools. As their level increases, their abilities will grow even stronger!"

"All items forged by these craftsmen will possess special properties. Would you like to summon a craftsman?"

"No rush."

Although Ling Xiao currently had tens of thousands of taels of silver and an unsold Howling Moon Wolf corpse, building a house cost money.

Moreover, he hadn't decided what he wanted the craftsmen to make yet, so he would wait.

What he wanted to do most right now was cultivate the "Ox Demon Art."

He already had the "Crimson Sun Art," "Savage Ox Strength," "Meteor Fist," "Qi Bursting Art," "Qi Recovery Art," "Tiger Descending Step," "Hundred-Step Flying Sword Technique," and two other mid-level movement techniques ready to be devoured.

To what extent would this "Ox Demon Art" improve him?

(End of Chapter)