SHHFF!
An incredibly faint sound—the rustle of clothes brushing over the top of a wall—suddenly came from behind him.
The hairs on Fang Han's entire body instantly stood on end.
His senses, far sharper than an ordinary person's, and his constantly taut nerves screamed a shrill warning at that moment.
Without a second thought, he put power into his waist and hips, his body shooting forward and to the side half a step as if launched by a powerful bow. He spun around abruptly.
"Who's there?"
His gaze caught a small, skinny figure lunging from the shadows. With shifty, rat-like eyes filled with viciousness, it was none other than the "Black Rat" from the scroll.
After his location was exposed, Black Rat hadn't fled far at all. Instead, he had pretended to escape, only to lie in wait for an ambush. He planned to turn the tables and eliminate whoever was tailing him, leading to the attack just now.
SWOOSH—!
Two short daggers, gleaming with a sinister light, stabbed forward like a viper's fangs, already within a foot of Fang Han's chest and abdomen.
The speed was astonishing.
The icy killing intent made Fang Han's skin crawl.
At this moment of life and death, the instincts forged from two years of hard cultivation and tens of thousands of sword swings overrode all other thoughts.
SHING—!
The dragon's cry of the Cyan Blade Sword being unsheathed tore through the alley's silence.
No thought, no hesitation. Fang Han's body reacted instinctively.
He had already unleashed "Wind Rolls Up the Clouds," the technique from the Qingfeng Swordsmanship best suited for parrying and counterattacking.
The sword light was like a suddenly rising cyan wave, sweeping with incredible precision toward the pair of poisoned daggers.
CLANG! CLANG!
Two piercing shrieks of metal on metal erupted almost simultaneously.
Sparks flew everywhere!
Having struck in a hurry, he couldn't use his full strength. A heavy, fierce power transmitted from the twin daggers, making Fang Han's wrist go slightly numb.
This Black Rat wasn't at the Late Stage of Flesh Refining, but had already reached the Early Stage of Muscle Refining. Combined with his poisoned daggers and sneak attack, he was exceptionally dangerous.
Fortunately, Fang Han was already at the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining, which was why he could block the unexpected ambush.
'What?!'
His ambush blocked, extreme shock and terror flashed in Black Rat's eyes.
His signature counter-ambush tactic had never failed him; countless pursuers had fallen for it. He never expected it to be so easily neutralized by a young man.
The reverberating force from the opponent's block was powerful and domineering. His strength was even greater than his own. He was likely a Martial Artist at the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining.
'Flee!'
Strike once and fail, then flee a thousand miles!
Black Rat had no intention of continuing the fight. Using the repulsive force from the clash of their weapons, his small body drifted backward as if weightless, about to melt into the shadows and escape.
'Trying to run?!'
Fang Han broke out in a cold sweat, which was immediately followed by a surge of rage that rushed to his head.
'If I hadn't been on high alert, if my swordsmanship hadn't become instinct...'
After the lingering fear came a chilling killing intent!
"Gentle Breeze Chasing Shadow!"
Fang Han stomped his foot, and the ground cracked slightly. His figure shot out like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, the Cyan Blade Sword in his hand transforming into specks of cold light that shadowed Black Rat, targeting his vital points.
The sword light was dense, swift, and fierce. His Qingfeng Swordsmanship, at the Great Success Realm, was fully unleashed, instantly sealing off all of Black Rat's possible escape routes.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG—!
Horrified, Black Rat frantically brandished his twin daggers, desperately trying to parry.
The dense clashing of blades was like a downpour on lotus leaves, continuous and unending.
With every sword strike he blocked, his arm grew number, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger soon split open, bleeding.
Fang Han's Sword Techniques were not only fast, but also carried an incredibly condensed, penetrating Power that sent his qi and blood into turmoil, making it feel as if his internal organs were being displaced.
The longer he fought, the more terrified he became, a cold dread filling his heart.
'I've definitely run into a scion of a great family, and a genius one at that.'
'I'm probably going to die here today.'
"Die!"
A vicious look filled Fang Han's eyes.
A cyan light found an opening and slipped through, piercing through the web of Black Rat's flailing daggers as easily as a hot knife through butter, and plunged precisely into his chest.
PFFT—!
All of Black Rat's movements froze instantly.
He looked down in disbelief, staring in horror at the Cyan Blade Sword that was buried almost completely in his chest, right over his heart.
"Urgh..."
He tried to say something, but all that came out was a gush of hot, metallic-tasting blood.
The viciousness and cunning in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by a vacant, deathly gray.
With a flick of his wrist, Fang Han pulled out his longsword.
A spray of warm blood gushed out, a few drops even spattering onto his wrist and collar, carrying a thick, nauseatingly metallic stench.
Black Rat's body slumped to the ground with a dull thud, his eyes wide open in death.
The alley fell back into dead silence.
"Huuuh—"
Fang Han stood with his sword in hand, panting slightly, his chest heaving.
He stared at the dark red blood rapidly spreading on the ground and smelled the thick scent of it in the air. His stomach churned, and his face turned a little pale.
In this life and his last, this was his first time... killing someone.
"Young Master Han!"
The rugged man, who was skilled at Tracking but not combat, saw the fight was over and hurried forward, his face a mixture of lingering fear and concern.
"Are you alright? Are you injured?"
Fang Han took a deep breath, forcing down the discomfort in his throat and the slight tremor in his arm. He slowly sheathed his sword and shook his head.
"I'm fine."
His voice was a bit hoarse at first, but it quickly returned to normal.
Only then did the man let out a huge sigh of relief, saying with lingering fear:
"That scoundrel was truly cunning and vicious, trying to ambush you like that. If you weren't so vigilant, Young Master, the consequences would have been unthinkable!"
He crouched down and began to expertly search Black Rat's body.
Soon, he pulled a small, blood-stained, coarse cloth money pouch from inside Black Rat's clothes. He weighed it in his hand and offered it to Fang Han.
"Young Master, there's about seven-plus taels of broken silver inside."
Fang Han glanced at the blood-stained pouch but didn't take it. He said,
"You can have this silver. Consider it payment for helping me with the search. The fifty-tael bounty from the Government Office will be mine."
The man was stunned for a moment, then a look of delighted surprise appeared on his face.
He hadn't even thought about the fifty-tael bounty. Seven-plus taels of silver was already a huge windfall for him, far exceeding his expectations for this errand.
He quickly bowed, his tone even more respectful.
"Thank you for your reward, Young Master Han!"
"I'll leave the rest to you. Take care of the body and deliver it to the Government Office to be verified for the bounty."
Fang Han instructed, his gaze no longer lingering on the corpse on the ground.
"Don't worry, Young Master! This lowly one will handle it properly!"
The man promised, slapping his chest.
Fang Han nodded, said no more, and turned to leave.
He walked down the narrow alley, the setting sun stretching his shadow long behind him.
The faint scent of blood still seemed to linger in the air, and the few specks of dried, dark red blood on his wrist were particularly conspicuous.
He clenched his fists slightly, feeling his heart still pounding from the fight.
'The path of the Martial Dao is ultimately paved with blood.'
'Today is just the beginning.'
Upon returning to the Fang Mansion, Fang Han went to report to Elder Fang Yuan.
When Elder Fang Yuan learned what had happened, he was reasonably satisfied with Fang Han's performance and offered him a few words of encouragement.
For the next period of time, the family assigned no new tasks, so Fang Han once again devoted himself entirely to his Cultivation.
The benefit of having a private Martial Arts Room was now obvious; he could focus completely without any disturbances.
Time passed quietly as he trained, sweat pouring down like rain.
At the end of the month, Fang Han received his reward for ranking tenth on the Martial Arts Stele. Two heavy wooden boxes were delivered to him.
'Twenty Qi Blood Pills.'
Opening one of the wooden boxes, Fang Han saw two small blue-and-white Porcelain Bottles.
Each Porcelain Bottle contained ten Qi Blood Pills, for a total of twenty.
Even though he was now in the Middle Stage of Muscle Refining and his consumption of Qi Blood Pills had increased, twenty pills were still enough to last him a month.
'Twenty taels of silver...'
Fang Han opened the other wooden box. Inside were two ten-tael ingots of silver, totaling twenty taels.
This was equivalent to a month's salary for his father, a Restaurant Manager. For a family disciple still undergoing training in the Martial Hall, this was undoubtedly an extremely generous monthly allowance.
'Twenty taels a month, plus the fifty-tael bounty for the wanted criminal... it will only take nine months to save up a thousand taels...'
Fang Han calculated the time it would take to gather a thousand taels.
Nine months. Although this was still a bit long, it was much shorter than the previous estimate of over three years, making it barely acceptable.
'And if I can achieve a higher ranking...'
Fang Han thought about the rewards for a higher rank.
Without a doubt, a higher rank meant a larger monthly reward.
And if he could obtain a higher rank, the time required would undoubtedly be shortened significantly. The final duration would likely be much less than nine months.
A stronger sense of anticipation for raising his rank grew within him.