"Ahhh..."

The pain of his severed arm made Yue Gui scream instinctively. His body trembled, his vision blackened, and the world faded to gray.

His arm was gone, hacked off by another. He was crippled.

A figure flashed before him, darting out from behind a large boulder. Surging Gang Qi swirled around him like a gale, and he radiated a savage aura.

Xu Yang tossed aside the saber in his hand and pounced like a predatory tiger. His arms spread like a great bird’s wings—one hand a fist, the other slightly curved into a claw.

He had never trained in any saber techniques, so using one felt awkward.

’If I had used my fists, Yue Gui wouldn’t have just lost an arm. He’d probably be dead already.’

Pushing his Great Success Level Flying Swallow Skill to its limit, he transformed into a bolt of lightning and caught up to the screaming Yue Gui, his five fingers clamping down on his wrist.

A rapid succession of twelve crisp cracks echoed from within his body. In an instant, the Twelfth Layer of Force was fully stacked, and his fist shot out, tearing through the air like a great spear.

"It’s..."

Yue Gui’s pupils contracted violently, his face contorted with rage and killing intent.

He could now see his ambusher clearly. It wasn’t the group of men in black at all, but Xu Yang, who was supposed to have already left.

’That bastard actually hid here to ambush me! Not only did he leave me to die, but now he’s trying to kill me!’

Xu Yang gave him no chance to speak. Before the word "you" could even leave his lips, the spear-like fist had already slammed into Yue Gui’s body.

Gang Qi erupted. The Twelfth Layer of Force was unleashed, blasting into Yue Gui’s body.

CRACK!

Along with the crisp sound of breaking bones, Yue Gui’s chest caved in. The powerful Gang Qi burst out from his back, blowing a large hole straight through his clothes.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his expression twisting from rage to agony, his features contorting.

His body flew backward involuntarily, but since Xu Yang still had a grip on one of his arms, he was yanked back, leaving him suspended horizontally in mid-air.

"Ahhh..."

The piercing scream echoed across the wilderness. Their eyes met. Yue Gui’s face was a mask of terror and pleading; he had never imagined things would come to this.

Xu Yang’s expression was cold. He couldn’t possibly let someone who hated him live to cause trouble later.

They had no prior grievances, but by stumbling upon Yue Gui and the others being ambushed today, an enmity was now inevitable. The only alternative would have been to repay injustice with kindness and rescue them.

But how could he save a group of people who had backstabbed him? He wasn’t that spineless. Even if it meant potential trouble, he would never save those who had betrayed him.

His fingers shot out like lightning, clamping onto the side of Yue Gui’s head. He seized his head and smashed it violently against the nearby boulder.

CRUNCH!

A sickening crunch of bone followed. Yue Gui’s head burst like a watermelon dropped on the ground, a mixture of red and white splattering everywhere. In that instant, he became a headless corpse.

A moment later, a money pouch was in his hand. He took out the silver banknotes from inside and tossed the pouch away.

Xu Yang continued to search the corpse, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find the most important item—contribution points. He had no choice but to turn into a blurry afterimage and race toward the Purple Sun Sect.

’Then there’s Liu Qian and Qin Ze. But they didn’t flee in this direction; they went into the Yunling Mountain Range. I can’t possibly search the entire mountain range for them. I’ll just have to find a chance to deal with them later.’

’Of course, it’s not even certain they’ll make it back alive. If they do come back and don’t cause me any trouble, I might not have to kill them.’

’Yue Gui and Chen Jiang were both narrow-minded; those two would definitely hold a grudge. As for Qin Ze and Liu Qian, it’s hard to say.’

’The best solution is always to nip the problem in the bud, but the opportunity to kill them is already gone.’

The journey back to the Purple Sun Sect was uneventful. He showed his waist token and entered the sect’s gates smoothly.

Xu Yang circulated his energy to make his face pale and his breathing appear unstable. He even forced a few drops of blood to the corner of his mouth.

Just as he was wondering who to report the incident to, he happened to spot Steward Zhao Qing.

He ran over quickly and said, "Steward Zhao, this disciple was returning from outside the sect when I ran into a group of men in black ambushing four of our fellow disciples, including Qin Ze and Liu Qian. This disciple was gravely injured and didn’t dare try to save them. I implore the Steward to send people to their rescue."

Zhao Qing’s face was impassive. "Leaving the sect without permission? They deserve to die. Get lost."

Xu Yang put on a terrified expression and said, "Yes, yes. This disciple overstepped."

Although he had expected this outcome, hearing Zhao Qing’s cold-blooded words still sent a chill of despair through him.

This wasn’t just about Qin Ze and the others; it was about all Outer Disciples. The Sect simply didn’t see them as important.

If he ever found himself in the same situation as Qin Ze’s group, the Purple Sun Sect would be just as indifferent to his life or death.

’This is like raising Gu worms!’

’It’s mainly because there are too many people. With hundreds, even thousands, of Outer Disciples, if they sent a rescue party every time someone got into trouble, they’d be busy all day long.’

Xu Yang walked a bit further and came across a disciple from the Spiritual Monkey Boxing Hall. He immediately told him what had happened to Qin Ze’s group.

Whether that person would actually gather people for a rescue was none of his concern.

He was only doing all this to cover his bases. If Liu Qian and Qin Ze did make it back alive, he had fulfilled his duty by seeking help. Even if the Sect investigated, he couldn’t be accused of leaving them to die.

The disciple from the Spiritual Monkey Boxing Hall’s expression changed drastically. He thanked Xu Yang and hurried off to find people for a rescue mission.

Xu Yang shook his head inwardly. ’If Liu Qian and Qin Ze didn’t escape, going down the mountain now will just be to collect their bodies. If they did escape, they’ll make it back without needing a rescue.’

When he stepped back into his courtyard, he saw that most people were there.

Jiang Fan, Sun Tao, Jiang Ping, Wan Hai, and the others were gathered together, chatting.

Xu Yang was very surprised to see Jiang Ping. After Jiang Ping, Zhang Yong, and Zhao Zhifei had been sent by Sharp Wind Hall to the Yunling Mountain Range to capture an Exotic Beast cub, he hadn’t seen them since. He had thought they weren’t coming back.