The man known as Second Brother shook his head. "Third Brother, you can’t take this lightly. According to our intelligence, this young man named Yang Qi is quite formidable; otherwise, they wouldn’t have hired all five of us. Remember, we’re only in charge of surveillance and tracking. Big Brother is the one who’ll make the move, and only he is capable of killing him."

"I refuse to believe a young brat like that can be so powerful. That’s just fearmongering. If I see him, I’ll just take him out myself!"

"Shut your mouth! If you want to die, go right ahead, but Big Brother has a nasty temper!"

At the thought of their leader, Third Brother finally clamped his mouth shut, a cold shiver running down his spine. Their Big Brother was both incredibly powerful and terrifyingly vicious.

"Someone’s coming!" Suddenly, Second Brother gestured for silence. When facing an expert, any careless talk could get you discovered. Even whispering was too risky, so they had to be extremely cautious.

Both men fell silent, their gazes fixed on the distance. They saw a young man in a white tracksuit walking toward them, chewing gum, humming a tune, and wearing headphones. He seemed completely oblivious to the imminent danger.

Heh, sorry, kid. You may not look like much, but you’re definitely going to die today! Third Brother sneered inwardly, his hand stealthily moving toward his weapon. In his eyes, this weakling would be easy to eliminate. There was nothing to worry about, so he decided to ignore the plan.

In the blink of an eye, both Second and Third Brother lost sight of Yang Qi. "Where did he go?" They scrambled to their feet, looking around in a panic.

Just then, a figure appeared behind them. His hands condensed into sharp golden blades that effortlessly slit both of their throats.

"As Assassins, you two weren’t bad, both being Ninth Rank Great Grandmasters. The Blood Lotus Sect certainly takes me seriously, sending three Ninth Rank Great Grandmasters. The remaining two must be even stronger, then." As Yang Qi spoke, with a flick of his finger, he turned their bodies to ash, leaving no trace.

"From their conversation, it sounds like someone else is supposed to meet them. In that case, I might as well wait here." Yang Qi smiled. He used the Demon Fox Mask to take on the appearance of one of the assassins—specifically, Second Brother, whose build was the most similar to his own, making the disguise easier.

A car was heading their way.

Inside were a young man and a middle-aged man. The young man was driving, while the middle-aged man sat in the back seat with his eyes closed.

"Big Brother, there’s really no need to worry," said the driver, Fifth Brother, as he drove. "Fourth Brother is the best at tracking; there’s no way that kid will spot him. Besides, Second Brother and Third Brother have set up an ambush along his route home. Even if he shakes Fourth Brother, he can’t possibly avoid them."

Big Brother kept his eyes closed and replied, "Hmm. After this mission is complete, we can finally take a break. We’ll travel abroad. Even Assassins need to rest and enjoy life."

"That would be fantastic! It’ll be good to wash off the stench of blood! The Tang Family was incredibly generous this time, offering such a huge reward just to kill a twenty-five-year-old. This is easy money."

Fifth Brother’s car was now nearing the ambush point.

"Stop the car!" Big Brother suddenly yelled.

SCREECH!

The car jerked to a sudden halt.

"What’s wrong, Big Brother?"

"Something’s not right. We’ve reached their ambush point, so why hasn’t Fourth Brother appeared? Whether he lost the target or is still on his tail, he should be here to report to us." A flicker of worry crossed Big Brother’s eyes. "This is bad. Second and Third Brother might be in danger. Get out of the car!"

"Help!"

At that moment, a voice cried out. They saw Second Brother, covered in blood, running toward them in terror.

"Second Brother!" Seeing this, Fifth Brother couldn’t help but admire Big Brother’s insight. Trouble had indeed struck. He ran forward to help his brother.

"Wait!" Big Brother shouted, but it was too late. A sharp, golden longsword pierced through Fifth Brother’s heart. He collapsed, his eyes wide open in death.

"Damn it!" Big Brother’s expression turned incredibly grim as he watched Yang Qi shed his bloodied clothes, revert to his original appearance, and smile at him.

"Since you brothers are so close, why not join them?" Yang Qi said with a faint smile. "Tell me, with so many things you could be doing, why become Assassins? Does this line of work ever have a happy ending?"

"Die!"

Enraged, Big Brother brandished a Western Sword—a slender blade designed primarily for thrusting, not slashing. With a flick of his wrist, the blade shot forward, its light creating ripples in the air and producing sonic booms. It was undoubtedly a lethal move. The moment he struck, he sought both revenge and the completion of his mission.

"A First Rank Overlord, no wonder. The Tang Family really does think highly of me, huh?" Yang Qi called this out intentionally. A subtle change in Big Brother’s eyes confirmed Yang Qi’s suspicion: these Assassins had been sent by the Tang Family. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The Sword Skill was vicious and cunning. His opponent was a seasoned veteran, and Yang Qi didn’t dare let his guard down. He was strong, but he had a weakness: a lack of combat experience. His opponent, an Assassin, had surely survived countless such battles and possessed far more experience than he did. If Yang Qi was careless, he could easily end up dead on his blade.

Yang Qi’s figure flashed as he retreated continuously, attempting to evade the attack. But his opponent was clearly experienced in this. He stomped on the ground, and his speed, instead of decreasing, actually increased, keeping Yang Qi within his weapon’s attack range.

SWISH!

With a sharp tearing sound, Yang Qi’s afterimage was shattered. The Western Sword had pierced a large tree, running it clean through.

Just then, however, the Assassin felt an intense wave of danger from behind.

Impossible! He was stunned. There had been no mistake in his attack; he had clearly hit his target. How could it have caused no injury? He saw his blade strike Yang Qi. Even if it wasn’t a fatal blow, he should have been severely wounded. Where was this feeling of crisis behind him coming from?

Of course, he didn’t know that after breaking through the Body Tempering Stage, Yang Qi had cultivated a new spell: the Clone Technique.

Currently, he could only create one Clone, and it had no combat power; it was more like a shadow. However, it was nearly indistinguishable from the real person and could absorb an enemy’s attack in its master’s place. What the Assassin had pierced was merely this Clone. The Clone Technique was not one of the Five Elements spells; rather, it was a Divine Secret Skill.

It could grow stronger as a Cultivator’s Cultivation improved. At its most powerful, one could have tens of thousands of Clones, each possessing the same Combat Power as the main body. However, to reach that level, one would likely need to become a true immortal.