The blade struck!
A silver-white sword light unfurled like a bolt of silk. Lin Yan did not choose to defend; instead, he took the initiative and struck first.
Before others, he would defend and counterattack.
Alone, he would eliminate his enemies in an instant.
Three beams of sword light shot out like a swimming dragon parting the waters, each thrusting toward one of the three men.
The sword light was so fast it left three silver afterimages in the air, as if the same blade had been refracted in three different directions.
The masked man on the left sneered. Individually, the three brothers were only average among Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists. But they had painstakingly practiced an assassination formation, and no fewer than twenty Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists had died at their hands, including some of the very best.
’One man against the three of us? He’s courting death!’
His mind raced. ’Lin Yan’s strike looks fierce, but with its Sword Momentum split three ways, its Power must be scattered. The reason I’m closest to him is because I’m presenting a deliberate opening.’
’As long as my long saber blocks this strike, Second Brother and Third Brother will seize the opportunity to close in for the kill.’
’So what if he has Sword Intent? We three brothers have killed Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists with Sword Intent before.’
As the thought crossed his mind, the man brought his long saber up horizontally before his chest. At that very moment, the tip of Lin Yan’s Longsword arrived.
CLANG!
The instant blade met saber and sparks flew, the sneer on the man’s face froze.
The Power that traveled up the body of his saber was completely beyond his comprehension. ’What kind of Sword Intent is this?’
The terrifying Power made the webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open, and he nearly lost his grip on the hilt. The sheer force of the blow sent his center of gravity reeling, knocking him backward.
’This... this is definitely not newly comprehended Sword Intent!’
He stumbled back three steps before barely managing to regain his footing.
However, when he raised his head and saw what was happening, his pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.
"Second Brother, watch out!"
The man screamed, but it was too late.
The man called "Second Brother" had the most agile Body Technique of the three. The moment Lin Yan’s strike forced his eldest brother back, his figure moved like a phantom, closing in with his long saber already raised, slashing horizontally at the back of Lin Yan’s neck.
"Die!" the man roared, his face twisting under his mask.
The edge of his blade was chilling. In the past, other Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists had been decapitated by this very strike.
He could already picture Lin Yan’s head hitting the ground.
’This kid is still too green.’
But in the next instant, he was dumbfounded. Lin Yan’s figure had vanished from before his very eyes. Before he could react, a chill shot up his spine and straight to the top of his skull.
He heard his eldest brother’s shout, but he had no time to react. Lin Yan’s youthful face had already appeared less than three feet to his left.
A sword flash flared!
As the man turned his head for a final glance, he saw Lin Yan’s icy gaze. But by then, there was nothing above his neck. Blood gushed from his torso like a red fountain.
’Great... Great Success Level Sword Intent... The three of us are finished this time.’
This was the last thought that flashed through his mind before everything went black.
His head flew through the air in a graceful parabola, rolling several times after it landed, his face frozen in the astonishment of his final moment.
Having killed his foe with one strike, Lin Yan took a deep breath. The Stone Waist Thunder Ridge erupted at that moment, a series of pops echoing from his vertebrae like rolling thunder. Just as the saber was about to land, his body had shot upward. He twisted on his left foot, and his body seemed to drift like a wisp of smoke.
This was the first time he had been ambushed in Qing State. How could he not be enraged?
Executing the Smoke-Stepping Technique, his figure once again drifted sideways, appearing before the third man. Meeting his target’s terrified gaze, he slashed with his sword.
The sword light fell.
Another head rolled.
Slash!
From start to finish, the man didn’t even have time to raise his saber again.
Now, only one masked man remained on the scene.
Gazing at the Longsword in Lin Yan’s hand, the masked man felt as if he had been plunged into an icy cavern, the hair on his body standing on end. Second Brother and Third Brother were dead, just like that. ’This isn’t some fresh Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist,’ he thought. ’Even a Blood Exchange Realm Powerhouse would be no more terrifying than this!’
"Speak. Why did you ambush me?"
"If I talk, will you let me go?" the man asked in a low voice, trying to suppress the fear in his heart. But the tremor in his voice betrayed his true emotions.
"No. But if you don’t talk, not only will you die, you will die horribly."
Lin Yan’s Longsword hung in the air. The masked man fell silent. His heart filled with resentment as he thought of the client who had hired them. If their client hadn’t given them false information, how could his brothers have met such a fate?
"The three of us were hired for a job. The one who hired us is the son of the Qingfeng Stockade’s Village Chief. He’s in the city right now. I can take you to him."
"Where is he staying?"
"Courtyard Two, Rank B, at the Xiao Family Inn on Changping Street."
"Just him?"
"Yes, just him."
"If I find out you’re lying to me, you know what will happen."
"Don’t worry, I would never..."
SWISH!
A flash of sword light, and the man’s head rolled to the ground, his eyes wide open in disbelief.
After killing the last man, Lin Yan kicked off his right foot and leaped into a nearby tree. He scanned the area from his high vantage point, and only after confirming there were no other ambushes did he drop back to the ground.
He hadn’t left a survivor because he never intended to go to the Xiao Family Inn on Changping Street alone.
Whether the man’s words were true or false, it was certain someone was at the Xiao Family Inn. Knowing that was enough.
He couldn’t be sure if the Xiao Family Inn was a trap.

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