Night fell like ink, and the quiet Songjia Village was broken only by the occasional bark of a dog.
Midnight.
Five shadowy figures suddenly rode up to the outskirts of Songjia Village and all dismounted.
"Young Master, Songjia Village is just ahead!"
Malin Ma pointed at the village ahead.
"Let's go. The sooner we're done, the sooner we get back to the city," Charles Ma said coldly.
"Yes, Young Master!"
Malin Ma nodded and immediately led the group toward Songjia Village.
In less than half a quarter hour, the five of them entered Songjia Village and arrived outside Ian Song's courtyard wall.
"Young Master, this is that brat's house!" Malin Ma said, hatred clear in his voice.
"Go!"
Charles Ma leapt over the earthen wall with ease, landing inside the courtyard. Malin Ma and the other four quickly followed.
At this moment, inside the house—
Lying on the bed, Ian Song's eyes suddenly snapped open, a sharp glint flashing in his gaze.
He reached for the sword at his bedside. Using his qi sense, he detected five presences breaking into his home.
"Who could it be?"
He wondered to himself, then quietly slipped out of his room and sat down in the main house.
Bang!
The next moment, the wooden door of the main house was kicked open—but just then, a sword light shot out like lightning.
Splat!
Blood spattered everywhere—the man who kicked open the door had blood gushing from his throat. His body slowly collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Courting death!
The killing of his follower enraged Charles Ma.
The longsaber on his back was suddenly drawn, flashing with a sinister blade light as he slashed down with a roar.
Ian Song also swung his sword, and the saber and sword collided in midair. Ian stepped back one pace, while Charles Ma had to retreat three steps before steadying himself.
With just one exchange, Ian Song could tell that this intruder was even stronger than Old Blackbeard.
As for Charles Ma, he was utterly shocked. He hadn't expected such a master to exist in this remote village. He was a mid-stage martial master—the strongest in Huangshan County.
In a flash of thought, Charles Ma shouted fiercely.
Malin Ma and the other three had no choice but to brandish their weapons and attack Ian Song.
As soon as Malin Ma made his move, Ian Song recognized him. Ian's eyes turned cold, and his sword flashed out.
In an instant, all three were slain by his sword. But just then, a saber radiating faint crimson blade qi tore through the air, carrying a scorching heat as it chopped down at him.
Ian Song stepped into Breezefoot Step, and his sword actually emitted faint blue sword light.
In an instant, their blades and swords clashed more than thirty times. The cheap sword Ian Song bought for ten taels of silver was now covered in countless nicks, while Charles Ma's saber remained completely undamaged.
It was a treasure saber.
The next moment, Ian Song took a deep breath, stopped defending, and launched a counterattack.
His figure became ghostlike in the night, moving unpredictably.
Charles Ma managed to block only three strikes before Ian Song cut a wound into his right arm.
Courting death!
Furious at being wounded, Charles Ma roared and planted his feet, swinging his saber wildly in all directions.
Under the onslaught of saber qi, the already flimsy house collapsed completely.
But just as the power of the move peaked, a figure quietly appeared behind Charles Ma.
With a sickening sound, Ian Song’s sword pierced through his back and out his chest.
At that moment, Yoyo Chen’s voice rang out.
Ian Song replied. It turned out that during his fight with the Ma Family members, the four women in the room had already been awakened. Yoyo Chen instinctively wanted to rush out, but the other three women held her back.
Because they were all weak women, if they ran out, not only would they be unable to help Ian Song, but they would also become a burden.
The light in Yoyo Chen’s room turned on, and the four women walked out.
When the light illuminated the corpses on the ground, Yoyo Chen’s face turned pale. She ran to Ian Song and threw herself into his arms.
Ian Song said, but as he looked at the collapsed main house, his expression grew somber.
After comforting Yoyo Chen a bit, Ian Song dug a pit in the courtyard and threw all five bodies in, then covered them with earth.
Once he finished, Ian Song told Yoyo Chen and the others to go back to sleep. Although the main house had collapsed, the other two rooms were unharmed.
Back in his own room, Ian Song sat cross-legged on his bed, summoned the System interface, and focused on the Qi Luck section. He discovered his Qi Luck had risen to 740, an increase of fifty-one points.
It seemed the defeated inner qi master was a person of great fortune, otherwise he wouldn't have contributed so much Qi Luck.
During their fight, he also scanned the opponent’s martial arts into the System.
His opponent possessed four sets of techniques.
Fist technique, saber technique, inner qi cultivation method, and a light-body technique.
Of these, the fist and light-body techniques were low-level, but the Blazing Sun Method and its matching Blazing Fire Saber Technique were high-level arts.
After spending an hour, he mastered both arts.
The Blazing Sun Method reached super-peak level, and the Blazing Fire Saber Technique also reached the super-peak level.
The original Jadebreaker Method couldn’t compare to Blazing Sun, so the corrected Blazing Sun Method was also stronger than Jadebreaker.
By studying these two arts, he discovered each had its own attribute—one metallic, one fire.
The Pinewood Sword Style was wood attribute, while the Blazing Fire Saber Technique was also fire attribute.
He found that, no matter how he corrected them, techniques could only reach the super-peak level at most.
If I could collect a full set of five-element arts, I could create a technique beyond the super-peak level.
Cultivating the Blazing Sun Method cost 5 points of Qi Luck, but that was nothing to him.
Soon the Blazing Sun Method reached perfection. His dantian now held a mass of fire-attribute inner qi, with both quantity and purity surpassing the Jadebreaker Method.
Afterward, he spent 4 more Qi Luck points to master the Blazing Fire Saber Technique.
With both saber and sword mastered, I am invincible at the inner qi level!
He also sensed that, unless he found a technique beyond the super-peak level, it would be difficult to convert inner qi into true qi.
However, there were only four inner qi masters in all of Huangshan County.
Judging by age, the one he killed tonight should have been Charles Ma, the eldest young master of the Ma Family.
Fortunately, in a month he would take the scholar exam and could leave Huangshan County for the prefectural city. There, he would encounter stronger martial artists and scan their techniques.
The next day, Ian Song rallied the villagers to help rebuild the collapsed house. He intended to pay them, but they refused, so he had Yoyo Chen send gifts to the families who helped as thanks.