Chapter 570: One Step, One Kill
Translator: Pika
Her chest looked flat and ordinary, and there even seemed to be an Adam’s apple on her neck. These were probably just illusions created by an artifact.
Her chest was already so well-developed despite her young age. What more when she grew older?
Zu An sighed. These sisters all came from the same mother, so why was it that the oldest sister and the third sister had inherited Qin Wanru’s assets, while the second sister was as flat as an airport runway?
Poor Chu Huanzhao!
Chu Youzhao was left in a daze by the touch on her chest. Getting her bottom smacked by a man was one thing, especially since Zu An had thought that she was a boy, but what now? If he ever made mention of what had just happened, she might just die of embarrassment!
She saw him wiggle his fingers a little, a strange smile appearing on his face. Something snapped within her, and rage and humiliation overwhelmed her. “You shameless pervert, I’ll take your life!”
You have successfully trolled Chu Youzhao for 1024 Rage points!
She drew a short sword and stabbed it at him. Despite her earlier anger, she had only wanted to fight him bare-handed, since he was still her brother-in-law. Now, however, all she cared about was getting revenge.
Although she was quick, someone else was quicker. A black figure shot past her, also aiming for Zu An.
“Get lost!”
The assassin saw her as a nuisance and flung her aside.
Chu Youzhao saw the cold glint in the other person’s hand, and quickly brought her sword in to defend herself. She was rather surprised by her own impressive reaction.
A clear tone sounded as her short sword clashed with this newcomer’s unknown weapon. A tremendous shock jolted her whole body, causing her to tumble backwards and slam heavily into the wall.
She coughed out a mouthful of blood. The qi within her was all over the place and she couldn’t muster any more strength.
She was horrified. Her cultivation was at the pinnacle of the fourth rank. She was first among her peers, and was considered an excellent warrior, even by the standards of the wider world. How was it that she couldn’t even handle a casual blow from this assailant?
She noticed that most of the assassin’s concentration was on Zu An. This idle attack probably only had twenty to thirty percent of his strength behind it.
This assassin is probably at the sixth rank.
Many teachers at the academy were at this level, which was why she was able to roughly gauge his level.
Isn’t this pervert dead for sure, then?
After all, he was just a hoodlum from the streets. Even though she had heard that he’d encountered some opportunities recently, his upbringing was much too poor. There was a limit to how much he could improve in such a short amount of time.
Chu Youzhao bit her lip. Even though she had cursed death on Zu An, she had only done so out of anger. In the end, he was still her brother-in-law. She felt extremely conflicted. Watching him get assassinated would be an entirely different thing.
Zu An’s eyes narrowed when he saw his assailant’s pitch-black clothes. He had been attacked by similarly-dressed people on the way to the capital. His previous attackers had been dark elves, but the person in front of him now did not seem to have the same slim build.
He finally identified the cold glint of metal on his assailant’s hands. These were tiger-claw blades, which he had attached to his fists. Those who used such weapons were fighters skilled in close-quarters combat.
He was also a cultivator at the pinnacle of the sixth rank!
In the past, he might have been forced to constantly evade, and would have had no choice but to hold on as he suffered wave upon wave of relentless blows.
However, after absorbing Mosquito Daoist’s cultivation, his assailant seemed to be moving in slow motion.
He stretched out his fingers, and instantly clasped the vicious tiger-claw blades between them.
Shining Finger!
Chu Youzhao was looking on with great worry, and was immediately stupefied when she saw this. She subconsciously rubbed her eyes. What the heck is going on? Is there something wrong with my eyes?
The claw-wielding assailant was stunned as well. Something’s not right! Shouldn’t I be the one overwhelming my opponent and battering him with a storm of attacks?
The intelligence had stated that his target was slightly unusual, but surely this was just too much!
He tried to free his blades several times, but they did not budge.
Zu An sighed. “Do you think you’re Wolverine?”
His fingers twisted as he spoke, snapping one of the blades. Then, with a casual wave of his hand, he cut through this assailant’s arm muscles, then brought the broken blade up to his neck. Since he had attacked first, there was no need for Zu An to show him any mercy.
Halfway through these motions, an alarm went off inside his mind. He quickly backed up and kicked this tiger claw assailant in the chest, cutting off his life force.
He harnessed the reaction force to send himself backwards. The spot he was just standing in was covered in a dozen six-pointed throwing stars.
He turned around to see an assassin—who looked like a ninja—swinging a blade at him.
So, there are ninjas in this world. Zu An was shocked. With a light tap of his toes, he used the Sunflower Phantasm to evade this attack, then struck this new assailant with his Shining Finger.
He expected to immediately immobilize his opponent, but a frown appeared on Zu An’s face as he sensed that something was off.
A sharp 'Thunk!' accompanied his strike. His opponent had somehow turned into a block of wood.
Ninjas were always full of tricks.
With another flash of cold light, a pitch-black sword thrust at him maliciously.
Chu Youzhao felt extremely ashamed of herself. She had never seen such a fast sword thrust! She had been quite satisfied with her own display of skill earlier on, but it was dirt in comparison to this one.
“Be careful!” She yelled out subconsciously. However, her voice came to a strangled halt, because she saw that a sword had already passed through Zu An’s neck.
Is he dead? She shivered. Even though she found him annoying, her eldest sister liked him a lot. She would definitely be heartbroken once she found out what happened.
Her eyes suddenly widened in disbelief, however, as she suddenly saw Zu An appear in another corner of the room. A finger was already thrusting into the middle of the swordsman’s back.
*Spurt!*
Blood burst out from his chest. The blood vessels within his heart had been forcefully ruptured, causing him to die instantly.
Yet another assassin had just broken in. He had a strange bow in his hands, full of sharp edges. This was clearly not an ordinary bow, but rather one that was geared for close-quarter combat.
The archer was already regretting his choice. He had hoped to complete his mission as quickly as possible by entering the room, since it was difficult for him to line up a clean shot from outside. There was no way for him to know beforehand that his opponent would be far stronger than his intelligence had stated. It was too late to retreat to a safer distance now.
Zu An had noted the power of the initial arrow, and knew that this opponent would pose a huge threat if he was allowed to get away. As such, he immediately summoned Grandgale to close the distance instantly.
The archer spun his bow rapidly as he danced about, showing off a set of outstanding martial skills. There were no openings in his defense.
He knew that all he had to do was hold on long enough for his companion to mount an attack. He could use that opportunity to retreat to a safer distance, which would give him time to take down his opponent.
Unfortunately, a strange bird suddenly appeared in front of him, and a terrible pain seemed to reach deep into his soul. The slightest hint of sluggishness crept into his impregnable defensive movements.
In that split second, a sword flashed through.
This assassin had always admired his companion, whose sword techniques were outstanding and tricky to deal with. He had always felt that his companion’s swordsmanship was unmatched, given his cultivation level.
In this instant, however, he knew that he’d been wrong all along. He couldn’t even see this sword strike clearly. It was just a blur before his eyes, then he felt a chill slip across his throat.
As an assassin, he obviously knew that he had been struck in the neck. In the final moments before his death, he could only curse the one who had provided them with the intelligence for this mission.
Bloody hell! Didn’t they say that the target only had five levels of cultivation? Even if you say that he possesses strange and unpredictable skills, four sixth rank assassins should be more than enough to spare!
As assassins, they never fought enemies head-on, and every one of them had the ability to challenge those whose cultivations were higher than their own. Many of them had even killed seventh-ranked experts before.
Despite all this, this fellow had slaughtered them like chickens!
Is he at the eighth rank already? No, not even an eighth rank could take us out that easily! Is he at the ninth rank, or even a master?
How the hell is that possible?!
Zu An whipped around suddenly. He frowned as he looked towards a corner of the room.
The ninja assassin had finally revealed himself. Unfortunately, he was holding onto Chu Youzhao, his blade pressed up against her neck. His voice was hoarse and unpleasant. “Don’t move, or else your friend dies!”