Leaving the Marsh Region, Li Ban sensed that someone had disturbed the phantom he left at the warehouse entrance. He smiled faintly.
"It seems Qiao Zhen'er has already noticed something is wrong," he murmured.
Returning to the warehouse entrance, he saw Zhao De ambushed from behind and hacked to the ground.
The attacker was the Level 3 Spirit Cultivator Chen.
Assisting him was a Level 2 disciple from the martial hall.
A flash of grief crossed the Level 2 disciple's eyes as he looked at Zhao De, who had collapsed in spurting blood.
Unfortunately, Vice-Master Jia had just threatened them: if they did not cooperate, they would be left in the Nihility State forever to become lonely spirits and wild ghosts.
No wonder this rare opportunity had fallen to two ordinary disciples like them.
If he didn't cooperate, he was bound to become cannon fodder in the ambush against Vice-Master Qiao.
"A pity. If we had spared his life, Lu Jiu might not have truly submitted," Chen said. "The guy had decent talent and a sharp mind. Still, Qiao Zhen'er would never guess that her most honest disciple would betray her."
With that, Spirit Cultivator Chen turned toward the warehouse, intending to regroup with the others to ambush Qiao Zhen'er.
Qiao Zhen'er had unexpectedly taken Lu Jiu inside to search, forcing them to split their forces and kill Zhao De outside to prevent his escape.
But this worked out well. With Lu Jiu turning on her at the critical moment, taking down Qiao Zhen'er would be effortless.
However, just as Spirit Cultivator Chen turned, his movements suddenly froze.
A sickening squelch sounded from his chest.
He looked down and saw the tip of a sword jutting out of his chest, having pierced straight through his heart.
"Ah!"
Letting out a sharp cry, Spirit Cultivator Chen instantly lost all his strength and collapsed.
As he hit the ground, he forced himself to roll over, only to see Zhao De—the man he had clearly just killed—standing back up.
Zhao De's chest also bore a splash of red, right where he had been pierced through the heart.
"How... is this... possible..."
Zhao De clutched his chest, his face deathly pale. "My heart... is positioned a bit to the side."
This was a physical anomaly Li Ban had discovered when he scanned Zhao De's body before taking on his disguise.
Presumably, even if Spirit Cultivator Chen had ambushed the real Zhao De, he might not have managed to kill him.
Though a heavily injured Zhao De certainly wouldn't have had the strength to kill Chen in return; at best, they would have perished together.
Looking at Chen, who had died with his eyes wide open, Li Ban flicked the blood off the tip of his sword and turned to the Level 2 disciple.
The Level 2 disciple was utterly stunned.
He never imagined that a man who had just fallen dead would suddenly stand back up perfectly fine.
Being run through the chest with a sword—even if it missed the heart—should still be a critical injury, shouldn't it?
Yet the man standing before him looked completely unharmed.
This bizarre sight filled him with mounting terror.
Realizing Zhao De was looking at him, he frantically waved his hands and begged for mercy.
"Brother Zhao, Brother Zhao! I was forced by Vice-Master Jia! I didn't want to help them, but they—"
Li Ban nodded. "I know you had no choice."
But before the disciple could rejoice, Li Ban continued, "However, the world is full of situations where we have no choice. Regardless, you've chosen a side, so I have no choice but to kill you."
The disciple's eyes widened in horror. Zhao De's figure blurred, reappearing right beside him.
The longsword in Zhao De's hand had already pierced through the Level 2 disciple's heart.
Li Ban pulled out the sword and flicked off the blood.
Looking at the crimson streaks left on the blade, he felt that his own Iron-Eating Sword was much better to use.
After checking the two corpses, Li Ban prepared to find Qiao Zhen'er.
Zhao De's identity was still useful, so he didn't want Qiao Zhen'er to die just yet.
Entering the Eternal Trading Association warehouse, Li Ban swept his eyes over the area and immediately knew which direction the others had gone.
Pointing the tip of his sword toward the ground, he picked up his pace.
Meanwhile, in a courtyard deep within the warehouse, Qiao Zhen'er—who had intended to leap the wall and escape—was blocked by Vice-Master Jia, who had arrived just in time.
Both brandishing swords, the two clashed.
Spirit Cultivator Shen stood not far away. Though he wasn't directly participating in the fight, his eyes were flushed a deep red; he was clearly using some kind of element ability.
The longer Qiao Zhen'er fought, the more feverish her entire body felt, and her legs grew weak and heavy.
She shot Spirit Cultivator Shen a fierce glare and cursed, "Disgusting element, disgusting person."
Shen's eyes turned even redder, and he gave a savage grin. "Still talking tough. I hope you can keep it up in a little while."
He didn't dare take his eyes off Qiao Zhen'er, afraid she might find an opening to use her Flying Dart.
The Flying Dart was indeed a remarkably formidable fine-grade element; with just a single strike, she had killed a martial hall disciple and severely injured Lu Jiu.
However, Qiao Zhen'er was too soft-hearted. Even at a time like this, she hadn't finished Lu Jiu off.
"Lu Jiu, go check if Old Chen is here yet! What's taking him so long?" Shen ordered.
Lu Jiu had taken a dart to his lower abdomen, and his right hand had been severed.
Hiding in the back, he didn't dare approach Qiao Zhen'er again.
Hearing Spirit Cultivator Shen's order, he didn't dare delay. Dragging his heavily injured body, he shuffled toward the courtyard gate.
But the moment he reached it, he looked up and saw someone who shouldn't be there.
"Ah De?!"
Although Zhao De was covered in blood, his movements suggested his injuries weren't severe.
He hadn't expected Zhao De to be so sharp, actually managing to survive Spirit Cultivator Chen's ambush.
Yet right now, Lu Jiu's own condition was exceptionally poor.
'If Ah De finds out that I betrayed Master too, he'll probably...'
Lu Jiu felt as though he were using a lifetime's worth of quick reflexes in this single moment.
"Ah De, hurry! They ambushed Master! I'm badly hurt, and Master told me to go find you immediately!"
Zhao De gave Lu Jiu a look and picked up his pace again.
Just as the two brushed past each other, murderous intent flared in Lu Jiu's eyes. Raising his Tiger-Head Hammer with his remaining left hand, he aimed to smash Zhao De's skull in.
However, a streak of silver light flashed. Striking second but arriving first, the longsword cleanly severed Lu Jiu's other arm with a single slash.
"Ahhh!"
Lu Jiu let out a bloodcurdling scream and collapsed.
He stared at Zhao De in sheer disbelief.
Zhao De turned around, his sword flashing twice in quick succession as he severed the arteries in both of Lu Jiu's thighs.
Blood fountained wildly, quickly forming a small crimson puddle on the ground.
Li Ban smiled faintly. "I imagine that given Zhao De's temperament, if he knew you betrayed Qiao Zhen'er, he wouldn't let you die too comfortably either."
With that, he left the bleeding Lu Jiu where he was and stepped into the courtyard.
"Master, I'm here to save you!"
Qiao Zhen'er was currently losing ground, bearing several new sword wounds.
She looked at Zhao De, whose clothes were also stained with blood, and a trace of relief finally surfaced in her despairing eyes.
Mustering her breath, she shouted, "Ah De, watch out for Lu Jiu! Leave me, hurry back, cut the iron chains, and report what happened today to the Shenji Battalion!"
Hearing Qiao Zhen'er mention the Shenji Battalion, Jia Tao and Spirit Cultivator Shen's expressions drastically changed.
"The Shenji Battalion? The faction you're trying to defect to is actually the Imperial Dynasty's Shenji Battalion?"
Now the two of them were truly panicking.
The Shenji Battalion was backed by the Imperial Dynasty, and its maximum status limit reached a staggering Level 6. It was absolutely not an entity their tiny martial hall could afford to provoke.
"Since things have come to this, there's no other way. We must silence both Qiao Zhen'er and Zhao De. We absolutely cannot let them leak the news. Jia Tao, hold her off for a bit!"
Spirit Cultivator Shen spun around, intending to kill Zhao De—a mere Level 3 Spirit Cultivator—but before he could even open his mouth, a flash of silver light pierced his throat.
Li Ban withdrew his sword with a backhand motion. "My martial arts are only average, so I'll just have to kill you first."