Chapter 235: Chapter 234: Offended

"Thank you."

Wu Chen didn’t refuse. He truly did need a Leakless Realm Martial Arts manual or Nourishing Essence Pills to break through, so he accepted the storage pouch with a simple word of thanks.

"Let’s head out."

Sun Yuting nodded, showing no displeasure at Wu Chen’s nonchalant attitude.

After all, she didn’t expect a Martial Arts manual and a few pills to earn the undying gratitude of such a prodigy.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The two of them galloped westward on their horses.

The scenery on either side of the road blurred past them. They had no time to admire it, focused only on making haste.

They traveled for about fifty li, drinking the wind and swallowing the dust.

Wu Chen looked ahead, his eyes narrowing as he grew slightly wary.

About thirty zhang away, two figures stood with sabers in hand.

It would have been one thing if they were just standing there, but Wu Chen could clearly feel their gazes brazenly sizing him up.

Once, twice, then a third time... as if they were trying to confirm something.

Wu Chen’s expression suddenly froze. He yanked hard on his reins and shouted:

"Stop!"

"Whoa!"

At his command, Sun Yuting immediately reined in her horse.

She didn’t ask why Wu Chen had suddenly stopped. Instead, she looked ahead, her eyes filled with vigilance.

She knew Wu Chen wouldn’t call a halt for no reason; he must have noticed something was wrong.

Sure enough, as her gaze swept forward, she saw two figures dressed as martial artists standing by the sparsely populated roadside about ten zhang away.

"Is it them? Are they the problem?"

Sun Yuting wasn’t sure. After all, the martial world was full of countless people. A couple of men standing by the road wasn’t enough to judge their intentions.

"They are."

Wu Chen nodded, stating it as a simple fact. Then, feeling that wasn’t enough, he explained, "They’ve looked at me at least three times."

"Ha, and what’s that supposed to prove..."

A smile touched the corners of Sun Yuting’s eyes; she found Wu Chen’s words slightly amusing.

She, too, had felt their gazes sweep over her from a distance. That alone didn’t seem to prove anything.

’Three times?’

But she was no fool and quickly put the pieces together.

’They managed to get ahead of us and block the road to Cold Rain City. That means they were somehow able to get our travel details from the Demon Suppression Bureau.’

’And they keep staring at Wu Chen, which means they’re here for him, not me!’

Putting it all together, there was only one possibility for who they were.

"They’re from the Zhao family!" Sun Yuting’s fingers brushed the hilt of her saber as she stared at the two figures by the roadside, killing intent surging in her eyes.

"Mm, that’s likely the case."

Wu Chen nodded calmly. With a little thought, he could understand the Zhao family’s reasoning:

’Zhao Deyi’s death can’t just be ignored; someone has to be held responsible.’

’They can’t afford to offend the Demon Suppression Bureau. Sun Yuting is a Golden Eagle Captain with powerful connections, so she’s not an easy target either. As for those few Silver Wolf Captains, they’re too insignificant. Killing them would be pointless and wouldn’t restore the family’s honor.’

’After considering all options, that leaves me. I have no backing, but my cultivation realm is high, and my reputation is growing. I’m the perfect target to kill to avenge their heir.’

’But still, the Zhao family is quite formidable...’

Watching the two assassins slowly step into the middle of the road, their gazes now locked firmly onto him, Wu Chen felt no obvious killing intent or any particular rage.

Instead, as he sized up the two figures, a trace of curiosity flashed in his eyes.

From the auras they exuded, he could sense they were experts at the Leakless Realm.

This meant the Zhao family already knew he was in the Leakless Realm, yet they still chose to avenge their useless scion.

’Do they really think the Zhao family’s dignity is more important than befriending a young prodigy in the Leakless Realm?’

Wu Chen couldn’t say.

He just figured it must be nice to be part of such a large and powerful family, able to casually send two Leakless Realm masters to hunt him down.

"Are you Wu Chen?"

The two assassins blocked the middle of the road, slowly drawing their sabers. They raised their eyes, looking expressionlessly at the young man on the bay horse.

Although they had studied his portrait several times and were certain he was their man, they still made a final confirmation.

What followed would be a life-and-death battle, yet the two of them were completely at ease, acting as if they were about to kill a stray dog on the roadside.

And in their eyes, that’s exactly what it was.

After all, they already knew this young man was a martial artist with no backing, who had only joined the Demon Suppression Bureau out of desperation, seeking a Leakless Realm Martial Arts manual and pills.

’How strong could someone who obtained a Leakless Realm Martial Arts manual less than half a month ago possibly be?’

’As for being a young prodigy?’

’The world has no shortage of prodigies.’

’And a prodigy who doesn’t get the chance to grow is nothing but a corpse.’

’Only those like us, who have lived for forty or fifty years and made a name for ourselves in the Leakless Realm, deserve to be called experts!’

"..."

Seeing that the two were being polite enough to ask, rather than just screaming and charging, Wu Chen was about to nod and chat for a bit to probe the Zhao family’s strength.

He wanted to ask about the Zhao family’s thinking and satisfy his own curiosity.

But Sun Yuting, beside him, beat him to it, shouting angrily:

"Enough talk!"

"You dare lay a hand on a member of the Demon Suppression Bureau? The Zhao family has some nerve!"

SWISH!—

As her voice fell, Sun Yuting tapped her toes on her horse’s back, her body soaring forward as she raised her saber and charged the two men blocking their path.

Never mind that Wu Chen was now a member of the Demon Suppression Bureau; he had completed two Level A missions and saved countless lives. How could he be bullied like this?

At this thought, her fair brows furrowed like dark clouds, and the nine drops of essence within her body began to spin frantically.

Her fingers tightened around her saber’s hilt. In an instant, a bone-chilling saber intent enveloped the area several zhang around her.

"You..."

Watching her slender figure soar out, radiating a sharp aura, Wu Chen was touched, but also startled and couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

’Can you even beat them? Why are you just rushing in!’

WHOOSH!—

Wu Chen wasn’t one to let others fight his battles. In an instant, his figure vanished from his saddle.

Despite moving second, he arrived first. In a flash, he was beside Sun Yuting, completely unaffected by the biting cold of her saber intent.

But now they were mere steps away from the assassins, whose blades were already swinging down at that very moment.

"Pardon me!"

Wu Chen gave the young woman a helpless look. With lightning speed, his arm wrapped around her waist, and his fingertips pressed gently into the small of her back.

"What?"

Sun Yuting had yet to understand what he meant by his words when he suddenly appeared beside her. As he finished speaking, she felt something wrap around her waist.

Before she could react, a tingling numbness started at her waist and quickly spread throughout her body.

"Aah!"

Sun Yuting couldn’t help but let out a soft cry as the sharp aura around her completely dissipated.

She felt her body go soft, her limbs so weak she couldn’t even stand. She could only lean limply against Wu Chen, allowing him to hold her.

"You..."

"I’ll explain in a moment..."

Wu Chen paid her no mind, his eyes fixed on the blades of the two assassins—one slashing, one stabbing—coming at him.

Compared to the imposing moves of the Blood Coagulation Realm, the techniques of the Leakless Realm were clearly more refined and unadorned, lacking any grand flourish.

At a glance, one might even get the impression that Leakless Realm techniques were inferior to those of the Blood Coagulation Realm.

But it was precisely these unadorned techniques that concealed lethal intent in every move, each strike aimed at a vital point.

Wu Chen didn’t draw his own saber. With a light step, he twisted his body, perfectly dodging the downward slash.

As he moved with Sun Yuting, his hand shot out and accurately clamped onto the assassin’s saber-wielding wrist. A bone-chilling cold and an immense force erupted from his grip.

CRACK!

With a sickening snap, the assassin’s arm—one tempered by his Leakless Realm essence—was instantly broken. His fingers went slack, and the moment the saber fell from his grasp, Wu Chen deftly caught it.

One assassin remained.

Wu Chen couldn’t afford to stop. Still holding the young woman, he twisted again within the space of a single foot, narrowly dodging the other assassin’s thrust. As he did, he drove the captured saber forward.

RIP!

With a simple, unadorned motion, the blade in his hand plunged effortlessly into the assassin’s chest, its tip emerging from his back.

"HACK! GURGLE!"

The Zhao family assassin choked on the blood frothing in his throat, making the sound of a drowning man.

He stared in disbelief at the blade that had been buried in his chest in a single move.

’Is this motherfucker really a novice in the Leakless Realm?’

The other Zhao family assassin may have seemed to have only suffered a broken arm, but a brutal, cold energy had invaded his body through the wound, mercilessly annihilating his life essence.

Within a few breaths, both men lay stiff on the ground, silenced forever.

Wary of other ambushes from the Zhao family, Wu Chen quickly retreated a few zhang with the young woman in his arms.

"Just now..." Once they were at a safe distance, Wu Chen hurriedly let go and began to explain.

"I know. You were worried I couldn’t take them both. You also knew that if you tried to forcibly stop my attack, the backlash might have damaged my life essence. That’s why you had to resort to such a method."

Although the tingling numbness at her waist vanished the moment Wu Chen let go, a phantom warmth seemed to linger on her skin. Sun Yuting’s cheeks were slightly flushed and her body was tense, but she still offered the explanation on his behalf.

Touching her now-sore waist, Sun Yuting took several deep breaths to suppress the strange feeling in her heart, her expression quickly returning to normal.

Then, she raised her eyes to look at the two corpses on the ground.

All that remained in her gaze was shock.

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