A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Chapter 42: Chapter 41: The Might of the Late Sun Magic Sword Skill

With the matter settled, Lü Zhong left without a backward glance.

On the way back to the Workshop Market, his expression was dark and unsettled.

Now that he knew Lin Zhongze had hired someone to make a move on him, his next target was clear.

You can’t spend your life guarding against a thief.

No matter what, he had to eliminate this man.

However, if he was going to make a move, he would need to do some reconnaissance first. At a minimum, he had to map out Lin Zhongze’s movements and learn what Magic Skills and Cultivation Techniques he possessed, aiming to know his enemy as well as he knew himself.

As night deepened, the roads grew sparse.

Lü Zhong reached his front gate. As he pushed it open to enter, he suddenly felt a gaze fall upon him. The assassination attempt arranged by Lin Zhongze had left him extremely vigilant.

Fighting the urge to look back, he entered the courtyard as usual and closed the gate behind him.

He immediately cast Malice Detection.

THUMP! A warning flared in his heart.

’That person really does have malicious intent toward me!’ A glint flashed in Lü Zhong’s eyes.

Using his Qi Observation Skill, he saw that the person had a Qi Refining Third Layer cultivation. They still hadn’t left, and were instead hiding in a corner they thought was concealed.

A cold smirk touched Lü Zhong’s lips. He entered his bedroom to rest as he normally would, then after a while, blew out the candle, creating the illusion that he was asleep.

He silently chanted a spell. His entire aura rapidly diminished, and at the same time, his presence seemed to wane.

With these preparations complete, he slipped over the courtyard wall from his observer’s blind spot and silently crept closer.

The autumn wind rustled desolately. The night, no longer hot like the day, had turned cool.

Withered yellow leaves drifted on the night wind. A figure hid in a dim corner, his gaze occasionally darting to the courtyard diagonally across from him. Only when he heard the Law Enforcement Team pass by would he use a rather clumsy Breath Concealing Skill to hide himself.

The man, however, had no idea that Lü Zhong was watching his every move.

Lü Zhong, however, did not act rashly, and simply stood in the man’s blind spot, waiting.

The lessons from his Stealth Technique manual weren’t extensive, but the most crucial part—how to evade lines of sight—was explained with perfect clarity. It was more than enough to deal with the rookie before him.

Even without having met many assassins, Lü Zhong could tell that this man was an absolute novice.

Any remotely cautious assassin would never stay in one place for so long.

In fact, the man never even looked behind him. He seemed so confident in his hiding spot that he wouldn’t even know if someone snuck up right behind him.

In the faint light, Lü Zhong got a clear look at the man’s appearance. He was a lean, weathered middle-aged man. Although his clothes were neat, he exuded the vicious aura that only a Wilderness Independent Cultivator would possess.

Another Law Enforcement Team patrol passed by. It was now past midnight.

By this hour, almost everyone had fallen into a deep sleep.

And according to Lü Zhong’s understanding, the Law Enforcement Team’s patrols would become much less frequent in the second half of the night, dropping to once per ancient hour. If the middle-aged man was truly an assassin, he would absolutely choose this time to strike.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man soon began to move, emerging from his hiding place.

He first looked left and right for a moment. Seeing no other movement, he nimbly climbed over Lü Zhong’s courtyard wall and dropped into the yard.

Lü Zhong followed close behind, staying out of the man’s line of sight the entire time.

With the combined effects of the Concealing Breath and Stealth Techniques, it was nearly impossible for the man to discover him as long as he didn’t look back.

Meanwhile, after the middle-aged man dropped into the courtyard, he did something that greatly surprised Lü Zhong: he didn’t head for the bedroom, but instead snuck toward the Talisman Making Room.

This move left Lü Zhong stunned.

’Could this person just be a thief, not an assassin?’

’But if he really wanted to steal something, he could have just done it when I wasn’t home.’

’Why sneak in like this in the dead of night?’

Seeing this, Lü Zhong decided to wait patiently outside, ready to react to whatever happened.

If the man was truly a thief, he could simply lie in wait and catch him red-handed.

And if he wasn’t, he could still observe the man’s next move.

After a moment, the middle-aged man tiptoed out of the Talisman Making Room and started sneaking toward Lü Zhong’s bedroom.

When he reached the bedroom door, he unexpectedly began forming a Hand Seal and chanting a spell.

Watching intently from behind, Lü Zhong’s expression suddenly changed. He recognized the spell and Hand Seal at a glance—the man was clearly casting the Qi Observation Skill.

He was obviously preparing to scout out the situation in the room.

’I can’t wait. As soon as he uses the Qi Observation Skill, he’ll discover I’m not in the room!’ As this thought crossed his mind, Lü Zhong flicked his left wrist, and a Three-foot Cyan Blade slid out from his sleeve.

Sword in hand, he strode quickly toward the man’s back.

Without a shred of hesitation, he thrust his sword, aiming straight for the man’s heart.

At this point, it didn’t matter if it was a kill based on a misunderstanding.

The man was trespassing. He had no reason to fear the Law Enforcement Team holding him accountable for the kill. At most, he’d get a slap on the wrist for using excessive force and be forced to pay a fine of a few Spirit Stones.

CLANG! The middle-aged man whirled around, a horrified look on his face, and parried the thrusting sword with a dagger.

From his heavy, ragged breathing, it was clear he was anything but calm.

”You—it’s you!” The middle-aged man saw Lü Zhong’s face clearly, and the shock on his own intensified. But facing a flood of sword shadows, he could only swing his dagger in a desperate defense.

Having lost the initiative, he was forced onto the back foot.

After several exchanges of attacks and blocks, Lü Zhong found an opening. He formed a Sword Mantra, and the Green Frost Sword shot out, erupting in a blur of cyan light as it flew toward the man’s vitals.

Unexpectedly, the man dove to the ground and managed to dodge it.

Even though Lü Zhong reacted in a flash, changing his thrust to a slash, he still failed to hit his target.

Staring at the now-empty-handed Lü Zhong, the middle-aged man revealed a savage grin. He powerfully pushed off his legs and rushed forward, instantly reversing their offensive and defensive positions.

Or had they?

A flash of blue Sword Light flickered, and the tip of the dagger’s blade flew high into the air.

The middle-aged man fell to his knees in disbelief. Blood gushed from the wound over his heart, while the gash in his throat churned with pink foam, emitting a horrible gurgling gasp.

In his dimming eyes, the last thing he saw was a faint blue, illusory longsword in the hands of the figure opposite him, slowly shattering and dissipating.

Lü Zhong watched the middle-aged man collapse, his own expression remaining impassive.

’This Late Sun Magic Sword Skill,’ he had to admit, ’is incredibly useful.’

Although he was only a beginner at the Magic Sword Skill and could currently only condense three swords in the time it took to breathe, it was already enough to instantly counter-kill an opponent.

Considering their fight had surely alerted the Qingliu Square Law Enforcement Team, Lü Zhong quickly began searching the man’s corpse before they arrived, lest they confiscate his rightful spoils of war.

He didn’t find much—just five Spirit Stones and a few Cleaning Talismans.

In addition, there was a wooden Token carved with the two words ”Red Lake.”