Plundering the Dao of the Immortal Journey

After ten breaths, a group of people showed up, panting. They crept their way towards the stage outside of the temple cautiously.

Nobody rushed in. Everyone’s actions were calculated and precise as they waited for orders. Two rows of assailant formed on each side of the door. With a wave of the hand, the two rows gathered simultaneously at the door, covering each other.

A man climbed up the stairs, towards the door with light feet. When he reached the door, the two rows of assailants were beside him. He knelt down and waited for further orders.

“Kill!” A soft and silent order was given, "Boom!” The door to the temple burst open.

Once the door opened, several tall and sturdy framed martial artists burst him, all shouting ferociously at the same time.

They entered the main door in two rows, maintaining their discipline.

They acted in unison with each other, showing excellent chemistry and teamwork. Pei Zi Yun watched on from afar, cold sweat running down his forehead. The most effective way to launch a strike was to enter from a single entrance, and spread out the attack from that entrance point to overwhelm their victims.

This attack was done in that exact same way.

However, there was nobody inside the temple. More than twenty martial artist followed a single person, spearheading the attack into the empty temple.

Their swords were all flashing, reflecting gleams of light from their blades. The still and quiet temple had been overwhelmed with a sense of killing aura.

In the next moment, the ferocity of their attack dissipated. Their leader, who had led them in their fearsome assault was ready to storm the temple and kill anyone and everyone he laid eyes on. However in this very moment, he froze in surprise.

“Oh? There’s nobody?” The leader stood before the main hall, looking in and realizing that there was absolutely nobody inside. His heart sank, "Could it be that there were mistakes in the report?”

He then turned around and looked at the incense burner, which was still burning some incense within.

The smell of incense filled the entire room. It was evident that it had just been placed within the burner a short time ago. A small red glow could be seen within the burner. However, nobody was present, and the leader was perplexed.

“Search the place thoroughly!” The leader shouted angrily.

All of a sudden, the expression on the leader’s face changed. He turned around to glare at the incense burner once more and shouted in shock, "This is bad, the incense is poisonous, it’s giving off poisonous fumes!”

The minute these words left his mouth, one of the several incense burner ignited and a loud boom could be heard. A large fireball erupted from the incense burner and shot in all directions.

“Boom!” In an instant, the entire temple erupted in flames, and it looked like a sea of fire from afar. Several men who had been standing near the incense burner had no time to react and shouted in agony from being burnt alive.

“Get out!” Everyone within was making a rush for the entrance. However, their limbs felt weak and they felt completely depleted of energy. It was clear that the leader among them had incredible inner strength and was proficient in martial arts. With a loud shout, he gathered all his energy and made a beeline for the exit.

Pei Zi Yun had been prepared for this. He soundlessly picked up the bow that he had brought along and pulled back on the bowstring. He watched the entrance quietly. This bow had belonged to the county magistrate. Pei Zi Yun had requested to borrow this sturdy and special bow from him, which had an extraordinarily long range and was extremely powerful. Even the arrowhead was made out of metal.

A state of the art weapon such as this was highly valued, and there were only three such bows within the entire county.

One person managed to run out through the door.

Pei Zi Yun pulled on the bowstring, as the soft sound of the bowstring tautening could be heard. With a flash, the arrow left the bow and soared towards its target. In the next moment, its victim screamed out in pain and surprise. He fell to the ground and thrashed about as the huge fire started engulfing the entire temple behind him.

“Yes!” Pei Zi Yun shouted in satisfaction. With a “pu”, a second arrow darted through the air and found its next victim - the leader of the group. He had seen the arrow flying towards him and yet had no time to react, probably due to the effects of the poison fumes. With a loud groan, he fell to the ground.

The arrowhead was made out of steel and penetrated its victim effortlessly. It added a dimension of power to the arrow as well. Whenever it penetrated the flesh of its victim, even if it didn’t claim his life immediately, it would cause them to bleed profusely. Within a matter of seconds, they would lose all ability to fight.

“Boom!” Pei Zi Yun stood in the same position for sometime and witnessed the fire erupting into an explosion. The fire caused everything in sight to appear red. The minute the leader fell to the ground, he felt an intense heat sear every inch of his body. He screamed in pain before bouncing to his feet. Glaring at Pei Zi Yun, he made a mad rush towards him.

“Did he know that his odds of surviving were nonexistent?”

“Pu” Another arrow soared towards the leader and pierced him in the chest, sticking out of his back. The leader shouted in pain. His expression was that of disbelief, unable to understand what had happened. He looked down at the arrow dislodged in his chest before looking at Pei Zi Yun. He then fell to the ground, limp, as blood gushed out of his wounds.

“Hurry, hurry smash the windows and jump out.”

Several people managed to break the windows and deftly jumped out. However, while they were in midair, they could hear the swishing of arrows through the air. They did not have the skills and the strength of the leader. One minute they were in the air still alive, the next they fell to the ground as corpses.

“Boom!” The fire had reached its hottest and was eating away at the structure of the temple. The roof had fallen through and blocked their pathway for exit. Pei Zi Yun laughed emotionlessly, looking at the wreckage before him. He dropped his bow and picked up his sword.

“Gather together and kill him!” The people who had managed to escape from the fire numbered only seven. A person shouted out, his eyes were bloodshot with fury.

From thirty men, they had been reduced to only seven.

The fighters roared in anger, their blades raised as they charged forward.

“To hell with you!” Pei Zi Yun shouted coldly. The poison he had placed within the temple was the Enfeeble Scent. Anyone who inhaled large quantities of its fumes would find themselves drained of energy. However, those who had escaped knew that staying within the burning temple would kill them as well. They gathered their strength and found a way to escape somehow.

“Baka!” This person spoke like a Japanese samurai. With a ferocious swing of his blade, he charged towards Pei Zi Yun. Pei Zi Yun moved towards him as well, his movement so quick it was a blur. When they finally crossed paths and emerged from that single exchange, the man knelt on the ground, his hands were pressed against his own throat. Blood was gushing out from the wound on his neck.

The people behind him ignored the sight before them. This was an important juncture between life and death Although these warriors all felt drained and exhausted, they mustered all the energy within their bodies to fight for survival. A pair of warriors rushed towards Pei Zi Yun, their sword movements matched each other perfectly, bringing about wind and thunder.

As long as they could surround Pei Zi Yun, the brother standing behind Pei Zi Yun could kill him off easily.

“Pitfall technique!” A scream could be heard as one of the warrior’s leg had been caught in a ditch. Due to his vigorous movements, his shin broke. His shin bone had splintered and stuck out of his leg, revealing white fragments jutting out of his leg.

With one of them down, this caused them to break formation. With a flash of the sword, Pei Zi Yun ran his sword through several bodies along the way. He swung his sword in a merciless frenzy. He lowered his sword to his left and slashed the warrior next to him. A long slit appeared on his stomach and his intestines started spilling out. With a cry of agony, he dropped his sword and fell to the ground.

Pei Zi Yun then leapt up, brandishing his sword into the swarm of assailants.

“Zhng” Pei Zi Yun’s opponent trembled, as he leapt up to face him in midair. With a jab, Pei Zi Yun drove his sword into his chest, killing him even before he landed.

“Shoot!” Without any sound, one of the warriors shot out twelve stalks of poisonous flowers as a secret weapon. Pei Zi Yun didn’t attempt to block it. Instead, he kicked the air in front of him as the stalks of flowers froze in midair. Almost instantaneously, they darted in the opposite direction back to where it came from. The sound of these flowers could be heard penetrating the skin of the warrior, as his body started swelling. He fell to the ground, unable to move.

Following this, a blur of warriors charged towards Pei Zi Yun. Everyone had their swords raised as blood flew in all direction.

A warrior screamed out in fear as Pei Zi Yun swung his sword at him. There was a crazed look in his eyes, almost as if he could not believe what was happening. The sword then connected with his neck, and his head flew into the sky, blood was sputtering from his neck, where his head use to rest.

“Spare… me….” The last man fell to his knees after observing the situation and assessing there was no chance of victory, "Do not kill me. Please do not kill me Master Top Scorer.”

This man was on his knees speaking formally to Pei Zi Yun, begging for his life. Pei Zi Yun’s face was stoic and expressionless. Pei Zi Yun raised his sword as the man removed his mask, revealing his face. It was a man who was almost thirty years old.

Before Pei Zi Yun could even interrogate him, this man decided to spill everything, "Master Top Scorer, it’s not that I wish to be here. I was attacked by these Japanese pirates along the way. They then took me captive and forced me to participate in their activities. Please spare me.”

Hearing these words, Pei Zi Yun smiled. If he really were a captive of the pirates, why would he be wearing a mask and be dressed in their garb. Pei Zi Yun then touched the man’s neck with his blade and lightly ran it across, leaving a thin trail of blood.

The man held his neck straight and didn’t move an inch. He then shouted loudly, “Okay, okay. Master Top Scorer, I really do not know. A Daoist man gave me 100 taels of silver, and thus I did it. Please spare my life.”

“Kill!” The warrior behind him who had broken his leg shouted as he dove straight in their direction. Pei Zi Yun was taken aback and rolled out of the way. However he wasn’t aiming for Pei Zi Yun. With a slash, the man on his knees gave a shout before falling to the ground. Blood was pouring out of his wounds.

Pei Zi Yun was quiet as he raised his sword, walking over to the broken legged warrior. He had managed to jump out and strike the man on his knees. At this point, his energy had been expanded. Seeing Pei Zi Yun approaching him, he forced a laugh before placing his own sword to his neck and sliding it across.

Blood gurgled out of his neck and he fell to the ground, his body was trembling violently as he died. A pool of blood formed beneath him.

The man who had just been stabbed hadn’t died and Pei Zi Yun rushed over to him. He then placed a hand on his wound as a bright white light glowed where Pei Zi Yun touched. This man then whispered, “Save me Master Top Scorer, save me.”

“Who wished to have me killed? How does this Daoist man look like? Tell me and I can save you.” Pei Zi Yun said as he used the Sweet Rain technique, healing his wound a little.

This man started to struggle, “Thank you Master Top Scorer. In actual fact, I am Ji Bei Hou’s man. Tonight, the Daoist sent a secret message, ordering me to participate.”

He was about to continue when his face turned ashen, as if he realized what he was doing. He then revealed a shocked expression as he spoke no more. He opened his mouth and spat out some blood, his eyes gaping wide in shock before falling to the ground, without any sign of life.

“Your inner organs have been destroyed and thus I could only buy you several minutes of time. Although the Sweet Dew Technique might have been able to save your life, all I needed to know was who caused all this.” Pei Zi Yun retracted his hands.

The fire was still burning ferociously as the smell of smoke and ashes perforated his nostrils. Pei Zi Yun walked around and made a mental note of the corpses, "There are Japanese samurais, soldiers and even gangsters?”

“Ji Bei Hou, the feud between us is irreconcilable.”

“Song Zhi, based on the way things have unfolded, it seems like you decided to assist Ji Bei Hou by reporting my location to him.”

“But who is that Daoist man?”

“Free Cloud Sect, Holy Jail Sect or could he be from other sects? Or is he a rogue cultivator?”

He then threw the Dao Amulet into the depths of the fire. Pei Zi Yun stared into the fire as it was still raging. It had been burning for more than an hour.

Based on the way the fire was still going strong and getting bigger, it would most likely spread to the rest of the mountain. And there was a village nearby.

Since he wasn’t a crazed murderer, or an arsonist, he couldn’t just leave it burning this way.

The village nearby had realized that a fire had broken out. They had beat their drums and awakened the entire village. Pei Zi Yun could see faint shadows forming and he could hear their shouts. However, they did not come over.

After the fire had been put out and was gradually being extinguished, Pei Zi Yun called for his System. The reflection of the fire could be seen on his shiny forehead. The shape of a Plum Flower then appeared on his forehead. One of the petals was white, and the other was a faint red and was fairly discernable. Following this, a white Plum Blossom appeared before his eyes as it gradually became bigger and formed a white information interface.

Free Cloud Sect Manual, Level 6.

Dao Techniques: 31 Variations, Advanced.

Free Cloud Sword Technique: Advanced ( 35.1% Completed)

“Everything has improved!” It was not by luck or chance that he managed to reach level six of the Free Cloud Sect training manual. Following the gradual change of his body, he was becoming more adept and susceptible to the instructions of the manual. With regular practice, he had been able to ascend the the sixth level.

His Dao techniques had improved from the intermediate stage to advanced and wasn’t by accident as well. After being involved in so many battles, he had started to become familiar and proficient with his sword and techniques. Such a big improvement over such a short duration was anything but normal based on the original owner’s memories.

What was most important was the fact that his Free Cloud Sword Technique had improved to 35.1% completion after so many battles and so many peopled killed. However, he had a long way to go still.

‘It was clear that this “System” was not an actual system. In spite of such an attempt on his life, it did not warn Pei Zi Yun beforehand. Neither was there a mission to defend himself against his killers.’ Pei Zi Yun sighed as he thought to himself.

“Maybe, the missions only appear when the original owner’s plans are concerned.” Pei Zi Yun looked at the last line on the information interface. It was written in red.

Mission: Establish a big achievement for the sect, become the most outstanding member within the outer sect

The fire within the temple was almost extinguished. Looks like it will not cause any problems for the innocent civilians. Without hesitation, he turned around to his horse and sped off into the night.