At midnight, the inn had closed, and the entire residential area had gone dark.

Lu Yu flipped into Huang Thief's courtyard without a sound, and silently approached the residence. Stopping at the door, Lu Yu listened for the even breathing inside, confirming that those inside were asleep.

He placed his palm by the door seam, using skillful strength to break the latch inside.

This was a technique Lu Yu had comprehended when his Fierce Tiger Fist reached a god-like realm, akin to striking through a mountain.

Gently pushing the door open to a certain extent, Lu Yu saw Huang Thief lying in the bed inside, with a woman from the shop during the day lying beside him.

If possible, it would be best to kill Huang Thief while he was defenseless. If the matter became big, it would be difficult to handle, after all, this was Beifeng City.

Seeing the door seam had widened enough for himself, Lu Yu quickly slipped into the room and chopped at Huang Thief's head.

Even without any defense, being hit at a vital point by a full-force attack from a Body Refinement level user would also be fatal to a Qi Cultivation level.

The sound of a skull breaking did not occur. Lu Yu quickly retracted his arm to avoid the short thorn in Huang Thief's hand. If Lu Yu hadn't pulled back his hand, it would have been pierced through by the short thorn.

Huang Thief widened his eyes, staring at Lu Yu with a six-pointed short thorn as long as a forearm in his hand, which could gouge out an unstaunchable bleeding wound if it struck a person.

As Lu Yu dodged the short thorn, Huang Thief quickly got up and attacked Lu Yu. With Spiritual Qi infused, the edge of the short thorn emitted a faint, chilling light, leaving no doubt about its attack power.

Without Spiritual Qi infusion, not even a top-grade spirit armor could withstand an attack from the short thorn when worn by a disciple.

Lu Yu could only keep retreating, breaking through the room door into the small courtyard. As the door shattered, Lu Yu intentionally sent the surrounding fragments flying at the opponent. These wooden splinters had little lethality but could buy a little time.

Huang Thief used his other arm to shield his eyes, preventing the wooden splinters from affecting his vision, and followed Lu Yu out of the bedroom.

The commotion awoke the other person in the room, but upon seeing the glimmering short thorn in Huang Thief's hand, the woman dared not make a sound. She covered her mouth, rolled off the bed, and carefully peeked at the two fighting in the courtyard.

The wooden splinters caused a brief pause in Huang Thief's offensive, giving Lu Yu a chance to act. He lifted his left hand, propping up Huang Thief's right hand holding the six-pointed short thorn. His right hand, like a fierce tiger's claw, gleamed coldly as it tore toward Huang Thief's chest.

Huang Thief, seeing Lu Yu attacking barehanded, flashed a cruel look and, disregarding Lu Yu's assault, pressed his right hand's short thorn down, attempting to stab through Lu Yu's shoulder.

Lu Yu moved his left hand, causing Huang Thief's right arm holding the short thorn to sway slightly outward, narrowly missing Lu Yu's shoulder, without even grazing his clothes.

Huang Thief, having underestimated the damage of Lu Yu's barehanded strike, almost had his ribs torn apart despite having Spiritual Qi as protection over his chest.

If it wasn't for sensing something amiss at the last moment and concentrating his Spiritual Power on his chest to enhance defense, it wouldn't have been just almost torn ribs, but his heart being gouged out.

Huang Thief retreated a few steps, with a large chunk of flesh and blood torn from his left chest, exposing the ribs beneath in a bloody mess.

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, running into his eyes, causing an itchy feeling, yet he dared not lift a hand to wipe them, nor dared he blink.

Huang Thief knew very well that if he blinked, he would pay the price in that instant. His earlier underestimation of the opponent, not even using Spiritual Power to attack barehanded, cost him a large chunk of flesh on his left chest and nearly his heart.

"Who are you?" Huang Thief calmed down and asked.

The bleeding from his left chest wound had stopped under the effect of Spiritual Power.

Lu Yu did not respond to Huang Thief's words. Fighting is fighting, why talk? If something must be said, it would be safe and satisfying to talk after the opponent is dead, as the corpse cannot argue back.

Seeing Huang Thief's left chest injured, creating a defensive gap on the left, Lu Yu attacked Huang Thief from the left side.

Although the injury on the left chest was not severe under the effect of Spiritual Power, it still affected some of Huang Thief's movements, allowing Lu Yu to break his left arm and almost crush Huang Thief's throat in a single strike.

After exchanging a dozen moves, Huang Thief realized his techniques were completely suppressed by Lu Yu. Without hesitation, he burst with Spiritual Power, instantly augmenting himself, intending to break through with force, only to be shocked to discover that after bursting, his strength was only barely equal to the opponent's.

The opponent had not used Spiritual Power at all, relying entirely on physical strength, causing panic within Huang Thief as both his techniques and realm were suppressed, making him no match.

Lu Yu felt the pressure after Huang Thief burst with Spiritual Power.

However, because he had sensed Huang Thief's Spiritual Qi burst in advance, he was prepared and was not caught off guard, managing to barely tie with Huang Thief.

Though barely, Lu Yu was mostly defending and dodging attacks, having no opportunity to retaliate against Huang Thief holding the six-pointed short thorn post-burst.

As panic arose in Huang Thief's heart, he involuntarily stopped and retreated, intending to escape.

Lu Yu finally had a moment to breathe and had a fairly clear understanding of his strength. Under normal conditions, his strength was equivalent to a burst-stage Qi Cultivation second level Martial Cultivator.

Thanks to the unparalleled Eight Steps of Catching Cicada realm, he still had plenty of dodging opportunities when Huang Thief burst with full strength, not needing to meet him head-on.

Lu Yu didn't want to delay with Huang Thief any further. His purpose of testing his combat strength had been achieved, and he decided to end the battle immediately.

As he was about to draw the Overlord Saber, Huang Thief suddenly spoke solemnly, "Are you with that group?"

"That group?" Lu Yu spoke for the first time, his attention caught by Huang Thief's mention. He was certain it wasn't the Divine Weapon Pavilion disciples encircling the Huang Feng bandit group.

From Huang Thief's tone, it could be inferred that if he knew Lu Yu was a Divine Weapon Pavilion disciple, his first reaction would be to flee. Even if the Divine Weapon Pavilion eradicated the Huang Feng bandit group, Huang Thief felt fear and awe towards the Divine Weapon Pavilion, not resentment or hatred, as he clearly understood the gap between himself and the Divine Weapon Pavilion.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have hidden among the commoners for so long.

"Stop pretending, I know you're all in cahoots!" Huang Feng gritted his teeth and said, "You all have a common trait, which is that your martial arts realm far exceeds ordinary people. Your fight just now has exposed this fact."

Martial arts realm far exceeds ordinary people, Lu Yu instinctively thought of two words—players.

Generally, for a Martial Cultivator to improve their martial arts realm, unless they have exceptional talent, it requires a long time to cultivate martial arts. The "you" he mentioned couldn't possibly mean a group of geniuses associated with the Huang Feng Thief Crew.

The most likely case is, players who can rapidly advance their martial arts realm using experience points.

Lu Yu couldn't help but link it to the possibility that behind the Huang Feng Thief Crew were also the shadows of players?

"If it weren't for you despicable people, how could the Huang Feng Thief Crew provoke such a powerhouse like the Divine Weapon Pavilion, and how could they have been exterminated?" Huang Feng said angrily.

"You will never get those items. As soon as I spread the word that you can swiftly comprehend martial arts realms, you're as good as dead! All Martial Cultivators will hunt you down!"

"So what if your realm is higher than mine? If I want to escape, you still can't stop me!"

As he spoke, a brownish-yellow light began to glow on Huang Feng's body, seeming to perform some special martial art.

Lu Yu suddenly said, "I'm at Body Refinement Realm."

Finishing his words, an aura of Body Refinement Realm peak emerged from his body.

Huang Feng sensed the aura on Lu Yu, his face showing astonishment, and the brownish-yellow light on his body paused briefly.

"One move is all I need to defeat you."

Upon hearing the voice, Huang Feng felt an unusual heaviness throughout his body. It seemed as if the air around him solidified, making him immobile, with his internal Spiritual Power almost coming to a standstill, giving him an overwhelming helplessness as if mountains were collapsing and the heavens were falling.

Boom~

Huang Feng disappeared from the original spot, leaving nothing behind. His body was pulverized by the overwhelming Qi Blood of Heaven's Collapse and burned away by the fire Spiritual Qi at the moment of impact.

All that remained at the spot were a hexagonal short spear, a few pieces of torn clothing, and floating ashes in the air.

Lu Yu, with a full-force strike of Heaven's Collapse, expended half of his Qi Blood and fire Spiritual Qi, leaving Huang Feng no chance to resist. Furthermore, during his desperate escape with his Secret Technique, he had abandoned all defenses.

The final result was that under Heaven's Collapse, not even a trace of Huang Feng's corpse remained.

If it were only the expenditure of Qi Blood to perform Heaven's Collapse, a remnant corpse of Huang Feng might have remained.

But in Lu Yu's Heaven's Collapse, with a substantial mix of fire Spiritual Qi, the abundant fire Spiritual Qi surged into Huang Feng's body in an instant, causing the fire Spiritual Qi to erupt after his death without the oppression of Spiritual Power, reducing his body to ashes.

The Overlord Saber also turned to an orange-red color due to the influx of fire Spiritual Qi, as if it had been heated in a furnace.

As the fire Spiritual Qi within the saber dissipated, the color of the Overlord Saber returned to normal. Lu Yu lightly tapped on its blade with his finger, and after hearing the sound from inside the blade, confirmed it was undamaged before putting it back into his bag.

Using a cloth to pick up the hexagonal short spear from the ground, Lu Yu saw it was intact from the recent attack, proving it to be a fine Spirit Body weapon. Planning to sell it in a few days to make some money, Lu Yu pocketed the short spear.

He needed a large amount of ice-element resources to cultivate his Ice Spirit Body, all of which required money, and saving up more couldn't hurt.

Huang Feng was already reduced to ashes, with nothing left to prove that Lu Yu had killed him. However, Lu Yu wasn't worried, as at the start of the battle, he had already brought out his Identity Token.

The Identity Token recorded the battle's details. Later, Lu Yu would have the Identity Token read at the Southern Heaven Hall, which could thus confirm he had slain Huang Feng and complete his mission.

As he lifted his foot to leave, Lu Yu recalled what Huang Feng said about those people and the yellow glow Huang Feng emitted, seemingly a special martial art. Thus, he turned and headed to the bedroom.

The woman hid under the bed, watching fearfully as those feet approached closer and closer. She had clearly witnessed her husband being obliterated by Lu Yu just now.

Unable to find what he wanted, Lu Yu had no choice but to lift the bed and have the woman lying beneath it find what he was looking for.

With Lu Yu assuring her no harm would come to her, the woman handed over the items Huang Feng had hidden to Lu Yu.

Having acquired the items, Lu Yu left the small courtyard.

Seeing Lu Yu leave, the woman quickly dressed and rushed to the officials to report the incident. But upon reaching the government office, she realized her husband hadn't even left behind a body, making it impossible to report that someone had broken in and killed her husband.

After all, there wasn't even a corpse at home...

Helpless, the woman could only return home. In truth, she was also coerced by Huang Feng into living together.

Originally, she was just a tofu seller from a distant town, but had been abducted by Huang Feng and brought to Beifeng City.

If she claimed she truly liked Huang Feng, it would be a lie. She was already grateful if she didn't hate Huang Feng.

In the end, the woman pretended nothing had happened and continued running her shop the next day, as usual, with only herself in the store...

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