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Cultivating inner strength is not an overnight process, it not only relies on comprehension but also on arduous practice. Since Ye Xiao had acquired the Nine Yang Divine Skill, over three years had gone by. He would practice whenever he had free time. It took him more than a year to master the first and second layers. However, breaking through the third layer was extremely difficult. Ye Xiao always felt that something was amiss at the most critical moments. Although he was not an overly cautious person, neither was he reckless. Therefore, at every critical moment, Ye Xiao would proceed with caution. As a result, despite it being more than a year, he still hadn't broken through. Yet, his reserve of inner strength had more than doubled compared to a year ago but he had still been unable to break through!

At this moment, Ye Xiao was sitting in Ling Shuya's room, once again making a strenuous effort to cultivate. In the dark room, with Ye Xiao sitting in the center, if anyone had been there, they would have surely seen a faint golden-red glow radiating from his body. That glow was actually the protective shield formed by the Nine Yang True Qi!

Ever since obtaining the Nine Yang Divine Skill, Ye Xiao knew that it was the foremost defensive inner power in the world, as well as the premier healing inner power. Ye Xiao pondered whether reaching the ultimate level of the skill would make him the Vajra Unbreakable God spoken of by the older generation of martial artists.

Ye Xiao didn't know, but he was striving towards that direction with all his might!

In the process of cultivating his inner power, time always flew by. Ye Xiao enjoyed the flow of Nine Yang True Qi through every meridian and bone in his body, strengthening every inch of his skin. In fact, he had only recently discovered that the Nine Yang True Qi even had the effect of fortifying the skin!

...

The summer breeze blew, causing the leaves to rustle, but even so, the heat of the summer day had not completely subsided. At this time, at the edge of Sunshine Garden, several dark figures swooshed past, leaping to and fro, the patrolling security guards didn't even notice!

"Is it ahead?" one shadow said to another.

"Yes, I came to this very villa today, the one we have information on. Right now, there are three people inside the villa: Ling Shuya, Zhou Yuyan, and a man. Today that man said he was a distant relative of Ling Shuya. As long as we capture Ling Shuya and that man today, our mission will be complete. Maybe, because there's an extra person, there might even be an additional reward!"

The person speaking was the same one who had pretended to read the meter during the day, Ye Xiao's suspicion was correct, this person indeed had ulterior motives!

"A man? Did you see if that person is a martial artist?"

"He shouldn't be, judging by his thin appearance, I could knock him out with one punch!"

"That would be best. Our target is Ling Shuya; we need not bother with the others. If they really dare to interfere, just kill them. That will serve as a deterrent to Ling Hengyu."

"The boss always thinks things through!"

Subsequently, the three shadows dashed rapidly towards Ling Shuya's villa!

When the three shadows approached Ling Shuya's villa, one of them made a hand gesture to the others. They all nodded in understanding, then quickly scaled the wall and reached the top of the villa. At this moment, if someone had seen them, they would have been astounded at their nimble hands, almost on par with specially trained police officers!

Meanwhile, as the three shadows neared the villa, Ye Xiao, who had been cultivating inner strength, suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a faint cold smile on his face, and thought to himself, "They have finally come!"

The three shadows quickly arrived at the top of the villa, where there was a skylight that allowed easy access to the second floor.

The trio was clearly well-prepared, so they easily made their way to Ling Shuya's room.

"Are you sure this is the room?"

"Definitely, boss. I've heard that this Ling Shuya is very beautiful. What I mean is…"

"Do you even need to say it? If that chick doesn't cooperate, you'll handle it, but be gentle!"

"Heh heh, boss, don't worry. Don't you know me by now? I always take good care of women!"

Then, another one of them quickly used a piece of wire to unlock the door to Ling Shuya's room, without making a sound!

The door to the room was opened, but inside, it was pitch black and utterly silent. The three shadows looked at each other, thinking that the two young women were asleep, deep sleepers indeed, for today…

None was better than the others; they all shared the same lack of morals!

The three men swiftly approached the princess bed, whereupon two of them drew their daggers, while the other found the light switch and turned it on.

The light was turned on, and they had hoped to catch a glimpse of the allure of the two beautiful women startled by the sudden brightness, but to their surprise, the bed was neatly made, with not a person in sight!

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"Eh? Why is there no one here? Did they all go to the bathroom together?" the person who came to read the meter today asked with confusion!

"Go to hell, we've been tricked, let's get out of here!" The leader of the group realized something was wrong and immediately said they needed to leave!

The other two, hearing the boss's words, also realized something was amiss, so they quickly prepared to retreat. But just then, a voice containing three parts mockery and seven parts excitement came from the door they had just entered!

"So you've figured it out. It seems you really are a bunch of assassins with decent smarts!"

The three assassins immediately turned around and saw a lean young man leaning against the doorframe, observing them with a smile on his face!

"It's you?" The person who had pretended to read the meter earlier was greatly surprised upon seeing Ye Xiao!

Ye Xiao replied, "That's right, it's me. Surprised, are you? Actually, I'm the one who is surprised. Weren't you doing your electric power bureau job this afternoon? And now you've taken up thievery? Seems like your job transfers are pretty frequent!"

At that moment, the leader of the assassins looked at Ye Xiao and shouted loudly, "Stop wasting words on him, take him out!"

The other two, following the lead of the boss, rushed toward Ye Xiao at breakneck speed, each with a dagger in hand!

Clearly, they were indeed prepared to kill Ye Xiao!

Ye Xiao's face bore a smile, obviously having prepared himself to bring all his captors under control!

The leader, who was running the fastest and stabbing most viciously, approached Ye Xiao like lightning. Ye Xiao thought to himself that this guy was also a martial artist, whereas the other two seemed much slower, probably just ordinary assassins!

Ye Xiao stepped back quickly, dodging the man's lethal stab with a swift movement. However, after avoiding the stab, his retreat slowed down a bit, and the other two assassins also got in front of him, aiming their daggers at his vitals!

Ye Xiao's body twisted and turned like a spinning top, adeptly dodging the three men's assaults. But he quickly realized something: the two ordinary assassins were charging aggressively, but the martial artist wasn't pushing forward as much!

Just then, the martial artist suddenly leapt back, retreating several meters in a single bound, parallel to the ground!

Escape?

When Ye Xiao saw this, he no longer hid his strength. With a blur in front of the two ordinary assassins, he disappeared!

The two ordinary assassins were taken aback, not yet understanding what had happened. At that moment, Ye Xiao's palm turned into a hand blade and rapidly struck each of the two ordinary assassins on the back of their heads, and they collapsed, instantly knocked unconscious!

Ye Xiao snickered to himself, realizing that there was a world of difference between ordinary people and martial artists.

After knocking the two unconscious, Ye Xiao looked up at the martial artist assassin who had already escaped through a window and muttered with a smirk, "If you can escape from my grasp, wouldn't my training in the Nine Yang Divine Skill have been a waste?"

Ye Xiao moved swiftly to the window and leapt out. He saw a shadow running fast toward the west side of the villa area. With a powerful leap, he rapidly closed the distance, and in a blink, he was less than five meters away from the shadow!

"If you dare to run again, I'll have you cut up!" Ye Xiao threatened the assassin in front of him using his inner strength to project his voice.

The assassin hadn't expected Ye Xiao to catch up so quickly, and to his shock, his two accomplices had also vanished—what had happened? Could it be that they had been dealt with by this man?

This thought shocked the assassin. Even when facing the two accomplices himself, it would take several minutes to take them down, yet how could this man do it so quickly? What level of martial artist could he be?

The assassin had recognized that Ye Xiao must be a martial artist; after all, if he were not, there was no way he could move so fast. He had noticed Ye Xiao's effortless dodging back at the villa, confirming his identity as a martial artist. When he attacked Ye Xiao along with the two others, Ye Xiao had responded effortlessly, without any sign of strain, clearly not using his full strength. Hence, this martial artist might be even stronger than himself!

Seeing the assassin still daring to run, Ye Xiao accelerated again, leaping into the air and landing right in front of the fleeing man, who was startled!

The assassin looked at Ye Xiao and said, "Spare me, and I will surely repay you in the future!"

Ye Xiao smiled wryly and replied, "How can I trust someone who doesn't even care about his brothers' lives? So, best you surrender now—that's your only way out!"

Seeing that there was no safe exit, the assassin steeled his heart and quickly gathered his inner power true qi, a slight halo forming under his feet—clearly, he was intent on using his inner power martial arts!

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