Su Fan hurried toward the source of the sound.
Lin Yao, severely wounded with blood staining her chest and back, lay on the ground, slowly inching away.
Beside her lay Jiu Di, motionless in a pool of blood, her life or death unknown.
Lin Yao, using her last ounce of strength, crawled closer to Jiu Di. Her senior brother had taken a sword for her, and only now did she understand his feelings for her.
"Idiot! Why are you only saying this now!"
Tears welled in Lin Yao's eyes as she chided the unconscious Jiu Di, lamenting why he only found the courage to speak his heart at such a moment, why not sooner?
Lin Yao was filled with regret. She regretted joining the Assassin's Alliance, regretted running away from her sect, and even more, she regretted not cultivating harder. If only her strength were greater, perhaps her senior brother wouldn't have died.
"Heh, quite touching. Then I'll send you two to be a pair of ill-fated lovers," Jing said with a cold laugh, holding his katana.
After obtaining the enhancer left by Da He and combining it with his own treasures, he had reached SS-class strength in just a few days. Upon emerging, he saw a lucrative bounty mission posted on the dark web and accepted it without hesitation, aiming to earn some resources and, incidentally, familiarize himself with his current power.
Upon arriving here, he realized this mission was merely for two small fries, mere rookies of A-class strength.
He could have easily finished them off. If not for the man's troublesome abilities, it wouldn't have taken this long.
Jing raised his katana, about to deliver a fatal blow to Lin Yao.
Just then, Su Fan arrived, seeing Jing, his back to him, about to strike Lin Yao.
Su Fan was startled.
"Horizontal Style, Flying Sky Slash!"
Su Fan's sword energy immediately slashed towards the opponent.
Jing, now possessing SS-class strength, sensed the danger from behind and hastily retracted his hand to dodge.
Su Fan's sword strike missed.
But his objective wasn't to kill, but to rescue Lin Yao.
When Jing saw that the person behind him was Su Fan, he was immediately shocked.
The shock Su Fan had given him had not yet subsided. However, with his current SS-class strength, he wouldn't be afraid or retreat just because it was Su Fan.
"Lin Yao, get away!"
Su Fan charged forward, shielding Lin Yao behind him.
"How is Jiu Di?"
Su Fan asked Lin Yao.
He only saw Lin Yao holding Jiu Di and was unaware that Jiu Di was already dead.
Lin Yao offered no response, merely holding Jiu Di's corpse in a daze.
Su Fan's brows furrowed, a bad premonition stirring within him.
"You killed Jiu Di?"
Su Fan's gaze turned cold as he looked at the samurai opposite him.
"He was too weak, who's to blame but himself."
Jing met Su Fan's gaze unflinchingly. He genuinely wanted to spar with Su Fan, to gauge Su Fan's strength and test his own.
Su Fan's expression instantly turned icy.
"Assassin's Alliance, killing your own people? You truly have no bottom line!"
Su Fan's face was frigid, his tone chilling. Jiu Di's death had ignited his fury.
"Su Fan, your head is worth a lot of money right now. With your head, I could even obtain resources to advance to SSS-class. Today, I want to experience your strength. Take this!"
Jing roared, his katana slashing towards Su Fan, sharp sword energy aimed directly at Su Fan's brow.
Lin Yao was behind Su Fan, so Su Fan could not retreat, lest the sword energy fall upon her. He could only meet it head-on.
"Soft as Silk!"
"Vertical Style, Mountain Splitting Sea Breaking!"
Su Fan immediately unleashed a sword energy to counter.
A colossal sword energy, as if tangible, descended from the heavens, aimed at Jing's head. Jing's emitted sword energy was instantly disintegrated.
Jing was startled and hastily dodged. The sword energy left a deep沟壑 in his original position.
"So strong!"
Jing marveled at Su Fan's power. Such might already surpassed what a normal SS-class could unleash.
However, he was no ordinary individual.
"You are powerful, but I am not without my trump cards. Do you know why my nickname is 'Death Emblem'? Because everyone who has seen that symbol has died!"
Jing snorted, twirling his katana and then plunging it into the ground.
Blue energy gathered before him, forming a peculiar circular pattern, like a badge.
"Sun Moon Family! Death Emblem Descends! Activate!"
Jing roared, and the blue emblem instantly turned red, as if sketched with blood.
Jing passed directly through the red emblem, which then hovered behind him, continuously supplying him with immense power.
"You, await death!"
Jing's strength had increased significantly, his confidence soaring. He looked at Su Fan as if he were already a dead man.
"A secret technique to boost power? Heh! I have one too!"
Su Fan was disdainful. How much had he even increased?
"Vertical and Horizontal Qi Ascension Technique!"
Su Fan immediately employed the vertical and horizontal secret technique, his strength surging instantly, reaching the mid-stage of the Yuheng realm.
"Take your life!"
Jing, unaware of Su Fan's change in strength, charged at Su Fan, energy converging into his katana, shrouding it in a red hue, making it even more potent.
"Death Emblem! Sun Strike!"
Jing's katana erupted with dazzling light, like a scorching sun, slashing towards Su Fan.
Su Fan's eyes were almost blinded by the intense light, so he simply closed them.
"Horizontal Style, One-Line Flash Slash!"
Su Fan's figure vanished in an instant. Jing hadn't even reacted when he felt a chill on his neck, followed by a torrent of warmth flowing down his body.
"Hk... Hk..."
Jing's trachea had been severed, rendering him unable to utter a sound. His katana slipped from his powerless grasp and fell to the ground.
Jing tried to cover the wound on his neck with his hands, but it was futile.
Jing collapsed on the ground, the cooling temperature of his body from blood loss making him realize he was dying.
He now regretted it. He should have fled the moment he saw Su Fan, instead of choosing to fight him.
At this moment, a figure appeared before him. It was that woman.
Lin Yao stood expressionlessly before Jing, raising her blade and bringing it down with a fierce chop.
Jing's head rolled to the side. Lin Yao, still feeling unvented anger, continued to hack at Jing's body with her blade.
A pair of hands suddenly gripped Lin Yao's wrists, stopping her actions.
"Enough, he's already dead."
Su Fan, not wanting Lin Yao to suffer mental distress from this incident, intervened to stop her desecration of the corpse.
Lin Yao looked at Su Fan, her face streaked with tears.
"Senior brother is dead..."
Lin Yao looked at Su Fan and said.
"I know."
"He said... he liked me."
Tears uncontrollably streamed down Lin Yao's face again, dripping onto the ground.
Su Fan gently took the blade from Lin Yao's hand and patted her back.
Lin Yao could no longer hold back, burying her face in Su Fan's shoulder and weeping uncontrollably.
"Ahhh!"