Chapter 46: Fierce Battle—The Fifth Fracture of the Gatekeepers (Seeking Continued Reading)

A sudden flash of insight struck Lu Yan; he remembered that Zhou Hezhen had already been poisoned before his death.

For outsiders, poisoning Zhou Hezhen would have been no easy task. But if the culprit was someone from within the Zhou clan itself, things became much simpler.

He guessed that the one who had administered the poison was this very steward.

But then, why would a member of the Zhou clan betray their own marquis? The Zhou clan was already weak, with only two martial marquises remaining. Now that one was dead, their strength was further diminished. Weren’t they afraid of being swallowed up by other noble houses?

Lu Yan’s mind was filled with questions.

“She’s dead—truly dead with no possibility of testimony. That favors us, but who knows if she let slip anything before her death?” The steward’s voice sounded again, deep yet cold, thick with murderous intent.

“You mean that member of the Scarlet Guard?” Zhou Zhengde asked.

“That Lu Yan—he claims to have killed Bai Lin single-handedly? No assistance from anyone else?” the steward pressed.

“He was alone. Bai Lin was worth thirty thousand taels of silver; if others were involved, would they let Lu Yan claim the reward alone? Surely they would have demanded their share,” Zhou Zhengde replied. “Lu Yan said he tracked her down by the scent of blood...”

Zhou Zhengde recounted the story Lu Yan had told him.

“It sounds reasonable enough. Where is Lu Yan now?” the steward asked.

“He’s waiting in the side hall. I’ve posted Zhou Zhenghai and Zhou Zhengshi to guard him so he cannot leave. Steward, I’ll go eliminate him now to prevent future trouble,” Zhou Zhengde said.

“Wait,” the steward interjected. “Anyone who could kill Bai Lin is no ordinary man. He might be hiding his true strength, playing the fool. To be safe, I will handle this myself.”

Not only were they withholding his reward, but they also intended to silence him.

Lu Yan was so enraged he was speechless, and his heart surged with a murderous chill.

“If you want to kill me, you’ll have to die first,” he thought, his eyes cold as ice.

Retreating would do him no good. Even if he returned to the Scarlet Guard quarters, the other side, fearing he knew their secret, would hardly let it go. They would likely resort to some devious trick.

Rather than waiting passively, it was better to strike first.

“Wait—perhaps there is an option even better than killing them,” a sudden idea flickered in Lu Yan’s mind.

Creak!

The hall door swung open; the steward and Zhou Zhengde stepped out.

Bang!

From the rooftop, Lu Yan launched himself down, hurling a punch straight at the steward.

His boldness came from a clear understanding of the situation.

Currently, the Zhou clan had only one martial marquis left. And a person of such status would never serve as a mere steward.

Therefore, this steward could not possibly be the remaining martial marquis.

If he was not a marquis, Lu Yan had nothing to fear.

Moreover, Lu Yan had already overheard their greatest secret. Even if he couldn’t defeat them, as long as he could escape, he would have them at his mercy.

Of course, victory would be best—it would allow him to seize the initiative completely.

The steward reacted swiftly. The moment Lu Yan attacked, he sensed it. He spun around, blood and energy surging, and his crimson claws slashed at Lu Yan.

Blood and energy collided, fist met claw, and with a resounding crash, the steward’s burly figure staggered back six steps. Lu Yan flipped through the air and landed steadily.

“Fivefold limit-breaker.”

Lu Yan instantly understood the opponent’s cultivation. He was strong, but Lu Yan felt no fear. He drove forward, legs tensed like a drawn bow, and struck out with a barrage of punches.

“Courting death,” the steward spat coldly. He had only been forced back by the last-minute defense. Now, his energy and blood roared, his hands turning a fiery red, like iron fresh from the forge.

His twin claws slashed through the air, radiating searing heat as they sought Lu Yan’s life.

Both men moved with astonishing speed, exchanging seven or eight blows in the span of a few breaths. Lu Yan shifted from fists to palms, chopping at the steward’s left wrist, but his own left arm was raked by the steward’s claws, leaving five bloody furrows.

“What thick, overflowing blood and energy—he’s at the peak of fivefold limit-breaking,” Lu Yan mused, eyes narrowing with a trace of gravity.

This steward was formidable indeed. His energy and blood had reached the very limits; their density matched Lu Yan’s own.

Moreover, the steward’s martial technique was of the first rank, and in terms of quality, his blood and energy even surpassed Lu Yan’s.

His martial arts were also highly refined, likely at the stage of consummate mastery.

First-rate martial arts were notoriously difficult to train, and reaching consummate mastery was all but impossible.

Liu Xingren, for example, had also achieved fivefold limit-breaking, but his martial arts were, at best, at the stage of perfect integration—not yet consummate.

Cultivation and energy could be built up with martial foods, but the depth of one’s martial technique required innate talent and time to accumulate.

Thus, this steward’s combat strength exceeded even that of Liu Xingren.

First-rate martial arts were hard to hone, but their power was overwhelming.

Lu Yan estimated that first-rate martial arts at consummate mastery approached the power of second-rate martial arts at a transcendent level.

Of course, Lu Yan had his own, even greater, advantages.

He possessed four layers of superimposed martial bodies, making his physique far more formidable and his strength vastly superior.

He also wielded two second-rate martial arts that achieved unity between man and martial path.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Yan had sized up both sides’ strengths and was full of confidence.

“So it’s you, Lu Yan—you were hiding your true strength all along!” Zhou Zhengde exclaimed, astonished.

He felt a chill of fear; thankfully, he hadn’t tried to make a move earlier, or he’d be dead by now.

“Anyone capable of killing Bai Lin is no ordinary man. You heard everything just now, didn’t you?” The steward fixed his gaze on Lu Yan, eyes brimming with murderous intent.

“I heard it all, every single word,” Lu Yan nodded seriously, then said, “I truly never expected the esteemed steward of the Zhou clan to conspire with outsiders to assassinate your own marquis. If word of this got out, who knows what the consequences would be?”

The steward’s face was as cold as ice. He stared at Lu Yan, then suddenly smiled. “Brother Lu, perhaps we can cooperate.”

“And how, exactly, would we cooperate?” Lu Yan asked.

“That female assassin is worth thirty thousand taels of silver. I can send someone to collect the entire reward for you. In addition, I’ll give you ten thousand taels more—provided you agree never to divulge my secret, taking it to your grave. What do you say?” the steward proposed.

“That’s a good deal. I accept,” Lu Yan replied after a moment’s thought, nodding.

“Excellent! I’ll have the silver fetched at once,” the steward said, gleeful, breaking into hearty laughter.

“A pleasure doing business,” Lu Yan replied, feigning delight as well. Then, in a sudden motion, he launched a punch straight at Zhou Zhengde.

Though Zhou Zhengde was a formidable fighter, having broken his limits four times, he was caught entirely off guard. Lu Yan’s punch crashed into his chest, sending him flying and coughing blood, clearly not long for this world.

“You—how dare you go back on your word!” the steward roared in fury, leaping like a great eagle, his crimson claws slashing for Lu Yan’s eyes and throat.

Lu Yan dodged, then counterattacked with a punch. “Did you take me for a child? Cooperate with you? You’d never rest easy unless I was dead. That so-called alliance was just a ruse to catch me off guard before killing me.”

He had struck at Zhou Zhengde and not the steward because he saw that the steward’s muscles were taut, his energy hidden yet ready—clearly prepared for an attack.

Zhou Zhengde, too, was a formidable opponent; by eliminating him, Lu Yan had removed a significant threat.

“All together—kill him!” the steward bellowed.

The steward attacked relentlessly, his claws swift as the wind, aiming for Lu Yan’s vital points with every strike.

Lu Yan’s words had hit home; the steward had indeed intended exactly that.

He would never trust a mere verbal promise. Only a corpse could keep a secret.

He hadn’t expected that this youth, barely grown, would see through his plot at a glance and, seizing the opportunity, dispatch one of his strongest allies.

Unforgivable!

His murderous intent was boundless. Today, Lu Yan had to die.

If Lu Yan lived, he himself had no hope of survival.

Even as he spoke, he and Lu Yan exchanged eight rapid blows.

Lu Yan failed to gain the upper hand—the Crimson Eagle Claw was unpredictable, every move targeting a vital point. When he couldn’t reach a vital, he’d attack Lu Yan’s joints.

Once, the claws raked his wrist, making his entire arm go numb, nearly robbing him of his strength.

Worse yet, the places clawed burned with searing pain, as if branded by hot iron, filling the air with a scorched smell.

What troubled Lu Yan even more were the two guards, each wielding an iron crossbow, aiming at the back of his head, his heart, and his temples—making him feel as if thorns were at his back.

Ordinary crossbows didn’t worry him; what he feared were military-grade armor-piercing crossbows.

These crossbows could pierce defensive energy and blood, and not even a fivefold limit-breaker could completely withstand their bolts.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The steward’s claws sliced through the air with a sharp hiss, one strike aimed at Lu Yan’s elbow, the other at his throat.

The two guards seized the moment and fired their bolts, targeting the back of Lu Yan’s head.

“Hah!” Lu Yan gave a light shout. His muscles rippled as he rapidly grew taller, his entire body turning golden.

His arm swung out like an iron rod, blocking the steward’s claws.

The two bolts struck his back.

Not even his mighty Vajra Body could completely repel the bolts; they broke his skin and sank halfway into his flesh before being stopped by his muscles.

“So, they are armor-piercing crossbows,” Lu Yan thought.

Ordinary bolts could never penetrate his Vajra Body—only these could.

And these were the small ones; rumor had it the military possessed larger versions, against which even martial marquises had to be wary.

With a flex of his muscles, Lu Yan forced the two bolts out of his body, then shifted from fists to palms, exchanging three more blows with the steward.

Meanwhile, the two guards reloaded, aiming their crossbows at Lu Yan once again.

He dared not be careless—a bolt to his head, throat, or temple could be fatal.

Trying to keep track of the crossbows, Lu Yan let his guard down just enough for the steward to grab his shoulder, nearly dislocating the joint. He fought back fiercely, escaping, but his entire arm burned with pain and numbness.

Had his Vajra Body not reached the unity of man and martial path, his entire arm might have been torn off.

“A fivefold limit-breaker at his peak from a noble house truly is formidable,” Lu Yan reflected, warning himself never to underestimate the experts of the world.

Previously, he had faced two fivefold limit-breakers who trained in first-rate martial arts—Liu Xingren and the female assassin Bai Lin.

But both had been wounded at the time, their strength far from its peak, making it hard to judge their real power.

This steward, however, was the first full-strength noble expert Lu Yan had ever faced.

Whoosh, whoosh!

The two guards fired again—one shooting for the back of Lu Yan’s head, the other for his temple.

Lu Yan twisted to evade the bolt from behind and reached out to grab the one from the side.

The steward seized his chance, clawing for Lu Yan’s throat.

“I was waiting for you,” Lu Yan thought, suddenly bending backward in an iron bridge, dodging the bolt, and grabbing the steward’s wrist with his right hand.