593 Number Four Killer

"Treasure Hunting Compass... seems like a treasure..."

Zhang Ruochen nodded with satisfaction, and let go of Lin Yue.

With the Treasure Hunting Compass, Zhang Ruochen could go ahead and search for the Holy Stone without having to return to Cyan Cloud County to carry out the transaction with Duanmu Ya. On top of that, it would save him from worrying about his true identity being exposed by Mu Lingxi.

The cyan-robed elder gave Lin Yue a cold look. He would never have imagined Lin Yue would give in so easily. Were the evil people really this intimidating?

Zhang Ruochen walked up to the cyan-robed old Taoist and pressed his electric palm on the old Taoist's head, guarding himself against any sneak attack.

Zhang Ruochen searched the cyan-robed old Taoist with his free hand and found a compass made of black iron.

"This is it!"

Zhang Ruochen took the compass from the elder's robe. He could subtly feel two distinctive Qis flowing out from it, making part of his palm chillingly cold and part of it burning hot.

"A vessel sculpted and refined from Yin Yan Xuan Stone, it's fairly impressive."

Zhang Ruochen held the Treasure Hunting Compass in his palm and was about to ask the cyan-robed old Taoist how to use it.

Suddenly he felt his chest tighten and all the hairs on his body stand up. A cold current ran from the sole of his feet, through his spine, and up to his head.

Simultaneously, the nerves all over Zhang Ruochen's body tensed up and all his joints stiffened. He stayed still, afraid to move an inch.

A murderous feeling.

A terrifying murderous feeling.

Zhang Ruochen was sure that there was a killer around 33 meters or less from him.

"Qi-converging skills so powerful that this person was able to draw this close to me without me realizing it. Who could it be?" Zhang Ruochen thought, feeling alarmed. His back was drenched in sweat.

The Blood Cloud Sect was his only enemy in Eastern Evil Land.

The person waiting in ambush was almost certainly a top killer from Blood Cloud Sect.

The disciples of Yin and Yang Sect, however, were still unaware of the killer hidden nearby. They were surprised to see that Zhang Ruochen had suddenly stopped moving and instead kept very still.

"What happened to him?"

Zhang Ruochen kept still because although he could sense the murderous feeling, he did not know the exact position of the killer. If he were to strike out rashly, his opponent would gain the upper hand and take advantage of the situation. It would be wise to wait for the enemy to strike first.

Once his opponent made a move, Zhang Ruochen would be able to locate his position.

The killer who was waiting in ambush realized that Zhang Ruochen had sensed his presence. He stopped waiting and brandished his sword toward Zhang Ruochen's back.

"Swoosh!"

Concentric rings like ripples of water appeared in the air and moved toward Zhang Ruochen.

A flashing sword with a three-finger-wide blade slashed through the ripples of Genuine Qi and pierced through Zhang Ruochen's robe, almost reaching his body.

Zhang Ruochen transformed into a beam of lightning using the Rolling Thunders Skill and moved three steps sideways, thereby dodging the killer's sword.

With a ripping sound, the sword Qi tore Zhang Ruochen's outer robe along its length. "That was close!"

If Zhang Ruochen had been a split second late, there would have been a bloody wound inflicted on his body.

"Wind and Thunder Finger."

Zhang Ruochen immediately retreated and began mobilizing Spiritual Power. His pointed finger struck toward the black-clad killer who had come out of hiding.

The speed at which the killer moved was alarming. Immediately after he missed in his first attack, he leaped up without any hesitation and then disappeared into thin air as if he had leaped into another dimension of space.

Zhang Ruochen's Wind and Thunder Finger, which had transformed into a lightning beam, missed the killer. He escaped unscathed.

His opponent was a top-notch killer who had killed countless people. Besides, his cultivation was formidable. Although Zhang Ruochen was quick to strike out, he stilled missed by a beat.

"He was so skillful in Qi-converging technique, that even I wasn't able to detect him with my Spiritual Power."

Zhang Ruochen stopped in his tracks once again instead of continuing his attack. He began to condense his Spiritual Power quietly in defense.

A deep-toned voice rang out in the air. "His Excellency's sensitivity to his surroundings is the keenest out of everyone I've met. You are indeed very capable. I guess Fang Jie and Cao Ying's deaths by your hands were not unjustified."

The voice resonated everywhere.

There was no way to pinpoint where it was coming from. It sounded like ten people speaking simultaneously from different locations all around him.

Zhang Ruochen had a look of indifference on his face. "Your level of cultivation is definitely not low. You must be ranked within the top five killers of the Blood Cloud Sect's ten top killers."

"You have guessed correctly, I indeed belong to the Blood Cloud Sect. Listen carefully. The person who is going to kill you is Luo Shi, just so you know when you go to hell."

The deep voice rang out again in the air.

Lin Yue, who was kneeling nearby, gasped. "Luo Shi, the number four killer of Blood Cloud Sect."

The disciples of Yin and Yang Sect were stunned once more as horror rose up in their hearts.

Luo Shi was infamous as far back as ten years ago. He was one of the most skillful killers of the Eastern Region.

The name "Luo Shi" equated to a murdering demon in the hearts of the younger generation of disciples.

Having chanced upon the legendary big devil, the young disciples who stayed with Yin and Yang Sect the whole year round were terrified.

"The masked man is the master who killed Fang Jie and Cao Ying. Aren't we digging our own grave by trying to snatch his Holy Stone?"

"What bad luck! Here we are trying to gain some experience but we ended up bumping into two big devils from the demonic sects."

Even the cyan-robed old Taoist was shocked. He would never have expected to meet the murder maniac. He regretted coveting the Holy Stone.

What use was regret?

Once these two evil people began fighting, the area within a radius of ten miles would become their battleground. Bystanders could be killed by the forces and powers resulting from their battle.

All the disciples of the Yin and Yang Sect went into a panic. Zhang Ruochen, however, did not show any sign of distress. He remained calm and composed.

"Looks like I have to use Space Domain to locate his position."

Zhang Ruochen decided to stop waiting and initiate an attack. He slowly released the Space Domain and began trying to trace and pinpoint Luo Shi's location.

Very soon, Zhang Ruochen noticed a subtle aura fluctuation seven feet to his left.

Once the Space Domain covered the place where Luo Shi was, the contour of a human figure would be exposed. However, there was no way of sensing his presence by the naked eye or Spiritual Power.

"He has proven himself to be a top killer possessing the ability to make himself invisible and undetectable. Even a superior of the Ninth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, if careless, could be killed by him."

Zhang Ruochen acted without hesitation the moment he located Luo Shi.

"Nine-Fold Lightning Knife."

Without warning, Zhang Ruochen turned around and struck his arm in Luo Shi's direction.

"Crash! Crash!"

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi converged and condensed into lightning knife lines that ran over ten meters long. Knife after knife struck toward Luo Shi.

"How is this possible..."

Luo Shi never thought that Zhang Ruochen would be able to locate him.

With a "swoosh", the lightning knife struck Luo Shi and he was thrown into the air.

Fortunately, he was carrying an amulet treasure that absorbed the impact. Otherwise, he would have been severely wounded by the power of the first strike of the lightning knife.

Despite the fact that the amulet treasure had absorbed the most of the impact, the power of Zhang Ruochen's attack was like that of a monk who had reached the Eighth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm. Because Luo Shi was caught off guard, his blood Qi and Genuine Qi in his Meridians turned turbulent and could not be stabilized.

Initially, it was supposed to be him ambushing and killing Zhang Ruochen. He would never have thought it would be him caught by surprise and forced into a corner by Zhang Ruochen.

This was an extremely disgraceful thing for a top killer.

Luo Shi ran exercises hoping to stabilize the Genuine Qi in him, however, Zhang Ruochen did not give him a chance to do that. With a "swish", two lightning knife lines appeared right before him.

By then, the power within the amulet treasure was exhausted. Luo Shi did not dare use his body to block the lightning knife lines. He tried to move the Genuine Qi toward his arms, which were holding a sword each, condensed the power and then struck forward.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

...

A series of eight lightning knife lines fell on Luo Shi consecutively. The power got stronger with each strike, forcing him to retreat.

He took the blow from Zhang Ruochen's Nine-fold Lightning Knife with his arms and they instantly went completely numb and dropped to his sides.

Luo Shi had to swallow the humiliation of being beaten to such a sad state for the first time in ten years of being a killer.

Nine-fold Lightning Knife was deemed a top grade skill among the Level One Magic Arts.

Luo Shi was the first person to withstand all nine lightning knives ever since Zhang Ruochen succeeded in cultivating the magic spell. It showed that he was not merely a killer—his strength was actually quite daunting.

"Luo Shi, having reached cultivation level of the Seventh Change in the Fish-dragon Realm, possesses the capabilities of a monk who has reached the Eighth Change in the Fish-dragon Realm. He will be a formidable opponent if I confront him head-on," Zhang Ruochen said in his heart.

Once a person reached the Fish-Dragon Realm, unless he was a Saintly Being or a monk with exceptional physical qualities, it would be nearly impossible to fight beyond his realm of cultivation.

After all, among those who could reach the Fish-Dragon Realm, who was not a talent?

Luo Shi was considered outstanding among the monks who had reached the Fish-Dragon Realm because he could cross over to the next realm while fighting. Unfortunately for him, Zhang Ruochen had an edge over him because he had been overly complacent at the start.

"Wind and Thunder Finger."

Zhang Ruochen did not give Luo Shi any chance to catch his breath. He struck with a pointed finger and a thick beam of lightning powerfully shot out from his fingertips.

If "Nine-fold Lightning Knife" was said to be the most powerful move of the top-level thunderbolt series spells, then "Wind and Thunder Finger" would be the move that condensed most power. It could easily break through a monk's Protective Vigorous Qi.