Chapter 100: Marquis Wu, Nothing Special.

The person from the Martial King level family had an ugly expression, clearly unwilling but also aware that any meaningless resistance would only cost them their lives. In the end, they could only hand over all the coin fish to the Zheng family.

“Get lost.”

The big man from the Zheng family waved his hand.

The eight members of the Martial King level family turned to leave.

“Attack.”

The big man from the Zheng family suddenly issued the order and charged forward to kill.

With the advantage of calculation and vastly superior strength, the Martial King level family was wiped out in an instant, four men falling. The remaining four were all wounded and could barely withstand a few more moves.

“You... are going back on your word.”

One of them roared in fury.

“To keep you from spreading rumors outside and tarnishing the Zheng family’s reputation, only the dead are truly reliable.”

The big man from the Zheng family spoke in a cold, detached tone.

Soon, every last member of the Martial King level family was killed.

After a quick search of the corpses, the Zheng family members walked away without a backward glance.

Lu Yan watched from the sidelines without moving, nor did he immediately rush out to seize the coin fish for himself.

The coin fish were still far from enough. He would wait a little longer and cast a long line to catch a big fish.

Quietly, he followed behind the Zheng family members.

Half an hour later, these same people killed another group of Martial King level family members and snatched away quite a few coin fish.

At this point, Lu Yan no longer hesitated. He struck without warning.

Crash!

The first victim was that big man.

This person was a peak expert at the fifth limit-breaking realm, cultivating a first-rate martial art, yet he could not withstand even one strike from Lu Yan.

A single fist struck, and the man’s arms and chest exploded together. His entire torso was caved in, blood and flesh spraying everywhere.

The blood-red blade was drawn, and with a flash of light, several heads rose into the air.

One head flew directly into the wish power pattern, exploding like a balloon with a muffled bang.

“Run!”

The survivors were filled with terror. Their souls left their bodies as they scattered and fled in every direction.

Two of them, in their panic, ran the wrong way and into the dangerous zone, where they were instantly torn apart. This spared Lu Yan the trouble of finishing them himself.

The rest were too slow to escape. Lu Yan caught them one by one and beheaded them.

He then hurled the corpses into the wish power pattern to erase all traces.

“Not bad, roughly twenty jin.”

Lu Yan weighed the bamboo basket and was quite satisfied.

He poured the coin fish from the basket into his own, bringing the total to nearly seventy jin.

“Zheng family, where are you hiding?”

Lu Yan’s gaze swept the area as he began searching for them again.

Not long after, he encountered another group, about a dozen men. Zheng Zhongtian and the Martial King were not among them.

Lu Yan quietly followed at a distance.

These men were just as domineering. Seeing a Martial King level family, they wanted to attack, but this time they had stepped on a hard iron plate.

Among them was actually a Martial King.

Martial King level families rarely sent their own Martial Kings out.

For them, every Martial King was a pillar of support, and the loss of even one was a devastating blow.

However, the Martial Kings of the Martial King level family were only there for self-protection and deterrence. They did not counterattack the Zheng family members.

They still did not dare to offend a grandmaster level family. Killing Zheng family members would spell disaster for them once the news leaked out.

The Martial King did not gamble. He only led his men away.

“Hmph, unlucky.”

The Zheng family members were in a foul mood and could only hunt for coin fish on their own.

Lu Yan trailed them for several hours. When he saw they had made decent gains, he struck without warning, slaughtering all twelve men and claiming more than twenty jin of coin fish.

More than ninety jin.

One hundred jin was within reach.

But even that would not be enough. The top two positions still needed to be fought for.

Lu Yan continued his search for the Zheng family.

It was fortunate that Lu Yan still had some connection with the Zheng family. Not long after, they encountered another batch.

This time, Lu Yan did not rush to attack.

These Zheng family members, centered around Zheng Zhongtian and the one-armed Martial King, would surely hand all their coin fish over to their leaders.

Lu Yan planned to follow them, locate the two men, and wipe them out completely.

He stayed close behind.

The setting sun was sinking in the west, and night was falling.

The Linchuan Cliff gradually grew quiet.

In the darkness, directions were hard to discern, and acting rashly was even more dangerous. One careless step could send a person into the danger zone.

Lu Yan found a quiet spot to rest and observe the wish power book.

The light around the wish power book grew even brighter, forming a luminous cocoon that enclosed it completely.

The martial art clones of the various families remained motionless.

“I wonder how long it will take to return to normal. It’s fortunate that I’m not in a hurry to advance my martial arts.”

Lu Yan mused inwardly.

The Diamond Indestructible Skill was a perfect fusion of human and martial arts, already at its highest realm. The urgent task was to break through to the Martial King level and raise his own cultivation, while the other matters were secondary.

No more words were spoken that night.

The next morning, Lu Yan continued tailing the Zheng family members.

After gathering some coin fish, they set off in a certain direction and met up with another group.

Sure enough, Zheng Zhongtian and the one-armed Martial King were among them.

“Have you seen that fellow?”

The one-armed Martial King asked a woman in her forties.

“No.”

The woman shook her head.

“Search again. If you find him, do not attack. You are no match for him. Report it to me at once. I will personally kill him.”

The one-armed Martial King’s gaze was icy, filled with murderous intent.

“Yes, yes.”

The woman nodded repeatedly.

They pooled their coin fish into a single bamboo basket and then departed.

“You don’t have to come looking for me. I will come find you.”

Lu Yan quietly followed the woman’s group. When they separated to open a path with their blood, he struck, knocking one man unconscious. Silently dragging the body away, he broke the throat bone with a single palm, changed into the dead man’s clothes, and stared at the face while using the body transformation technique.

The muscles and bones of the face began to shift, then stilled.

Lu Yan touched his cheek and muttered, “It should be about thirty percent similar. I should be able to pass for a short time.”

He had tested the technique many times. Imitating others’ appearances usually achieved thirty percent resemblance. If the target was already somewhat similar, fifty percent was possible. Of course, imitating a woman was even harder, nearly impossible to reach even ten percent.

Some bloodstains were smeared across his face. Satisfied with his disguise, Lu Yan shouldered the bamboo basket and headed toward Zheng Zhongtian and the one-armed Martial King.

Zheng Zhongtian and the others had already left their original location but had not gone far; they were still exploring the nearby area.

“It’s bad, it’s bad!”

Lu Yan staggered over with a terrified expression.

Zheng Zhongtian and the others glanced at him, saw the Zheng family clothes, and changed expression. “What happened?”

“Our people were killed. I escaped in the chaos.”

As he spoke, he staggered toward the one-armed Martial King.

The one-armed Martial King paid no attention at first. When Lu Yan drew near, he instinctively sensed something wrong.

“Wait, stop.”

The one-armed Martial King shouted.

Crash!

Lu Yan kicked off powerfully, charging forward like a hurricane. His golden fist struck toward the one-armed Martial King.

In haste, the one-armed Martial King slapped out, but only blocked Lu Yan’s right fist. Lu Yan’s left fist smashed straight into the man’s waist.

The one-armed Martial King roared as his entire body’s bone strength erupted. He tried to resist, but the bone strength only held for an instant before being shattered. The blow landed solidly on the one-armed Martial King’s waist.

Crack!

The man’s waist ribs fractured. He staggered backward, blood pouring from his mouth.

Seizing the opportunity while he was ill to finish him off.

Lu Yan struck with full force, sending out three more punches in quick succession. Each fist struck the one-armed Martial King’s chest, caving it inward. The man flew backward and slammed into an ancient statue, sliding down.

Wish power patterns bloomed around the statue. The one-armed Martial King was heavily wounded and dying, unable to resist. His body exploded into pieces.

After sending the one-armed Martial King flying, Lu Yan’s momentum did not falter. He spun and sent a fist toward Zheng Zhongtian.

Zheng Zhongtian was shocked and swung up his fist to block.

Puff.

His fist, arm, and chest exploded. His body was pierced through by Lu Yan’s strike.

His left foot stepped forward. His right hand drew the blade and slashed horizontally. Two heads flew high into the air.

The remaining men reacted and scattered in panic.

But in a place where every step was danger, where could they run?

Those with bad luck ran straight into the danger zone and were torn apart. Those with better luck were caught and killed by Lu Yan.

In just a dozen breaths, the dozen Zheng family experts were wiped out.

Lu Yan glanced at the Zheng family Martial King, now reduced to a bloody pulp, and muttered, “A Martial King is nothing more than this.”

He searched the intact corpses and only found over two hundred taels of silver notes.

“A bunch of paupers.”

Lu Yan spat in disgust.

But the coin fish in the bamboo basket brought him a pleasant surprise.

He weighed it, estimating roughly eighty jin.

Adding his own haul, the total reached one hundred and seventy jin.

One basket was already full. Lu Yan simply shouldered two.

“It’s not safe. I still need to search a bit more.”

Lu Yan pondered.

He tossed the Zheng family members’ bodies into the wish power pattern and left the area.

As the various families delved deeper, coin fish became increasingly difficult to find.

Often, after searching for half a day, not even one would appear.

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

During this time, Lu Yan had found ten jin on his own.

There was also one family that spotted him alone and tried to rob him, contributing twenty jin. Adding it all up, the total reached exactly two hundred jin.

At the same time, many people were already walking out, preparing to leave.

Because the entire Linchuan Cliff had been searched thoroughly, and it was nearly impossible to find another coin fish.

Many would remain in this ancient relic forever.

Was it worth it?

For those who had died, of course not.

But for the innate martial physiques waiting outside, everything was worth it.

The joys and sorrows of different people were not the same.

Those who entered the Linchuan Cliff hoped to exchange their own efforts for cultivation resources.

The innate martial physiques outside earned those resources through the sacrifices of others.

“It should be enough.”

Lu Yan, carrying two bamboo baskets, prepared to leave as well.

He disguised himself as a man in his thirties, circled to the end of the Linchuan Cliff, and walked out.

Just as he stepped beyond the cliff, he saw a family waving a large banner.

It read: High-grade buying coin fish.

Lu Yan recognized the family: the grandmaster level Qiu family.

Lu Yan bypassed the Qiu family’s area and met several large men.

These men had just come from the Qiu family, but their attire marked them as outsiders.

“Brothers, is the Qiu family buying coin fish at a high price?”

Lu Yan stepped forward and asked.

“Not bad. Anyway, the coin fish we got is less than one hundred jin, so we don’t qualify to buy the jade bone tiger. Once we take them back to Nan Yi City, we’ll sell to the Gao family. The price the Qiu family offers is thirty percent higher than the Gao family’s, so it’s better to sell to them.”

One man said.

Lu Yan frowned.