Chapter 53: The Secret Guarded by the Noble Clans

Lu Yan and the scapegoat girl struck simultaneously.

With a tap of her toes, the scapegoat girl glided forward like a phantom, rushing toward a burly man. A flash of cold light—a small knife appeared in her hand, slashing toward the man’s throat.

The man gripped his saber with both hands, blood surging as he swung in reply. His blade technique was simple, without any complex maneuvers, but it was swift, precise, and ruthless. The arc of the blade seemed to slice through the curtain of rain, clashing with the girl’s knife.

With a resounding clang, the burly man staggered back again and again. The girl remained unmoved, pressing her attack.

“A first-rate martial art—you’re a scion of the great clans,” the man shouted, full of wariness. He himself had broken his limits five times, yet in a single exchange he was outmatched. The blood energy he had forged through a second-rate martial art was easily shattered by the girl.

She remained silent, her blade raining blows.

Meanwhile, Lu Yan was facing off against the martial soldiers—three at once. Of the five soldiers, two had broken their limits five times, while the other three had done so four times. The three with four breakthroughs knew they were outclassed, so they attacked together; three war sabers swept in, each strike following the last in a relentless, surging tide.

This was a battlefield formation, honed for deadly efficiency. The trio worked in perfect concert, unleashing formidable force. Lu Yan launched several attacks but found himself unable to break their saber net—he couldn’t help but respect the fearsome power of such formations.

No wonder, he thought, there were rumors that when a hundred martial soldiers formed up, even a Marquis of War would avoid their edge.

Yet ultimately, the gap in strength was too great.

These soldiers were not clan-born and had no right to practice first-rate martial arts; what they learned were second-rate styles suited for the battlefield. Even among second-rate arts, their level could not compare to Lu Yan’s.

His arms swelled with muscle, turning a golden hue, impervious to the flashing blades. He swung his fists with savage force.

Clang! Clang! Clang!...

His fists, like iron hammers, collided head-on with the sabers and emerged unscathed, bearing only a few faint marks.

If there was any part of Lu Yan’s body that was hardest, it was his hands. Having undergone the tempering of Iron Thread Fist, Stone-Crushing Palm, Tiger Fist, Iron Sand Palm, and the Vajra Physique, once he channeled his power, they were tough as steel, protected by his blood energy, and feared no common blade.

His overwhelming strength sent a jolt through the three soldiers, who fell back, their formation shattered.

Lu Yan strode forward and landed a punch on one soldier, breaking his chest bone and sending him flying, lifeless. Without pause, he pressed his attack; the remaining two, unable to withstand even a single exchange, fell to his blows.

On the other side, the scapegoat girl had finished her fight as well. The five-breakthrough martial soldier was no match for her—barely fending off her blade, only to be struck on the forehead by her palm, his head nearly bursting.

Lu Yan felt a chill inside. This girl’s strength was unfathomable—she had escaped the grasp of a Marquis of War, and last time nearly snatched the mutated heart-flesh from Liu Yuansong.

Among all the five-breakthrough fighters Lu Yan had seen, she was the strongest by far.

Only Wang Shun was still locked in a bitter struggle with the last five-breakthrough soldier. Seeing Lu Yan and the scapegoat girl had finished off his companions, the soldier panicked. In his distraction, Wang Shun seized the opportunity and sliced off his right arm.

The soldier turned to flee but was blocked by the girl, who sent him flying with a palm strike; he lay motionless on the ground.

From the direction of the tents, sounds were already rising—clearly, the main force was on its way. Any thought of breaking out was futile; if they encountered the main body of martial troops, a volley of arrows would follow, and not even the scapegoat girl’s footwork could evade them all.

Wang Shun immediately dashed deeper into the forbidden grounds.

Lu Yan and the scapegoat girl followed, one to each side, hemming Wang Shun in.

Their eyes were unfriendly, killing intent evident. It was clear Wang Shun had just drawn them into the fray to save himself; neither of the other two was one to be trifled with.

Sensing their murderous mood, Wang Shun forced a strained smile. “My friends, I wronged you just now, but we’re all in the same boat. Working together is the only way out—if we fight among ourselves and draw the martial troops, none of us will escape alive.”

“How did you spot me just now?” the girl asked.

Lu Yan also wanted to know.

“I’ve trained in a special martial art to enhance my hearing—my sense is sharper than most. Earlier, I heard your heartbeats and breathing,” Wang Shun explained.

Though they spoke, their feet never stopped, running swiftly and changing direction along the way.

“What exactly did you see that brought the martial soldiers after you? Tell us now, and I’ll let bygones be bygones,” Lu Yan said coldly.

The scapegoat girl nodded. “That’s right, tell us—and don’t you dare lie, or else…”

She spun her knife in her palm, its gleam icy and menacing.

Wang Shun’s eyes brimmed with dread.

Lu Yan was formidable, having just killed three soldiers with ease. But those three had only broken through four times—if Wang Shun went all out, he could have dispatched them too.

The scapegoat girl, however, was different. Killing a five-breakthrough fighter was effortless for her—now, that was frightening. Killing him would not be hard at all.

“We’re in this together now. I wouldn’t hide anything from you…” Wang Shun forced another smile. “I saw many ancient ruins beneath those collapsed peaks.”

“You needn’t say it—I saw them too. Get to the point,” the girl interrupted impatiently.

“I overheard members of the noble clans talking. Apparently, the ruins are extremely dangerous. Anyone who approaches is killed by some bizarre force. So the clans selected many young people to train—they want them to scout the way, to use their lives to find a path through, to avoid certain death,” Wang Shun said.

Lu Yan’s heart trembled. He recalled, on his last trip into the forbidden grounds, the pit filled with corpses—hundreds of bodies, all young. This matched Wang Shun’s account.

So, the Liu and Wu clans’ recruitment of young people, promising martial training, was all a lie. The real purpose was to use them as expendable scouts for the ancient ruins.

Lu Yan himself had once wanted to join, but had been turned away for not yet recovering from illness. Now, in hindsight, he realized how lucky he’d been.

“No wonder the two great clans took in so many refugees—there were two reasons: to draw out martial spirits, and to find people for exploring the ruins,” Lu Yan mused. At last, his old suspicions were answered.

“What lies beneath those ruins, that the clans would spend lives so recklessly?” Lu Yan asked.

“A blood earth vein,” Wang Shun replied, eyes shining. “A blood earth vein never before revealed, hidden deep beneath the ground.”

“A hidden blood earth vein? That’s a rare find. What grade?” Even the scapegoat girl’s eyes lit up.

“I heard from the clansmen’s conversation—it should be first-grade,” Wang Shun said.

“First-grade?” Lu Yan was puzzled. “Don’t the Liu and Wu clans each already have a first-grade blood earth vein? Why such urgency?”

“You don’t understand. A hidden vein, untouched and buried for years, is saturated with blood energy—sure to have fostered many exotic beasts, all wild. The meat of these wild beasts is far superior to the domesticated kind raised by the clans, and thus fetches a higher price. These creatures are like walking treasuries. Moreover, with such dense blood energy, some beasts may even mutate, yielding mutated heart-flesh, which is a priceless treasure for a Marquis-level clan,” Wang Shun explained.

Lu Yan understood. An undeveloped blood earth vein, potentially home to dozens or even hundreds of beasts—the value was incredible. And if mutated heart-flesh could be harvested, it was all the more understandable that the clans would stop at nothing to seize it. If they managed to exploit this resource, their power would soar.

As they talked, the three had already covered several miles, entering a dense forest. They changed direction multiple times along the way, and with the rain making tracking difficult, the sounds of pursuit gradually faded and finally vanished.

Suddenly, Lu Yan felt a chill crawl up his scalp—he heard a terrifying sound tearing through the air behind him, a wave of cold intent stabbing at the back of his head.