Lu Zheng entered the treasury and scrutinized the place.

It appeared ordinary, with torches on the wall, illuminating the whole place, leaving no place, even the corner, to be darkened.

The floor has no tiles but just pure dirt on the ground, protruding rocks – others wrapped by soil.

The place was surrounded by five wooden shelves, two times taller than him.

It appeared to be a library, but the placement of the shelves was all over the place, no arrangement at all.

Lu Zheng saw the characters above the shelves and concluded that each shelf contained different books.

For instance, one shelf contained the records of each member of the clan.

Another contained the internal affairs of the clan. Another contained internal and external techniques of the clan, possibly the original copies, as what could be found in the library were duplicates.

Another contained the history of the clan, and another contained the partnership of the clan with other factions.

Lu Zheng was not interested in those, as he had only a single thing on his mind.

He walked with bare feet, holding the sword while keeping the first stance of the Azure Tide Sword Technique.

He went to the first shelves on the right side, facing the northwest.

He first leaned to the right side of the shelf and stole a peek, seeing nothing but the light dancing from the torch.

It appeared that the wind outside had become fierce, possibly hinting that it was now in the middle of the night outside of the underground.

When he saw no one on the right side, he faced the left side, keeping the first stance while walking forward, slowly and silently.

When he glanced on the right side, the other side of the first shelf he peeked on earlier, he saw no one again.

He stopped hiding his body on the first shelf and moved on to the next shelf.

When he arrived, he leaned his body to the shelf, peeking on the right side again, and saw no one.

He continued the search with extreme meticulousness until he arrived on the fourth shelf, maintaining the distance.

The fourth shelf contained the internal and external techniques of the clan.

As expected, the person was interested in those, as he was whistling in pleasure while he was reading a manual facing the fourth shelf.

When Lu Zheng saw him, his mind was clouded in anger, almost making him take the first move.

Thankfully, he managed to restrain himself, regaining a clear mind, as he thought of a way to take advantage of the element of surprise with him.

Unfortunately, he did not have long-range weapons as he only had a sword, making him only suitable for close combat.

As much as he wanted to have a direct confrontation, if possible, he wanted to attack him with a higher chance of injuring him.

So, he looked around, searching for an object to distract the enemy, and soon discovered a fist-size stone.

He walked towards it, grabbed it from the ground, and returned to his previous position.

He peeked at him again, still standing in the same position, reading in silence, now stopping to whistle in pleasure.

He had long fallen into deep immersion in reading.

‘Now is the right chance.’

Lu Zheng’s eyes flashed with killing intent as he came out of his hiding.

He crouched and then threw the stone, aiming at the shelf near the end.

At the same time, he leaped towards the dead man while performing the first technique of the first stance of the Azure Tide Sword Techniques – Wave Surge.

After taking three leaps and arriving before the dead man, the stone also collided with the shelf, creating a startling noise, making the dead man instinctively look at it – opposite of Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng’s sword swung upward like a wave that carried immense force, capable of breaking through defenses.

“Hmm?”

The Deadman wondered about the noise, while unknowingly, there was an object flying out of his pocket, stopping before Lu Zheng’s attack, illuminating a golden barrier covering his back.

The Deadman was taken aback as he hurriedly turned around and was shocked to see Lu Zheng’s bloodshot eyes. His sword collided with the golden barrier with an image of a massive snake in the center.

The upper part of the sword broke into pieces, widening Lu Zheng’s eyes.

He gazed at the golden barrier with a massive snake in the center, soon dissipating into nothingness.

The object that levitated in front of the Deadman, as though protecting him, lost its golden light as it soon fell to the ground.

When it made a noise as it collided with the floor, Lu Zheng and the Deadman reacted at the same time.

The Deadman took out two daggers on each side of his waist from the scabbard as he hurriedly tried to block Lu Zheng’s attack.

Lu Zheng regained his stance after the first technique failed, making him quickly perform the second technique, Cresting Blade.

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A swift, rising strike aimed at catching his enemy off guard.

The Deadman tried to block the broken sword, but it was fast and deadly.

“Blurgh!”

The broken blade successfully pierced through his chest, but before it went any deeper, it was completely blocked by the dagger.

Lu Zheng stared at the Deadman with bloodshot eyes and saw his green eyes widening in shock.

He could not help but grin as he pulled the broken sword and regained the first stance.

The green-eyed man was completely taken aback by the sudden course of events, taking a step back, staggering.

He continued to cough out blood, and his vision blurred as he tried to look at Lu Zheng one more time.

“Y-You…” An unconvincing voice echoed, directing towards Lu Zheng. “H-How?”

Lu Zhen smirked, feeling so refreshed.

He felt the burden on his heart slowly disappear.

He could not be more satisfied than seeing the person he hated to the core was now in a sorry state.

He was even asking Lu Zheng how did it.

After all, Lu Zheng suddenly came out of death’s door.

The green-eyed man even thought he was seeing a ghost.

But feeling the excruciating pain in his chest, he knew he was far from dreaming.

Lu Zheng did not reply but responded with the third and last technique of the first stance.

The Tide’s Ascent.

It was a spinning upward slash that targeted multiple angles, leaving no room for the opponent to dodge.

Lu Zheng consistently performed repeated upward slashes, making him rotate endlessly, taking a step forward with every cut, as the enemy also took a step backward with every attack it received.

The green-eyed man cleared his mind as he also tried to defend against the endless assault of the broken sword, but every time he moved, his chest ached with enormous pain.

Hence, he was always distracted and sometimes failed to completely react, letting the broken sword hit every part of his body.

And since it was broken, the pain it left behind was so excruciating that it made him scream in pain.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Stop!!!”

He screamed at the top of his lungs, but Lu Zheng continued.

The third stance had so many flaws, as it could easily be broken as long as it was blocked or dodged, but once it landed its first attack, and then another.

There would be no stopping it.

Such a situation occurred in front of him until the green-eyed man – now only had a single eye left open because the other had been cut – could not take it anymore and took a large step backward and landed on the ground with a thud.

He rolled and rolled away, gritting the excruciating pain waving through his body and mind.

When he halted, he was gasping for breath.

He faced the ceiling that was covered with darkness, going to reflection.

He could remember it, Lu Zheng taking the berserk pill containing fifty percent of the poison he created.

There was no problem with the poison as he already tested it on other people, successfully seeing them suffering from the extreme torment until they died.

Before he left, it was what Lu Zheng experienced.

By now, he should have already died.

What was he doing here and now about to kill him?

How did it make sense?

Did perhaps someone save him?

Impossible, he made sure no one powerful enough to help Lu Zheng appeared in the underground.

The underground was patrolled by the external disciples of the Scorching Blade Clan, and so was the surface.

They were not powerful enough to get rid of his poison, and they also did not have the antidote of it either.

He was confident of it.

After all, the poison was provided by his society, which was on another territory.

He only landed here by chance, and when he discovered the treasure of the Azure Tide Clan by Lu Zheng himself, who was mumbling about it in a dark alley, he decided to take the chance and acquire merits to his society.

Who would have thought he would die here?

He worked hard to gain the brat’s trust and successfully fooled him.

Earlier, he was even reading a Qi Projection Technique, a rank technique that would aid a cultivator to become an Expert.

Furthermore, it was just one of them.

Perhaps he might be able to stumble into a Qi Fusion Technique, which was a technique that would aid a cultivator to become a Master.

Do note that a Master could rule a middle-grade city, as it was also the rank of the Clan Head of the Azure Tide Clan.

If he obtained it and exchanged merits with his society, he would soar through the ranks.

He had been dreaming about it, which made him whistle in pleasure earlier.

Who would have thought it would remain a fantasy?

He coughed out blood again when he finally realized the circumstances he was in.

He heard the footsteps echoing on his side, knowing the God of Death had come to take his life.

It was to remind him that his dream earlier would remain as such, for he had to face the reality he would accompany the God of Death in the afterlife.

“Look at you.” A mocking voice echoed behind him.

He was familiar with that voice, the voice that was so gullible and innocent whenever it talked to him.

Now, the voice was filled with scorn as it echoed on him.

“You did not expect this, right? I also did not expect I was fooled, you know. We are the same.”

The footsteps halted as he arduously swept his blurry eyes and saw the fuzzy appearance of Lu Zheng.

“It’s just that it’s not completely, for you will die while I live.” Lu Zeng guffawed.

He gave him time to contemplate.

In the first place, ever since he had come to know the brat, who was so loving and caring towards him, his heart was cold as he always reminded himself to not be attached to the brat.

He never did.

He was honestly ecstatic to see him suffering from his poison.

He could still remember earlier, in the same position as the brat, while the latter was in his position.

Now, it was reversed.

How cruel the fate was.

The sudden changes made him think someone in the heavens snapped his finger, causing this mess.

‘Curse you, heavens!’

At the same time, he had a wonder, making him ask Lu Zheng, “H-How?”

He was barely able to ask him.

Lu Zheng stopped guffawing, feeling completely refreshed.

Now that his emotions settled, his bloodshot eyes slowly retracted, and the protruded red veins all over his body shrank.

He gazed at the man he hated to the core, slowly having his death’s bed, as he replied, “I don’t really know. Perhaps a devil took pity on me.”

‘A devil, huh?’

The mysterious voice echoed inside his mind, startling him and making him terrified.

However, seeing no killing intent from the mysterious voice, he slowly calmed down and chuckled.

He raised the broken sword once again and was about to finish the green-eyed man’s life, who had long closed his eyes, ready to accept his death, when the latter suddenly said to Lu Zheng, “I will die, but they will not let you off.”

Lu Zheng froze, letting the green-eyed man continue, “I am Jade Fang, an external member of the Golden Serpent Society, the ruler of the Golden Serpent Domain. The token that was broken just now…”

Cough!

He coughed out blood again, his chest heaved up and down, as he arduously continued, “Was owned by the internal member… My Uncle. My only Father. I have long known I will die, but not by your hands.”

Suddenly, he sneered.

“There’s no use for me to shout that someone will take revenge for me. Because someone will. I will wait for you in hell.”

His voice was calm even though it was broken sometimes by the coughing, it was bone-chilling.

Lu Zheng could not help but feel terrified.