Lu Zheng indifferently watched the corpse before grasping; he seemed to have grown accustomed to killing someone and seeing a nauseous scene.

He then recalled the time he vomited, when he witnessed the Scorching Blade Clan piled up in a mountain of corpses of the members of the Azure Tide Clan before burning them in a massive fire.

He helplessly watched it from afar, vomiting from time to time while tears crawled out on his eyelids.

Just remembering it made Lu Zheng feel something was twirling on his stomach.

He shook his head, trying to forget those revolting scenes as he focused on the sleeping other internal members.

He smirked, feeling like another free point was about to bestow on him.

He did not wait anymore as he walked forward, sometimes taking a stride due to the uneven floor filled with debris.

Their chair was even made of a broken part of the wall.

When he arrived at the sleeping internal members, his eyes flashed with cold glint as he sliced his neck, instantly ending his life.

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed an Apprentice Rank Cultivator!

You have obtained 1 strength point.]

Another wave of refreshing feeling flowed all over his body, causing Lu Zheng to feel at ease.

His breathing relaxed as he purposely matched it with the breathing technique provided by the Ocean’s Heart Qi Technique to circulate the Qi inside his meridians smoothly.

He relaxed his body and mind as he calmly swept his gaze to the two corpses.

Of course, as greedy as he was, he could not help but grin, remembering taking three silver coins from a single internal member.

He was expecting these two corpses to provide more silver coins than the lecherous internal members.

He did not waste any more time as he searched for the leather pouch of the near corpse.

Of course, he did not forget to feel anticipated by the Qi Gathering Pills he might be able to take.

However, when he saw the leather pouch, he only saw two silver coins and fifty copper coins.

He could not help but grumble about his bad luck.

His eyes landed on the corpse and kicked him lightly, blaming him.

“You poor piece of shit! That ugly person is richer than you. What are you even doing with your Qi Gathering Pills and money anyway? Do you gamble or what?”

The possibility of the corpse near him being embroiled in gambling, he felt it would make sense of how poor he was.

Nevertheless, after a light and quick tantrum, he grabbed the silver coins and placed them inside his leather pouch.

Now, he had ten silver coins, which was not bad.

Another five silver coins, and he would stop, for he could feel the weight from the leather pouch.

Furthermore, the space was limited either, as he could only take another two Qi Gathering Pills.

He was expecting more from the other corpse, so he eagerly walked towards it and grabbed its leather pouch.

He could feel more weight than the other corpse's leather pouch, inciting him with expectations.

However, his expectations were soon disappointed when he saw three silver coins and hundreds of copper coins with no Qi Gather Pills at all.

He cursed his bad luck.

When his eyes landed on the corpse, he kicked him lightly multiple times as he was passing the blame towards him.

“You, another poor piece of shit. Don’t tell me that lecherous guy is richer than any of you?”

He threw a tantrum for a while before calming down.

He realized he was easily exasperated, so he calmed his mind, executing the breathing technique from the Ocean’s Heart Qi Technique.

He knew that having a low temper was bad for his cultivation, especially because he cultivated the Ocean’s Heart Qi Technique, focusing on inner peace and mental clarity.

Finding himself to calm down, he seized the three silver coins, ignoring the copper coins as he threw them on the floor, together with the leather core, producing a muffled noise.

Now, he could not help but be curious as to why the lecherous guy was richer than them.

In truth, all the internal members were rewarded with another two Qi Gathering Pills three days ago and five silver coins after annihilating the Scorching Blade Clan.

They were ecstatic, but only the lecherous guy had a different reason.

It was because, together with the Qi Gathering Pills and five silver coins as the reward, they would be given a sex slave, which was a member of the Azure Tide Clan, who surrendered to them.

It was only exclusive to the internal members and who badly wanted it.

At first, he only received one woman slave, but since he deeply wanted a threesome, he brought the other one with two silver coins and a Qi Gathering Pill from the monthly given pills, as he only used a single one.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Then, he used the next three days, having three some, until he was forcefully stopped after he received the mission to guard the place.

Meanwhile, his fellow internal members quickly took the Qi Gathering Pills with them, causing them to reach the peak of their realm.

Only that, they needed more training to enhance their physical abilities, so once they became an Intermediate Rank, they would not only have ten Qi, but their physical capabilities were worthy of an Intermediate Rank.

It was an unwritten rule to balance the quality of the body and Qi.

After the other internal members consumed the Qi Gathering Pills, they celebrated by eating in a restaurant, causing them to reduce their money.

Hence, it resulted in the thief, Lu Zheng, feeling he was robbed of their poor amount of money.

They could not even provide Qi Gathering Pills aside from their lecherous fellow internal members.

Lu Zheng assumed such situations must have happened, making him closer to the truth, but he could not be certain about his assumption.

Nevertheless, since it was probable, he concluded with such a conclusion.

He patted the leather coins, trying to be satisfied by his current amount of money, even having two Qi Gathering Pills, as he decided to leave the scene.

However, just as he had taken three steps towards the place where he had hidden earlier, he stopped, as he solemnly stared forward.

A person soon emerged from the shadow, causing him to sneer.

He said, “Now, that saves my time.”

He heard the person gritting his teeth, and he felt delighted seeing his exasperated expression.

***

“Hey.” Lu Zheng called out internal members, grinding his teeth in fury. “Why are your two upper teeth so huge? Got cursed, somehow?”

He giggled.

The two huge upper teeth internal members, on the other hand, were fuming in anger, hearing the insult that appeared to pierce right through his whole being.

He always had been insecure about his upper teeth, as he was even bullied because of it when he was a kid.

He tried to get rid of it, but when he successfully did, it grew to the point it surpassed the previous teeth.

He also could not just appear toothless either, as that would be humiliating.

Hence, he let the upper teeth be, growing to the point it was sticking out of his closed mouth.

Since he had become an internal member, he did not receive insults from it anymore, except those core members he rarely saw.

Even then, they could not be bothered by him, for they were focused on cultivation.

It has been years since he heard someone pointing out his insecurity, even seeing them laughing at it because of it.

For those who tried to make fun of his teeth, they did not last long enough.

His eyes flashed with killing intent as he glared at Lu Zheng, taking the second stance of the Scorching Blade Clan he was familiar with the most.

He let the fury in his mind overtake him, making his mind appear more focused than before.

It was the result of their internal technique, which converted the rage into concentration, making them stronger in fights the more they were infuriated.

At the same time, he growled at Lu Zheng after executing the second stance.

“My name is Yu Long. I will be taking your life. You will repay what you have done to my fellow members.”

Lu Zheng’s guffaw halted, staring at the two huge upper teeth with a solemn expression.

He replied, “You did not even call them friends. How funny. And who said repaying who? It might be the other way around.”

Lu Zheng also executed the stance of the Azure Sword Technique, also choosing the stance he was familiar with the most, the first stance – Rising Wave Stance.

He could not afford to take his enemy lightly, knowing they were more experienced in fighting powerful opponents than him.

After all, from all of his previous battles, he had taken them by surprise while familiarizing the new stances he learned.

However, now that he lost the advantage of the element of surprise, about to duel in a fair battle, he had to perform to the best of his ability.

For now, he was already visualizing the stances and techniques he was about to perform against his enemy.

Furthermore, he knew all about the stances of the Scorching Blade Clan, as it was the must, so, at the very least, knowing about his enemy was his biggest advantage right now.

Of course, it does not mean it did not apply the other way around.

“Y-You?” Yu Long was taken aback by the stance Lu Zheng executed. “Are you a member of the Azure Tide Clan? I am pretty sure I remember all the internal members, how come I don’t recognize you?

And, what’s with that sword?”

His mind worked vehemently, trying to form his own speculation.

‘He suddenly appeared here. On the place where it was rumored, there was a treasure in the underground. I can’t recognize him. He could only be an external member. Does that mean…’

His eyes widened after coming up with such a ridiculous assumption.

He glanced at Lu Zheng and found him nowhere in his previous position, as he suddenly appeared in front of him.

“What? Got shocked by your realization?”

He quickly raised his sword to parry Lu Zheng’s exquisite, azure sword.

They continued to clash with their swords as Yu Long finally had the time to open his mouth, saying, “So you are nothing but just a rat stumbling upon a treasure?

Lu Zheng performed upward strikes, mimicking the rising waves of the ocean, putting Yu Long in a difficult position.

After all, Yu Long was still troubled by his speculation and his second stance, focused on rapid, aggressive attacks designed to overwhelm the opponent with sheer speed and relentless pressure.

Now that he was in a defensive position, his second stance could barely perform its usage at all.

Hence, he wisely changed his stance, after parrying Lu Zheng's attack to give him time to perform it, to the sixth stance – Smoldering Embers Stance.

It focuses on maintaining defensive postures while preparing for counterattacks, making it suitable for prolonged engagements, similar to his situation.

At the same time he changed his stance, Lu Zheng also changed his stance, which counterattacked the defensive stance of Yu Long.

He had chosen the sixth stance – the Tsunami Stance – which embodies the overwhelming and unstoppable force of a tsunami, unleashing massive and powerful attacks.

With this stance, he could execute impactful attacks, capable of breaking Yu Long’s defensive stance.

At the same time, Lu Zheng grinned and said, “I guess you can say it like that. Heavens had chosen a devil to save me and give me this power.”

Clang!

Yu Long had an ugly expression, defending against a powerful downward strike from Lu Zheng, feeling the weight of impact behind it.

‘He’s strong.’ Yu Long recognized the difference in power, knowing it would only be a matter of time before his defensive stance would be broken.

He could even feel his hands numbing from each parry of Lu Zheng’s attack, indicating it was no good at all.

Hence, Yu Long thought intensively, trying to completely assess the situation he was in.

He wanted to search for a way to successfully kill Lu Zheng despite having a low probability.

He knew he only had three seconds left to defend before his defense would begin to shrink.

‘He has a treasure sword, so it is much more durable than mine. There’s even now a crack on my sword. He is also stronger, agile than me. His execution of stance is also better than most of the internal members of the clan I fought. Seriously, how did he have this kind of power?

Is their treasure really that valuable?

Is that why the elders and the Clan Head are growing desperate to obtain it?’

His line of thoughts was now broken by the curiosity he had.

He was supposed to think of a way to kill Lu Zheng, not for his mind to be filled with curiosity.