Qin Yun's grip was firm around the man's throat, squeezing just enough to stop him from struggling without him having to lose consciousness. If anything, this only prolonged the man's suffering as his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. The man's skin turned pale due to the lack of blood flow. His fingers wished to dig into Qin Yun's hand, yet they only met cold, hard metal.

Qin Yun looked upon the man with a hint of curiosity, wishing to know the lengths the man would go through to escape from this impasse. After all, he didn't believe the Ma clan would bother to send an assassin against him if this was all it amounted to.

Less than a moment later, his doubts were confirmed. A whistling sound burst into existence on his left as an arrow carved a path through the air, ripping apart all that stood in its way, whether it be the surrounding vegetation or the very space separating them.

With eyes slightly narrowed, Qin Yun mainly reacted on instinct, his hand jerking toward the arrow's flight path as he felt the murderous intent laced within. It felt thick and too deadly to originate from some two-bit amateur like the man stuck in Qin Yun's grasp. This was the mark of a true professional with countless kills under his belt, yet not the very best. After all, Qin Yun could easily find the archer simply by following the assassin's killing intent back to its source.

With a slight smile on his face, Qin Yun caught the arrow mid-flight, firmly stuck between his fingers. Then, his eyes widened as he saw another arrow hidden behind the first, the second one aimed straight at his heart.

Qin Yun couldn't help but release his captive by jumping backwards to avoid the second arrow from claiming its prize. But even then, the arrow nicked his clothes, leaving a long dark mark that soon corroded them as if iron had been left too long in the rain.

With a swift movement, Qin Yun divested himself of his outer clothes, bunching them in a ball before throwing them away toward a nearby bush. The dark mark propagated outward, engulfing his clothes before reducing them to ashes as if a flame-less fire, yet it didn't end there.

The invisible fire soon spread to the bushes, burning them black before the breeze carried away their remnants. Fortunately, it seemed there was a limit to its spread; otherwise, this whole forest might have met its demise on this day.

Since Qin Yun had removed its hold on the first assassin, the man soon took action. His body seemed to dissolve into a mass of poison but was then absorbed into the forest soil, his being entirely out of sight. The ground the man once stood on became dark brown as fallen nearby leaves all died in unison and crumbled.

Qin Yun’s eyebrow rose slightly as the hint of a smile formed on his face, only for his mechanical arm to parry another arrow just a moment later, this time coming from the opposite side.

These two are pretty impressive, Qin Yun thought. While not perfect, their teamwork is worthy of praise. One acts as bait, while the other is the hunter, and their use of poison is quite advanced. Too bad it has almost no effect on me.

Knowing that the current terrain worked against him, Qin Yun opted for the simplest approach. He raised a single foot before letting it fall, putting all his strength and weight behind the blow. The sole of his foot dug into the soft forest soil, creating an explosion of dirt as a shock wave propagated along the ground, toppling trees in a radius of over twenty meters around him, leaving nothing but a barren wasteland in its wake.

In the middle stood Qin Yun. No trace of dirt marred his clothes as the shock wave propelled it outward alongside the trees and rocks that populated this remote forest hill. In fact, the hill was now gone, entirely levelled by Qin Yun's strike.

With nothing obstructing his sight, Qin Yun could finally locate the assassin who had turned into liquid, even more so as he could track him by his killing intent, no matter how hard he tried to hide.

He pushed against the ground again, but this time more moderately, just enough to leap toward his prey, quickly grasping the man's neck as he was still shaken by what had just happened.

"Caught you," Qin Yun said with an eerie smile as he ripped the man's arm clean off at the shoulder before using the limb to block another arrow headed his way.

The man howled in pain, yet the scream was muffled as Qin Yun crushed his throat but did not kill him instantly. Those people didn't deserve any mercy from him. This was the price they had to pay for their actions.

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Feeling no urgency, Qin Yun watched the man's dying struggles, still caught in his vice-like grip, as he became unable to breathe, the embers of his life slowly dimming. He scratched at Qin Yun's arms, trying every method he knew to poison him, yet none of the methods left to him could even breach Qin Yun's skin. He could only gaze upon Qin Yun's indifferent expression as his own gaze, filled with terror, was reflected into Qin Yun's eyes.

Still, Qin Yun remained vigilant, for he knew men of their ilks always had many means at their disposal. In fact, what happened next didn't surprise him in the slightest, yet he also made no efforts to prevent it, as it didn't seem worth the hassle.

Another arrow took flight, emerging from deep into the surrounding forest. This time, Qin Yun wasn't the intended prey but the man in his grasp. Of course, those people would try to prevent information from leaking out, yet Qin Yun didn't care. Even if he were to learn exactly who had hired these assassins, nothing would change.

Besides, why should he even believe what these assassins had to say in the first place? Qin Yun didn't honestly believe the Ma clan were behind all this—at least not before he verified these facts himself. After all, painting the Ma clan as evil was all too convenient; there were much too many factions who could profit from that, and Qin Yun had no interest in doing their dirty work.

The arrow easily embedded itself into the man’s back, piercing through his heart as a look of disbelief spread on his face. Then, countless dark pustules grew on his skin as they filled with a vile liquid. An intolerable stench spread around Qin Yun, all originating from the man in his grasp.

The assassin's body involuntarily twisted and deformed as his muscles tensed and relaxed in quick succession, making him resemble a post-modern art sculpture, if only for a moment before he began to enlarge; his skin was now dark and on the verge of bursting.

Watching all this happen, Qin Yun reacted quickly. He spun on his heel, gaining momentum as his feet dug into the soft soil of the remains of this hill before abruptly stopping, letting go of the weight in his hand as it barrelled in the distance toward where the arrow came from.

Qin Yun dashed the opposite way before leaping forward, burying himself in the dirt, safely within the earth's embrace. A few moments later, as the body impacted the ground, it burst into a flood of black liquid, tainting the world with its vileness and showering the surrounding vegetation with its corruption.

Life faded as it was eroded by this poisonous substance, wilting all the flora as it spread outwards. All that remained in the aftermath was a radius of death where nothing would grow for decades to come, just a barren land devoid of life.

After waiting more than was necessary, Qin Yun rose from his tomb of dirt, laying eyes upon the result of this battle. Yet he felt nothing, as he knew this was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Life would struggle to recover its bountifulness for a while, yet it would do so in time. To believe he was responsible for the outcome would be nothing more than arrogance; he wasn't so great a man to think himself omnipotent.

Qin Yun gazed in the distance, seeing no traces of the archer who had hunted him. He remained in place for a while, scanning for any signs of murderous intent, yet none were aimed at him; only the sound of a slight breeze hung over the world.

He left, Qin Yun thought. I’m not surprised. That archer was much more dangerous than the other one. I can’t help but feel our paths will cross once again.

With this encounter behind him, Qin Yun approached the explosion's epicentre, trying to uncover whatever could lead to the assassin's identity. Yet, he knew this would most likely be futile, as no one would be stupid enough to possess something that could identify them.

As he expected, the man was now nothing more than masses of black flesh scattered around, spreading their filth on the ground and nearby dead trees. Qin Yun looked upon the man's remains yet found nothing worth salvaging; not even the countless weapons that had been hidden on his body had survived the blast, unscathed enough to be worth keeping.

Suddenly, Qin Yun heard a roar from behind him. As he turned around, he came face to face with a massive bear that towered over him, standing on his hind legs, his paws twice as large as Qin Yun's own chest. Still, he remained calm and simply observed the creature slowly creep up toward him, making itself look gigantic as it stopped less than a meter from him.

"Equivalent to the peak of the Golden Core realm... not bad, considering how close we are to the city," Qin Yun said to the beast, his voice calm and serene, with no traces of urgency within. "Still, you would do rather well to better pick your opponents; this could end badly for you.”

As if his words fell on deaf ears, the bear swiped his massive paw at Qin Yun, sharp claws ripped into the air as the motion almost created a shock wave. Still, Qin Yun stood still, weathering the storm as the claws collided with his skin. Yet, they left no marks—not even making him take a step back.

Qin Yun looked up, witnessing the hesitation in the beast's gaze even as it took a stance for a second swing. However, this time, Qin Yun chose to parry, taking hold of the creature's hard muscle before turning on his heels. He used the beast's momentum against it, throwing its massive body on the ground, his back digging into the soil while its four paws were in the air.

Looking down at the creature, Qin Yun sighed and shook his head.

"I know this is your territory, and I am intruding, but you should really take a look at who you're dealing with," Qin Yun added as he filled each and every word with a thick killing intent that spread around him, filling the beast with so much dread that it could barely breathe anymore, much less move.

“I'd choose another den if I were you. Far away from human civilization, lest you want some cultivators to seek you out for your monster core. Your life is already perilous as it is; no need to make it even riskier on yourself."

The giant bear nodded slowly before turning back on its stomach and rushing back into the dense flora of this forest, unwilling to ever look back.

A moment later, now that he was truly alone, Qin Yun couldn't help but crack a smile before a slight chuckle escaped his lips, yet it was only ephemeral.

Enough wasting time... Now that I’m finally away from that city, I should find a secluded place for what comes next.