"Are you doing it? Or do I have to do it myself?" The masked guy broke the silence. "If you do it yourself, I can leave your body intact."

"Even if I die, it won't be by your rules." Mu Chen shook his head. He brought his right foot forward and hunched a bit as he gripped the scabbard of his sword with his left hand adjusting it, so it was almost horizontal. As Mu Chen got into his stance, the masked assailant didn't do anything as he silently watched.

"What's this? Some last-ditch effort?" The masked assailant asked. Mu Chen could hear the clear disdain within those words. "You have courage, I will–"

Mu Chen's right hand flickered and he threw something at the masked assailant. The masked assailant quickly dodged it to his right on instinct. He had already seen Mu Chen had something in his hand. But he didn't know what it was, so he dodged as it was the safest move. But just as he dodged, Mu Chen also made his move by drawing his sword as he rushed towards him.

Mu Chen's sword was swift and precise, but the masked assailant's reaction was also very sharp. He quickly equipped a sword from his ring and used it to block Mu Chen's sword from cutting through his throat.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the forest, causing some of the avian lifeforms to panic and fly into the air.
After the strike, the masked assailant quickly retreated a bit back to create some distance, while Mu Chen was pushed behind.

"You thought you could trick me?" The masked assailant scoffed. What Mu Chen threw at him was just a piece of spirit crystal. But that move had made him dodge out of caution, so the initiative to attack fell into Mu Chen's hand. Someone who was not even a cultivator had snatched an opportunity to attack him under his nose. Although he blocked the attack, it made him feel humiliated and it made him angry.

"You talk too much!" This time Mu Chen's left hand flickered and something flew out, and he also simultaneously made a move. However, the masked man didn't dodge like before and instead slashed towards Mu Chen with his sword.

"Don't think I will fall–" The masked assailant sneered but was immediately stunned as he watched the 'spirit crystal' hit his torso and something spill out of it and land on the exposed part of his chest and neck. Before he could even identify what it was, the liquid seeped through his skin and disappeared.

Mu Chen's own move itself was just a feint as he dodged back.

Did it work? Mu Chen wondered. What he threw was the tiny bottle containing the saliva of the Three-Eyed Bone Python. It was very toxic and could seep through the skin. Once inside, it would induce paralysis. It would also inhibit the internal circulation of qi of the victim. This was how the python could hunt beasts that were stronger than it.

"You...what did you do?" The masked assailant howled, rubbing the area where the liquid had fallen in an attempt to get rid of whatever it was. He could feel his skin burning where the liquid had touched.

"Not much...I just leveled the field." Mu Chen said. He didn't mind delaying some time so that the toxin could take effect. From the direct confrontation they had before, Mu Chen had already confirmed his opponent's physical strength was also great and had likely completed the Tendon Transformation stage. His opponent was at Sea Expansion Boundary realm.

"Bastard...good...good! I was going easy on you because you were just mortal, but you have pissed me off…" The masked assailant said. Every word of his was laced with thick killing intent. It caused Mu Chen's hair to rise as he felt goosebumps.

The masked assailant's body flickered. Mu Chen only saw a blur and he slashed forward diagonally, almost on instinct.

Clang! Mu Chen felt his sword hit his opponent's sword. But before he could even register the impact, he was hit hard in the chest.

Crack! The force behind the impact was so strong, that it caused his ribs to crack and he was thrown backwards. Mu Chen flew over a dozen feet.

Thud! Mu Chen hit a tree behind him. Mu Chen felt another wave of pain before the first one had even subsided.

"Cough...cough!" Mu Chen vomited blood as he struggled to get up. He gasped as he was having difficulty breathing. One of the ribs that had broken had punctured into his lung. Like he had said, the masked assailant was indeed going easy on him before. Although they exchanged a few moves before, he had not been in a hurry to kill Mu Chen.

But just one move, and it had left Mu Chen seriously injured. Mu Chen guessed the only reason he hadn't died yet was because his opponent wanted to find out about the poison he had used. The masked assailant didn't know what was inside the bottle. So before it could take effect, he wanted to force Mu Chen to hand over the antidote.

Mu Chen had just got up when a hand grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the tree he had just hit.

"Bastard...speak! What was in that bottle?" The masked assailant growled as he pinched Mu Chen's throat.

Mu Chen choked and moved his lips. Some blood dripped, but no sound came. The masked assailant loosened his grip a bit so Mu Chen could breathe.

"What was in it? Where is the antidote? Do you have it?" The masked assailant asked with a sense of urgency and began to rummage through Mu Chen's clothes.

"@#$$~#%" Mu Chen mumbled something incomprehensible.

"What did you say?" The masked assailant brought his face closer towards Mu Chen.

"I said...fuck off!" Mu Chen cursed as he spat the blood that was in his mouth right into the eyes of the guy. At the same time, he stabbed his sword with all the strength he had, into the chest of his opponent. Even though he was injured, he had never let go of his sword.

Clink! But Mu Chen's sword hit something hard and couldn't penetrate it. Underneath his clothes the masked assailant was wearing some kind of armour.

"You! That's it! I've had enough." The masked assailant was completely infuriated with Mu Chen's actions. He found Mu Chen's spatial pouch and peeled it off. Then he tossed Mu Chen sideways.

Mu Chen flew like a ragdoll and hit another tree. Mu Chen once again felt his bones crack and the pain almost made him faint.

"Just you wait…" The masked assailant said. He wanted to break every single of Mu Chen's bones. Only then would his anger be vented. But he had to find out the antidote first, or it might be too late.

The masked assailant quickly scanned the contents of the spatial pouch. But didn't find anything that looked like an antidote. Other than a box wrapped in leather, there were just some spirit crystals, a few tokens and some pieces of jades. Just as he was about to unwrap the leather, his hand trembled.

"Shit!" The masked guy cursed. Whatever Mu Chen had poisoned him with, had started to take effect. His movement had started to stiffen. He tried to use his spiritual qi to purge out the poison, but the circulation was completely in disorder, almost causing him a backlash.

"@#$$%&&&#&" The masked assailant cursed as he instead took a small bottle out of his ring. The bottle contained a golden-colored pill. He didn't want to use this pill at first as it was very costly, but it could alleviate many types of poison. But now he was left with no choice. He didn't have the time to go through Mu Chen' inventory.

Mu Chen, who was sprawled on the ground, saw the masked assailant take the pill through his half-open eyes. He had lost a lot of blood and was starting to feel drowsy. If not for his willpower, he would have already lost his consciousness long ago.

"Brat! You have cost me a lot! The money I received from this commission can barely cover just half of the cost of that pill I had to take!" The assailant was no longer wearing a mask. He had taken it off so he could consume the pill. Through his blurry eyes, Mu Chen saw the heavily scarred face of a middle-aged man, walking towards him.

"Is everything going to be over? Am I really going to die?" Mu Chen couldn't help but wonder. What about his family after his death? His mother, father? His little sister? What about Zhou Mei? And Liu Fengying? They had only just ascertained their feelings for each other.

"No! I can't die-at least not like this!" Mu Chen mustered all his strength and struggled to get up. Even if he were to die, he will not let himself be humiliated. With sheer will power, Mu Chen propped himself up, using his sword as a crutch. His body swayed as if he could be blown away by even the slightest breeze, but he persisted.

Mu Chen panted as he finally stood up. His clothes were drenched in his blood, several of his bones were broken and his body was filled with pain. His body was shivering involuntarily. Yet, his eyes reflected unprecedented determination as he gripped the sword with both his hands and adopted his most basic stance.

Opposite him, the scar-faced man suddenly paused. He was very angry and wanted to torture Mu Chen for the loss he had just suffered. But seeing Mu Chen's eyes, he suddenly felt his anger evaporate. Mu Chen wasn't angry at him. By all means, he should be the one who was supposed to be angry and hate him, for killing him. But he wasn't. Mu Chen was just calm and determined. Even though he was someone who killed people for money, he felt it would be beneath him to disrespect the person in front of him.

"Let's finish this." The scar-faced man sighed. His voice was very polite and filled with respect. He also raised his own sword, preparing to attack.

Mu Chen took a deep breath as he forcefully suppressed the trembling of his body. He had forgotten just how many times he had practiced this move. But this might be the last time he would ever use this move. Realizing this, Mu Chen's heart was suddenly filled with a lofty sentiment.

Mu Chen raised his sword. Under his forceful subjugation, the tip of the sword stopped shivering and became steady.

The scar-faced man made his move. Even before the sword reached him, Mu Chen felt the threat of death. He had never felt so close to death. Even when he had been ambushed by the bandits and got crippled, he hadn't felt the threat of death as close as he did now.

Time seemed to have slowed down as Mu Chen felt his death near. In his mind's eye, his entire life flashed by.