Lei Tian watched him go.
He waited until Feng was out of sight and earshot. Then, he dropped to the ground, emerging from the trees behind Lei Huo and the two laboring grunts.
Huo turned at the sound of footsteps, his arrogant sneer already forming. "About time you two… "
He stopped, his eyes widening as he recognized the figure standing before him.
"You?" Huo scoffed, though a hint of confusion colored his voice. "The branch family trash? What are you doing out here? Did you get lost looking for the latrines?"
Lei Tian channeled his Qi into his entire body.
He lunged.
Huo reacted fast, drawing his sword and channeling his own Qi. "You dare attack me?!"
But Huo had miscalculated. He expected the weak strike of a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He got the explosive speed and condensed power of a man who had devoured his peers.
Lei Tian dodged Huo's frantic slash, stepping inside the main family disciple's guard.
He grabbed Huo's sword arm with his left hand, crushing the wrist with a sickening crack, and drove his right fist directly into Huo's chest.
The impact was brutal.
Huo's ribs shattered, the force of the blow driving bone fragments into his lungs.
Huo collapsed, coughing up a massive gout of blood, his eyes wide with shocked agony.
The two Qi Condensation grunts dropped their picks and screamed, turning to run.
Lei Tian picked up Huo's dropped sword. He threw it like a javelin.
The blade pierced the back of the first grunt, dropping him instantly.
He closed the distance to the second grunt in two strides, grabbing him by the back of the neck and snapping it with a brutal twist.
He turned back to Lei Huo, who was gasping his last breaths on the mossy ground.
"You... you're a monster..." Huo wheezed, blood bubbling past his lips.
"No," Lei Tian said softly, standing over him. "I'm just taking out the trash."
Huo's eyes rolled back, and he died.
Lei Tian moved quickly.
"System. Plunder."
The blue light washed over the three bodies in succession.
[Target 1 (Qi Condensation) Defeated. Plunder Complete. Progress: +0.5%]
[Target 2 (Qi Condensation) Defeated. Plunder Complete. Progress: +0.5%]
[Target 3 (Foundation Establishment) Defeated. Initiating Plunder Protocol...]
The light over Huo's body flared brighter than the others. The energy that rushed into Lei Tian was incredibly dense, far more potent than the previous Initial Stage cultivators.
[Plunder Complete.]
[Host Cultivation Progress: +25% towards Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.]
[Note: Target was at the absolute peak of the Initial Stage, nearing breakthrough. Energy yield maximized.]
Lei Tian gasped, falling to one knee as the massive influx of power hit his Dantian.
His core felt like a bloated star, the liquid Qi roiling dangerously close to the limit of his current realm.
He was now over seventy seven percent of the way to the Middle Stage.
He quickly stored the three bodies in his ring.
He retreated to the treeline, hiding himself behind a thick trunk.
Ten minutes later, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the woods.
Captain Lei Feng burst into the clearing.
"Huo!" Feng barked, looking around the empty excavation site. "Where are you, you lazy fools?"
He saw a few drops of blood on the moss that Lei Tian hadn't managed to clean up perfectly.
Feng's eyes narrowed. His posture changed instantly, shifting from irritated to combat ready. He extended his Middle Stage spiritual sense, sweeping the area.
"Show yourself!" Feng roared. "I know you're here!"
Lei Tian stepped out from behind the tree.
Feng stared at him. "Lei Tian? What are you doing here? Where is my team?"
"They left," Lei Tian said, his voice calm, betraying none of the adrenaline coursing through him.
"Left?" Feng sneered. "Without finishing the job? Impossible. And why is there blood?"
He leveled his sword at Lei Tian. "Did you see who attacked them? Speak, boy, or I'll cut the answers out of you."
"I attacked them," Lei Tian said simply.
Feng burst into a laugh. "You? Don't make me laugh. You couldn't defeat a crippled dog, let alone a team of… "
Lei Tian didn't let him finish. He launched himself forward, drawing the high quality dagger he had looted from San.
Feng, despite his arrogance, was a seasoned fighter. He reacted instantly, bringing his sword up to parry the strike.
CLANG!
The impact of iron against silver rang through the clearing.
Feng expected to easily swat the apprentice aside. Instead, the force of Lei Tian's blow sent a jarring shock up Feng's arm. He was forced to take a step back to maintain his balance.
"What?" Feng gasped, his eyes widening. "Your strength... you're not Initial Stage!"
"You talk too much," Lei Tian growled.
He pressed the attack. He used his speed and dense Qi to overwhelm the Captain's superior technique.
Feng parried furiously, sparks flying as their blades clashed. "You dare attack a Captain of the main family?! You will be executed! Your entire branch line will be purged!"
Lei Tian ducked under a sweeping slash, stepping inside Feng's guard. He drove his knee hard into Feng's stomach, knocking the wind out of the man, then followed up with a vicious upward slash of his dagger.
The blade caught Feng across the chest, slicing through his leather armor and drawing a deep line of blood.
Feng stumbled back, crying out in pain and shock. He looked at the blood on his chest, then at Lei Tian, terror finally replacing his arrogance.
"Wait! Wait!" Feng pleaded, holding up his free hand. "We can make a deal! Whatever you want! Spirit stones? Techniques? I have access to the inner vaults!"
Lei Tian walked toward him slowly, his eyes cold. "I just want what you have."
He lunged one last time.
Feng tried to block, but his movements were sluggish from the pain and the sheer terror of facing a monster wearing the face of a victim.
Lei Tian batted the sword aside and drove his dagger straight into Captain Lei Feng's heart.
The captain gasped, his eyes going vacant, before he collapsed to the forest floor.
Lei Tian stood over the body, his chest heaving, his clothes plastered to his skin with sweat.
He knelt down and began to search the body.
He found a pouch heavy with mid grade spirit stones. He found a jade slip containing a mid tier sword technique.
And, tucked into a hidden inner pocket of Feng's tunic, he found a folded piece of parchment.
Curious, Lei Tian unfolded it. It was a letter, written in elegant calligraphy.
My dearest Feng,
The fool spends all his time in the inner forge, obsessed with his new alloy. I have secured the Violet Vein Poison from the contact in the lower city. It cost almost all the savings you provided, but it is untraceable. It mimics a natural heart failure.
The contact will deliver this to the Old Kiln Shed, Ash-Dust Lane, Sector 9. Make sure you get it from there and deliver it to me this evening.
I will administer it tonight in his tea. By tomorrow morning, he will be gone, and we will be free. His wealth, his position... it will all be ours.
Burn this. I will see you tomorrow.
Yours, Mei.
Lei Tian read the letter twice, a cold smile spreading across his face.
"Wife of a Golden Core expert," he murmured, recalling the gossip he had heard in the outer courtyards.
Elder Lei Shan, a prominent figure in the inner forges, was married to a woman named Mei.
Captain Feng was having an affair with an Elder's wife, and they were planning a murder. Today.
Lei Tian looked down at the dead Captain. He found a small box in another pocket. Inside was a tiny glass vial filled with a clear liquid.
The Violet Vein Poison.
"Well, Captain," Lei Tian said, pocketing the letter and the poison. "It seems your plans have changed. But don't worry. I'll make sure your investment doesn't go to waste."
He stood up and looked at the corpse.
"System. Plunder."
The blue light engulfed the fallen Captain.
It was brighter and more intense than ever before. The energy that rushed into Lei Tian was a roaring river of power.
[Target Defeated: Lei Feng.]
[Cultivation: Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.]
[Plunder Complete. Progress: +40% towards Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.]
[Host has reached the threshold. Initiating Breakthrough Protocol.]
Lei Tian gasped as his Dantian expanded violently. The liquid Qi within him surged, compressing and refining itself under the system's guidance.
The barrier separating the Initial and Middle stages, already weakened by his previous plunders, shattered instantly.
A wave of spiritual pressure rolled off him, rustling the pine needles in the clearing.
He felt a profound sense of clarity and power.
He was a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He stored Captain Feng's body in his storage ring.
He took a moment to smooth the disturbed dirt in the clearing, kicking loose moss and pine needles over the dark bloodstains until the ground looked untouched.
He channeled a sudden burst of Qi through his garments. The heat evaporated the sweat and grime instantly, leaving his robes dry and crisp once more.
"System," he thought, "what's my current progress?"
[Host Profile]
[Name: Lei Tian]
[Cultivation: Middle Stage Foundation Establishment (5%)]
[Talent: Mortal Grade (Superior)]
[Physique: None (Mortal Body)]
[Bloodline: None]
He noted the change in his talent. By plundering Captain Feng, his innate capacity had shifted from mediocre to superior.
"Hide my cultivation," he commanded.
[Command Acknowledged. Cultivation Concealment engaged. Displaying realm: Initial Stage Foundation Establishment.]
He checked the position of the sun. He had been gone for barely an hour.
He turned and began the swift journey back to the Citadel. He had to get back to his anvil. The lunch break would be ending soon.
He was just a humble apprentice, after all. He had a quota to meet.
PS: There are 10+ Advance chapters available on the Patreon for those who want to read ahead. www.patreon. com/Drrajnovel