Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

Two cudgels and an axe met, locked in a stalemate mid-air.

Seeing this, the two instructors gritted their teeth, their eyes wide and faces flushed red. They used every last ounce of their strength, pressing down hard on their cudgels.

The combined force of the cudgels finally began to press the great axe down, inch by inch.

The two were overjoyed at the sight.

’He really isn’t in the same condition as before!’

’Once we pin down his axe, he’ll be unarmed and unable to let go! We’ll press him straight to the ground!’

Elated, the two men stared at Xie Yuan, only to see him look back at them and suddenly crack a faint smile.

’What... what is he smiling about?’

Just as a sense of foreboding washed over them, they saw Xie Yuan’s right hand suddenly leave the axe handle. In a motion almost too fast to see, he drew the long saber from his waist and slashed.

The instructors felt their hands lighten as the two iron-cored cudgels they were pressing down on abruptly snapped in the middle, the breaks perfectly smooth.

Caught off balance, they stumbled forward, the broken ends of their cudgels striking Xie Yuan’s body to no effect.

In despair, the two men watched Xie Yuan raise his saber. A cold light flashed, their vision spun, and then everything went dark.

Xie Yuan stood between the two headless corpses and slowly sheathed his saber. With a THUD, the bodies collapsed to the ground in unison.

The cudgels striking his body had hurt a little.

But it was impossible for them to break his Golden Bell Shield.

The two enemies’ judgment hadn’t been wrong. Xie Yuan had indeed been greatly exhausted just moments before.

After clashing repeatedly with Peng Jie’s Rock Skill at its peak and then unleashing his three axe strikes with all his might, he truly couldn’t have managed a second set, and his internal reserves were almost depleted.

But the Inner Strength he had left was just enough to withstand two opponents of the same level.

And even if he couldn’t use his three axe strikes, he still had the saber at his waist.

The two had assumed Xie Yuan could only use an axe, unaware that his long saber was also a killing move.

Xie Yuan stepped through the pools of blood gurgling across the high platform. These three enemies had possessed quite abundant Blood Qi.

Standing at the edge of the stage, Xie Yuan looked down at the silent Vajra Sect disciples, thought for a moment, and said:

"This was a tournament, right? Is there anyone else who wishes to issue a challenge?"

The Vajra Sect members looked at the crimson liquid dripping from the high platform, drop by drop. They shuddered, their faces filled with terror.

The two instructors were dead, too...

After killing the Sect Leader, he had managed to slay two more instructors with a single clean stroke!

’Is he really just at the Third Training?’

Thinking about it, aside from Yu Chunsheng, every single member of the Vajra Sect at the Third Training or higher had died at this man’s hands!

In a daze, someone recalled that several months ago, a message had been passed from the sect to all the martial arts halls in Yunzhao, forbidding them from taking in this Xie Yuan for training.

At the time, no one understood why. They only knew that disciples of Yu Chunsheng had used the martial arts halls to spread the message.

’Could it be that the Second Master had someone divine the future and had foreseen this?’

Even if Yu Chunsheng was left, the Vajra Sect’s Leader and all its Third Training instructors were dead. And after today’s tournament, which had relied on dirty tricks, it was all over. The Vajra Sect could no longer establish itself in Yunzhao.

Besides, Yu Chunsheng himself was, at least in name, already a government official with no ties to the Vajra Sect. And if he took off that official’s robe, could he really be a match for Xie Yuan?

The Vajra Sect was finished.

Seeing the Vajra Sect disciples huddled together in silence, Xie Yuan nodded and said:

"Since no one else from the Vajra Sect will answer the challenge, this tournament is a victory for the Longteng Escort Agency.

"As for all of you... hmm. If I were you, I wouldn’t take another step in that direction."

Xie Yuan watched the uneasy disciples. Seeing some of them quietly trying to inch closer to the heavily weakened members of the Escort Agency, he suddenly adopted the tone of a lofty master.

This tactic indeed made those Vajra Sect members with dishonest intentions freeze in their tracks, not daring to move.

’So imposing...’

He scanned the crowd below. He saw that the disciples were mostly bewildered, lost, and fearful, but he didn’t see hatred on many faces. It seemed their feelings for the Vajra Sect were not strong.

Some even had twisted expressions, a bizarre mix of concern for their own safety and an unconcealable glee.

Recalling the Vajra Sect’s "culture," Xie Yuan found it easy to understand. For a sect like this, it was only natural for the monkeys to scatter when the tree falls.

He nodded silently, waved his hand, and said softly:

"The ringleaders have been eliminated. As long as you admit defeat, surrender, and renounce your affiliation with the Vajra Sect, you are free to go."

The Vajra Sect members could hardly believe it. Seeing that Xie Yuan’s expression didn’t seem false, one of them gritted his teeth, threw his cudgel to the ground, shed his Vajra Sect jacket, and cautiously started to walk away.

When he reached the gate and saw Xie Yuan still hadn’t moved, the man let out a strange cry and broke into a run.

A CLATTERING sound arose. With someone taking the lead, the other disciples quickly followed suit, throwing their cudgels and jackets all over the floor. They scrambled to get out, and in the blink of an eye, they were all gone.

Only then did Xie Yuan jump down from the high platform and walk over to the battered members of the Escort Agency.

Just now, the numerous Vajra Sect members had been implicitly holding the Escort Agency members hostage. Xie Yuan hadn’t dared to press them too hard, fearing they would fight to the death. If he had shown any intention of wiping them out completely, some of the Escort Agency members would have certainly been killed or injured. In the end, he had killed the ringleaders. A scattered group of disciples couldn’t cause any more trouble, so he let it be.

Xie Yuan cupped his fist to his Escort Agency colleagues.

"Everyone, I acted on my own authority."

Chu Sheng and the other escort leaders exchanged a look, their hearts filled with emotion as they said:

"Acted on your own authority? If you hadn’t arrived in time, the Escort Agency would’ve been finished for sure. All that would be left is the Chief Escort as a general with no army, except for you. Whatever you decided to do was the right thing.

"Sigh... It’s our fault for being too careless. We knew the Vajra Sect was plotting something, but we still wanted to defeat them head-on so they’d have nothing to say. We just never expected this poison smoke to be so potent that all of us would fall for it without a sound."

They had already seen the medicine burning inside the platform. It had been right under their feet, yet colorless and odorless, making it impossible to anticipate.

Xie Yuan shook his head.

"It’s a rare drug that Yu Chunsheng obtained in Yunzhou Prefecture. Even Yunzhou’s top physician, Mr. Qingyang, had never seen it before, so it truly was impossible to guard against. I was only able to resist the poison thanks to Mr. Qingyang’s help."

’Yu Chunsheng got a drug in Yunzhou Prefecture?’

’Mr. Qingyang helped Xie Yuan overcome it?’

’This...’

The Escort Agency members looked at each other, suddenly feeling like Xie Yuan was a complete stranger.

Others found it difficult to even get a meeting with Mr. Qingyang, yet Xie Yuan was on friendly, talking terms with him? Yu Chunsheng’s trip to Yunzhou was so secretive, so how did Xie Yuan know about it?

They knew Xie Yuan had run into some trouble on his last escort mission and was recuperating in Yunzhou Prefecture. But upon his return, not only was his strength incomprehensible, but his network of connections also seemed to have grown much wider.

First he killed Peng Jie, and then, with strength to spare, he cut down two Third Training masters with a single slash. With such strength and such a performance, if the Escort Agency members below the stage hadn’t been too weak to move, they would have clapped their hands raw!

Including Xiang Zhuo from before, one could say that the Vajra Sect was almost single-handedly destroyed by Xie Yuan!

"Offending Xiaoxie was probably the biggest regret the Vajra Sect ever had... but they won’t get a chance to feel it."

Chu Sheng chuckled.

It wasn’t wise to linger in the training hall, so everyone helped each other move toward the exit, passing through the main gate that Xie Yuan had knocked down.

The inside of the Vajra Sect was now in chaos. People were running everywhere, some clutching gold, silver, and jewels, others secret manuals and Spiritual Medicines. Some were even arguing and coming to blows.

Seeing black smoke rising from several places within the sect grounds and fires beginning to spread, everyone sighed in lament.

"If the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will be crooked. With the fall of the Vajra Sect, the disciples have all shown their true colors."

The group stuck close together, and the scattered, frantic Vajra Sect members gave them a wide berth. They pushed open the main gate together and stepped out, finally emerging from the Vajra Sect’s imposing gatehouse.

The street outside was already packed solid with people. When they saw the members of the Escort Agency emerge while chaos reigned inside, they immediately knew the outcome.

"Longteng Escort Agency!"

"The Longteng Escort Agency won!"

The news spread from the front of the crowd to the back. Some cheered, some lamented. Some even whistled and started shouting the Escort Agency’s calls, apparently having won a hefty sum on their bets.

The Escort Agency members paid the scene no mind and simply exchanged a smile.

Xie Yuan turned back and looked up at the gleaming, golden word "Vajra," then raised his axe.

He struck once on the left and once on the right. The gatehouse, its support pillars severed, began to tilt. It leaned over, slow and ponderous, before crashing down with a BOOM that sent a cloud of dust into the air.

He couldn’t shatter the gatehouse with a single slash, but chopping wood was his old trade.

Xie Yuan stood amidst the swirling dust, in front of the crowd, and watched the brilliant flames light up the courtyard. He let out a satisfied breath.