Chapter 56: Deceptive Maneuver

Jiang Fan immediately grabbed his wooden sword and darted towards the direction of the smoke like an arrow released from a bowstring.

On the way, he didn't forget to put on the mask of Shadow Guard Number One.

Ye Qingxue followed closely behind. "Judging by the direction of the smoke, it seems to be the Qin family," she said.

The Qin family?

Jiang Fan understood after a moment of thought. "The branch master is looking for medicine to heal his eye," he realized.

"We can't let him recover his eye!"

The branch master, having lost an eye, had his strength reduced by a third.

If he recovers, his strength will reach its peak.

At that time, unless the City Lord intervenes, it will be difficult to stop him.

He dared not linger and immediately activated the Swift Shadow movement technique, speeding away as a blur.

"I'll go ahead!"

Ye Qingxue's beautiful eyes widened. "A movement technique? He actually cultivates one!" she exclaimed.

As everyone knows, movement techniques are the rarest and most difficult to cultivate.

Ordinary people find them extremely difficult to obtain, and even if they are fortunate enough to encounter one, they are unlikely to master it.

Yet Jiang Fan concealed a profound movement technique.

This was enough to show that he possessed extraordinary comprehension!

Besides her shock, Ye Qingxue couldn't help but feel great pity for Xu Yining. "Yining, oh Yining," she lamented, "you've missed out on a rare fiancé in this world!"

The Xu family was not far from the Qin family.

Coupled with Jiang Fan's extraordinary movement technique, he arrived in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

However, everything inside and outside the Qin family was as usual.

The Qin family head and several clan members were still standing on the rooftop, gazing in confusion at the smoke appearing above.

They seemed not to understand where the smoke came from.

Jiang Fan froze.

The Blood Bat Palace didn't come?

Was it a false alarm?

No, that's not right, Jiang Fan suddenly realized, his expression changing. "It's a feint!" he exclaimed.

"The Blood Bat Palace deliberately drew the attention of the city guards," he deduced, "but they actually intend to attack somewhere else."

But where would they choose?

Jiang Fan's mind raced.

If the branch master was after medicine and didn't attack the Qin family, then among the other well-known alchemy families…

Jiang Fan's heart sank.

"The Chen family!"

The Chen family was the Blood Bat Palace's true target!

His face changed dramatically. Stepping on the rooftop tiles, he pushed his movement technique to its limit and hurried over.

And just as he was about to reach the Chen family, he noticed a figure arriving almost simultaneously: none other than Shadow Guard Number Two, Xu Yining.

She had been outside earlier.

Thus, she had arrived at the Qin family earlier than them and, like Jiang Fan, had analyzed the Blood Bat Palace's true target.

She was just about to take out a smoke bomb to sound the alarm, but then she saw a smoke bomb launched from the rooftop before her.

Upon closer look, she immediately showed a surprised expression. "Shadow Guard Number One! You're here too!" she exclaimed.

Jiang Fan nodded, looking at the tightly shut manor gate. He frowned. "They might have already been attacked inside!" he said.

He leaped, silently jumping into the courtyard.

At the same time, in the Chen family's backyard, Chen Yuqiu's chest was stained crimson with blood, and several manor guards lay fallen around him.

But he still tightly guarded Chen Siling and Liu Qinmin behind him.

He stared coldly at the one-eyed old man before him!

"What do you want? Take it, why take lives?" Chen Yuqiu was incomparably alarmed.

He recognized them. These people before him were none other than the ferocious remnants of the Blood Bat Palace.

Leading them was the branch master, who struck fear into countless powerful experts!

The branch master glanced at the last fallen protector at his feet. A fierce light flickered in his eye. "Damn it! The intelligence was wrong! Wasn't this Chen fellow supposed to be gravely ill and unconscious?" he growled.

The reason for attacking the Chen family was partly to take them by surprise and partly because the Chen family only had an orphan and a widow left, making it an easy target.

But after breaking in, they discovered that Chen Yuqiu was actually awake.

He was once a master of the Foundation Establishment Stage, second layer. Even after being in a coma for many days, his foundation remained.

His own protector, caught off guard, was struck in the chest with a single palm, dying instantly.

"Hmph! A spent force," the branch master sneered. "Do you think you can negotiate with this branch master?"

The branch master snorted coldly and charged forward with intense killing intent. His powerful fists, imbued with potent spiritual energy, fiercely struck towards Chen Siling, whose half-exposed body was visible.

Chen Yuqiu was greatly alarmed. Gritting his teeth, he forcefully unleashed two fists to resist.

But how could his heavily injured body be a match for the branch master?

*Thud—*

The stalemate lasted only a moment before the branch master's fists broke through Chen Yuqiu's arms and went straight for his chest.

In an instant, Chen Yuqiu spat out a mist of blood, stumbling backward and knocking down Liu Qinmin and her daughter, who were protected behind him.

The branch master sneered and stepped forward, after confirming Chen Yuqiu was no longer able to fight.

Then he stared at Chen Siling with fierce eyes. "What a lovely girl!" he leered.

"My eye is blind," he continued, "and I need a bandit chieftain's wife to serve me from now on. You'll do!"

He bent down and grabbed Chen Siling's shoulder.

Chen Yuqiu was in a panic. He wanted to stop him but found that his chest bones were broken, and his body was unable to move.

At this critical moment, suddenly, a scream rang out.

Chen Yuqiu and the branch master fixed their gazes. It was a nimble figure who had stealthily leaped into the backyard.

With one sword strike, he slit the throat of a Blood Bat Palace member guarding the back gate!

"It's you!!!"

The branch master was enraged. When he saw the mask and the clearly visible number "one" on it, deep-seated hatred burst forth from his remaining eye.

In that brief moment of their surprise, Jiang Fan darted past with astonishing movement technique and easily dealt with the last Blood Bat Palace member.

"You're next!"

Jiang Fan raised his wooden sword and pointed it at the branch master from afar.

The branch master, now left alone, was furious.

"You came just in time," he roared. "New grudges and old hatreds—I'll settle them all with you today!"

He charged forward with large strides, his unparalleled spiritual energy from the Foundation Establishment Stage, second layer, continuously radiating outward, kicking up dust and sand beneath his feet.

Jiang Fan became extremely vigilant. His movement technique and cultivation simultaneously activated.

At the same time, his opening move was the last form of the Seven Star Sword Art.

"Seven Stars Face North!"

The powerful sword force swept away the spiritual energy around him and went straight for his neck.

The branch master's pupil contracted. His extremely rich combat experience made him decisively lean his head back, dodging the sword.

"Your cultivation has increased?"

Last time, Jiang Fan could barely get close, but this time, he almost struck his vital point!

When his attack failed, Jiang Fan was not distracted by his words in the slightest and decisively used his movement technique to leap backward.

He barely jumped away when an extremely fierce leg whip swept upwards, grazing past his nose!

It was just short of shattering his jaw!

Jiang Fan thought, 'That was close!'

The branch master's words just now were clearly meant to distract him so that he could deliver a kick to his vital point.

When fighting such a powerful expert who had emerged from countless battles, one must be extremely vigilant!

"Still quite cautious, aren't you?" the branch master coldly snorted. "But you won't escape today, even if you grow wings!"

He charged forward fiercely again.

Just as his fists struck towards him, a sharp sword qi suddenly came from behind him.

It was Xu Yining, seizing the opportunity at the moment he exerted his force, stabbing her sword into his back.

Now that she had reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, her sword qi was extraordinary.

It easily broke through the spiritual energy that couldn't be swept away last time and went straight for the branch master's vital point.