Willis Coast.
Zhao Manyan walked along the road. Ahead, a couple approached— the man in his thirties or forties, face scarred, the woman around thirty, plain-looking.
Seeing this, Zhao Manyan paid no attention, lost in his thoughts.
Unexpectedly, as the scarred man got close, he suddenly let out a sinister laugh and reached toward Zhao Manyan's abdomen. A faint rustle sounded from his sleeve, and an eight-legged venomous snake shot out, biting Zhao Manyan's arm viciously.
"Ah!" Zhao Manyan screamed in pain. He hadn't reacted in time. He had always been a playboy, hadn't offended anyone—who would send assassins to kill him?
"Who exactly are you?!"
At the moment of life and death, Zhao Manyan roared angrily, his thoughts flickering. He tried to control the Stars to cast the mid-level Light magic [Light Blessing·Guard].
But his mind jolted with pain; the star tracks broke, his body tingled, and he thought, "Not good!" The poison was spreading rapidly, scrambling his senses.
The female assassin said nothing, acting in sync. Her right hand held a poisoned needle, stabbing fiercely at Zhao Manyan's neck.
The two assassins coordinated seamlessly, silent and efficient.
Buzz… buzz… buzz!
Zhao Manyan panicked, nearly thinking he was about to die. Fortunately, a necklace around his neck shone with golden light, forming a protective golden shield that blocked the poison needle completely.
The scarred man raised his brow: "As expected of a direct heir of the Zhao family. Wealth runs deep."
The female assassin remained unhurried, smiling faintly: "A life-preserving artifact only lasts two or three minutes. You will still die."
At this moment, desperation showed on Zhao Manyan's face. The poison inside him spread; even if the two attackers stopped, he would still die. In this remote place, no one could arrive in time to save him.
He knew his life was fleeting, but he refused to accept it and could hardly believe it!
Huffing and gasping, his face turning an inky green from the poison, he summoned his last strength: "Zhao Youqian! I know it's you! Come out! It has to be you! It must be you!!"
Silence. No answer.
Zhao Manyan continued shouting: "Zhao Youqian! If you have the courage to kill me, don't you have the courage to see me one last time?!"
His consciousness began to blur, his vision spinning.
Finally, behind an ancient tree not far away, a man stepped out. His face bore some resemblance to Zhao Manyan's, only more mature.
Zhao Youqian said coldly: "Then I'll see you off."
Seeing him, Zhao Manyan's heart froze—it really was him!
Zhao Manyan would rather believe he had offended some powerful figure through his reckless ways than accept that his own brother, Zhao Youqian, intended to kill him.
He had suspected it not long ago, but thinking of their shared blood, born of the same mother, he abandoned the terrifying thought and didn't tell Lu Jun. Yet now, he never expected… never expected…
His voice hoarse, he whispered: "Why?!"
Beside him, Zhao Youqian had no desire to listen further. It was just that their father valued the younger son, assigning different positions to the elder, nothing more.
But this triggered Zhao Youqian's jealousy.
Lu Jun did not judge—merely a personal choice—but as the saying goes, "survive as king, perish as loser." Since Zhao Youqian chose to slay his blood relative and seize power by force, Zhao Manyan had every right to receive Lu Jun's aid.
At this moment, Zhao Youqian's face twisted, while the two assassins looked confident in victory.
Splat!
Suddenly, a scream of flesh being pierced rang out. The female assassin's face froze in shock, coughing, staring at a terrifying blood hole in her chest. Blood sprayed, edges charred, dark energy coiling and eroding around the wound.
Immediately followed by a thunderous lightning explosion, the area flashed with blinding bolts.
The Night Thunder Dream Beast moved, opening its jaws to release the annihilation thunder light. A black-yellow ferocious lightning beam struck the female assassin, piercing her body and crashing into the ground with unrelenting force, causing continuous tremors.
It carved a deep charred trench into the hard asphalt.
In that instant, Zhao Youqian shivered, and the scarred assassin felt a chilling dread rise in his mind.
Behind the male assassin, two ghostly figures suddenly appeared, scattering silver flakes, each wielding large hooked staffs, encircling him. Above, Lu Jun hovered, holding the Divine Sword, pointing directly at the back of the scarred man's head.
The assassin fell into despair instantly. He roared, about to self-destruct, releasing endless poisonous gas to turn half of Venice into an uninhabitable toxic zone for a hundred years.
At this moment, Lu Jun's eyes glowed an aged yellow. Centered on his body, layers of dim silver ripples spread out. His Time Domain froze the surrounding hundred meters of space, including all movements of the scarred man.
Pfft!
Lu Jun descended from above like a sword immortal coming from the west. The black-golden tip of the Sword lifted slightly, sliding smoothly into the scarred man's skull as if cutting tofu, producing only a faint crisp sound.
In the next second, he landed steadily, calmly shaking the blood from the sword. The male assassin's eyes dimmed, his body collapsing lifelessly.
Buzz… buzz… buzz!
As time resumed, Zhao Youqian's vision cleared. Pupils contracted sharply, and an uncontrollable panic surged in his heart.
He saw, impossibly, the bodies of the two assassins his family had hired.
Lu Jun ignored him, turning to the ecstatic Zhao Manyan and smiling: "I'm not late, am I?"
Zhao Manyan could hardly describe his feelings. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. Eyes locked on Lu Jun, his head flooded with blood, and the lingering poison made him feel faint.
At that moment, Zhao Manyan finally understood what those starstruck fangirls felt when they fainted upon seeing their idols.
Damn it, Lu Jun was his god—more impressive than any hero saving a damsel in distress.
Yet when Zhao Manyan spoke, his voice was hoarse and weak, unable to convey the intensity of his emotions: "Thank you."
Lu Jun nodded once, all a man's gratitude contained in the gesture, nothing more to say.
"Impossible!" Zhao Youqian's voice rang out, filled with disbelief: "A Poison Type Super-tier and a High-Tier fully-trained, defeated instantly?!"
Hearing this, Lu Jun glanced at the staggering Zhao Youqian. Half on purpose, half not, he thought, Super-tier of a single element is nothing special.
Moreover, he seemed effortless, but had in fact gone all out.
Psychic invisibility, Cursed Ghost Assault, Time-Space Second-Level Teleportation, Chrono Lock, coordinated Summoned Beast teamwork, Metal-element supreme strike—all combined to instantly annihilate the two.
Yes, he didn't care if his true strength was exposed. A Super-tier's power is too high to hold back. Letting Zhao Youqian escape would have been a major risk.
Fortunately, with time frozen, everything happened in that instant, avoiding detection by Zhao Manyan or his brother.
Additionally, Lu Jun's mastery of Chrono Domain would grow more formidable with cultivation. If one truly aimed to be an assassin, they would be unparalleled.
At this moment, Zhao Manyan's body began to tremble, the poison having penetrated deeply. With his safety assured, his spirit relaxed, and he was about to collapse.
Splash!
Seeing this, Lu Jun casually summoned the Mermaid Holy Spirit. Soft milky-white Sunlight Holy Water fell, gradually expelling the poison from Zhao Manyan's body, turning it into countless wisps of dark-green smoke that evaporated.
Zhao Youqian fully understood that he had miscalculated and was about to lose. His heart burned with unwillingness.
After a moment, Zhao Manyan regained some strength, glaring at his brother on the ground, teeth gritted: "Do you have any last words?!"
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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