Chapter 60: The Body Cleansing realm

Vargas leaned against a wall.

"Killing Theo and staining my blade with a top scorer’s blood will elevate my art to new heights."

"I just wonder if he has experts guarding him besides House Valerius."

A shadow-crow landed on his shoulder. It cawed softly. A sinister smirk curled his lips.

The urchin had succeeded in marking the target.

Now he used the crow to spy on his prey, gathering every detail about his habits.

"When you know a person completely, killing them becomes effortless."

Vargas stroked the cleaver hidden beneath his cloak. His heart burned with anticipation.

Footsteps sounded in the distance. Vargas glanced up. It was the urchin he sent earlier.

The boy had outlived his usefulness.

"Come here for your payment."

Vargas pulled a string of coins from his sleeve. He jingled them.

His other hand, however, already gripped the cleaver.

Before he could strike, the crow shrieked urgently into his ear.

His heart lurched. He whipped his head around.

A young man in plain robes stood silently, his smile unreadable.

"Vargas, you look nothing like your poster."

Theo spoke unhurriedly.

He hadn’t expected this. He was in the slums setting up the relief kitchen and searching for Liana’s friend. He stumbled upon Vargas by accident before House Valerius even sent word.

"How did you find me?"

Vargas’s voice was like a frigid wind.

Every nerve in his body stretched taut.

Knowing his enemy made him feel like a hunter. Confident and in control.

But now, with his prey standing before him, the roles blurred.

Who was the hunter, and who was the hunted?

"There are many things in this world beyond your understanding."

Theo shook his head.

In his system overlay, Vargas’s data unfolded.

[Name: Vargas]

[Realm: Inner Scenery]

[Evaluation: A ruthless blade master. A born killer.]

[Recent Events: His Blood Cleaver art reached a bottleneck. Desperate, he plans to ambush Theo to earn initiation into the Shadow Syndicate.]

Vargas’s eyes bore into Theo.

A crimson cleaver, reeking of blood, slid into his palm.

The alley’s air thickened with killing intent.

The urchin stood frozen. His young mind blanked with terror. The rice bag slipped from his fingers.

"Leave."

Theo walked over and patted the boy’s shoulder.

"T-thank you."

The urchin stumbled away. His legs gave out multiple times before he reached the alley’s exit.

At the exit, he cast one last glance back.

Though he didn’t fully grasp the situation, he instinctively knew. Theo was the good man. The one who paid him was the villain.

Vargas! That madman who recently took lives!

Snap.

In his panic, the boy stepped on a twig.

The sound shattered the tension in the alley.

"Enough tricks."

"Coming alone to face me? Today will be your last!"

Vargas’s eyes darkened with malice.

His cleaver flashed. It carved a vicious arc toward Theo’s chest.

The blade shrieked. It carried the sharp aura of weaponized intent and a trace of blood.

Theo’s expression turned odd.

Vargas wasn’t holding back. For him, a desperate, swift strike was the best strategy.

But what a coincidence.

"So this is how you cultivate. By killing."

Theo sighed.

He had planned to test his new blunt-force art, but now it seemed unnecessary.

With a flick of his wrist, the Crimson Edge slid into his grasp.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In the blink of an eye, the Crimson Edge shattered the inner breath enveloping the cleaver. It clashed thrice.

To Vargas’s disbelief, his prized weapon chipped. Tiny gaps marred its edge.

His eyes bulged with fury.

Before he could react, explosive force erupted from their clash.

Crack.

The cleaver shattered.

The backlash of kinetic force tore through his arm, rendering it useless.

"You... know my art too?"

Vargas’s mind reeled.

"Nonsense."

Splat.

Blood sprayed. It dripped down the Crimson Edge’s blade.

Vargas died peacefully.

******

"Even at his peak, an Inner Scenery cultivator wouldn’t stand a chance against me."

Theo was slightly surprised.

Had he grown this strong?

That had just been an ordinary strike, yet he effortlessly slew someone a full realm above him.

But then again.

Though only at the Body Cleansing realm, he surpassed the twelve-meridian limit. He had fifteen.

His Abyssal Physique naturally unleashed weaponized density, piercing through an Inner Scenery cultivator’s defenses.

And he wielded a supreme blade.

These extraordinary advantages allowed him to achieve a one-strike kill.

"I hoped Vargas would give me some combat experience."

Shaking his head, Theo rifled through the corpse’s pockets. A habit from his past life.

"Silver notes. The Blood Cleaver manual. Bone pills."

Most of it was worthless to him.

The manual was merely a mid-tier art. Silver and pills? Theo lacked neither.

But then.

His fingers brushed against something hard and sharp.

Pulling it out, he found an obsidian coin.

The material was ordinary, but the etching was strikingly fierce.

It depicted a crescent moon dripping blood.

"A Syndicate Token."

Theo recognized it.

Vespera mentioned it in passing.

The Shadow Syndicate was an infamous organization across the domains.

Even their initiation rites were inhumane.

Joining wasn’t a matter of applying. They came for you.

An obsidian coin meant you were marked. Willing or not, you participated in the Endless Trial.

The trial was a free-for-all in a designated zone. Only the last survivors earned membership.

"So the Endless Trial is coming to the Provincial Capital?"

Theo had no interest in such organizations.

Best to let the sect elders handle Vargas’s corpse once the constables arrived.

Just then.

"Just ahead!"

The voice of the urchin rang out.

Accompanying him were Patriarch Valerius and Kaelen.

Hearing no movement from the alley, Kaelen grew impatient.

"Do not worry. Theo is safe."

Valerius, a powerhouse of the Inner Scenery realm, possessed keen perception.

He could sense only Theo’s aura within the alley. Steady and undisturbed.

Most likely, Vargas fled upon sensing a true disciple. Before the thought could fully form, his eyes landed on the young man standing over a corpse.

Theo stood idly, twirling the obsidian coin in his hand...