Surprise Attack!

Lu Zheng entered the treasury and scrutinized the place.

It appeared ordinary, with torches on the wall, illuminating the whole place, leaving no place, even the corner, to be darkened.

The floor has no tiles but just pure dirt on the ground, protruding rocks – others wrapped by soil.

The place was surrounded by five wooden shelves, two times taller than him.

It appeared to be a library, but the placement of the shelves was all over the place, no arrangement at all.

Lu Zheng saw the characters above the shelves and concluded that each shelf contained different books.

For instance, one shelf contained the records of each member of the clan.

Another contained the internal affairs of the clan. Another contained internal and external techniques of the clan, possibly the original copies, as what could be found in the library were duplicates.

Another contained the history of the clan, and another contained the partnership of the clan with other factions.

Lu Zheng was not interested in those, as he had only a single thing on his mind.

He walked with bare feet, holding the sword while keeping the first stance of the Azure Tide Sword Technique.

He went to the first shelves on the right side, facing the northwest. 

He first leaned to the right side of the shelf and stole a peek, seeing nothing but the light dancing from the torch.

It appeared that the wind outside had become fierce, possibly hinting that it was now in the middle of the night outside of the underground.

When he saw no one on the right side, he faced the left side, keeping the first stance while walking forward, slowly and silently.

When he glanced on the right side, the other side of the first shelf he peeked on earlier, he saw no one again.

He stopped hiding his body on the first shelf and moved on to the next shelf.

When he arrived, he leaned his body to the shelf, peeking on the right side again, and saw no one.

He continued the search with extreme meticulousness until he arrived on the fourth shelf, maintaining the distance.

The fourth shelf contained the internal and external techniques of the clan.

As expected, the person was interested in those, as he was whistling in pleasure while he was reading a manual facing the fourth shelf.

When Lu Zheng saw him, his mind was clouded in anger, almost making him take the first move.

Thankfully, he managed to restrain himself, regaining a clear mind, as he thought of a way to take advantage of the element of surprise with him.

Unfortunately, he did not have long-range weapons as he only had a sword, making him only suitable for close combat.

As much as he wanted to have a direct confrontation, if possible, he wanted to attack him with a higher chance of injuring him.

So, he looked around, searching for an object to distract the enemy, and soon discovered a fist-size stone.

He walked towards it, grabbed it from the ground, and returned to his previous position.

He peeked at him again, still standing in the same position, reading in silence, now stopping to whistle in pleasure.

He had long fallen into deep immersion in reading.

'Now is the right chance.'

Lu Zheng's eyes flashed with killing intent as he came out of his hiding.

He crouched and then threw the stone, aiming at the shelf near the end.

At the same time, he leaped towards the dead man while performing the first technique of the first stance of the Azure Tide Sword Techniques – Wave Surge.

After taking three leaps and arriving before the dead man, the stone also collided with the shelf, creating a startling noise, making the dead man instinctively look at it – opposite of Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng's sword swung upward like a wave that carried immense force, capable of breaking through defenses.

"Hmm?" 

The Deadman wondered about the noise, while unknowingly, there was an object flying out of his pocket, stopping before Lu Zheng's attack, illuminating a golden barrier covering his back.

The Deadman was taken aback as he hurriedly turned around and was shocked to see Lu Zheng's bloodshot eyes. His sword collided with the golden barrier with an image of a massive snake in the center.

The upper part of the sword broke into pieces, widening Lu Zheng's eyes.

He gazed at the golden barrier with a massive snake in the center, soon dissipating into nothingness.

The object that levitated in front of the Deadman, as though protecting him, lost its golden light as it soon fell to the ground.

When it made a noise as it collided with the floor, Lu Zheng and the Deadman reacted at the same time.

The Deadman took out two daggers on each side of his waist from the scabbard as he hurriedly tried to block Lu Zheng's attack.

Lu Zheng regained his stance after the first technique failed, making him quickly perform the second technique, Cresting Blade.

A swift, rising strike aimed at catching his enemy off guard.

The Deadman tried to block the broken sword, but it was fast and deadly.

"Blurgh!"

The broken blade successfully pierced through his chest, but before it went any deeper, it was completely blocked by the dagger.

Lu Zheng stared at the Deadman with bloodshot eyes and saw his green eyes widening in shock.

He could not help but grin as he pulled the broken sword and regained the first stance.

The green-eyed man was completely taken aback by the sudden course of events, taking a step back, staggering.

He continued to cough out blood, and his vision blurred as he tried to look at Lu Zheng one more time.

"Y-You…" An unconvincing voice echoed, directing towards Lu Zheng. "H-How?"

Lu Zhen smirked, feeling so refreshed.

He felt the burden on his heart slowly disappear.

He could not be more satisfied than seeing the person he hated to the core was now in a sorry state.

He was even asking Lu Zheng how he was still alive.

After all, Lu Zheng suddenly came out of death's door.

The green-eyed man even thought he was seeing a ghost.

But feeling the excruciating pain in his chest, he knew he was far from dreaming.

Lu Zheng did not reply but responded with the third and last technique of the first stance.

The Tide's Ascent. 

It was a spinning upward slash that targeted multiple angles, leaving no room for the opponent to dodge.