As soon as Aizen finished his preparations, he quickly turned around and began tidying up the scattered items on the bed.
Aizen carefully put two bottles of Great Rejuvenation Pills in his pocket and gathered some silver coins, placing them in an old cloth bag. As for the thousand taels of silver spread across the bed, he thought for a moment and decided to hide them under the bed.
But before he could complete his plan, he suddenly heard footsteps coming from outside. Even though the door muffled the sound, Aizen, thanks to his newly acquired internal Sorcery arts skills, was able to pick up the sound of the footsteps, something that would have been impossible for him before.
The footsteps were heading directly toward his room.
Aizen's expression slightly changed; could someone be coming to see him at this moment?
There was no time to think. He quickly gathered the remaining silver pieces from the bed and hid what he could under the bed.
But suddenly, with a loud bang, the door was violently kicked open.
A loud, rough voice shouted:
"Aizen, how dare you hide in here and be lazy? It seems your courage has grown in recent days!"
The person who kicked open the door was none other than Stanley, the rat-faced, cunning man who had recently killed three gray-clad servants. It was hard to imagine how such a skinny body could produce such a powerful voice.
Behind him stood another man, Steward Edric, the middle-aged disciple from the Heavenly Demon Clan, who had previously assigned a task to Aizen. This time, his face was full of coldness and menace.
Aizen realized that things were going south. He hadn't yet managed to hide half of the silver scattered on the bed.
Sure enough, both men froze when they entered the room, and Aizen could even hear the sudden heavy breathing from both of them.
"Silver, so much silver!"
Stanley stared in shock at the shining silver ingots on the bed, his eyes filled with naked greed.
Even Steward Edric, a low-level disciple of the Heavenly Demon Clan, couldn't hide his greed, and his eyes gleamed with a mixture of avarice and murder.
When Aizen saw the expressions on their faces, his heart sank. Things had escalated to a point where there was no need to think further about what would happen next.
Steward Edric spoke with feigned anger: "You audacious thief, Aizen! I can't believe you've been the one stealing all along, robbing me of the wealth I've painstakingly accumulated over the years! If it weren't for Stanley discovering your theft and notifying me in time, you might have gotten away with it!"
Stanley, the rat-faced man, was utterly dumbfounded by this claim.
Aizen? A thief?
He was the one who discovered Aizen stealing?
Stanley jolted but quickly caught on, and without missing a beat, he added, "Yes, Aizen, you filthy thief! If I hadn't noticed you sneaking into Steward Edric's room today, who knows how much you could have stolen!"
Aizen's expression grew colder by the second. These two were truly shameless, working in perfect unison to frame him and claim the silver as stolen goods for themselves.
Suddenly, he heard a system prompt in his mind:
"Mission Activated: 'Die for Riches'. Mission Objective: Kill the two enemies in front of you. Mission Difficulty: Test of Skill. Reward: 200 Wisdom points. Failure Penalty: Death."
"Failure equals death?" Aizen was startled by the system's ruthless and strict prompt, but he didn't doubt its seriousness.
However, on second thought, he realized that his fate wouldn't be any better if Steward Edric and Stanley were left alive.
In the Heavenly Demon Clan, possessing such wealth would undoubtedly bring disaster upon him. If either Steward Edric or Stanley were to escape, his end would certainly be grim.
Steward Edric sneered and mocked: "Aizen, you don't need to argue. You're finished. If you had obeyed and acted like a good dog, you might have lived a little longer, but now that you've fallen into my hands, there's only death waiting for you!"
Stanley, sensing the shift in Aizen's demeanor, shouted angrily: "How dare you talk back? When Steward Edric wants you dead, you kneel and accept your fate! Yet you dare to speak up?"
Steward Edric was also taken aback by Aizen's sudden show of courage, but he didn't give it much thought. His mind was already consumed by the sight of the silver, and all he could think about was how to kill Aizen and take the fortune for himself.
As Steward Edric slowly approached, he coldly said: "Aizen, I thought of keeping you around as a loyal dog, but it seems the heavens have decided otherwise. Remember, you're dying because you're too weak."
With that, Steward Edric struck.
Steward Edric had been a disciple of the Heavenly Demon Clan for over ten years. Though he had always been an ordinary low-level disciple, his basic skills were solid. He lunged forward with great speed, his eyes sharp, and his hand swung down like a tiger's claw, tearing through the air with a fierce, cutting wind.
The force of the blow made the air around it hum, and Aizen could feel the sting on his face from the wind alone.
If this had been before he had learned the Star Absorption Technique today, there would have been no way to dodge the blow, and taking the hit would have severely injured him. The opponent's follow-up attacks would have finished him off in three moves.
But now...
A fierce light flashed in Aizen's eyes. He channeled a small amount of inner Aura to his palm and stepped forward, meeting the attack head-on with a punch. His fist shot out from his side like a Venomous Dragon Emerges, aiming directly at Steward Edric's claw strike.
"Hmm?" Steward Edric was momentarily surprised. This was clearly the "Venomous Dragon Emerges" move from basic Sorcery arts.
But the exchange happened in an instant, and even with Steward Edric's skill, there was no time to adjust.
Dragon versus tiger—fist met claw!
A loud bang rang out, followed by the crack of bones breaking.
Steward Edric screamed in pain as his right arm was shattered by Aizen's punch. Before he could retreat, Aizen's cold eyes flashed, and in one swift move, he switched from a fist to a claw, gripping Steward Edric's throat with ease.