"Hm?"
Senior Brother Zhang and Senior Sister Mei's eyelids twitched as they looked toward Lu Chen.
They had apparently not expected Lu Chen to guess this much.
"Who exactly are you people, to be able to absorb human blood? The yamen actually colluded with monsters like you. Aren't you afraid people from the Imperial Court will come investigate? Or is the entire Imperial Court filled with people like you?"
Lu Chen stared at the two of them as he spoke.
He knew this world had long since rotted to the core.
But!
The Imperial Court should at least keep up the most basic appearances, shouldn't it? If even the upper ranks of the Imperial Court absorbed human blood, what would become of this world?
Could ordinary commoners still survive?
They would likely have long since gone extinct.
"The Blood Sacrifice Cult..."
Suddenly, Chen Baisha, the Giant Shark Gang's leader, showed a trace of panic. He seemed to have thought of something, and his body involuntarily retreated as he looked at the man and woman in terror.
"You're from the Blood Sacrifice Cult?"
He had only known that these two came from the yamen and were friends of the county magistrate's son.
But he had never imagined that they drank human blood and were people of the Blood Sacrifice Cult.
"The Blood Sacrifice Cult?"
Lu Chen frowned and looked at Chen Baisha. "What is the Blood Sacrifice Cult?"
"The Blood Sacrifice Cult is the greatest evil cult under heaven. They worship the Blood God and believe blood is the root of everything. As long as they sacrifice blood, they can obtain immortality and power... Within the Imperial Court, anyone found colluding with the Blood Sacrifice Cult, no matter who they are, will have their household confiscated and their clan exterminated. Yet they... were invited by the yamen..."
Su Yingxue's trembling voice rang out behind him.
"What?"
Lu Chen's gaze hardened.
So that was how it was?
"Go, quickly!"
Suddenly, Chen Baisha, the Giant Shark Gang's leader, was the first to crack under the pressure. Terror filled his face as he hurriedly called to the people beside him, quickly turned around, and prepared to flee.
This involved the Blood Sacrifice Cult. It was not something a small gang like his could meddle in.
Originally, he had only wanted to take down Lu Chen. But now, he wanted nothing at all—only to flee this place as quickly as possible!
"Gang Leader Chen, since you're already here, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Suddenly, Senior Brother Zhang smiled. His body flashed, leaving layered blood-red shadows behind. He no longer concealed himself, carrying a pungent stench of blood as he almost instantly blocked Chen Baisha's path.
One palm was covered in bloody light, exuding a dense bloody aura as it fell directly toward Chen Baisha's body.
Chen Baisha cried out. He only felt the blood stench before him choke his breath, as though a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had appeared. He hurriedly circulated his inner force and resisted with all his might. "Don't attack! I'm willing to obey your orders!"
Splat!
Aah!
Chen Baisha suddenly let out a series of shrill, miserable screams.
His entire body rapidly shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In the blink of an eye, he became a dried corpse.
With a bang, the corpse was thrown into the corner. He was dead beyond all doubt.
After absorbing all of Chen Baisha's blood, a flush immediately appeared on Senior Brother Zhang's face, as if he had been satisfied. Even his aura suddenly became stronger.
The remaining gang members were all terrified and hurriedly retreated.
"The gang leader is dead!"
"Don't kill me! I'm willing to obey your orders!"
"I'm willing too! Spare my life..."
"Very good."
Senior Brother Zhang's expression was calm as he smiled. "Rest assured, I won't kill you. As long as you obediently cooperate, I guarantee none of you will come to harm."
Watching from not far away, Lu Chen felt his heart sink. He suddenly murmured, "Senior Sister Su, lend me your saber."
"A saber?"
Su Yingxue came back to her senses and immediately took the Black Saber from her back, handing it to Lu Chen. Nervously, she said, "Junior Brother Lu, be careful. The Blood Sacrifice Cult's methods are incomparably strange. I heard that through physical contact alone, they can draw out a person's blood. And these two are clearly stronger than third rank..."
"I know."
Lu Chen nodded.
When he had exchanged a palm strike with Senior Brother Zhang earlier, he had already experienced that method firsthand.
However, he was not without preparations.
At that moment, his eyes suddenly fell on the panel before him.
Name: Lu Chen Cultivation: Third Rank (90%) Cultivation Art: Azure Wave Art (Beginner) Martial Arts: Four Absolute Martial Arts (Perfection), Grass on Flying (Mastery), Tidal Wave Saber Technique (Beginner) Talents: Convince with Virtue, Bronze Skin Iron Bones Merit Points: 210
He had 210 Merit Points remaining, but adding points to the Azure Wave Art required 250 points.
He was still short by 40 points.
At five points per person, he would need to kill another eight people.
But with these two members of the Blood Sacrifice Cult before him, they likely would not give him another chance to kill anyone.
Since that was the case!
Lu Chen immediately murmured in his heart.
"Merit Points, add points to the Tidal Wave Saber Technique!"
Whoosh!
The Merit Points before him rapidly vanished.
[You consumed 140 Merit Points. The Tidal Wave Saber Technique has reached the Perfection realm!]
A new line of text appeared.
At the same time, countless pieces of information instantly emerged in his mind, dense and overwhelming as they fused into his brain nerves in one rush, as though he had practiced for more than a decade in an instant.
Every technique for gripping and wielding a saber became crystal clear to him.
Even his palms instantly developed many calluses.
His entire aura also underwent a direct transformation.
It was as though he had suddenly changed from an ordinary martial artist into an invisible savage saber, his aura sharp and his edge bursting in all directions. It seemed that threads of saber qi even emerged from his pores, hissing sharply.
[Your Tidal Wave Saber Technique has reached Perfection, deriving a secret technique: Lone Boat Slashes the Moon!] [Lone Boat Slashes the Moon: Your saber technique returns to simplicity, abandoning all Tidal Wave techniques. You can unleash a seemingly plain and unremarkable saber light, yet its power is immense, leaving enemies nowhere to evade!]
Boom!
Layer upon layer of invisible aura continuously radiated from Lu Chen's body.
In an instant, Lu Chen's body seemed to become infinitely tall, infinitely immense.
His gaze shone like light, and his saber qi pierced the heavens.
Name: Lu Chen Cultivation: Third Rank (98%) Cultivation Art: Azure Wave Art (Beginner) Martial Arts: Four Absolute Martial Arts (Perfection), Grass on Flying (Mastery), Tidal Wave Saber Technique (Perfection · Lone Boat Slashes the Moon) Talents: Convince with Virtue, Bronze Skin Iron Bones Merit Points: 70
"Hm?"
Not only Su Yingxue, but even Senior Brother Zhang and Senior Sister Mei were startled. They abruptly turned their gazes toward Lu Chen.
In that instant, they felt as though some invisible change had taken place in Lu Chen. His entire aura had become completely different.
The Lu Chen before them now gave them a feeling.
It was as though he had directly become a heavenly saber soaring into the sky!
"This..."
Su Yingxue was completely stunned as she looked at Lu Chen in disbelief.
"There truly is a secret on you!"
Light blazed in Senior Sister Mei's eyes as she stared at Lu Chen with a smile. "Now I'm even more eager to know exactly what secret you carry."
"Indeed. To undergo such a change in such a short time truly delights me beyond measure." Senior Brother Zhang's eyes blazed as he looked at Lu Chen as though gazing at some priceless treasure.
"You want to know my secret?"
Lu Chen's voice was cold. Saber light opened and closed within his eyes as he said, "Come over and take one strike from me!"
"You don't know the height of heaven or the depth of earth."
Senior Brother Zhang revealed a savage grin. "Do you think you're the only one with secrets?"
Pop pop pop pop...
Suddenly, he struck with lightning speed. He actually grabbed the Giant Shark Gang's key members one after another, and amid their terrified screams, flung their bodies toward Lu Chen in an instant like a string of cannonballs.
A cold glint flashed through Lu Chen's eyes. The black saber in his hand instantly left its sheath, flashing like lightning.
Boom boom boom boom...
In an instant, every Giant Shark Gang member hurled at him exploded and died miserably.
Great amounts of blood, organs, severed limbs, and shattered flesh flew wildly through the air.
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