[You killed an evildoer who loved human blood, helping him successfully kick his blood addiction. Merit Points +170].
Protector Li died with his eyes wide open.
Until his death, he never knew whether Lu Chen was truly one of the Blood Sacrifice Cult.
To have trained the Blood Shadow Sword Technique to such a level, aside from the cult leader's personal disciples, he truly dared not imagine anyone else capable of it.
And this person was still so young!
It was precisely because he feared Lu Chen's identity, believing him to be the cult leader's personal disciple, that Protector Li's heart fell into chaos. He lost his composure in an instant, fell into the Blood Shadow Sword's illusion, and was killed by Lu Chen. Such a death could not have been more stifling.
Otherwise, in a head-on battle, even if Lu Chen could defeat him, he would surely have paid an extremely heavy price.
Clang!
The flexible sword quivered and was instantly pulled from Protector Li's chest. Blood sprayed in all directions, spattering onto the ground.
At this moment, he held a saber in one hand and a sword in the other. His gaze was icy as he looked toward Lin Mingyuan.
Lin Mingyuan's thoughts were in turmoil, his mind blank.
"How is this possible? How is this possible?"
Protector Li, who was even stronger than him, had actually been killed so quickly.
More importantly, this person had used the Blood Sacrifice Cult's Blood Shadow Sword Technique!
The perfected Blood Shadow Sword Technique!
There were only a handful of young people in the entire Blood Sacrifice Cult who could accomplish that. It nearly sent him into panic as well.
But soon, his pupils constricted as he noticed the blood-red flexible sword in Lu Chen's hand.
That blood-red flexible sword belonged to his son!
"Who exactly are you?"
Lin Mingyuan shouted furiously again.
"What? Panicking now?"
Mockery surfaced in Lu Chen's eyes. He already knew that Lin Mingyuan had been intimidated by his Blood Shadow Sword Technique, and an idea immediately came to him. He wanted to exploit this opening again, killing Lin Mingyuan outright while his mind was in disarray.
Learning the Blood Sacrifice Cult's martial arts had truly been the right choice.
The perfected Blood Shadow Sword Technique had actually made people like Lin Mingyuan afraid to act rashly.
"The cult leader wants you dead, which is why he sent me..."
Lu Chen's voice was cold as he pressed forward step by step, beginning to spin lies.
"The cult leader wants me dead? Impossible! That's impossible!"
Terror appeared on Lin Mingyuan's face. Sure enough, those words provoked him, and he staggered back again and again, trembling as he said, "I have been utterly loyal to the cult leader. How could the cult leader want me dead? No, he wouldn't, absolutely not! And I have never seen you in the cult before. Who exactly are you?"
"Wouldn't?"
Lu Chen said mockingly, "When the ruler commands a minister to die, the minister has no choice but to die. You have managed Panshi City for many years, turning it into a complete mess and plunging it into utter chaos. The cult leader has long been dissatisfied with you. Lin Mingyuan, do you intend to defy the cult leader's orders?"
"Do you have the cult leader's written decree?"
Lin Mingyuan's face twisted as he roared in grief and fury.
"A written decree?"
"Without a written decree, you're a fake! A fake!"
Lin Mingyuan continued roaring, "If you want me dead, then I'll perish together with you!"
He howled madly and, without hesitation, activated his strongest trump card.
Boom!
Wave after wave of frenzied, savage aura surged from his body. At the same time, clouds of blood mist burst from every limb and bone, as though blood vessels were exploding one after another.
Even his eyes abruptly turned scarlet, brimming with madness.
The aura around his entire body rose from Fourth-Rank Great Accomplishment, climbing all the way past the Fifth Rank threshold. He was even stronger than Protector Li had been.
He looked as if he had completely lost his reason.
"Kill!"
With a furious roar, he raised his long saber and charged straight at Lu Chen.
Blood Demon Divine Skill! This was an exceptionally terrifying martial art of the Blood Sacrifice Cult!
Its user needed to burn their own blood and vitality in exchange for immense power, but the cost was gradually descending into madness, until they ultimately died miserably from exhausting their blood and vitality.
Lu Chen frowned, sheathed the Blood Shadow Sword, and without hesitation activated his three great talents while circulating his internal energy. The treasured saber in his hand transformed into countless afterimages, crashing toward Lin Mingyuan like layer upon layer of surging waves.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...
A series of deafening explosions immediately erupted between them.
The perfected Tidal Wave Saber Technique unleashed unimaginable power in Lu Chen's hands.
It truly seemed as though countless waves were surging forth.
Each wave rose higher than the last!
Each layer surpassed the one before it! Every slash carried terrifying lightning, tearing apart Lin Mingyuan's blood energy and internal energy before blasting into his body like countless steel needles.
Lin Mingyuan's meridians and bones suffered repeated heavy blows. He coughed up blood again and again, his entire body numb. His saber technique became increasingly disordered, and even the bloodlight on his body was scattered by the lightning.
"I've already used a forbidden technique, yet I'm still at a disadvantage in a direct clash?"
Lin Mingyuan's eyes nearly split apart.
What kind of monster was this Lu Chen?
Had he truly been sent by the cult leader?
And why did he possess the power of lightning?
This lightning power was practically the natural nemesis of the Blood Sacrifice Cult's techniques.
When he used the Blood Demon Divine Skill, the bloody baleful aura erupting from his body would affect and ensnare the mind, producing an effect similar to the Blood Shadow Sword. But under the opponent's lightning-infused internal energy, the bloody baleful aura he had painstakingly unleashed was actually dissipating continuously.
If he had not learned a fairly formidable second-rate saber technique, his defenses would already have been torn open and his head severed with a single slash.
Lu Chen frowned as he unleashed his saber technique to the fullest.
He could also sense how tightly Lin Mingyuan's defenses were sealed.
After using the forbidden technique, Lin Mingyuan's saber technique had become even more rigorous, making it difficult for him to find a flaw for the moment!
But Lu Chen's lightning power was inexhaustible. Sooner or later, he would completely shatter Lin Mingyuan's bloody baleful power.
"Let's see how many of my slashes you can block."
The later stages of the Tidal Wave Saber Technique were ever more terrifying!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...
Streams of saber light...
Unending, their radiance terrifying.
Like a raging storm. Even though Lin Mingyuan had already given it everything he had, he was nearly unable to hold on.
Clang!
Just as the bloody baleful aura around Lin Mingyuan's body continued to scatter, another deafening metallic ring suddenly sounded. The blood-red flexible sword at Lu Chen's waist instantly flew from its sheath.
Like a ghost, like a phantom.
Trailing scarlet afterimages, it was as though a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had abruptly appeared.
In an instant, it dragged all of Lin Mingyuan's focus toward it.
Buzz!
At last, the increasingly deranged Lin Mingyuan could not avoid having his soul seized by that sword. His mind thundered as he fell into an illusion.
Grand ambitions and great undertakings, blood-soaked vengeance—all returned to dust...
Squelch!
Blood sprayed. A bewildered head flew high into the air.
His eyes still held traces of confusion.
I... am dead?
A lingering wisp of consciousness flashed through his mind. With his remaining sight, he seemed to see a headless neck spurting blood as his head slammed heavily into the distance.
[You killed a treacherous County Magistrate, allowing him to reunite with his son below. Merit Points +200]
"Lightning power truly is formidable."
Lu Chen murmured inwardly.
This was only his first use of lightning power.
Originally, he had thought that with tonight's torrential rain, he would need to use his saber technique to draw down lightning from the nine heavens and blast his enemies to death.
But he had not expected ordinary lightning to produce such an effect.
At its root, it was because the Blood Sacrifice Cult's martial arts were far too savage!
They were naturally restrained by lightning!
Uphold righteousness and ward off evil!
Ten thousand demons cannot invade!
Lu Chen put away his saber and sword, then swiftly rushed toward the corpses on the ground, searching among them.
But unfortunately, he found no martial arts manuals or anything similar.
This made him sigh inwardly.
But suddenly, his ears twitched. Hearing the sharp rush of wind from afar, his heart tightened. He pushed off with his feet and shot away like lightning, swiftly leaving the area.
The incident within the city had long since fermented!
Su Yingxue had warned him earlier that it might already have drawn the Town Suppression Bureau's attention.
Such urgent sounds clearly meant more than a few people were coming.
Before you continue