Lin Baichuan tracked Yin Kuisheng all the way out of town, then watched him head straight into the Qili Slope mountain range. Lin Baichuan's heart immediately burned with anxiety. Poisonous miasma grew thick throughout Qili Slope; he had barely entered when he already felt his breathing grow labored.
If he kept going deeper, Yin Kuisheng might not kill him, but he would die first.
"No, I can't go any farther."
Gritting his teeth, Lin Baichuan forced up a breath, then suddenly leaped into the air and kicked off a corner of a huge boulder over ten feet ahead of him.
Whoosh, whoosh... Bang...
The chunk of rock shot toward Yin Kuisheng like an arrow released from the bowstring. It was so fast that it even triggered a low sonic boom. In the blink of an eye, it had reached Yin Kuisheng's back, ready to pierce straight through his body.
Roar...
At that moment, Yin Kuisheng suddenly let out a low roar. His massive body twisted around in a strange turn, actually dodging the rapidly flying stone. Then he pounced fiercely, like a tiger descending the mountain, charging straight at Lin Baichuan.
"You little bastard, you've been following me since outside the inn, and you actually dared enter Qili Slope. You've got some nerve..."
Yin Kuisheng shouted angrily. His enormous, scale-covered body gave off an overwhelming stench of blood and rot that made Lin Baichuan want to vomit.
Watching Yin Kuisheng's body rapidly fill his vision, Lin Baichuan did not hesitate in the slightest. His saber left its sheath, and he brought it down in a head-on slash.
The perfected Seven Kill Saber Art erupted. The saber flashed, its Killing Intent bearing down on everything.
The Seven Kill Saber Art centered on one word: kill. Once it left, there was no return; it pressed onward without fear.
Clang... Clang...
The saber shuddered as it hacked viciously into Yin Kuisheng's body, producing the ringing crash of metal striking iron. Sparks flew in all directions.
A terrifying force of impact surged toward him, sending Lin Baichuan flying four or five zhang away.
Lin Baichuan was not alarmed in the least. Instead, a hint of excitement surfaced in his eyes. Looking at Yin Kuisheng, whose aura was fierce and whose Killing Intent filled the air, he actually smiled.
Holding his saber across his body, he sneered. "So you really are at the end of your tether. Looks like I won this gamble."
As he spoke, the saber in his hand whirled, and his entire body seemed to transform into a tornado as he swept toward Yin Kuisheng. Saber light whistled through the air; there was only the flash of blades, no shadow of a man. In an instant, he reached Yin Kuisheng. The saber light blazed as the perfected Seven Kill Saber Art erupted in full, slash after slash raining down upon Yin Kuisheng.
Yin Kuisheng had originally been stronger than Lin Baichuan. At his peak, he could have slapped Lin Baichuan to death with a single palm.
But he was badly wounded now, with less than one-tenth of his strength remaining. Not only had his attack power plummeted, even his reactions and speed had slowed sharply. Faced with Lin Baichuan's relentless Seven Kill Saber Art, which came like a violent storm, he gradually found himself unable to hold on.
In an instant, more than ten cuts appeared across his body, while Lin Baichuan deftly evaded every one of his attacks.
Although Yin Kuisheng's scales protected his entire body, and Lin Baichuan's saber appeared unable to break through his defenses, that was not actually the case. Lin Baichuan's physical strength had reached an astonishing eight thousand jin. Combined with the perfected Seven Kill Saber Art, each slash carried at least tens of thousands of jin of force. It could not break Yin Kuisheng's scales, but it could shake and injure his internal organs.
After more than a dozen consecutive strikes, Yin Kuisheng's already unstable aura became even weaker.
"Puh..."
Finally, after taking Lin Baichuan's twentieth slash, Yin Kuisheng's internal organs were shattered by the shock. He spat out a mouthful of blood that carried a nauseating foul stench, and his enormous body was sent flying backward.
"Damn it, damn it..."
Yin Kuisheng growled with a savage expression, "If I weren't badly wounded, how could I be humiliated like this by a little bastard like you?"
"Go ahead and curse. If a few insults can make your death more comfortable, I don't mind."
Lin Baichuan snorted coldly, a sneer across his face, though a vicious gleam shone in his eyes. He held his saber level and roared, "Seven Kill Saber Art: Yaoguang Life and Death."
Clang! Clang!
At that moment, Lin Baichuan seemed to become one with his saber. He dragged out a streak of saber light like a bolt of silk and hacked viciously into Yin Kuisheng.
With a thunderous bang, Yin Kuisheng's huge body flew backward. It exploded in midair with a boom, bursting into pieces as blood sprayed everywhere.
"Huff..."
Lin Baichuan fell from the air. He seemed utterly drained, collapsing onto the ground and gasping for breath, sweat pouring down like rain.
This battle had seemed brief, but it had truly been perilous to the extreme. Especially that final strike—it had consumed all his essence, energy, and spirit. It had been a desperate gamble with his life. If Yin Kuisheng had blocked it, the one likely to die would have been him.
Fortunately, he had won the gamble.
Congratulations, Host. You have obtained 300 Merit.
Suddenly, the system's mechanical prompt sounded in his mind.
Lin Baichuan first froze, then was overwhelmed with joy. His entire body trembled with excitement. He immediately opened the system's Attribute Panel to check.
Name: Lin Baichuan Identity: Junior Demon Slayer of the Demon Suppression Division Cultivation: Ninth Rank Cultivation Method: Golden Bell Shield (Fourth Layer, 17%+) Martial Art: Seven Kill Saber Art (Perfected, 41%+) Merit: 300 ...
His gaze swept over the Merit entry. Seeing the number 300 behind it, Lin Baichuan immediately broke into a wide grin.
"300—there really are 300 Merit. Damn... I've made a fortune this time."
The more Lin Baichuan thought about it, the more excited he became. Wealth was indeed sought amid danger. Three hundred Merit was enough to raise the Seven Kill Saber Art another level beyond perfection, and raise the Golden Bell Shield several layers as well. Even without Earth Spirit Milk, it would be enough for his physical strength to break through its limit.
"Right, Earth Spirit Milk!"
Lin Baichuan immediately came to his senses and looked toward Yin Kuisheng's shattered corpse not far away. He wanted to search the body. The Earth Spirit Milk had to be on Yin Kuisheng. This was a Natural Treasure that had made countless people green with envy!
But he had the will and not the strength. He had exhausted too much and felt as though his entire body had gone limp.
It was only after the time it took to drink a cup of tea that he recovered a little strength. He immediately rushed toward Yin Kuisheng's corpse, ignoring the disgust as he frantically searched through the mangled remains.
In the end, let alone Earth Spirit Milk, there was not even a single hair.
"It's not here? That's impossible!"
Lin Baichuan's expression immediately darkened like water, his brows knotting tightly as he muttered, "Could it be that this guy didn't carry the Earth Spirit Milk on him?"
As he spoke, Lin Baichuan's expression grew uglier and uglier. If that was truly the case, then he was really screwed.
"Hm..."
Just as Lin Baichuan was feeling frustrated, his eyes swept over Yin Kuisheng's hand and landed on an ancient-looking ring on his index finger. His pupils suddenly contracted, and a sharp gleam immediately flashed in his eyes.
"This ring..."
Almost instinctively, Lin Baichuan immediately tore the ring off and carefully examined it in his hand. The ring was ancient and clearly had some age to it. It looked ordinary on the surface, yet carried an ancient and profound air. Lin Baichuan was certain that this ring was anything but simple.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Baichuan swung his saber and cut open his palm. Blood immediately flowed freely, dyeing the ring crimson in an instant.
But in only a moment, the crimson blood was actually swallowed by the ring.
The next moment, the ring seemed to form some kind of connection with Lin Baichuan. At the same time, an extradimensional space of roughly ten cubic meters appeared in his mind.
"It really is a Space Ring. Yin Kuisheng, you really are a good man!"
Lin Baichuan was ecstatic and could not help bursting into laughter.
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