Lin Baichuan stepped out, his speed erupting to its limit in an instant. Like a ghost, he rushed before the nearest walking corpse. Without wasting words, he drew his saber, a streak of cold light flashing as he cut the corpse cleanly in two at the waist.
Splurt!
At once, foul-smelling blood splashed out, mixed with strange scraps and rotting flesh. The dark-green pus and blood carried astonishing corrosive power; when it dripped onto the ground, it ate fist-sized pits into the earth. Lin Baichuan's scalp prickled.
Fuck me!
Lin Baichuan cursed inwardly, deftly avoiding every drop of pus and blood as he charged toward his next target.
Just then, the system's mechanical voice rang out in his mind.
Ding! Obtained 1 merit point.
"Holy shit..."
Lin Baichuan froze, then was overcome with joy. He had never imagined that killing walking corpses could earn merit points. This was truly an unexpected delight!
At that moment, Lin Baichuan was thoroughly fired up. One walking corpse meant one merit point. There were hundreds of walking corpses here; if he killed them all, that would be hundreds of merit points—more than killing Yin Kuisheng!
"Hahaha... You all have to die!"
Lin Baichuan laughed wildly. With one step, he was already over ten feet away. As his battle saber swung, saber light whistled through the air, its edge fully exposed.
He pushed the Seven Kill Saber Art, at the consummate mastery stage, to its utmost limit. Lin Baichuan was like a tiger charging into a pack of wolves. With every swing of his battle saber, not a single walking corpse could withstand the might of one blow.
Every slash could shatter gold and cleave stone. His physical strength had already reached one hundred thousand jin, and with the enhancement of the consummate mastery Seven Kill Saber Art, the power of each strike rose nearly tenfold.
The force of a single slash was enough to reach a terrifying one hundred thousand jin. It could split apart mountains and rocks, much less mere human bodies.
Though these walking corpses had been contaminated and eroded by Corpse Poison, making their bodies far tougher than ordinary people—even harder than ordinary Ninth Rank Skin Refinement Realm martial artists—they still could not block Lin Baichuan's saber. Wherever the blade passed, severed limbs and broken arms flew everywhere.
Like a bulldozer, Lin Baichuan plowed straight through them, crushing hundreds of walking corpses into a pulp of flesh.
He swept through them like a gale scattering clouds, unstoppable.
This scene left Li Da and the other four, who were locked in a fierce struggle with the Mountain Fiend nearby, utterly dumbfounded. Their eyes were wide, their faces full of disbelief.
"Damn it, this bastard had been hiding his strength all along. How insidious."
Niu Zhenye's face turned ashen as he gritted his teeth and growled, "He played us all for fools. With his strength, most Eighth Rank Bone Tempering Realm martial artists probably aren't even his match."
"Cut the nonsense. Focus. If the battle formation breaks and this beast escapes, we'll be in serious trouble." Li Da glanced at Lin Baichuan, who was slaughtering in every direction, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes, faintly carrying a trace of killing intent.
Then he said something pointedly to Niu Zhenye.
Niu Zhenye was an old hand himself. The instant Li Da spoke, he understood Li Da's meaning.
He gave an almost imperceptible nod. Killing intent flickered in his eyes as he suddenly slashed at the Mountain Fiend within the battle formation, roaring, "Beast, die!"
A flash of saber light struck fiercely against the Mountain Fiend's back, and sparks flew in all directions.
"Roar, roar..."
The Mountain Fiend roared. With a low growl, a shocking wave of cold, sinister Killing Intent erupted from within him. He slammed out a palm, sending Niu Zhenye vomiting blood as he staggered back more than a hundred feet. The moment he retreated, a gap appeared in the battle formation. Seizing the opening, the Mountain Fiend moved like a ghost and rushed straight out of the encirclement.
Everyone froze, failing to react in time. The direction in which the Mountain Fiend broke out happened to lead directly toward Lin Baichuan.
"Not good! Change formation, stop him!"
Li Da's expression changed drastically. With a loud roar, he leaped forward, intending to intercept the Mountain Fiend.
But at that moment, the Mountain Fiend transformed into a thick mist and swept toward the village's rear mountain. Along the way, he collided directly with Lin Baichuan.
"Lin Baichuan, watch out!"
Qin Qing was the first to notice something was wrong. She immediately shouted, her expression grim.
By then, Lin Baichuan had slaughtered every walking corpse. He was still exhilarated over gaining hundreds of fortune points when every hair on his body suddenly stood on end, and he felt a cold wind sweep toward him.
It was the Mountain Fiend!
This fellow knew he could not deal with Li Da and the others. Sooner or later, they would wear him down and kill him, which was why he wanted to retreat.
Lin Baichuan stood in the path of his escape, and naturally, he had no intention of avoiding him. He wanted to crush straight through. In his eyes, no matter how formidable Lin Baichuan was, he was only a Ninth Rank Skin Refinement Realm martial artist. A minor lackey like that could never withstand a single blow from him.
Sinister Killing Intent churned around the Mountain Fiend like a tornado as it swept directly toward Lin Baichuan.
"Slash!"
Lin Baichuan's eyes widened. Gripping his saber in both hands, he brought it down in a fierce slash.
Clang...
The saber's cry exploded like thunder. As the long saber fell, it seemed to merge with heaven and earth. A flood-like surge of Killing Intent roared forth, rushing like a river along the blade as it descended. The peerless Saber Intent bared its edge, towering like a mountain and raging like ocean waves.
At that instant, everyone was drawn to the saber cry, their bodies trembling for no reason.
Even the Mountain Fiend's expression changed. The sense of death swept over his entire body, making him tremble all over in boundless shock and terror. Almost instinctively, he tried to turn and flee.
But it was too late.
The long saber fell. A flash of saber light swept through his body as easily as cutting tofu, splitting him in two.
Splurt...
A jet of blood shot into the air. The Mountain Fiend's enormous body rushed forward another ten feet or so before crashing to the ground, blood flowing everywhere.
Ding! Obtained 260 merit points.
The next moment, the system prompt sounded in Lin Baichuan's mind. His body shook, and the weakness brought on by that slash vanished at once. He became full of vigor, his eyes shining brightly.
Yet the village had fallen utterly silent.
Li Da, Qin Qing, and the others all stared wide-eyed at Lin Baichuan in disbelief.
"Saber Intent... That was absolutely Saber Intent just now. My heavens... Lin Baichuan actually comprehended Saber Intent? How is that possible..."
Wu Xiaoqi cried out in disbelief, his face filled with astonishment.
In truth, Li Da and the others were no better off. They had all been frightened by Lin Baichuan's slash. As they looked at him, they unconsciously swallowed hard.
Saber Intent—this was a martial artistic conception.
How many martial artists could spend their entire lives without ever comprehending a martial artistic conception? It had nothing to do with cultivation; it depended purely on talent and insight. Anyone able to comprehend a martial artistic conception within the Flesh Grand Realm was a prodigy. Someone like Lin Baichuan, who had comprehended Saber Intent while still in the Ninth Rank Skin Refinement Realm, was even rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Not one such person could be found in the entire Demon Suppression Division of Cangwu County.
At that moment!
The looks in Li Da, Niu Zhenye, and the others' eyes as they regarded Lin Baichuan became complicated.
Meanwhile, Lin Baichuan was holding his saber and dissecting the Mountain Fiend's corpse. After several cuts, a bead spattered up with blood and landed in his hand.
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