Liang Youtian leaped fiercely out of the Blood Pool and struck with his palm. A blood stench that made one's heart quail accompanied it, while strange black mist churned like venomous snakes, rushing straight at Lin Baichuan.
A wave of icy chill swept through his entire body, making Lin Baichuan's blood seem to freeze solid.
"Slash!"
Lin Baichuan snorted coldly, utterly fearless. His roar was like a tiger's howl as the saber in his hand swept out and came crashing down.
The Saber Intent he had already raised to the Minor Mastery realm erupted in full at that moment.
As Lin Baichuan's saber fell, it was as though a mountain of blades descended with it. Killing Intent billowed, murderous intent surged like a roaring river, and its sharp edge was laid bare.
At that instant, Liang Youtian, who had been brimming with momentum, suddenly shuddered. His mind and will blurred for a moment, and he felt a mountain of blades pressing down within his mind, completely suppressing his spirit, will, and even his heart.
He felt as if heaven and earth had collapsed, leaving only that mountain of blades to suppress the world.
The Saber Intent had affected his mind and will, causing him to fall into an illusion.
Though he broke free from that illusion in an instant, it was already too late. Lin Baichuan's saber had arrived. Empowered by Saber Intent, its edge was peerless; it shattered Liang Youtian's palm strike like rotten wood being crushed, then split his body in two.
Pshht!
Blood sprayed out. His aura withered, and his life force rapidly faded away.
"How could this be..."
Liang Youtian let out an unwilling roar. "If the cultivation technique I practice hadn't reached its critical juncture, leaving less than one-tenth of my strength, how could I possibly have lost to you?"
"Heh, no matter how much you say, you're still going to die."
Lin Baichuan sneered, his face full of disdain.
"You..."
Liang Youtian glared furiously, raising a hand to strike Lin Baichuan, only to discover that his body had already been split in two. His life force completely dissipated, and he fell into the Blood Pool. His eyes remained wide open, still filled with unwillingness even in death.
He had plotted for many days and had been only one final step away from success, yet he died at Lin Baichuan's hands at the most crucial moment. How could he possibly accept that?
"You raised demons and monsters, slaughtered common people to cultivate demonic arts. Even dying a hundred times would not be enough to atone for your crimes."
Lin Baichuan snorted coldly and sheathed his saber. Narrowing his eyes, he swept his gaze across the underground palace before finally fixing it on a stone table in the southeast corner.
Three chests sat on the table. Lin Baichuan crossed the distance in a few strides and opened all three at once, his eyes immediately lighting up. One of them contained a chestful of gold and silver banknotes, all in large denominations of one thousand taels.
Lin Baichuan made a rough estimate. Together, they amounted to more than a million taels of silver.
It made him click his tongue in amazement.
"Damn, this guy not only raised demons and monsters and cultivated demonic arts, he was also a huge corrupt official." Lin Baichuan muttered, though his gaze had already fallen upon the other two chests.
The middle chest contained three bottles of pills, three pills per bottle. Each pill was the size of a little fingernail and emitted a rich medicinal fragrance. They were low-grade spirit pills, Bone Tempering Pills, used by Eighth Rank Bone Tempering Realm martial artists to temper their sinews and bones.
"Damn, they're actually Bone Tempering Pills. If I remember correctly, these things have already been driven up to a hundred thousand taels of silver each! And even with money, you might not be able to buy one."
Lin Baichuan's eyes gleamed as he muttered, "Liang Youtian, Liang Youtian, you really are a money-bringing boy! With these nine Bone Tempering Pills, once I enter the Eighth Rank Bone Tempering Realm, I'll definitely advance by leaps and bounds and save at least several years of bitter cultivation."
Lin Baichuan was truly beside himself with excitement. He immediately closed the chest and turned his attention to the last one.
Three Demon Cores lay inside the chest. Each Demon Core bore four demonic markings. They were Demon Cores from Fourth Tier Soldier-class Demons, comparable to Sixth Rank Blood Refining Realm experts among human martial artists.
"I'm rich!"
Lin Baichuan was instantly overjoyed.
A million taels of silver, nine Bone Tempering Pills, and three Demon Cores—their combined value was several million taels.
Sure enough, a man could not grow rich without windfall wealth, nor could a horse grow fat without night grass!
Lin Baichuan casually stored all three chests in his Space Ring. Then he glanced at Liang Youtian's corpse soaking in the Blood Pool and left the underground palace without hesitation, silently departing from the county yamen.
The man was dead. As for the sudden disappearance of Yunshan County's County Magistrate, that had nothing to do with him.
Before long, Lin Baichuan had returned to his own room.
Sitting cross-legged, Lin Baichuan sent his consciousness into his sea of awareness and opened the Attribute Panel.
Name: Lin Baichuan Identity: Junior Demon Slayer of the Demon Suppression Division Cultivation: Ninth Rank Cultivation Technique: Golden Bell Shield (Seventh Layer, 1%) Martial Art: Seven Kill Saber Art (Transcendent Mastery) Artistic Conception: Saber Intent (23%) Merit: 0 ...
The Golden Bell Shield was at the seventh layer, and his Saber Intent had reached 23%, equivalent to the Minor Mastery realm. Unfortunately, all his merit had been depleted. He did not know how much merit improving the seventh layer of the Golden Bell Shield would require, so he could only try again in the future.
"My physical body has now broken through its limits, and my physical strength has reached thirteen thousand jin. What a pity about that Earth Spirit Milk. I wonder whether it will still be effective after I use it."
Lin Baichuan muttered, "Once I return to the prefectural city, I must visit the Scripture Pavilion to look up information."
The Earth Spirit Milk had been obtained after he killed Yin Kuisheng. It had originally been meant to help him break through the limits of his physical body, but because he did not know how to use it, he had left it aside. Who could have expected Ying Que to use the high-grade spirit artifact, the Nine Yin Ice Soul Net, forcing him to use merit to improve the Golden Bell Shield and thereby break through the limits of his physical body?
Now, he did not know whether the Earth Spirit Milk would still be useful to him. Otherwise, he could only sell it.
"This trip has truly yielded a full harvest. It's just a pity that Li Da didn't die..."
An icy, piercing killing intent flashed from Lin Baichuan's eyes.
He knew that among Li Da's group of five, apart from Qin Qing, the other four had all acted on Song Gang's orders and wanted his life. Naturally, Lin Baichuan held no goodwill toward Li Da and the others. Niu Zhenye and the other two had already been killed by him with the Blood Demon's aid, yet Li Da had survived.
Although that bastard had damaged the foundation and origin of his cultivation, meaning his future path would likely end there, Lin Baichuan was still deeply displeased. He resolved that when he found a suitable opportunity, he would take Li Da's dog life.
Lin Baichuan did not consider himself a saint. Others wanted his life, so naturally he could not remain indifferent. In this world, the strong devoured the weak. If you were kind and weak, you would never gain anyone's sympathy or gratitude; you would only make certain people press their advantage, inch after inch, and grow ever more excessive.
Therefore, Lin Baichuan had long seen through it all. If he wanted to live well in this man-eat-man world, he had to be even more ruthless than his enemies.
White lotuses never lived long. Only petty men who repaid every grievance, even one as small as the bite of a canthus, made others wary and lived long lives.
"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future..."
Lin Baichuan sneered. His expression settled, and his mind and will entered a state as still as an ancient well without ripples. He silently circulated the breathing method of the Golden Bell Shield, moving his inner strength through his body and tempering the flesh and skin all over him.
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