Uprooting the Root

"What is Yue Shan supposed to be? If he dares to come, I'll kill him while I'm at it. Besides, if I kill you here, who would know I did it?"

Lin Dong stood with his arms folded, stripping Wei Tong of every last thing he could rely on, bit by bit.

"Sir, Gu Ying handled everything in Qingyang Town alone. We knew nothing about it. I, too, deeply despise people like Gu Ying who act on their own accord."

Seeing that none of his methods worked, Wei Tong could only soften his tone.

"No. A family should be together nice and neatly. Besides, before Gu Ying died, I already promised him that I would wipe out the entire Blood Garment Sect."

Lin Dong smiled as he refused.

"You..." Wei Tong's face darkened, and he was rendered speechless.

"Heh heh, boy, as a Talisman Master, allowing a martial artist to get close will be the greatest mistake of your life!"

The gaunt old man, who had somehow silently drawn near, suddenly sprang into action. Dense Origin Energy fluctuations covered his entire body—he was clearly a Minor Yuan Dan Stage expert.

"Foolish."

Lin Dong coldly uttered a single word, then extended one finger and lightly tapped the air. "Soul Transformation Needle!"

Bzzzz~

The air rippled faintly as invisible Mental Energy rapidly condensed into an illusory long needle no thicker than a finger, shooting out like lightning.

That was right. As an ordinary-grade mental attack technique, Lin Dong, a Four Seal Talisman Master, had fully mastered it in just one day.

Mental attack techniques were divided into four ranks: ordinary, refined, qi, and divine.

"That's Gu Ying's Soul Transformation Needle. So Gu Ying truly died by his hand. But he really is a novice who only knows how to cultivate. A Soul Transformation Needle that hasn't even reached the refined grade is useless against me."

The gaunt old man, who had leapt into the air, wore a disdainful expression. With a light twist of his body, he nimbly dodged the lightning-fast mental attack.

However, the gaunt old man did not have time to feel pleased for long, because the air before him rippled once more. This time, over a hundred illusory long needles rapidly condensed.

"That is... No!!!"

The color abruptly drained from the gaunt old man's face. Before he could cry out for help, he was engulfed by the sea of needles raining down upon him. His mind burst apart, and he instantly stopped breathing, blood flowing from all seven orifices as he died.

Thud!

The limp corpse crashed to the ground. Crimson blood dripped onto the floor, waking Wei Tong, who had long since been stunned senseless.

"Sect Master Wei Tong, it's your turn now."

Lin Dong gave the panic-stricken Wei Tong a gentle smile.

"You, you... I know you're powerful, but even as a Four Seal Talisman Master, how many attacks like that can you launch? Why don't you leave, sir? I can pretend nothing ever happened. Really."

Wei Tong forcibly swallowed, struggling to remain calm as he desperately thought of a way out.

"If Mental Energy isn't enough, then I'll use Origin Energy instead."

Lin Dong swept out a hand, and the Mental Energy storm rippling through the air dispersed. Dense Origin Energy light rapidly flickered around his body.

"Minor Perfection Yuan Dan Stage? How is that possible?!!"

Feeling the energy fluctuations from Lin Dong that were not the slightest bit weaker than his own, Wei Tong finally broke down.

How could an unparalleled genius who had cultivated both Origin Energy and Mental Energy to their peaks possibly be born in a backwater like Qingyang Town of the Great Yan Dynasty? No, this had to be fake! Fake!!

Such an unparalleled prodigy could not possibly appear in the entire Great Yan Dynasty!

"Go die peacefully."

Looking at the completely broken Wei Tong, Lin Dong silently shook his head. He brought two fingers together and jabbed forward like lightning.

"No! If you want me dead, then I'll make you die first!"

Sensing the fluctuations of Pure Yuan Qi, Wei Tong jolted awake. Laughing madly, he slammed his palms together and raised them above his shoulders. Azure Origin Energy writhed wildly within his palms.

"Hahaha! Die! Thousand Cleave Palm!"

Just as the azure glow reached its peak, the savage-faced Wei Tong viciously chopped downward. The dense Origin Energy glow transformed into a mountain-splitting giant axe that shot forth.

Bang!

A dull sound rang out. Wei Tong's burly body suddenly stiffened, and then his heart exploded under his horrified gaze.

"You were too slow."

Behind Wei Tong, Lin Dong slowly withdrew his joined fingers.

Grade 4 Martial Art, Pure Yuan Finger!

"Hah... hah..."

Wei Tong, his heart shattered by the strike, tried to reach out and grab something. He could only collapse helplessly, keeping company with the gaunt old man who had died long ago.

"You even get to die together. How nice. No need to thank me."

Looking at the two corpses lying together, Lin Dong nodded in satisfaction. Without lingering, he strode to the door and opened it.

"Hm? Who are you?"

As the door opened, the two Earth Origin Stage guards stationed outside looked over. Lin Dong's unfamiliar face left them both stunned.

Bang! Bang!

Before the two guards could finish speaking, their heads exploded as if crushed by two invisible hands. Even at the moment of death, they had no idea what had happened.

"The slaughter has only just begun~"

Lin Dong stepped over the two corpses, smiling with what seemed like melancholy.

In the thick darkness of night, the stench of blood grew ever stronger...

Near dawn, the mysterious figure riding the Black Longsword silently flew back into the inn in the eastern part of the city.

Inside the nearby Talisman Master Association, a Grey-robed Old Man suddenly raised his head and frowned out the window. Only after a long while did he withdraw his gaze.

"Why did I sense a Four Seal Talisman Master appearing in Yan City? But I should be the only Four Seal Talisman Master in the city. Could that old ghost from neighboring Skyfire City have secretly come over?"

The Grey-robed Old Man muttered, sounding both puzzled and troubled.

Daylight fully broke, and the entire city slowly awakened. The city gates opened as well, and the tiger-riding youth who had taken a one-day trip through Yan City departed.

At the same time, news shook all of Yan City.

The Blood Garment Sect, a top-tier force under the Blood Wolf Gang—one of Yan City's three great peak factions and home to three Yuan Dan-level fighters—had mysteriously been wiped out overnight.

Yan City erupted!

With Little Flame's extraordinary speed, Lin Dong finally returned to Ironwood Manor before nightfall. The moment he returned, Lin Zhentian summoned him.

"Eh, Father, you've reached the Minor Perfection Yuan Dan Stage?"

On the way there, Lin Dong looked at Lin Xiao, whose aura still faintly leaked out, and asked in delight.

"Yes, I just broke through. Although I had faith in your cultivation, I still couldn't stop worrying about you. After all, you only left me a note."

"So after you left, I immediately made a push for the Minor Perfection Yuan Dan Stage. Fortunately, I succeeded. If anything had happened to you during your trip to Yan City, I would have been able to storm the Blood Garment Sect and save you."

Lin Xiao nodded steadily.

"Father..."

Warmth surged in Lin Dong's heart at those words, and he quickly lowered his head.

Though his father usually spoke little, his every action always warmed Lin Dong's heart.

PS: Last night, while browsing Dragon-Sky Forum for books, I discovered something that utterly terrified me.

I have no idea which big shot added my old book—Battle Through the Heavens: Legend Reborn, that Battle Through the Heavens Fan Fiction—to YouShu Web.

As everyone knows, Dragon-Sky Forum's users are mostly veteran readers with extremely picky tastes. This Scrap could already foresee that book being flamed to hell.

I thought I'd be fine as long as I didn't add it myself, but I never expected some reader-daddy to add it for me. Staring at the sky...