Instant Shadow Sword and the Crazy Shopping Spree

The morning sun cast dappled shadows on the dormitory floor through the window lattice.

Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes, a condensed, almost tangible glint flashing across them before disappearing. He let out a long breath, which transformed into a white arrow of air that shot several meters before slowly dissipating.

"Body Refinement Eighth Layer..."

He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the spiritual energy within him, now several times more potent than before, surging like a river, and the explosive strength filling his limbs and bones. A satisfied smile spread across his face.

He had broken through two realms overnight!

If this were to get out, it would likely shake the entire Cloud Creek Academy. The potency of the Earth Core Body Tempering Milk was evident.

However, for Lin Xiao, the breakthrough in his realm was not the biggest gain from last night.

He focused his mind into his consciousness.

On the System's light screen, a brand new line of text, glowing with a faint golden light, was quietly suspended there.

[Earth-Tier Low-Grade Martial Skill—Instant Shadow Sword]

[Skill Description: Fuses the profound principles of "Thrust" from Basic Swordplay, the "Evasive Footwork" from Basic Movement Technique, and the "Burst Advance" from Phantom Tracing Steps. Combining these three into one, simplifying the complex to create the ultimate assassination sword.]

[Skill Effect: Upon activation, it can instantly consume 30% of one's spiritual energy to boost speed to its limit. Man and sword become one, transforming into an unstoppable, instant-killing shadow. Its speed can break the sound barrier; its edge can pierce profound armor!]

[Note: This sword advances without retreat, moving forward relentlessly. It should not be used lightly except in life-or-death battles!]

Earth-Tier Low-Grade!

Seeing those four words, even Lin Xiao, with his steady temperament, felt a surge of excitement.

This was an Earth-Tier Martial Skill!

In the entire outer court of Cloud Creek Academy, Profound-Tier Martial Skills were already treasures that could cause countless people to fight tooth and nail. As for Earth-Tier Martial Skills, they were mere legends, supreme secret texts only the top core disciples of the inner court were qualified to learn!

And now, he possessed one!

Moreover, this Instant Shadow Sword seemed tailor-made for him! It perfectly aligned with Lin Xiao's martial arts philosophy of simplifying complexity and pursuing ultimate efficiency.

No flashy moves, no complicated variations.

Only the purest speed and the most extreme sharpness!

"The only drawback is that I still need a good sword."

Lin Xiao spread his palm, muttering to himself with a hint of helplessness. He had never used a weapon before, but this Instant Shadow Sword required a sword as its vessel to unleash its true power.

It seemed his trip to the Merit Hall today was inevitable.

He stood up and pushed open the door.

Outside, Shi Lei, Su Yue, and all twenty-seven students of Yellow Class Nine were already neatly lined up, waiting.

When they saw Lin Xiao emerge, everyone's bodies involuntarily trembled!

They felt that in just one night, their Chief's entire aura seemed to have undergone a world-shattering change! If yesterday's Lin Xiao was a peerless divine weapon, sharp and daring to challenge the heavens, then today's he was like a towering, unfathomable divine mountain, integrated with heaven and earth, majestic and imposing, making it impossible to see to the bottom!

"Congratulations, Chief, on your further advancement in strength!" Shi Lei, sensing the faint but terrifying pressure emanating from Lin Xiao, clasped his fists in sincere congratulation.

Lin Xiao smiled slightly, his gaze sweeping over the faces filled with youthful vigor and adoration before him. A warmth surged in his heart.

"My progress is nothing," he said, his voice not loud but clearly reaching everyone's ears. "My true goal is to bring about a transformative change in each of you!"

He looked at the flames burning in their eyes.

"Yesterday, we won back our dignity and earned the capital to change our destinies! But Merit Points are ultimately external things; if we cannot convert them into our own strength, they are meaningless!"

"The 'Bloody Trial' three months from now is our final stage to prove ourselves to the entire academy! I don't want anyone to fall behind in that trial, nor do I want anyone to perish in it!"

"Therefore, starting today, you must be prepared to face true hell!"

His voice was filled with undeniable authority and power!

"Attention, everyone!"

"Yes!" Twenty-nine unified roars echoed through the sky.

"Target: Merit Hall! Today, I will arm every single one of you to the teeth with the spoils we won!"

The Merit Hall was located in the central area of the outer court, a nine-story octagonal pagoda, and was the most popular and bustling place in the entire outer court.

It was the hub for the academy's resource circulation. Pills, weapons, cultivation techniques, rare treasures... everything a student needed for cultivation could be exchanged for Merit Points here.

When Lin Xiao led the imposing group of twenty-nine students from Yellow Class Nine to the entrance of the Merit Hall, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Look! It's Lin Xiao! The tough guy who knocked out Li Tianyi with one punch!" "Behind him are... Yellow Class Nine? Why are so many of them here at the Merit Hall? Are they here to show off?" "They just won over 200,000 Merit Points yesterday and can't wait to spend them today? Hmph, just nouveau riche!"

Various gazes filled with envy, jealousy, awe, and disdain were cast from all directions.

Lin Xiao chose to ignore these gazes completely.

He led his team straight into the magnificent first-floor hall of the Merit Hall.

The hall was bustling with people. The surrounding walls were covered with dazzling light screens, displaying the names, prices, and stock of various resources.

Lin Xiao did not linger on the first floor but directly led the group towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

The first floor of the Merit Hall only sold the lowest-grade Body Tempering Pills, healing medicines, and standard-issue weapons. These items were already beneath Lin Xiao's notice.

"Stop!"

Just as they were about to step onto the stairs, a deacon disciple in charge of guarding them reached out and stopped them. He glanced at the badges on Lin Xiao and the others' chests, which represented Yellow Class, and a look of undisguised contempt appeared on his face.

"The second floor and above of the Merit Hall are only open to students of Profound Class and above. Anything your Yellow Class needs can be settled on the first floor."

This deacon disciple had clearly not recovered from yesterday's shock and was still clinging to his deeply ingrained sense of hierarchy.

As soon as he finished speaking, the face of another, older deacon disciple beside him turned "whoosh" pale. He fiercely tugged at his companion's sleeve, glaring at him with the look one would give an idiot.

Yellow Class?

Didn't you see who was leading them?! That was the God of Slaughter who could make the Vice Principal personally step forward and punch the top student of Heaven Class half to death! You're stopping him? Are you crazy?!

As expected, Lin Xiao's footsteps stopped.

He wasn't even angry, merely casting a calm, death-staring glance at the clueless deacon disciple.

"We won 220,000 Merit Points from Heaven Class yesterday."

He slowly raised his student jade token.

"Are you sure we need to settle this on the first floor?"

BOOM!

When the number "220,000" was spoken by Lin Xiao, the entire first-floor lobby instantly fell into dead silence!

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the ordinary jade token in Lin Xiao's hand as if they had seen a ghost!

The obstructing deacon disciple was struck as if by lightning, freezing on the spot! Large beads of cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, and his legs trembled uncontrollably!

Two hundred and twenty thousand... Merit Points?!

He... he wasn't joking, was he?!

"I... I'm so sorry! Chief Lin! I have eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai! Please! Please go ahead!"

He no longer dared to obstruct them in the slightest, almost scrambling out of the way on hands and feet. His subservient demeanor was a stark contrast to his previous arrogance.

Lin Xiao didn't look at him again. Leading his teammates, who were long accustomed to such scenes, he stepped onto the stairs leading to the second floor under the gaze of countless awed and complex looks from those around them.

The second floor was the Armory.

The space here was much smaller than the first floor, but its style was more than a notch higher. Racks made of millennium cold ironwood displayed various gleaming weapons, each emitting faint spiritual energy fluctuations, clearly not ordinary items.

"Everyone, choose freely according to your cultivation technique and combat habits. There's only one requirement: don't pick what's suitable, only pick what's expensive!" Lin Xiao's voice boomed like thunder in his teammates' ears, "All expenses today are on me!"

"Long live Chief!"

The crowd, unable to hold back any longer, let out a cheer upon receiving Lin Xiao's permission and immediately rushed towards the weapon racks they had long coveted like hungry wolves.

Lin Xiao himself also walked slowly to the area specifically displaying longswords.

His gaze swept over swords adorned with gold and inlaid with jade, but he shook his head repeatedly.

He didn't need decorations.

He needed a sword purely born for slaughter!

Finally, his gaze fell upon a plain, black, unadorned ancient longsword hanging at the highest point of the wall.

The sword lay quietly in its scabbard, emitting no spiritual energy fluctuations, appearing like an unpolished piece of common iron. But Lin Xiao felt an extremely restrained sharpness and coldness from it!

[System Notification: Discovered Profound-Tier Mid-Grade Spirit Weapon - 'Ink Shadow']

[Material: Millennium Profound Iron Elite, Deep Sea Silver]

[Properties: Indestructible, Unparalleled Sharpness, Armor Piercing, Energy Absorption (Can absorb spiritual power to enhance the sword's toughness)]

[Price: 12,000 Merit Points]

This was it!

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Lin Xiao's eyes.

He walked up to the elder in charge and pointed at the sword, "Elder, I want that 'Ink Shadow'."

The elder guarding the Armory, who was meditating with his eyes closed, heard Lin Xiao's words and lazily said without even lifting an eyelid, "'Ink Shadow,' Profound-Tier Mid-Grade, costs 12,000 Merit Points. This sword is forged from Profound Iron Elite and weighs a total of eighty-one jin. Its spiritual energy conductivity is extremely poor; only those with Innate Divine Strength and pure spiritual energy can wield it. Young man, this old man advises you to choose another one."

Obviously, he didn't believe a youth in the Body Refinement Realm could handle this "scrap metal."

Lin Xiao didn't argue with him.

He simply placed his student jade token gently on the counter.

"Charge my card."

The elder finally opened his eyes with some impatience. He glanced at the jade token and was about to reprimand him, but when his gaze fell upon the excessively long number on the token, his cloudy old eyes suddenly narrowed!

He subconsciously rubbed his eyes and leaned closer to examine it carefully again.

One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... one hundred thousand?!

Two hundred and ten thousand?!

"Hiss--!"

Even this Armory elder, who had seen his fair share of storms, couldn't help but gasp at this moment! He suddenly looked up, re-examining the calm young man before him with the eyes of a monster.

"You… you're that… Lin Xiao?!"

Lin Xiao nodded.

The elder's attitude did a complete 180-degree turn! A smile, uglier than a grimace, spread across his stern face as he quickly stood up from his seat.

"So it's Chief Lin gracing us with his presence! We are truly honored by your visit! Please wait a moment, I shall fetch your sword immediately!"

With that, he scurried off and personally retrieved the 'Ink Shadow' sword with utmost respect, presenting it with both hands.

Lin Xiao took the longsword and drew it with a "clang!"

A chilling sword light, like autumn water, instantly illuminated the entire second floor! An icy, bone-chilling sharpness assailed them, making the surrounding temperature seem to drop several degrees!

What a good sword!

Lin Xiao held the sword in one hand and casually twirled it. The sword, weighing eighty-one jin, felt as light as nothing in his grasp!

He nodded in satisfaction and handed over his jade token.

Beep.

With twelve thousand Merit Points deducted, this Profound-Tier Middle-Grade spiritual weapon officially belonged to him.

Meanwhile, the members of Yellow Class Nine had also selected their desired weapons.

Shi Lei chose a pair of Profound-Tier Low-Grade gauntlets named 'Molten Rock', crafted from volcanic red copper. These would greatly amplify his punching power and fire affinity. Su Yue selected a light and elegant soft sword, also Profound-Tier Low-Grade, named 'Tassel'. It would perfectly complement her Starlight Sword Rain. The others, following Lin Xiao's previous guidance, also picked weapons that best suited them.

When the twenty-nine individuals arrived at the counter with their respective weapons, ready to pay.

The entire weapon pavilion fell into dead silence.

All eyes were fixed on the pile of Profound-Tier spiritual weapons radiating spiritual energy. Everyone looked like ducks with their necks choked, unable to make a sound.

Twenty-nine… Profound-Tier spiritual weapons?!

This… this was like emptying out more than half of the weapon pavilion's inventory!

"A total of… ninety-seven thousand eight hundred Merit Points…" The elder's voice trembled as he looked at the astonishing bill.

Lin Xiao's expression remained unchanged as he handed over his jade token again.

Beep.

Another sum of nearly a hundred thousand was deducted.

Having completed this, Lin Xiao did not stop.

He looked at the stunned crowd and calmly said, "We have our weapons. Next are the pills."

With that, he led the team, now armed to the teeth, and under the god-like gazes of everyone present, they grandly proceeded towards the pill pavilion on the third floor.