The uproar in the depths of the Imperial Prison had yet to die down. The jailers' blusterous but cowardly shouts outside the cell still rang in the air when those footsteps symbolizing power drew nearer from afar.
Leather soles ground over the damp flagstones, producing a dull, rhythmic sound. Each step seemed to land between the beats of the human heart.
The jailers surrounding the cell parted like a receding tide, bowing their heads and bending at the waist, not daring even to breathe too loudly.
Sun Dehai, dressed in the official robes of a Qianhu, appeared outside the bars.
He was tall and broad-shouldered, with a sinister expression. His gaze swept over the bodies of the jailers and Old Black on the ground before finally settling on Lin Feng, who stood quietly inside the cell, regulating his breathing.
"Lin Feng!" Sun Dehai's voice was as cold as ice, carrying undisguised anger and mockery. "I truly underestimated you!
"Reduced to a prisoner, you still have such vicious methods. Killing jailers and slaughtering condemned prisoners—who gave you the gall, you cur?!"
Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was calm and unruffled, without the slightest ripple at Sun Dehai's arrival.
Seeing him like this, the fire in Sun Dehai's heart burned even hotter. He sneered. "But you're simply courting death!
"I had intended to let you live a few more days and 'entertain' you properly. Who would have thought you'd be so eager to hand me a chance to execute you on the spot? Good. This saves me the trouble of letting matters drag on!"
Before his voice had even faded, Sun Dehai's aura suddenly erupted!
A powerful wave of true qi spread from him, kicking up dust and scraps of grass from the ground. Several nearby jailers were forced back again and again by the pressure, their faces showing a mixture of fear and worship.
"Late Seventh-Rank! Lord Qianhu's cultivation is truly profound!" one jailer cried out.
Sun Dehai was very satisfied with the effect. He looked down arrogantly at Lin Feng as if he were staring at an insect he could crush at will.
"With my Late Seventh-Rank cultivation, killing you—a mere Eighth-Rank cripple whose internal force has been sealed—is as easy as turning over my hand! Lin Feng, are you ready to die?"
At that moment, the cold light screen visible only to Lin Feng appeared once more:
Suppress and kill Lord Qianhu: Reward—50 Slaughter Points
Fifty points!
Lin Feng's eyes shifted slightly.
But he knew perfectly well that, in his current state—only at the early Eighth Rank, with his meridians not yet fully opened—he had absolutely no chance against Sun Dehai at the peak of his strength and at the Late Seventh Rank.
With a thought, the information on the panel shifted.
Current Slaughter Points: 80
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Feng silently recited in his heart.
"Spend 60 Slaughter Points to raise 'Sky-Rending Star-Shattering Saber,' 'Evil Tiger Heart-Plucking Palm,' 'Dragon-Elephant Prison-Suppressing Strength,' and 'Eight Desolations Sky-Rending Claw'!"
Slaughter Points spent. Sky-Rending Star-Shattering Saber has been raised to Perfection! Slaughter Points spent. Evil Tiger Heart-Plucking Palm has been raised to Perfection! Slaughter Points spent. Dragon-Elephant Prison-Suppressing Strength has been raised to Perfection! Slaughter Points spent. Eight Desolations Sky-Rending Claw has been raised to Perfection!
Vast and surging martial insights poured into Lin Feng's mind and every limb and bone like rivers reversing their course and flooding backward!
The saber art's fierce decisiveness, the palm art's vicious unpredictability, the internal art's deep and weighty force, the claw art's domineering power that split the sky...
The four divine arts and secret techniques, which had originally been at only the Initiate or Minor Achievement stage, were forcibly pushed by the Slaughter Points to the highest realm of flawless perfection in that instant!
At the same time, the internal force that had been somewhat sluggish within his body surged under the impetus of the four perfected techniques. Like a flood bursting through a dam, it thundered forward!
The barriers sealed within his meridians were smashed apart by that mighty force!
"Boom!"
A powerful aura erupted uncontrollably from Lin Feng's body. Though it was not as deliberately ostentatious as Sun Dehai's, it was even more condensed and purer, carrying a razor-sharp edge that pressed forward and cleaved through everything!
His martial realm also advanced naturally under the force's impetus, leaping from the early Eighth Rank into the mid Eighth Rank!
All of this sounded like it took a long time, but in reality, it happened in the flash of a spark.
Outside the cell, Sun Dehai had been preparing to savor Lin Feng's despair. The sinister grin on his face instantly froze, transforming into utter shock and disbelief!
"Your... your internal force?! No! Your aura... the mid Eighth Rank? Impossible!"
Sun Dehai shouted in disbelief, his eyes bulging round.
He clearly sensed that the dangerous aura emanating from this young man before him was many times stronger than it had been only moments earlier!
That icy killing intent even made a Late Seventh-Rank martial artist like him feel a shiver of dread.
A terrifying thought rose in his heart: This boy absolutely could not be allowed to live!
Moreover, given the strange state he was displaying now, Sun Dehai might not even be able to secure a certain victory!
Cold sweat instantly soaked Sun Dehai's back.
The anger and killing intent on his face melted like snow, rapidly replaced by a somewhat stiff expression that tried to appear amiable. "Lin... Nephew Lin! It's a misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding!"
His tone softened, carrying a trace of ingratiation that was difficult to detect.
"Nephew Lin is indeed a heaven-gifted genius, able to break through in such a desperate situation!
"You must have encountered some fortuitous opportunity before, building such a deep foundation. I, Sun, was merely acting under orders earlier and caused you considerable offense.
"How about this? Let today's matter end here.
"I'll report at once that the jailers and condemned prisoners died fighting among themselves, and that you had nothing to do with it. I can even pull some strings and help you leave this Imperial Prison ahead of schedule..."
The Qianhu who had once stood high above everyone else had now begun speaking softly and begging for mercy.
Looking at Sun Dehai's hypocritical face, Lin Feng's lips curled into a cold arc.
How could he not know that Sun Dehai had merely seen that the situation was turning against him and wanted to stall for time—perhaps waiting for reinforcements, perhaps searching for a weakness of his own?
"Qianhu Sun," Lin Feng finally said, his voice calm yet carrying a bone-piercing chill. "You talk too much."
Before his voice had faded, Lin Feng held his fingers together like a saber. The internal force of the perfected Dragon-Elephant Prison-Suppressing Strength thundered into motion within him, pouring into his fingers and palm!
Though he had no actual saber, an intent as sharp as one that could rend the sky and shatter stars had already condensed!
"Sky-Rending Star-Shattering Saber"—Perfection Realm!
An invisible yet incomparably fierce saber qi followed the sweep of Lin Feng's fingers, tearing through the air with a shrill howl as it slashed straight at Sun Dehai outside the cell!
Before the saber qi even arrived, its grim intent had already made Sun Dehai's scalp prickle!
"How dare you!" Sun Dehai was utterly horrified. He had never imagined that Lin Feng would act so decisively, attacking the moment he said he would!
The might of this strike far exceeded his expectations, making him feel a fatal threat!
Take it head-on? He did not dare!
Driven by his instinct to survive, a vicious glint flashed in Sun Dehai's eyes. Without time to think, he suddenly reached backward with his right hand and precisely grabbed the nearest jailer, who was still gaping in astonishment at Lin Feng's sudden outburst!
"Lord Qianhu! No—!" The jailer had only enough time to let out a despairing howl before Sun Dehai yanked him in front of himself like a puppet on strings, using him as a human shield!
"Spurt!"
The invisible saber qi that rent the sky slammed into the unlucky jailer's chest!
Blood sprayed through the air!
The jailer's chest was instantly torn open by a terrifying wound deep enough to expose bone. Blood gushed out like a fountain. The horror in his eyes froze, and he died on the spot!
Using the opening created by this shield, Sun Dehai retreated several steps in a disheveled rush, narrowly avoiding the saber qi's central edge. Even so, his robes were ripped apart by the escaping force, leaving him looking thoroughly bedraggled.
He steadied himself, his face still pale from the shock. Then embarrassment and fury surged up in him. Pointing at Lin Feng, he used mockery to conceal the fear in his heart and shouted with a show of strength that masked his weakness.
"Lin Feng!
"If you have the ability, then break out of this black-iron cage! Let's see how much longer you can keep running wild!"
Before you continue