Do You Have Any Last Words?

"Notification... the Shrinking Circle has begun. All cultivators, please start Running from the Poison... Notification again... the Shrinking Circle has begun. All cultivators, please start Running from the Poison..."

Just as the Dugu Demonic Sect cultivator, whose body had swelled to the size of a Green Giant, came charging toward Jiang Lin and the others, the Dragon Soul's voice rang out from the sky once more.

The Green Giant, mid-sprint, froze in place like someone forcibly cutting off a bowel movement mid-stream.

Jiang Lin and Xiao Xueli were equally dumbfounded.

According to the previous pattern, the circle usually shrank once every three days. Why was it starting now?

As if hearing the doubts of every cultivator, the Dragon Soul's voice sounded again:

"Since the Poison Circle has consumed too much Spiritual Power, This Old Lady can't keep the secret realm running for a full month. So I'm speeding up the game. Hurry up and run from the poison—love and kill each other!"

The Dragon Soul's voice echoed across the entire secret realm. Jiang Lin's forehead twitched.

"Damn it, this Dragon Soul is definitely a transmigrator from the Ancient Times!"

"Jiang Yida, what are you muttering about?"

Hearing Jiang Lin's rambling, Xiao Xueli asked.

"Nothing, Miss Xiao. Please leave now. The Poison Circle is coming soon. I'll hold the rear!"

"No, we go together!"

Xiao Xueli tugged at Jiang Lin's sleeve.

At that moment.

Jiang Lin's eyes grew moist. He really wanted to cry...

Just go when I tell you to go! Why do you have to stick with me? I need to complete the system quest!

And the poison is coming.

Wait...

So far, I've never failed a quest. At worst, I've been forced to carry it out. The system hasn't even mentioned what the penalty for failure is.

[Maybe I should try failing once?]

Just as Jiang Lin had that strange thought, he quickly shook his head, discarding the terrifying idea.

"Miss Xiao! Forgive me! There are few people I, Jiang Yida, truly value. I cannot bear to see you eliminated because of me!"

"Jiang—"

Xiao Xueli had just opened her mouth when Jiang Lin flicked a small pill into it.

"What did you feed me..."

Xiao Xueli felt her body go limp, her eyes slowly closing. Just as she was about to fall, her eyes snapped open again—but the look in them was completely different.

"Kid, I have to say, you really live up to being a Flower-Picking Thief. You actually have top-grade Softening Powder."

"Miss Xiao" now in control of her body through the Senior Sword Spirit, stood up and lightly brushed the dust off her clothes.

"Miss Xiao came to the Bewildering Secret Realm—it can't be just for a simple trial. Senior Sword Spirit, please take her away."

"That's no problem. But do you have anything to say to her?"

"Yes!" Jiang Lin took a deep breath, watching the Poison Circle draw closer. Remembering the system's prophecy that Xiao Xueli would kill him ten thousand times and scatter his ashes, his eyes flickered. "When the young lady achieves great cultivation in the years to come, please—never come looking for me. Forget me."

"Dog Couple, you really think I'll stay disconnected forever?! Roar!"

Like a mindless beast, the Green Giant—no, Dugu Demonic Sect Cultivator A—charged at Jiang Lin, wearing a pair of trousers that somehow never tore.

"Go!"

Jiang Lin roared, his long hair whipping back as he gripped his sword and charged forward.

Watching Jiang Lin's tall, straight figure, the Sword Spirit's mind wavered. Once upon a time, her first master had been just as spirited—slaying gods and Buddhas above, hacking demons and monsters below. If she hadn't already chosen Xueli, she might have gotten along with him.

"Kid, I'll remember you!"

"Huh? No, don't remember me..."

Jiang Lin turned around, but the person was already gone.

"Fighting me, and you still dare to be distracted! Pretty Boy, I'll make sure your chrysanthemum blooms all over the mountain!"

Cultivator A erupted with a domineering aura, slamming Jiang Lin into the cliffside. A mouthful of blood sprayed out.

"So you're a demonic cultivator!"

Jiang Lin stood up, wiping the blood from his lips.

There are countless cultivators in the world—Confucian scholars cultivating sagehood through study, Daoists cultivating the heart through stillness, Buddhist School monks chanting sutras to raise their cultivation, and even a guy from the Agricultural School who reached the Jade Purity Realm by trying countless poisons. But the most disgusting kind of cultivator is the demonic cultivator.

Demonic cultivators don't just refer to those from demonic sects. They are the scum who absorb souls, drain blood essence, or even devour virgin boys and girls to boost their cultivation. Demonic cultivators share one trait: they can rapidly increase their power in a very short time, like bursting their potential.

Other demonic sects may differ, but the Sun Moon Sect, though it tolerates all kinds of cultivation methods, holds such life-destroying demonic paths in the deepest contempt. One of its doctrines even states: When encountering a demonic cultivator, kill them within your means.

"Hehehehehe..." Cultivator A let out a Goblin-like Sound of Laughter. "You only just realized? I've devoured countless cultivators. Next up—you! What are you all lying around for? Get up!"

At Cultivator A's command, the severely wounded Dugu Demonic Sect cultivators lying on the ground slowly rose to their feet.

"Shua shua shua..."

Seven people burst out of their clothes in unison, all turning into Green Giants, each wearing a pair of indestructible briefs.

"Sigh... I thought you were the only one practicing demonic arts here, but it seems almost your entire Dugu Demonic Sect cultivates this forbidden technique."

"Kid, you'd better worry about yourself!"

"Boom."

Seven or eight Green Giants stomped hard, leaving craters in the ground, and charged at Jiang Lin all at once.

"Sun and Moon Shine Together!"

Jiang Lin pointed his sword to the sky and activated the "Sun Moon Dual Cultivation Great Art." This was the technique Jiang Yuni had taught him since childhood, after he crossed over and was taken in by the Sun Moon Sect.

Although Jiang Lin always felt something was missing whenever he practiced the Sun Moon Dual Cultivation Great Art—the circulation never quite smooth—it was undeniably the signature skill of Twin Pearl Peak.

Well, to be honest, if he hadn't run out of mana to use "I am the Bone of my Sword," Jiang Lin wouldn't bother with this technique at all. Frankly, he felt that if the Sun Moon Dual Cultivation Great Art didn't always circulate so strangely, he would have broken into the Dragon Gate Realm long ago...

Within the Secret Realm, the power of moonlight turned into fine threads, gathering on Jiang Lin's Natal Flying Sword, blazing with brilliance. In that instant, the First Snow in his hand looked just like a lightsaber from Star Wars...

"Shua shua shua..."

"Da da da da..."

In the jungle, beneath the moonlight, seven Green Giants battled a Jedi Knight. Jiang Lin mimicked Xiao Xueli's footwork, weaving constantly among the seven green-clad giants in their briefs, his lightsaber slicing through their flesh again and again.

When the Poison Circle looked like it would spread to this Mountain Forest in less than half an incense stick's time, the scene showed Jiang Lin—bruised and swollen, his bones seemingly all broken—and Cultivator A, covered in sword scars but without a single fatal wound. The other cultivators had already had their Life-Saving Talismans destroyed by Jiang Lin and were slain within the Secret Realm.

Likewise, Jiang Lin's own Life-Saving Talisman had been shattered by a single punch.

"Do you have any Last Words?"

"Last Words my ass!" Jiang Lin, already at his last gasp, spat at him and transformed into a Zuan Person. "Your Dugu Demonic Sect is trash! Worse than pigs and dogs! Born without a mother, and you still dare to enter this Secret Realm? Did you even buy your mother's coffin?"

"I was going to let you die quickly out of respect for a fellow cultivator, but now, there's no need. I'll keep you conscious and eat you bite by bite!"

"Fellow cultivator? Don't you dare insult me!"

"How dare you curse my sister!"

With a great roar, Cultivator A could no longer endure Jiang Lin's Zuan Person antics. Spittle flying, he charged madly at Jiang Lin.