First Demon Slaying, Demon Lifespan

As the final passage of text ended, the darkness before Shen Lin's eyes shattered piece by piece, and his consciousness returned to reality.

"...I'll make sure you don't die too painfully."

Only then did the Mantis Demon's words fall silent.

The system's simulation had given Shen Lin a most peculiar feeling.

For a moment, he was somewhat dazed.

Countless insights into martial arts flooded his mind. The pain gradually faded away, while his bones, muscles, five viscera, and six bowels underwent a complete transformation in an instant.

It was as if Shen Lin had truly spent forty-two years cultivating the Blood Battle Saber Technique, focusing all his attention on practicing the saber arts apart from eating, drinking, and answering nature's call.

At that moment, he could feel a warm current slowly circulating through his body along a particular route.

So this was Blood Qi Power?

Feeling the seemingly inexhaustible strength within him, Shen Lin slowly rose to his feet, the long saber in his hand casually angled downward.

That single movement made the Mantis Demon across from him freeze.

The creature, which had been absentminded just moments ago, shuddered before abruptly raising its pair of sickle-like arms in front of itself.

The remaining clothing and human skin on its body were blasted away, revealing a two-meter-tall mantis covered from head to toe in hard carapace.

She had revealed her finest state.

"How is that possible!!!"

The Mantis Demon was shaken to her core, hardly daring to believe what she had just seen.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Lin's aura had completely changed.

The mortal she had been free to toy with and slaughter now emanated an unfathomable might.

What made the Mantis Demon's heart tremble was the saber in his hand.

Though he was merely holding it casually, she felt an inescapable chill coiling around her neck.

This guy...

The next instant, she finally sensed the dense Blood Qi Power emanating from Shen Lin's body.

"Impossible! You're actually... in the Meridian Opening Realm!!!"

The Meridian Opening Realm could only be attained after a Martial Artist condensed blood qi, then used Blood Qi Power to force open blocked meridians.

In all of Qiulin County, there were no more than five Meridian Opening Realm Martial Artists known publicly.

Even the Black Bear Demon behind her, who controlled most of the Demon Race within Qiulin Mountain, was merely at this realm.

Shen Lin before her was actually a Meridian Opening Realm Martial Artist who had opened an entire meridian!

"You concealed your strength..."

The Mantis Demon's voice was no longer seductive, turning dark and grim.

Why would Sun Zhi send someone among those people...

Hm?

As if realizing something, her expression changed. She raised her head and swiftly looked around.

"Boss Bear was right! You humans can't be trusted, not a single one of you. After cooperating for so long, have you finally set your sights on me?"

She glared viciously at Shen Lin and forced out the words.

"Where is Sun Zhi? Is he waiting outside to block me already?"

Hearing that, Shen Lin's expression shifted slightly, and he chuckled. "What do you think?"

The Criminal Affairs Office of Qiulin County had six squads, each with ten people.

Sun Zhi was the head of Shen Lin's squad, a genuine Martial Artist.

Over the past few years, this captain had risen to fame throughout Qiulin County, killing many demons in succession.

It was said that even the Demon Suppression Division in the provincial city had taken notice of this expert demon slayer.

Though he lost quite a few subordinates every time he slew demons, he always returned with demon corpses. He had merit and no fault.

Shen Lin and the others had only been assigned under his command as constables three months ago.

Now, through the Mantis Demon's words, Shen Lin had pieced together some matters.

Those who often slew demons knew that slaying demons was easy, while finding them was hard.

Most demons hid deep within mountains and dense forests. Qiulin County had limited manpower and simply could not turn the mountains upside down and scour the seas dry.

But if one cooperated with demons, that problem would no longer exist.

No one knew demon tracks better than their own kind.

His Captain Sun had probably made a deal with this Mantis Demon.

At regular intervals, he provided strong-bodied constables with vigorous blood qi for the Mantis Demon to feed on.

In return, the Mantis Demon helped Sun Zhi kill members of her own kind.

What a fine demon-slaying expert!

Seeing Shen Lin's mocking expression, the Mantis Demon froze for a moment before instantly reacting.

This guy had nothing to do with Sun Zhi?

That meant the only person she had to face right now was him.

There was still a chance to escape!

The instant that thought surfaced, she acted.

With a swish, the carapace on her back opened, revealing wings as thin as cicada's wings.

Smashing through the house and fleeing would waste too much time.

She intended to fly straight upward, break through the roof, and rely on her brief ability to fly to escape with her life.

Her reaction was swift. She moved almost instantly.

But Shen Lin was faster.

A flash of cold light streaked past, and the steel saber lightly swept across her thin wings.

Fragments of translucent wings drifted to the floor. Shen Lin, who had been by the bed moments ago, had somehow appeared behind the Mantis Demon.

He spun the long saber in his hand and said with a grin, "Wifey, why are you leaving so soon? It's our wedding night. It's too late to back out of the marriage now."

The response to his taunting words was a pair of mantis blades.

Originally, the Mantis Demon had been deeply confident in the killing power of her forelimbs. Over the years, she had relied on them to hunt countless constables and demons.

It was not as though she had never killed Martial Artists who had produced blood qi.

But now, she no longer possessed her former confidence.

Even in terms of aura, she was several degrees weaker.

After all, that was a Martial Artist in the Meridian Opening Realm.

Sure enough, Shen Lin merely flicked his wrist. The steel saber in his hand traced a beautiful arc, precisely slicing across the joints of the Mantis Demon's limbs.

Her sharp forelimbs instantly slid to the floor.

"AAAAAHHH!"

The agonizing pain of severed limbs made the Mantis Demon let out a piercing scream.

Having lost her senses, the Mantis Demon understood that she no longer had any chance to flee. With a shriek, she lunged at Shen Lin.

With a wet rip, Shen Lin twisted aside to evade her. At the same time, he lightly swung the long saber in his hand, severing one of the Mantis Demon's hind legs.

For a time, thudding sounds rang throughout the room.

They were the sounds of the crazed Mantis Demon knocking over furniture.

Mixed among them were repeated wet slicing sounds—the sound of Shen Lin dismembering her piece by piece.

Before long, the room fell silent.

Only the Mantis Demon's upper body remained. Lying on the ground and watching Shen Lin approach step by step, her voice was filled with despair.

"Don't... no... spare me... spare..."

Faced with her pleas, Shen Lin's expression remained icy. He said softly, "When the dry bones in your courtyard begged humbly for their lives as you are now, what did they receive in return?"

Then, before she could say another word, Shen Lin stomped down.

Splat!

Her triangular head burst like a watermelon, black and green fluids spilling everywhere.

Shen Lin withdrew his foot in disgust and rubbed it against the ground.

His first battle after crossing over had ended.

The process could not be called particularly thrilling or turbulent.

After all, once Shen Lin had spent forty-two years of his lifespan to simulate the Blood Battle Saber Technique to Perfection, the outcome had already been decided.

The Mantis Demon was formidable, but her strength was only comparable to that of a Martial Artist whose Blood Battle Saber Technique had reached Great Accomplishment.

There was an entire realm between them.

What displeased Shen Lin was that twenty-eight years of lifespan had clearly been enough to simulate the Blood Battle Saber Technique to Perfection, yet he had left himself only one year of lifespan to be safe.

Though he had survived the immediate life-and-death crisis, having only one year left to live was hardly a good thing.

The perfected Blood Battle Saber Technique had improved his combat strength, but it had not increased his lifespan in the slightest.

He could only hope to find other cultivation methods later that could extend his lifespan.

Just as Shen Lin let out a long sigh and gathered his thoughts, the system panel popped up.

A new message caught Shen Lin's attention.

Killed Sapient Mantis Demon. Not in the Innate Realm. Lifespan: one hundred and fifty years. Remaining lifespan: seventy-two years. Absorption complete.

Shen Lin

Martial arts mastered: Blood Battle Saber Technique (Perfection)

Cultivation methods mastered: None

Remaining lifespan: one year

Demon Lifespan: seventy-two years

Lifespan may be consumed to simulate cultivation methods and martial arts, gaining improvements.

Demon Lifespan cannot be converted into one's own lifespan.

Please move your finger and share this website on Facebook, so that we can continue operating.