Just as Shen Lin drew his long sword and flicked the blood from it, another person dressed in night clothes walked out of the house.
Zijing stared at the Thousand Pines Painting in her hands, her entire body trembling faintly.
Originally, she had planned to retrieve the item from the Wu Family treasury without making a sound.
But she had not found the Thousand Pines Painting there, so she had no choice but to go talk with the Wu Family head.
As it turned out, three days ago, Huang Xiaotian, the Third Manager of Black Wind Stronghold, had come down the mountain to this place and taken a liking to the painting.
And now, she had finally obtained the secret ancestral technique she had long yearned for.
"Found it?"
Zijing nodded. Without bothering to speak with Shen Lin, she immediately took a small bottle from her robes and poured its liquid over the Thousand Pines Painting.
The contents on it instantly changed. The twisted pine trees spread out, transforming into rows of tiny characters.
Zijing had just prepared to study the contents carefully when she was interrupted by a thunderous roar.
"Second Brother!!!"
Huang Xiaotian pushed the stones off himself in a sorry state. Seeing the figure collapsed before Shen Lin, he roared in grief, "You deserve to die!!!"
He threw aside the Executioner's Blade in his hand, and the fur on his body rose stiffly, each strand like a steel needle.
An unsettling aura gradually began to spread.
Zijing's expression changed. She hurriedly put away the Thousand Pines Painting and shouted at Shen Lin, "This is bad! That fellow is trying to break through!!!"
Huang Xiaotian had already forced open six meridians and could break through to the Innate Realm at any time.
However, he was ambitious and wanted to go farther along the path of cultivation, so he had never broken through. Instead, he had been trying to force open one more meridian.
But now, watching his two younger brothers die at Shen Lin's hands, he chose to break through in a fit of rage.
When Sun Zhi had previously revealed Shen Lin's information, he had been somewhat dismissive.
He had thought Sun Zhi's words were exaggerated.
Given Shen Lin's age, no matter how talented he was, what resources could he possibly have in a place like Qiulin County?
At most, he had opened three meridians.
But after that single exchange just now, Huang Xiaotian realized that he had been utterly wrong.
The profound Blood Qi Power within Shen Lin was simply beyond his ability to resist.
Sun Zhi's account had even been somewhat conservative.
How could Shen Lin be merely at the sixth level of the Meridian Opening Realm? He had opened at least eight meridians.
Although in a battle between Meridian Opening Realm practitioners, it was not true that the one who had opened more meridians would necessarily win, one also had to consider whose martial arts were more refined and whose weapon was sharper.
But the excellence of Shen Lin's sword strike just now made Huang Xiaotian understand that even if they were in the same realm, he would probably still be no match for him.
Thus, only one choice remained.
Break through to the Innate Realm!
Strange wisps of aura in heaven and earth began flowing toward Huang Xiaotian, gradually transforming his body.
His claws and fangs became even more vicious, while the fat on his body slowly contracted into hard muscle.
But it was obvious that Shen Lin and Zijing would not let him break through in peace.
In the next moment, two sword rays flashed.
Shen Lin and Zijing's attacks arrived almost simultaneously.
But Huang Xiaotian had long been prepared. He raised his thick arms, covered in yellow fur, and crossed them before his body.
Pfft!
After Zijing's soft sword barely pierced through the other's fur, it lost its momentum, and the blade bent directly.
Shen Lin's attack fared somewhat better. His treasured sword pierced through the other's defenses and plunged deep into the flesh.
Even so, it could not pierce straight through both of the other's arms.
Huang Xiaotian slowly raised his head, revealing his vicious dog head as he let out a series of low growls.
He could already feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth entering his meridians. Before long, he would break through to the Innate Realm and form protective astral energy.
When that happened, the two people before him could only stretch out their necks and wait to be slaughtered.
Zijing's face was panicked now, and the joy she had felt upon recovering the Thousand Pines Painting had vanished.
Indeed, whether it was she or Shen Lin, they could both stake everything on an attempt to break through to the Innate Realm.
But their opponent had begun breaking through first, and the two of them were already one step behind.
Even if they started breaking through now, they could not complete it before him.
By then, neither of them would have a body as sturdy as this dog demon's to withstand the attacks. They would only end up buried in the other's jaws.
But just as Zijing looked toward Shen Lin and prepared to take a gamble, she discovered that Shen Lin was no longer where he had been.
It was not only her. Even Huang Xiaotian noticed this.
The Shadow-Breaking Step activated, and Shen Lin suddenly emerged behind Huang Xiaotian.
Previously, whether it had been that Demonic Cultivator or a martial artist in the Meridian Opening Realm, no one had been able to see through Shen Lin's Shadow-Breaking Step.
But now, Huang Xiaotian suddenly turned his head strangely and met Shen Lin's gaze head-on.
Under the nourishment of heaven and earth's spiritual energy, he had already begun transforming toward an Innate body.
"Driven mad with rage, you've actually resorted to useless efforts?"
Huang Xiaotian was completely unafraid of Shen Lin, who was already pressed close behind him.
That treasured sword was the only thing capable of breaking through his defenses, and it was already clamped tightly between the muscles of his arms, completely unable to be pulled free.
Had this fellow lost his mind too? He had not even tried to pull out the sword and was planning to attack with his bare hands?
Seeing Shen Lin thrust forward with two fingers pressed together like a sword, Huang Xiaotian gave a dumbfounded laugh.
A mere human actually wanted to attack with his fleshly body? How laughable!
He did not dodge in the slightest. He even bent down and slammed his forehead directly toward the other man's hand.
With a cruel smile at the corner of his mouth, he seemed to have already seen the next scene: shattering the other's fingers head-on and then biting down on his arm.
But this was a scene he would never see again in his life.
A trace of azure light suddenly shimmered over Shen Lin's sword fingers. His slender fingertips silently pierced through Huang Xiaotian's hard skull, with half his palm sinking inside.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion suddenly erupted on the spot.
The out-of-control spiritual energy of heaven and earth spread in all directions, and the violent shockwave sent Zijing's thin body flying.
After finally controlling herself and landing safely, Zijing immediately looked up.
When the smoke and dust dispersed, Zijing finally saw the scene before her clearly.
Shen Lin slowly pulled out his right hand, a trace of disgust on his face, and shook it.
Huang Xiaotian, meanwhile, still wore that cruel smile from before. He stood there motionless like a piece of wood, never moving again.
Killing the Enlightened Dog Demon...
Newly entered the Innate Realm, lifespan five hundred years, remaining lifespan four hundred forty years, absorption complete.
Before you continue