End

"Dead!"

The terrifying Golden-Eyed Leopard, which had been invincible just a moment ago, sweeping across all directions with overwhelming ferocity, was cleaved in two by a resplendent blade flash the next instant. Its corpse slid to the ground.

Not the slightest sound remained.

Everyone present was utterly shaken.

The entire scene fell silent.

So quiet that even a needle dropping could be heard!

Whether it was the people of Huangshi Town, whose morale had been crushed earlier, or the many underlings of the Black Wind Bandits, all stared at the scene before them in stunned horror.

This was especially true for the people of Huangshi Town. The impact on them was tremendous!

Before this,

the Golden-Eyed Leopard had swept through them undefeated. His pair of fists had nearly killed all the disciples from Weilong Martial Arts School who had stepped forward. His terrifying strength had been impossible to resist!

He had slaughtered them until they had nearly collapsed, leaving a massive shadow deep in their hearts!

Yet such a terrifying enemy, such a powerful existence, had died so easily at the hands of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy!

"To challenge an enemy across an entire major realm... The young people nowadays are truly frightening!"

Zhou Weilong, who had stood not far away and witnessed everything, let out a sigh. His heart was filled with complicated emotions.

"Every bit of his power was under control, and not the slightest amount was wasted in battle. Compared to him, it feels as though I've spent more than thirty years living like a dog!"

For a moment, Zhou Weilong felt somewhat shaken.

After all, he was already over thirty, and he had spent more than twenty years cultivating and tempering himself on the path of martial arts!

Yet the accomplishments that had once been enough to make him proud within Huangshi Town

had now been battered until not even a trace remained.

All that was left was a deep sense of shame at his own inferiority.

The gap

was simply too vast!

At that moment,

Yang Qingyun was drawing deep breaths while circulating his Qi and Blood.

Only after quite some time did his Qi and Blood gradually recover under the circulation of the Longevity Technique. The sensation of having every ounce of strength squeezed dry finally receded, leaving him somewhat recovered.

"This move consumes far too much!"

This slash that had killed the Golden-Eyed Leopard

was naturally the trump card Yang Qingyun had developed several days ago, after gaining insight into the Dao of the Blade and incorporating the Drawing Sword Technique he had practiced tens of millions of times in his Previous Life!

And it had not let him down. With a single slash, it had killed the Golden-Eyed Leopard, who had erupted in a desperate struggle!

This kind of application involving the power of blade force was, according to what he knew from his Previous Life, a strength that could only be mastered by existences at the Innate or even Grandmaster level!

If not for the experiences of his Previous Life, which had brought his technical skills to their peak, followed by the great opportunity of being reborn and changing his fate, it would have been utterly impossible for an ordinary martial artist to comprehend such power before reaching the lower realms!

That was why

the cost of this slash had been terrifyingly immense!

Even Yang Qingyun felt lingering fear at the thought of it.

Though he had lived another life and laid the best foundation he possibly could, that single slash had nearly drained his essence, Qi, and spirit completely!

That was the price of controlling power far beyond his own level!

At the same time,

the tremendous price had also brought terrifying destructive power in exchange.

With a Martial Path cultivation that had only just entered the Initiate Realm, he had severed the iron-boned body of a Viscera Refining Realm martial artist, killing an enemy across an entire major realm!

Even he, reborn from the past, had never possessed a method for killing an enemy across a major realm.

Without this move,

under the Golden-Eyed Leopard's desperate fight to the death, he would probably have suffered severe injuries even if he had survived!

Fortunately,

there were no ifs!

Instead, the experience of walking once along the line between life and death had given Yang Qingyun many insights.

"The force within the blade, the soul, the will."

Yang Qingyun slightly closed his eyes, carefully savoring the insights gained from that explosive slash.

Through two days of charging power and nurturing it, along with the final scene of drawing his blade and killing the Viscera Refining Realm Golden-Eyed Leopard, Yang Qingyun vaguely felt as though he had touched the faintest edge of the path ahead in the Dao of the Blade!

"No, this insight is far too little!"

Yang Qingyun opened his eyes again and shook his head slightly, his gaze thoughtful.

This slash

had allowed him to leap up and touch the faintest edge of the path ahead.

But there was still an extremely distant gulf between truly stepping into that level—imbuing the blade with will and power—and where he stood now!

He was completely unable to comprehend the path ahead.

"It's too little. Perhaps I'll need to spend at least a year or half a year nurturing the blade in my heart to its peak, then release it all in a single slash. Only then might I use it to step into that level and comprehend even greater power in the Dao of the Blade!"

"No! If I accumulate too much power, my current realm and Qi and Blood probably won't be able to support it. I still have to proceed step by step..."

Yang Qingyun pondered silently.

Nurturing the blade for just two days had nearly squeezed him dry.

If he truly "hid" the blade for a year, the force accumulated within it would probably be far beyond what his current self could support!

Of course, it could not actually be calculated so simply.

Accumulating force was not something that could be done every moment of every day.

The reason he had been able to nurture the forward-surging force within his blade to such a degree in just two days was largely thanks to the insights he had gained from his battle with Black Viper, the Second Boss of Black Wind Stronghold!

Force

came from battle!

The more one fought, the more one challenged people of higher realms, and the more one kept winning, the stronger that invincible, unstoppable force would become!

By comparison, trying to continue accumulating sufficient force in one's chest during ordinary cultivation was far more difficult.

That did not mean that accumulating the force in one's heart during daily life was useless,

however.

That kind of day-after-day accumulation was like sharpening a blade. This slow, grinding effort not only elevated one's state of mind, but also made the force one polished deeper and purer, rather than leaving it mixed with the impurities of slaughter from battle.

The many factors involved still needed to be weighed by Yang Qingyun himself.

Just then, a voice came from behind him, interrupting Yang Qingyun's contemplation.

"I am Zhou Weilong, Master of Weilong Martial Arts School in Huangshi Town. Thank you, Young Hero, for coming to our aid!"

Yang Qingyun turned his head,

only to see Zhou Weilong, his face pale and blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, forcing himself upright and cupping his hands toward Yang Qingyun. A trace of self-mocking bitterness curved his lips.

"We were also far too arrogant and overestimated ourselves, underestimating the Golden-Eyed Leopard. We actually came here so recklessly, seeking justice from the Golden-Eyed Leopard for the blood debt owed to the villagers. How laughable."

"If Young Hero hadn't saved us, we probably would have died here today!"

"Master Zhou, there's no need to be so polite. I merely helped as a matter of convenience. Rather, Master Zhou's willingness to stand up for a group of unrelated weaklings is truly admirable. That spirit of chivalry deserves anyone's respect."

"As for everything else, no one can predict all things. As long as you possess that heart, you've already surpassed ninety percent of the people beneath Heaven."

After learning the whole story, Yang Qingyun nodded and responded kindly to Zhou Weilong.

He seemed to recall that in his Previous Life, when he had been captured by the Black Wind Bandits and imprisoned in the dark mountain dungeon in the valley behind Black Wind Stronghold, he had once overheard some Black Wind Bandit underlings guarding the mountain discussing how a few fools who did not know their own limits had attacked the stronghold, only to be crushed by the Boss's overwhelming might.

Now that he thought about it, this should have been that incident.

It was only that, without his appearance in his Previous Life, this man named Zhou Weilong had most likely died in the mountains.

That left Yang Qingyun feeling somewhat conflicted.

Regardless of whether Zhou Weilong had harbored any other intentions,

at the very least, he had acted.

In judging people, one should look at their deeds rather than their hearts.

Whether it was the worldview he had developed during that life on Earth or the experience of struggling for thirty years in this cruel world during his Previous Life,

Yang Qingyun still felt some goodwill toward people like him.

Moreover, if this fellow named Zhou Weilong had been somewhat stronger, perhaps Yang Qingyun would not have ended up being sold to a mine and reduced to a slave in his Previous Life.

But without those three years of darkness, would he have tempered such an unyielding Dao heart? Would he have achieved what he did?

And would he, by some twist of fate, have been reborn?

Such things were difficult to say.

"May I ask Young Hero's honored name? We've prepared a modest feast and wine in town. Would Young Hero be willing to accompany us so that we may repay today's life-saving grace?"

Having received Yang Qingyun's approval, Zhou Weilong felt somewhat better and immediately extended the invitation.

"My name is Yang Qingyun. We can discuss that another day. For now, let's deal with these Black Wind Bandits first. We can't let them escape and become bandits on the run, only to harm others later."

Yang Qingyun waved his hand and pointed toward the Black Wind Bandits, who had already begun scattering in retreat.

"That's only right!"

"Young Hero, rest for a while. Leave this matter to us!"

"Exactly! We nearly died here after coming up the mountain. We owe Young Hero Yang our lives, so we won't trouble you any further. We'll clean up these stragglers!"

The hot-blooded people of Huangshi Town behind him spoke excitedly one after another.

Each grabbed a weapon

and excitedly gave chase after the fleeing Black Wind Bandits,

beating the fallen enemy while they were down.