The End

"Dead!"

Seeing the terrifying Golden-Eyed Leopard, which moments ago had been rampaging ferociously and sweeping all before it, suddenly cleaved in two by a brilliant blade light, its corpse sliding to the ground.

No longer a single trace of breath remained.

Everyone present was utterly shaken.

The arena fell into dead silence, so quiet that a dropped needle could be heard!

Both the Huangshi Town crowd, whose morale had been shattered earlier, and the numerous underlings of the Black Wind Bandits, stood frozen in shock, staring blankly at the scene before them.

For the Huangshi Town people especially, this brought an immense impact!

Before this, the Golden-Eyed Leopard had been invincible in his rampage, his fists nearly wiping out every disciple from Weilong Martial Arts School who dared step forward, his terrifying power unstoppable!

He had slaughtered them to the brink of collapse, leaving a deep shadow in their hearts!

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

"Crossing an entire major realm to slay an enemy—these young people today are truly terrifying!"

Zhou Weilong, who had been standing not far away watching everything, let out a sigh, his heart filled with complex emotions.

"Every ounce of power perfectly controlled, not a single bit wasted in battle. Compared to him, I feel like my thirty-plus years of life have been lived in vain!"

For a moment, Zhou Weilong felt somewhat disheartened.

After all, he was already over thirty, having trained and honed himself on the martial path for over twenty years!

Yet the achievements that had once allowed him to pride himself in Huangshi Town, were now utterly crushed, leaving nothing behind, only a deep sense of shame.

The gap, was too vast!

Meanwhile, in the arena, Yang Qingyun took deep breaths while circulating his Qi and Blood.

After a long moment, his Qi and Blood gradually recovered under the operation of the Longevity Technique, and the feeling of being completely squeezed dry finally receded, restoring some strength.

"This move consumes far too much!"

The blade strike that killed the Golden-Eyed Leopard, was naturally the trump card Yang Qingyun had developed days ago, when he gained insights into the blade path and fused them with the Drawing Sword Technique he had practiced millions of times in his Previous Life!

And it did not disappoint Yang Qingyun's expectations, cutting down the Golden-Eyed Leopard in a single strike as he fought for his life!

This kind of power, involving the use of blade momentum, was something he knew from his Previous Life to be a force only grasped by existences at the Xiantian or even Grandmaster level!

Without the experience of his Previous Life, having reached the pinnacle of technique, combined with the great fortune of being reborn to overturn fate, it would be utterly impossible for an ordinary martial artist to comprehend such power at a low realm!

For this reason, the consumption of this strike was terrifyingly immense!

So much so that even Yang Qingyun felt a lingering fear.

Even though he had been reborn and laid the best foundation he could achieve, that single slash had nearly drained his essence, Qi, and spirit completely!

This was the price of wielding power far beyond one's own level!

But at the same time, paying such a huge cost also brought terrifying lethality.

With his Martial Path cultivation barely at the Entry Realm, he had severed the body of a Viscera Refining Realm martial artist, whose bones were as tough as iron, crossing an entire major realm to slay his enemy!

Such a method of killing across a major realm was something even he, having been reborn, did not possess.

Without this move, facing the Golden-Eyed Leopard's desperate assault, he would have been severely injured if not killed!

Fortunately, there was no "if"!

Instead, the experience of walking the line between life and death gave Yang Qingyun many insights.

"Blade momentum, mind, will."

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

Through two days of gathering strength, nurturing it, and finally the moment of drawing the blade to kill the Viscera Refining Realm Golden-Eyed Leopard, Yang Qingyun vaguely felt as if he had touched a sliver of the edge of the path ahead in the blade way!

"No, this insight is too little!"

Yang Qingyun reopened his eyes, shook his head slightly, and his gaze turned thoughtful.

This single slash allowed him to leap up and barely touch the edge of the path ahead.

But the distance to truly step into that level—where will and power are infused within the blade—was still incredibly vast!

He simply could not comprehend the way forward.

"Too little. Perhaps I need at least a year or half a year to nurture the blade in my heart to its peak, then unleash it all at once, to step into that level and grasp the power of the next stage of the blade's path!"

"No! If I accumulate too much power, my own realm of Qi and Blood might not be able to sustain it. I still have to take it step by step."

Yang Qingyun pondered inwardly.

The blade he had nurtured for two days had nearly been squeezed dry.

If he truly "concealed" the blade for a whole year, the accumulated momentum would likely be far beyond what he could currently support!

Of course, it wasn't that simple to calculate.

The accumulation of momentum couldn't happen at any time or place.

The reason he had managed to nurture the unstoppable momentum of the blade to such a degree in just two days was largely thanks to the insights gained from his battle with Black Viper, the Second Boss of Black Wind Stronghold!

Momentum, comes from battle!

By constantly fighting, constantly challenging those of higher realms, and continuously winning, the invincible momentum born of pressing forward grows ever stronger!

In contrast, it is far more difficult to accumulate sufficient momentum in the chest during daily cultivation.

Yet daily accumulation of inner momentum is not without its purpose.

That day-after-day buildup is like sharpening a blade—this slow, grinding effort not only refines one's state of mind but also makes the honed momentum deeper and purer, free from the impurities of killing intent that come with battle.

The nuances of all this were still for Yang Qingyun to weigh himself.

"This Humble One is Zhou Weilong, master of the Weilong Martial Arts School in Huangshi Town. Many thanks to the young hero for lending a hand!"

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

Yang Qingyun turned to look.

He saw Zhou Weilong, his face pale, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, forcing himself upright to bow to Yang Qingyun with a fist-and-palm salute, a bitter, self-mocking smile on his lips.

"It was our own arrogance. We underestimated that Golden-Eyed Leopard, recklessly coming to demand justice for the villagers' blood debt. How laughable."

"If not for the young hero's rescue, we would have surely fallen here today!"

"Master Zhou, no need to be so polite. I merely acted on a whim. On the contrary, Master Zhou's willingness to stand up for a group of weak strangers—such chivalrous intent is truly admirable."

"As for the rest, no one can foresee everything. As long as one has that heart, they already surpass nine out of ten people under heaven."

Having learned the full story, Yang Qingyun nodded and responded to Zhou Weilong with goodwill.

He vaguely recalled that in his previous life, when he was captured by the Black Wind Bandits and imprisoned in the dark mountain prison behind Black Wind Stronghold, he had overheard the bandit guards talking about some reckless fools who had attacked the stronghold, only to be effortlessly dealt with by the chieftain.

Now it seemed, this was that very incident.

Only, in his previous life, without his intervention, this man named Zhou Weilong had likely perished in the mountains.

This left Yang Qingyun feeling somewhat conflicted.

Regardless of whether Zhou Weilong had any ulterior motives, at least he had acted.

Judging by deeds, not intentions—

Whether it was the worldview he had formed back on Earth or the thirty years of struggle in this cruel world in his past life, Yang Qingyun still held some goodwill toward people like this.

And if this man named Zhou Weilong had been stronger, perhaps in his previous life, Yang Qingyun wouldn't have ended up sold into the mines as a slave.

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

And would he have had the chance, by some twist of fate, to be reborn?

Such things were hard to say.

"May I ask the young hero's esteemed name? We have prepared some modest wine in town. Would the young hero be willing to join us, so we may repay today's life-saving grace?"

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

"My name is Yang Qingyun. Let's talk about that another day. First, let's deal with these Black Wind Bandits. We can't let them escape and become wandering outlaws, harming others."

Yang Qingyun waved his hand, pointing at the Black Wind Bandits who had already begun to scatter in all directions.

"Exactly so!"

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

"Right! We came up the mountain and nearly died here. We owe Young Hero Yang our lives. No need to trouble him further—we'll handle the rest!"

The hot-blooded men of Huangshi Town behind him all spoke up excitedly.

Each grabbing their weapons, they charged eagerly after the fleeing Black Wind Bandits, beginning to beat the drowning dogs with relish.