Lin Guanhuo hurried out of the Miscellaneous Room Courtyard and onto the main street.
By now, Zhou Kai had been completely corroded by demonic energy.
He hadn't lasted even a quarter of an hour before that terrifying demonic poison ate him clean through, leaving nothing but a skeleton sprawled in the street.
Some passersby kept their distance, while others wore indifferent expressions, clearly long accustomed to scenes like this.
This was the fate of ordinary people in a Chaotic World ruled by demons.
No earth-shaking battle was needed. A fox that had gained supernatural powers could take a life with a casual swipe.
Lin Guanhuo silently gazed at the pile of white bones. He felt no fear, only sorrow.
Weakness was the original sin.
What if he'd been the one who got scratched today?
He took a deep breath, turned, and led an old horse out of the stable, then hitched it to a cart.
Ignoring Zhao Sihai's earlier warning, he said nothing as he shoveled the pile of bones onto the cart.
Then he drove the cart toward the Mass Grave in the back hills.
Lin Guanhuo hastily dug a pit and buried Zhou Kai's bones. He didn't even have time to put up a grave marker.
He simply placed a large rock on top to keep wild dogs from digging them up.
"Brother Zhou, may you rest in peace."
By the time he finished and drove the cart back to the Miscellaneous Room Courtyard, it was already the dead of night.
He wasn't sleepy.
The horrible sight of Zhou Kai's final moments kept replaying in his mind.
"Human life is cheaper than grass..."
Lin Guanhuo murmured under his breath.
In this world, where demons ran rampant and the strong preyed on the weak, ordinary people were like fish on a chopping block.
Zhou Kai had died today. Tomorrow, it could be him.
He clenched his fist and made up his mind.
"I have to get stronger."
"Only by practicing martial arts can I live with some dignity in this chaotic world!"
Lin Guanhuo took a deep breath.
He pulled from his robes the copy of Precept Breaking Saber Art he'd peeled from a dead man's skin.
As soon as he opened the first page, an inexplicable chill shot from his fingertips straight into his mind.
[Buzz—]
Lin Guanhuo jolted in surprise.
Having read countless web novels, he knew exactly what this meant!
Three months after transmigrating, his Golden Finger had finally arrived?
Sure enough, lines of translucent text appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Lin Guanhuo]
[Realm: Mortal (depleted qi and blood)]
[Martial Art: Precept Breaking Saber Art (not yet initiated)]
[Current lifespan: Three years (originally twenty-nine years)]
[Status: Cursed by a Fox Spirit; lifespan rapidly dwindling]
[Current Draw Sword count: 0]
Lin Guanhuo's pupils contracted sharply.
His lifespan... only three years left?!
He suddenly remembered the fox in Widow Sun's courtyard, the one that had killed Zhou Kai!
"So... I got hit too... Something unclean latched onto me..."
"But... what does the Draw Sword count on the system mean?"
Lin Guanhuo didn't quite understand this sudden Golden Finger.
But his confusion soon cleared away.
He saw another explanation beneath the panel:
[Each draw of the sword is a deadly strike tempered in desperate circumstances, and can greatly increase martial art proficiency. You may also spend your own lifespan to exchange for "Draw Sword counts."]
[Ability acquired: "Soul Capture." When you slay an ordinary demon, you can extract "Draw Sword counts." When you slay a high-level demon, you can extract its supernatural ability.]
[Note: Draw Sword counts cannot be converted back into lifespan. Only through ceaseless slaughter, using the lives of all living things, can I forge my immortal golden body.]
Lin Guanhuo read it over several times and more or less understood. Wasn't this just the pay-to-win system from online games?
No, it was a pay-with-your-life system!
Use his own life to practice the saber, and demons' lives to practice the saber.
If he didn't kill, he was just waiting to die.
If he killed, he could grow stronger!
[Martial art detected: Precept Breaking Saber Art, First Rank martial art]
[Introduction: A Buddhist saber art. Now, in a sudden awakening, the practitioner has opened the precept of killing, cutting down all illusions.]
[Sixteen levels in total. The first eight are "Eight Basic Saber Forms," and the latter eight are "Chained Killing Moves." Mastery allows one to slay demons and break illusions.]
[Prompt: Spend 100 Draw Sword counts to instantly comprehend this martial art?]
[Insufficient Draw Sword counts. You may spend one year of lifespan to exchange for 100 Draw Sword counts.]
Lin Guanhuo looked at the "two years and two months" of lifespan remaining on the panel and didn't hesitate in the slightest.
"Exchange! Comprehend!"
What did he care about one year when his life was already on the line? If he couldn't embark on the path of a Martial Artist, he was doomed.
He wasn't about to roll over and die.
Pay up! That was the whole point!
[Life span consumed: One year.]
[Draw Sword counts acquired: 100]
[100 Draw Sword counts consumed. Beginning instant comprehension of Precept Breaking Saber Art...]
A vast stream of information surged into his mind.
Countless scenes of saber strokes flashed before his eyes.
The moves that had once been obscure and difficult to understand now seemed to become instinctive memories.
His body changed as well. His muscles and bones made a series of cracking sounds, as if they'd developed muscle memory.
One hour...
Two hours...
Three hours...
A whole night passed. By the following morning, a faint chill had settled over the sky.
Only then did Lin Guanhuo slowly open his eyes.
He glanced at the System interface.
[Instant comprehension successful]
[Precept Breaking Saber Art: Basic Saber Art, first level (0%)]
[Remaining lifespan: Two years and two months]
[Remaining Draw Sword counts: 0]
Though his lifespan had shrunk again, Lin Guanhuo felt an unprecedented force surging through his body.
He swung out of bed and went to the open ground in the back courtyard.
He gripped the long saber in his hand.
Then—
Whoosh!
The long saber left its sheath.
No longer was it the same wild, aimless hacking as before!
This time, the saber in Lin Guanhuo's hand slashed out with a sudden, fierce stroke!
Screee!
The stone bricks in front of Lin Guanhuo split cleanly in two, stone chips flying everywhere.
Yet the blade remained smooth and intact!
Clearly, the saber art had imbued this ordinary long saber with power it should never have possessed.
"So this is... saber art."
A flash of delight crossed Lin Guanhuo's eyes. It was only the first, most basic level, but he could clearly feel that his technique and speed were several times sharper than before.
He still hadn't officially become a Martial Artist, but he could easily take on two or three versions of his former self.
"If I can keep practicing day after day... I can become a Martial Artist too!"
Hope kindled in Lin Guanhuo's heart.
As far as he knew,
the Martial Dao began with the body.
Only by tempering the flesh to its limits could one succeed after a hundred refinements and become a true Martial Artist.
Otherwise, no matter how much one trained, it would all be empty show, never enough to reach the great heights of the Martial Dao.
Legend had it that when the body was cultivated to its limits, the skin would take on the hue of bronze as the muscles tensed throughout the body.
The body would become Copper Skin!
That was the first realm of the Martial Dao: Body Tempering.
Once someone became a Body Tempering Realm Martial Artist, even if he was only a bottom-rung First Rank fighter,
he could get an official Constable's position at the yamen, with three full meals a day and a few extra coins in his pocket.
At the thought, Lin Guanhuo's heart burned with eagerness. He silently addressed the system: "Exchange for more Draw Sword counts!"
But the system's icy prompt immediately doused his enthusiasm:
[Warning: Minimum lifespan is two years. Exchange unavailable.]
"Damn it..."
Lin Guanhuo cursed under his breath.
It seemed the system had a safety mechanism to stop him from paying his way straight to death.
Since he couldn't exchange, he'd have to rely on his own training!
He gripped the long saber and stood in the moonlight, drawing and swinging it again and again.
"Ha!"
"Hyah!"
But reality soon slapped him in the face.
His body had been malnourished for a long time. It took only a few swings
before his arms went limp and his vision began to darken.
"No good... The food in the Miscellaneous Room is too awful."
Lin Guanhuo had no choice but to stop. He braced his hands on his knees and gasped for breath.
Thin gruel and black steamed buns could barely keep him alive. They weren't enough to support the intense demands of martial training.
"I need to find a way to get money and meat."
Lin Guanhuo reluctantly sheathed his saber and slowly left the courtyard.
(Some readers are wondering about the system's exact functions. Drawing the saber is only the most basic one. The main feature comes later: extracting supernatural abilities. The earlier upgrades involve minor demons, but once the demons grow more powerful, the system's effects will become clear. It can even extract "immortality.")
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