As the final line of text ended, the darkness before Shen Lin's eyes shattered piece by piece, and his consciousness returned to reality.
"...I'll make your death less painful."
Only then did the Mantis Demon's words fall silent.
The system's deduction brought Shen Lin an extremely peculiar sensation.
For a moment, he was somewhat dazed.
Countless martial insights surged into his mind. The pain gradually faded, while his sinews, bones, muscles, and internal organs all 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. Apart from eating, drinking, relieving himself, and sleeping, all his attention had been focused on practicing the saber technique.
At that moment, he could feel a warm current slowly circulating through his body along a specific path.
So this is Qi and Blood Force?
Feeling the seemingly inexhaustible strength within him, Shen Lin slowly rose to his feet and casually angled the long saber in his hand toward the ground.
It was only a simple movement, yet the Mantis Demon across from him froze.
The Mantis Demon, which had still been treating the matter carelessly, trembled. Then it abruptly raised the pair of sickle blades to shield itself.
The tattered clothes and human skin remaining on its body were blasted away completely. A two-meter-tall mantis covered in hard carapace appeared where it had stood.
She revealed her strongest state.
"How is this possible!!!"
The Mantis Demon's mind shook violently. She could hardly believe what she had just seen.
In the blink of an eye, the aura around Shen Lin had completely changed.
The mortal she had been able to toy with and slaughter at will was now exuding an unfathomably mighty presence.
What made the Mantis Demon's heart tremble was the saber in his hand.
Though he was merely carrying it loosely, she felt a chill that could not be dispersed coiling around her neck.
This bastard...
In the next moment, she finally sensed the dense Qi and Blood Force radiating from Shen Lin's body.
"Impossible! You actually... reached the Opening Meridians Realm!!!"
The Opening Meridians Realm was a stage that martial artists could reach only after condensing Qi and blood, then using Qi and Blood Force to break through their blocked meridians.
Throughout Qiulin County, there were no more than five Opening Meridians Realm martial artists known publicly.
Even the Black Bear Spirit behind her, who controlled most of the demons within Qiulin Mountain, was only at this realm.
Shen Lin before her had actually broken through an entire meridian and become an Opening Meridians Realm martial artist!
"You were hiding your strength..."
The Mantis Demon's voice was no longer soft and alluring. It turned gloomy.
Why had that fellow Sun Zhi sent over people who...
"Hm?"
As if realizing something, her expression changed. She raised her head and swiftly looked around.
"Boss Bear was right! Not a single one of you humans can be trusted. After working together for so long, you've finally set your sights on me?"
She glared viciously at Shen Lin and forced out a sentence.
"Where is that fellow Sun Zhi? Is he already blocking the way outside?"
Shen Lin's expression shifted at those words. With a light chuckle, he said, "Guess."
Beneath Qiulin County's prison office, there were six squads, each with ten men.
Sun Zhi was the head of Shen Lin's squad, a genuine martial artist.
In recent years, this head constable's reputation had risen rapidly in Qiulin County. He had slain quite a few demons in succession.
It was said that even the Demon Suppression Bureau in the provincial city had taken notice of this demon-slaying expert.
Although he lost quite a few subordinates every time he went demon slaying, he always managed to bring back the demon's corpse. He had merit without fault.
The few of them, Shen Lin included, had only been assigned under him three months ago.
Now, through the Mantis Demon's words, Shen Lin was able to deduce a few things.
Anyone who frequently slew demons knew that finding demons was harder than killing them.
Most demons hid in deep mountains and dense forests. With Qiulin County's limited manpower, it was impossible to search every mountain and inspect every river.
But if one cooperated with demons, this problem would no longer exist.
No one knew the whereabouts of demons better than their own kind.
His head constable, Sun, had probably made a deal with this Mantis Demon.
Every so often, he would provide some physically strong, vigorous constables for the Mantis Demon to devour.
In return, the Mantis Demon would help Sun Zhi slay her own kind.
What a demon-slaying expert!
Seeing Shen Lin's mocking expression, the Mantis Demon froze for a moment before instantly reacting.
This fellow has nothing to do with Sun Zhi?
That meant she only had to face him alone right now.
There was still a chance to escape!
The instant this thought appeared, she took action.
With a sharp swish, the carapace on her back split open, revealing wings as thin as cicada wings.
Breaking through the house to escape would waste too much time.
She planned to fly straight upward, smash through the roof, and escape alive by relying on her ability to fly for a short time.
Her reaction was extremely fast. She began moving almost in the very same instant.
But Shen Lin was faster still.
A flash of cold light passed by, and the Steel Saber lightly swept across her thin wings.
Piece after piece of wing drifted to the floor. Shen Lin, who had still been standing before the bed, had appeared behind the Mantis Demon without anyone noticing.
He spun the long saber in his hand and said with a grin, "My lady, why are you leaving already? It's our wedding night. It's too late to break off the engagement now."
His teasing words received a response in the form of a pair of mantis blades.
The Mantis Demon had always been extremely confident in the killing power of her forelimbs. After all, over the years, she had relied on them to hunt and kill countless constables and demons.
It wasn't as though she had never killed a martial artist who possessed Qi and Blood Force.
Yet at this moment, she had lost the confidence she once possessed.
She was already several points weaker in aura alone.
After all, her opponent was an Opening Meridians Realm martial artist.
Sure enough, Shen Lin merely turned his wrist slightly. The Steel Saber traced a beautiful arc and precisely sliced across the Mantis Demon's joint.
Her sharp forelimb instantly slid to the ground.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
The intense pain of losing a limb made the Mantis Demon let out a shrill scream.
Having lost her reason, the Mantis Demon understood that she no longer had any chance to escape. She shrieked and pounced toward Shen Lin.
With a puff, Shen Lin dodged to the side. At the same moment, the long saber in his hand swept lightly, and one of the Mantis Demon's hind legs was severed.
For a time, loud crashes rang throughout the room.
They were the sounds of the maddened Mantis Demon smashing into and overturning the furniture.
Mixed among them were repeated wet chops—the sound of Shen Lin dismembering her with stroke after stroke.
Before long, the room fell silent.
The Mantis Demon was left with only her upper body. Lying on the floor, she watched Shen Lin approach step by step, her voice filled with utter sorrow.
"Don't... no... spare me... please..."
Facing her pleas for mercy, Shen Lin's expression remained cold. He said softly, "The withered bones in your courtyard once begged humbly for their lives just like you. What did they receive in return?"
Then, before she could continue speaking, Shen Lin stomped down.
Squish!
Her triangular head burst apart like a watermelon, and black and green fluids flowed all over the floor.
Shen Lin withdrew his foot in disgust and rubbed it against the ground.
His first battle after crossing over was over.
The process could not be considered particularly dramatic.
After all, once Shen Lin had spent forty-two years of his lifespan deducing the Blood Battle Saber Technique to perfection, the outcome had already been decided.
Although the Mantis Demon was formidable, in terms of strength, she was only equivalent to a martial artist with the Blood Battle Saber Technique at the Great Achievement stage.
There was an entire realm between them.
What left Shen Lin somewhat annoyed was that, although twenty-eight years of lifespan would have been enough to deduce the Blood Battle Saber Technique to perfection, he had left himself only one year for the sake of caution.
Although he had survived the life-and-death crisis before him, having only one year of lifespan left was certainly no good thing.
The perfected Blood Battle Saber Technique had increased his combat power, but his lifespan had not increased in the slightest.
He could only hope that he would 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.
[Having slain the Enlightened Mantis Demon, not yet Xiantian, lifespan: one hundred and fifty years, remaining lifespan: seventy-two years, absorption complete.] [Shen Lin] [Martial arts mastered: Blood Battle Saber Technique (Perfection)] [ cultivation method mastered: None] [Remaining lifespan: One year] [Demon lifespan: Seventy-two years] [Lifespan may be consumed to deduce cultivation methods and martial arts, obtaining improvements.] [Demon lifespan cannot be converted into one's own lifespan]
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