Proving the Dao Through Slaughter

"Spirit bone—a Head Soul Bone!"

The Fallen Ones cried out in alarm, their eyes brimming with greed. Spirit bones were already treasures that could only be encountered by chance, and a Head Soul Bone was an unrivaled treasure ranked second among the six-piece set. Yet in a place like the City of Slaughter, where one could go mad at any moment and had to keep drinking Yellow Spring Dew to stay lucid, a Head Soul Bone was the number one treasure among the six-piece set—a supreme treasure capable of driving everyone insane.

Word spread from one to ten, then from ten to a hundred. Countless Fallen Ones in the City of Slaughter rushed toward the grand square, wanting to seize that Head Soul Bone so they would no longer have to spend every day struggling for Yellow Spring Dew.

On the roof of a building not far from the grand square, Qian Renhan watched the growing crowd of Fallen Ones, satisfaction flickering in his eyes. "Come on, more. Bring even more. Let me use your corpses to fully comprehend the third realm of the Sword Dao—the realm of Sword Intent."

A year had passed, and Qian Renhan had completed seventy-five matches in the Hell Slaughter Arena. His hearing, vision, neural reflexes, combat awareness, and sword techniques had all undergone a transformation. Though he was stuck at Rank 70 and unable to break through without Spirit Rings, if he did not use his Martial Soul, he could still slaughter five Rank 69 versions of himself who had never trained in the City of Slaughter. As for his title—it was the Sword Demon!

As Qian Renhan's reputation grew, fewer and fewer Fallen Ones dared ambush him. Most fled the moment they saw him, and he could not be bothered to chase them. Thus, aside from the slaughter in the Hell Slaughter Arena, his sword had not been stained with blood during this time.

To pursue the third level of the Sword Dao, the ten-man slaughter matches of the Hell Slaughter Arena could no longer satisfy him. He would finish killing the other nine before long, leaving him no time to gain any insight. It felt like it was over before he had even had the chance to enjoy himself.

That was why Qian Renhan had resorted to this measure. He had thrown out a fifty-thousand-year Head Soul Bone as bait, stirring unrest throughout the City of Slaughter. Then, amid the struggle of countless people within the city, he would disguise himself as one of them and begin a massacre.

This sort of large-scale free-for-all could produce battles even more brutal than those in the Hell Slaughter Arena. Through it, he would comprehend and break through to the third realm of the Sword Dao.

That was one reason. The second was that, over this past year or so, even Qian Renhan did not know how many people he had killed. But one thing was certain: the more killing intent he gained from murder, the more killing intent the Fallen Angel absorbed from him. His Darkness Domain, once so dark that not a trace of light could be seen within it, had gradually become infused with a layer of crimson, icy killing intent. It was nine parts black and one part red. That killing intent seemed to be gradually merging with his Darkness Domain, as though an entirely new domain was about to be born.

However, it had not yet taken shape. The main issue was that he did not have enough killing intent, and the best way to obtain more was naturally to slaughter people like mad. The reason he could not do that had already been explained above.

"Spirit bone! Spirit bone! My spirit bone! Why is it floating in the air? Why hasn't it fallen yet?" A muscular Fallen One with an exceptionally savage face stared fixedly at the glowing Head Soul Bone in midair.

"Bullshit! That spirit bone is obviously mine! If you dare steal it from me, I'll chop you to pieces!" another Fallen One roared from nearby.

"Fuck you! Are you looking to die, talking to me like that? I'll chop you up right now!"

A broadsword came down, and blood sprayed through the air. The originally noisy crowd of Fallen Ones had already begun fighting in small skirmishes.

"Tch. Their self-control really is terrible. Still, even if not everyone's here, there are enough. Let the Slaughter Feast begin."

Qian Renhan withdrew the Fallen Angel feather that had been holding up the Head Soul Bone, and the bone dropped to hover just above the ground. In an instant, the entire square of the City of Slaughter erupted. Everyone around it charged toward the Head Soul Bone.

The instant a Fallen One grabbed the spirit bone, a broadsword severed his arm. The spirit bone fell into another Fallen One's hands, but that person was quickly hacked to death beneath a flurry of blades.

"The spirit bone is mine!"

"It's mine!"

"Kill!"

Qian Renhan casually tied back his long hair, gripped the longsword already stained red with blood, and charged into the crowd locked in a massacre. "Even your lives are mine!"

Blade light and sword shadows flashed.

Cries of battle merged into one. From above, slaughter could be seen everywhere. Other than oneself, everyone was an enemy. Bodies fell one after another, and the corpses on the ground only grew more horrifying. Nearly every organ contained within the human body could be found scattered across the ground, while blood had dyed the entire grand square red.

Even the skin-and-bones residents of the Outer City had come. They were not here to fight over the spirit bone, but to secretly drag away corpses and see whether they could squeeze out some Yellow Spring Dew to prolong their miserable lives.

No one knew how much time had passed. The Fallen Ones gathered here had long forgotten their original purpose for coming. Their eyes were consumed by murderous intent, and only one thought remained in their minds—to kill everyone before them.

Qian Renhan, whose clothes had always been relatively clean, was now soaked in blood from head to toe. Even though the Fallen Angel Martial Soul continuously absorbed the killing intent he accumulated, his mind was nearly engulfed by murderous intent as well. Yet with the Fallen Angel's help, part of his mind remained clear. As he felt the warm liquid constantly splashing across his body, heard the endless cries of slaughter in his ears, and endured the pain coursing through him, his consciousness suddenly sank into another world.

This world was completely empty, containing nothing at all. But soon, Qian Renhan saw a figure ahead of him dressed in a blood-red robe, with long blood-red hair. The figure held a blood-red longsword, while mountains of corpses were piled around him. The blood had even gathered into a Blood River.

Just then, Qian Renhan saw the blood-red figure raise his left hand—the one not holding the sword—and wave it at him. That wave carried no Soul Power fluctuations. It was simply filled with killing intent, yet Qian Renhan instantly felt as though countless sharp sword blades had pierced his entire body.

"Do you understand now?"

An incomparably familiar yet utterly indifferent voice rang out. The blood-red figure turned around, and when Qian Renhan looked closely, he found that the figure looked exactly like him. No—it should be said that it was Qian Renhan himself. The blood sword in its hand was the very sword he was using in battle, only stained with even more blood. That blood-red appearance was how he looked at this very moment after killing countless people and being drenched in their blood. This was Qian Renhan's inner world—his Inner Realm.

Unity of Man and Sword was the fusion of sword and body, while the third realm of the Sword Dao was the fusion of sword and heart. The stronger one's heart, the stronger one's Sword Intent. And the Sword Intent Qian Renhan had comprehended was—slaughter!

In the outside world, Qian Renhan suddenly opened his eyes. Looking at the several sabers, swords, axes, and other weapons about to strike him, he revealed a savage grin. The blood sword in his hand swept down, cutting several people before him in half at the waist. Then the Sword Intent contained within the blood sword swept outward, and more than thirty people ahead of him all fell, blood splattering everywhere.

The area around Qian Renhan immediately became far more open.

PS: Another three chapters. Dear readers, send me some monthly votes~