Thoughts Unburdened

Liu Fang's martial skill had been evenly matched with Shen Yi's.

Faced with Shen Yi's sudden eruption, he had been completely unprepared.

That flash of snowy steel abruptly thrust out from the darkness. The blade gleamed, reflecting the terror in Liu Fang's eyes.

It stabbed straight into Liu Fang's stomach, plunging in to the hilt!

Shen Yi immediately swung out a large hand and viciously covered Liu Fang's mouth. His other hand continuously twisted the saber hilt, churning the blade inside his abdomen.

Instinctively, Liu Fang grabbed the blade in his belly with both hands. Blood gushed out, dripping with a patter, patter sound.

A great deal of blood likewise sprayed from his mouth.

Yet Shen Yi's palm sealed it tightly shut, allowing it only to slowly seep through the gaps at the edge of his hand, leaving Shen Yi's hand slick and sticky.

His vital blood drained away at speed.

Liu Fang's eyes soon began to lose focus as death approached.

Yet he still stared fixedly at Shen Yi. The young man before him had cold, scarlet eyes, like a beast that devoured men!

Liu Fang had never realized before that Shen Yi could be so decisive, so heedless of consequences, so utterly mad!

Because without madness, one could not survive!

Killed an unranked martial artist. Obtained potential cultivation time: six months.

A clear, pleasant voice rang out in his mind, snapping Shen Yi awake from his focus on slaughter.

What was that?

Could it be... a system?

The instant the thought arose, Shen Yi felt a screen unfold in his mind:

Host: Shen Yi

Cultivation: Unranked

Martial arts: Wind Severing Saber Technique (Beginner), Bone Dislocation Hand (Beginner)

Potential cultivation: Six months

It really was a system!

A spiritual imprint merged into his mind, and Shen Yi instantly understood the system's functions.

Simply put.

By killing martial artists, Shen Yi could obtain potential cultivation time, which he could then use to infuse the martial arts he had learned.

The higher the cultivation of the martial artist he killed.

The more potential cultivation time he could obtain.

And in this world, the upper limit of martial arts was extremely high. From unranked to Acquired Realm, Innate Realm, Grandmaster, all the way to Celestial Man and Shattering the Void Realm.

Niu Ben and constables like Shen Yi were, in the eyes of those lofty martial artists, merely ants struggling to survive in the gutter.

They could only bully ordinary people who knew no martial arts.

Shen Yi immediately felt the unrestrained exhilaration of sweetness after bitterness!

Niu Ben had originally been stronger than him.

If Shen Yi had previously entertained the thought of perishing together with Niu Ben, now he had only one thought...

That was to tear Niu Ben into ten thousand pieces!

Shen Yi planted a foot on Liu Fang's corpse and gave a fierce pull, wrenching the Wild Goose Saber from the man's stomach.

Shen Yi took a deep breath. The thick stench of blood seemed to awaken the savagery within his body.

He felt an unprecedented sense of relief and mental clarity. In his mind, he looked toward the system...

He poured all six months of potential cultivation into his saber technique. In an instant, Shen Yi felt as though his consciousness had been dragged into a profound and mysterious space, where he began cultivating his saber technique day and night...

Within that cultivation space.

Shen Yi would not tire, hunger, or grow sleepy. Nor would he feel the slightest positive or negative emotion.

Every shred of his essence, energy, and spirit was focused upon the saber. Again and again, he practiced; again and again, he adjusted his movements, painstakingly pondering the places where the saber technique's circulation faltered.

This was true secluded cultivation.

After six months of cultivation, your Wind Severing Saber Technique has crossed from Beginner through Minor Success and reached the Hall-Entering realm.

Martial art: Wind Severing Saber Technique

Quality: Second-Class Realm

Realm: Hall-Entering

Six months had passed within the cultivation space, yet only an instant had passed in reality. Shen Yi blinked and had already returned to his senses.

It felt as though a lifetime had gone by.

Only, his gaze was now sharper and purer. The hand gripping his saber had become steadier, and his fury had been drawn back into his heart.

Six months of secluded cultivation.

Had truly turned Shen Yi into a seasoned saber wielder!

Shen Yi reached out and rested his hand on the courtyard gate. The saber had been sharpened; now, he was going to kill.

Slap.

The courtyard gate was gently pushed open.

With icy eyes and silent strides, Shen Yi strode toward the main house. Beneath the dim yellow candlelight.

Niu Ben's fat, ugly body danced wildly upon the window paper like some monstrous demon!

Niu Ben's boisterous laughter and Xu Ping's fawning voice still came from inside the room, while the woman's sobs, which had previously been faintly audible, had now nearly fallen silent.

"Boss!"

"You are truly unmatched in valor!"

"You are the model for us all..."

Bang!

A thunderous crash interrupted Xu Ping's flattery. The door flew open with a clatter, and a dark figure pounced into the room like a vicious tiger.

Shen Yi planted one foot on the ground.

He spun around.

Swiftly taking in Niu Ben's position and the surrounding environment.

On the bed was a beautiful woman suspended by red silk bindings. Her skin had split open, and her flesh was a bloody mess.

Both Niu Ben and Xu Ping were completely naked.

One stood before the bed, holding a barbed whip.

The other stood beside the woman on the bed, holding a thick iron rod.

Shen Yi suddenly darted forward.

He swung his arm in a horizontal slash!

The Wild Goose Saber became a streak of white light, sweeping toward Niu Ben's throat like a bolt of silk!

Niu Ben was fat, like a giant ball of meat.

His pupils constricted violently as he roared:

"Shen Yi, you're courting death!"

Yet Shen Yi was too fast, nearly beyond the limits of his reaction. He only had time to lash out with the barbed whip in his hand.

Crack!

Shen Yi shot out his left hand, forcibly catching the whip despite its barbs. His right-hand blade turned, changing direction before slashing down with all his strength!

Blood scattered like rain.

A fat arm spun through the air!

Niu Ben's ugly face twisted at once. The agonizing pain of his severed arm made him open his mouth to howl!

Yet Shen Yi moved even faster.

He raised his saber and drove it straight into Niu Ben's mouth!

The blade lodged in Niu Ben's throat, leaving him only able to make muffled, whimpering cries like that woman.

Everything had happened in the span of a spark.

By the time Xu Ping on the bed had reacted, Niu Ben had already lost an arm, swallowed a saber, and been kicked to the floor by Shen Yi.

"Shen Yi! How dare you?!"

Xu Ping raised the thick iron rod in his hand, about to swing back, but Shen Yi seized Niu Ben's whip and lashed it across him with a crack!

His skin instantly split and his flesh tore open!

Xu Ping immediately screamed miserably, scrambling wildly across the bed like a monkey. Then Shen Yi swung the whip out with both hands and looped it around his neck.

He then wrapped it around Xu Ping's neck.

And tied a dead knot.

Then he violently tightened it. A ring of barbs on the whip pierced straight into Xu Ping's neck, causing him pain so unbearable he wished he were dead.

Shen Yi tightened his grip with both hands.

Xu Ping felt himself suffocating. He could only keep kicking his feet and use both hands to claw at the barbed whip, heedless of the punctures and blood.

Yet Shen Yi's strength seemed inexhaustible.

In the end, Xu Ping gradually went limp and sagged down.

Killed an unranked martial artist. Obtained potential cultivation time: four months.

Xu Ping was dead.

Shen Yi released his hands, untied the knot around Xu Ping's neck, and turned to look at Niu Ben, who was wriggling and struggling on the floor, having just staggered to his feet.

Shen Yi gave a dark laugh. Standing on the bed, he swung the whip like a saber and lashed it down hard across Niu Ben's back with a crack.

The barbs tore away a huge slab of flesh.

Niu Ben crashed to the floor. With the saber still lodged in his mouth, he continuously let out muffled, sobbing whines.

Shen Yi lowered the suspended woman.

He reached out and checked her breathing.

She was already dead.

Her entire body was nearly covered in blood, and her back had been beaten into a mangled mass of flesh by the rod, too gruesome for Shen Yi to bear looking at.

Shen Yi's fury flared anew in his heart. He strode toward Niu Ben, who was still trying to crawl out through the doorway!