Deep in a cave in the barren mountains, cut off from the wind and rain outside:
"Psh!"
Lin Chen sat cross-legged, palms facing the heavens, his body shrouded in a thin yet incredibly condensed crimson aura.
It was a sign that the Blood Scripture had reached its utmost limit, causing his pure Dou Qi to manifest externally.
Within his dantian's sea of qi, the blood-red Dou Qi, which had once flowed slowly, began to spin.
At that moment, it was undergoing a complete transformation.
After devouring every last bit of the woman in red's essence,
Lin Chen's cultivation had been forcefully pushed by the Blood Scripture to the limit of the Ninth Stage Dou Qi.
But this power was like a galloping wild horse: formidable, yet still in need of thorough taming.
The Blood Scripture was like the most precise furnace, tempering and compressing this newly born Dou Qi again and again.
The blood-red Dou Qi surged through his broad, resilient meridians.
With every cycle, it washed away a trace of imperceptible impurity.
At the same time, it sank more deeply into every inch of Lin Chen's flesh, bones, and even his cells.
Nourished by the Dou Qi, his body was undergoing subtle, continuous strengthening.
This made up for the innate weakness of his young body.
Time flowed by in silence.
After who knew how long, Lin Chen's tightly shut eyes abruptly opened.
Two beams of condensed blood-red light flashed and vanished!
The Dou Qi rushing through his body gave a low hum.
It was as if some invisible shackle had been shattered!
His Dou Qi vortex had formed!
He had naturally advanced to two-star Dou Zhe!
His previous accumulation had simply been too substantial.
After reaching the limit of the Ninth Stage Dou Qi and tempering it to the utmost, his cultivation was not the least bit unstable.
Instead, his foundations had been hammered into something utterly unbreakable.
With only a brief period of settling, he had naturally advanced to two-star Dou Zhe!
His blood-red Dou Qi had grown even more condensed and pure, flowing slowly through the vortex in his dantian.
It gave off a heart-stirring pressure.
Lin Chen felt that his strength, speed, reflexes, and even his five senses had all risen another level!
He slowly raised his palm and focused his mind.
A wisp of pure blood-red Dou Qi emerged from his fingertip, like a leaping flame.
It carried an aura and vitality far beyond ordinary Dou Zhe's Dou Qi.
He tried to stir the Karma Fire Red Lotus phantom, faint to the extreme, deep in his dantian.
"Hum!"
A wisp of scarlet flame, thinner than a strand of hair yet imbued with the power to incinerate all things,
quietly coiled around that wisp of blood-red Dou Qi!
In an instant, the Dou Qi's temperature soared more than a hundredfold!
The air around it warped at once, crackling faintly.
The cave walls were illuminated with an eerie red glow!
Lin Chen's eyes burned with excitement.
With only a trace of Red Lotus Karma Fire bolstering it, this wisp of his Dou Qi had become terrifyingly lethal!
He had no doubt that if he infused a Dou Technique with it in battle, its power would far surpass that of anyone at the same level!
It could even threaten those in a higher realm!
Next, he focused his thoughts on the phantoms of the two ancient swords lying dormant within him:
Yuantu and Abi.
"Come forth!"
He issued the silent command.
Inside his dantian, Yuantu's sword phantom flashed with blood-red light.
A blood-red sword ray, condensed to the utmost and less than three inches long, suddenly shot from Lin Chen's palm!
It passed without a sound.
Yet it left a faint blood-red line in the air, as though space itself had been cut open.
A murderous intent that could slaughter all living things and make the soul tremble spread out!
Abi's sword phantom followed close behind.
Another tiny sword ray shot forth, this one a deathly gray-white.
Wherever it passed, the light seemed to be devoured.
Even the air froze in its wake.
It radiated a chilling aura that brought all things to an end and returned them to nirvana!
The two sword rays stopped a foot or so in front of Lin Chen, quivering faintly.
They let out a barely audible hum that pierced straight through the soul.
Lin Chen sensed how quickly his Dou Qi drained when he activated the two swords.
It was far slower than when he had used their projections to kill the woman in red, but it was still alarming.
At his current two-star Dou Zhe cultivation, he could maintain one sword ray at full power
for about ten breaths.
If he summoned both swords at once, the cost would double, and their power would be divided.
If he wanted to unleash a strike like before, one that could leap across realms and instantly kill a Dou Master,
he would still have to pay the price of nearly draining his entire supply of Dou Qi.
"Good enough!"
A cold light filled Lin Chen's eyes, and confidence practically spilled from them.
"With Red Lotus Karma Fire bolstering my offense and defense, and Yuantu and Abi as my ultimate trump cards..."
"Caught off guard, killing Xiao Bao will be as easy as turning over my hand!"
He quickly calmed down.
He had power in his hands, but how to wield it and ensure nothing went wrong was what mattered:
He wasn't a direct descendant of the Xiao Clan, only an orphaned child of a guard.
A five-year-old Dou Zhe?
Possessing strange and powerful abilities?
If he exposed himself, there was no guarantee they would devote themselves to training him.
Until he had the strength to protect himself absolutely, he had to stay hidden!
And his age was a serious drawback:
Even with the Blood Scripture tempering him, his body as a five-year-old child
could never compare in raw strength, stamina, or resistance to blows
with the well-tempered body of an adult Dou Master like Xiao Bao.
Close-quarters combat was the worst possible strategy.
He had to act where no one could see him; he absolutely couldn't leave any witnesses!
One strike, one kill!
"So... I can only attack from a distance and kill him with a single blow!"
"I can't give him any chance to react or call for help!"
Lin Chen settled on the core of his plan in an instant.
At the moment Xiao Bao was most relaxed, farthest from the crowd, and least on guard,
he would use his strongest strike, fusing Yuantu and Abi with Red Lotus Karma Fire, to kill him instantly!
Erase all traces!
He needed to wait for the perfect opportunity...
When night fell and Wutan City's lanterns first lit up,
Lin Chen left the cave in the barren mountains.
Like a ghost blending into the night, he moved through the winding lanes of Wutan City's outer district.
He found a wide, old garment he "borrowed" from a random clothesline.
With a few strips of cloth, he hastily turned it into a hooded cloak that completely concealed his small frame.
He also covered his face with a piece of gray-black cloth.
Only a pair of eyes, gleaming with cold light in the darkness, remained visible.
He avoided the bustling main roads.
Instead, he stuck to shadowy, narrow alleys where few people ventured.
His destination was clear: the area around the Xiao Clan estate.
His parents had been guards, so he knew the Xiao Clan guards' routine patrol routes,
especially those of the teams assigned to the outer perimeter.
As captain, Xiao Bao would inevitably lead a patrol himself.
Like the most patient of hunters,
Lin Chen chose several excellent vantage points near the main patrol routes around the Xiao Clan estate, each well concealed.
He lay in wait.
He ran the Blood Scripture as subtly as possible, hiding every trace of his presence.
His heartbeat and breathing grew slow and measured, as though he had merged with the darkness around him.
Only his eyes remained, sharp as a hawk's,
sweeping over every corner of the streets below.
Time passed second by second.
One patrol team after another changed shifts.
The Xiao Clan guards were disciplined and well-equipped.
Led by a captain or vice-captain, they patrolled meticulously.
Lin Chen saw plenty of familiar faces.
But he never spotted Xiao Bao.
Lin Chen wasn't in a hurry.
He knew that as captain, Xiao Bao couldn't patrol at all times.
He had to wait for Xiao Bao's turn to lead a team.
At last, when the moon was high overhead and the night at its darkest,
a patrol team, clearly much better equipped than the others, emerged through a side gate of the Xiao Clan estate.
The man at its head was burly and wore gleaming leather armor.
A heavy, broad-bladed saber hung at his waist.
His face bore a trace of impatience and arrogance. It was Xiao Bao!
Lin Chen's gaze turned as cold as ten thousand years of ice.
His killing intent nearly took on solid form!
But he forcibly suppressed it, keeping his breathing steady.
The prey had appeared!
Xiao Bao led four team members along their set route.
His expression was indifferent.
Now and then, he nodded or frowned at something one of the guards said, but he offered little in reply.
Like a gecko, Lin Chen moved silently through the shifting shadows on the rooftops.
He followed them from far away, watching Xiao Bao's every move with care.
During the patrol, Xiao Bao trailed near the back of the group.
His gaze swept over a secluded courtyard.
It was where Lin Chen's family had once lived. Now it had long since been abandoned.
A faint, hard-to-detect sneer tugged at his lips.
He thought to himself:
"That Jia Lie Family sure knows how to pay."
"All I had to do was kidnap a brat with no father or mother and a few worthless street urchins."
"And they gave me thirty thousand gold coins... Next time they come looking for 'goods,'"
"I'll have to squeeze more out of them. Money this easy doesn't come around every day..."
He touched the heavy purse at his waist.
A flash of greed crossed his eyes, then quickly vanished.
He continued walking, his face expressionless!
In the shadows, Lin Chen's mouth twisted beneath his mask.
His nails dug deep into his palm, almost drawing blood!
Cold killing intent slithered through his heart like a venomous snake, growing more vicious by the second.
But he kept waiting.
Waiting for the perfect moment to strike, for the chance when Xiao Bao was alone!
The patrol mission was nearing its end.
The group reached the area of brothels and pleasure houses near the outskirts of Xiao Clan territory.
The air began to fill with the cheap scent of face powder and faint, wanton music.
The impatience and restlessness in Xiao Bao's eyes grew even more pronounced.
"Enough, enough. Time's up!"
Xiao Bao stopped and waved impatiently.
"You lot, finish the remaining half-circle. Once you've handed over the shift, you can all head home!"
"Yes, Captain!"
The team members answered and turned to continue their patrol.
Xiao Bao watched them walk away.
Then he immediately rubbed his hands together, his face alight with impatience.
He turned and ducked into the lane beside them, where the lights shone brightest and a sign reading "Yi Hong Brothel" hung overhead.
Lin Chen followed like a shadow clinging to its prey, his gaze cold as ice.
He trailed after him without making a sound.
He didn't go near the brothel's front entrance; there were too many people around.
Instead, he circled around back and found a dark corner where he could watch the rear entrance.
He went into hiding again, like a stone statue melting into the shadows.
Inside Yi Hong Brothel, strings and flutes played amid the sweet voices of women.
Lin Chen shut out these pointless distractions.
All his attention was fixed on the tightly closed back door.
Time passed. An hour...
The night, already deep, grew darker still.
It was almost the blackest hour before dawn.
Even the raucous Yi Hong Brothel gradually quieted down.
Only a few rooms still glowed with suggestive lights.
"Creak!"
The back door swung open.
Xiao Bao staggered out.
His steps were unsteady, his face flushed from drink and wearing the weary satisfaction of a man sated by lust.
As he walked, he fumbled with the buckles on his leather armor.
He even hummed a tune, badly out of key.
"Tsk, that Xiao Taohong... what a woman..."
"Shame an overnight stay costs so much... Damn it, I've still got to report for duty tomorrow..."
He muttered under his breath.
Clearly, he couldn't bear to pay for the night, yet he was afraid of being late for duty the next day.
So he could only hurry back while the night was still deep.
This was the perfect moment Lin Chen had been waiting for!
The night was deep and still, all things silent.
The back alley leading to the outskirts of Xiao Clan territory was completely deserted!
Xiao Bao's mind was slack, his body drained by drink and sex.
His guard was at its lowest!
Lin Chen didn't reveal himself at once.
Instead, he silently moved into the shadows beside the alley, where discarded wooden crates had been piled up.
The spot was well hidden, barely a few yards from the path Xiao Bao was about to take.
It was the perfect place for an ambush.
Xiao Bao lurched forward, taking three unsteady steps at a time, oblivious to everything.
He was still savoring the taste of what had just happened.
He had no idea that lethal danger lurked nearby.
The Dou Qi within him was in its most relaxed state.
He hadn't even put up his guard.
The opportunity had come!
Xiao Bao happened to reach the patch of shadow.
He paused, seemingly to straighten his collar.
Now!
Blood-red light blazed in Lin Chen's eyes!
He no longer bothered to hide his killing intent!
He remained motionless in the shadows.
Only his hands snapped together before his chest!
Within his dantian, the long-charged sword projections of Yuantu and the Abi Sword suddenly trembled!
Bloodlust and gray-white deathly aura surged from his body like two roaring dragons.
They converged, entwined, and fused in a frenzy before Lin Chen's joined palms!
"Clang!"
"Ching!"
"Vmmm!!!"
Lin Chen used a special technique to force the three utterly different yet kindred sword cries into an incredibly small space.
Almost none of their sound escaped, yet a terrifying energy fluctuation formed before him!
A dreadful aura erupted, as though it could sever karma, slaughter all living things, and bring the cycle of reincarnation to an end.
Yet it was firmly locked within that tiny patch of shadow!
The air around it warped and rippled violently.
A gale silently swirled within the shadows!
An energy longsword, about a foot in length, took shape before Lin Chen's palms.
Half its blade was an uncanny blood-red.
Countless wraithlike souls wailed and bobbed within it.
The other half was a deathly gray-white.
It seemed capable of swallowing and annihilating even light and time!
Two utterly opposing forces formed a strange balance along the blade.
It radiated a destructive force that could freeze the very soul!
And that wasn't all!
"Red Lotus! Burn!"
Lin Chen focused again, reaching out to the faint phantom lotus deep within his dantian!
"Whoosh!"
A pure, scorching crimson flame rose from Lin Chen's heart, as if it could cleanse every sin in the world.
In an instant, it coiled around the energy sword that had fused the power of Yuantu and the Abi Sword!
The crimson fire roared across the blade, wreathed in bloodlust and deathly stillness!
At the tip, a blinding white light gathered, imbued with slaughter, finality, and purification.
Like a miniature sun rising in the dead of night.
It lit the shadows around Lin Chen as brightly as day, yet not a glimmer escaped beyond them!
The terrifying heat made the surrounding air ripple violently.
The discarded crates blackened and cracked in an instant!
Lin Chen's hands closed around empty air, as though holding a sword of destruction forged from the fused projections of primordial killing treasures and tempered with red lotus karma fire!
"Shhk! Shhk!!!"
The sword tip silently locked onto Xiao Bao's back, only a few yards ahead.
Xiao Bao was still humming a little tune, utterly unaware that death was upon him!
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