"Whoosh!"
The aura of destruction reached its peak in the dead-end alley!
A blazing red-and-white light sword, fused with Yuantu's slaughter, Abi's deathly stillness, and the purifying flames of the Karma Fire Red Lotus!
It hovered before Lin Chen's outstretched, half-curled hands like a spear of judgment.
Its tip pointed forward, its edge gleaming:
"Whoosh!"
The air let out a shrill squeal under the unbearable strain!
This was his first time facing a Dou Master. Although he was somewhat confident,
he had used all his Dou Qi in this strike to prevent anything from going wrong!
"Whoosh!"
The air split apart!
A flash of light streaked through the night!
In Xiao Bao's pupils, that speck of destructive, incandescent white was reflected.
Before he could even react!
Boundless terror completely froze his thoughts and body.
All his Dou Qi, all his defensive instincts,
were as fragile as paper beneath that supreme pressure, born of primordial laws!
He couldn't even utter a desperate cry. All he could do was watch as the light that meant death,
under Lin Chen's icy gaze, erupted with a thunderous force!
"Slash!"
Lin Chen silently mouthed the word as he thrust his half-curled hands forward!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a faint "shhk," almost impossible to hear, as though space itself had been torn apart!
That red-and-white sword light, condensed from terrifying power,
had already vanished from his hands.
In the next instant, it appeared before Xiao Bao's brow!
It moved faster than he could perceive!
The last thing Xiao Bao saw was that point of incandescent white light growing infinitely larger.
Then... eternal darkness.
Pfft!
A soft sound, like a hot knife slicing through congealed grease.
The red-and-white sword light pierced straight through the ochre Dou Qi robe that Xiao Bao had hastily gathered around himself, still incomplete.
It pierced his brow, then burst out through the back of his head!
No blood sprayed out, because the Red Lotus Karma Fire coiling around the sword light, at the very instant it pierced him,
had already burned all the flesh, bone, and even fragments of his soul around the wound into the tiniest particles!
Xiao Bao's burly body stiffened violently.
Extreme shock and bewilderment froze on his face.
The light in his eyes went out like a blown candle, fading in an instant.
The Dou Master cultivation he had always been so proud of, before that sword light fused with a supreme treasure,
was like a dewdrop beneath the sun.
It offered not the slightest resistance before evaporating completely.
"Ugh..."
A nearly inaudible groan forced its way from his throat.
His body went limp, as though every bone had been pulled out, and pitched forward.
He slammed heavily onto the cold, filthy ground and never moved again.
One strike! A one-hit kill against a one-star Dou Master!
Lin Chen's body swayed violently, his face turning pale as paper.
Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
The blood-red Dou Qi that had filled his body was almost instantly drained after he unleashed this ultimate strike!
A fierce wave of weakness washed over him. His legs buckled, and he could barely stay upright.
The combination of Yuantu, Abi, and the Karma Fire Red Lotus had earth-shattering power, but the cost was just as terrifying!
If his foundation hadn't been far stronger than that of others at his level, he would probably have collapsed from exhaustion and passed out.
But he forced himself to remain standing.
The danger wasn't over!
He swiftly scanned his surroundings.
The dead-end alley was still silent, and the distant clamor seemed cut off by an invisible barrier.
He hadn't alerted anyone!
Good!
Lin Chen took a deep breath, forcing down his churning blood and dizziness.
He staggered over to Xiao Bao's corpse.
Then he quickly dragged it farther into the alley!
Looking at the traitor who had killed his parents and sold him out, Lin Chen felt no pity at all.
Only cold indifference.
"Refine!"
He held out his hands again and circulated the Blood Scripture!
Although Xiao Bao was dead, the life essence and Dou Qi origin he had accumulated over a lifetime of cultivation as a Dou Master
had yet to dissipate!
They were perfect nourishment for repairing the Yuantu Abi Twin Swords!
A torrent of energy, even more surging and turbulent than the one he had absorbed from the woman in red,
poured into Lin Chen's body through his hands.
This energy was far purer and richer than the Dou Qi Zhe he had absorbed before, carrying the unique weight and density of a Dou Master.
Lin Chen didn't immediately refine and absorb it to raise his own cultivation. Instead, he resisted the enormous temptation
and, with a thought, rapidly compressed and condensed the surging torrent of energy inside his body.
At last, it became a densely colored essence, pulsing like a beating heart, which he temporarily stored at the edge of his dantian sea of qi.
This was no place to linger. Trying to cultivate here would be tantamount to seeking death.
After all, he had just finished an assassination!
Whether it was cultivating or repairing the twin swords,
he had to wait until he was somewhere safe!
His Dou Qi had, at least, recovered somewhat.
"Whoosh!"
Within a few breaths, Xiao Bao's burly body visibly shriveled.
In the end, it became a desiccated corpse, nothing but skin and bones, without a trace of energy left.
"Still not thorough enough..."
Lin Chen's gaze was cold.
The corpse could still leave behind clues.
He focused his mind again and reached out to the faint phantom of the Red Lotus deep in his dantian.
"Whoosh!"
A small, pure-red flame flicked from Lin Chen's fingertip and landed on Xiao Bao's corpse.
There was no smoke and no pungent smell.
The Red Lotus Karma Fire seemed to possess a will of its own as it silently spread.
Where it passed, the corpse melted and vaporized like snow thrown into a blazing inferno!
The clothes left on him were consumed too. Lin Chen had already whisked away the gold coins and pills from his money pouch with Dou Qi.
Even the few bloodstains on the ground
were cleansed completely by the sacred, searing flames, leaving not the slightest trace!
All that remained was a tiny patch of gray-white ash, almost too small to see.
A gust of night wind swept it away, and it vanished without a trace.
It was as if Xiao Bao had never been there.
After taking care of everything, Lin Chen quickly left the dead-end alley.
Like a true ghost, he melted into the night.
He didn't head straight back to the Orphanage. Instead, he circled around to a relatively quiet side gate elsewhere in the Xiao Clan's grounds.
He had one last thing to do.
He had long since noticed that the patrol responsible for this area tonight
was a squad with a relatively good reputation among the guards. Its captain was named Xiao Yan.
In his predecessor's memories, after his parents disappeared, Xiao Yan had privately given his former self food and comfort several times.
His eyes had held sincere sympathy, utterly unlike the cold indifference and perfunctory responses of the other guards.
Lin Chen tore a piece of cloth from the inside of his loose, old clothes.
He bit his fingertip and quickly wrote a few crooked lines in blood, deliberately altering his handwriting:
"In the cellar beneath the rear courtyard of the abandoned dye house west of the city, several children have been kidnapped. Hurry and save them!"
"The evildoers have been dealt with. Do not investigate. —A passerby who stood up for justice"
He needed to give those innocent children a chance to live.
Xiao Bao was dead, and the Jalie Lang brothers were dead too. The cellar was hidden away.
Without someone to guide them, the Xiao Clan might not find it until the children starved to death,
which could take several days.
Or they might never be found at all!
He lurked like a phantom in the shadows, watching as Xiao Yan and two squad members patrolled past.
While they had their backs turned, Lin Chen flicked his wrist.
The bloodstained strip of cloth shot toward Xiao Yan's lower back like a dart, hitting its mark!
"Hm?"
As a Dou Master, Xiao Yan had keen senses and immediately noticed something was amiss!
He whirled around and caught the strip of cloth in one hand.
The instant he unfolded it, his expression changed drastically!
"Captain, what is it?"
A nearby squad member asked.
Xiao Yan's sharp gaze swept over their surroundings, but the night was deep, and no one was there.
Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he said gravely:
"Something's happened! You two, come with me. Now!"
"To the abandoned dye house west of the city! Hurry!"
He had no hesitation about believing the bloodstained note, despite not knowing where it had come from.
The cellar's location was described in such detail, and it mentioned "children" and that the culprits had been "dealt with"...
Better to believe it than regret it!
Watching Xiao Yan and the other two hurry away, Lin Chen let out a slight breath of relief.
This was all he could do.
He didn't linger. Under the cover of the deepest darkness before dawn,
he slipped back into the Xiao Clan Nursery without making a sound.
Next, he would try to carry out his idea.
Several children shared each room in the orphanage, so it wouldn't be convenient for him to absorb the essence and cultivate.
Besides, raising his cultivation by just one or two stars at this stage wouldn't help him much.
He was more eager to test his idea.
Could bloodline essence really repair the Yuantu Abi Twin Swords?
Before you continue