Kill and Save! God Trial Complete!

"Boss, hurry up. I can't wait any longer." A scrawny man in a black robe rubbed his hands together, his voice eager. "Fresh blood from a young virgin is a great tonic."

Li Hun nodded and walked over to the little girl tied up before him. She was only eight years old. Her face had gone deathly pale with fear, her lips trembling. She wanted to cry, but no sound came out. All she could do was stare at Li Hun with wide, terrified eyes.

Li Hun raised his right hand, his five fingers curled into a claw. His nails were black and sharp as he slowly reached for the little girl's chest.

"Don't!" The middle-aged man let out a despairing roar and struggled desperately, but the ropes were tied too tightly. He couldn't break free at all.

A cruel smile curled across Li Hun's lips.

Then, his movement froze.

Because a fist came hurtling in from the side.

The fist was huge, its skin bronze, covered in fine patterns resembling scales. There was no Soul Power fluctuation around it, yet the air burst with an overwhelmed boom wherever its wind passed.

Bang!

The fist struck Li Hun squarely across the right side of his face.

Li Hun flew away as if he had been hit by a charging rhinoceros, smashing violently into the ancestral hall's wall. Bricks shattered and dust billowed. His entire body was embedded in the wall as he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with several broken teeth.

The ancestral hall fell silent.

Every black-robed man was stunned. They had not even seen what had happened before their boss was sent flying.

Then they saw a tall young man walk in through the ancestral hall's entrance.

The young man wore a fitted white outfit with a black belt around his waist. He was handsome, and his amber eyes glimmered with an icy light in the dimness. He shook out his right hand as though that punch had dirtied it.

"Evil Soul Masters?"

Long Aotian swept his gaze across the black-robed men in the ancestral hall. His voice was calm, but every word struck their hearts like a heavy hammer.

"You're pretty good at picking locations. Baili Slope is so remote, yet you still found it."

"Y-you... who are you?!" One black-robed man came to his senses and shouted fiercely despite his fear. "You dare lay a hand on people from the Holy Spirit Cult? Do you have a death wish?!"

"I hit you. What are you going to do about it?"

As soon as the words fell, Long Aotian moved.

He was as fast as lightning, darting through the ancestral hall. He did not use any soul skills, only the simplest punches, kicks, elbows, and knees. Yet with every simple strike, another black-robed man fell.

Bang!

One punch crushed a black-robed man's chest, his heart exploding inside his ribcage.

Crack!

One kick broke another black-robed man's spine, leaving him sprawled on the floor like a dead dog.

Splurt!

One elbow shattered a third black-robed man's throat, blood spraying from his mouth and nose.

In little more than a dozen breaths, only three black-robed men remained standing in the ancestral hall.

The three were scared out of their wits and turned to flee, but Long Aotian was faster. With a flash, he appeared at the doorway and blocked their path, then knocked each of them down with a single punch.

The entire process took less than thirty seconds.

Thirteen Evil Soul Masters, including Li Hun, a four-ring Soul Ancestor, lay on the ground. Some were dead, while others still clung to their last breath, but none retained the ability to fight.

Li Hun struggled out of the wall. Half his face had swollen up like a pig's head, and half his teeth were gone. He looked at Long Aotian, his eyes filled with terror.

"Y-you... who exactly are you?! Why... why did you attack us?!"

Long Aotian ignored him and merely turned toward the ancestral hall entrance.

"Junior brother, it's done. The rest are yours."

Dai Tu walked in through the doorway.

"Y-you... what are you trying to do?" Li Hun's voice trembled.

Dai Tu ignored him and walked over to another Evil Soul Master who was still alive.

It was the scrawny black-robed man who had urged Li Hun to act earlier. He lay on the ground now, his chest sunken in and blood continuously spilling from his mouth, but he was not dead yet.

Dai Tu crouched down, looked at the black-robed man, and extended his left hand.

Emerald-green light lit up again as the power of the Tree of Life flowed into the black-robed man's body.

The black-robed man froze.

He could feel the injuries in his chest healing rapidly. His broken ribs were reconnecting, his ruptured organs were repairing themselves, and the blood he had lost was regenerating. In just a few breaths, the wounds that had nearly killed him were more than half healed.

"Y-you saved me?" The black-robed man stared blankly at Dai Tu, unable to understand what was happening.

Wasn't this person with the young man in white? Weren't they here to kill them? Why... why was he saving him?

Dai Tu did not answer. He merely asked calmly, "Are you better?"

The black-robed man nodded instinctively. "B-better."

"Good."

Dai Tu rose to his feet, took a step back, and raised his head.

Scarlet light flared in his eyes.

The shuriken pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan quietly emerged and began to turn slowly. An eerie, icy power brimming with the aura of destruction began spreading throughout the ancestral hall.

Li Hun's face instantly turned pale.

"What are you going to—"

Li Hun did not finish speaking.

Because Dai Tu moved.

He raised his right hand, his five fingers loosely clenched, and aimed it at the black-robed man who had just been healed.

"Kamui: Distortion."

Crack—

A bone-shattering sound that made teeth ache rang out.

Starting from his waist, the black-robed man's body was violently twisted by an invisible force. His spine warped like a twisted rope, his ribs snapped one after another, and his internal organs burst from his mouth and nose under the immense pressure.

He did not even have time to scream before becoming an unrecognizable mass of flesh and blood, collapsing to the ground utterly dead.

The ancestral hall was deathly silent.

The surviving villagers were all dumbfounded. They looked at the black-haired youth who had just gently healed them, only to now twist someone apart without expression like a god of death. Their minds had gone blank.

Li Hun and the other surviving Evil Soul Masters were even more terrified.

W-what was going on?!

He saved people, then killed them?

And why save them? Just to kill them again?!

"You're next." Dai Tu turned toward another living Evil Soul Master.

She was a female Evil Soul Master who looked to be in her twenties. She lay limp on the ground, her pants soaked—she had wet herself.

"N-no... don't kill me... I'll do anything... please..." The female Evil Soul Master sobbed, her face covered in tears and snot.

Dai Tu walked over, crouched before her, and extended his left hand.

Emerald-green light shone again, healing the wounds on her body.

"Are you better?"

"B-better..." the female Evil Soul Master answered tremblingly. A trace of hope remained in her eyes. Had this youth changed his mind? Was he not going to kill her?

But she was wrong.

Dai Tu stood up, stepped back, and raised his right hand.

"Kamui: Distortion."

Crack—

The female Evil Soul Master's body was twisted into a mass of flesh and blood as well.

Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth...

Like an emotionless machine, Dai Tu repeated the same process. He would walk up to an Evil Soul Master, heal their injuries with the Tree of Life, ask, "Are you better?" and, after receiving an affirmative answer, take a step back and twist them apart with Kamui: Distortion.

Every movement was precise, calm, and efficient.

There was no hesitation, no mercy, not even an unnecessary flicker of emotion.

It was as though he healed them only so he could kill them again with his own hands.

The stench of blood in the ancestral hall grew thicker and thicker.

Several of the surviving villagers had already fainted from fright. The rest huddled in the corners, shivering as they looked at Dai Tu as though he were a demon that had crawled out of hell.

Even Long Aotian frowned deeply.

He had killed many people, but someone like Dai Tu, who killed, saved, then killed again... this was the first time he had seen such a thing.

This little junior brother of his... was kind of deranged!

At last, Li Hun was the only living Evil Soul Master left in the ancestral hall.

Dai Tu walked over to Li Hun and crouched down.

Li Hun had completely broken down. Looking at the black-haired youth and those scarlet, eerie eyes, he felt as if he were trapped in a nightmare from which he would never wake.

"Y-you... what exactly do you want..." Li Hun's voice was hoarse and tearful. "If you want to kill me, then kill me... why are you doing this... why are you torturing us..."

Dai Tu did not answer. He simply extended his left hand. Emerald-green light shone as it healed the injuries on Li Hun's face and the broken ribs in his chest.

"Are you better?"

"B-better..." Li Hun answered instinctively, then immediately realized what was happening and shook his head wildly. "No! I'm not better! I'm still not better! Don't come over! Don't—"