Life and Death Three Swords, A Test

Watching Wang Yong slowly enter the Mission Pavilion, Ye Lin turned and left. The panel showed that he would encounter Wang Yong this afternoon.

Clearly, Wang Yong was going to accept a mission now, then encounter a heavily injured Qi Refining Level 5 Rogue Cultivator in Moon Reflection Valley while completing it this afternoon.

Taking advantage of the time Wang Yong was accepting a mission, Ye Lin needed to hurry to Moon Reflection Valley. This time, the window to seize the opportunity was short. He had to end it quickly and absolutely could not let Wang Yong see him.

Ye Lin then turned and headed down the mountain.

Moon Reflection Valley was a gorge several kilometers from Azure Cloud Sect. The gorge was inhabited by Demon Beasts at Qi Refining Levels 1 and 2.

However, those Demon Beasts had little value and were all extremely difficult to kill, which was why few people came here.

Before long, Ye Lin arrived in Moon Reflection Valley. After searching all the way through, he found no injured Rogue Cultivator.

"Did I come too early?"

Ye Lin lay hidden in the forest and muttered to himself. He glanced at the sun in the sky, then sat cross-legged in a patch of grass. The surrounding vegetation was lush enough to conceal his tracks.

After waiting several hours, Ye Lin suddenly opened his eyes and looked toward the valley.

In the valley, a man dressed entirely in black robes clutched his chest as he limped toward this direction, blood spilling from his mouth from time to time.

"Damn it, those people are utterly heartless. Isn't it just a Yellow Grade high-tier martial technique? Just wait. Once I've mastered my cultivation, I'll go back and kill every last one of you."

"But this seems to be Moon Reflection Valley. If I go any farther, I'll reach Azure Cloud Sect. If the people of Azure Cloud Sect find me, I'm dead."

Li Cheng said with an ugly expression. He was an Evil Cultivator; if he were discovered by a supposedly righteous sect like Azure Cloud Sect, with all its sanctimonious airs, he would have no chance of escape.

But the next moment, Li Cheng's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at the long sword piercing his chest, his head slowly tilting back.

"Wh... why?"

After saying that, Li Cheng's body crashed heavily to the ground, and his aura dissipated.

"You and I held no grudge. I originally intended to spare your life, but you're an Evil Cultivator. That won't do."

As Ye Lin spoke, he crouched beside Li Cheng's body and searched around his chest.

Evil Cultivators were an exceptionally wicked kind of cultivator. They would stop at nothing to increase their strength, most often cultivating with the blood essence of mortals.

A thousand years ago, an Evil Cultivator mighty expert at the Spirit Transformation stage had slaughtered three entire mortal dynasties in pursuit of a breakthrough, using the lives of tens of millions to advance.

Ever since then, all cultivators had loathed Evil Cultivators to the extreme.

"Found it."

Looking at the rather worn book and five Low-Tier Spirit Stones in his hand, Ye Lin was delighted. He had not expected an unexpected gain.

After taking the items, Ye Lin put away his long sword and headed into the distance, quickly leaving the area.

After taking several winding detours, Ye Lin arrived at a cave and took out the Life and Death Three Swords.

Ever since his last cultivation session, he had experienced the terrifying power of the Fate Trait Divine Comprehension. As long as it was a Yellow Grade martial technique or cultivation method, he only needed to read it through once to get started.

Ordinary people could not even get started after two or three months, yet he only needed to finish reading it.

"What a terrifying secret manual."

After reading the Life and Death Three Swords in full, Ye Lin muttered to himself. He then burned the manual. It would be troublesome if someone found such a thing. Although he was a Chore Overseer, a Yellow Grade high-tier martial technique was far too precious. Better to be safe.

The Life and Death Three Swords had three levels in total.

The first level was the Life Sword, the second was the Yin Yang Sword, and the third was the Death Sword.

Moreover, the second level was more than twice as powerful as the first. Once the third sword was unleashed, its power could increase nearly eightfold—utterly absurd.

But the cultivation method for the Life and Death Three Swords was extremely demanding. The first two levels were easy to cultivate, but for the third level, one had to attain enlightenment between life and death.

Ye Lin then picked up his long sword and began cultivating slowly inside the cave. Cultivating within Azure Cloud Sect would draw too much attention.

As time flowed by, his understanding of the sword technique grew deeper and deeper. The sword moves flashed through his mind like scenes in a film.

"Slash!"

Suddenly, Ye Lin's eyes went wide with fury as he shouted and slashed forward. In an instant, a strand of Sword Qi appeared, leaving a crack in the cave wall one meter long and two centimeters deep.

"Whew, I've gotten started with the first level."

Seeing this, Ye Lin was delighted. He let out a deep breath. After several hours of cultivation, he had now gotten started with the first level of his sword technique—the stage of Life from One Sword.

Without a martial technique, he could never have struck out Sword Qi. Even if he did, it would only be a scattered mass of qi.

But now, with a martial technique, he could condense that scattered qi. With one sword strike, he could wound people from afar.

"Cultivation truly makes one forget time."

Ye Lin came outside the cave and looked at the full moon and scattered stars in the night sky, feeling deeply moved.

Ye Lin then put away his long sword and headed toward the sect gate.

The moment he stepped into the sect, Ye Lin sensed that something was wrong. He constantly felt that a pair of eyes was watching him from the shadows.

"They've come?"

The corner of Ye Lin's mouth curled up. He then casually headed toward his residence as though nothing had happened.

Just then, a sword shadow suddenly flashed from the darkness, shooting straight toward his left arm. He instantly understood the attacker's strength.

Qi Refining Level 5. If he had truly been at Qi Refining Level 3, he would never have noticed this sword strike, much less avoided it.

"Who's there?"

Ye Lin suddenly cried out and rolled to the right. At once, with a tearing sound, a spray of blood burst from his left arm.

"Help! There's an assassin! Help!"

Ye Lin clutched his arm and shouted, while exerting force with his right hand, causing blood to continuously flow from his left arm.

After Ye Lin's several cries of pain, several figures soon rushed over.

"Qi Refining Level 3. He really is trash."

In the shadows, Zhao Hu wore black clothes. Looking at Ye Lin lying in the distance and screaming, he sneered before vanishing into the night.

Now that he had determined Ye Lin's true strength, things would be much easier from here on.

He had originally harbored some doubts about Ye Lin's strength, but now those doubts vanished at once.

If Ye Lin had truly been stronger than Qi Refining Level 3, he should have reacted the instant Zhao Hu attacked, rather than waiting until the sword pierced his left arm before dodging.

"What happened? Overseer, what happened to you?"

At this moment, several Chore Squad Leaders hurried over and helped Ye Lin up.

"Someone in the sect tried to kill me. Investigate it."

Ye Lin said angrily to the squad leaders. Upon hearing this, they immediately responded.

"Someone dared to assassinate the Overseer? Outrageous! I'll report this to an elder immediately."

"You lot, search the surrounding area."

Watching the Chore Squad Leaders split up to investigate, along with the performative display from dozens of Chore Disciples, Ye Lin sneered inwardly and walked toward his residence.

Only after Ye Lin disappeared did the squad leaders stop what they were doing.

The person capable of assassinating Ye Lin had to be an Outer Sect disciple, and Outer Sect disciples were not people they could afford to provoke. Their actions just now had merely been meant to fool Ye Lin.

After several minutes of searching, all the Chore Disciples returned to their residences and slept peacefully, as though nothing had happened.