Adam Smith stared in confusion at the black videotape that had been flung onto the floor. He did not remember when such an old-fashioned tape had appeared in his briefcase.
He picked up the tape and examined both sides, but there was not a single word on its surface.
With a trace of curiosity, Adam dug out a barely used VCR from the clutter in the attic. His life had long since lost all color. Every day, he was like a slave driven by a whip, unable to find anything fresh, much less any surprises.
He connected it to the television and inserted the tape. The screen filled with static.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but Adam felt a gaze from within the screen glance at him before the image finally appeared.
The image showed an Asian woman dressed in red, her loose hair cascading down to her waist like a waterfall. She looked seductive and captivating, yet every movement carried an unrestrained, bold, and heroic air.
A wine gourd hung at her waist. At times, she would tilt back her head and drink deeply, letting the wine spill freely. Yet she did not seem wanton in the slightest; instead, she exuded a natural sense of doing whatever she pleased.
If that had been all, Adam Smith would only have been mildly surprised before turning off the television. Having grown up immersed in American culture, he could not understand the essence of Eastern culture.
But what came next left him dumbfounded, unable to look away.
The woman in red leaped onto a tree more than ten meters tall. With a flicker of her body, she actually left a crimson afterimage racing across the tops of the forest.
Then she sprang up from the bottom of a cliff. She merely tapped the cliff face twice with the tips of her toes before shooting up a precipice taller than the Empire State Building.
And that was only her astonishing speed. Later, the woman in red smashed a boulder more than ten meters high with her slender palm, yet her hand remained completely unharmed.
When fighting enemies, she drew a long, narrow sword and lightly flicked it twice, slicing apart not only their weapons but even their bodies into shattered fragments.
These enemies were no ordinary people either. Every one of them could swing a blade hard enough to sever a horse's body. The strongest among them could even unleash a so-called "sword aura" like a laser, effortlessly cutting a house in half.
Yet even enemies this powerful only survived a few extra seconds in the hands of the woman in red.
The final scene was even more outrageous. Alone, the woman in red walked across the sea toward the Dutch Invincible Fleet. Her sword danced in her hand, shredding the dense cannonballs raining down from above with flashes of sword light. In no time at all, she reached the warships.
What followed was a one-sided slaughter. Her sword flashed like a startled swan. The Dutch soldiers' bodies, the steel blades in their hands, the sturdy decks, thick masts, and even metal cannon barrels all seemed like foam. The instant they touched her sword light, they shattered.
In the end, after destroying an entire Dutch fleet, the woman in red stood atop the flagship's mast, removed her wine gourd, and drank deeply.
Beneath her feet, the battered flagship, strewn with corpses, was slowly sinking into the sea.
At the end of the sea lay the glow of the setting sun.
The evening clouds surged, painting eight Chinese characters across the sky.
"The sun rises in the east; I alone remain undefeated!"
This was a scene Lin Hao had adapted and Sadako had recorded onto the videotape using her supernatural abilities.
Throughout it all, Invincible East, played by Sadako, was the only real character. Everything else was an illusion created through supernatural powers. There was no Linghu Chong, either. The simple, brutal plot existed solely to showcase Invincible East's power.
Furthermore, the Invincible East adapted by Lin Hao did not use embroidery needles, but a long sword instead. Naturally, this was to promote the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual"; otherwise, Americans unfamiliar with Eastern wuxia culture would never understand why Invincible East, who used embroidery needles, could be stronger than enemies wielding swords.
To put it bluntly, this was a promotional video for the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual."
It could not be too subtle. It had to directly display the sword art's power—but how could they make American men steel themselves to take the cut?
After watching the short video, Adam Smith was shocked by the woman in red's strength, but not particularly moved. After all, it was only a videotape. Perhaps it was a movie made by that country across the ocean.
Who would have thought that, at the very end of the footage, after the woman in red finished drinking, she would turn and stare fixedly at Adam Smith in front of the television?
The next moment, a scene that nearly scared Adam Smith to death unfolded.
The woman in red stepped forward and leaped toward the camera, then passed through the television screen and appeared alive before Adam Smith.
Adam Smith's eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fright.
"His mental fortitude is terrible!" Lin Hao, currently borrowing Sadako's spirit body, shook his head.
Little Devil's contract allowed Lin Hao to freely control every soul that had signed a contract. He could alter memories, borrow their perspectives, and even remotely control them with his own consciousness.
All souls who signed contracts with Demon had sold their souls to Demon.
At that moment, Lin Hao had not completely taken over Sadako's spirit body. He only occupied half of it.
"I'll demonstrate it for you this time. In the future, just do it like this."
First, use Sadako's supernatural powers to drag the target's consciousness into an illusion and show him the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual"...
After Adam Smith regained consciousness, he found himself in a space shrouded in black-and-white static. In that monochrome world, Sadako in her red robes was the only eye-catching sight.
"You... you're the person from that movie!" Adam Smith recognized her and panicked. "Th-this... where is this?"
"Do you want power?" Lin Hao used Sadako's spirit body to produce a voice that was neither male nor female.
"Power?"
Adam Smith had watched some fantasy comics and movies as a child, where similar scenes often appeared. He quickly realized that, like those protagonists, he had encountered an extraordinary opportunity.
"Of course. Of course I want power!"
His life had already become this miserable. Adam Smith desperately wanted to change it, even if it meant selling his soul to the devil.
"Very good. I can grant you power as great as mine." Lin Hao was demonstrating the lines Sadako should use in the future.
"Really?" Adam Smith, having just watched the footage, was overjoyed.
Invincible East's strength in the movie was practically inhuman. Even though modern technology was far more advanced than in the era of the Dutch Invincible Fleet, if he possessed her power, he would still become a superhuman.
He would be stronger than the Captain America of history. At the very least, Captain America could not leap onto the Empire State Building in just a few steps, nor could he slash out laser-like attacks with a sword and cut a building cleanly in half.
"Yes, but this power comes with a price." Lin Hao controlled Sadako to reveal a smile.
"That doesn't matter. I can give anything!" Adam Smith said impatiently.
He already had nothing left.
"My power comes from a miraculous Eastern martial arts manual known as the 'Evil-Warding Sword Manual'..."
"To practice this art, one must first castrate oneself."
Lin Hao smiled faintly. "I was actually a man once, but in order to master this sword art, I cut off what was down there..."
Adam Smith froze on the spot.
To cut or not to cut—that was the question.
His wife openly slept around with other men and had long refused to let him touch her. His income was meager, and he did not even have enough money to go to a bar and have some fun.
What use was this hunk of meat?
"Snip! I'll do it!"
Adam Smith gritted his teeth and let out a miserable roar. "Without power, I'll soon have nothing left. I need power!"
"Then take it!"
Lin Hao directly used Sadako's supernatural powers to imprint the moves and Inner Force circulation routes of the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual" into Adam Smith's memories.
Then, in the outside world, he raised a blade over Adam Smith, who lay on the floor with his eyes closed.
"Wait, do I leave the balls, or do I cut off the sausage too?"
Lin Hao hesitated. After all, he had no experience with this either!
"Forget it. To be safe, cut them all off together."
The blade rose and fell, cutting off Adam Smith's source of troubles.
Afterward, the other half of Sadako's controlled spirit body stretched out her hand and used her healing ability to mend Adam's wound.
"Not bad. My Sadako is a doctor too!" Lin Hao said, rather surprised.
In one version, Sadako had split off a kind side that also possessed healing powers. He had not expected his own version to have them too.
After the wound healed, Lin Hao stepped forward to complete the final step.
"Remember, this world originally had no Inner Force. Therefore, every new practitioner must receive an Inner Force seed from someone who already possesses Inner Force. They cannot find the sensation of qi on their own through meditation."
"Later, you will personally transfer the Inner Force I planted in your body into the target's body. As for how they pass it on afterward, you don't need to care."
Lin Hao could not wait for the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual" to spread rapidly among American men. Ideally, every American man would give himself a cut.
In any case, they could not obtain any other internal cultivation manuals. Even if they possessed a meager amount of Inner Force, without replenishment, it would soon dissipate on its own.
Lin Hao was extremely thorough with Adam Smith, his first test subject. Afraid Adam would not understand the method of circulating qi, Lin Hao planted an Inner Force seed in his body, then personally guided him in opening the meridians needed to cultivate the "Evil-Warding Sword Manual." Only after completing one full cycle did he stop.
By the time he finished, a streak of white had appeared on the horizon.
"Did you learn it?" Lin Hao reminded Sadako, "Do it like this from now on. Try to make the 'Evil-Warding Sword Manual' popular across America as soon as possible."
After saying that, Lin Hao withdrew his consciousness. Sadako, clad in red, tilted her head and thought for a moment before slipping back into the television.
A moment later, the black videotape inside the VCR vanished into thin air and randomly reappeared in a shabby apartment in Atlanta.
An hour later, as the morning light grew brighter, Adam Smith opened his eyes.
At that moment, he could clearly feel a miraculous energy surging through his body, while many memories had appeared in his mind.
This confirmed that everything just now had not been a dream.
A chilly sensation came from his lower body, and a bloody hunk of flesh lay right beside his hand.
He fell silent for a while, staring at the flesh that had fallen from his body as he mourned his lost youth.
Soon, he gathered himself, sat cross-legged, and circulated the energy within his body according to the techniques in his memories.
After completing one full cycle, Adam felt that he had grown a little stronger.
He immediately grabbed a short iron rod from the study and began practicing sword techniques according to the moves in his memories.
With Inner Force empowering it, the short iron rod in his hand moved fast enough to pierce the air. As it whirled through the study, it forcibly stirred up a gust of wind.
"Not very convenient. Looks like I need to find a long sword."
After practicing the sword art once, Adam Smith underwent a dramatic change in spirit and bearing. His gaze became sharp, his eyes sinister, and his movements gained a hint of feminine softness.
"Bastard, what time is it already?" A shrewish roar came from downstairs. "Why aren't you at work? Do you want to lose your job and go bankrupt?"
Adam Smith immediately revealed a cruel smile.
He turned to look at the hunk of flesh on the floor and muttered, "Didn't you love it so much before? Then I'll let it become one with you forever..."
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