Ten Years? Ten Consecutive Draws!

On the panel, the number representing his lifespan began to change rapidly.

Thirty-four... twenty-one... thirteen...

It stopped only when it reached "one."

The realm of the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique also grew rapidly.

[You practiced the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique diligently, breaking through to the Minor Accomplishment realm in the eighth year.]

[You continued to practice, breaking through to the Major Accomplishment realm in the seventeenth year.]

[In the twenty-ninth year, your Demon-Subduing Blade Technique reached the pinnacle, finally achieving perfection.]

[In the thirty-third year, even after reaching perfection, you remained obsessed with this style, seemingly gaining new insights, but this flash of inspiration was not clear enough and failed to evolve successfully...]

Demon-Subduing Blade Technique (Perfected)

Shen Yi lay on the ground, his focus entirely on his right hand, the one that gripped the blade.

He needed to confirm whether he had turned into a withered old man after losing his lifespan, or if he could maintain his youthful appearance.

He saw that the skin on the back of his hand remained smooth, and his slender fingers were incredibly agile.

What was even more astonishing was that his body had not aged at all; instead, it was becoming strong and powerful at an unimaginable speed.

It was as if Shen Yi had truly devoted himself to the blade for thirty-three years, never touching wine or women, casting aside all distractions, and dedicating his entire life to the blade in his hand.

The night was dim, and the courtyard was deathly silent.

The Dog Demon's massive body was slightly hunched as it reached the door, leaning against the wall and poking its head into the room.

Those pale yellow pupils scanned the people inside with indifference.

Feeling the stench of the beast wafting toward him, Old Man Liu pressed himself hard against the corner, his eyes rolling back, nearly fainting.

If he had been facing Shen Yi's back, he might have summoned the courage to grip his wooden club, but facing this dog head at such close range, even his pleas for mercy were stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.

Fortunately, the creature's gaze quickly shifted away from him, landing on the Liu Girl, who looked more succulent.

The Dog Demon didn't even bother to speak; it simply extended its claw and beckoned with its fingertips.

Overcome by immense terror, the girl's eyes went blank. She stepped forward in a daze, walking toward the beast, watching as its sharp claws hooked around her neck.

Suddenly, she felt a warm palm cover her wrist, halting her progress.

Liu Girl shuddered and looked down.

She saw Shen Yi on the ground, his brows slightly furrowed. He stood up unsteadily, brushed the dust off his body, and spoke in the same tone he had used earlier to shoo away flies: "Go away. Stay in the corner."

"..."

Feeling the claws tighten around her neck, the girl's emotions collapsed. She had no idea what kind of nonsense Shen Yi was spouting.

How could she leave? Where could she go?

A savage grin appeared on the Dog Demon's muzzle: "You traitorous animal, what's the rush? You're next."

Under everyone's gaze, a flash of silver swept through the room, cold and blinding!

Shen Yi held his long blade at a slant, the silver-bright steel vaguely reflecting his expressionless face.

A streak of blood appeared on the blade out of nowhere, gathering at the tip before rolling off as a droplet.

Falling along with the blood was a sturdy arm covered in sleek, oily fur.

"Awoo—"

In an instant, the room was engulfed by the Dog Demon's agonizing howl. It hadn't even been able to see the trajectory of the blade, nor when the man had drawn it.

Freed from the restraint of the claws, the girl stumbled back toward the corner, curling into a ball in terror.

Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw the thin figure before her charge forward.

Like a fierce, baleful god, he extended his powerful arm, his fingers violently grabbing the long fur on the Dog Demon's neck and slamming it down with immense force.

Under that overwhelming strength, the Dog Demon cried out in pain again, its mountain-like body crashing to the ground!

Giving it no chance to react, Shen Yi pressed his knee against the dog's head, raised his hands high above his head, gripped the hilt vertically, and drove the blade viciously into its throat.

Squelch!

Scalding dog blood sprayed out, covering Shen Yi's face and adding a layer of ferocity to his handsome features.

Shen Yi stepped on the dog's head, his palms steady as he pulled his blade from the flesh.

It was clearly his first time killing a demon, yet it felt as if this act of slaughter had been repeated thousands of times, deeply ingrained in his instincts.

His body was drenched in sticky blood, and the stench was nauseating.

He should have been shaken, vomiting uncontrollably, but his body remained inexplicably calm.

This was the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique; slaughtering demons was as mundane as eating or drinking.

He withdrew his blade, stared into the Dog Demon's wide, unblinking eyes, and carefully wiped the steel clean on the beast's fur.

Not to mention the beast, even Shen Yi himself hadn't expected the fight to end so quickly.

Thirty-three years of blade practice had accumulated a strength in his body that reached the pinnacle of a mortal.

Having finished, Shen Yi turned to look at the father and daughter in the corner.

He saw that their eyes were filled with disbelief, but compared to before, there was only deeper fear; there was no room for gratitude.

Shen Yi withdrew his gaze, not taking it to heart.

After all, half an hour ago, he had been stripping that girl's clothes; how could they possibly trust him?

They probably still thought it was just an internal conflict between Shen and the demon.

"..."

He sheathed his blade, kicked the Dog Demon's corpse aside, and walked out into the courtyard.

"Master Shen... would you like to..."

Liu Girl looked at the wrist that had just been held, then raised her dirty face and said cautiously, "Let me bandage the wound on your head first."

Hearing this, the old man's vision went black.

This stupid girl, why bring up the very thing that shouldn't be mentioned? Don't forget how that wound got there.

In the old man's eyes, the current Master Shen was ten times more terrifying than the Dog Demon!

Shen Yi slowly stopped in his tracks.

A moment later, he turned back and said, "Very well."

He hadn't done a single good deed in his two lives combined. Now that he had finally done one, it would be a lie to say he didn't care about the lack of reaction.

There was no reason for a hero to walk home by himself.

If not offering herself in marriage, at least give him a cup of hot water to soothe his throat.

Shen Yi swaggered back to the bedside and sat down. Under the girl's clumsy service, he took off his clothes. Old Man Liu felt a sense of sorrow in his heart, but his hands were still nimble as he found a relatively clean strip of cloth to wipe the blood from the back of Shen Yi's head.

Just then, the panel popped up.

A strange notification caught Shen Yi's attention.

[Enlightened Dog Demon, not yet entered the Initial Realm, total lifespan 175 years, 63 years remaining, absorption complete.]

[Current Martial Arts]

Bone-Piercing Grappling Hand (Major Accomplishment)

Demon-Subduing Blade Technique (Perfected)

[Current Remaining Lifespan: 1 year]

[Demon Lifespan: 63 years]

[Demon lifespan can be used to infuse martial arts, cannot be converted into personal lifespan.]

"..."

Shen Yi directed the two to clean up the Dog Demon's corpse while he pondered this new development.

He had to admit, the emptiness after a "pay-to-win" session was quite agonizing.

Looking at the one year of lifespan remaining, Shen Yi was silent for a long time before wanting to slap himself.

He could have perfected the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique in twenty-nine years, but he had to show off, wasting four extra years.

Even if he had no sense of belonging to this world, even if it were just a game, playing for a few more years would have been nice.

"So, as long as I slay demons, I can use their remaining lifespan to replace my own and deduce martial arts?"

"An enlightened dog demon can live for nearly two hundred years; that's too exaggerated."

Shen Yi felt a bit surprised.

But then he thought of something else.

If demons could live so long, was there no way for mortals to increase their lifespan?

If that were true, the ones serving as officials and carrying blades should be the dogs, not the human imperial court.

"Whatever, thinking about it now is useless."

"When I was deducing the Demon-Subduing Blade Technique earlier, it seemed to mention new progress."

Shen Yi now held sixty-three years of demon lifespan, and he had the inexplicable illusion of having become rich overnight.

Should he try ten years first to test the waters?