Interception I

"Not Yuan Jing?" Lin Xin found the sight rather strange.

The news that he had killed Kun Ji and No Shadow while also forcing back Zhou Huaishe and Inu-sha Ying had clearly not spread yet. Perhaps Heaven Cloud Path and Zhou Huaishe had kept it under wraps out of concern for their reputations.

Yet the experts gathering here were not even Yuan Jing. With his current strength, anyone below Yuan Jing was simply delivering themselves to the chopping block.

He lightly raised his foot, yet his legs felt as though they bore the weight of ten thousand catties, incomparably heavy.

But Lin Xin merely lifted his foot slightly and stomped down.

Boom!!!

The entire ground exploded at once. Countless shattered stones, clumps of mud, and bricks shot through the air. The Ma Family's main hall directly burst apart and collapsed, while the surrounding walls blasted outward like cannonballs, striking large numbers of Ma Estate servants and clansmen. In an instant, countless were dead or wounded.

Centered on Lin Xin, countless spiderweb-like green formation patterns lit up beneath the ground and throughout the air within several dozen meters.

Yet beneath that single stomp, all those formation patterns let out horrifying cracking sounds, as though unable to bear the burden.

The group of elders floating in midair all changed expressions.

The old man holding the Golden Dragon Sword, who had attacked first, hurriedly retreated. Three white talismans flew from his body and circled him like living creatures.

But the surging aura had directly locked onto him, leaving him no way to dodge. He could only take it head-on.

"Save them!!"

The three old men and women behind him drew their swords at the same time. In an instant, ten thousand rays of golden light erupted, bursting through the air like a sun. Another three golden dragons charged out madly.

The longswords in the four people's hands seemed to form an enormous golden dragon sword formation, merging into one as it viciously pressed downward.

Directly below, within the Ma Family's main hall, a blood-colored sword shadow soared into the heavens. It slashed fiercely toward the golden sun!

The sword shadow was incomparably dense. When it first appeared, it was only a little over one meter long, yet in the blink of an eye, it stretched to five meters, ten meters, twenty meters!!

By the time it reached the four of them, it had become a terrifying sword scar fifty meters long. Like a thin thread of blood, it slowly turned as it slashed toward them.

Screech!

Terrifying red and golden light exploded. The golden sphere was instantly sliced into two halves, exploding into countless golden gleams. A mass of golden radiance burst open, exceptionally conspicuous above Flower Drum Town.

The four elders all vomited blood and were flung away, crashing into buildings in different directions and stirring up another wave of panicked cries.

The remaining people in the sky had twisted expressions, as though they had never imagined Lin Xin could be this terrifying.

But by now, the situation had become like fire and water. It was too late for regret.

Before they could react, they saw another sword scar slash at them like lightning.

At once, they all fought desperately, sacrificing their Natal Magic Treasures and Magic Swords one after another. For a moment, the entire sky blazed with brilliant multicolored light, as though the sun stood overhead.

But it all lasted only a few breaths.

Every ray of light was directly split in two, sliced apart by sword scars twenty to thirty meters long.

Lin Xin grabbed with his right hand, and three clusters of dark-red flames whirled together in his palm, forming a fireball.

"Go."

He threw it forward.

The red fireball shot out and exploded with a boom. In an instant, the enormous flames tore apart every formation in the surrounding sky.

The cultivators in the air, whether from the Ten Thousand Flowers Sect, the Kun Lin Sword School, or Heaven Cloud Path, were all blasted apart by this ruthless strike. Their flesh and blood scattered, and not even a trace of their corpses remained as they perished.

Lin Xin stood amid the ruins. Demonic energy supported the unconscious Zhao Ke and his wife at his side, while he casually brought Lin Xiaoyu with him. At last, he raised his head and glanced at the sky.

His current strength had received terrifying attribute enhancements. Even a cluster of demonic flame casually condensed in his hand had already reached the level of an ordinary Dao Inquiry cultivator's killing move.

Taking advantage of the moment when these people had been left unable to catch their breath by the sword strikes, he threw out a cluster of demonic flame. Its explosion happened to break through their Body Protecting Auras.

In an instant, he had wiped out all the remaining people.

"Heaven Cloud Path sealed off the news only to send juniors like you here to die. Why suffer such needless hardship?"

He did not care about the Ma Family's betrayal. Now that he had reached Immortal Alliance territory, if Heaven Cloud Path still had no response, then it deserved to have its face slapped again and again.

What he had not expected was why these people from the surrounding minor sects had gathered to capture him.

What did it matter how many formations they set up? He now possessed genuine Yuan Jing-level combat strength. In Central Prefecture's long history, he had never heard of a single Yuan Jing being surrounded to death by sheer numbers.

Only formations like those used to summon a demon god would be worth bringing out.

"Uncle!! Uncle!!"

Several boys and girls of the Ma Family cried out in the distance as they searched through the rubble for their relatives.

As for the Ma Family's Cousin, she was nowhere to be seen. She had clearly made arrangements long ago. Those still left here had been nothing more than people she had deliberately abandoned.

"Her heart is ruthless enough."

Lin Xin swept his gaze around, then rose into the air, taking the three of them toward the distance.

Following the direction of his senses, he had already found the place in town where spiritual energy was most concentrated.

He passed over a chaotic and noisy district. Many fearless martial folk had run out below to watch the excitement, though most were hurriedly seeking places to hide.

Now that fighting had broken out, however, none of the bystanders dared take to the air, lest they be mistaken for enemies.

Lin Xin flew rapidly with the others, acting outrageously brazen.

Before long, he discovered a flying carpet as white as silk floating ahead, with several familiar-looking people seated on it.

The Ma Family's Cousin, Ma Jingxuan, two black-robed Daoists with goat beards, and a plump beautiful woman in her thirties or forties.

Hearing the whistle of something cutting through the air, they all turned their heads. When they saw that it was Lin Xin, every one of their expressions changed drastically.

The beautiful woman seated in the rear spat out a mouthful of heart's blood on the spot. Desperately, she drew several runes that radiated enormous energy fluctuations. The flying carpet's speed immediately surged, nearly doubling as it accelerated forward.

With a flick of Lin Xin's finger, a cluster of black demonic flame shot out. It caught up before they could cover their ears and struck the rear of the flying carpet with a bang.

Even after accelerating, they were still slower than his casual attack.

Pfft!

After a muffled sound, at least two people on the carpet were ignited by the black flames. They tumbled down screaming, yet before they could even reach the ground, they had turned to black ash. Not even their bones remained.

The flying carpet shattered. Only the terrified Ma Family's Cousin and Ma Jingxuan, mother and daughter, remained floating in the air. The two dead men were precisely the black-robed Daoists.

"Red Flower Old Ancestor, our Ten Thousand Flowers Sect did not participate much in this matter. It truly has nothing to do with us! I only came to save people out of consideration for Huo Yinqi's master!"

The beautiful woman called out loudly.

"You may escape death, but not punishment. Aside from Xuanxuan, everyone else may sever both arms and keep their lives."

Lin Xin spoke indifferently from within the Demonic Cloud.

He was now nearly the enemy of the whole world. Whether it was the Immortal Alliance or the Red Ridge Gate, there were people who wanted nothing more than to kill him. Thus, any cultivator from Central Prefecture could be killed if he wished. Most of them were his enemies anyway.

In any case, he no longer cared. Whoever wanted to kill him, no matter who they were, would have to pay a grievous price.

Lin Xin had reached this point in life not through the charity of his enemies.

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman's face turned deathly pale. Ma Jingxuan's mother had not expected herself to be included either. Her eyes widened as she stared at Lin Xin in disbelief.

"Red Flower Mister, Xuanxuan shares a deep bond with you. For... for Xuanxuan's sake..." The Ma Family's Cousin finally spoke. Her voice trembled, and none of her former calm confidence remained.

"If it were not for Xuanxuan's sake, did you think you would still be alive?" Lin Xin replied casually. At that moment, Zhao Ke and the others within the Demonic Cloud slowly began to awaken. Seeing the situation, they looked utterly bewildered, still unable to make sense of what was happening.

"I'll give you three breaths." Lin Xin did not wish to waste words with them.

The beautiful woman and the Ma Family's Cousin looked at each other, both wearing miserable expressions.

A flash of sword light passed. Within a single breath, the beautiful woman severed both her own arms and those of the Ma Family's Cousin. Then her sword hovered in the air as green light rose to stop the bleeding from their wounds.

Both women were tough. Even with their arms severed, neither let out much of a scream or groan. They only lowered their heads, a sense of sorrow for the rabbit dead and the fox grieving flashing through their eyes.

In truth, they had thought too highly of the relationship between Lin Xin and Xuanxuan.

Strictly speaking, Ma Jingxuan should have been the one owing Lin Xin a favor back then. He had not only saved her, but also taught her skills. He could be considered half her teacher.

Seen this way, the Ma Family had merely provided Lin Xin with an environment to gradually come to understand things. If accounts were truly settled, it was the Ma Family that owed Lin Xin.

Yet that woman had the cheek to ask Lin Xin to remember old ties in return.

Seeing that they had truly acted, Lin Xin said no more. He flew past them directly, heading toward the place in the town where the aura was densest and most concentrated.

Not long after, a floating shuttle-shaped vessel of green jade appeared ahead. A three-horned black bull coiled atop its hull. It was large, but seemed faintly indistinct, clearly a manifestation of the vessel's own formation.

The moment Lin Xin arrived, more than ten green-robed cultivators, some young and some middle-aged, flew out from the vessel. The instant they saw him, their faces changed drastically. They all fled back into the vessel as though escaping disaster.

"Red Flower Sword Demon! We are of the Kun Lin Sword School's Heavenly Above True Person..." A voice transmitted from the vessel.

Boom!!!

A thick sword light flashed past like lightning.

The entire floating vessel paused for only an instant before exploding with a crash. Platinum flames and black demonic fire mingled with large amounts of blood as they burst in the air like a splendid, gorgeous flower.

The voice inside abruptly ceased as well.

"What a ruthless heart."

A voice unable to suppress its shock came from below.

Lin Xin lowered his head and saw an old monk with white eyebrows. His cultivation was weak, but his eyes were filled with pity.

"Who are you? Have you also come to kill me and seize the secret treasure?" Lin Xin asked casually.

The monk shook his head.

"Central Prefecture is abuzz with the tale that you, Lin Xin, the Sword Demon, seized a secret treasure, murdered people everywhere, and stained your hands with blood until you became a crazed demon. I did not believe it at first, but seeing you now..."

"The world bustles for profit." Lin Xin spoke indifferently. "They want to kill me and seize the secret treasure, so naturally they must pay the corresponding price."

"All things in this world have causes and effects, virtue and retribution. Your slaughtering karma is heavier than any I have ever seen. Are you not afraid of retribution?" the monk asked solemnly.

"Retribution? My life is right here. Whoever wants it, whoever can take it, may come and claim it themselves." Lin Xin's long hair faintly began turning red again. His eyes were demonic and enchanting, as though stained crimson by fresh blood.

The monk felt a chill in his heart at the sight. Just as he was about to speak again, Lin Xin's Demonic Cloud rose into the sky and vanished beyond the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Without a Ancestor Yuan Jing, no one could restrain that man.

He let out a long sigh. The young novice monks beside him, who had not even dared breathe loudly, were so frightened they nearly wet themselves.

The mingled demonic aura and killing intent that had pressed down on them moments ago had frightened them so badly that even their heartbeats seemed to skip several beats.

Their master had actually dared speak face-to-face with such a colossal demon. He truly did not value his life, placing life and death beyond all concern.