Killing (2)

Splat!

A spray of blood burst from a Noodle Person's chest as a Black Sword punched through from behind, then was violently yanked free.

Lin Xin sheathed his sword with a backhand motion, his figure flashing through the crowd like lightning. Every thrust of his sword sent another bloom of blood exploding.

This was a small village town, inhabited by several hundred Noodle People. Most of them were highway bandits and their families.

At this moment, those bandits kept charging at him in an endless stream, weapons in hand, fearless in the face of death.

Twisted Noodle People fell one after another into pools of blood.

Lin Xin increasingly felt wisps of Innate Qi pouring into his body. That blood-tinged Innate Qi was like a drug, leaving him unable to resist.

He had also tried cultivating painstakingly on his own, but honest, diligent cultivation offered no hope of improvement whatsoever.

The Blood Pill Method had already drained his body's potential dry.

Only the most primitive kind of plunder—plundering the potential of other lives—could allow him to go a step further.

The Noodle People surged toward him madly, shouting words in an incomprehensible local dialect.

But that did nothing to affect Lin Xin's mood for slaughter.

He no longer seemed to be killing. He seemed more like he was savoring it.

Savoring the ascension of endlessly improving himself, endlessly accumulating quantity, and moving toward qualitative transformation.

Splat!

The sword tip pulled free from the last Noodle Person's body.

He flicked the blood from his blade.

Blood had already flowed across the ground like a river. Clots that had not yet dried mingled with sticky blood, slowly flowing past his feet.

Bending down, Lin Xin picked up a Demon Talisman Seed beside a corpse.

He glanced at the status panel.

His cultivation had risen far too slowly. After killing so many ordinary people, with a tiny number of external-style martial artists mixed among them, it had only reached 72% of the Ninth Layer. It seemed that the closer he got to Grand Completion, the harder it became to advance.

However, after slaughtering this entire bandit den, he had sensed something different. Killing those with higher cultivation gave him greater improvements.

"Devil!!"

That Curved Saber Noodle Person appeared in the distance once more. At the sight of this scene, the killing intent in his eyes nearly erupted.

He was no longer as explosively furious as before. Instead, he had buried the deepest fury in his heart and turned it into the force driving his pursuit of Lin Xin.

Lin Xin looked at him from afar. Not a single piece of the man's clothing was intact; his face was sallow and his body emaciated. He looked exhausted and vacant-eyed, as though he had no idea how long he had been tracking Lin Xin alone.

Lin Xin smiled faintly.

The Black Carriage emerged behind him, and its door slid open.

"You're slow again."

Before his words had faded, Lin Xin leaped backward into the carriage door and vanished into the compartment.

The Curved Saber Noodle Person pursued him at full speed, landing on the ground and staring at the horrifying, blood-soaked scene around him, like a battlefield of hell.

He dropped to one knee, driving his curved saber into the earth.

"If I do not kill you... I swear I am not human!!"

In a small town.

Large numbers of Noodle People civilians fled in every direction, screaming in terror.

A middle-aged man dressed in white and carrying a bloodstained longsword walked slowly down the street. Behind him lay Noodle People martial artists sprawled in pools of blood.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Several blue and yellow streaks of spiritual light from magical artifacts shot straight toward him from afar, smashing down like lightning.

Boom!

The man raised his sword. Dozens of black-silver vine roots burst from the ground and formed a disc above his head, blocking the magical artifacts.

A layer of white light also surfaced beneath the disc.

Light scattered in all directions as a violent explosion spread outward.

More than half of the nearby houses were shaken down in an instant.

A moment later, the dust gradually dispersed. Groups upon groups of Noodle People soldiers rushed toward this direction at a quick march.

Only upon nearing did they discover that there was nothing here besides a huge crater in the ground.

Several Noodle People cultivators stepped out from the crowd, their faces grim as they stared at the crater.

Deep in the mountains, before a pitch-black cave.

Lin Xin thrust his sword through a cultivator's forehead, then pulled it free.

The sun was setting in the west. Blood-red sunlight dyed him a deep crimson.

Around him lay the corpses of Noodle People cultivators from within the cave dwelling.

In the distance, a white-glowing curved saber sped toward him, flying close with savage force as it slashed at Lin Xin's head.

He raised his sword like lightning to block it.

Bang!

Radiance spilled everywhere. A thread of spiritual energy once again surged through the blade toward his body, only to be instantly crushed by the massive Innate Qi.

He smiled, knowing it was that curved-saber wielder who had been pursuing him for so long. He opened his mouth, about to speak.

"Demon!"

Suddenly, a white vortex appeared in the air. From within it, an aged hand reached out and viciously grabbed toward his head.

Lin Xin's expression changed. His figure flashed as he swept backward.

Yet the hand seemed to possess an enormous suction force, pinning him in midair.

Pfft!

Lin Xin spat out a mouthful of blood. White light rippled across his body as formation patterns emerged over him—all of them All-Knowing Talisman Arrays.

Dense All-Knowing Talisman Arrays were instantly flooded with Inner Qi.

Boom!!

Amid the massive explosion, he borrowed that force along with his own Inner Qi to break free of the restraint in one stroke, leaping backward into the Black Carriage that had just appeared.

Bang!

He slammed into the carriage, and its door slowly closed. Lin Xin faintly heard furious howling from outside.

Boom!!

The entire carriage suddenly shook violently.

Lin Xin's heart jolted. He knew an expert had struck. Even the carriage had been hit by the attack; the opponent's strength was unimaginable.

"Looks like I've killed too much these past days..." He struggled to his feet and sat down in his seat, swallowing a Heart Saving Pill. Then he grabbed a handful of pills that restored Inner Qi and treated internal injuries, stuffing them into his mouth without even looking.

"If they're not in the Foundation Establishment Realm, then they're at an even higher level... Heh..." He coughed several times, feeling that this internal injury was rather severe.

"No wonder... Since that last time, I've been killing every night. Even I can't remember how many people I've killed..."

These days, he had ridden the carriage out to kill every day. Sometimes he found Demon Talisman Seeds; sometimes he found none.

Sometimes he found them but could not seize them. Other times, like now, he was forcibly injured by a powerful opponent and escaped back.

"Demon Talisman Seeds are getting harder and harder to find. The ordinary, easy ones have all been taken already. The rest are in the hands of experts. Although I can encounter at least three at a time, the opponents I meet are far from as weak as before..."

This was already the fifth time he had failed to obtain new Demon Talisman Seeds. As his hunting continued, the opponents he encountered grew increasingly formidable. Thus, he had mainly focused on raising his cultivation through slaughter later on. He planned to raise his cultivation first, then return to seize new Demon Talisman Seeds.

Within the estate.

The carriage burst out from the darkness of the wall and slowly stopped beneath a tree in the estate. The door opened.

Lin Xin stepped out, his feet landing lightly and steadily on the ground.

After getting out, he went straight into the bedroom and took out the Demon Talisman Seeds he had found over these past days.

There was a small bundle of them. Walking to the center of the courtyard, he poured out all the Demon Talisman Seeds.

Clatter.

Six black metal pieces suddenly appeared on the ground. Aside from the one Demon Talisman Seed he had kept for escape, these six were all his current gains.

"Almost all of them were gains I got in the early days. Recently, I haven't managed to get my hands on any at all..."

He frowned.

Same old routine.

He lit a fire, smeared on blood, and tossed all the Demon Talisman Seeds into the flames.

Lin Xin sat cross-legged before the fire. His mouth and nose opened slightly as he slowly inhaled the mysterious red smoke.

Attribute points rose bit by bit. Soon, all six attribute points appeared in the attribute panel.

The red smoke slowly vanished as well.

Lin Xin opened his eyes and looked at his attribute panel.

Killing Power—8, Defense—13, Evasion—1, Physique—1. Free Attributes: 6.

Minor Returning Origin Art—Ninth Layer. (Completion: 94%) (Killing Power +9, Physique +9), Additional Effects: Sword Qi, Innate Possession.

"Six points... Defense is already sufficient. Killing power is lacking. It's time to raise killing power..." He directly assigned all six attribute points to killing power.

His killing power instantly became 14 points.

An indescribable feeling of lightness slowly welled up from within his body. Lin Xin seemed to feel that his body had changed. If before it had possessed a powerful sense of heaviness, as though he were wearing a suit of extraordinarily tough heavy armor, then now every edge of that heavy armor was covered in barbs and sharp blades.

"Killing power is mainly reflected in strength and speed..."

He extended his left hand. Without using Inner Qi, he suddenly thrust forward.

Screech!

A piercing howl suddenly rang through the air.

He compressed and blasted out a violent gust of wind, which shot forward and struck the courtyard wall opposite him.

Bang.

A section of the wall was punched out.

Lin Xin roughly estimated its power, only to find it impossible to compare. Raising killing power strengthened speed, and with speed came vastly increased explosive force, as well as greater strength.

"Just my physical body can reach such terrifying power... If combined with an Inner Qi burst, I wonder what level it could reach against someone in the Qi Refining Stage..."

He muttered to himself.

Still sitting beside the bonfire, he simply closed his eyes and began regulating his breath.

Time passed swiftly. Lin Xin stood when he judged the time was right.

"It's about time to wake up..." After so long, he had instinctively memorized even the details of when he would awaken.

Carrying the Red Flower Sword, he strolled toward the bedroom.

Tap.

Suddenly, his steps halted. His hand shot out and gripped the pillar before the bedroom door.

A sudden wave of dizziness slammed into his head. It was as though something—something that made his heart palpitate—was trying to burrow into his mind.

The sensation vanished in a flash, and everything immediately returned to normal.

"I..."

He raised his hand and looked at his palm.

"Was that... an illusion?"

Closing his eyes, he steadied his breathing.

"Perhaps I'm too tired... And my injuries are too severe... I'm only a little away from breaking through to Qi Refinement. After that, I'll settle accounts with Red Pavilion and Star Calamity Hall." Sometimes, when he was too exhausted or severely injured, this sort of thing would happen as well.

Casting the incident aside, he pushed open the bedroom door, removed his equipment and boots, lay back down on the bed, and waited for the moment he would awaken.