The sky grew dark.
An oppressive atmosphere now hung over Falling Radiance City.
None of those who had escaped the city left right away.
They hid in the distance or stood on higher ground, looking toward Falling Radiance City.
Although they had all passed the Questioning Heart Formation's test, that did not mean they disliked watching a spectacle.
Above all, they were curious.
Normally, the Divine Firmament Sword Sect would not mobilize on such a massive scale.
Now that the Divine Firmament Sword Sect had made such a grand showing, with even the renowned Qiu Shiyi present, they naturally wondered what exactly had happened in Falling Radiance City.
Unlike the curious spectators, those who had not made it out of Falling Radiance City wore grim expressions.
Some even lost their restraint.
"I may have done wrong before, but I've long since turned over a new leaf. Isn't that enough? Are you people from the Divine Firmament Sword Sect really so heartless?"
"Exactly! Even the Buddhists say you can lay down your butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot. Is your Divine Firmament Sword Sect really that heartless?"
Once one person protested, more quickly followed.
Sitting on a rooftop, He Xiuyuan curled his lip.
"These people are something else. The Divine Firmament Sword Sect's Questioning Heart Formation and Sin-Severing Grand Formation only condemn people who've committed evil for at least three years. After doing evil for that long, not one of them is innocent, yet here they are, making a fuss!"
Ying Huaixu froze for a moment.
"Three years or more? Then our sect is still a little too merciful!"
Ye Ningshuang nodded in agreement.
He Xiuyuan: "..."
Good grief. I thought the Divine Firmament Sword Sect was ruthless, but these two are even worse.
From the sound of it, anyone who commits evil deserves to die!
What happened next, however, gave Ying Huaixu a firsthand understanding of how the Divine Firmament Sword Sect operated.
The evacuation period ended.
Standing aboard the Flying Boat, Qiu Shiyi listened to the chaotic protests below. He merely picked at his ear and asked calmly, "Time's up?"
The disciple beside Qiu Shiyi nodded.
"It is!"
Hearing that time was up, Qiu Shiyi immediately extended a finger.
Before long, a droplet of water hovered above his fingertip.
The droplet drifted slowly into the sky.
Then it suddenly burst.
In an instant, heavy rain poured down over Falling Radiance City.
Ying Huaixu could clearly see that this was no ordinary rain.
Every raindrop was a tiny sword.
Wasn't this literally raining fucking blades?
Those in Falling Radiance City who had been protesting moments earlier were pierced repeatedly by the rain.
Life after life burst apart.
It was that uncompromising. They could not even be bothered to argue.
They wasted no words on those who deserved death. That was how the Divine Firmament Sword Sect operated!
Ying Huaixu did not dwell on any of that.
What caught his attention was the flood of notifications from his system.
"Experience +100, experience +100, experience..."
Holy shit!
Ying Huaixu was genuinely stunned.
He knew that killing monsters during a mission also earned experience.
But he had never imagined that, now that he was in the real world, kills made by NPCs would grant him experience too!
If that's the case...
Ying Huaixu's eyes instantly lit up.
Then my plan to hang around the edges and leech experience is completely viable! This is exactly what I wanted!
After all, there would be plenty of large-scale battles later on. In particular, when Ye Ningshuang rose to power, sweeping through the world and meting out judgment in every direction, the people and annihilation monsters she killed would be practically countless!
All I have to do is follow Ye Ningshuang from a safe distance, and the experience will come pouring in!
This feels absolutely fantastic.
Ying Huaixu could not help smiling.
Understand the camera, become the camera-and then surpass the camera.
After his round of cleansing, Qiu Shiyi issued another order.
"Some rats are hiding in the shadows. You'll clean up the rest. I'll stand guard and see just what this so-called Annihilation Envoy is!"
All the Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples acknowledged the order.
Then flying swords descended toward Falling Radiance City one after another.
What followed was a massacre.
"No, don't kill me! Mercy... Squelch!"
"Help! I was wro-Squelch!"
Some fled in a frenzy.
The Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples cut them down with flying swords.
Some tried to resist, only to be killed by the combined efforts of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples.
It was like a scene from hell.
Had these disciples not belonged to the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, and had those remaining in the city not been people who could not pass the Sin-Severing Grand Formation and Questioning Heart Formation, anyone unaware of the circumstances would have thought some demonic sect had come to slaughter the city.
At this point, Ye Ningshuang could no longer hold back.
"Senior brother, I... I want to go too!"
Ying Huaixu nodded. "Go ahead!"
Ye Ningshuang immediately charged out with her longsword.
Although Ye Ningshuang was currently only at the sixth layer of body tempering, her fully perfected Nine Nether Sword Technique and Nine Nether Movement Technique gave her combat strength no weaker than someone at the ninth layer of body tempering.
Ying Huaixu watched with great satisfaction.
Now that's how a leading heroine should carry herself. That's the fighting power a leading heroine should have.
Ying Huaixu suddenly turned to He Xiuyuan. "Don't just sit around. You go too!"
He Xiuyuan, who had been enjoying the show, froze. "Huh? I have to go too?"
Ying Huaixu said with complete seriousness, "Our junior sister's cultivation is still too low. Go protect her!"
He Xiuyuan was speechless.
"Why don't you go?"
Ying Huaixu coughed. "I'm holding the fort. Cut the crap. Are you going or not? If you don't, I'll break through to meridian opening right now and beat you up!"
He Xiuyuan was utterly exasperated.
"Can you fucking act like a decent human being?"
In the end, He Xiuyuan went anyway.
He really did believe Ying Huaixu could enter meridian opening at any moment and thrash him.
The way this fellow advanced his cultivation defied all reason. He practically did it whenever he pleased.
He Xiuyuan conceded defeat and joined the others in hunting down the evil cultivators in Falling Radiance City.
Yet as he continued killing, He Xiuyuan could not help frowning.
He felt that the more people he killed, the faster his cultivation seemed to advance.
Unsure, He Xiuyuan killed a few more people to test it.
Then he discovered that it really was the case.
Every time he killed someone, his cultivation increased a little.
It was not much, but it was definitely an improvement.
After killing for a little over two hours, He Xiuyuan had advanced from the early stage of the first layer of meridian opening to its peak!
What's going on?
He Xiuyuan could not quite understand.
But when he saw Ye Ningshuang covered in blood, he was even more baffled.
Ye Ningshuang had begun absorbing a strange power from the corpses.
It seemed to be soul power.
After absorbing a vast amount of that power, Ye Ningshuang's cultivation instantly rose from the sixth layer of body tempering to the seventh.
It finally stopped at the fully perfected seventh layer of body tempering.
He Xiuyuan was dumbfounded.
What kind of fucking monster is she?!
Qiu Shiyi was also watching Ye Ningshuang.
After all, his master had personally instructed him to look after her. Seeing how quickly her cultivation advanced, he could not help drawing a sharp breath.
No wonder Uncle-Master Lü has already chosen her as a disciple. She really does have something special!
As for Ying Huaixu...
No one was paying him any attention for the moment...
But Ying Huaixu was having a wonderful time-without lifting a finger.
His accumulated experience had now reached 90,000. Hitting 100,000 was only a matter of time!
Before you continue