Su Yu sat on the stone steps before the ruined temple, dried black blood beneath him.
His mind sank into his consciousness, where the 410 Slaughter Points on the system panel stood out glaringly.
These were the chips he had traded a ground full of corpses for.
"System, raise my cultivation."
Boom!
An explosive sound rang out inside him. Scalding currents rampaged through his meridians, and Su Yu could clearly hear the muffled sounds coming from within his body.
That was his bones constantly compressing and restructuring.
His blood circulated at an extreme speed, roaring through his vessels like surging rivers.
His Mortal Realm Eighth Layer cultivation began rising rapidly.
Slaughter Points continued to burn away, and a layer of dark golden light surfaced on his skin.
The Qi vortex inside his body spun at high speed, rapidly gathering spiritual power.
Mortal Realm Ninth Layer!
Su Yu slowly clenched his fist, actually squeezing faint sonic pops from between his fingers.
Having already condensed a Qi vortex ahead of time, he now only needed to practice a Spirit Realm Qi-refining cultivation technique to break through naturally into the Spirit Realm.
Mortal Realm martial artists primarily tempered their bodies and improved their constitutions, but from the Spirit Realm onward, martial artists fell into three types: Qi refinement, body refinement, and spirit refinement.
Although he currently possessed a Spirit Realm spirit-refining cultivation technique, after a brief consideration, Su Yu still decided not to practice it yet.
He turned his attention to Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons.
"Deduce Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons."
All his remaining Slaughter Points were allocated to Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons.
[Beginning deduction of Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons (Mortal), supreme grade]
Every muscle fiber in his body underwent a complete qualitative transformation at that moment, each one seeming to have been twisted together from refined steel.
That sheer physical might made him feel he could tear the ruined temple apart with his bare hands.
[Deduction complete. Suppressing Prisons and Subduing Demons (Mortal), supreme grade, perfection]
This supreme-grade Mortal Realm cultivation technique, which ordinary people could not control, had been in Su Yu's hands for only a few short days, yet he had already mastered it completely, reaching perfection.
Just then, Tang Shan approached carrying a bundle, only for his steps to halt abruptly.
He looked at Su Yu, an inexplicable terror showing in his eyes.
Although Su Yu sat motionless before him, he gave Tang Shan the illusion of facing a primordial beast.
That oppressive force crashing into him made his chest feel tight.
He's grown stronger again!
Tang Shan's heart shook violently. Struggling to suppress his shock, he spoke quietly.
"Brother Su, everything's packed."
Su Yu opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through their depths.
He swept his gaze around. A blazing fire came into view; the surrounding corpses had already been gathered together and burned.
Su Yu nodded inwardly. Tang Shan had handled this fairly well.
He swung himself onto the captured warhorse. The horse let out a terrified neigh, its four legs trembling as it nearly collapsed.
It was as though what it carried was not a man, but a walking god of slaughter.
"Back to the city."
Outside Nanhe County's city walls, the official road had been completely sealed off.
Over a hundred armored guards blocked the city gate, the character for "Liu" on their chests particularly glaring in the sunlight.
Long sabers were drawn and crossbows cocked. The soldiers on the walls huddled behind the crenellations, silent.
Liu Ang, the Liu Family's Third Master, stood at the forefront with his hands behind his back, his purple-and-gold brocade robe snapping in the wind.
His fleshy face was now filled with savage fury.
The Demon Suppression Guard who had escaped back alive cowered behind him, pointing at the black speck galloping toward them in the distance, his voice trembling:
"Third Master, that's him!"
The hoofbeats drew closer, and Su Yu reined in his horse thirty paces from the city gate.
He looked at the tightly shut gates, the corner of his mouth curving coldly.
Liu Ang did not move. His peak Ninth Layer blood Qi erupted without restraint.
"Su Yu."
Liu Ang's voice, infused with internal force, reverberated across the open ground.
"Where is my daughter, Liu Ying?"
Su Yu dismounted, his movements unhurried.
"Dead."
That single word fell lightly to the ground, and a chorus of sharp gasps rose from atop the walls.
Liu Ang's face instantly turned purple, the veins on his forehead writhing like earthworms.
"Good. Very good!"
"You killed a member of my Liu Family, and now you're flaunting your authority as a Demon Suppression Guard here?"
"No one can save you today."
Liu Ang abruptly waved his hand.
"Seize him! If he resists, hack him to pieces!"
Over a hundred guards stepped forward in unison, bristling with killing intent.
Tang Shan's face went deathly pale. Instinctively, he drew his sword and stood in front of Su Yu.
"Liu Ang! Liu Ying colluded with the Demon God Cult! That's a capital offense!"
"Get lost!"
Liu Ang flung out a palm strike from a distance.
The violent wind of his palm sent Tang Shan flying several meters.
"My Liu Family's rules are the law in Nanhe County!"
Liu Ang moved.
His right foot stamped fiercely against the ground, blasting a crater into the earth.
Like a cannonball, he crossed the thirty paces in an instant.
A layer of blue Gang Qi covered his right hand. With his fingers pressed together, he struck straight at Su Yu's face.
A high-grade martial art, Rock-Shattering Palm.
With this palm strike, he intended to burst Su Yu's head like a watermelon.
Su Yu turned slightly sideways and stamped his left foot down hard. The flagstone paving sank beneath him.
Power surged from his waist and abdomen, linking every joint of his dragonlike spine.
His right fist blasted straight toward that blue palm without a single flourish.
Thud!
The muffled impact made the surrounding people's eardrums ache faintly.
A visible ring of air exploded from where fist met palm, whipping dust into the sky.
Time seemed to stop at that second.
Before Liu Ang could withdraw the savage grin on his face, it turned into utter horror.
Crack!
It was the sound of bones being pulverized. The bones of Liu Ang's entire right arm were shattered by that brute force, his flesh rippling like waves.
Pale bone fragments pierced his skin, and blood sprayed out.
Liu Ang screamed as he was blasted backward, crashing heavily into the guards behind him.
The formation of over a hundred men was sent tumbling by his collision.
Deathly silence.
Only heavy breathing remained across the scene.
The spear in the defending commander's hand fell onto the wall's walkway with a sharp clatter.
One punch.
With just one punch, he had crippled Third Master Liu, who was at the peak of the Ninth Layer?
Su Yu stepped over the shattered paving stones, walking toward Liu Ang one step at a time.
His black robes had been dyed dark red with blood. Every step seemed to land on the hearts of the Liu Family guards.
Those private soldiers, so ferocious moments earlier, now instinctively shrank back.
Clutching his crippled arm, Liu Ang struggled in the muddy water, trying to stand.
Su Yu walked up to him and abruptly clamped his left hand onto his shoulder.
His five fingers tightened.
Crack.
Liu Ang's left shoulder bones were crushed outright. Unable to withstand that tremendous force, his massive body dropped, both knees slamming heavily into the ground.
The sound of those kneecaps striking the flagstones was crisp and pleasing to the ear.
Su Yu pressed his right thumb against the guard of his black-and-gold saber.
Shing!
Half an inch of the blade slid free, that gleam of cold steel pressed firmly against Liu Ang's neck.
The edge pressed into his flesh, drawing a thin line of blood. Su Yu bent down and whispered into Liu Ang's ear:
"What did you just say? Whose rules are the law in Nanhe County?"