Blue characters flickered across the light screen.
[System update complete] [New feature: martial arts and cultivation method fusion.] [Notice: expend Slaughter Points to extract the core circulation routes of martial arts and cultivation methods of the same type, then extrapolate and fuse them into a higher grade.]
"Martial arts and cultivation method fusion!"
Su Yu's eyes flashed, then his gaze moved down and stopped on the martial arts section.
The supreme-grade Mortal Realm martial art, Vajra Fist, and the high-grade Spirit Realm martial art, Star-Shattering Finger.
Both were fundamentally body-refining close-combat killing moves. The former emphasized blunt-force strikes, while the latter focused on penetrating pinpoint kills.
[Expend 500 Slaughter Points to fuse Vajra Fist (Mortal) and Star-Shattering Finger (Spirit)?]
Su Yu raised his right hand and tapped the light screen with his index finger.
[Fusing...] [Extrapolation progress: 30%...70%...100%] [Fusion successful!] [Obtained supreme-grade Spirit Realm martial art: Vajra Star-Shattering Seal!]
The system panel refreshed instantly.
A massive torrent of information violently forced its way into his sea of consciousness, and an entirely new Spiritual Qi circulation route forcibly widened his meridians.
His muscle fibers underwent high-frequency micro-tremors.
A dense series of sharp cracks erupted from every bone in his body. His blood Qi surged wildly along a strange route before gathering entirely in his right palm.
Su Yu opened his right hand, and a strange dark-gold mark appeared on his palm.
The intense heat warped the air around his palm into irregular ripples.
Vajra Star-Shattering Seal.
This new martial art completely stripped away Vajra Fist's cumbersome nature while retaining its supreme hardness and supreme yang that cowed demons.
At the same time, it perfectly incorporated Star-Shattering Finger's high-frequency vibrating, penetrating force.
A single palm strike carried demonic baleful true damage on the surface, while its internal force ignored armor and directly shattered the organs.
He had 1,500 Slaughter Points remaining.
Su Yu abruptly clenched his fingers, and the dark-gold mark vanished beneath his skin.
Thanks to his foundation in perfection-stage Vajra Fist, this supreme-grade Spirit Realm martial art had reached the introductory stage immediately.
He turned his gaze to the two jade slips on the table.
One contained a supreme-grade Spirit Realm saber art, the other a high-grade Mystic Realm spirit-refining cultivation method.
After briefly weighing his options, he put the jade slip containing the Mystic Realm cultivation method into his storage pouch.
[Blood Baleful Intent Mad Blade, supreme-grade Spirit Realm martial art, recorded]
Early morning.
The mist had yet to disperse.
A tall black-scaled horse was tethered beside a wooden post in the rear courtyard, its head lowered as it chewed concentrated feed.
Lin Xiao leaned against a veranda pillar with his arms folded, his bronze waist token clinking as he moved.
Su Yu pushed the door open and stepped out, black fitted martial attire wrapped around his lean, powerful body, a black-and-gold saber slung diagonally across his back.
"Made up your mind?" Lin Xiao straightened.
Su Yu nodded.
He stepped forward, untied the reins, and swung into the saddle.
"The waters in Tiannan Commandery run deep," Lin Xiao reminded him once more.
"The Demon Suppression Bureau, the Demon God Cult, those sects and great families-too many things there can eat a man alive."
Su Yu held the reins taut with one hand.
"Deep water is all the better for drowning people."
Before his words had faded, he squeezed the horse's flanks hard with his legs.
The black-scaled horse neighed, its four hooves flying as it charged straight out of the courtyard gate.
Lin Xiao stood where he was, lost in thought. Given Su Yu's temperament, he reckoned the situation in Tiannan Commandery would soon be turned upside down.
At the second-floor corner, Tang Shan gripped the wooden railing with both hands.
Without asking a single unnecessary question, Su Yu had agreed to take the Blood Demon Hall master's life.
As long as Su Yu lived, there was hope of avenging the Tang Family's blood debt.
Fifty li outside Tiannan Commandery City.
Black Wind Forest.
Sunlight never reached the forest all year round. The stench of decay filled the air, and a mass of dark-red light hovered in midair.
Within the light.
Liu Qingyun's face was twisted and savage, his purple cult robes stained with patches of blood, his volatile spiritual pressure spreading outward.
A one-armed old man knelt beneath the light, trembling all over, not daring to raise his head.
"Young master! There's nothing left of the master's remains!"
"The entire Liu Family is dead!"
Liu Qingyun tightened his fingers, and fine cracks spread across the sound-transmission jade slip.
"A Demon Suppression Guard squad leader at the Mortal Realm Ninth Layer could kill my father?"
"Even someone at the Spirit Realm Second Level couldn't break through his Vajra Demonic Baleful Intent!"
The one-armed old man slammed his forehead into the mud.
"That Su fellow is far too uncanny!"
"He joined forces with Lin Xiao and stormed into the Liu Family estate, killing the master with a single saber strike!"
"He even cut off the master's head!"
Bang!
The sound-transmission jade slip was crushed completely into powder.
Liu Qingyun gritted his teeth. Their foundation in Nanhe County had been torn out by the roots by the Demon Suppression Bureau.
The Demon God Cult's mission was bound to fail. If he still failed to accomplish anything, he would probably have a hard time getting by within the cult.
"Zhao Ke," Liu Qingyun called into the darkness.
The canopy shook.
A thin man dropped down, hanging upside down.
He wore a short gray-brown outfit, his face covered in blue tattoos, and toyed with two sharp black spikes in his hands.
A Demon God Cult disciple with Spirit Realm Fourth Level cultivation.
He specialized in assassination and concealment.
"Your orders, Senior Brother Liu?" Zhao Ke asked casually.
"Su Yu left Nanhe County on horseback and is heading toward Tiannan Commandery."
"Intercept him on the way."
"I want him alive. Sever the tendons in his wrists and ankles, cut out his tongue, and bring him back."
"Those three thousand spirit stones are yours."
Zhao Ke flipped down to the ground and slipped the black spikes back into his sleeves.
"Just a mud-legged peasant who's only just broken through. I'll certainly take care of this trouble for you, senior brother."
Zhao Ke pushed off with his toes, his entire body becoming a gray streak as he raced toward Nanhe County, skimming over the fallen leaves.
The blazing sun hung overhead, and waist-high weeds lined both sides of the official road.
A fierce wind swept past as the black-scaled horse galloped, its hoofbeats deafening.
Su Yu leaned forward, keeping his center of gravity low over the horse's back. The road ahead narrowed.
Earthen mounds rose on either side. Without warning, the black-scaled horse let out a long, agonized scream.
Its forelegs suddenly snapped off mid-gallop, blood spraying wildly from the cuts.
An extremely thin, tough gray thread stretched across the air. The massive horse lost its balance and pitched violently forward.
The instant the horse fell, Su Yu sprang up, pushing off its back with both legs.
His entire body flew backward through the air for three zhang.
He landed steadily.
The black-scaled horse rolled several times across the yellow earth, leaving blood and filth strewn over the ground, and died on the spot.
The weeds on the left parted, and Zhao Ke emerged carrying his black spikes, his gaze locked on Su Yu.
Without any unnecessary words, he chose to attack directly.
Hiss!
The air was forcibly torn apart, and Zhao Ke vanished from where he stood.
Two black gleams stabbed toward the collarbones at Su Yu's shoulders from extremely treacherous angles, his Spirit Realm Fourth Level speed pushed to its limit.
The distance instantly closed to one zhang.
Su Yu stamped his right foot hard against the ground, unleashing his Demon-Suppressing Spiritual Qi in full.
"Prohibition Blood Formation!"
Dark-red blood Qi seeped from his pores, instantly covering the surrounding three chi.
Tenfold gravity slammed down without mercy.
Boom!
Zhao Ke plunged headfirst into the blood ring at full speed. His body jolted to a violent halt, his organs dragged out of place by the sudden crushing pressure.
His two black spikes were forced to stop half an inch from Su Yu's shoulders, while his legs were pressed down into the mud.
Zhao Ke's eyes filled with horror. Someone at the Spirit Realm First Level could deploy a domain to suppress him?
This completely defied his understanding.
He frantically circulated his True Qi, trying to wrench himself free and retreat.
But clearly, Su Yu would not let him go so easily. He raised his right hand.
His five fingers formed a seal, and the dark-gold mark in his palm blazed.
Hiss!
Moisture evaporated instantly, and a piercing crack burst through the air.
"Vajra Star-Shattering Seal!"
The muscles in Su Yu's arm bulged as he drove the seal straight into Zhao Ke's chest.
His opponent's protective Spiritual Qi shattered instantly, and the high-frequency penetrating force punched straight through his breastbone.
His heart, lungs, and other organs, along with the ribs of his chest, were all shaken into pulp on the spot by that domineering force.
Zhao Ke died without even letting out a scream.
Su Yu slowly withdrew his palm.
The body before him remained rigid for two seconds, then toppled backward onto the yellow earth, black blood mixed with fragments of organs pouring from all seven orifices at once.
[Killed a Spirit Realm Fourth Level Demon God Cult disciple. Obtained 500 Slaughter Points]
Su Yu stepped over the corpse on the ground without lowering his head for another look.
At the distant end of the official road, the enormous outline of Tiannan Commandery City appeared beneath the blazing sun.
Su Yu, however, turned to look in the other direction, where a towering mountain wreathed in black mist came into view.
The Black Demon Mountain Range was the largest gathering place for demons outside Tiannan Commandery. Countless demons dwelled within, including dozens of Mystic Realm greater demons alone.
Before entering Tiannan Commandery, Su Yu planned to go there to stock up.