Out in the wilderness.
A nauseating, pungent stench of blood filled the air.
An agile youth wielding a long saber that gleamed with cold light was locked in a life-and-death struggle with a pack of ferocious black wolves.
The youth moved nimbly, his movements as smooth and natural as flowing clouds and water.
Every slash of his saber carried fierce momentum and precisely controlled force. Amid flashes of steel, one black wolf after another fell screaming into pools of blood, fangs bared and claws outstretched.
"Shhk..."
With a sharp sound, Lin An slew the last black wolf with his saber.
"Young master, would you like to rest for a while?" Ji Yuan approached and asked.
"No need. Have them lure the next batch of Sin Beasts over," Lin An said, shaking his head.
An hour earlier, their group had arrived in this area.
Then Lin An had begun slaughtering the surrounding Sin Beasts.
But these Sin Beasts were not all gathered together, so Lin An simply sent the personal guards out separately to lure the surrounding Sin Beasts over in batches.
This pack of Greedy Wolves was already the seventh wave of Sin Beasts he had killed.
Though it was a little tiring, the rewards were tremendous. His attribute points had now risen from 36 to 245, an increase of 209.
I wonder if killing all the Sin Beasts in this area will bring my attribute points to five thousand.
With five thousand attribute points, he could bring the Lin Clan Cultivation Technique straight to perfection, at which point his cultivation speed would skyrocket again.
He also checked the notifications that had just appeared.
[You have successfully killed one thousand Sin Beasts, completed Thousand Sin Slayer, and earned a new title: Thousand Sin Slayer.] [Detected that you possess the title "First Blood." The Thousand Sin Slayer title has automatically merged with it. Your title "First Blood" has been upgraded.] [First Blood]: A server-exclusive title. Increases damage dealt to Sin Beasts by 15%. [You are the first player to complete Thousand Sin Slayer. A server-wide announcement will be made shortly. Would you like to hide your name?] [Server-wide announcement: Congratulations to player Lin An for becoming the first player on the server to complete Hundred Sin Slayer.] x3
The First Blood title had been upgraded again, increasing its damage bonus from 10% to 15%.
Next up is Ten Thousand Sin Slaughter, Lin An thought.
"Yes, I'll have them lure the Sin Beasts over right away."
Seeing that Lin An was indeed in good shape, Ji Yuan nodded, then fired a signal into the sky.
Rumble...
Soon, clouds of dust rose in several directions. Personal guards riding Blood-Patterned Horses led the way, each followed by several or a dozen or so Sin Beasts.
Once they had lured these Sin Beasts together, dozens of personal guards formed an encirclement to prevent them from escaping.
His eyes shining, Lin An charged at the Sin Beasts.
"The young master truly is a monster."
Mounted on his Blood-Patterned Horse, Ji Yuan watched Lin An fighting the Sin Beasts inside the encirclement and could not help remarking.
Qian Hai, beside him, nodded in agreement.
Especially Qian Hai.
When he had first met the young master, the latter had only been at Black Iron Fifth Grade.
Yet in such a short time, he had already reached Black Iron Ninth Grade.
Most importantly, he had personally selected the three Bronze Tier cultivation techniques the young master had learned back then.
Only ten days or so had passed, yet the young master had actually cultivated all three techniques to perfection.
In all his years, Qian Hai had seen his share of geniuses, but he had never seen anyone as monstrous as the young master. Even the city lord's aptitude could not compare.
Had he not witnessed it himself, he would never have believed such a monstrous talent existed in this world.
Alongside his shock, he was also filled with joy.
Though the young master had ten fewer years of cultivation than his peers, with such monstrous talent, he would soon catch up to them and even surpass them.
Given enough time, the young master would surely become someone like the city lord, or even stronger.
This meant that Shenglin City would continue to enjoy stability in the future.
"Protecting the young master means protecting Shenglin City's future," Qian Hai said.
"Rest assured, Elder Qian. Even if I die, I won't let anything happen to the young master," Ji Yuan said earnestly.
As commander of the personal guards, Ji Yuan's loyalty was beyond question, not to mention that his young master was such a monstrous talent.
His family also lived in Shenglin City. Only if the young master grew strong could his family live peacefully in Shenglin City in the future.
A few minutes later, when Lin An put away his saber, the ground was littered with nothing but corpses.
"Ji Yuan, lure the next batch of Sin Beasts over."
Lin An said, "Oh, and once the next batch arrives, have them lure over a batch of Bronze Tier Sin Beasts as well."
Although he had already killed quite a few Sin Beasts, they had all been Black Iron Tier and posed no challenge to him at all.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan glanced at Qian Hai. Only after seeing him nod did he reply, "Yes, young master."
Soon, several personal guards arrived with over thirty Black Iron Tier Sin Beasts, and Lin An resumed his slaughter.
After spending a few minutes killing these Sin Beasts, Lin An took out a recovery pill, swallowed it, and rested for five minutes.
After all, he would be facing Bronze Tier Sin Beasts next.
Five minutes later, Lin An had largely recovered. The pills from the city lord's estate were naturally highly effective.
"Begin," Lin An said.
Ji Yuan nodded, then sent out another signal.
Soon, three personal guards came galloping from the distance, with two or three Sin Beasts following behind each of them, all Bronze Tier.
"Young master, there are ten Bronze Tier Sin Beasts in total. Eight are Bronze Tier Grade One, and two are Bronze Tier Grade Two."
Ji Yuan said, "Should we let them in one at a time?"
"No need. Let them all in together." Fighting spirit filled Lin An's eyes.
Ji Yuan nodded and said no more. With them here, along with Qian Hai, a Gold Tier expert, there was no way these Bronze Tier Sin Beasts could bring the young master to harm.
Soon, the ten Bronze Tier Sin Beasts were let in. They seemed to understand what everyone intended.
They stared viciously at Lin An, emanating an evil, terrifying pressure, as though they would tear his entire body apart.
"Roar!"
A low, deafening roar rang out. Unable to restrain their ferocity, two enormous Resentful Tigers attacked first.
They opened their gaping maws, baring sharp fangs, and lunged at Lin An together with the howl of a fierce wind.
"Come on!"
As Lin An spoke, his right hand gripped his coldly gleaming saber tightly, his arm muscles taut as power gathered along the blade.
Just as the two Resentful Tigers were about to reach him, Lin An flickered aside like a phantom, avoiding their head-on charge.
Immediately afterward, he slashed his saber with overwhelming force. Its gleam traced a dazzling arc through the air as it cleaved fiercely toward one of the Resentful Tigers with unmatched momentum.
Shhk...
A tearing sound rang out. The Resentful Tiger's body split cleanly in two, its life already extinguished.
But Lin An's feet never stopped. Unleashing Flowing Cloud Steps, he turned and appeared before the other Resentful Tiger.
Another slash descended. Still airborne, this Resentful Tiger had nowhere to dodge and could only watch as the saber slew it.
The battle had erupted with incredible speed. In a mere instant, two Bronze Tier Resentful Tigers had lost their lives.
Yet Lin An's fighting spirit soared. His Saber Force gathered and swept toward the remaining eight Bronze Tier Sin Beasts.