Time slowly passed.
Knowing he had little time left in the Spirit Realm, Lin An sped up his slaughter of the Sin Beasts once more.
If he could kill one with a single slash, he would never use a second.
To speed up the hunt, he even used some of the recovery pills Lin Xiao had prepared for him.
"As expected of the core area. There really are a lot of Sin Beasts here."
Watching the Sin Beasts continue pouring in, Lin An's eyes shone.
He was not afraid of there being too many Sin Beasts, only too few.
He glanced at his attribute points. In just two hours, they had risen by nearly twenty thousand, breaking past the hundred-thousand mark.
Too bad I'm only in the Bronze Realm. If I broke through to the Silver Realm and could project spiritual energy outside my body, my attacks would cover an even wider area, and I could hunt even faster, Lin An thought.
Although he could break through to Silver right now, he would not do so.
Once he reached Silver, killing those Bronze Tier Sin Beasts would no longer earn him attribute points. That would be a huge loss instead.
"But fortunately, I already have a hundred thousand attribute points. One Saber Slash at perfection can release saber qi."
With that thought, Lin An communicated directly with the system. "System, add points to One Saber Slash."
[The player has consumed 100,000 attribute points, successfully raising proficiency in the technique "One Saber Slash" to perfection.]
As the system's voice faded, the expression on Lin An's face froze.
He felt as though an invisible force were pulling him, instantly plunging him into a completely unfamiliar space full of mystery.
There was no distinction between day and night in this space, only an eternal, unchanging dusky yellow glow.
Within it, Lin An seemed to enter a state of complete self-forgetfulness, gripping his saber and swinging it without pause.
Every swing carried a sharp rush of wind and a dazzling flash of saber light, as though he had become a tireless machine.
Time lost all meaning here. Lin An kept swinging his saber, over and over, never stopping for even a moment.
He had no idea how much time passed.
Finally, at a certain moment, Lin An slashed with all his strength once again.
A brilliant, dazzling streak of saber qi swept out like a raging dragon surging from the sea.
Wherever it passed, even the void seemed to tear apart, giving off bursts of heart-shaking thunder.
Just then, countless insights suddenly surged through Lin An's mind.
"The heart follows intent, and the saber follows the heart. This is... Saber Intent!"
Excitement shone in Lin An's eyes.
All of this seemed to have taken a long time, but in reality, Lin An had paused for only an instant.
Yet in that single instant, his aura underwent an earth-shattering change.
The Saber Force he had already condensed began to tremble, and a sharp aura emanated from him.
Just standing there, Lin An seemed to radiate an edge from his entire body, as though he himself were a saber.
"Is that... Saber Intent? The young master has comprehended Saber Intent?"
The ten personal guards stared at Lin An in disbelief.
They all knew their young master was monstrously talented, but they had never expected him to be this absurd.
After all, the city lord had only mastered Saber Intent after breaking through to the Gold Realm.
Yet their young master was only at Bronze Ninth Grade, and just eighteen years old. Who knew how far he surpassed the city lord?
They could not even imagine how terrifying their young master's future achievements would be.
Lin An had no time to spare for his guards' shock. He slowly raised the saber in his hand.
One Saber Slash!
Whoosh...
The next instant, a streak of saber qi swept out, reaching a full thirty meters.
Every Sin Beast in its path within that range was cleaved in two, instantly losing all signs of life.
Lin An carefully assessed himself. That slash had consumed only thirty percent of his spiritual energy.
But thanks to his divine ability, Spirit Devouring, nearly half of that thirty percent had already recovered.
If he used recovery pills as well, he could unleash One Saber Slash almost without stopping.
"Even if I run short of spiritual energy, I can use Earth Vein Power. After I kill another batch of Sin Beasts, my spiritual energy will have recovered again."
Lin An nodded in satisfaction. With One Saber Slash perfected, his hunting efficiency had increased as well.
With that thought, Lin An wasted no more time and resumed his slaughter. His nearly depleted attribute points began rising again.
Soon, another five hours passed.
Over those five hours, Lin An had no idea how many Sin Beasts he had killed, but his attribute points had climbed back to over sixty thousand.
Strange. The number of Sin Beasts has actually dropped. Surely I haven't killed every Sin Beast in the core area, Lin An thought.
Half an hour ago, he had noticed that there were far fewer Sin Beasts than before.
Even when he sent personal guards out with Sin-Luring Crystals, they did not attract many Sin Beasts.
Just then, a voice suddenly sounded from the communication jade talisman.
"Young master, I've found a valley here. There are tens of thousands of Sin Beasts inside, and I even spotted quite a few Silver Tier Sin Beasts."
"I suspect this is the very core of this Spirit Realm. That special treasure of the Spirit Realm may be inside the valley."
Hearing the guard's report, Lin An was delighted.
Tens of thousands of Sin Beasts?
If he killed them all, wouldn't he gain another huge haul of attribute points?
"Keep watch for now. We'll be right over." Lin An quickly finished off the remaining Sin Beasts around him, then hurried over with the other guards.
"Young master, it's that valley down below." Seeing Lin An arrive, the guard pointed ahead.
Lin An looked over, his eyes shining.
Sin Beasts. Densely packed Sin Beasts everywhere.
Outside the valley alone, he could see over ten thousand Sin Beasts at a glance. If he could slaughter all of them, his attribute points could easily break past a hundred thousand again.
Noticing Lin An's gaze, the guard knew exactly what his young master was thinking.
"Young master, there are too many Sin Beasts, and quite a few of them are Silver Tier. Charging in rashly would be too dangerous."
One guard said, "Why not avoid their edge? We can take turns luring these Sin Beasts out in batches. That would greatly ease the pressure on you."
"I should avoid their edge?"
Saber in hand, Lin An's face brimmed with fighting spirit. "I'll charge straight in and slaughter my way through them."
"Young master, you mustn't! If anything happens to you, how could we answer to the city lord?"
"Yes, young master. Please reconsider."
"If you insist on charging in, we will follow you to our deaths!"
The ten personal guards were startled by Lin An's words.
Although Lin An had already killed many Sin Beasts, those beasts had come in batches, after all. They could not all swarm him at once.
But the situation before them was different. With over ten thousand Sin Beasts gathered together, he would inevitably be surrounded once he charged in.
Besides, there were quite a few Silver Tier Sin Beasts among them. No matter how monstrously talented their young master was, he was still only at Bronze Ninth Grade. How could he hold them off?
"Say no more. I'm no fool. Naturally, I won't go to my death."
"If danger arises, I'll use the jade pendant my father gave me. It contains one strike from my father, enough to carve a path out for me."
"If you follow me, you'll only tie my hands. Then, once I break out, wouldn't there be no one left to receive me?"
Lin An's expression was firm. Only about two hours remained before the Spirit Realm closed. There was no way he would miss this opportunity.
And since he dared to do this, he naturally had the confidence to back it up.
"Wait here. I'll be right back."
As Lin An spoke, he took out a pill and swallowed it first, then stepped forward and headed straight for the valley.