A Chilling Killing Intent

"Sixteen years since I transmigrated. I've finally lived to see this day..."

Sunlight spilled over the city as Lin Xu walked along a broken asphalt road. On the mottled walls on either side, red warning slogans stood out: "Don't go out after sunset. Don't make a sound late at night."

Beside the bright red slogans, a suspicious patch of dark red made the warning all the more convincing.

"A-Xu~"

A gentle voice sounded by his ear. Lin Xu looked up and saw a red Benma sedan parked by the roadside.

The window slowly rolled down, revealing a pretty face that seemed both teasing and delighted.

Her slender willow-leaf brows lifted slightly, and her eyes shimmered as they moved. Her peach-blossom eyes rippled like spring water. The lively little puffs beneath them were faintly flushed, setting off her smile, as though a spring breeze had ruffled a pond of peach-blossom water.

Her face was delicate and oval, her lips like cherries, and a strand of dark hair danced in the breeze. A white blouse traced her graceful figure. Though only sixteen, she possessed a breathtaking beauty.

"Get in. I have something to tell you." Jiang Wanqing smiled at him.

Lin Xu opened the door and sat inside. A faint fragrance of gardenias lingered in the car.

This era was different from his previous life. Because of the Spirit Realm's invasion, humanity had only rebuilt a stable industrial system a hundred years later, in the present day.

The world's overall technological level had stagnated at that of the 1960s and 1970s in his previous life. Only the state invested in public internet cafés across the various regions, where alchemy computers, made using supernatural powers such as alchemy and artifact refining, maintained a basic internet.

Products like cars had become luxury goods.

Jiang Wanqing pressed gently on the accelerator, and the car glided smoothly down the street. Morning light spilled through the windshield onto the dashboard, illuminating her stunning profile.

"You... have already made your decision, haven't you?" She sighed. "You want too much. No one can give you everything."

Lin Xu silently gazed out the window. The car wasn't moving fast, and she had clearly slowed down especially for him.

Jiang Wanqing turned her face slightly and smiled radiantly. "You want to advance to Spirit Realm Lord, don't you?"

"Spirit Realm Lord..." At the words, Lin Xu's eyes lit up. It was as though a fire burned in his heart, igniting his longing.

Spirit Realm adventurers could be broadly divided into three distinct tiers: adventurers, heroes, and lords.

Adventurers stood at the bottom. They only had to start a trial and enter the Spirit Realm; coming back alive counted as success.

Heroes were the backbone. They were adventurers who had advanced through certain unique talents or by completing high-level trials. They had received gifts from the Spirit Realm and possessed special privileges, allowing them to recruit Spirit Realm creatures and form armies.

Lords, meanwhile, wielded authority over the Spirit Realm. They could establish territories there, recruit Spirit Realm creatures, build cities, develop production, and even anchor a region in the real world, shielding humanity from the Spirit Realm's incursions.

Lin Xu shook his head. "For now, I only plan to complete the trial and become a Free Adventurer first."

"Free Adventurer..." Jiang Wanqing rolled the words around in her mouth, then smiled. "Even when you're forced to compromise, you still insist on securing as much control as possible. That really is your style."

Even Spirit Realm adventurers at the lowest tier were divided into two levels-Contract Adventurers and Free Adventurers.

Contract Adventurers entered the Spirit Realm through stable passageways after signing agreements. In truth, they were high-level wage earners, working for major financial groups and organizations, and would find it hard to escape their bonds for the rest of their lives.

Free Adventurers, on the other hand, had the right to choose when to enter the Spirit Realm. Though dangers abounded, everything they gained belonged to them.

The former were employees, while the latter were entrepreneurs.

"Screech~"

The car had just turned a corner when the brakes screeched. Lin Xu lurched forward, the seat belt pulling tight against his shoulder.

"Who has so much time on their hands? Why block the road for no reason?" Jiang Wanqing glared ahead in irritation. A battered truck stood across the middle of the road, and several sloppily dressed young men stood beside it, smoking and laughing without restraint.

Lin Xu frowned as he looked over. The men opposite were staring at them, malicious mockery in their eyes. Their leader blew a smoke ring and sauntered forward a few steps, then lifted his foot and gave the front of the car a light kick. "Get out!"

Lin Xu put his hand on the door handle.

"Don't get out!" Jiang Wanqing reached out and caught his sleeve, worried. "There's something wrong with these people. Don't take the risk."

Lin Xu glanced in the rearview mirror. A black sedan had already blocked the way behind them.

"Stay in the car. Don't get out." He pushed the door open.

The morning breeze swept dust into his face. Lin Xu's steady gaze swept over the people closing in around him like a blade before settling on the young man in charge. "Looking for me?"

Wang Jie, the thug leader, chuckled and flicked the ash from his cigarette. "It's a good thing. Someone's taken a liking to you and wants to offer you a well-paid job. Twenty thousand a month. Interested?"

Lin Xu's eyes flickered. "Oh? A job is a good thing. How about this? I have my college entrance exam today. What if I come find you after I'm done?"

Wang Jie froze, then burst out laughing, as though he had heard an absurd joke. The other thugs joined in, cigarette ends tracing tiny sparks through the air.

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Wang Jie abruptly stopped laughing, his eyes turning cold. "College entrance exam? This is your college entrance exam!"

He pulled out a crumpled contract and slapped it onto the hood, pressing a fingertip hard against it. "Sign it, or I'll break your legs and throw you into a Spirit Realm mine. Take your pick!"

Lin Xu lowered his eyes and glanced at the contract. The words "Lifetime Contract" gleamed an ominous scarlet in the sunlight, and the Chen Consortium's dark-gold emblem was printed at the end of the terms.

"Click~"

Just then, the car door swung open.

"Stop! I'm from the Jiang Clan..." Before Jiang Wanqing could finish, the thug leader sneered and flung a black short blade into the car door—the tip landed a hair's breadth from her fingertips.

"I know who you are..." Wang Jie sneered and was about to continue when, from the corner of his eye, he saw Lin Xu suddenly spring into action, charging at him like an arrow loosed from a bow.

"You!" Wang Jie threw up an arm to block in shock and anger, but a fist slammed into the bridge of his nose, leaving his head spinning and his vision blurred.

He staggered back, and a short blade fell from his hand, striking the ground with a sharp clatter.

Before he could regain his footing, Lin Xu drove a side kick into his chest, knocking him straight to the ground.

Before the other thugs could react, Lin Xu rolled across the ground, snatched up the short blade, and sprang to his feet in one motion. A flash of steel cut through the morning breeze.

The blade flashed, and a second man staggered and fell, clutching his throat as blood gushed out.

The third had just drawn an iron rod when Lin Xu arrived like a shadow. His blade slashed across the man's wrist, sending the rod clanging to the ground. Before the man could scream, Lin Xu followed up with a knee to his stomach. He flew back a meter or so and fell to the ground, curling up.

Lin Xu's movements flowed like clouds and running water. The fourth man had just turned to flee when the blade pierced the back of his neck. He crumpled without so much as a grunt.

Lin Xu stood with the blade in hand, taking a few breaths to dispel the fatigue from his successive bursts of exertion.

"A-Xu..." Jiang Wanqing's voice trembled slightly, but her hand showed no mercy as she pulled the short blade from the car door and flung it backhanded, striking the last thug squarely in the thigh.

"Chen Hao was clever enough not to come. If he had shown up today, I would have killed him!" A chilling killing intent flickered in Lin Xu's eyes, and his voice was as cold as a blade as he advanced, step by step, toward the fallen thug leader. "Since he didn't come, I'll use your lives to send him a message~"

"Y-you can't kill me." Wang Jie spoke in a trembling voice, struggling to open his eyes as blood and cold sweat ran down his face. "I'm the nephew of Master Hu of the Black Tiger Gang... If you dare touch me, Master Hu will never let you off!"

"A-Xu, the Black Tiger Gang..." Jiang Wanqing was about to persuade him again, but stopped short.

Wang Jie's eyes widened. Both hands clutched the dagger in his throat as blood gushed between his fingers. A gurgling sound came from his throat, and his legs convulsed violently.

Lin Xu withdrew his hand, a grim killing intent in his voice. "Invite me to a feast, cut off my head, and take me in as a dog... Chen Hao had it all neatly calculated. He'd use both the carrot and the stick to hold me up, cut off my future in the Spirit Realm trial, and force me to sign the contract. Then, once he'd used me up and squeezed me dry, he'd find somewhere to bury me. Who would even remember me?"

Bodhisattvas feared the cause; mortals feared the consequence.

The moment he saw the contract, Lin Xu knew he had no way back.

Even if only for my mother, I have no choice but to succeed!

"A-Xu, I dragged you into this." Jiang Wanqing stared in shock and anger at the familiar Chen Consortium emblem on the contract, immediately understanding what had happened. "He wants to force me to submit and seize the chance to swallow up the Jiang Clan..."

"This isn't your fault." Lin Xu raised a hand to cut her off. "I don't care what Chen Hao is plotting. Since he dared drag me into it as a pawn, he'd better be prepared to pay a terrible price!"

He swept a cold glance over the wailing thugs, then turned toward the truck blocking the road. "Let's go. The trial is about to begin."