Lin Dan wasn’t accustomed to spending other people’s money, but since she was enduring excruciating pain every moment, she didn’t refuse the chance to make herself slightly more comfortable. So, she followed Bai Yan back to the inn and even made a note in a small ledger to record the debt. When Bai Yan received the promissory note Lin Dan had written, he felt, for the first time in his life, what it meant to be ‘caught between laughter and tears’. For some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to return the promissory note. Instead, he carefully folded it and tucked it neatly into his sleeve pocket.

“What’s the deal with that Jianghu Wanted List?” Lin Dan asked casually as they ate.

“The Jianghu Wanted List is a list issued by the Jianghu Alliance. It records numerous evildoers and their misdeeds. If anyone captures one of the wanted individuals and delivers them to the Jianghu Alliance, they can claim the corresponding bounty.”

“Where can I see this list?”

“At the Jianghu Alliance. Every city has a branch, including here. Do you want to take a look?”

“Let’s go after we finish eating.” Lin Dan quickened her pace as she ate. She finally understood what it meant for a hero to be stumped by a single coin. She had to write a promissory note to stay at an inn and eat. It made her dissatisfied.

Two-quarters of an hour later, the two of them appeared at one of the branches of the Jianghu Alliance. Despite being called a branch, the area it covered was vast. At the forefront stood a large archway with two gilded words that read, ‘Jianghu Alliance’. Behind it were two grand halls. One was for announcements and one was for martial arts practice, both of which looked imposing.

“Let’s head to the Information Hall.” Bai Yan, who seemed very familiar with the Jianghu Alliance, said as he led the way. This time, it was Lin Dan who followed closely behind him.

Upon entering the Information Hall, they saw two large lists hanging side by side on a massive wall. One was the Jianghu Wanted List, and the other was the Jianghu Masters List. Every so often, a martial artist would leap up and wipe off a name from the list with a cloth, replacing it with a new one.

As soon as Lin Dan stepped into the hall, she noticed that her name had already made it onto the Jianghu Masters List, and at a rather high rank. She had replaced the fourth elder of Lianyun City and was now ranked fourth among the half-step grandmasters. Ahead were the five grandmasters, namely, Xiaoyaozi of Xiaoyao^[1]Free and Unfettered Sect, Wei Qu of Mingshui^[2]Profound Lake City, Master Fa Zhao of Banruo^[3]Wisdom Temple, Emperor Yan^[4]Flame of Yanhuang^[5]Brilliant Flame City, and Emperor Yun of Lianyun City.

Lin Dan’s gaze lingered on the name ‘Emperor Yun’ for a moment before she turned to look at the wanted list on the other side. Many martial artists stood beneath the list, calculating carefully which bounty they could take on. The wanted list was arranged according to martial prowess and the higher the rank, the stronger the evildoer is. Although no grandmasters were listed, several half-step grandmasters did and the bounty notices detailed the crimes committed by each of them, the year and month they were listed, and the amount of the bounty offered for their heads.

Lin Dan examined the list carefully and discovered that the criminal ranked first had been wanted for over twenty years, yet no one had been able to bring him to justice. During this time, he hadn’t shown any signs of restraint. Instead, he committed even more atrocities and more people joined the hunt for him, pushing the bounty up to five hundred thousand taels of gold. The other evildoers ranked below him also had substantial bounties, ranging from three hundred thousand to two hundred thousand, all measured in gold.

As Lin Dan looked down the list, she silently calculated in her mind. If she could bring in all these heads, she would instantly become incredibly rich, with endless money to spend. She could stay in as many upper rooms as she wanted, eat as many bowls of food as she pleased, and live a life of comfort.

Lost in her thoughts, her eyes couldn’t help but narrow slightly and a gleam of joy flashed in her dark pupils. Bai Yan, however, didn’t even glance at the list. Instead, he silently observed Lin Dan.

The two of them, with their striking appearances and outstanding auras, quickly drew the attention of those around them. Someone whispered, “A girl, seventeen or eighteen, dressed in black, carrying a large sword, standing six feet tall— could that be Lin Dan from the Eastern Sacred Sect?”

“No way, a peerless master like her wouldn’t bother looking at a wanted list. She wouldn’t risk losing her dignity like that.” Someone immediately shook their head in denial.

Once someone reached the level of a half-step grandmaster, standing at the pinnacle of martial arts, many martial artists would isolate themselves from ordinary people, creating an air of mystery. They would delegate trivial matters to their subordinates and focus solely on their training, striving to break through to higher levels. In martial arts, if one does not advance, one regresses. No one wanted to be left behind.

The people who came to the Information Hall to take on bounties were martial artists in urgent need of money or bounty hunters who made a living from it. Imagine if they could become a half-step grandmaster themselves. They would have long since established their own domain and wouldn’t be there earning this hard money.

“No, no, definitely not.” More people shook their heads and then shifted their gaze back to the list.

Bai Yan, hearing this, felt amused as if he were the only sober person in a world of drunks. Who would have thought that Lin Dan was so unconventional? After being promoted to half-step grandmaster, not only did she not stay to inherit the Eastern Sacred Sect, but she also wandered the Jianghu, so poor that she couldn’t even afford a bowl of water.

He pressed a fist to his lips and let out a light laugh, his gaze toward Lin Dan softening. “Have you decided? Which bounty do you want to take on?” He asked lightly as he walked to her side.

“I’ve decided.” Lin Dan walked straight to the place where the bounty orders were being issued and said, “Give me the number one, number two, number three, number four, number five, number six, and number seven bounty orders.”

“What did you say?” The martial artist in charge of issuing the bounty orders scratched his ear, seriously doubting he had heard correctly.

“Give me the number one, number two, number three, number four, number five, number six, and number seven bounty orders.” Lin Dan patiently repeated herself.

“Is she crazy? Whose kid is out here playing around?” The people around were dumbfounded, some pointing and whispering, all with expressions of disbelief, as if watching a show.

The martial artist issuing the bounty orders had seen many people and developed a keen eye. He scrutinized Lin Dan from head to toe, his gaze lingering briefly on the crimson Asura Blade before he respectfully said, “Please wait a moment. Those bounty orders are not here right now. I’ll retrieve them from the back hall.”

Shortly after, seven gold-plated, feather-shaped bounty orders were handed to Lin Dan. She casually tucked them into her chest and strode off. Moments later, another martial artist leaped onto the stone wall and used vermilion ink to draw a line through the names, indicating that someone had accepted the task of eliminating these targets.

The onlookers noticed that all seven targets were half-step grandmasters. If the rankings of the Jianghu only considered martial prowess without regard to morality or reputation, even the three elders of Lianyun City might not surpass them. These seven had been wanted for decades, yet despite the curses of countless people, they lived freely, unfazed by the wanted list. The ever-increasing bounties posed no threat to them. In fact, they even used their high ranks and the list of recorded crimes as topics of bragging.

Now, they were all being hunted at once. How could this not shock the bystanders?

“Could that girl really be Lin Dan from the Eastern Sacred Sect?” Someone finally connected the dots.

“Whether she is or isn’t, we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Even if she is, how could a fourth-ranked half-step grandmaster like her have the ability to kill all those evildoers? She’s still too young and doesn’t know her limits!”

Regardless of the speculations around her, Lin Dan had already embarked on her path of making money. She borrowed one tael of silver from Bai Yan to purchase a map and plotted a route based on the proximity of the seven targets. She then borrowed ten taels to buy a horse and set off.

Bai Yan carefully preserved the promissory note and followed closely behind her. He grew increasingly fond of observing Lin Dan and became more and more immersed in this journey through the Jianghu, despite having long passed the age for such adventures.

———pr


Three months later, Lin Dan arrived at a Jianghu Alliance branch carrying a massive bundle. The Asura Blade in her hand had turned a deep red, a clear sign that it had seen much bloodshed during this time. Bai Yan followed closely behind her, his gaze complex.

He knew that Lin Dan possessed exceptional talent. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have broken through the emotional barrier in just a few years, comprehended the true essence of the Asura Blade technique, and reached the half-step grandmaster level at the age of seventeen. But after truly getting to know her, he found that he couldn’t see her limits. She was incredibly intelligent and quick-witted, constantly growing through battle. After three months, she had become a completely different person.

After killing Dugu Hong, she learned her Eight Trigrams Phantom Step. After killing the tyrannical swordsman Nie Cheng, she mastered his Tyrannical Sword Technique. After killing the blood mage Zhou Tao, she acquired the Blood Body Refinement Technique…… She continuously absorbed useful techniques to perfect the Asura Blade, pushing the already top-level technique to another height.

Bai Yan did not doubt that if given more time, she would one day surpass herself and even adapt the Asura Blade into a technique superior to his own Cloud Decision. She was a prodigy, but she had the misfortune of falling into the hands of He Chongling and his father, setting her on this inescapable path.

The more Bai Yan understood Lin Dan, the more he struggled to remain calm. He felt pity, regret, and even heartache for her. How wonderful it would have been if he had met her earlier! This thought had recently crossed his mind more and more frequently, leaving him unsettled.

Lin Dan, however, paid no attention to this ‘warden’s’ shifting emotions. She focused solely on killing the evildoers listed on the wanted list and headed to the Jianghu Alliance to claim her reward. Her debts had been piling up and her small notebook could no longer keep track of them all.

“I’m here to turn in the bounty orders. Help me calculate the bounty.” She said as she casually tossed the massive bundle on the ground and handed the seven golden feather tokens to the martial artist from the Jianghu Alliance.

Every city in the Eastern Tang Continent had a branch of the Jianghu Alliance, and after killing the last criminal, Lin Dan sought out the nearest branch to collect her money. The person responsible for retrieving the bounty orders did not recognize her and took the tokens with an indifferent expression, saying, “Please wait while I count these……” His voice trailed off and his eyes widened in shock as he froze in place. The seven tokens in his hand clearly bore the labels ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, and so on, indicating that they were the first, second, third, and so on, most wanted on the list……

The warrior abruptly looked toward the distant wanted list, his heart filled with extreme shock. The first through seventh names listed were all half-step grandmasters, without a single error. In other words, the person before him had killed seven half-step grandmasters in just three months— an extremely terrifying feat!