Lin Dan gripped her sword tightly, advancing step by step toward He Chongling, who let out a wild laugh, declaring each word with deliberate emphasis, “I have meticulously cultivated you for this very day! Lin Dan, after your death, I will remember you.”

If the other Lin Dan had heard those words, she would have been thrilled as if she were listening to a divine melody. But Lin Dan merely cast a cold glance at him, her eyes void of any emotion. Sensing a powerful force approaching from her side, she didn’t even bother to look at the attacker. With a light tap of her toe, she leaped forward, her sudden burst of speed allowing her to dodge the attack effortlessly, leaving behind only a deep, fingertip-sized hole in the granite floor.

Seeing Lin Dan flying toward him, He Chongling quickly spread his five fingers, preparing to meet her. He was confident that she would obediently submit and let him drain her dry, but to his surprise, she suddenly drew her sword and launched a fierce attack.

The calculating expression on He Chongling’s face finally shattered. Yet, instead of dodging, he clasped his fingers together, gripping the blade, intending to crush it. In that split second, he had no time to ponder how Lin Dan had managed to avoid the control of his parasitic Gu and attack him. All he wanted was to crush this traitor into a pulp with a single palm strike.

Lin Dan remained expressionless as she watched He Chongling. The violent energy within her body was continuously transforming into blade energy, instantly shattering He Chongling’s fingers. The sword, undeterred, sliced through his arm and plunged into his heart, obliterating the Mother Gu into pieces.

He Chongling’s arrogant expression froze on his face as he slowly lowered his head to look at the steel blade embedded in his chest. Then, he slowly raised his head to gaze at this woman, whom he had always regarded as insignificant, like an ant.

“You actually……” Before he could finish his sentence, the energy within the blade erupted like thunder inside his body. Blood sprayed onto Lin Dan’s pale, jade-like face, but she didn’t even blink.

The surrounding disciples stood paralyzed, none daring to approach. No one had ever imagined that their sect leader would cultivate such a forbidden art, treating them as mere tools to absorb their internal energy and raising them like livestock. Even more unexpected was that, just as he was on the verge of becoming invincible, he would be slain by the left protector with a single stroke of her blade!

Their sect leader was already a super-class master, and after absorbing the internal energy of dozens of first-class masters, he was on the verge of advancing to a half-step grandmaster. But the moment Lin Dan appeared, she dispatched him to meet the king of hell with a single stroke. What level of mastery had she achieved?

The disciples exchanged horrified glances and slowly retreated, terror gripping their hearts.

Lin Dan withdrew the blood-stained steel blade, her dark eyes fixed intently on He Chongling’s corpse, her expression unreadable. Only now did she realize the inescapable quagmire she had fallen into. Those who practiced the Asura Blade constantly endured the agony of a thousand cuts, but in battle, when they unleashed their fury, the violent energy within them would pour into their weapons, crushing their enemies. The only thing left within them was an unending stream of vitality. All the pain would vanish in an instant……

Lin Dan felt an exhilarating rush as she killed, her bloodlust soaring. She wished for nothing more than for ten, even eight more He Chonglings to appear before her, so she could kill without end!

Only in the act of killing could she find a moment of peace, which was the most terrifying aspect of the Asura Blade technique. To quell the pain within, the practitioners had to immerse themselves in endless slaughter. Having severed all ties of love, they would lose their humanity, eventually becoming mere killing machines. The moment they lost control, they would lose the balance of life and death energies within them, allowing the deathly energy to dominate and destroy their lifeline.

In other words, those who practiced the Asura Blade were doomed to die from insanity.

Lin Dan closed her eyes briefly, her heart filled with cold resolve. No wonder the old sect leader had been willing to pass down this top-level technique to the other Lin Dan. No wonder He Chongling, who was so envious of talent, hadn’t fought to cultivate it himself. From the beginning, they had paved a path of death for her. To them, she was already a dead person.

But Lin Dan refused to give up. Clutching her steel blade tightly, she silently etched a line in her heart—— No matter how much pain she had to endure, she would not allow herself to become a soulless killing machine. Severing emotions and being ruthless were two entirely different concepts.

With that thought, she beheaded He Chongling with one stroke and walked step by step toward the mountain gate. The remaining disciples didn’t dare utter a word, much less stop her. They merely followed her from a distance.

“M-master, what just happened?” He Yufei, who had been the center of attention moments ago but was now forgotten, asked in a trembling voice. She could never have imagined that the newly powerful He Chongling would be killed by Lin Dan with a single stroke, his head severed. When Lin Dan did all of this, she didn’t even furrow her brows, nor did she blink an eye. At that moment, she truly seemed like a demon that had crawled out of hell, inexplicably frightening.

Bai Yan slightly furrowed his brows and murmured in a barely audible voice, “The Asura…… has descended……”

———pr


Lin Dan arrived at the mountain gate and casually threw He Chongling’s head onto the ground. She spoke each word with deliberation, “This is what you wanted. I’ll draw a line here for now. If you keep your promise, then leave quickly. If anyone crosses this line, I will show no mercy!”

She raised her sword and casually drew a line in front of her toes. The violent energy emanating from her sword split the hard ground, carving a deep trench. The fierce aura scattered in all directions, threatening to pulverize anyone standing too close.

The righteous disciples at the front quickly retreated, only daring to look at the ground after the raging sword energy had weakened. To their shock, they found that their robes and boots had been slashed by the residual energy, with crimson blood seeping through the fabric. Unbeknownst to them, they had sustained minor injuries.

This silent display of power instantly filled the various sects with a deep fear of Lin Dan.

“A half-step grandmaster?” The fourth elder of Lianyun City asked in a voice filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Lin Dan glanced at him indifferently, then lowered her gaze. With one hand behind her back and the other gripping the blood-dripping steel blade, she spoke slowly, “It’s time for you to leave.” Her feet never crossed the line she had drawn, as it also represented the boundary in her heart. If these people kept their word and left immediately, she wouldn’t take any action. But if they insisted on attacking the mountain, she would unleash a massacre.

Although the old sect leader and He Chongling had treated the other Lin Dan like a pig or dog, there was an old granny who had raised her and several maidservants who had served her loyally since childhood in the mountain. There were also many children in the back mountain who were still in training. They had not yet become evil and did not deserve to die.

Severing emotions did not mean that Lin Dan had lost her basic principles. She understood the concept of repaying kindness and avenging wrongs. While there were people in the Eastern Sacred Sect she didn’t care about, there were others she couldn’t ignore.

Although the demon He Chongling was dead, a new leader had emerged in the demonic sect— one with even greater martial prowess and more ruthless methods. If they spared her today, the martial arts world would inevitably be drenched in blood once she recovered her strength. The fourth elder never intended to let Lin Dan go. His previous words had merely been an attempt to sow discord within the demonic sect. Though they were unafraid of them, causing internal chaos would reduce their own casualties and troubles.

“Kill!” The fourth elder raised his hand, his voice cold. But in the next instant, his half-closed eyes suddenly widened, as if he had seen something strange.

Bai Yan, hidden in the crowd, gave a barely perceptible nod, and the fourth elder’s hesitant expression immediately became resolute. He ordered, “Kill without mercy!”

The disciples of the Eastern Sacred Sect, who had believed they could escape death, erupted in chaos. Some cursed these righteous sect disciples as hypocrites, others fled in panic, and still others took up their swords and fought back desperately. Lin Dan, however, remained at her line, steadfastly guarding both the physical boundary and the one in her heart. She neither grew angry at the other side’s betrayal nor feared the encroaching hundreds of experts.

She thirsted for slaughter, yet she restrained herself. She never initiated an attack, but whenever someone crossed the line, she would raise her steel blade and cleave them in two. Her techniques were simple, no more than slashes and chops without any embellishments. But the energy unleashed by her strikes was filled with violent power. A mere nick would explode into a gaping wound.

Countless super-class masters charged at her, only to be torn apart by her energy, turning them into bloodied figures. However, if they retreated and kept their distance from the boundary line, she would not pursue them. She adhered strictly to that boundary, never crossing it by even a fraction.

Gradually, these righteous masters grew fearful and timid, retreating further from the line that ran across the mountain gate, no longer daring to take even a single step closer.

Only then did Lin Dan shake off the blood from her blade and exhale a long breath. Her toes remained firmly on that line, unmoved despite the fierce battle. What did this signify? It meant she had been holding back against these top-level masters and her true level might far exceed everyone’s imagination.

Lin Dan had killed to her heart’s content, the agonizing pain long gone and replaced by pure madness and joy that continually washed over her mind. Yet, her spirit remained unwavering. She killed those who crossed the line and spared those who retreated. She always knew exactly what she was doing. Though deeply trapped in the abyss, she could still climb toward the sunlight with her bare hands.

Amid the slaughter, she discovered a terrifying secret— the more blood her sword drank, the stronger she became. What others could not achieve in decades of painstaking cultivation, she could easily attain by killing a few more people. The Asura Blade technique was undoubtedly a top-level martial art, but it was also a demonic art that harmed both others and oneself. However, Lin Dan had no other path to choose. Not practicing it meant death, and even self-abolishing her martial arts would still lead to her heart veins rupturing and dying. She had no choice but to forge ahead.