Chapter 25: Energy Condensation Seventh Level, Perfect Return!
Deep night.
A burly man with a broad face and deep-set eyes walked toward a silent mountain peak. He glanced around, then donned a human-skin mask.
This time, he had set his sights on another fat sheep!
Someone under twenty who spent so freely, easily able to afford a Frost-Forged Verdant Spear, had to be the son of a wealthy family, likely carrying no small number of silver notes on him.
The person was also foolish and unobservant—coming to the black market without bodyguards, and leaving without blending into a crowd.
If he let a sheep this fat slip away, his intestines would turn green with regret!
The burly man quickened his pace. With only forty steps between them, he could already see the youth’s blue-robed back.
“Little brother, please stay a moment.”
Gu Lin stopped, wariness in his eyes.
The burly man closed the distance quickly, his laughter hearty:
“This one’s purse is a bit thin—I was hoping little brother might lend me a few taels of silver.”
Gu Lin deliberately stepped back a few paces.
The burly man pressed forward step by step, the smile fading from his face, replaced by a chilling coldness as the energy within his dantian erupted in full—unmistakably the cultivation of Energy Condensation Eighth Level!
Gu Lin glanced around, spotting a small valley in the distance that could block the line of sight, and ran for his life.
The burly man’s eyes glinted with amusement as he strolled along at a leisurely pace.
How could a lamb possibly escape a tiger’s claws?
Not understanding the principle of not flaunting one’s wealth—he deserved to be taught a lesson, though this time the lesson would cost him his life!
Robbing and killing was his rule of conduct; he would never allow a loose end to remain!
By the time they reached the valley, the burly man was only ten steps behind.
Gu Lin had nowhere left to run.
He drew out the token from inside his collar.
The instant the burly man laid eyes on the token, his pupils contracted sharply.
This was a Seed token issued by the Blade-Bearers!
Could this person actually be some county’s Seed candidate?
The burly man froze as if struck by lightning, his expression stiffening like iron.
Inside, he wrestled with a difficult decision.
Should he turn and flee?
But what if this brat sought revenge afterward?
If this brat was truly a Seed candidate, he couldn’t possibly be so careless and foolish—so what exactly was his purpose in deliberately drawing him in?
Just as the burly man agonized over the dilemma, the Three Yang Bloodline-Severing Mark descended silently, without warning.
At the same moment, Gu Lin unleashed Wave-Treading Steps, and while his opponent’s mind was unsettled, he leapt into the air and unleashed a fierce, overwhelming Eighteen-Kick Combo!
“Not good!”
The burly man’s hackles rose. Acting on instinct, he twisted his body, his powerful internal energy forcing back that scorching aura.
“Ugh, ahh…”
But in the end, his reaction was half a beat too slow. Though he avoided the vital points, the claw mark grazed his waist, tearing open a chunk of flesh and searing it black.
Just as he raised his head in pain, a thunderous roar cracked through the air—the Nine Heavens Thunder-Runner Leg was already upon him, and a kick as heavy as falling thunder slammed brutally into his shoulder.
Crack—
His entire shoulder shattered. The burly man staggered and fell, his face twisting violently from the pain.
Gu Lin gave him no chance to catch his breath, delivering another Three Yang Bloodline-Severing Mark—like the vicious talons of a fierce hawk, swift and merciless, it tore savagely into his chest, ripping away a chunk of charred, blackened flesh.
“Mercy…”
The burly man clutched his chest, curling and thrashing, in such agony that tears and snot streamed down his face.
Gu Lin’s expression turned grim. Gathering his strength for one final blow, he kicked the man’s head clean off, the scene turning bloody and horrific.
Crushing an Energy Condensation Eighth Level with ease!
Of course, there was also the element of a sneak attack involved—unleashing his lethal strike the instant the man froze at the sight of the token!
Had it been a direct confrontation, Gu Lin would have still been confident, though it would have cost him considerably more internal energy and stamina.
In an instant, glimmering points of golden light appeared before Gu Lin’s eyes, converging into the three large characters: “Book of Merit.”
[Killed a Third Grade, Ninth Star evildoer. Reward: Fully-Leveled Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm!]
[Martial Dao Merit: 3032/4000]
[Confucian Dao Merit: 359/1000]
[Arcane Dao Merit: 0/1000]
[Witchcraft Dao Merit: 0/1000]
In an instant.
The orifices within his body buzzed and resonated, and a torrent of force like a bursting dam surged into his seven meridians and eight channels. His dantian let out two thudding sounds, like the most exquisite melody in the world, and the energy within it surged violently once more.
Energy Condensation Seventh Level!
Gu Lin quickly immersed his mind, and every move and stance of the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm surfaced in his thoughts.
“This technique is excellent!”
Gu Lin was overjoyed.
The fully-leveled Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm couldn’t quite manifest a thousand palms, but it could split one palm into two, two into four, condensing into thirty-two palms within three breaths—palm shadows dancing to form a wall of palms, with only a single true palm strike, unstoppable and overwhelming as a collapsing mountain, concealed within!
This move combined both offense and defense!
The wall of palms could defend, and it could also strike with devastating force!
Gu Lin looked down at the corpse on the ground, a smile spreading across his face as he said:
“You really did me a huge favor!”
Even so, toward someone so utterly steeped in sin, Gu Lin felt nothing but extreme disgust.
He tore off the corpse’s clothing and pulled out seven blood-soaked silver notes.
Money bore no guilt.
He efficiently retrieved the silver notes—three hundred fifty taels in total.
His own expenses at the black market—this man had just covered them.
“Now that felt good.”
Gu Lin leapt lightly, brimming with confidence.
He now had mastery over seven martial arts.
Five Martial Dao arts: the Mysterious Netherworld Palm, the Nine Heavens Thunder-Runner Leg, the Three Yang Bloodline-Severing Mark, Striving to Rival Heaven Itself, and the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Divine Palm.
One lightness art—Wave-Treading Steps!
One Confucian Dao art—Confine Art!
And all at fully-leveled proficiency!!
Most importantly, his cultivation had also risen to Energy Condensation Seventh Level.
At this moment, he truly had the confidence to say the Sacred Ground Selection Trial was his stage to shine!
***
At the third quarter of the Hour of the Rat, at the exit of the second mountain peak.
Wei Xuan and Lin Yan’er had been waiting for quite some time.
Gu Lin arrived belatedly.
“Sorry about that.”
Gu Lin cupped his hands in apology, saying with a smile:
“I got held up for a while purchasing a famous spear—did the two of you manage to buy what you had your hearts set on?”
Lin Yan’er nodded her delicate chin slightly, joy welling in her eyes:
“I found something worthwhile!”
Wei Xuan shook her head—she’d come away empty-handed, the trip wasted.
She asked:
“We’re planning to travel through the night back to Shiyang. What about you?”
Gu Lin said tactfully, “I’ll be setting off too, but I still have some private matters to attend to.”
Naturally, the two beauties didn’t press him, nodding with a smile:
“Farewell, then.”
Gu Lin watched their group depart.
Naturally, he couldn’t afford to miss any opportunity to seek out fortune.
He still had to act alone, deliberately seeking out the most desolate, uninhabited places best suited for killing and burying bodies.
In truth, he knew this carried real risk—if his luck turned foul enough that he crossed paths with some reclusive old monster in seclusion, one who could crush him like an ant, then death would simply be death.
So he needed status, he needed background, and above all, he needed targets—identifying who was truly steeped in sin and then hunting them down was the way, not using himself as bait to go fishing, which would be the most reckless, worst possible strategy.
The journey home passed “smoothly,” without any disturbances.
Ten days remained until the Sacred Ground Selection Trial, and three days remained until the date arranged with the Blade-Bearer. Gu Lin returned to Shiyang County by evening.
This trip, one could truly call a resounding success!!
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