Chapter 161: Sacrificing to Lord Lin (Part 3)

"..."

Lord Lin's gaze, shimmering with a purple light, turned cold in an instant.

"Your answer is very similar to that of a swordsman from a few days ago."

"Only..."

"I crushed all the bones in his body, and then..."

Lord Lin rhythmically twitched its claws, and then made a gesture of tossing something into its mouth.

"Ate him."

Nie Chao clenched his teeth tightly, his eyes splitting with rage.

Tianhai...

Lord Lin slowly raised its claws and reached toward him. "Perhaps you will end up just like him."

"I will ask you once more..."

"Impossible."

Before Lord Lin could finish asking, Nie Chao had already spoken.

Faced with life and death, people learn to take many things lightly.

He discovered that within his short life, there was only one thing he could never let go of.

And that was the pride and spirit of a swordsman.

Even that bastard Duan Tianhai didn't utter a whimper, so could I, Nie Chao...

Be any worse than him?!

In an instant, a sharp, unyielding aura suddenly erupted from deep within his chest. The ordinary iron sword in his hand faintly began to glow with a clear, flowing light!

"Hmm?"

From that sword, Lord Lin sensed an extremely faint yet painfully familiar scent of danger.

Hesitating no longer, it lunged forward, clawing down viciously.

Just at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

A sliver of cyan spiritual light flashed through the air like a shooting star. Struck by a sudden premonition of danger, Lord Lin jerked backward in a hasty retreat, yet the light still pierced straight through the center of its palm.

"Roar—!"

Lord Lin let out a cry of pain, roaring continuously.

Nie Chao was stunned. He clearly saw that the cyan fragment stuck in Lord Lin's palm...

Was actually a chicken bone.

"Kid, you are quite interesting."

Following the voice, he saw a plump beggar sitting in a tree, eating half a roasted chicken.

After finishing, the beggar casually tossed the bone away and wiped his mouth.

"Just now... what was that..."

Nie Chao stood in a daze, completely clueless as to what had just happened.

The beggar leaped down from the tree, flicking his sleeves to dissipate the illusory disguise.

The greasy filth vanished completely.

The unkempt and dirty appearance disappeared without a trace.

In his place stood a young cultivator clad in plain white swords robes.

"What... want to learn?"

He patted Nie Chao on the shoulder. "I'll teach you."

"Roar—!"

Screaming in agony, Lord Lin lunged toward the two of them.

Yet the robed swordsman remained entirely unperturbed, bringing his sword fingers together. "Watch closely!"

***

Only to see sword qi surge around his entire body, while above the firmament, sword light fell like rain.

The Daoist stepped into the empty air, and thousands of cyan sword qi streams within his sleeves formed a grand formation.

Lord Lin's expression turned to one of utter terror, its movements freezing instantly. Then, remarkably, instead of fighting, it turned tail and fled desperately into the distance.

Unfortunately, it was given no such chance.

"Fall."

The robed Daoist softly spat out a single word.

Boom—

Thousands of sword qi streams poured down in an instant, resembling an overturned heavenly river.

Countless cyan sword qi surged continuously into the ferocious Qilin's body, its claws, and even its tail.

Never had Nie Chao witnessed such a world-shattering spectacle; the overwhelming, overflowing sword qi made it nearly impossible for him to keep his eyes open.

In the blink of an eye, the vicious beast collapsed heavily to the ground, pinned firmly in place.

"What are you standing there dazed for?"

From the sky came the voice of the robed Daoist.

"Didn't you want to exact vengeance for the innocent?"

As if waking from a dream, Nie Chao immediately struggled to his feet and charged toward the ferocious beast.

"Roar..."

At this moment, the fierce beast was on its last breath, capable of producing only a few weak, pathetic growls.

Gone was its previous arrogance entirely.

Gathering every ounce of strength left in his body, Nie Chao thrust forward fiercely into the jagged wound at the center of the beast's brow.

Clear light flowed, and a single sword pierced straight through the glabella.

Black blood immediately gushed forth, and the ferocious Qilin gradually lost all signs of life.

It was dead.

The robed Daoist slowly descended from the sky and landed beside Nie Chao.

Nie Chao stared blankly at the Daoist, unable to utter even the words "Immortal Superior" for a long while.

Instead, the immortal master spoke first.

"Kid, I see your bone structure is remarkable; you are surely a natural genius of the sword."

"Who knows, the heavy burden of safeguarding the peace of the Yue State's cultivation world in the future might just fall upon your shoulders!"

"How about it? Would you like to take me as your master?"

The Daoist spoke in a casual, devil-may-care tone, yet Nie Chao did not doubt a single word he said.

Because just moments ago, he had witnessed a "miracle" with his own eyes.

Nie Chao gently planted his sword beside him.

He cupped his hands and bowed deeply.

"This disciple is willing."

...

"Master..."

"Speak."

"Rumor has it that the Qilin is an auspicious beast representing the will of heaven and earth. Now that I've killed it and used its primordial blood to temper my body, will I incur divine retribution?"

In the small courtyard, Nie Chao asked with a hint of hesitation.

"Heh heh."

The Daoist sneered softly.

"When an auspicious event occurs and someone happens to encounter a Qilin, they immediately assume the Qilin represents auspiciousness."

"When an ominous disaster strikes and someone happens to encounter a Jiediao, they immediately assume the Jiediao represents calamity."

***

"Could it be that the living creatures of heaven and earth appear in this world simply to remind us that some major event is about to take place?"

The Daoist's tone was full of mockery.

"People are always like this, treating themselves as the center of the world."

"But a Qilin is just a Qilin, and a Jiediao is just a Jiediao."

"Demons and monsters have their own affairs to attend to."

"What 'this represents good fortune', 'that represents disaster', 'the appearance of this brings floods and droughts', 'the appearance of that means the country is full of treacherous and cunning scoundrels'..."

"Utter nonsense."

Nie Chao stood in a daze, understanding only half of it.

"Besides..."

"Even if all of that were true, you needn't worry."

The Daoist took a sip of his spiritual tea and slowly continued, "The real Lord Lin was possessed by a Demonic cultivator a hundred years ago."

"Ah?"

"He was discovered by my master—ah, your grand-master—who used sword qi to shatter his demonic core, forcing him to flee all the way to Yue State."

"He possessed a demonic body, but not a shred of demonic power. Otherwise, given your status as a mere mortal facing him head-on, you would have died countless times over by now."

"By killing him, you actually granted the true Lord Lin a form of release."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Nie Chao nodded. "This disciple understands... But Master, where is our grand-master?"

"That old fellow? He went to a very distant place..."

In the Daoist's eyes, a rare look of extreme longing and fanaticism flashed by.

"Where?"

"Tch, why are you asking so many questions? Do not aim too high too soon."

The Daoist glanced at him sideways. "Once you successfully cultivate the Golden Core, I will be able to follow in your grand-master's footsteps and go there as well."

"In the future, after you take on disciples and pass down our lineage of sword cultivation, when your own disciple achieves the Golden Core, you can go too."

"So you, you, and you, hurry up and practice your cultivation."

"Oh..."

"Right. Have you chosen your flying sword yet?"

"I won't pick another. This one will do."

"Huh?" The Daoist's expression turned somewhat peculiar. "An ordinary iron sword?"

"I've used it for many years, and it was with this sword that I comprehended my sword intent... Master, didn't you say the sword body itself matters little? Then there's no need to change it."

"Very well."

The Daoist nodded. "What is its name?"

"It didn't have a name before."

Nie Chao gently caressed the ordinary iron sword, unable to put it down.

"As for now..."

"Let's call it 'Sacrificing Lord Lin'."

***

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