Chapter 9: Playing the Hero? Are You Even Worthy?

"You little brat from that Demon Sect — did you really think you could make it back to Sword Demon Sect?"

"Refine pills for me and I'll treat you well. Doesn't that sound like a fair deal? Hahaha!"

The two burly men grinned savagely, their eyes fixed on the fleeing woman.

The woman in blue didn't look back — she didn't dare slow down even for a moment.

Sword Demon Sect was almost within reach. She had to make a desperate push.

If she truly couldn't escape, then she would fight to the death.

She would rather perish alongside her enemies than submit and grovel before anyone.

Just then.

She caught a glimpse of a lone figure standing in the distance.

"Fellow cultivator, I am a disciple of Elder Qiao of Azure Brush Peak under Sword Demon Sect — please—"

She had been about to call out for help.

They weren't far from Sword Demon Sect, so there was a good chance this person was a fellow disciple. If the two of them joined forces, they might be able to hold off the pursuers.

Even if they couldn't fight them off, stalling for even a short while would be enough for the stronger cultivators inside the sect to notice the commotion.

The crisis would resolve itself in time.

But the moment she sensed the figure's cultivation level, her heart sank completely.

Spirit Gathering Realm, third stage.

Hm?

What was someone of that level doing near the depths of the Demonic Beast Forest?

The demonic beasts in this area were all at the late stages of the Spirit Gathering Realm — some even at peak or perfected levels.

A third-stage Spirit Gathering Realm disciple wandering here was no different from seeking death.

But she had no time to dwell on that now.

The woman veered slightly away from the figure's direction and gathered every last bit of Spiritual Energy within her body.

If escape was no longer possible, she would make them pay dearly.

"Dark Void Slash!"

She cried out in fury.

Her longsword swept backward, carving a streak of black Sword Qi through the air.

"Oh? Putting up a fight again, are we? Then don't blame me — this ends here!"

One of the burly men — nearly two meters tall — let out a cold laugh and casually slapped his palm toward both the Sword Qi and the woman.

With a flip of his hand, clouds rose; with another, rain fell!

The immense Spiritual Energy of a Wheel Sea Realm cultivator surged outward, condensing in the void into a massive black spectral palm.

It crashed down like the collapse of heaven itself — unstoppable, irresistible.

The next second.

The Sword Qi and the black spectral palm collided.

Crack!

The Sword Qi she had unleashed was shattered by the spectral palm — torn apart completely, without offering the slightest resistance.

The gap in power between them was simply too vast.

The woman watched the black spectral palm continue bearing down on her. She gripped her longsword tightly, despair and resolve flickering in her eyes.

She would rather die than fall into their hands.

Right at that moment.

Her vision blurred.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Dozens of streaks of Sword Qi swept past her shoulder, surging toward the black spectral palm.

Brilliant light danced like silver threads in chaos, transforming into a river of Sword Qi that rushed forward with unstoppable force.

Boom!

A thunderous impact.

The black spectral palm that had seemed indestructible moments ago was wiped out entirely by that torrent of Sword Qi.

The two burly men froze.

The woman in blue froze too.

Which powerful expert had just intervened?

A young man walked slowly up behind the woman and asked quietly, "The Heavenly Abyss Sword Art? What is Lu Wenyuan Senior Brother to you?"

The woman spun around sharply.

Her eyes were wide with astonishment.

The one standing behind her was that very same young man — the one with a Spirit Gathering Realm third-stage cultivation.

Those dozens of streaks of Sword Qi had come from him???

What shocked her even more was what he had just said.

"You — you know my brother?!" Lu Mingyue stared at him, wide-eyed.

"So you're his little sister. I know your brother — he once gave me guidance," Lin Xiao said calmly.

That, of course, was not entirely true.

The truth was that Lin Xiao had just watched this woman execute one of the killing moves from the Heavenly Abyss Sword Art, and his memory had instantly surfaced the relevant information.

The Sword Tomb from which he had absorbed Sword Qi and comprehended the Heavenly Abyss Sword Art — that had been Lu Wenyuan's.

A genius Sword Cultivator who had ranked in the top ten even among Inner Sect Disciples.

Yet during an expedition into a Secret Realm, he had met an untimely end.

When the sect found him, all that remained was a single sword left behind.

Having witnessed the man's memories, Lin Xiao had recognized the connection the moment Lu Mingyue unleashed the Heavenly Abyss Sword Art.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Kid, you're only at the third stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm and you're already trying to play the hero? Have you lost your mind?!" The two burly men looked at Lin Xiao with contempt.

As for the fact that he had just blocked their casual strike —

They weren't particularly surprised.

Everyone had some trump card for self-preservation.

But could he block a second palm? A third?

Lin Xiao paid them no mind. He turned back to Lu Mingyue and said, "May I borrow your sword?"

"You — he's a Wheel Sea Realm cultivator. You're no match for him. Just run!" Lu Mingyue urged anxiously.

The gap in cultivation between the two sides was enormous.

She didn't want to drag someone else down because of her own predicament.

"It's already too late for that. Do you think he'll let me go now?" Lin Xiao smiled faintly, and with that, he simply took the longsword from Lu Mingyue's hand.

Hum!

A familiar sensation washed over him.

A stream of memories flowed from the blade into his mind.

Lu Mingyue's life flashed past in rapid succession.

His comprehension of the Heavenly Abyss Sword Art deepened further.

This works too?!

Lin Xiao was momentarily stunned.

He had assumed his Max-Level Comprehension only applied to the swords of the dead in the Sword Tombs — he hadn't expected it to work on the sword of a living person as well.

"Kid, don't blame me — blame your own rotten luck! Hehe!" The two burly men, seeing that Lin Xiao was ignoring them, let their expressions darken.

The man thrust out both palms at once.

Two spectral palms, even more powerful than before, came crashing down.

Lin Xiao raised the sword and swept it forward.

Nearly a hundred streaks of Sword Qi erupted in an instant.

Amplified by the spiritual sword in his hand, the Sword Qi formed a river that swept everything before it.

The two black spectral palms could not withstand such a torrent of Sword Qi.

After shattering roughly half of the incoming Sword Qi, they were consumed and obliterated by the rest.

The two burly men's expressions shifted — their faces finally changed.

How was this possible?!

This man was clearly only at the third stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm — how had he blocked their attacks one after another?

Behind Lin Xiao, Lu Mingyue stood with her mouth hanging open.

She had initially assumed this junior disciple was relying on some hidden trump card to block the earlier attack.

But seeing it with her own eyes now —

This junior disciple had no trump card at all. He had simply swung the sword casually.

Yet — yet how was he able to unleash so many streaks of Sword Qi, each one carrying power nearly equal to her own all-out strike?

This was utterly inconceivable.

"Hm? Is this really all a Wheel Sea Realm cultivator can do? It seems I overestimated you," Lin Xiao muttered, genuinely puzzled.

He meant every word.

Just today alone, the Wheel Sea Realm demonic beasts he had encountered were far more powerful than this man.

"You—!! You're looking for death!! Die!!" The two-meter-tall man erupted in fury.

Being mocked by an ant at the early stages of the Spirit Gathering Realm was something he absolutely could not tolerate.

A violent surge of Spiritual Energy burst from both men, condensing in the air once more.

This time, however, it did not form a spectral palm — instead, it took the shape of a massive spiritual blade.

With a furious roar, he hacked it down toward Lin Xiao with overwhelming force.

The very air around them seemed to compress under the pressure.

Lu Mingyue's face went pale.

It was over.

This time, there was truly no blocking it.

Against such absolute power, no matter how many streaks of Sword Qi this junior disciple could unleash, it would be futile.

Lin Xiao's expression grew serious as well.

He knew.

Facing this strike, he could no longer hold back.

Then let it be cut down.

Lin Xiao slowly raised the spiritual sword in his hand.

A terrifying aura condensed in an instant.

Both the two-meter-tall man and Lu Mingyue felt a sudden sensation — as if a blade were pressed against their throats.

What was happening?

What was going on?

"Slash!" Lin Xiao breathed out the single word.

A streak of white Sword Qi — like the Milky Way descending from the heavens, like the nine skies rolling in reverse — pierced into the massive spiritual blade in a fleeting moment.

Crack!

The torrential sword light showed no mercy as it poured down, shattering the enormous spiritual blade as easily as snapping dry twigs.

The two-meter-tall man's eyes went wide.

"That's — Sword—"

His voice cut off abruptly. He didn't even manage a scream before the white sword light cleaved him in two, extinguishing every last trace of his life.

Silence.

Not a single sound came from the scene.

Lu Mingyue had gone completely blank.

What had she just witnessed?

A junior disciple at the third stage of the Spirit Gathering Realm had slain a Wheel Sea Realm cultivator with a single sword strike.

Was she dreaming?

How was this even possible?

"Senior Sister, that's a fine sword you have," Lin Xiao said, handing the blade back to Lu Mingyue.

Then he walked over to the two corpses and began searching them.

Having spent so much time in Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb, he had long grown accustomed to the sight of bodies.

And since he had been acting purely in self-defense throughout this entire encounter, looting the dead carried absolutely no psychological burden for him.

After thoroughly patting down both men from head to toe, he found a single ring.

Nothing else.

Lin Xiao stared intently at the small, delicate ring in his hand.

A flicker of excitement stirred within him.

If he wasn't mistaken, this was one of those spatial Storage Rings.

Now that was a fine find.

Lin Xiao slipped the ring into his pocket, intending to examine it properly once he returned.

"Well then, Senior Sister — nothing more to worry about. I'll be heading off. Take care."

Without so much as a glance back, Lin Xiao's figure shifted and vanished from the scene.

He had intervened solely because he owed a debt to Lu Wenyuan's Sword Tomb.

Repaying a kindness — nothing more.

Otherwise, he would never have gone out of his way to provoke a Wheel Sea Realm cultivator.

"Huh?! Hey — wait, wait a moment! Junior Brother, what's your name?!" Lu Mingyue called out anxiously in the direction Lin Xiao had disappeared.

But no reply came.

And the speed of his movement technique was far beyond anything she could hope to match.

"Just... who is this junior disciple?" Lu Mingyue murmured, her face full of bewilderment.