"..."

Lord Lin’s purple-glowing eyes instantly turned cold. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Your answer is very similar to a swordsman’s from a few days ago."

"Only..."

"He had all his bones crushed by me, and then..."

Lord Lin rhythmically turned his claws, then made a motion of putting something into his mouth.

"Eaten."

Nie Zhao gritted his teeth, his eyes wide with fury.

Tianhai... Lord Lin slowly raised his claw and extended it towards him: "Perhaps you will end up like him."

"I’ll ask you one more time..."

"Impossible."

He spoke before Lord Lin could finish his question.

Facing life and death, people often let go of many things.

He realized that in his short life, there was only one thing he absolutely could not let go of.

That was the spirit of a Swordsman.

Even that bastard Duan Tianhai didn’t utter a sound. Could I, Nie Zhao, be worse than him?!

In that instant, a sharp aura burst forth from his chest, and a faint clear Qi actually flowed within the ordinary iron sword in his hand!

"Hmm?"

From this sword, Lord Lin sensed an extremely faint, yet very familiar, scent of danger.

It no longer hesitated, grabbing down fiercely.

Just then, an unexpected change occurred!

A shard of green spiritual light shot over. Lord Lin’s alarm rose, and he retreated rapidly, but it still pierced his palm.

"Hng—"

Lord Lin roared in pain, continuously bellowing.

Nie Zhao was stunned. He clearly saw that the green shard embedded in Lord Lin’s palm... was actually a chicken bone.

"Kid, you’re very interesting."

Following the sound, he saw fat beggar sitting in a tree, eating half a roasted chicken.

After finishing, he casually tossed it aside and wiped his mouth.

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

Nie Zhao was somewhat bewildered; he had no idea what had just happened.

fat beggar leaped down from the tree, scattering the illusion with a flick of his sleeve: "That’s called Sword Qi."

The grease and grime vanished instantly.

His disheveled appearance disappeared.

Revealing a young Cultivator dressed in a plain white Sword-robe.

"What... want to learn?"

He patted Nie Zhao’s shoulder: "I’ll teach you."

"Hng—"

Lord Lin roared in pain, grabbing towards the two of them.

But the Sword-robed Taoist remained calm, joining his sword-fingers: "Watch closely!"

Around him, Sword Qi surged, and above the sky, sword light rained down.

The Taoist stood in the air, thousands of green Sword Qi from his sleeves forming a grand formation.

Lord Lin’s expression was horrified, his movements halted, and then he actually fled without a fight, escaping into the distance.

Unfortunately, there was no such opportunity.

"Fall."

The Sword-robed Taoist simply uttered a single word.

Boom—

Thousands of Sword Qi instantly poured down like a celestial river.

Countless green Sword Qi continuously pierced into the evil Lin’s body, claws, and even its tail.

Nie Zhao had never witnessed such a cataclysmic scene. The surging Sword Qi made it almost impossible for him to open his eyes.

In just a blink of an eye, the evil Lin had already fallen to the ground, pinned to the earth.

"Why are you still standing there in a daze?"

The Sword-robed Taoist’s voice came from the sky.

"Aren’t you going to avenge the innocent?"

Nie Zhao awoke as if from a dream, immediately struggled to his feet, and rushed towards the evil Lin.

"Hng..."

The evil Lin was now on its last breath, only letting out a few weak roars.

Gone was its arrogant demeanor from before.

Nie Zhao gathered all his strength and plunged his sword into the wound on its forehead.

Clear light flowed, and a sword pierced through its brow.

Black blood instantly gushed out, and the evil Lin gradually lost its life.

It died.

The Sword-robed Taoist slowly descended from the sky, standing beside Nie Zhao.

Nie Zhao stared blankly at the Taoist. After a long while, he couldn’t even utter the words "Immortal Senior."

Instead, the Immortal Master spoke first.

"Kid, I see your bones are extraordinary; you must be a Sword Cultivator prodigy."

"Perhaps, the important task of maintaining peace in the Yue Kingdom’s Cultivation World will depend on you in the future!"

"How about it, do you want to become my Disciple?"

The Taoist spoke casually, but Nie Zhao did not doubt a single word he said.

Because just now, he had personally witnessed a "miracle."

Nie Zhao gently sheathed his sword at his side.

He cupped his hands in a bow.

"Disciple, I am willing."

..."Master..."

"Speak."

"Legend says Qilin are auspicious beasts, representing the will of heaven and earth. If I kill it and use its essence blood for Body Refining, will I suffer divine retribution?"

In the small courtyard, Nie Zhao asked with some hesitation.

"Ho ho."

The Taoist chuckled:

"When auspicious events occur, one coincidentally encounters a Qilin, and then believes the Qilin represents auspiciousness."

"When inauspicious calamities occur, one coincidentally encounters a Jiegou, and then believes the Jiegou represents disaster."

"Could it be that the creatures of heaven and earth appear in this world merely to remind us that something big is about to happen?"

The Taoist’s tone was full of playful mockery.

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

"But a Qilin is a Qilin, and a Jiegou is a Jiegou."

"Demons also have their own things to be busy with."

"What’s this about representing auspiciousness, that about representing disaster, this appearance bringing floods and droughts, that appearance meaning there are many cunning and deceitful people in the country..."

"Nonsense."

Nie Zhao was in a daze, seemingly understanding yet not fully.

"Moreover..."

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

The Taoist took a sip of spiritual tea and slowly said: "The true Lord Lin was already taken by Possession by a demonic Cultivator a hundred years ago."

"Ah?"

"It was discovered by my Master... ah, that is your Grandmaster. He shattered its demon core with Sword Qi, and it fled to the Yue Kingdom."

"It had an empty demon body, without a shred of demonic power. Otherwise, as a mere Mortal, facing it, you would have died countless times over."

"By killing it, you actually allowed the true Lord Lin to be freed."

"Do you understand what I’m saying?"

Nie Zhao nodded: "Disciple understands... but Master, where is our Grandmaster?"

"That old man, he went to a very distant place..."

In the Taoist’s eyes, a rare, intensely yearning and fervent expression appeared.

"Where?"

"Tsk, why so many questions? Don’t be so ambitious."

The Taoist glanced at him: "Once you cultivate a Golden Core, I can follow your Grandmaster."

"When you take Disciples in the future and pass on our lineage of Sword Cultivators, once your Disciple cultivates a Golden Core, you can also go."

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

"Oh..."

"Right. Have you found your Flying Sword yet?"

"No need to choose, this one will do."

"Ah?" The Taoist’s expression was a little strange: "An ordinary iron sword?"

"I’ve used it for many years, and I comprehended Sword Intent with it... Master, didn’t you say the sword body is optional? Then I won’t change it."

"Alright."

The Taoist nodded: "What’s its name?"

"It had no name before."

Nie Zhao gently stroked the ordinary iron sword, cherishing it.

"Now..."

"I’ll call it Sacrificing Lord Lin."