Chapter 560: Chapter 560: The Crimson Impression

SLASH! CRUNCH! SLICE!

Severed arms, shattered ribs, and decapitated heads flew into the air, painting the crumbling clay walls in a thick, continuous sheet of crimson. The peak Body Tempering mercenaries, despite having refined their internal organs to the density of iron, found their bodies effortlessly bisected and split in two by a cheap piece of steel that didn’t even carry a drop of divine energy.

Within mere seconds, the hundred-man horde was reduced to a screaming, disorganized mess of fleeing flesh. But Ethan was infinitely faster, cutting off every single path of escape before they could even clear the alleyway.

Sensing the absolute annihilation of their forces, the three syndicate leaders completely lost their minds to panic. Their advanced Spiritual Mist energy flared wildly around their weapons as they instinctively huddled together, raising their blades in a desperate, synchronized defensive stance, completely terrified to advance.

Ethan halted his onslaught just ten paces away, surrounded by a literal mountain of mangled, divided bodies. He looked at the trembling trio, a cold, pitying smirk playing on his lips as he detected their complete, pathetic hesitation.

"Too slow," Ethan purred.

He planted his feet and snapped his wrist. The steel erupted with a brilliant, blinding golden luminescence that completely illuminated the darkened alleyway.

With a single, effortless horizontal sweep of his arm, Ethan released the accumulated force.

SHUUU-FUNG!

A crescent wave of pure, condensed golden energy tore through the air with absolute, terrifying velocity. The brilliant blade of light traveled across the ten paces instantly, slicing cleanly through the weapons, the spiritual defenses, and the midsections of all three Spiritual Mist leaders simultaneously.

The golden light vanished into the distant sky, leaving the alley in absolute, suffocating silence.

For a split second, the three leaders stood perfectly frozen. Then, their upper torsos slid cleanly off their lower halves, slamming heavily into the mud. The remaining remnants of the mercenary army collapsed alongside them, leaving nothing behind but an absolute river of dark blood and a silent wasteland of over a hundred corpses.

Ethan casually shook the dark blood off his plain iron blade with a sharp flick before sliding it back into its leather scabbard.

Ethan slowly turned his head to look back at Mary. The sheer intensity of the slaughter had left a fine mist of dark blood splattered across his handsome features, but his expression remained entirely tranquil.

"If you want to live a life free of endless harassment, Sister Mary, sometimes it is absolutely necessary to show them the ultimate consequences," Ethan said, his voice dropping into a smooth, instructive cadence as he stepped over a severed torso. "Leaving survivors in a place like this is nothing more than asking for future trouble for yourself and your children. When you strike, you erase the root." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He offered her a soft, relaxed smile. Framed by the horrific carnage of a hundred slaughtered men and the thick crimson masking his face, that smile was demoniacally beautiful.

Mary stared at him, her breath completely caught in her throat. Her body was trembling, but it was no longer from pure terror. Looking at the young cultivator standing completely unbothered amidst a river of blood, looking so utterly spectacular, powerful, and untouchable, a sudden, violent heat surged straight down to her core. Her mature heart hammered frantically against her ribs, and a fierce, involuntary wetness instantly soaked through her panties. She was completely captivated, thoroughly intoxicated by the terrifying majesty of the predator standing before her.

Meanwhile, at the absolute apex of the grand Heavenly Sword Pavilion building overlooking the residential district, two figures stood on the open-air balcony. The afternoon wind whipped through their robes as they looked down toward the distant, blood-stained alleyway.

It was the elderly head evaluator from the exchange hall, standing respectfully half a step behind a refined middle-aged man wearing the high-grade silk robes of a Sect Elder.

"There is no longer any room for doubt," the elderly scholar murmured, his eyes reflecting the faint fading light of the golden energy blast. "That is definitively the signature martial heritage of that clan. That was the Brilliant Slice. The most basic, fundamental technique of their lineage, yet it is every bit as lethal as the ancient records describe."

The younger attendant standing near the doorway leaned forward, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Elder... that boy doesn’t seem to be a standard practitioner of the Spiritual Gathering Realm. He is far too powerful. Could he be hiding a higher cultivation?"

"No," the Sect Elder replied coldly, his hands resting behind his back as his sharp gaze locked onto the distant alley. "He restricted his output precisely to the Spiritual Gathering level. However, his execution and his blade technique are simply too flawless. In the world of martial arts, if two cultivators of the exact same realm face each other, but one possesses a vastly superior technique, the outcome is decided before the blades even clash. Those mercenary brutes merely possessed a bit of crude physical strength and a highly deficient cultivation at best. Daring to face a true practitioner of the Sword? Ridiculous."

The Elder paused, a freezing air radiating from his robes as he made a slight gesture with his hand. "Send an immediate order to the Law Enforcement Hall. Hunt down the remnants of those three mercenary syndicates—the Grey Shadows, the Night Marauders, and the Cat’s Eyes. Expel their families, their associates, and anyone connected to them from the town limits. Drive them into the outer peaks and let them be devoured by the mountain beasts. We do not need trash cluttering our streets before the examination."

"Understood, Elder," the scholar bowed deeply. "That brat... he appears better and better with each passing hour. A truly magnificent seed. We need to begin investing in him before the other branches notice his presence."

The attendant near the door blinked, a sudden thought crossing his mind. "Elder... do you plan on altering the parameters to let him pass the grand recruitment examination easily?"

WHACK!

The Sect Elder sharply swung his heavy wooden folding fan, striking the attendant across the side of his head with an annoyed snap. "Are you an absolute imbecile?!" the Elder hissed, his eyes narrowing. "Tampering with the sacred entry trials of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion is a severe, unforgivable sin against the sect laws... However, there is no law against subtly granting him a few personal favors outside the arena. We need to actively begin developing his sense of loyalty to our branch before the main headquarters catches wind of his talent."

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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.

Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.

Body Refinement Realm

Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement

Spiritual Gathering Realm

Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation

Spiritual Core Realm

Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)

Spiritual Soul Realm

Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion

Golden Core Realm

Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction

Spiritual Sea Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Dao Manifestation Realm

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??

Spiritual Transcendence

Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??