Lin Ye slapped Xu Ming across the face with the flat of his cold-iron sword.
BAM!
Five or six teeth flew out.
Xu Ming's entire body was launched backward like a ragdoll, smashing hard into a tree trunk.
He coughed violently—
a mouthful of blood sprayed out.
The pain of his shattered face and severed legs nearly drove him insane.
Not far away, Gu Shusen and Jin Liangfei were still desperately holding back the Cold Pool Mad Crocodile.
When they heard the impact behind them, they turned—
and their blood ran cold.
"Lin Ye…?!"
Their strongest among the three—Xu Ming—had been ambushed and nearly destroyed in an instant.
Gu Shusen and Jin Liangfei exchanged a glance.
Then their expressions turned vicious.
"Kill that bastard."
Without hesitation, they grabbed a heavily wounded inner disciple nearby and threw him toward the crocodile like a sack of meat.
"No—NO! Don't kill me!"
The disciple screamed, flailing wildly.
But from the beginning…
Gu Shusen and the others had never intended to let these inner disciples leave Dragon Void Cave alive.
Why would they?
Wind-Thunder Mystic Sect only needed to invest in core disciples like them.
Were they supposed to believe these inner disciples could lead the sect to greatness someday?
Pathetic.
CRUNCH.
The crocodile surged upward, snapping the disciple in its jaws midair.
Then it dropped back into the pool with a violent splash.
Gu Shusen and Jin Liangfei moved at the same time—
one left, one right—charging straight toward Lin Ye.
BOOM!
Qi Sea Realm — Third Layer!
BOOM!
Qi Sea Realm — Fourth Layer!
Their auras erupted. Mystic power whirled around their bodies, forming a spiraling barrier like a storm shield.
That shield could block direct mystic qi strikes.
But in Lin Ye's eyes…
it was crude.
Barely worth noticing.
Lin Ye stepped forward, cold-iron sword in hand.
Blood-Asura Mystic Qi roared through his meridians like a raging wind.
It gathered along the blade.
Then—
he slashed once.
THUD!
Jin Liangfei's storm shield shattered instantly.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
Lin Ye's sword qi was absurdly dominant—
his defense in front of it was like paper.
Lin Ye's sword moved like a dragon through water.
A flick.
A stab.
The blade pierced Jin Liangfei's arm.
Then Lin Ye lifted gently—
and the man's sword arm flew clean off.
"AAARGH!"
Blood sprayed.
The pain hit like a tidal wave, twisting Jin Liangfei's face into something monstrous.
If this were the old Lin Ye, he would've been crushed by the three of them with ease.
But they didn't understand.
The man in front of them now…
was not the Lin Ye they remembered.
The "weakest core disciple" was gone.
Lin Ye flicked his sword hilt and sent Jin Liangfei flying backward.
The man slammed head-first into the ground.
At the same time, Gu Shusen unleashed his sword art—
his mystic qi stirred the air, pulling countless leaves into motion.
A storm of razor-sharp leaf blades shot toward Lin Ye.
Lin Ye retreated beside a massive tree.
The leaves slammed into the trunk—
THK! THK! THK!
They buried themselves deep, tearing splinters of wood loose.
Lin Ye swung his sword.
One clean cut.
The giant tree snapped at the base.
It crashed down toward Gu Shusen.
Gu Shusen cursed and hacked wildly, slicing the falling trunk apart—
wood chips exploding into the air like rain.
"LIN YE!"
Gu Shusen roared.
"I will kill you!"
Leaves and broken branches filled the air, swirling thick enough to block vision.
Then—
Gu Shusen felt a chill crawl up his spine.
His instincts screamed.
Too late.
Lin Ye's blade flashed out from the chaos—
straight through Gu Shusen's chest.
The force pinned him to a tree behind him.
The sword point pierced the trunk.
Gu Shusen's body went rigid.
His mystic power began collapsing instantly, leaking out like broken water.
He couldn't even gather it.
Couldn't even move.
Three Qi Sea Realm core disciples…
all defeated.
In less than ten breaths.
Xu Ming had sealed his wounds with mystic power, but blood still poured from his mouth.
He stared at Lin Ye like he was staring at a monster.
"You… you… how is this possible…?"
Jin Liangfei lay on the ground, clutching the stump of his severed arm.
He couldn't even stand.
Lin Ye's moves were simple.
But they were terrifyingly effective—
each strike cutting off their mystic qi circulation like severing a nerve.
To Lin Ye, it was casual technique.
To them…
it was unthinkable.
After Gu Shusen bled for a moment, Lin Ye pulled his sword out.
The cold-iron sword's chill left Gu Shusen trembling violently, frost creeping across his wound.
But they were still alive.
Barely.
Lin Ye tossed all three together like broken trash.
His sword radiated a bone-chilling glow.
"Zhou Taian is dead, isn't he?"
Lin Ye's voice was calm.
"Who ordered you to kill me?"
Jin Liangfei glared through pain, still stubborn.
"W-what are you talking about?! Lin Ye, why are you attacking fellow disciples?! That's a capital crime!"
Lin Ye tilted his head.
"Wrong answer."
His sword flashed.
SHHK!
Jin Liangfei's throat opened in a clean line.
He grabbed at his neck, twitching, gurgling—
then collapsed.
Dead.
Lin Ye didn't even look at the corpse.
He turned to Gu Shusen.
"You."
Gu Shusen's mind was blank.
He had just been stabbed through the chest.
But what shattered him wasn't the wound—
it was watching Lin Ye kill Jin Liangfei without hesitation.
No anger. No hesitation. No emotion.
Just… execution.
Gu Shusen finally broke.
"T-the Affairs Hall…!"
"Xu Liang!"
"Xu Liang ordered us! He told us to kill you in secret!"
Xu Ming's eyes turned murderous as he stared at Gu Shusen.
"Gu Shusen, you idiot!"
"You think he'll spare you just because you talked?!"
Xu Ming wheezed, then turned desperately toward Lin Ye.
"Lin Ye—listen to me! I can help you!"
"The one who wants you dead isn't my father!"
"There's someone else! Someone higher!"
"And there are more people inside Dragon Void Cave who want you dead!"
His voice shook with panic.
"Let me live! I'll tell you everything! Everything!"
He coughed again, blood spraying.
Lin Ye's eyes narrowed.
He hadn't expected this identity to come with so many enemies.
So much trouble.
He simply wanted peace and cultivation—
but peace would not come.
Not yet.
Lin Ye stepped closer.
His tone turned cold.
"Talk."
"I'll let you live."
Xu Ming's eyes lit up like a drowning man seeing land.
He opened his mouth—
And in that instant—
A sharp whistle tore through the air.
SHHHK!
An arrow shot out from the distant forest—
and blew Xu Ming's head apart.
Blood and fragments sprayed outward.
Lin Ye's expression didn't change.
Then—
SHHHK! SHHHK! SHHHK!
Three more arrows snapped toward him.
These arrows were short-range bolts—fast, vicious, meant for killing at close distance.
Lin Ye raised his sword and casually deflected all three.
CLINK! CLINK! CLINK!
The arrows bounced away.
He glanced down—
Gu Shusen and Xu Ming were both dead now.
Bolts stuck in their bodies.
No doubt about it.
Loose ends.
Lin Ye remained perfectly still.
His eyes shifted toward the direction the arrows came from.
The hidden attacker didn't move again.
They probably didn't have confidence they could kill him.
Lin Ye's lips curved slightly.
A smile without warmth.
"If you want to play…"
His voice was low.
"Then I'll play with you."
"In my last life, things were too peaceful."
He lifted his sword slightly.
"People must've forgotten I'm not someone to provoke."
Behind him, the Mad Crocodile Pool churned violently.
The Cold Pool Mad Crocodile surged out, driven crazy by the smell of blood.
It began dragging corpses toward the water—
thrashing, feeding.
Lin Ye didn't even glance at it.
But then his eyes shifted.
His expression changed.
"…Damn."
"That girl."