Xu Liang turned around.
He stared at the boy before him—so familiar, yet strangely unfamiliar at the same time.
The hatred that had burned in his chest on the way here… gradually cooled.
Because in his mind, Lin Ye was already a dead man.
A corpse that would soon go down to the underworld and陪葬—accompany his son in death.
And because of that certainty, Xu Liang became calm.
He was the Manager of the Affairs Hall.
He controlled everything in the sect—missions, rewards, punishments, internal affairs.
Almost every major matter passed through his hands.
At first, he thought dealing with Lin Ye would be effortless.
Just a flick of the fingers.
But Lin Ye had proven more troublesome than expected.
Worse—
he had survived.
So this time, Xu Liang chose to act personally.
No more delays.
No more accidents.
"Looks like you figured things out."
Xu Liang's tone remained steady.
"I admit it. I underestimated you before."
"Today, I'm only here to ask one thing."
His eyes sharpened.
"My son… was he killed by you?"
Suspicion was one thing.
But Xu Liang wanted confirmation.
Lin Ye shook his head slightly.
"You can go ask him yourself."
A flicker of murderous fury exploded in Xu Liang's gaze.
In that instant, his aura ignited like wildfire.
Beneath his feet, earth-vein energy surged violently, rolling like a tide.
Earth Transformation Sixth Layer!
"I'll see how long that mouth of yours stays tough!"
Before coming here, Xu Liang had already set up a barrier formation around Lin Ye's courtyard.
For a short time, nothing from this place would leak out.
No one would sense anything.
And killing Lin Ye…
wouldn't take long.
Lin Ye calmly placed a pill into his mouth.
He didn't swallow it.
Instead, he held it on his tongue.
Even with his experience…
facing an Earth Transformation Sixth Layer expert required full focus.
A single mistake—
and death would follow.
"Secret Art… Frenzied Blood Curse!"
Lin Ye activated the technique immediately.
His mystic energy surged, exploding outward as if his meridians had expanded tenfold.
In less than a breath—
his aura pushed into Earth Transformation First Layer.
Xu Liang's eyes widened.
"…A secret art?!"
Then his expression twisted into excitement.
"You… you actually possess a secret art!"
"This must be from Lin Zhonghai!"
"That old bastard dared to hide secret arts from the sect—Lin Ye, you're dead!"
But in truth, Xu Liang was thrilled.
Because he could feel it.
The effect of this secret art was terrifying.
If he could seize it…
One day, he might even challenge Sixth Elder Geng Shiqiu.
That man was vicious and treacherous.
Xu Liang knew well—
if Geng Shiqiu ever became Sect Master,
the first person he would eliminate would be Xu Liang himself.
So Xu Liang wanted this secret art.
Desperately.
Lin Ye didn't waste words.
He stepped forward and struck first, thrusting with his sword.
Xu Liang raised his hand.
The earth-vein energy gathered instantly, forming a long spear of condensed mystic power.
"Dragon-Piercing Art!"
Xu Liang didn't intend to drag this out.
The spear spun violently, and dense spear-force erupted like a storm.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless piercing strikes engulfed Lin Ye's entire body.
But Lin Ye moved—
like he could see every flaw.
His footwork threaded through tiny gaps in the spear technique.
Each opening was extremely narrow…
yet Lin Ye stepped into them with unnatural precision.
Xu Liang's face changed.
"How is that possible?!"
He swept the spear horizontally.
The spear-force carved a trench half a foot deep into the ground, slicing toward Lin Ye like a blade.
Lin Ye lifted his sword—
and tapped a single point.
Clang!
The spear recoiled violently, thrown backward.
Xu Liang stepped back—
then turned and launched a deadly reverse thrust, a killing strike meant to pierce Lin Ye's heart.
But Lin Ye had already predicted it.
He closed the distance instantly, breaking Xu Liang's control of range.
"Pierce-Heaven Finger!"
Lin Ye's finger shot forward.
The finger-force tore through layers of defensive mystic armor—
but at the last moment, it shattered against something hard.
A backlash force exploded toward Lin Ye.
Lin Ye retreated immediately.
In a blink, he moved three zhang away.
"…Inner armor."
Lin Ye's eyes narrowed.
If not for that hidden inner armor, Xu Liang's body would've been pierced clean through.
Xu Liang's heart pounded wildly.
Cold sweat formed down his back.
He hadn't expected Lin Ye to force him into such danger.
If not for the armor…
things could've turned disastrous.
Fear surged.
And with it—
Xu Liang grew even more ruthless.
"That move…"
Xu Liang's voice trembled.
"…That was a Earth-grade martial technique, wasn't it?!"
An ordinary Profound-grade martial skill, even empowered by Lin Ye's cultivation, should never break an Earth Transformation defense so easily.
Xu Liang was Earth Transformation Sixth Layer.
Even if Lin Ye used a secret art to raise his realm—
Xu Liang still stood five sub-levels above him.
And yet Lin Ye almost injured him.
Lin Ye's expression didn't change.
It was as if Xu Liang wearing inner armor was not surprising at all.
"Blood Slaughter Nine Severings!"
Lin Ye unleashed all his mystic energy.
He slit his palm with the cold iron sword.
The sword drank his blood—
and instantly turned crimson.
Boom!
Nine blood-colored sword energies formed at once, roaring forward like a tidal wave.
Xu Liang's pupils shrank.
He didn't hesitate.
He immediately unleashed his strongest defensive spear technique.
"Steel-Wind Spear Barrier!"
A mid-grade Profound spear art.
His spear spun at terrifying speed, compressing his mystic energy into a shield-like spear barrier.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Sword energy after sword energy slammed into the barrier.
Xu Liang thought he could withstand it.
Even if it was an Earth-grade sword skill, so what?
But the first strike alone drained thirty percent of his power.
"…Not good!"
By the third strike, his spear shattered.
The fourth tore into his protective mystic armor.
The fifth shattered it completely.
The sixth crashed against his inner armor.
The seventh and eighth—
ripped the armor apart.
Then—
Boom!
The ninth sword energy arrived.
Only then did Xu Liang finally understand…
why even Yu Baiji lost to Lin Ye.
This wasn't Earth-grade.
This was beyond that.
This sword art was likely—
Heaven-grade.
Lin Ye… actually possessed a Heaven-grade sword technique!
Xu Liang crushed a jade talisman in his hand.
It was something he'd bought at an enormous price.
His final life-saving trump card.
The ninth sword energy shattered the talisman's barrier.
Xu Liang was blasted backward, organs burning like molten lava.
He spat a mouthful of blood.
His eyes were filled with terror.
"You… you actually possess a Heaven-grade sword technique!"
Then suddenly—
Xu Liang started laughing.
A loud, crazed laugh.
"Hahaha!"
"Stupid! So stupid!"
"You didn't expect me to survive, did you?!"
"You forced out such a powerful move—your mystic energy must be completely exhausted!"
"And I…"
"Even with only ten percent left, I can kill you like slaughtering a dog!"
Xu Liang stood tall again.
Triumph surged through him.
But then—
Lin Ye's throat moved.
He swallowed the pill he had held in his mouth all along.
Instant Qi Pill.
The pill's power erupted.
A vast force poured into Lin Ye like a flood.
Boom!
His mystic energy surged back violently.
Xu Liang's smile froze.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"You… you… that…"
"That's impossible!"
In the blink of an eye—
Lin Ye recovered seventy percent of his mystic energy.
He had indeed exhausted himself just now.
But now?
Seventy percent was more than enough.
Enough… to strike again.
"Blood Slaughter Nine Severings!"
Lin Ye spoke calmly.
This time, he didn't even need blood as a catalyst.
The cold iron sword became the core.
Nine sword energies formed again and roared toward Xu Liang.
"No…!!!"
Xu Liang screamed.
But it was already too late.
The nine sword energies descended—
and tore him apart.
Boom!
Xu Liang exploded into a spray of flesh and blood, like the cold潭狂鳄 had once been.
Clink.
A storage ring rolled across the ground.
Lin Ye lifted his hand.
The ring flew into his grasp.
Killing Xu Liang brought no pride.
No pleasure.
It was simply the death of a man who was always meant to die.
Then—
Lin Ye's expression tightened.
He didn't relax.
Not even after the kill.
Because at that moment—
a terrifying force crashed down from above.
Boom!
A colossal palm imprint descended from the sky.
Lin Ye's entire courtyard was shattered into rubble in a single strike.
Lin Ye swung his hand.
A massive giant serpent skull appeared before him.
The palm destroyed everything around it—
but the skull remained intact.
Because it was the skull of a fifth-rank beast.
Lin Ye looked up.
A faint smile appeared.
"Interesting."
"Couldn't win by scheming, so now you're going public?"
"Fine."
"That saves me the trouble."
The clouds above parted.
A white-robed elderly figure stepped forward, his presence dominating the sky.
Sixth Elder.
Geng Shiqiu.
The aura he radiated…
was absolutely overwhelming.
Earth Transformation Ninth Layer!