As Lin Feng released his martial soul, perhaps even he himself did not realize how calm and confident he was at that moment. This sense of control made him merely tilt his head when the arrows whistled through the air. If it were not for his incomparable confidence and superlative calmness, who could have done such a thing?
With a step, his figure blurred, and Lin Feng instantly appeared before the crowd, rendering their arrows ineffective.
His long sword swung with precision that was almost inhuman. Just as a martial cultivator was about to dodge, he found a sword descending from the heavens, leaving no room for evasion. One sword, and the man was obliterated.
"Release your martial souls, kill him," Lan Hai shouted, but his own body retreated wildly. When Lin Feng approached him, he felt a deep-seated fear, especially when he saw those eyes that were calm to the extreme. Lan Hai felt his soul tremble.
Hearing Lan Hai's words, the crowd immediately came to their senses, and various martial souls blossomed, turning the dark night suddenly bright.
Behind Lin Feng, one person's martial soul was a plant-type soul, specifically vines. This martial soul made the body incredibly flexible, and when the cultivator's strength grew, the martial soul could solidify, entangle enemies, and make the martial cultivator as supple as a boneless body, capable of deforming at will.
This person moved silently, like a vine spreading through the air without a trace. Seeing his hand about to touch Lin Feng, a sinister smile appeared on his face.
But just as he was gloating, a dazzling light pierced his eyes, and his life was swallowed by the sword's glow.
The sword, swift to the extreme, precise to the extreme, and ruthless to the extreme, made no superfluous movements. In an instant, it struck and killed.
After delivering this strike, Lin Feng did not stop. The sword's light cut through the night, and a flash of blood appeared as another person fell in the darkness.
At this moment, eighth and ninth-stage Qi Martial Realm cultivators could not withstand a single strike from Lin Feng's sword. The precision of his timing and the speed of his strikes made it impossible for them to dodge.
"Coming right at you." A meteor hammer whistled from behind Lin Feng, aiming straight for his head. If he were hit, Lin Feng would either die or lose his fighting ability.
"Want to dodge?"
Just as Lin Feng was about to turn, a long spear pierced the air in front of him, with immense force. The attack from both front and back was perfectly timed, leaving Lin Feng with no chance of survival.
"Kill."
Lin Feng let out a light shout, and his long sword flew out of his hand, directly piercing the chest of the person in front of him.
The man's body stiffened, staring blankly at the sword in his chest. He never imagined that Lin Feng would dare to abandon his sword at such a critical moment.
Though Lin Feng was also at the ninth stage of the Spirit Martial Realm, he was indeed stronger than them, but they were many. If just one of them hit Lin Feng, he would be severely injured, and the cost of being injured was death. In such a perilous situation, how could they have thought that Lin Feng would abandon his sword?
His eyes fixed on Lin Feng, he wanted to see how Lin Feng would be struck by the meteor hammer before he died.
"Boom!"
A powerful explosion echoed, and the sword's light was even more brilliant. Before the meteor hammer could arrive, the head of the person using it had already flown off, and Lin Feng's hand held a blood-soaked soft sword.
"I see."
The man closed his eyes, and his body fell to the ground.
At this moment, the head was just beginning to fall from the air, and the crowd stopped their attack. They all knew that no one could withstand that brilliant strike.
The art of drawing the sword, where the sword must drink blood upon being drawn, was not something a ninth-stage Qi Martial Realm cultivator could resist.
The crowd forgot to attack, but Lin Feng did not. One after another, brilliant lights bloomed, and with each light, blood accompanied it. No strike was wasted, and each sword released its full power.
At this moment, Lin Feng had long forgotten mercy. In his heart, there was only calm and coldness.
Lan Hai watched as the strong ones fell one by one, his body trembling uncontrollably. These were all eighth and ninth-stage Qi Martial Realm cultivators, a formidable force even in the City Lord's residence. But now, they were like straw, allowing Lin Feng to slaughter them at will, one step, one kill.
What made Lin Feng's sword so deadly? And those eyes, so calm that they terrified Lan Hai. Lin Feng, immersed in slaughter, seemed like a different person.
The sound of the sword grew louder, drowning out the sound of the rain. In the space ahead, it seemed that only the纵横的剑气 (纵横的剑气 means "crisscrossing sword qi") remained, and this sword qi continued to grow stronger.
"Run."
Lan Hai snapped out of his shock, with only one thought in his mind: to get away from this demon.
Without hesitation, Lan Hai turned and ran.
"Want to run now? Don't you think it's a bit late?"
A mocking voice echoed in the darkness, and the sound of the sword suddenly disappeared, leaving only the sound of Lin Feng's footsteps in the puddles.
Lan Hai's steps froze, facing Lin Feng, and he forced a smile that was more painful than crying.
"Lin Feng, you know this has nothing to do with me. It was the young lady who wanted to kill you. I was just following orders."
"I know," Lin Feng nodded, and Lan Hai's heart leaped with joy, seeing a glimmer of hope.
"So, a dog, killed is just killed. It's not worth mourning." Lin Feng's next words made Lan Hai's body stiffen, and then he saw the last light of his life, the light that swallowed him.
Looking at the fallen Lan Hai, Lin Feng's face was expressionless. He turned to look at the bodies lying on the ground, lifted his feet, and gradually walked away.
"Nalan Feng."
A low voice echoed in the rainy night, drifting in the air.
Lin Feng did not know how long he had walked, but he arrived at a dark, desolate wilderness. He sat cross-legged on the ground, and a white glow pulsed continuously. The elemental energy around Lin Feng seemed to take on a tangible form, flowing over his body. At the moment his martial soul stirred, Lin Feng knew he was about to break through.
A martial soul, it is said, is a part of a martial cultivator's soul, capable of communing with the spirit. When a martial soul is about to awaken as a life-bound soul, the cultivator can sense it.
Sitting on the ground, Lin Feng furrowed his brows. At this moment, he had a very peculiar feeling, something indescribable, as if something was calling to him from the depths of the universe.
A moment later, a tearing pain came, making Lin Feng's mind tense. He knew the most dangerous moment had arrived.
Only those with unwavering willpower could have their martial souls awaken as life-bound souls. This was a universally accepted truth on the continent, and no one doubted it. Those with weak willpower could not have their martial souls awaken as life-bound souls.
The tearing pain gradually intensified, and Lin Feng had the illusion that someone was tearing his soul apart, shattering it into pieces. The pain of his soul being torn made Lin Feng bite his lip, and a trickle of blood appeared.
"Pain, how can it be so painful." Lin Feng had underestimated the pain of a martial soul awakening. The injuries he had endured in his past life were nothing compared to the pain he was facing now. The pain of tearing the soul, unless experienced personally, could not be described.
The rain gradually stopped, but Lin Feng was still drenched. He could not tell if it was rain or sweat. At this moment, he forgot everything, focusing only on enduring the pain.
"Ah..." A hoarse scream escaped Lin Feng's lips. The pain had not subsided, and an even more terrifying soul pain descended upon him, making him wish for death.
"If I cannot endure this pain, my martial soul will not awaken as a life-bound soul. In this life, I will still be bullied, just like when my father and I were expelled from the family, and people like Lin Qian and Nalan could kill me at will. Living in such humiliation is not worth living this life again."
Lin Feng gritted his teeth, his firm resolve pushing the pain aside. No one could stop his determination to become stronger, not even the heavens.
The pain could not erode Lin Feng's strong will, and it seemed to be fading. Lin Feng's tense heart relaxed slightly. The awakening of his martial soul as a life-bound soul should be fine now.
"Ah!"
A heart-wrenching scream echoed, and Lin Feng's body trembled violently. Another wave of pain, several times more intense than before, tore through him, making him close his eyes and bleed from his seven orifices.
"Damn heavens, I... damn it!" Lin Feng's mouth spat out a few words, and his body trembled, then he fell straight to the ground, unconscious.