Chapter 455: Lost to the Point of Questioning Life

Jian Linyuan smiled faintly: "No, no, I cultivate the art of killing.""My life's principle is to kill, not to fight.""I only strike when the target must be killed."

Jiang Fan's pupils constricted."Are there really people in this world who cultivate the art of killing?"He had read about it in an ancient book.

Among the myriad cultivation methods, some were extremely niche. The art of killing was one of them. Those who walked this path often met a terrible end, because upon reaching its peak, there was only one outcome: becoming a demon.

Cultivating this art not only involved learning various fierce, dangerous, and terrifying techniques; it also required consuming the blood of tyrannical demonic beasts from a young age to cultivate a bloodthirsty lineage.

Once they struck, the bloodthirsty lineage would automatically activate, causing them to enter a berserk, blood-crazed state. Hearing, sight, touch, perception, and agility would all instantly elevate to superhuman levels. Combined with their killing techniques, their combat power was terrifyingly formidable.

Most frighteningly, in the bloodthirsty state, one lost all reason. They would fight continuously until their opponent was dead. Who wouldn't be afraid to encounter such a mad and dangerous warrior? The art of killing was widely recognized as the school with the strongest combat power.

The reason it became obscure was that the deeper one cultivated it, the more their sanity would be affected by the bloodthirsty lineage. Eventually, they would lose their human consciousness and reason permanently, becoming completely insane and demonic. Their ultimate fate was either to be slain prematurely by powerful individuals, or to be cut down after wreaking havoc as a demon. In short, no one was an exception.

The person before him, with silver hair and calm, wise eyes, was actually a legendary practitioner of the art of killing. This was completely different from the image Jiang Fan had imagined: tyrannical, erratic, and prone to anger.

Jiang Fan nodded: "That's even better.""As for which sect I belong to, it's the same as yours.""No comment!"

Having said that, he circulated his spiritual energy beneath his feet, preparing to use a movement technique to leave. Jian Linyuan did not force him to stay.

He simply smiled gently and affably: "It's fine if you don't say. With your strength, you will come to the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets sooner or later. You'll know then. As your future senior brother, I'll give you a reminder. The demonic aura on you is just beginning to manifest; if you continue to kill, you will be plagued by blood qi. At that point, you will become a common enemy of the demonic race."

Jiang Fan's gaze flickered. He recalled Ye Cangyuan, who guarded this place. Ye Cangyuan had killed too much, resulting in a visible layer of blood qi flowing around his body. Taking note of his words, Jiang Fan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for the reminder!""Farewell!"

With a whoosh, he transformed into an afterimage and vanished into the vast snowfield.

Leng Qingzhu and the others sat on the ground, somewhat dazed. A male disciple, at the fourth level of Core Formation, suddenly asked, "We... just lost?" The others also felt a similar sense of unreality, as if in a dream. A group of prodigies from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets had suffered a crushing defeat to an unknown young man who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Even if it were a dream, it would be an incredibly absurd one. Yet, it had truly happened.

*Thump—*

Leng Qingzhu angrily pounded the demonic beast corpse behind her. "Where did that scoundrel get so many techniques?""It's preposterous!"

Shang Shiqiu also grumbled indignantly: "Exactly! He's practically cheating! After using so many techniques against Senior Sister Leng, he could still deploy a sound-based technique! It's utterly ridiculous!"

They thought back to the types of techniques Jiang Fan had used. A rough count revealed as many as eight different kinds! And the lowest among them were all of the Earth-tier, low-grade level. Not a single one was an ordinary, flashy technique.

"Is he even human?" Leng Qingzhu's eyes welled up with tears of grievance. In terms of strength, she was definitely among the best at the fifth level of Core Formation. She won far more often than she lost. As for those below her cultivation realm, it went without saying she had never been defeated. But today, she had been thoroughly pressed to the ground and trampled by Jiang Fan.

In just a brief moment, he had unleashed seven Earth-tier techniques. How was anyone supposed to fight that?!

To their surprise, Jian Linyuan, with his hands behind his back, gazed in the direction Jiang Fan had departed and said, "Eight Earth-tier techniques are merely the limit of your understanding. They are not his limit."

"What?" Leng Qingzhu wiped away her tears and said in astonishment, "Senior Brother Jian, you're not saying that this person still has another technique he hasn't used, are you?" The rest of them were completely dumbfounded. "There's more?""Is that guy sure he's not some monster in human skin?"

Jian Linyuan shook his head slightly: "Not just one. It's many. One that we know of is an extremely dangerous soul attack technique. He didn't use it at all, which shows he held back against you."

Only then did Leng Qingzhu recall Jian Linyuan mentioning that the pangolin demon, which had escaped earlier, had suffered a soul injury. So, the person who had struck it was Jiang Fan! The pangolin demon was also at the fifth level of Core Formation; if its soul could be injured, how much better would she fare if it were used on her?

"That guy is truly a freak!" Leng Qingzhu exclaimed, clicking her tongue.

Jian Linyuan's eyes showed a hint of profound meaning: "Moreover, my intuition tells me, he also possesses a very dangerous weapon. The last thing that gave me such a feeling was the Pavilion Master's personal magic artifact."

"What?" Leng Qingzhu's pupils sharply contracted. The Pavilion Master of Heavenly Secrets' personal magic artifact was... a Spirit Tool! She gasped, drawing in a sharp breath. Her unwillingness to accept defeat completely vanished. If Jiang Fan had used a soul attack from the start, and then employed a Spirit Tool, her corpse would most likely have been stone cold.

Shang Shiqiu's mouth hung wide open: "He... he really is a little monster! Then, Senior Brother Jian, since you knew, why didn't you stop us earlier? Not only did we lose face, but we also lost the demonic cores we worked so hard to get."

Leng Qingzhu also cast a resentful glance. If they had known earlier how terrifying that guy was, they would never have provoked him, let alone gambled on a fight.

Jian Linyuan chuckled softly: "When I said that Junior Sister Leng might not be his match, did anyone listen to my words?" Hearing this, Leng Qingzhu's pretty face flushed, and the others looked embarrassed. They had prided themselves on being prodigies of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets; how could they possibly take a junior disciple from the Nine Sects seriously? No amount of persuasion would have worked.

Jian Linyuan walked towards the northern reaches with his hands behind his back, smiling: "One hundred words from a person are useless, but one experience from an event imprints itself on the heart. Spending five demonic cores to buy an unforgettable lesson is not a loss!"

Leng Qingzhu's face became even redder. She bit her silver teeth slightly and asked, "Then where do we go now to find beast kings? Having lost so many demonic cores, they needed to quickly find a way to make up for it."

Jian Linyuan looked towards the north, his silver hair fluttering, and calmly uttered a few words: "Within demonic territory."

"What?" The others suspected they had misheard. Leng Qingzhu said, "Senior Brother Jian, wouldn't the front lines be safer?" There would be no backup whatsoever within demonic territory.

Jian Linyuan calmly replied: "Disciples of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets should act like disciples of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. Don't contend for gains with the disciples of the Nine Sects. We will go to dangerous places. Leave the beast kings on the front lines to them."

Leng Qingzhu exchanged glances with the others, then immediately followed. Although they were not the only group of disciples from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets who had come this time, and not all disciples of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets would, like them, avoid contending for gains with the Nine Sects' disciples, it was enough for them to do what they thought was right.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan, after repeatedly using his movement technique, landed on a towering snow-capped mountain. He surveyed his surroundings, searching for demonic beasts that had infiltrated the rear. After seven or eight days of encirclement and suppression, most of the demonic beasts that had breached the defense line had been killed.

Just as Jiang Fan was considering whether to directly rush to the front lines, a snow-white spiritual horse, pursued by a ferocious second-level Core Formation beast king, galloped past the foot of the mountain. Jiang Fan was initially pleased; a demonic core was practically delivering itself. However, his expression immediately darkened. That white spiritual horse... it was Xia Chaoge's!