"Too shameless..."
Ling Ren Fazhi frowned, "Lin Zhao, don't you think this way of playing is disgusting?"
"???"
Lin Zhao looked at Ling Ren Fazhi and said, "No, after all, my methods only disgust those who are disgusting."
"..."
Ding Dang Mao frowned, "Kill!"
But the next second, Ding Dang Mao couldn't speak. Lin Zhao had already put away his sword, his body enveloped by wisps of white Qi swirling with the momentum of troops and horses. Moreover, under the suppressive effect of his own vast and profound small world, it was a case of diminishing the enemy's strength while augmenting one's own. Even without using the Speed Talisman, Lin Zhao possessed incredible speed. After all, the increase in movement techniques from the martial artist realm and the Leap Across the River was substantial. Ding Dang Mao could barely see him clearly before a punch landed on his abdomen, directly shattering his shield and dealing over 10,000 HP damage.
"You..."
As Ding Dang Mao looked up, Lin Zhao's second punch arrived. It landed on Ding Dang Mao's abdomen, dealing over 60,000 damage, instantly turning the physically weak Golden Core pháp sư into a shower of blood in the air. In fact, Lin Zhao increasingly enjoyed the feeling of killing with his fists. He found immense pleasure in watching the opponent instantly dissolve into a shower of blood.
Perhaps this was the effect of the military aura stimulated during the continuous talisman crafting. This aura had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that it could significantly boost Lin Zhao's attack power and directly overwhelm the opponent with sheer presence during a confrontation, achieving a certain suppressive effect. The disadvantage was that the heavy aura could make Lin Zhao lose rationality and even become somewhat bloodthirsty.
Fortunately, he still had half of his identity as a Confucian disciple, embodying gentleness, respect, frugality, and humility, which were deeply etched in his heart. Currently, this could still restrain the military's bloodlust.
"Fuck you, Lin Zhao!!!"
Ling Ren Fazhi, seeing that he was about to be killed, couldn't help but resort to verbal attacks.
Before he could finish speaking, his body had already soared into the air, struck in the abdomen by a punch, his body hunched over and flying towards the sky. As Ling Ren Fazhi reached the highest point, he felt an extremely powerful fist intent erupting in the air. Lin Zhao used the "Swallow the Marsh Fist" technique to kill for the first time. A punch descended from the sky, like a torrential downpour of fist intent. With a loud "peng," Ling Ren Fazhi's body was baptized, his HP bar instantly emptied, turning into a shower of blood, dealing over 70,000 damage without even a critical hit. This clearly demonstrated the terrifying power of the fourth style of the Farmer's Nine Fists.
If Lin Zhao were to hit a heavy tank with the fourth style and get a critical hit, there was still a chance to instantly kill most heavy tanks.
...
"Swish!"
Upon killing Ling Ren Fazhi, Lin Zhao leveled up to 154. He was slightly astonished and quickly checked the combat log. Indeed, in the Ancient Dragon Marsh map, killing players from opposing factions granted 25% of the opponent's current level experience. This was the same as the innate buff of the Northern Four Tribes, meaning everyone was on equal footing in this map.
"Hoo..."
He took a deep breath. Good. This time, he was truly going to unleash carnage. To what extent? Until those players quit the Northern Four Tribes and rejoined their original factions. What is meant by the prevailing trend of the world? It means that this world is about interests. Where there are more interests, many people will flock to it. If those traitors cannot be educated from within their hearts, then coercing them with the prevailing trend is also a method of resolution, and one that Lin Zhao quite approves of.
In the wind, Lin Zhao dispersed his vast and profound small world and flew north on his sword.
Earlier, Guo Ke Wu Ming and Ben Mo Ruo seemed to have dropped loot, but Lin Zhao was in a hurry to kill and didn't pick it up. It didn't matter much. Those spoils had fallen among the human players, benefiting the world, which was fine.
To the north, the land was densely populated with monsters from the first refresh, starting at level 161, and all of them were Ghost God-level monsters. The experience and drop rates were "x3" compared to external maps. This was the reason players fought tooth and nail to enter the Ancient Dragon Marsh. If they could navigate it smoothly, they would surely be well-fed and satisfied.
Lin Zhao rode his sword north, entering the depths of the first layer of the map, and then charged into the dense monster horde with his sword. The 36 Ephemeral Flying Swords in his orange gourd automatically activated the Thirty-Six Killing techniques, instantly bringing forth a cleansing rain. The HP bars of groups of monsters visibly dropped one after another. Coupled with the assault of twenty flying swords, Lin Zhao's solo leveling speed was likely equivalent to that of 2-3 top-tier mages.
...
East side of the first layer map.
The Star River Guild's exploration team was steadily pushing forward through the jungle. Su Xinghe, an eighth-realm Golden Core Sword cultivator, rode his sword, brandishing his own sword as he charged through the monster horde, unleashing skill after skill into the pack. However, what always bothered him was that although Su Xinghe had entered the eighth realm of Golden Core for a very long time, he had yet to grasp the threshold of the ninth realm, Nascent Soul.
This made him quite dejected. After all, the benefits of reaching the Nascent Soul realm were immense, allowing for the refinement of an additional 17 flying swords. But the barrier to the Nascent Soul realm was incredibly firm. No matter how hard Su Xinghe practiced his sword, nurtured his sword intent, or sought guidance from his master Cao Ying, Cao Ying always repeated the same words, telling him to cultivate his mind more. But he had no idea how to cultivate his state of mind.
"Boss."
Behind Su Xinghe, the vice-guild leader, the beautiful mage Yun Mi Wu Suo, furrowed her brows and said, "Our people just sent back a combat video from the entrance not long ago. Those extremely vicious thorns, Guo Ke Wu Ming, Ben Mo Ruo, Ling Ren Fazhi, Ding Dang Mao, and Lei Lei Lei Lei Lei, have all been removed by Lin Zhao."
"Ah?!"
The next moment, Yun Mi Wu Suo shared the combat video in the team channel. The instant Su Xinghe opened it, he witnessed Lin Zhao's incredibly sharp killing methods. Initiated by a Speed Talisman, he instantly killed Guo Ke Wu Ming and Ben Mo Ruo without giving them any chance to retaliate. He then summoned a small world, enclosing Ling Ren Fazhi and the other three mages. Nothing could be seen in the video, but when Lin Zhao released the small world, the loot of Ling Ren Fazhi and the others fell among the crowd, all of them having been killed.
"So fast!"
The vice-guild leader Feng Bing Cao Jia frowned, "Lin Zhao's current sword cultivator killing power has reached a whole new height. I heard from friends in the Scarlet Moon Knights that the orange gourd on Lin Zhao's waist is a legendary Immortal Gourd, a top-tier treasure of superior immortal grade, nurturing dozens of tiny flying swords that kill without a trace. This person's current combat strength is truly terrifying."
"Mm."
Su Xinghe nodded, somewhat disinclined to speak. Lin Zhao could instantly kill Guo Ke Wu Ming, but what about himself? Su Xinghe had dueled Guo Ke Wu Ming and Ding Chunqiu, and frankly, his win rate against both of them was difficult to exceed fifty percent, with a significant chance of being killed. Yet, these two were nothing in front of Lin Zhao, which made Su Xinghe feel quite stifled.
From the perspective of faction and righteousness, it was a great thing for the human race to have a player like Lin Zhao. However, from a player's perspective, Lin Zhao's unchecked dominance had severely diminished Su Xinghe's reputation in the national server. When "Tian Xia" first launched, Su Xinghe was once hailed as a "quasi-king," and some even believed he could inherit the mantle of Ding Muchen, the "Last Knight of the Nation" from the fourth game "Tian Xing" over a hundred years ago. Now, it seemed unlikely!
Ding Muchen had replicated a memory to become a fourteenth-realm military sword cultivator in "Tian Xia." His mantle was clearly and steadily passed on to his junior brother, Lin Zhao. If one were to ask who the strongest sword cultivator in the national server was currently, over 90% of players would undoubtedly say Lin Zhao. How many people would still consider it to be Su Xinghe?
The times and destiny seemed to be not on his side, Su Xinghe.
"Actually."
Yun Mi Wu Suo's red lips parted slightly, her beautiful eyes looking at the figure of the guild leader Su Xinghe ahead. In the team channel, she said, "Lin Zhao's strength is a good thing for the national server, after all, Lin Zhao himself is not very selfish. He didn't rush into the depths of the map first to compete for resources, but instead dealt with the cancerous growths like Guo Ke Wu Ming first. Imagine, if there were no Lin Zhao in the national server, who could suppress Guo Ke Wu Ming? Lin Zhao clearing out Guo Ke Wu Ming and his group first is a boon to the national server players. As for you, boss, you don't need to feel any psychological pressure. Let go of your state of mind, treat Lin Zhao as a true brother and ally, and perhaps your state of mind will open up, allowing you to directly enter the Nascent Soul realm."
"It's not that easy."
Su Xinghe gave a bitter smile and said, "But little sister, you are right. I truly have no reason to treat Lin Zhao as an enemy of our Star River. On the contrary, he is our ally. Cultivation in the martial world is a personal matter, and there's no need to compete with others. The most important thing is to compete with oneself."
"That's good."
Feng Bing Cao Jia chuckled and said, "I think you'll break through to Nascent Soul in the next few days. It seems I also need to improve my state of mind and see when I can touch the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm."
Su Xinghe said solemnly, "Maintain constant contact with the other guilds. Once needed, we will form an alliance to clear out guilds like Han Ye Chang, Cang Zhi Knights, and Quan Yuan E Ren."
"Mm!"
...
Fusu Great Wall.
In a dilapidated hall, the cold wind howled. This was where Lu Xinghe had decided to lead the people of Fusu Great Wall north for a meeting. Over a hundred years later, it remained unchanged.
Lin Wanhua held the Sun Moon Water Fire Cudgel, which was wrapped in layers of silk cloth. Wisps of sword intent descended around her arms, sealing the demonic energy within the Sun Moon Water Fire Cudgel. Her expression was solemn as she looked at Elder Dong Fuzi. "Master Fuzi is returning to Wenlin?"
"I must leave."
Elder Dong Fuzi smiled, "The longer I stay in my hometown, the more reluctant I am to leave. No matter how many years pass, I will yearn for home, and the more luck I will deplete. People like me do not have the right to travel through the mountains and rivers like you all."
Lin Wanhua nodded and smiled lightly, "I understand. This time, thank you, Master Fuzi, for your assistance."
"No need for thanks."
Old Fuzi smiled and said, "It is our Confucian Wenlin that should thank City Lord Lin for his assistance."
"This Sun Moon Water Fire Cudgel?"
"Send it to the Mohist Ancestral Hall and hand it over to the Grand Master. Everything else will depend on the Mohist Ancestral Hall's plans."
"Understood."