22: Chapter 22 Breakthrough to First-Tier Martial Artist, One-Sword Instant Kill

While the Liu Family was at their wits' end, a phone call broke the silence.

"Hello, Patriarch Liu. I'm Yao Weiwei, a good friend of Liu Ning. I think I might know who harmed him," a cold girl's voice came through the phone.

As the Liu Family conducted a high-profile investigation into Liu Ning's cause of death, Yao Weiwei received the news and suddenly grew nervous.

She was the one who told Liu Ning about Lin Anran, and now that Liu Ning had met with an accident, she instinctively felt danger approaching her.

Lin Yuan did indeed want to wait for an opportunity to seek revenge on her; after all, with his current strength, he wasn't yet powerful enough to do whatever he pleased.

Yao Weiwei suspected that Lin Yuan was the one who killed Liu Ning. She made inquiries everywhere, even reaching out to the training camp.

When she learned that Lin Yuan was powerful and had even defeated Hao Qiang, she was truly terrified.

She didn't want to die, so she decided to strike first by proactively contacting Liu Qingyun.

"Who is it?" Liu Qingyun asked immediately upon hearing Yao Weiwei's words.

"It's Lin Yuan from Class 3, Grade 12 at No. 6 High School. Liu Ning pursued his sister before, but for some reason, she jumped off a building. Lin Yuan must have killed Liu Ning to avenge his sister."

Yao Weiwei said sinisterly. Hearing this, Liu Qingyun looked at his subordinate, who immediately nodded and said:

"Patriarch, this Lin Yuan did go to Gloomy Valley that day, but he's just a high school senior. We didn't think he was capable of the crime, though we did investigate him. He only has Body Tempering Initial Stage strength."

"That's not it! Lin Yuan hid his strength. In reality, he's extremely powerful and has definitely reached the Body Tempering Mid-stage. He has a sufficient motive; it's definitely him!"

Hearing the subordinate's words, Yao Weiwei immediately countered. Regardless of whether it was Lin Yuan, she wanted him dead. As long as Lin Yuan wasn't eliminated, she wouldn't be able to eat or sleep in peace.

"Really? It seems this Lin Yuan is a prime suspect. Where is he now?" Liu Qingyun asked with a grim expression.

"According to our investigation, he has been in the Crimson Forest for the past few days," the subordinate replied quickly.

"Good! Follow me! Even if he's a First-Order Martial Artist, I will kill him with my own hands!" Liu Qingyun stood up and roared.

"Yes!"

"Patriarch Liu, can I come along? I want to see Lin Yuan pay the price for his evil deeds!"

Yao Weiwei needed to see Lin Yuan killed with her own eyes to feel at ease.

"Fine, let's go together!"

Subsequently, Liu Qingyun brought a subordinate and entered the Crimson Forest with Yao Weiwei, intending to kill Lin Yuan there.

Liu Qingyun was a First Order Peak expert, not someone a newly advanced First-Order Martial Artist could contend with.

...

For the past few days, Lin Yuan had been sweeping through the outer perimeter, accumulating up to 16,000 ability points. The Martial Arts Level on the system panel also indicated that he could level up.

"I've mostly cleared the outer area. It's time to go deeper and hunt first-order dire beasts. But before that, I'll raise my Martial Arts Level to Martial Artist First Order Initial Stage. It'll be safer that way; even if a First Order Peak dire beast appears, I'll be able to handle it easily."

With that thought, Lin Yuan chose to level up without hesitation.

[Ding! Congratulations host, you have advanced to Martial Artist First Order Initial Stage. System panel opening—]

[host]: Lin Yuan

[Ability]: S-rank Spatial Ability

[Martial Arts]: Martial Artist First Order Initial Stage

[combat power]: 18,000 [Upgradeable]

[Martial Arts]: Space Dimensional Slash A (Advanced), Heaven Burning Body Refining Art S (Skin Burning Realm 20%)

[Skills]: Spirit Devouring, Swordsmanship (Elementary) [Upgradeable]

[ability points]: 10,000 points

"Is this the strength of a Martial Artist? So powerful—"

Lin Yuan clenched his fists and felt his skyrocketing strength. He felt that if he encountered a martial artist of Yang Yantao's level again, he could kill them with a single palm strike.

"I'm still 2,000 combat power short of the First Order Peak standard. I'll upgrade my Swordsmanship to Advanced first, then put the rest into combat power."

Ever since Lin Yuan obtained the snow drifting sword, he had been practicing hard for the past few days, and his Swordsmanship had reached Elementary proficiency.

Increasing Swordsmanship proficiency not only makes the techniques more profound and eliminates flaws, but also significantly boosts the power of the sword strikes based on one's own combat power.

Subsequently, Lin Yuan spent 2,000 ability points to upgrade his Swordsmanship to Advanced, and allocated the remaining 8,000 points entirely to combat power.

His combat power soared to 22,000, exceeding the First Order Peak standard of 20,000 by 2,000 points.

"My combat power has reached the First Order Peak, and with Advanced Swordsmanship, I shouldn't have many rivals within the first order. It's time to go deeper; plenty of ability points are waiting for me."

Lin Yuan smiled with satisfaction and walked toward the depths of the Crimson Forest.

After heading a thousand meters deep, Lin Yuan encountered a first-order dire beast—a Body Tempering Peak creature. Lin Yuan stepped forward and threw a punch.

Bang!

The tiger-shaped dire beast was knocked to the ground, and a milky-white soul body drifted out of its body.

[Spirit Devouring] skill activated. Lin Yuan opened his mouth slightly, and a wisp of milky-white current was sucked in. 150 ability points were acquired.

Just as Lin Yuan was about to leave, he frowned and looked toward the shadows nearby.

"Come out!"

Lin Yuan shouted lowly, and three figures stepped out.

"Your strength is indeed not low. Did you kill my son, Liu Ning?" Liu Qingyun asked with a dark expression.

Lin Yuan ignored him completely, looking instead at Yao Weiwei.

"Yao Weiwei, why did you harm my sister?" Lin Yuan asked calmly.

"You found out? But you're wrong, hehe—how did I harm her?"

"I'm the School Beauty of No. 6 High School, and all the boys revolve around me. But as soon as Lin Anran arrived, a little girl who just started her freshman year actually stole all my spotlight."

"For such an outstanding beauty, I kindly introduced Young Master Liu to her. Can you really say I harmed her?"

Yao Weiwei smiled disdainfully, speaking her mind without restraint.

"Yao Weiwei, you're looking for death! I was planning to find a suitable time to deal with you, but I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to my doorstep." The corners of Lin Yuan's mouth curled up slightly.

"Deal with me? Hahahaha—do you even have the chance? This is Patriarch Liu, a First Order Peak martial artist. Since you dared to kill his son, you're certain to die today. And you still want to kill me? What a joke!" Yao Weiwei laughed wildly.

"Kid, answer me! Did you kill my son or not?" Liu Qingyun asked again.

"Yes, that's right, I killed him. He harmed my sister; your son deserved to die!" Lin Yuan admitted it directly without any evasion.

"Good, good, good! You little beast! Since you've admitted it, I'll kill you first, then wipe out your entire family!"

Saying this, Liu Qingyun drew a long saber and lunged at Lin Yuan. The subordinate he brought immediately circled behind Lin Yuan to prevent him from escaping.

Meanwhile, Yao Weiwei crossed her arms and walked to the side, preparing to watch the show.

Hearing Liu Qingyun's words, Lin Yuan's expression darkened.

Clang!

floating snow unsheathed.

With a single sword thrust, snowflakes immediately filled the air.

"Hmph! Flashy but useless. Before absolute strength, everything you do is in vain!" Liu Qingyun said disdainfully, slashing his saber at floating snow.

Clang!

With a crisp sound, the long saber in Liu Qingyun's hand instantly snapped into two pieces and flew into the air, while he himself was sent staggering back by the shock.

"What? Impossible! You—what is your strength?!"

Liu Qingyun was shocked; Lin Yuan's combat power was actually higher than his, and his swordsmanship was terrifyingly sharp.

His arm was still trembling slightly, and he was almost unable to hold onto the broken saber.

Lin Yuan took a step forward, his figure strangely traversing through space to appear in front of Liu Qingyun, with floating snow aiming straight for the other's heart.

This was the spatial ability he could use after reaching the Martial Artist realm: Space Warp.

It allowed him to enter and exit sub-space, achieving a short-distance teleportation effect.

Puchi!

The snow drifting sword instantly pierced Liu Qingyun's heart.

With a thud, Liu Qingyun collapsed to his knees. Both hands gripped the blade, blood continuously spilling from his mouth and hands, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"You—how old are you? It's impossible for you to be this strong. What kind of monster are you? —"

Liu Qingyun was filled with regret. In his haste for revenge, he hadn't expected the opponent to be such a freakish genius. A First Order Peak expert like him was actually going to die at the hands of an eighteen-year-old youth.

"Regret? Too late!"

floating snow suddenly spun in Lin Yuan's hand, directly shredding Liu Qingyun's heart.

Liu Qingyun's corpse crashed to the ground, blood instantly staining the earth. A thick, nauseating smell of blood wafted through the air.

Ah—!

Yao Weiwei screamed and slumped to the ground, staring in terror at Liu Qingyun lying in a pool of blood.

The Liu Family subordinate was also shocked to the core. He turned to run, but before he could take two steps, his head flew into the air, and he collapsed to the ground.

Lin Yuan flicked the blood off his sword, the corners of his mouth curling up as he walked toward Yao Weiwei step by step...