3: Slaying Demons

Lin Jingyu's tall figure moved silently through the broken walls and ruins. The rusty cleaver dragged behind him, scraping against the ground with a grating “shasha” sound, like a death knell ringing for this land of the dead.

He circled to the gap where the courtyard wall had collapsed, held his breath, and swept his sharp gaze inward.

Firelight!

A flickering orange firelight, exceptionally dazzling in the dead silence.

A bonfire burned in the center of the courtyard, its flames greedily licking the air, casting a dancing, ominous glow on the surroundings.

In the firelight, three monsters sat around the bonfire.

“Lesser demons…” The thought flashed through Lin Jingyu’s mind instantly, but his eyes were cold as iron, devoid of any fear, only a pure Battle Intent at the sight of “prey” and “evolution points.”

Three of them! More than the ghost shadows and corpse puppets combined from before!

Without the slightest hesitation, and without a trace of mercy!

Lin Jingyu's burly figure suddenly burst out from the gap! His speed was so fast that it left an afterimage behind him!

His muscles instantly bulged, his right arm raised high, and the rusty cleaver drew a chilling arc in the dim light!

The power of a hundred years of Iron Sand Palm cultivation was poured into his arm without reservation, then transferred to the blade!

Buzz!

The cleaver let out a low, strained hum, and the air at the edge of the blade seemed to slightly distort, as if scorched by this violent power!

Target – the lesser demon closest to him, its back to the gap, head buried in tearing at a human leg!

“Die!” A thunderous roar exploded in the silent courtyard!

The lesser demon seemed to sense the fierce wind behind it, a hint of alarm flashing in its crimson eyes, just as it tried to turn its head—

Pfft!!!

A dull, teeth-grating crunch!

The cleaver, imbued with irresistible might and scorching palm wind, struck with pinpoint accuracy on its narrow occiput, like a red-hot branding iron smashing into tofu!

No struggle, no scream.

That ugly head, the moment the blade touched it, exploded like a ripe watermelon!

Splashing the two lesser demons next to it all over their heads and faces, and drenching the bonfire!

The headless demon body twitched violently twice, then fell with a “thump” next to the human leg it had just been gnawing on.

“Ding! Killed a low-level lesser demon! Gained evolution points +10!”

The cold System prompt sounded in Lin Jingyu’s mind.

“Roar—!!!”

The remaining two lesser demons were completely enraged by this sudden, bloody slaughter!

They leaped up violently… “Too slow!” A hint of disdain flashed in Lin Jingyu’s eyes.

Having experienced the System's instant infusion of a hundred years of Iron Sand Palm cultivation, his reaction speed and dynamic vision had long surpassed ordinary people!

Facing this pounce that could tear through iron hide, he advanced instead of retreating!

His left foot stomped half a step diagonally forward, his body glided to the side like a ghost, precisely dodging the deadly claws!

A strong gust of wind brushed past his cheek, stirring a few strands of hair.

Just as he brushed past the pouncing lesser demon, Lin Jingyu used his waist and abdomen, twisting his body!

His left palm, infused with a hundred years of palm power, was like a red-hot branding iron, striking upwards with a dull whoosh, slamming heavily into the unguarded ribs of the lesser demon that had pounced in vain!

Hundred-year Iron Sand Palm! Splitting stone and shattering monuments!

“Crunch, crunch, crunch—!!!”

A dense, scalp-numbing sound of bones cracking erupted like popping beans!

The lesser demon's pounce came to an abrupt halt, its entire body as if struck by a rampaging Savage Bull!

The massive demon body, like a broken sack with its strings cut, flew horizontally, howling miserably, at a speed even faster than its pounce!

“Boom!” With a dull thud, it slammed heavily into the remnants of the courtyard wall, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It slid softly to the ground, black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spewing from its mouth and nose. Its limbs twitched a few times, then it fell silent.

“Ding! Killed a low-level lesser demon! Gained evolution points +10!”

The last lesser demon… “Woo… woo…”

It let out a fearful whimper from its throat, then turned and fled without hesitation! It ran desperately towards the collapsed low wall on the other side of the courtyard!

“Trying to run?” Lin Jingyu sneered, like a fierce tiger eyeing its prey.

He didn't need complex footwork, relying purely on the speed unleashed by his powerful Physical Body! His right foot stomped hard on the ground!

He launched himself like a missile… “Bang!” A shallow pit was stamped into the solid earth!

Lin Jingyu's tall figure was like an arrow shot from a bowstring, arriving later but reaching first!

In a few large strides, he caught up to the desperately fleeing lesser demon!

A muscular, bulging hand, with veins like Dragons, shot out like lightning, with a sharp ripping sound through the air!

Like iron pincers, it precisely grabbed the lesser demon’s sticky, muscular nape!

“Roar!!” The lesser demon let out a desperate growl, twisting and struggling wildly, its sharp claws scratching backward haphazardly, but only leaving a few shallow white marks on Lin Jingyu's coarse cloth-wrapped, iron-hard arm.

“Noisy!” Lin Jingyu's eyes were cold, and his five fingers suddenly exerted force!

Snap—!!!

A crisp, teeth-grating sound of bone cracking!

The lesser demon’s roar ceased abruptly, its struggles instantly stopping. Its grotesque head hung limply at an odd angle, its crimson eyes devoid of all spirit.

Lin Jingyu casually tossed the demon corpse next to the bonfire, like discarding trash, splashing a few sparks.

“Ding! Killed a low-level lesser demon! Gained evolution points +10!”

“Current evolution points: 50!”

The cold System prompt fell, announcing the end of this brief and bloody encounter.

The bonfire crackled, orange flames dancing… There, a half-burnt, blood-soaked beast hide scroll, charred at the edges, lay quietly.

It seemed to be the relics of some unlucky soul, used as a mat by the lesser demons or accidentally brought here.

Lin Jingyu stepped forward, bent down, and picked it up.

The beast hide was coarse and tough, with some force circulation methods and simple posture diagrams roughly sketched on it with charcoal, alongside crooked text.

Savage Bull Strength!

Three bold characters met his eyes.

“Detected a recordable martial art: Savage Bull Strength (Basic). Do you wish to record it?” The System’s cold prompt arrived as expected.

“Record!” Lin Jingyu didn't hesitate. Strength! What he craved most now was purer, more powerful strength! This Savage Bull Strength sounded like a method to enhance Qi, perfectly suiting his intentions!

“Recording… Martial art analysis… Core principles extracted…”

“Recording successful! Savage Bull Strength (Basic)!”

“Current status: Not initiated (0/20 evolution points can deduce to 'Initial Glimpse')”

“Detected evolution path: Savage Bull Strength → Great Strength Bull Demon Fist → Dragon Elephant Suppressing Prison Technique → Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies, Only I Am Supreme Art → … (Requires spending evolution points to unlock subsequent stages)”

A method on how to circulate vital Qi and blood, stimulate muscles, and unleash brute force instantly flooded his mind.

A glint flashed in Lin Jingyu’s eyes.

Good stuff! This Cultivation Technique, combined with his innate Divine Power and the System's deduction, would definitely unleash terrifying power!

He casually tucked the beast hide scroll into his embrace, placing it with the Iron Cloth Shirt manual.

His gaze swept over the three lesser demon corpses on the ground, as if looking at three piles of firewood.

50 evolution points, enough to do something.

“Deduce Iron Sand Palm!” His thought moved.

“Consuming 20 evolution points! Deduction target: Iron Sand Palm - One Hundred Years of Cultivation (Mastered) → Iron Sand Palm - Three Hundred Years of Cultivation (Peak Perfection)!”

“Deduction successful! Mastered!”

Boom!

A torrent of power, even hotter and more condensed than before, instantly surged into his right palm!

The reddish color beneath the skin of his palm deepened a few shades, with a faint metallic luster flowing, as if it had undergone three hundred years of tempering in a Hell-fire furnace!

His palm power became even more condensed, and its destructive force surged!

“Realm: Body Refining Realm - Sixth Heaven”

“Remaining evolution points: 20!”

Lin Jingyu: “System, why is the increase so low…”

The System replied emotionlessly, “host, your old man's body no longer has any potential. Each increase is several times that of others.”

“Alright…” Lin Jingyu clenched his right fist, feeling the surging power in his palm that seemed capable of melting gold and iron.

Three hundred years of cultivation!

The might of this Iron Sand Palm could probably easily shatter a millstone-sized bluestone!

He was about to leave this bloody slaughterhouse and delve deeper into the desolate village for more hunting.

Whoosh—!

A stench, far more potent and ferocious than any lesser demon before, swept in without warning from the direction of the path outside the village!

This foul wind carried the savage might of a king of beasts, instantly dispersing the bloody scent within the courtyard!

Immediately after, a low, suppressed wolf howl, filled with endless brutality and hunger, tore through the desolate village's silence!

“Awooo—!!!”

The sound waves rolled, making the bonfire sway violently! Dust sifted down from the remnants of the courtyard wall!

Lin Jingyu suddenly looked up, his sharp gaze like a tangible blade, instantly piercing through the gap in the courtyard wall and casting towards the darkness at the end of the path outside the village!

Two points of eerie green light, like ghost flames from the Nine Nether Hell, suddenly lit up in the dense night!

That light was filled with cruelty, cunning, and naked hunger, locking onto Lin Jingyu in the courtyard!

Accompanied by heavy, drum-like footsteps, a massive and ferocious silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness, illuminated by the eerie green beast eyes.

The foul wind assaulted his face, bringing with it a suffocating sense of oppression!

“The big one's here…” Lin Jingyu licked his somewhat chapped lips. Not only was there no fear, but he also bared his teeth in a grin, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth, and even more fervent Battle Intent and… greed burned in his eyes!

He gripped the rusty cleaver, stained with demon blood, in his hand. On his right palm, the three-hundred-year Iron Sand Palm power silently condensed, the reddish color beneath his skin flowing like lava.

The bonfire crackled, illuminating the figure standing like a demon god in the courtyard, and the terrifying shadow slowly approaching from outside the village. The slaughter had just begun.