the Villains
"Where did this cripple come from, daring to meddle in our business?"
The leading black‑robed cultivator grinned viciously, his gaze sweeping contemptuously over Lin Chen's empty left shoulder, disdain practically oozing from his eyes. To him, a broken man missing an arm was nothing but an ant to be crushed at will.
The other two sneered as well, their eyes filled with mockery and cruelty.
Lin Chen stood motionless.
He said nothing, only slowly lifted his head.
What kind of eyes were those?
Cold, lifeless, devoid of any emotion, yet containing a terrifying depth. Like an eternal frozen pool, or a dormant ferocious beast. Just being glanced at by those eyes made the grins on the three black‑robed cultivators freeze abruptly. An inexplicable chill shot from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads without warning!
"Huh?"
The leading cultivator frowned, a strange unease stirring in his heart. But quickly, that trace of anxiety was replaced by greed and brutality. He snarled, "Playing tricks! Cripple him!"
Before the words faded, the two cultivators beside him shot forward!
Both were at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, their bodies agile, fists and feet tearing through the air with whistling sounds. They charged at Lin Chen's vital points from left and right!
"Die!"
A roar erupted, fists surging like a tide.
Facing this swift pincer attack, Lin Chen still stood like a mountain.
Only when the fist wind was about to strike—
He moved!
No fancy moves, no hesitation.
Lin Chen's right arm trembled violently!
Hum!
The air seemed to twist from the tremor. A vast surge of true essence erupted from his seemingly frail body like a sleeping volcano!
The pressure of the Late True Martial Realm descended unreservedly!
"What?!"
The two attacking black‑robed cultivators' faces paled drastically, their pupils shrinking to pinpricks!
They felt an irresistible, terrifying momentum crashing down like a mountain. Their blood instantly froze, their charging bodies slamming into an invisible wall, freezing mid‑air!
"True Martial Realm?!"
Horrified screams burst from their mouths.
They never imagined that this ragged, broken one‑armed youth was actually a genuine True Martial expert!
A gap!
An absolute gap in realms!
Like ants facing a dragon, fireflies comparing to the bright moon!
"Scram."
A bone‑chilling word slipped from Lin Chen's lips.
His right arm casually swept out.
No earth‑shaking roar, no dazzling true essence light.
Just a casual, effortless sweep.
Pfft! Pfft!
Two dull thuds of flesh colliding echoed almost simultaneously.
The two peak Body Tempering cultivators didn't even have the chance to resist. Their bodies shot backward like broken kites!
They spewed large mouthfuls of blood mid‑air, the sound of shattering bones clear. They crashed heavily onto the ground several feet away, twitched a few times, and went completely still.
Instant kill!
A blatant instant kill!
This scene was so fast that the leading black‑robed cultivator's pupils exploded, his mind going blank!
He stared dumbfounded at the two cold corpses on the ground, then at the tall, gun‑straight one‑armed figure in the arena. A terror from the depths of his soul instantly drowned him!
"T–True Martial Lord! Spare me! This lowly one was blind!"
The leading cultivator's legs went weak. With a thud, he knelt to the ground, trembling violently, kowtowing frantically to Lin Chen. All his previous arrogance was gone, replaced by extreme fear and fawning.
"Spare me, my lord! I'll never dare again! Please show mercy!"
He kowtowed desperately, blood quickly seeping from his forehead, utterly wretched.
Lin Chen walked forward step by step.
His steps were slow, yet each one felt like stepping on the cultivator's heart.
His right arm hung naturally, his sleeve fluttering without wind. The cold killing intent radiating from him froze the surrounding air solid.
"You just said you'd kill me?"
Lin Chen stopped, looking down at the kneeling cultivator with eyes as indifferent as if staring at a corpse.
"No! No! I was talking nonsense! I deserve to die!" The cultivator was terrified out of his wits, slapping his own face repeatedly. "Please spare this dog's life, my lord!"
Lin Chen tilted his head slightly, his gaze falling on the young girl curled up on the ground not far away, her face streaked with tears, trembling all over.
Fear filled her eyes, but deep within her gaze toward Lin Chen hid a glimmer of hope for survival.
Those eyes reminded Lin Chen of the despair at the bottom of the forbidden lake, of the helplessness when his sect fell.
He slowly withdrew his gaze, turning back to the kneeling cultivator.
"You shouldn't have touched her."
The moment the words fell.
Lin Chen moved.
His right arm shot out like lightning!
Fast!
So fast only an afterimage remained!
So fast the black‑robed cultivator didn't even have a chance to look up!
"No—!"
The shrill scream cut off abruptly.
Lin Chen's right hand, like an iron clamp, locked tightly around the black‑robed cultivator's throat.
A slight squeeze.
Crack.
A crisp bone fracture echoed.
The evil cultivator's eyes bulged, his tongue lolling out, his life force fading visibly. His body went limp.
A casual toss.
The corpse was thrown aside like a dead dog.
The entire process was smooth and clean.
Lin Chen retracted his right hand, not glancing at the three corpses on the ground.
He turned around, his back to the blood‑soaked ground. His one‑armed figure stretched long in the setting sun, lonely yet upright.
A gentle breeze stirred his robes but couldn't dispel the cold, powerful aura forged through life‑and‑death struggles.
Beyond the forbidden land, human hearts were sinister.
But from now on, whoever blocked his path would die.