Chapter 66: Root Out the Problem Completely

Lin Xiaoyu stood atop the hill, her Eye of Heavenly Punishment pushed to its limit.

Golden lightning flickered deep within her pupils, taking in the entire battlefield at a glance.

Very quickly, she noticed something off.

The Yin Soldiers might have filled the land like a tide, slaughtering everyone in sight, but their movements weren’t random chaos.

The group to the east was herding a batch of cultivators northward.

The group to the west had completely sealed off every path leading south.

And the south –

The south was precisely where the core palace lay.

On the main roads leading to that palace, the Yin Soldiers’ density was several times higher than anywhere else.

They weren’t killing people. They were locking the area down.

They were preventing cultivators from getting close to that palace.

“These Yin Soldiers… they’re trying to stop us from approaching the palace?”

Lin Xiaoyu murmured.

The cultivators she had just rescued gathered around, following her gaze toward the distant palace shrouded in a blood-red pillar of light.

“Fellow Daoist, you mean… these Yin Soldiers have a purpose?”

One cultivator asked carefully.

Lin Xiaoyu nodded.

“Look.”

She raised a hand, pointing in several directions.

“That group to the east. They’re killing people, sure, but it’s mostly herding.

The western group has completely blocked every southbound path. And the south -“

She paused, her expression grave.

“The roads leading to the palace have several times more Yin Soldiers than anywhere else.

They aren’t killing indiscriminately. They’re establishing a perimeter.”

Those cultivators took a closer look, their faces paling.

“It’s… it’s true!”

“So that means inside that palace…”

“There must be something incredible!”

Greed flashed through their eyes, but it quickly dimmed.

So many Yin Soldiers. So many Nascent Soul level existences. The lot of them heading there would be nothing but a death sentence.

Lin Xiaoyu paid no mind to their thoughts.

She was focused on a question.

Where had these Yin Soldiers come from?

That Remnant Soul had said the Hanling Heavenly Palace was destroyed in a single night, with countless experts falling.

Could these Yin Soldiers be the fallen experts from back then?

Were they guarding that palace, protecting something?

Or were they stopping something?

Just then –

Several streaks of sword light attacked from behind!

Lin Xiaoyu didn’t even move. The Qingfeng Sword swept backward casually.

Clang, clang, clang –

The sword light shattered as if striking an iron wall.

She turned around.

Not far away, Xu Hao led seven or eight Liuyun Sect disciples, standing atop a massive boulder.

His right hand was still wrapped in thick bandages, his face deathly pale, but the hatred in his eyes was so thick it nearly spilled out.

“Little girl. Didn’t expect this, did you?”

Xu Hao sneered, raising the longsword gripped in his left hand.

“Inside this secret realm, let’s see who can save you now!”

The Liuyun Sect disciples brandished their weapons as well, their eyes full of mockery and ill intent.

Two at Late Golden Core, five at Mid Golden Core, and one more –

Lin Xiaoyu’s gaze swept over the last one.

Early Nascent Soul.

It was a middle-aged man, his face sinister, standing with hands clasped behind his back, radiating total superiority.

“Junior Brother Xu, this is the little girl you spoke of?”

He spoke flatly, his gaze sweeping over Lin Xiaoyu.

“Qi Refining stage? You got your hand severed by a little Qi Refining girl?”

Xu Hao’s face reddened as he ground his teeth.

“Senior Brother Wang, this girl is strange! Her master is even more twisted. My grandfather personally intervened and still couldn’t take him down!”

“Oh?”

Senior Brother Wang raised an eyebrow, his look toward Lin Xiaoyu now carrying a trace of interest.

“How curious.”

Lin Xiaoyu said nothing.

She simply gazed at these people, calm and still.

Under the Eye of Heavenly Punishment, their cultivation bases were laid bare.

One Early Nascent Soul, two Late Golden Core, five Mid Golden Core.

If this had been before entering the secret realm, she might have felt nervous.

But now –

She had just slaughtered hundreds of Yin Soldiers and cut down a Peak Golden Core Remnant Soul.

In her eyes, these people were no different from Yin Soldiers.

“Little girl, where’s your master?”

Xu Hao glanced around smugly.

“What, he’s not here? Hahaha, even better!”

He licked his lips, a hint of lechery flashing through his eyes.

“Once I’m done with you, I’ll go settle the score with that waste. My grandfather said it. The moment we see him, kill on sight!”

He took a step forward, sneering viciously.

“But don’t worry, I won’t kill you. A tender little thing like you, it’d be such a waste to kill…”

He didn’t finish.

Lin Xiaoyu moved.

A streak of violet-gold sword light flashed past.

The five Mid Golden Core disciples didn’t even see what happened. Their vision just blurred.

Then their heads flew into the air together.

Blood sprayed. Five bodies crashed to the ground.

The entire area fell into deathly silence.

The smile froze on Xu Hao’s face.

Senior Brother Wang’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.

The two remaining Late Golden Core disciples felt their legs go weak.

“Y-you… you…”

Xu Hao pointed at Lin Xiaoyu, his finger trembling, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“You… you’re not at Qi Refining stage?!”

Lin Xiaoyu looked at him.

Her gaze was calm as still water.

“And then?”

Xu Hao’s face went stark white.

He stumbled back a step, then another.

“S-Senior Brother Wang…”

He turned toward the Early Nascent Soul middle-aged man.

Senior Brother Wang’s expression was grim, his eyes locked on Lin Xiaoyu.

He hadn’t seen that sword clearly either.

Too fast.

So fast that even at Early Nascent Soul, all he could make out was an afterimage.

“Who exactly are you?”

He demanded in a heavy voice.

Lin Xiaoyu didn’t answer.

She simply raised her sword and walked toward them, step by step.

Every step fell like a boot pressing down on their hearts.

“Get her! All of you, get her!”

Xu Hao finally cracked, howling madly.

“Take her down! I’m going to enjoy myself -“

Before the words even finished.

Another flash of sword light.

The two late-stage Golden Core disciples collapsed simultaneously.

One sword.

Two men.

*

Xu Hao was completely dumbfounded.

His legs gave out. He fell to the ground and scrambled backward desperately.

“No… no…”

Senior Brother Wang’s face turned ashen, and he finally struck!

He raised a palm, unleashing a full-power strike from his early-stage Nascent Soul cultivation. The violent palm force hurtled toward Lin Xiaoyu!

Lin Xiaoyu didn’t even glance at it.

The Qingfeng Sword swept out casually.

The palm force, along with Senior Brother Wang’s arm, were severed in two.

“Aaaah!”

Senior Brother Wang screamed in agony. Before he could react, Lin Xiaoyu was already standing before him.

The tip of her sword pressed against his throat.

“Y-you… you…”

Senior Brother Wang’s eyes bulged, his face filled with utter disbelief.

One exchange.

He, an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, hadn’t lasted a single move.

“Just what cultivation level are you…”

he rasped.

Lin Xiaoyu looked at him.

“Qi Refining Stage.”

With those words, she thrust her blade forward.

Senior Brother Wang’s body slowly collapsed.

*

Lin Xiaoyu sheathed her sword and looked over at the not-so-distant Xu Hao, who was already scared witless.

Xu Hao lay paralyzed on the ground, trembling all over, frantically crawling backward.

“No… don’t come any closer…”

His voice quivered, tears and snot streaming down his face.

“I’m from Liuyun Sect… my grandfather is the Second Elder… you can’t kill me…”

Lin Xiaoyu walked toward him step by step.

“P-please… spare me…”

Xu Hao finally crawled into a corner. There was no way out.

With trembling hands, he pulled a talisman from his robes.

Void Evasion Talisman. If he crushed it, he could instantly escape.

A flicker of hope flashed in his eyes as he frantically channeled his spiritual power, trying to crush the talisman.

However-

A sword gleam flashed.

His right hand was severed at the wrist.

The Void Evasion Talisman, along with his severed hand, fell to the ground.

“Aaaah!!!”

Xu Hao let out a blood-curdling scream.

Lin Xiaoyu stood before him, looking down at him.

“What was it you said earlier? Something about enjoying yourself?”

*

Xu Hao’s face was as white as paper. His lips quivered, unable to speak a single word.

Lin Xiaoyu looked at him.

Suddenly, she smiled.

It was a faint smile, but it chilled Xu Hao to the bone.

“My master once said…”

she said softly.

“When you cut the weeds, pull out the roots.”

*

The sword light rose again.

Xu Hao’s head flew high into the air.

His eyes were still wide open, filled with resentment and terror.

Even in death, he never understood-

how a little Qi Refining girl could possess such strength?

*

Lin Xiaoyu sheathed her sword.

She looked at the bodies littering the ground, her expression calm.

Then, she crouched down and removed each of their storage rings one by one.

She probed inside with her divine sense.

Inside were many fine things: spirit stones, pills, and magical artifacts.

Without any hesitation, she pocketed everything.

*

Having done all this, she stood up and dusted off her robe, though there was no dust to be seen.

In the distance, the blood-colored pillar of light grew brighter and brighter.

Countless Yin Soldiers were still madly besieging the cultivators.

Screams of agony and sounds of slaughter echoed throughout the secret realm.

Lin Xiaoyu glanced in that direction, then turned and walked the opposite way.

Master said fortune is important, but life is more important.

She needed to find a safe place first and assess the situation.

As for that palace-

she would go once she had a clearer understanding.