Lin Cheng remembered the name Martial Venerable.
Martial Venerable was a title. The man who bore it had died six years ago, back when Lin Cheng hadn’t even become Si Ming yet. It was only later that he learned the legends surrounding him. Martial Venerable’s life story was truly inspirational. He had started out as the most ordinary physical-system ability user, practicing martial arts from childhood and immersing himself in the martial way for many years. Eventually, he challenged every one of the Ancient Martial Families—losing time and again but always coming back stronger. He showed up once a month until he had pestered them into exhaustion and they finally refused to fight him anymore. That was when he proposed one last bout, and they suddenly realized his martial skills had surpassed their own.
Martial Venerable was proficient with blade, spear, staff, fist—every form of martial technique was second nature to him. His death had come during an SS-rank catastrophe, where he faced off alone against a Bai Ze whose energy level exceeded 300,000 and managed a one-for-one exchange.
Martial Venerable had lived his life without wife or children and never joined the Alliance. Still, the Alliance had given him a hero’s burial in the Cemetery. No one could have imagined he would one day be brought back to life.
The little flying insects Lin Cheng had released the day before quickly detected an anomalous energy fluctuation. By the time he arrived on his motorcycle, however, it wasn’t Martial Venerable he found—but an SS-rank Devourer.
Devourer: Capable of devouring slain targets to acquire some of their power traits.
At that moment, the creature was locked in combat with an Alliance squad. Lin Cheng also spotted a very familiar face: Solar Corona, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and long hair, gripping a custom alchemical handgun. Taking advantage of the time the Adjudicator ahead of him had bought, he fired a bullet straight into the Devourer’s head. The Devourer’s skull exploded, only to regenerate in an instant.
“Get clear.”
Lin Cheng’s voice rang in everyone’s ears. They all froze for a split second before instinctively obeying, retreating several meters. Lin Cheng activated the missile on Little Qi. The instant it launched toward the Devourer, he leaped from the motorcycle, the Sun-Shattering Blade in his hand igniting with brilliant flames.
“It’s devoured the Bloodsucking Bug Queen in the Abyss. You can’t kill it by just blowing its head off.”
Even as he spoke, Lin Cheng closed in on the Devourer. He swung the Sun-Shattering Blade, and flames erupted in an instant, engulfing the monster. The Devourer let out an agonized howl and flailed its arm toward his head—but it was far too clumsy.
Every strike of the Sun-Shattering Blade ignited another section of the Devourer’s body. In less than ten breaths, the creature had become a roaring fireball. Lin Cheng leaped into the air and brought his blade down from above, cleaving the Devourer in two. The flames ignited its inner blood, and only then did the monster finally perish.
“You’re…” Solar Corona stared at him in surprise. Of course he remembered Lin Cheng, but Lin Cheng had no time for chit-chat. “Where’s Martial Venerable?”
“At the Black Gold Mall… There’s an Abyss Rift right behind him. Blackface Beasts and Fiery Aberrant Birds keep pouring out. He’s looking for someone to challenge him. Beat him, and he’ll close the Abyss Rift and help take down these SS-rank Abyss Monsters.”
With the intel secured, Lin Cheng hopped back onto Little Qi. The black motorcycle blurred into a streak of light. Five minutes later, he pulled into the plaza at Black Gold Mall. Five or six Adjudicators had gathered there, and amid them stood Martial Venerable.
Martial Venerable cut an even, burly figure, bald-headed and showing signs of age, with clusters of dark blue spots mottling his cheeks.
At the same time… Lin Cheng spotted the girl fighting him.
It was Lu Xiaoxiao.
“Why is Xiaoxiao fighting him here?” Lin Cheng arrived at the plaza in an instant. Only then did he notice the energy barrier isolating everyone outside. No one could enter the arena within.
“Martial Venerable’s duels are fair fights. He’s lowered his energy to match Xiaoxiao’s level. The other SS-ranks are out hunting Abyss Monsters. She’s just buying time.”
One of the watching Adjudicators quickly answered Lin Cheng’s question. They weren’t just spectators—they were guarding the space rift behind Martial Venerable, cutting down Blackface Beasts and Fiery Aberrant Birds the moment they emerged. The ground was already piled high with monster corpses… and a few bodies of Alliance Adjudicators.
Lin Cheng turned his gaze back to the arena.
“How does a little girl like you come to wield the Qin Family’s blade technique?”
Martial Venerable gripped a long knife forged from ice lances, and Lu Xiaoxiao held one just like it. She bit her lip. “Someone taught me.”
“You’re not quite there yet.” Martial Venerable chuckled. Right now, he had suppressed his energy to 380—the same as hers. Lu Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and swung at him again. He dodged unhurriedly. “But compared to those other kids before you, your energy might be low, but it’s definitely stronger than theirs. Listen, kid—the more desperate you get, the more flaws you’ll expose in your strikes. The more openings you give your opponent. One slip, and you’re dead.”
The word “dead” had barely left his mouth when Martial Venerable’s blade flew from his hand. Energy spun it through the air in a full rotation before the edge slashed across Lu Xiaoxiao’s back. Her flesh split open in an instant. Though she was used to pain, the crunch of her spine breaking sapped all her strength. Her body crumpled slowly, blood gushing forth.
Before Lin Cheng arrived, she had held out for twelve minutes.
She had lasted longer than any of the previous S-rank challengers—but those S-ranks now lay among the corpses on the ground.
Martial Venerable didn’t strike again. In less than a minute, Lu Xiaoxiao would bleed out. He looked up as the energy barrier dissolved. With the challenge over, he moved toward the Abyss Crevice, ready to let more monsters spill into the world.
Lin Cheng reached Lu Xiaoxiao’s side and gently grasped her shoulder. Black-red blood threads slithered onto her body, sealing her wounds for the moment. Her eyes had nearly fluttered shut, but they brightened at the sight of him.
“Instead of dying for strangers, I’d rather you live for me. If you died, I’d be heartbroken.” Lin Cheng spoke softly.
“I… thought about it.” Lu Xiaoxiao’s voice trembled. “But… I… couldn’t just stand by.”
“Typical you.” Lin Cheng pinched her cheek. “Don’t worry—go rest over there. Want to watch me beat him senseless?”
“Break his bones… one by one!”
“You got it.”
The black-red blood threads restored some of her strength. Her pain tolerance was leagues beyond what it had been. Lin Cheng shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her. Lu Xiaoxiao made her way slowly to a nearby stone orb, coughing occasionally as blood trickled from her mouth.
Martial Venerable sensed the energy fluctuation behind him and turned slowly. He recognized the Sun-Shattering Blade in Lin Cheng’s hand and halted, excitement gleaming in his eyes. “You taught her the Burning Sun Blade Technique?”
“Yeah. Just two hours’ worth.”
“I never imagined… getting a second life would let me witness the true Qin Family Burning Sun Blade Technique again. Not lived in vain.”
Lin Cheng watched as Martial Venerable’s energy surged—from 370 back to his own level of 39,800. But Lin Cheng didn’t raise his blade. He simply said, “Crank your energy up to 80,000.”
“Oh?”
“That way, you’ll die slower. Gives me time to shatter your bones piece by piece.”
“These young people nowadays have no manners.” Martial Venerable’s voice was steady and deep.
Lin Cheng wasted no more words. Black-red blood threads danced across his body. He hefted the flaming long knife and closed in, slashing straight for Martial Venerable’s neck. The man sidestepped, conjuring a standard Alliance long sword and channeling power into it—but moments later, Lin Cheng shattered it to pieces.
A bloody gash opened on his chest.
Martial Venerable paused, then his eyes blazed with fervor. He punched back at Lin Cheng, but the blade strikes came like a raging storm, impossible to evade completely.
As a physical-system ability user with energy over 200,000, even suppressed, his flesh resisted Lin Cheng’s cuts. But the force transmitted through shook his bones to the core. Each impact focused on a single point, cracking deep into the marrow.
This only excited him more. Lacking a proper weapon to match Lin Cheng, he relied on his fists. Of the nine strikes Lin Cheng unleashed in a blink, he dodged only one—and in that moment, he swung back. But as his fist flew, a black long sword appeared in Lin Cheng’s left hand, covering the gap seamlessly.
One blade and one sword in Lin Cheng’s hands: Branch Snapper in the left, Sun-Shattering Blade in the right. Martial Venerable’s eyes burned hotter. “The Qin Family blade, the Ji Family sword… Who would have thought I’d live to see them wielded by the same person? I am Martial Venerable. Who are you?”
Lin Cheng had no interest in answering.
His blade and sword struck Martial Venerable’s shoulders again. Even suppressed, the man’s physique—honed by years of accumulated energy—sent shocks up Lin Cheng’s arms, numbing his palms. But in the next breath, Lin Cheng used the recoil to spin back into offense. Martial Venerable became like a toy, spun like a top and battered relentlessly. Sword strikes slapped his face, leaving purplish welts.
Lu Xiaoxiao had endured twelve minutes under Martial Venerable’s hand. He didn’t last three under Lin Cheng’s.
Three minutes later, Martial Venerable’s 30,000 energy was spent entirely on defense. Every bone in his body was shattered beyond repair—yet he still stood, mania unquenched in his eyes.
“Young man… let me see your fist technique.”
“Close the space rift. Kill all the Abyss Monsters, and I’ll give you the chance.” Lin Cheng finally spoke.
“Deal.” In a surge, Martial Venerable unleashed his full power, breaking the seal and returning to 250,000 energy. He reached the Abyss Rift and used some secret art to sever the link between the Abyss and the Dream Mire Crystal Core within him. The rift sealed shut slowly. Then his form vanished from sight. Ten minutes later, Martial Venerable returned to Lin Cheng, six SS-rank Abyss Monster crystal cores in hand.
