Chapter 355: No Mercy

Chapter 355: No Mercy

Five minutes ago.

A rooftop near the construction site.

"This girl has talent. Her marksmanship and techniques aren’t bad either. If we could recruit her into our sect..."

"You guys already scooped up a few good seedlings earlier. It’s time for my Black Blade Sect to take a turn!"

Ren Wuchang raised his head and downed a swig of strong liquor, his tone leaving no room for argument.

The battle had already been going on for a while.

But the few people on the rooftop, all dressed in traditional garb, weren’t planning to help. They just drank their little sips of wine, watching the girl fighting for her life against the spider king in the abandoned construction site like spectators watching a cricket trapped in a jar.

“Master Ren, that’s not quite fair,” one of them protested unwillingly.

“The ones we took in before were just cannon fodder—we never intended to train them seriously. But this girl’s different. Her talent’s good enough to become an inner disciple, maybe even a core disciple. And her techniques are top-tier. It’s like a three-for-one deal—you can’t beat that!”

Ren Wuchang didn’t reply.

He simply drew his Black Blade, casting a cold glance over.

“I recall the sect masters of your little sects all died at Jiao Dragon Lake.”

“So what?” someone shot back.

“Nothing much.”

Ren Wuchang shook his head.

“Just that my Black Blade Sect has one or two more Golden Core cultivators than you all. And since your sect masters are dead, you’re weaker than me now.”

He pulled the blade fully from its scabbard.

The edge of the Black Blade gleamed coldly in the night, and a faint red murderous aura seeped from it.

“It’s been a while since this blade drank blood. Maybe we should ‘spar’ a bit tonight?”

He said “spar,” but his tone had nothing gentle about it.

It was closer to a threat of death.

His words made the others go stiff.

The atmosphere turned deadly quiet.

Meanwhile, the fight in the construction site was reaching its climax—the girl had run out of options.

Faced with the rampaging spider king, all she could do was close her eyes and wait for death.

“The world is vast, and talents abound. With the age of turmoil approaching, we’ll have plenty of chances to find more geniuses.”

Seeing that Ren Wuchang was growing impatient, one of the men stepped forward, laughing to smooth things over:

“Master Ren, you haven’t competed with us over any recruits until now. So maybe we shouldn’t fight over this one either. What do you all say?”

“Mm... that makes sense,” the earlier man said, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

“It’s just a bratty little girl. Let Master Ren have her—who cares? I’m not interested!”

“Then my thanks to you all.”

Ren Wuchang, blade in hand, stood at the rooftop’s edge and leapt down.

His cold voice still echoed in their ears:

“When the era of glory arrives and the contest for supremacy begins, if we meet again… I’ll be gentle.”

…

Ren Wuchang repelled the spider king with a single slash.

That spider king was just the leader of a group that had escaped the first level of a nearby Demon-Locking Tower.

It was fairly powerful—late-stage Foundation Establishment, commanding a massive swarm.

But for some reason, rather than targeting the sects like the rest, this batch of monsters had turned on the C Province Exorcist Division instead.

That hadn’t happened elsewhere.

After all, these monsters' sworn enemies were the Ascenders, not the Exorcists.

Still, Ren Wuchang couldn’t care less about the Exorcist Division or anyone else’s survival.

He was here to gather strength for the battles to come—

a great reshuffling,

the unsealing of ancient taboos,

a wild war for resources.

The sect with the most geniuses and greatest strength would carve a path to the top,

perhaps even rivaling old powers like Kunlun or the Great Thunder Temple.

This time, he wasn’t going to just stare at the Ascension Path from a distance, powerless.

So his words to the girl weren’t an invitation.

They weren’t a negotiation.

They were a command.

And if the girl refused,

he had three options:

—Leave her and watch her get torn apart by the spider king.

—Snatch her back to the Black Blade Sect by force.

—Kill her on the spot, so no other sect could recruit her and make her a future enemy.

But he was confident she wouldn’t say no.

To people like her, joining a sect was a blessing.

Who in their right mind would throw away a blessing?

“Join the Black Blade Sect?” Lin Lingling shook her head like a rattle-drum.

Stubbornly, she said, “Thank you for saving my life, but I already have a master. I was born part of the C Province Exorcist Division, and I’ll die as one of its ghosts. I appreciate the offer.”

She actually rejected him?

Ren Wuchang’s pupils narrowed, and a flash of anger surged up.

The spider king, sensing a new threat, went berserk.

It charged forward with a roar—

Only to be stomped into the ground with one casual strike from Ren Wuchang.

The entire construction site shuddered.

He raised his Black Blade and drove it straight through the spider king’s skull with a CRACK,

nailing the corpse into the ground.

Lin Lingling stared at the shattered floor beneath her, lips twitching.

Internally, she muttered, What kind of monster is this guy?! He just—he just stomped the little spider king to death?!

Governor! Help! If you don’t show up soon, your discount disciple’s gonna be kidnapped by some creepy old dude and turned into a chibi hot weapon! Waaaaaah...

“What did you just say?”

Ren Wuchang turned his cold eyes on her.

“Say that again?”

“Uh… Mister, I said—”

Lin Lingling quickly put away her spear, clasped her hands behind her back, and took a step back with a forced smile. She hummed:

🎵 “Linggan mushroom mushy mush I chew Linggan mush~ Linggan mush…” 🎵

Ren Wuchang: “???”

His patience was gone.

He growled, “Speak normal words! Stop babbling in dialect!”

The spider king was dead.

The spiderwebs melted away.

Lin Lingling was ready to make a break for it.

“Look! A flying saucer!”

She suddenly pointed behind him.

Too bad Ren Wuchang wasn’t some clueless ancient.

He just looked at her like she was an idiot.

“Old man, I normally don’t like to force men, let alone women.

But since you insist on refusing—

I’ll have to go with the last resort:

I’ll drag you back to the Black Blade Sect and lock you up!

After you’ve suffered enough, you’ll obediently become my disciple!”

“I’m not gonna be a hot weapon aaaaaaaaah!!”

Lin Lingling turned and bolted.

But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t outrun an old monster like Ren Wuchang.

The Sect Master of the Black Blade Sect moved like a ghost,

crossing dozens of meters to block her path.

He raised a hand to grab her shoulder—

“Governor, HELP—!!”

Lin Lingling finally shouted out loud.

And this time—

her cry got an answer.

From the west, a streak of sword light slashed through the dark sky like a blade across black paper.

The sound of a sword cry and wind breaking followed.

Ren Wuchang’s vision blurred for a second—

and suddenly, there was someone standing between him and the girl.

Chen Huaian lifted a hand and pressed a single finger against Ren Wuchang’s incoming palm.

His sharp eyes rose.

“You saved her life. So This Venerable One won’t kill you.

Even though I would have made it in time without you.”

“But if you take one more step—”

Before the words finished, a raging sword aura burst from Chen Huaian,

cutting jagged lines across the ground.

And then,

three cold words exploded in Ren Wuchang’s ears:

“No. Mercy.”

…

…