Not long after, a sharp streak of light tore through the air, solidifying at the entrance of the meditation chamber. As the brilliance faded, it revealed a middle-aged Daoist nun with a stern, hawk-like visage.

It was Elder Chen of the Guiyuan Sect’s Enforcement Hall.

“Greetings, Elder Chen!” Ouyang Chen and the others bowed deeply, their posture respectful and submissive.

Elder Chen’s gaze swept over the room, landing first on the purplish-black skeleton trapped within the golden barrier. Sensing the familiar, violent, and chaotic aura radiating from it, she nodded slowly. “It is indeed [Hatred].”

Then, her eyes drifted to the corner where Lin Xuanwei lay in a pool of blood, enveloped by a faint green light screen. Her brow furrowed slightly. “What is the meaning of this?”

Ouyang Chen stepped forward. With concise precision, he recounted the events: the encounter with the entity, the suppression, and the “unfortunate accident” where Ma Kun, in his zeal to test for corruption, had critically injured Lin Xuanwei. He hid nothing.

Elder Chen listened in silence, her expression impassive. Finally, she nodded. “You did well. In such a dangerous place, one can never be too cautious. Especially regarding someone of unknown origin.”

Her tone carried a hint of approval for their ruthlessness, and total indifference toward the dying man.

Lu Shu hesitated for a moment before speaking up, her conscience nagging her. “Elder Chen… can he still be saved? If we treat him now, there is still hope. We can simply claim he was injured by the [Hatred] entity later. He doesn’t know the truth.”

Elder Chen pondered for a moment. She paced over to Lin Xuanwei, looking down at the young man whose breath was shallow and ragged.

She extended a withered finger, sending a wisp of Qi to probe his internal state. Her frown deepened. “Ma Kun, your strike was too heavy. The sword energy has invaded his heart meridians and Dantian. To save him now would require at least a Tier-4 Meridian Restoration Pill.”

Ma Kun lowered his head, his voice trembling slightly. “This disciple was worried he possessed hidden defensive artifacts and struck with full force. Please punish me, Elder.”

Elder Chen sighed lightly, her voice devoid of warmth. “Forget it. This is simply his karmic tribulation. Who told him to have such bad luck, bumping into [Hatred] of all things?”

As she spoke, she made a casual hooking motion with her finger.

Whoosh.

The Storage Bag at Lin Xuanwei’s waist detached and flew into Elder Chen’s palm. A faint spiritual light flickered at her fingertip, effortlessly erasing the weak owner restriction Lin Xuanwei had placed on it.

Her Divine Sense swept inside. The mountain-like pile of Middle Grade Spirit Stones made her eyelids twitch involuntarily. However, her face remained as placid as an ancient well. With a smooth turn of her wrist, the bag disappeared into her wide sleeve.

Ouyang Chen, Ma Kun, and the others watched with burning eyes, but no one dared to make a sound.

“Alright,” Elder Chen said, turning her back on the dying man, her authority returning. “You may leave. I will handle things here. For discovering and suppressing [Hatred], I will record a merit for your team.”

“Yes! Thank you, Elder!”

The group responded in unison, a heavy weight lifting from their hearts. They turned to leave, eager to put this mess behind them.

But the moment they turned their backs—

A calm, steady voice rang out in the silent chamber, cutting through the air like a blade.

“I seem to recall that a Meridian Restoration Pill costs only ten thousand Middle Grade Spirit Stones. Elder… that Storage Bag you just pocketed holds enough to buy several hundred of them. Are you truly so determined to watch me die?”

The air in the chamber froze instantly.

Ouyang Chen and the others stiffened, whipping their heads around in disbelief.

Elder Chen’s pupils constricted to pinpricks. Her reaction was instantaneous. Without even turning her head, she slashed her hand backward. A beam of terrifying Sword Qi, backed by the crushing pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator, shot straight toward the source of the voice.

It was a silencing strike. Lethal. Absolute.

DING!!

A crisp, resonant chime echoed through the room.

The fragile green light screen that had covered Lin Xuanwei was gone, replaced by a solid, impenetrable golden barrier. Elder Chen’s lethal strike slammed into the surface, rippling like a pebble in a pond before dissipating into nothingness.

Under the horrified gazes of the group, Lin Xuanwei stood up steadily.

The bloodstains on his robes were still glaring, but his posture was straight, his presence dominating. His eyes were deep, unfathomable pools of cold indifference. There was no trace of the cowardly, spoiled young master they had mocked.

“Who… who exactly are you?” Elder Chen’s voice carried a barely perceptible tremor. She stared at him, a storm of shock raging in her heart. Her full-power strike hadn’t even scratched his protective light.

Lin Xuanwei casually brushed a speck of dust from his sleeve. “As you can see, I am merely a disciple here for the trial.”

The moment the words fell, he moved.

There was no earth-shattering explosion of Qi, no flashy technique. He simply raised his hand and flicked his fingers.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three invisible bursts of force pierced the air like teleporting needles.

Ouyang Chen, Ma Kun, and Zheng Tong didn’t even have time to scream. Their bodies jolted violently, eyes bulging in supreme terror. Their Dantians shattered instantly, their Golden Cores pulverized into dust.

They collapsed like puppets with their strings cut, dead before they hit the ground.

Only the two women, Lu Shu and Lu Yao, were spared. They stood frozen, blood draining from their faces, trembling so violently they could barely stand.

“You dare kill Inner Disciples of the Guiyuan Sect?!” Elder Chen shrieked, her voice shrill with panic and rage.

Lin Xuanwei looked at her with eyes devoid of humanity, as if observing a corpse. “They were killed by the [Hatred] entity. What does that have to do with me?”

Before the sentence finished, his wrist flicked. A simple horizontal slash.

It looked unadorned, almost slow. Yet, in Elder Chen’s eyes, the shadow of death eclipsed the world. She roared, unleashing the full might of her Second Layer Nascent Soul cultivation. Her life-bound Dharma Treasure, a radiant longsword, erupted with blinding light as she blocked with everything she had.

CLANG.

It sounded like a blade slicing through parchment.

The Dharma Treasure that had accompanied Elder Chen for centuries snapped in half effortlessly.

Lin Xuanwei’s sword momentum didn’t even pause. It shore through her protective spiritual aura like hot knives through butter.

Blood sprayed in a fountain!

Elder Chen felt a sudden chill at her waist, followed by an agonizing, world-shattering pain. She looked down, her eyes widening in horror, to see her lower body separating from her torso.

She had been bisected.

“No… impossible…” Elder Chen gasped, her vision fading. “I am a Nascent Soul… how can a Golden Core ant…”

Lin Xuanwei remained expressionless. He stepped forward, reached out his left hand, and pressed his palm directly against her forehead.

A tyrannical surge of Divine Sense crashed into her mind.

Soul Searching!

“AHHH!!” Elder Chen let out a curdling scream as her very soul was flayed open.

However, just as Lin Xuanwei’s consciousness was about to breach her core memories, a complex golden talisman deep within her Sea of Consciousness flared to life. A powerful backlash erupted, forcefully repelling his intrusion.

“Hmm?” Lin Xuanwei frowned, withdrawing his hand as he sensed the resistance. “A soul protection mechanism? The Guiyuan Sect has some tricks after all.”