Martial Arts Master: The Lin Family Sword God, who swept through the Five Mountains and Four Sects

"Good! Good! Good!"

Lin Zhennan's face flushed with excitement, and he exclaimed "Good!" three times, his voice trembling, "As expected of my son, Lin Zhennan! Reaching the first-class level at eighteen, I've never heard of such a thing in my life! Hahaha... The foundation laid by Yuantu Gong will surely shine again in your hands!"

Lin Tian just smiled defiantly.

You don't know, I have an even bigger trump card up my sleeve.

I am not an ordinary person; I have a system that empowers me.

In this world, no one can limit my potential.

Lin Yuantu is no good, and neither is Dongfang Bubai!

Just then, Lin Zhennan's expression shifted slightly, a hint of hesitation appearing on his face, before he finally gritted his teeth and said:

"Tian'er, now that you have such strength, you should be able to protect yourself without much trouble traveling the martial world. Your father... grants you permission to go out and gain experience."

"But Zhennan, Tian'er is only eighteen years old..." Madam Wang hurriedly interjected, her eyes full of worry.

"That's a woman's view!" Lin Zhennan waved his hand to interrupt. "If he weren't strong enough, I naturally wouldn't let him go. But Tian'er has such talent; keeping him at home would only bury his potential!"

"But...but..." Madam Wang was still uneasy.

"Mother, don't worry," Lin Tian immediately replied. "I'll send a letter home every month to let you know I'm safe. I'll be back in a year at most."

"Oh well."

Lady Wang ultimately did not object. The head of the family had made his decision, and she could only swallow her reluctance.

But that night, she held Lin Tian and talked for half the night, giving him detailed instructions on everything from the dangers of the martial world to the treachery of human nature.

After all, she was once the wife of the invincible swordsman, and in her youth, she had also experienced the clash of swords.

The next morning, as dawn broke.

Lin Tian, ​​dressed lightly, mounted his horse and galloped away from the Fuwei Escort Agency.

……

Heiqingshan is located in the heart of Hubei Province.

The mountain is not high, but its fearsome reputation is widespread. This is because a fortified stronghold known as Mad Wind Stronghold is located on the mountain.

The bandits in the stronghold were all desperate criminals, especially the three leaders, who were all top-notch fighters. They ran rampant in the village, burning, killing, robbing, and committing all sorts of evil deeds.

That night, the moon was hidden and the stars were sparse, and dark clouds covered the sky.

Inside Kuangfeng Village, however, there was a deafening commotion, with torches blazing and the aroma of wine and meat filling the air.

"Brothers! Let's drink tonight! Tomorrow we'll raid a few more villages, and there'll be plenty of good wine!"

At the head of the table, a burly man with a full beard raised a wine bowl, his voice booming like a bell, exuding heroic spirit.

This man was none other than the chieftain Qin Tieshan, wielding the ancestral Five Tigers Severing Door Saber, a fierce and domineering weapon that rarely found its match even among top-tier martial arts masters.

"Brother," the second-in-command, a lean man, frowned slightly, "a 'Deadly Sword' has recently appeared in the martial world, specifically targeting mountain strongholds like ours. In Hubei province, he's already uprooted thirty-seven strongholds… Should we lay low for now?"

Before he could finish speaking, the third leader—a fat man covered in grease—sneered, "Second brother, you're such a coward! I heard that Deadly Sword is only in his early twenties, a brat who hasn't even grown his hair yet. How strong could he be? If we brothers join forces, even a newly-established expert wouldn't dare to take him head-on! Ha, if he dares to come, I'll make sure he's buried in the wilderness and fed to the wolves!"

"Exactly! With the boss in charge, who dares to mess with us?"

"Don't even mention one deadly sword; ten of them would be easy prey!"

Qin Tieshan threw his head back and laughed loudly, slamming his hand on the table as he stood up: "That's right! Our Mad Wind Stronghold is not comparable to those weakling strongholds! What deadly swords, what soul-snatching swords, if they come, we'll chop them all into mincemeat! Come on, let's keep drinking! Tonight, we won't stop until we're drunk!"

……

Listening to the laughter of the crowd, the second-in-command took a sip of his wine, realizing he had been overthinking things. Even if a twenty-year-old boy possessed extraordinary talent, could he possibly reach the peak of the Acquired Realm?

Just as I was about to let it go, a clear, cold voice, like a sharp blade, pierced through the noise—

"Really? Then tell me... how did you plan to make sure I never left?"

In an instant, the lights flickered, and the voices fell silent.

A person slowly stepped into the arena.

He wore a tight-fitting blue robe, his figure was upright, and the long sword at his waist gleamed with silver light. On the hilt of the sword, thirteen bright pearls shone softly, like stars in the night sky.

It was Lin Tian.

He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, his eyes indifferent, looking at Qin Tieshan with a half-smile.

"Who are you?! Where are the guards? How dare you let outsiders into the heart of the village?!" Qin Tieshan stood up abruptly, his face grim.

"A dog?" Lin Tian chuckled lightly. "After climbing Black Green Mountain, I saw 472 corpses, and not a single one had a dog's face. As for me... weren't you guys just talking about me?"

He paused, his voice as clear as ice:

"I am the one you call the Deadly Sword."

The Thirteen Deadly Swords are a deadly art of combat, which Lin Tian has mastered to a level of unparalleled skill. However, this sword technique originates from Yan Shisan's memories, and Lin Tian has never truly killed anyone. If he wants to break through to the pinnacle of mastery, he must personally experience life and death, paving the way with blood.

So he left the Fuwei Escort Agency and headed north, specializing in killing bandits and wiping out mountain strongholds.

Within half a year, blood was spilled in thirty villages, and his name became famous throughout Jingchu. The name of the Deadly Sword terrified all bandits.

"You...you really are the Deadly Sword?!" Qin Tieshan roared, his eyes bloodshot. "You killed all my brothers in the stronghold?!"

Lin Tian remained calm, as if discussing the day's weather.

"Yes, they're all dead."

The moment the word was uttered, the entire arena fell silent.

"Ah—!! I'll kill you!!"

Qin Tieshan suddenly sprang up, grabbed a meter-long machete beside him, and roared as he unleashed the most ferocious move in the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber Techniques – "Tiger Leaps Over the Ravine". The blade whistled as it cleaved straight at Lin Tian's head!

Before the blade even arrived, the strong wind had already sent dust flying from the ground.

Lin Tian remained standing, without even lifting his eyelids.

He simply spoke:

"You are lucky. Three days ago, my swordsmanship advanced another step, and I mastered the fourteenth move. Today... I will use your life to sacrifice for the birth of this new sword!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his sword was drawn.

Silent and still, yet it was as if the world had suddenly darkened.

That sword strike was so fast that its trajectory was invisible, leaving only a streak of silver light tearing through the air—

Deadly... The Fourteenth Sword!

This sword strike was so dazzling it was almost bewitching!

The Thirteen Deadly Swords are already a rare and unparalleled skill in the martial arts world. But if we compare the first thirteen swords with this fourteenth sword, it's like comparing mud and rocks to the sun and moon, or a firefly's faint light to the blazing sun in the sky. It's as different as clouds and mud, as different as heaven and earth!

The sword energy tore through the sky, as if to sever the end of time, pointing directly at Qin Tieshan's brow, causing the void to tremble.

In Qin Tieshan's eyes, the moment Lin Tian drew his sword, the world suddenly froze. He felt an invisible pressure, like a mountain of immense weight, crushing his heart, and his limbs and bones were firmly bound, unable to move.

The machete that used to be as easy to wield as an arm now felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and even lifting it an inch was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Faced with this sword, he felt no will to fight, and couldn't even muster the thought of fleeing.

No, it's not that I can't give birth—it's that every corner of my soul is screaming: You are doomed to die!

The ending was already predetermined!

There is only one way out—death!

There was no luck, no miracle, no reversal!

The next instant, the pearl-shaped longsword pierced through his brow; before blood could even splatter, he was already dead.

"Bang!"

The corpse crashed to the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of dust. Immediately afterward, a card emitting an eerie green glow slowly appeared above the corpse.

"Big brother!!"

"Boss!!"

"Boss!!"

The surrounding bandits stood frozen in shock for several breaths before suddenly erupting in roars and howls of grief.

They had never personally experienced the terror of that sword strike, so they naturally did not understand the crushing feeling that came from the depths of their souls.

All they knew was that their leader, who had dominated the region, had been killed instantly by a single sword strike!

In a fit of shock and rage, the crowd grabbed their weapons and charged at Lin Tian.

These men, though bandits, weren't stupid. Even Qin Tieshan was no match for them; who would dare to be so arrogant as to challenge them to a one-on-one fight?

Even a hero can't fight four hands; scattering and fleeing will only lead to being hunted down one by one. Only by attacking together might they have a glimmer of hope!

Will Lin Tian give them a chance?

will not.

The sword light flashed, like a shooting star trailing its tail; with each flash, it took a life.

Within a dozen breaths, blood stained the barren slope, and corpses littered the field, with only one person standing proudly.

Lin Tian glanced at the corpses scattered on the ground, his eyes showing neither sorrow nor joy.

Which of these people hasn't taken a dozen lives? Killing them isn't a crime; it's not an exaggeration to say it's acting on behalf of Heaven.

Sheathing his sword, he crouched down and began picking up the fallen cards.

"Three top-tier experts, three green cards, and the rest are all white cards," Lin Tian calculated in his mind. "White cards are basically useless; they're either hoes, sickles, or coarse cloth and old clothes. But these three green cards... what could they possibly yield?"

With a flick of his wrist, three green cards were revealed:

Green Martial Arts Card: Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Blade

Green Weapon Card: Pine Breeze Longsword

Green Martial Arts Card: Iron Shirt [Fragment]

"Ha, just another bunch of filler stuff."

Lin Tian shook his head with a wry smile. Although he had expected it, he still felt somewhat helpless. However, having more skills was never a bad thing. He casually crushed three cards and incorporated them into his memory.

Name: Lin Tian

Age: 18

[Cultivation Level]: Peak of First-Class Cultivation

[Offensive Techniques]: Mind-Intent Qi Hunyuan Gong [Shaoyang Divine Skill], Iron Shirt [Fragment]

[Martial Arts]: Evil-Repelling Sword Manual [Mastery], Thirteen Deadly Swords [Peak of Mastery], Five Tigers Severing the Gate Saber [Divine Skill]...

[Equipment]: Pearl Longsword [Blue Grade], Pine Breeze Longsword [Green Grade]

……

"As long as it's a martial art learned from a card, it will directly reach the 'divine mastery' level, saving time and effort. Otherwise, how would we have the time to practice each one individually? We would have to painfully abandon many moves."

"But here's the problem—in the past six months, I've killed thirteen top-tier experts, and the drop rate has been consistently green cards. I haven't seen a single card that boosts internal strength. It seems special cards really aren't that easy to obtain."

"System, is there a threshold?" Lin Tian suddenly had a thought. "Top-tier experts only get green cards at most? To get a higher-grade one, you have to kill a powerhouse at the Acquired Realm or above?"

"Ding—Host, the card drop mechanism isn't just about strength. The key is also the target's reputation and influence in this world. For example, Linghu Chong is at most a second-rate expert right now, but if you can really kill him, the system guarantees you'll get at least one purple-tier card." The system's voice sounded on time.

No wonder.

Lin Tian nodded slightly, his mind racing: "Once the full storyline of 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' begins, my rise to power will probably double. Thinking about it... Yu Canghai, as one of the leaders of the nine major righteous sects, must be quite wealthy. He might even drop a top-tier card."

Without lingering a moment longer, he raised his hand to start a fire, setting the entire Mad Wind Stronghold ablaze. If the haphazardly laid corpses on the mountainside weren't cleared, they could easily breed plague—in this era, a plague was more deadly than a thousand armies.

The night was as dark as ink, and the Black Mountain was dyed crimson by the flames. Under the firelight, Lin Tian's figure slowly walked down the mountain path.