From a chaotic world of folk customs to becoming a god through extreme methods.

"Young Master?" Wang Gou Dan asked nervously.

"Stop talking nonsense, use your full strength." Lin Yuan's meaning remained unchanged.

Wang Gou Dan remained silent for a moment before finally placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Then, he drew his sword.

A flash of cold light appeared.

His sword strikes were incredibly swift, the blade cutting through the air with the speed of a gust of wind.

The main purpose was to test the young master's intentions, as they were unsure of his current level of cultivation.

But the next moment.

Then he saw a light.

Lin Yuan's sword was already drawn at some point; no one could see when he drew it, let alone how it got to him.

Suddenly, the sword light collided with Wang Gou Dan's sword, producing a crisp sound like a sparrow chirping.

Wang Gou Dan's sword was instantly deflected.

He was startled and instantly abandoned his contempt. He immediately changed his stance with his iron sword, wanting to launch a counterattack.

But Lin Yuan's sword had blocked all his angles of attack, and every strike was faster, more accurate, and more precise than his.

Like an old man playing with a child, he neither wins nor gives the other any chance to win.

Wang Gou Dan became increasingly alarmed as he fought.

He swept aside his peers at the sparring match, even defeating Senior Brother Sun, who was undergoing his second body tempering.

However, in the confrontation with the young master, he was instantly defeated.

He could sense that the young master was already holding back; if it were a real life-or-death battle, the young master's sword would probably have pierced his throat in the very first move.

"Clang!"

As the two swords clashed for the last time.

The sword in Wang Gou Dan's hand was immediately knocked away and pinned to the ground.

He staggered back two steps, looking at Lin Yuan with a face full of shock and disbelief.

"Young Master, you..."

He wanted to ask the young master what level he was at, but the words stuck in his throat and he didn't ask.

Since the young master has been keeping it hidden, there must be a reason. He doesn't need to know too much; he only needs to know that the young master is very strong, much stronger than him, and that's enough.

Lin Yuan sheathed his sword.

"Let's go."

He turned around and continued walking forward.

"Tonight, I will avenge your father."

Wang Gou Dan picked up the sword from the ground and immediately followed, this time without any further doubt.

The two walked downstream along the riverbank for half an hour.

Soon, they arrived at a secluded fishing village called Liu Family Village.

This village is not large, with only about twenty households. They live by the water and used to make a living by fishing. However, due to the recent disturbances caused by the water ghost, most families have no money for food and several households have already moved away.

At this moment, there are dilapidated houses everywhere, low and scattered, with only two or three families left behind because they have nowhere else to go.

According to information Lin Yuan recently gathered, Liujia Village is located by the river, making it a place where the water spirits are most likely to appear.

They walked forward by the moonlight, with only the rustling of the river wind through the reeds around them.

The two held their breath and waited in an abandoned courtyard, listening carefully to the river breeze, hoping to catch a glimpse of something.

And so it went, until the night grew deeper and deeper.

Lin Yuan almost fell asleep after what seemed like an eternity.

But at that moment...

A scream pierced the night sky.

This came from the westernmost part of the fishing village; it was a short, painful scream, which then abruptly stopped.

Lin Yuan and Wang Gou Dan were instantly jolted awake, gripping their sword hilts with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

"Walk!"

The two immediately sped off in the direction from which the screams came.

……

The gate of the house at the far west end was wide open.

The courtyard was a mess; the water vat had been overturned, and dark red blood was mixed in with the flowing water.

At the source of the blood was a corpse with most of its neck gnawed off, its eyes wide open, dying with its eyes still open.

Lin Yuan and Wang Gou Dan burst into the courtyard, ignoring the corpse inside, and continued running into the house.

Inside the house, the floor was covered in blood.

A woman lay dead beside the stove, her face unrecognizable. A large hole had been brutally torn open in her chest, and half of her heart had been gnawed out.

In front of her, a figure was crouching.

This was a monster with pale, wrinkled skin all over its body, like a dead pigskin that had been soaking for three days and three nights.

Its fingers were extremely long, its limbs were lying on the ground, and its fingertips still had webbed edges. It was constantly tearing flesh and blood from the woman's chest and stuffing it into its mouth.

The sound of chewing was exceptionally clear in the darkness of the night.

In the far corner of the courtyard, a small figure was huddled up. It was a little girl with tears streaming down her face, covering her mouth tightly, afraid to make a sound.

She noticed the commotion at the door and immediately saw two black-clad youths carrying swords burst in.

She opened her mouth, but dared not make a sound; her words could only be vaguely discerned through her lips.

"Help...help..."

The water monster seemed to sense something, stopped chewing, and suddenly turned its head, revealing a ferocious face.

It resembled both a human and a monkey, with blood-soaked fangs and a gaping maw, making it extremely terrifying.

Those eyes gleamed with a faint green light in the night.

He grinned and let out a hissing sound like a baby crying.

Wang Gou Dan looked at the monster. Although he was nervous and his hands were sweating, his fear instantly turned into hatred because of the scene before him.

"You man-eating monster."

"You beast, prepare to die!"

He shot out like a taut string.

The sword light exploded from his hand.

From the very beginning, he unleashed his full power, his sword strike carrying boundless hatred.

But the water sergeant reacted faster than he had expected.

He crouched on all fours, then suddenly kicked off, springing away like a toad to dodge the sword.

Then he rolled over and landed, staring intently at Wang Gou Dan with his eerie green eyes, his face twitching and radiating terrifying malice.

"careful."

Lin Yuan's voice came from behind. He had just quickly taken the little girl outside the courtyard and then rushed back in an instant.

At this moment, the sword was drawn.

The two of them worked together to surround the monster, and they stood facing each other in this way.

The water monster crawled slowly toward the two men on all fours, its mouth agape, dripping with bloody saliva, and it was extremely foul-smelling.

The saliva dripped onto the ground, immediately sizzling and burning.

This is water poisoning.

"Be careful not to get his saliva on you."

Wang Gou Dan nodded, his hands already soaked in cold sweat.

He had unleashed that sword strike with all his might, fueled by rage, yet it hadn't even grazed his opponent's skin.

The speed of the water raft was faster than he had expected.

In an instant.

The water sprites moved.

It moved like lightning, its four limbs suddenly crouching down, and the ghostly thing transformed into a white shadow, lunging fiercely at Wang Gou Dan.

With fingers spread wide, the top inch of black fingernails were coated with a layer of sticky, poisonous liquid, carrying a fishy smell, and suddenly slashed down.

Wang Gou Dan dodged to the side, his fingernails grazing his shoulder, tearing the fabric with a hiss, the edges already turning black.

He felt a chill run down his spine; if it grazed his skin, he might lose a layer of skin.

Having missed its first attack, the water serpent turned again and pounced on Wang Gou Dan.

Its attacks are completely haphazard; it simply pounces, scratches, and bites.

But it was too fast and too powerful, forcing Wang Gou Dan to retreat repeatedly.

But at that moment, a sword light intervened from the side.

Lin Yuan's sword had been waiting for the right moment for a long time, and suddenly slashed in from the side and rear of the water tamer, which was exactly the opponent's blind spot.

At this moment, the other party was focused on chasing Wang Gou Dan and completely ignored that place.

Turbulent Sword Technique!

Lin Yuan directly used the new sword technique from his second body tempering. The sword blade pierced the air like a torrent crashing against a rock, immediately creating surging ripples.

The sword strikes clashed, carrying a terrifying killing intent, and swept in.