Excessive ferocity due to caution

The glint of swords danced with the flickering candlelight, and murderous intent coexisted with fear.

Blood gushed forth like a fountain, scattering and weaving into chaotic yet vivid patterns, staining the ground and green walls, leaving behind the unwilling cries of the dying.

They have come this far through countless crises and dangers in their lives, but in the end, they always managed to seize a glimmer of hope and get through them unscathed.

But this time, they weren't so lucky.

Zhao Yi's knife was very fast.

When it came time to kill them, it was like slaughtering dogs.

"Too weak."

Hot blood splattered on Zhao Yi's cheek, staining it with a hellish hue.

He turned his head to the side, threw away the half-body he was carrying, and looked directly at the rest of the person.

They huddled against a corner of the palace, filled with fear and despair.

There were also three skeletons there.

"Zhao Yi...you're really Zhao Yi?!"

At this point, they had no choice but to believe.

"I don't have a habit of lying to the dead."

Zhao Yi relaxed his shoulders, and every time the long sword he gripped tightly in his right hand swayed with the candlelight in the hall, it made the hearts of the people in the corner tremble violently!

"We...we were blind to your greatness, Senior Zhao, please forgive us!"

Overwhelmed by the fear of death, some people's legs went weak and they knelt down.

During the Warring States period, they were high above others, so they were arrogant and disdainful of everyone.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not afraid of death.

"With a formidable enemy at hand, you still have the energy and the inclination to stab your own people in the back, all for... that pitiful bit of power."

Zhao Yi chuckled faintly, the cigarette still burning in his mouth.

In the corner, the person kneeling on the ground was terrified and said in a panic:

"Senior Zhao, you've misunderstood us. The three of them died because the great formation drained their divine power; it really has nothing to do with us!"

"If we didn't care about the common people, why would we have entered this hellish place and imprisoned ourselves in this tiny space?"

Zhao Yi tilted his head:

"Yeah?"

"What's going on with these children?"

He pointed to the dozen or so children on the ground, their bodies drained of their life force. The children's faces paled, but they quickly said in trembling voices:

"Senior Zhao, Jin Xi did all that by himself!"

"He practiced evil arts and threatened all the people in Bright Cliff with us. We were forced to compromise!"

"Otherwise, if chaos erupts outside and that scoundrel Jin Xi stirs up trouble from within, Bright Cliff will be finished!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Xi, who was standing to the side, stared in disbelief. The blood on his long, snow-white beard had not yet completely congealed.

"Meng Xiao, you son of a bitch, don't you dare spout such nonsense!"

"If you hadn't deliberately lured us and formed your own faction, how could we possibly have done something like stabbing us in the back?"

As Jin Xi spoke, he turned to look at Zhao Yi and hurriedly put down the child in his hand, even though the child had been strangled to death some time ago.

"Senior Zhao, please let me explain..."

puff!

With a flash of light, Jin Xi was cleaved in two.

Blood and flesh littered the ground.

Meng Xiao, who was kneeling to the side, was splashed with water and trembled violently.

"Stand up."

Zhao Yi pointed the knife at Meng Xiao, his tone indifferent.

Blood dripped from the tip of the knife before Meng Xiao's eyes, slamming heavily onto the ground.

His legs went weak, but he dared not disobey Zhao Yi, so he struggled to stand up.

Even so, Meng Xiao still dared not look at Zhao Yi, keeping his head down, afraid that Zhao Yi's knife would fall.

The longer the stalemate continues, the more afraid I become.

Fear is like an incurable cancer.

"Senior Zhao...you, you mustn't listen to Jin Xi's nonsense! We're truly innocent!"

He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, but Zhao Yi's words stunned him.

"Make your move."

"what?"

"I said, make a move."

"Yes, who are we going to attack?"

"I."

As soon as Zhao Yi finished speaking, Meng Xiao knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly!

"Senior Zhao... please spare me!!"

"I promise I will bring good to the people of Bright Cliff from now on, and I promise I will never do anything bad again. I... I was bewitched!"

"I am guilty, I deserve to die!!"

As he spoke, he slapped himself, unaware that Zhao Yi's gaze towards him gradually turned to pity.

"How pitiful."

"Don't you understand?"

"I don't care whether they live or die, just like I don't care whether you live or die... I'm killing you only because I don't like you."

Meng Xiao trembled.

The knife was raised, and the head fell.

His head rolled over to the corner next to the remaining people, his dazed eyes still staring at the ceiling.

The rest of the people, those who were extremely arrogant and condescending towards Su Xingcan and Guangming Cliff, did not dare to fight back against Zhao Yi until their deaths.

A cornered dog will jump over a wall, and a cornered rabbit will bite.

Yet these people... died in such a lowly state that they were less than dogs.

This made Zhao Yi feel really bored.

Chi!

He flicked the knife and put it away.

In the vast palace, he was the only living person left.

Zhao Yi looked at the children's corpses on the ground, then with a flick of his sleeve, put their bodies into the system's containment space.

Then he came to the corridor on the other side of the hall and arrived at the room where many classic texts of cultivation from the various schools of thought of the six kingdoms were stored.

Many of the ancient books stored here are things that have been lost to the martial arts world for a long time. It is clear that Ren Wudi has put in a lot of effort and time to find them.

Zhao Yi glanced at it.

These things, no matter how obscure, are all recorded in the Warring States period martial arts manuals. The manuals in his hand are far more complete than the scattered ones on the bookshelf in front of him.

Of course, the observant Zhao Yi still found something different on the bookshelf—

The Anonymous Man's Notes.

This thing has no name; it's just an ordinary bibliography, abandoned in a corner gathering dust.

After Zhao Yi opened the book and glanced at it a few times, he immediately knew that it was written by Ren Wudi!

Inside, there were no divine skills or secret techniques, but rather some scattered records.

...

【One】

[...Ten years have passed, and I've finally arrived here. Who could have imagined that the state of oneness with heaven and man isn't the pinnacle of martial arts, but merely the beginning?]

The future is shrouded in uncertainty. In the depths of my dream, I glimpsed a blood-red, lacquered wooden door deep within a sea of ​​stars. Is this an omen?

...

【two】

The path of martial arts should not end here. If there are no predecessors ahead, then I will be that predecessor!

Even if the fog is thick, I will still step through it one step at a time!

...

【three】

I saw the red lacquered wooden door from my dream; it was at the end of the mist.

It was shrouded in an ominous aura, and I've wondered more than once if this foreshadowed that I was on the wrong path.

...

[Four]

I consulted a divination master for myself.

【fierce.】

...

【Fives】

I wanted to return to the beginning and find another path, but I discovered that once this path was taken, there was no turning back.

Moreover, that red lacquered wooden door seemed to be getting closer and closer to me.

What's behind the wooden door?

Why...is there such a terrible omen lurking around?

...

【six】

I rapidly improved my skills, evolving, creating, and refining my martial arts to prepare for the ever-present threat of the red-lacquered wooden door.

But as my strength increases, it gets closer and closer to me!

[And...it seems something is leaking out from behind the red lacquered wooden door.]

...

【Seven】

I'm sick.

...

【Eight】

I searched far and wide for renowned healers and reclusive physicians, and after their diagnoses, they all said I was perfectly healthy…

But I know I have a very serious illness.

[And if timely treatment is not received, extremely terrible things can happen...]

...

【nine】

It is indeed because of that red-lacquered wooden door; it's now only a hundred paces away from me.

I can hear a heartbeat behind the wooden door.

[Too powerful... Perhaps, that's the heartbeat of a ghost or spirit?]

I am terrified.

It's not the fear of the unknown behind the wooden door that's there, but the fear that I won't be able to hold on until I can push that door open myself...

I am now stronger than ever before, yet also...weaker than ever before.

...

【ten】

The red-lacquered wooden door no longer comes near me.

It seems I will have to walk these final hundred steps by myself.

I exhausted every means to fight the disease... and just as I had imagined, this incurable illness brought annihilation to the entire Warring States period.

[Upon arriving here, every step... has become exceptionally difficult.]

I'm not sure I can hold on until I can push open that red-lacquered wooden door myself.

[The Daoist method of severing the three corpses is an extremely powerful technique. Although the inheritance is fragmented, the recorded information inspired me and allowed me to create "Severing Myself," which bought me precious time!]

However, the current situation remains far from optimistic.

...

【eleven】

I have arrived at the Mausoleum of Shenying in the State of Qi.

Here lie the relics of countless sages from the Warring States period, whose owners were all among the most powerful figures of that era. Yet now that I have arrived, not a single one responds to me.

I know there's no one left in front of me.

The wind and snow are vast and boundless, the sky is old and the earth is desolate.

I will walk this path alone.

But I left behind the method to "slay me."

If future generations come here and ask the questions of our ancestors, they will see me.

...

I am Ren Wudi.

[Ren Wudi, the invincible one under heaven.]

...

Zhao Yi closed his notebook.

Smile.

The world becomes interesting because of people like this.

He carried Ren Wudi's notes with him.

Through Ren Wudi's notes, Zhao Yi gained some understanding of the path of evil cultivation.

Back then, on the ark in the chaotic city, he also saw a strange red lacquered wooden door floating in the depths of the universe.

At that time, he was just curious.

But now he understood that this wooden door was related to the cultivation in the Evil Realm.

Push open the door to the inner hall.

Zhao Yi ventured deeper, stepping onto the Star Sea Illusion Array, and arrived at the center of the array.

He did not attempt to break the formation.

If external forces forcibly disrupt the formation, it will affect the dragon vein and the Bright Cliff.

Su Xingcan was obviously aware of this as well.

Letting Zhao Yi find a solution on his own is just a respectable excuse.

The two were not close friends, but they had watched the snow together, drunk wine together, and ridden horses together.

But these three things were enough for Zhao Yi to understand him.

After sitting in meditation for half an hour, the power of the formation underwent a dramatic change. The ever-flowing divine power of the mountains and rivers gradually dissipated into the heavens and earth, and the barrier in front of Zhao Yi began to thin out, finally bursting like a bubble.

Sunlight streamed outside Qishan Palace, and the wind blew in as well.

After a long while, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows inside the palace gate and stood in the sunlight on the mountain.

He glanced back at Qishan Palace and then descended the mountain.

...

Upon returning to the capital city of Bright Cliff, Yu Chonglou had been waiting for a long time at the foot of the mountain.

There was an inexplicable sadness in his eyes.

"Brother Su has passed away?"

Zhao Yi asked.

Yu Chonglou nodded, took out a note from his chest pocket, and handed it to Zhao Yi.

"A letter from the cliff owner to you."

Zhao Yi opened the note; it contained only a short line of text.

The road ahead is long, Brother Zhao, take care.

Zhao Yi put away the note, and with a flick of his sleeve, twenty children's corpses appeared on the ground, causing bloodshot veins to appear in Yu Chonglou's eyes!

"this……"

Zhao Yidao:

"I'm too late."

"Notify the children's families... Although it's hard to accept, their parents should be able to see their children one last time."

"These children have done a great service to Bright Cliff and should be given a proper burial."

Yu Chonglou closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight of the children's miserable state any longer.

"That's natural."

"Anyway... thank you, Senior Zhao."

Snapped!

Zhao Yi's hand landed on Yu Chonglou's shoulder, startling Yu Chonglou.

He values ​​you highly... and hopes you deserve it.

Yu Chonglou took a deep breath.

"Senior Zhao, rest assured... I will dedicate my entire life to protecting the safety of the people of Bright Cliff!"

Zhao Yi gave him a deep look and said:

"I need to go to the Mausoleum of Shenying in the State of Qi. Do you have a map?"

Yu Chonglou nodded and cupped his hands to Zhao Yi, saying:

"Please return to my humble abode for half a day to rest, Senior Zhao. I will make arrangements for these children and their parents, and then I will plan your trip to the State of Qi!"

Zhao nodded, and a gentle breeze blew by, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

Without further hesitation, Yu Chonglou quickly dispatched his subordinates to notify the children's families...

...

Qingfeng Xiaozhu (Clear Breeze Abode)

This is Su Xingcan's residence.

Small and clean.

Su Qingyao stood in the courtyard, holding up her umbrella which had turned black, watching the water droplets dripping from the eaves.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhao Yi appeared beside her.

Su Qingyao:

"I'm wondering... why it's raining when the sun is shining so brightly."

Zhao Yi stretched out his finger and brushed it across the corner of her eye.

That wasn't rain.

Su Qingyao turned her head to look at Zhao Yi.

She knew Zhao Yi had feelings, but he had always kept them very well hidden.

Throughout history, all those who have accomplished great things have one thing in common: they do not let emotions become a hindrance.

Zhao Yi is the same.

Therefore, he can remain calm and composed when facing any situation.

"Master... if I die, could you completely destroy the evil spirit within me and bury my body together with my father?"

Zhao Yidao:

"You won't die."

"We'll be setting off soon."

Su Qingyao blinked her reddened eyes:

"Where to?"

Zhao Yi:

"Qi State, Shenying Mausoleum."

Su Qingyao was silent for a while, then suddenly asked:

"If someone close to the owner dies, will the owner feel sad?"

Zhao Yi did not answer her, but only said:

"Remember... Do not grieve for the dead, but remember them when they were alive."

"Your father had a wonderful life. If all you see is his death, it is disrespectful to your father."

PS: Today's two updates have been combined into one.

Goodnight, my darlings!!

Hehe haha ​​hehe haha ​​hehe ha...