Immortality by Merit and Sin Coins

"Get those two wild dogs!"

Liu Zhen’s furious, hoarse roar shattered the silence of the gambling den.

The long saber in his hand left its sheath, and a blinding white flame gushed out with it, flowing like a spring from the scabbard.

The roaring flames instantly engulfed the blade, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.

More than a hundred wisps of Spiritual Power flared up, and the terrifying Spiritual Pressure was suffocating.

Dong Cheng, who only had a dozen or so wisps of Spiritual Power to his name, felt his legs turn to jelly.

Furthermore, as Liu Zhen drew his saber, he simultaneously formed a hand sign, his figure suddenly blurring into several afterimages.

Identical white-flamed long sabers skimmed over the long table from three different directions, aimed straight at the youth opposite him!

...

Lin Shu remained seated, his hair whipping about. The light of the blades reflected in his pupils; he couldn’t tell which of the figures was real.

But he wasn’t looking at Liu Zhen. Instead, his gaze was fixed on a specific spot.

’Both the conversation just now and all the extra movements were merely a distraction.’

’All for the sake of the Black Mist slowly rippling out from behind the Chief Constable.’

The Fog coalesced into a human shape, clinging tightly to Liu Zhen’s back.

And the moment the Chief Constable exploded into action, the Black Mist finally erupted, sweeping through the entire gambling den with him at its center.

A bone-chilling aura turned the place into an icehouse.

The Black Mist, like sand, extinguished the white flames on the long saber.

The three figures froze simultaneously. What had been a short distance for Liu Zhen, easily covered by a swing of his saber, was suddenly stretched out.

Lin Shu let out a soft breath.

He felt a great portion of his Spiritual Power instantly drain away.

He tilted his head up slightly. From his pupils, still reflecting the light of the sabers, a red mist began to seep out.

His crimson eyes were like two Red Moons.

Under the power of the Dharma Eye, the three figures before him slowly began to overlap.

"Get back!"

Liu Zhen roared in anger, swinging his saber infused with immense Spiritual Power, trying to force back the strange Black Mist surrounding him.

But at the same time, a strange, burning itch spread across his partially frozen body, creating an overwhelming urge to claw his own flesh off.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Lin Shu unlaced his fingers and slowly clenched his hand into a fist, aiming at the figure engulfed in the Black Mist.

Ghastly white shapes poked out from the fog.

These were hideous, terrifying bone claws, sharp as daggers. They emanated an aura of sorrow as they ruthlessly dug into the flesh of Liu Zhen’s limbs and torso. Like countless water spirits, they tried to drag him by force into a dark, silent river of fog.

Terror bloomed in Liu Zhen’s heart. He mentally searched through his arsenal. In all his years, besides techniques from the Lower Three Grades, his only truly high-class Immortal Techniques were a Sixth-Grade Saber Technique and a Fifth-Grade Body Technique.

But now, he could sense something in this Black Mist that was far beyond anything he had ever encountered.

What was worse, blinded by rage, he hadn’t noticed when the Black Mist had closed in.

RIP!

The bone claws suddenly tightened, tearing off huge chunks of his flesh.

Blood and gore were swallowed by the Fog. The man, whole just a moment ago, was torn into a partial skeleton in the blink of an eye.

"AHHH!!"

The mangled Chief Constable let out a piercing wail.

What terrified Liu Zhen the most was that, due to his abundant Spiritual Power, he was still alive and his consciousness remained clear.

White Bone Claws clamped tightly over his face, and he could only peer out through the gaps.

Within his line of sight, there were only those inhuman, crimson eyes.

He clearly still had the strength to resist, but his courage had been shattered by this bizarre scene, and he struggled ceaselessly like a common man.

"There’s a Demon! Help me—"

His final cry for help was drowned out as his body was completely dragged into the Fog.

But his cry for help was meaningless.

Because the Black Mist had already spread out, and White Bone Claws covered the floor.

Inside the entire gambling den, aside from the dumbstruck Dong Cheng, almost every other person was being hunted by them.

"Run!"

A constable, who had been ready to attack alongside Liu Zhen, frantically swung his saber to cut through a patch of fog. Scared out of his wits, he bolted for the stairs.

However, before he could dash away, someone suddenly grabbed his hair from behind.

The sudden force sent him flying backward, and he crashed onto a table with a THUD.

"Ah... ah..."

The constable’s head was spinning. His eyes bulged as he stared fixedly at the fair, youthful face above him.

Lin Shu released his head, a hint of weariness in his eyes, and took the long saber from the constable’s hand, which was trembling like a leaf.

"Lord Official, *this* is what I call resisting arrest."

The corners of his lips curled up. His voice was calm as his five fingers slowly, deliberately, tightened around the hilt.

CLANG!

In an instant, a flash of silver plunged straight into the constable’s heart.

The blade’s momentum didn’t slow, piercing a full three inches into the tabletop before it stopped, humming.

Gurgling blood dripped from the tip of the blade to the floor, seeping into the cracks between the stone tiles and spreading to Dong Cheng’s feet.

"AH—"

Dong Cheng’s face was ashen. He snapped back to his senses and let out an instinctive scream.

He was a Cultivator, true, but he was just a wolf cub with little to no experience in Magical Combat. He had never seen such brutal methods.

Only now did he realize that the surrounding Black Mist, which had made the place feel like a ghostly domain, had already receded as if the entire scene had been an illusion.

The candlelight in the gambling den flickered.

Shopkeeper Wang, his two enforcers, and the other constable—all four of them—lay on the ground in strange positions, their bodies covered in fatal, gaping wounds.

In addition, their features were twisted as if they had seen a ghost, inexplicably giving the impression that they had been scared to death.

"What are you screaming about?"

Lin Shu glanced at him. "Go search the place."

"GULP."

Dong Cheng swallowed hard again and again. Only now did he realize that Master Lin had killed six people, including the Mid-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator Liu Zhen.

’But... he never even left his seat.’

At this thought, he suddenly felt the hard object tucked in his robe. A strange, twisted expression—half-crying, half-laughing—crept onto his terrified face.

’With such terrifying power, he’s basically planning to wipe out an entire family... so why the hell did he make me bring the account books?’

"I-I’ll go right now!"

Dong Cheng scrambled up the stairs, practically wetting himself. He felt that the ground floor was unclean, as if a White Bone Claw might shoot out and grab his ankle at any moment.

...

Lin Shu watched him go upstairs and waited for a moment.

Only then did he sit back down.

He reached for the Qi Replenishing Pills at his waist, only to find that his fingers were so weak they were trembling uncontrollably.

Not until he put seven or eight pills into his mouth did the bitter taste transform into medicinal power.

Lin Shu slowly closed his eyes.

’When I first learned this White Bone Burial Soul technique, I felt something was off.’

’The scene in that Lone Wolf Howling at the Moon Painting was too vast. Compared to the Fifth-Grade Gloomy Moon Bone Splitting Hand, it was on a completely different level.’

’Now that I’ve used it myself, I’m starting to understand.’

’At least half of this Immortal Technique’s killing power comes from the illusions it creates.’

’No wonder it’s called Burial Soul.’

’They’re scared to death before the claws can even kill them.’

But even so, using both the White Bone Burial Soul and the Red Moon Dharma Eye Immortal Techniques at the same time had nearly drained Lin Shu dry.

[Killers and arsonists wear belts of gold; those who build bridges and mend roads leave no corpse behind. Slaying a worthless life has granted 76 Sin Coins.]

Among the many notifications that popped up, this one was undoubtedly the most eye-catching.

The others were just martial artists, not Cultivators. The most valuable of them was worth four wen, while someone like Fatty Wang was worth a paltry two.

The five of them together only amounted to fifteen Sin Coins.

Both were at Mid-stage Qi Cultivation, yet this Liu was worth nearly twice as much as Fatty Tian.

’Perhaps it’s due to the amount of Qi Absorption?’

Lin Shu looked away. He was more focused on the Merit Coins that followed.

There were seventeen notifications in total, likely covering everyone in the Zhao Family from old to young, including the servants and maids.

The price for each was one Merit Coin.

’But that makes sense. If anyone in their family could have put up a fight, that man wouldn’t have charged in with just a broom.’

"This should be enough."

Lin Shu didn’t think it was too little. Judging from how he had earned two Merit Coins from a single casual sentence before, earning more shouldn’t be too slow once his status improved and his position was secure.

’For now, I need to spend these coins as soon as possible.’

When dawn came, he would still have to deal with the aftermath.

’An Evil Constable is still part of the Government Office.’

Although there was the precedent of Yan Jin clearing out an entire street.

’But my strength is still nothing compared to his. It’s always wise to be prepared.’

This was the real reason Lin Shu had Dong Cheng bring the account books.

As for how to hand them over, and to whom, he already had a plan in mind.