Unrestricted Dao Lord

"You..."

The Huajin Martial Artist’s eyes widened, and he stared intently at the figure that had suddenly appeared.

"Dugu Jian..."

The Huajin Martial Artist recognized Dugu Jian.

Dugu Jian gently drew his longsword. Without so much as a glance at the Huajin Martial Artist, he continued to weave through the night.

"The third one..."

Dugu Jian suddenly felt a rush of exhilaration.

Ever since arriving in Hengshan County, he had been holding back. To earn merit points, he had to restrain himself daily, killing only one or two Martial Artists.

He even had to feign being equal in strength to Han Guiyi.

Before, he hadn’t thought much of it.

’For the sake of merit points, such a small sacrifice was nothing.’

But now, as he rampaged through the night, slaughtering Guiyuan Sect disciples, a sudden realization dawned in his heart.

’This is my path.’

’Why should I be so timid and cautious?’

’That is not my path!’

"A clear mind is the only true path for me. Good. Excellent. I never thought I’d have such an epiphany just as my time in Hengshan is coming to a close..."

Dugu Jian smiled.

He already had a feeling.

Once his time in Hengshan was over and he returned to the Five Elements Sect, he felt it wouldn’t be long before he successfully reached the Embracing Pill Realm.

This was truly an unexpected, pleasant surprise.

And so, Dugu Jian struck with even greater abandon.

Four, five, six, seven...

For the entire night, Dugu Jian did as he pleased, relentlessly slaughtering Guiyuan Sect Martial Artists.

However, many of the Guiyuan Sect Martial Artists remained unaware.

Zhang Su was one of them.

He, however, did not take any action that night.

Wang Dakui had warned him to lie low for a while.

After killing eight Huajin Martial Artists, he couldn’t afford to attract more attention.

Zhang Su thought about it and decided it was sound advice.

He would rest for a few days before doing anything else.

Thus, Zhang Su didn’t leave his room all night.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Zhang Su opened his door and headed for the Martial Arts Arena.

Zhang Su had just arrived at the Martial Arts Arena.

He found the ground covered with rows and rows of corpses.

"Hm? What’s this..."

Zhang Su took a look. There were at least thirty or forty bodies.

’How did so many people die in a single night?’

’Did the Guiyuan Sect and the Five Elements Sect have their final battle?’

The vast Martial Arts Arena was silent.

Everyone wore a grim expression.

"What happened here?"

Spotting Xie Guanchao, Zhang Su asked him directly.

Xie Guanchao gave Zhang Su a complicated look before speaking. "Dugu Jian made his move. Last night, he went on a killing spree. With just one sword, he killed a total of thirty-eight members of our Guiyuan Sect! Among them were fifteen Huajin Martial Artists and twenty-three Inner Force Martial Artists."

"Almost no one could stop him. He single-handedly swept through a huge number of our Guiyuan Sect’s Martial Artists... Senior Brother Han was right. Dugu Jian is terrifying. His strength is far beyond what he’s shown in the past."

Zhang Su’s pupils contracted.

’Dugu Jian?’

Of the ten people on the Guiyuan Sect’s Huajin bounty list, Dugu Jian was now the only one left.

Zhang Su had killed the other nine.

He never expected that Dugu Jian, who had always been so cautious and restrained, would suddenly go on a rampage last night.

’Is Dugu Jian’s killing spree related to me?’

Zhang Su immediately thought about how he had killed Lin Huan and the others.

Dugu Jian had always been restrained in the past.

For him to suddenly go on a rampage now, there had to be a reason.

Recently, Zhang Su had killed Lin Huan and seven other Huajin Martial Artists, an event that had shaken both the Guiyuan Sect and the Five Elements Sect.

It was difficult not to connect the two incidents.

"Junior Brother Zhang Su, Junior Brother Xie Guanchao, an Elder requests your presence."

Just then, an Inner Sect Steward came looking specifically for Zhang Su.

"Alright."

Zhang Su and Xie Guanchao exchanged a glance, nodded, and immediately followed the Inner Sect Steward to the reception hall of the stronghold.

Inside, all eleven Elders were already present.

Besides the eleven Elders, Zhang Su saw many other familiar faces.

He saw Zhou Peng, for instance, and another notable figure—Han Guiyi.

There were quite a few other Huajin Martial Artists as well.

They, too, were masters from the Huajin bounty list.

The atmosphere in the hall was incredibly tense.

"Zhang Su, you’re here. Have a seat."

Elder Tang Tianwen spoke up.

This Elder, who hailed from the Sect Leader’s lineage, had rarely made an appearance since arriving in Hengshan County.

Zhang Su usually interacted more with Wang Dakui.

So, he glanced over at Wang Dakui.

Wang Dakui nodded back at him.

Understanding, Zhang Su immediately took a seat.

Seeing that everyone was present, Tang Tianwen spoke in a low voice, "Everyone, last night Dugu Jian of the Five Elements Sect went on a rampage, killing a total of thirty-eight of our Guiyuan Sect’s Martial Artists! We all underestimated him."

"According to our informant and the descriptions from those who managed to escape back to the stronghold last night, Dugu Jian is most likely practicing Five Meridian Cultivation. He hasn’t achieved Two Meridians Unite or Three Meridians Unite, but he has cultivated the Five Elements Sect’s Five Elements Reincarnation Sword Technique."

"This technique is actually composed of five separate Unparalleled Swordsmanship styles, each representing one of the Five Veins of the Five Elements Sect. Once he cultivates them all to the Perfection Realm, he can achieve the state of Five Elements Mutual Generation, creating a self-sustaining, endless cycle. The power of his swordsmanship is terrifying—even more so than Three Meridians Unite!"

"Dugu Jian may already be invincible among Huajin Martial Artists. His rampage means the Five Elements Sect is preparing for a final battle. After discussion, we have decided to gather all our strength to surround and kill Dugu Jian! The ten of you will be the core of this effort. If you succeed, you will each be awarded one thousand merit points."

Xie Guanchao, Zhou Peng, and the other eight Huajin Martial Artists exchanged glances but remained silent.

One thousand merit points was, in fact, a generous amount.

It was the equivalent of killing ten Huajin Martial Artists from the Five Elements Sect.

And yet, no one immediately accepted the offer.