Lin Xun rapidly gasped for air. His face was frighteningly pale and an almost feral look surged in his eyes.
It contained the instinctive desire to live but also held more of a strong will that had been tempered for years.
After a few minutes, clarity gradually returned to Lin Xun, and his head no longer felt as fuzzy as before.
He found himself at the bottom of a canyon with cliffs jutting out like halberds above. At a glance, he could see no immediate danger for the time being.
Without hesitation, Lin Xun began to check his injuries while enduring intense pain.
Three ribs on his left side were broken, his right shoulder had been dislocated, and his back was badly burned…
Fortunately, although the external injuries were serious, none of them were fatal.
In Blood Kill Camp, such injuries were considered trifling and would not affect Lin Xun’s movement.
However, there was one piece of bad news that made him frown: he had sustained substantial inner injuries that greatly affected his combat capabilities.
Lin Xun took a deep breath to regain his calm and focus. After which, he began to clean and tend to his wounds like an injured lone wolf.In Blood Kill Camp, there were always combat medics available to heal the students’ injuries. Lin Xun had learned much from being a patient countless times and thus proceeded with practiced and precise movements.
It did not take long for Lin Xun to finish. He gritted his teeth, stood up, and tried to get a feel for his body. He swiftly gauged that he could only display forty percent of his peak combat power.
The most urgent matter, for now, was to find a safe place to recover.
Lin Xun scanned the surroundings and found the little girl, Luoluo, in a nearby grass patch. She was not injured but had fallen unconscious due to shock.
This made Lin Xun feel a little better. However, an unquenchable fury soon flared in his heart, making him feel as if every inch of his body was on the verge of exploding.
He never expected that the enemy would be so vicious and cruel. They had dispatched a Violet Hero Battleship to destroy a rune shuttle filled with passengers!
Who could have imagined that an empire battleship would slaughter its own citizens?
Were the lives of the common people so worthless in their eyes?
Lin Xun could still recall the scene of him chatting with the little girl on the rune shuttle with all the other passengers still alive and well around them. However, the subsequent scene of the explosion, fire, and smoke made him feel as if a knife was carving into his heart.
This was the first time a group of innocents had lost their lives because of him!
Indescribable feelings of guilt and rage tortured Lin Xun’s heart and mind like a whip, making him deeply hate the enemy that had caused this!
“Mummy, I’m scared…”
In his arms, Luoluo softly murmured. Her small, ash-covered face was filled with anxiety and helplessness.
This caused another wave of bitterness and self-blame to wash over Lin Xun. Luoluo’s mother had given him a set of clothes, and more importantly, the kindness and warmth of a stranger, and yet…
She had died because of him!
Lin Xun suddenly took a deep breath and cast away his thoughts. If he continued thinking about these things, he was worried that he would lose control of himself.
“I will avenge all of you!”
Lin Xun tightly pursed his lips as his black eyes turned colder than ice.
He gently put Luoluo on his back and carefully secured her using some spare cloth before setting off.
……
A certain old mansion in the Forbidden City.
When news of the rune shuttle being destroyed was received, everyone in the room burst into cheers as their faces lit up in joy.
“I told you we only needed to send a Violet Hero Battleship to blast the target into smithereens!”
“Hahaha, I’m dying to find out what kind of expression Mister Master Tactician Xu Qianjing will show when he hears about this. It’ll definitely be very entertaining to see.”
“What better way to describe the word ‘effortless?’ We didn’t deploy a single soldier or tactic. All we did was send a single Violet Hero Battleship and everything was solved. Not like Xu Qianjing who still needed to collect information and come up with his so-called ‘flawless’ plans. What a joke.”
Amidst the excitement, they did not forget to ridicule Xu Qianjing again like winners gloating over the loser.
Someone suddenly asked, “Lady Chi, since the target has been eliminated, should we organize a celebration banquet?”
“Wait a while longer.”
Chi Cangmei thought for a bit and said, “From the report, the target’s death has yet to be determined. After his death is confirmed, I will make sure the clan acknowledges everyone’s contributions!”
Everyone burst into hearty chuckles again.
They believed that the verification was merely a formality and should not take long to do. They were already subconsciously sure that it was impossible for the target to survive.
After all, even a Spirit Sea expert could only choose to avoid the new series Violet Hero Battleship, let alone a Human Dipper youngster.
From start to end, there was not a single mention of the many innocents who had also been killed in the rune shuttle.
This uncaring attitude proved that the lives of the other passengers were nothing in these noble disciples' eyes!
……
After walking out of the canyon, a rocky shoal greeted Lin Xun.
It was currently evening. The setting sun hung far the distance, sprinkling its blood-red rays onto the land.
When Lin Xun arrived, he immediately came to a stop. He could see the scattered wreckage of the rune shuttle in the distance.
Lin Xun’s footsteps suddenly felt somewhat heavy. The Violet Hero Battleship was personally designed by him and no one knew better than himself how terrifying its aeth cannon was.
Even Spirit Sea experts could not withstand a full-power blast from its aeth cannon!
In the face of such power, the rune shuttle’s defenses had instantly crumbled like paper.
This meant that when the explosion happened, none of the passengers had any hopes of escaping.
If Lin Xun had not cut open the rune shuttle’s wall and dashed out of the carriage with Luoluo, he would have probably died together with the rest of them back then.
He gazed upon the rune shuttle’s cold and still wreckage. When he thought of how the passengers were killed by a battleship designed by him, Lin Xun felt as if a rock had been shoved into his chest, making it difficult to even breathe.
Lin Xun stood in silence under the setting sun. His handsome face had turned so pale it was nearly transparent, but a bright fire seemed to burn in his eyes.
An unknown amount of time passed. At a certain moment, Lin Xun’s figure suddenly darted to the side and hid in the shadows within a crevice of a boulder.
A coldly gleaming Divine Arm Crossbow had appeared in his hand.
“Quick! There’s some wreckage of the rune shuttle here. Search the area. If you find any survivors, immediately kill them without question!”
“Our main goal is to find the target, regardless of whether he’s dead or alive!”
Figures began to appear from the distance, almost immediately after Lin Xun hid.
There were fifty to sixty of them and they were led by a man in black clothes with a thick beard and a knife scar on his face.
They immediately got to work the moment they appeared and began combing the rocky shoal.
Lin Xun silently observed from the shadows with cold, indifferent eyes. No one knew about the suppressed hatred and killing intent that was boiling within him.
“How can there be any survivors when even the rune shuttle was destroyed? This search is a waste of time and effort.”
The cultivators were clearly relaxed, finding time to grumble as they searched.
“Yeah, all we found in the other areas were a few body parts. There’s obviously not a single survivor. How could the target have survived?”
“Stop complaining and hurry and search. These are orders from above, who will dare to go against them?”
“Hmph, I guarantee that the target has already been blasted to pulp. If he’s still alive, I’ll immediately cut my neck to kill myself!”
One of the cultivators disdainfully snorted, causing the others to laugh.
However, the cultivator suddenly froze in place a split second later.
Shlick!
His throat abruptly exploded, sending out a spray of blood. At the same time, his body was grabbed by a hand and swiftly dragged into the shadows of a crevice.
“Third Oldy Yang, why have you stopped talking? Did you really cut your own throat?”
A cultivator nearby seemed to sense something and walked over with his spear.
His pupils soon shrank when he saw Third Oldy Yang’s corpse in the shadow of a boulder!
“No…”
His expression changed drastically. Just as he was about to shout, he suddenly felt a pain in his head and his vision rapidly turned to darkness as he lost consciousness.
Although no noise was made, the disturbance still drew the attention of several cultivators. Their eyes narrowed as they carefully began to approach the site.
All of them had armed themselves with Divine Arm Crossbows.
Rustle!
A black shadow suddenly charged out, causing them to instinctively press the crossbow mechanism. A series of sharp whistling noises rang out as the shadow was turned into a porcupine.
However, the cultivators were shocked to find that the black shadow was one of their companions.
Shit!
Their expressions rapidly changed, realizing they had been tricked.
Before they could react, the familiar swoosh was heard as a rain of arrows abruptly blossomed in their sights.
Shick shick shick~~~
Blood flowers appeared on the cultivators’ throats, chests, heads, and other fatal spots like exploding firecrackers, sending out sprays of hot, red blood. It was a beautiful yet chilling scene to behold.
In an instant, all seven approaching cultivators were killed!
“Oh no!”
“Enemy attack!”
The other cultivators spread out over different districts immediately reacted with shouts of alarm and anger before they also began to approach.
Their response was quick, but Lin Xun was quicker!
Swoosh!
His figure darted forth like a lightning bolt, crossing several dozen feet in the blink of an eye. The Flowing Light Blade flashed in his hand as he beheaded one of the cultivators, sending his body falling to the ground.
Before the corpse could reach the ground, Lin Xun had already charged forward again and killed four more people before the enemy could react.
With each fatal slash, a storm of blood soon unfurled!