Lin Yan's words were like a steel knife, deeply scraping at He Yang Xinci's self-esteem.

If these words were spoken by an arrogant and ignorant second-rate martial artist, He Yang Xinci wouldn't have cared.

But... coming from Lin Yan's mouth, it sounded very jarring.

Because everyone who heard her say this would involuntarily agree—what she said was true.

"Hmph..." After two seconds, He Yang Xinci let out a cold snort, a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and continued, "I don't know about any King Yama or anything, but if you're also part of the Central Plains martial world, then you better listen... from this day forward..."

He Yang Xinci originally wanted to repeat his prepared speech about unifying the Central Plains martial world to Lin Yan as well, but unexpectedly...

"Little girl, who did you learn your martial arts from?" Lin Yan completely ignored him. After saying "Just you?" she released the reins of the white horse, took a few steps forward, came to Feng Meiyu, and asked her a question.

"I..." Feng Meiyu was also stunned when asked. After all, Lin Yan looked much younger than her, and calling her "little girl" with the tone of an elder right off the bat was a bit unexpected for her. "...I learned it myself from secret manuals."

"I see..." Lin Yan nodded slightly. "If I'm not mistaken... you probably practiced several low and middle-grade internal energy cultivation methods simultaneously, based on your own conjecture, without any martial arts foundation... and as a result, you messed up your meridians and blood circulation, damaging your body."

"You..." Hearing this, Feng Meiyu's expression changed drastically, because what the other person said was completely correct. "...Senior!" In the next second, Feng Meiyu changed her address for Lin Yan. "Could it be that Senior has a way to heal me?"

"I do."

When Lin Yan said these two words, an unconcealed look of joy appeared on Feng Meiyu's face. She was just about to open her mouth again to ask for the other person's help, but unexpectedly, Lin Yan's right hand had already turned into a palm and grabbed, pressing down on the top of her head.

When she was still "King Yama," Lin Yan's martial arts had already reached the realm of heavenly beings. Now that she was acting again, she was using methods that ordinary people simply couldn't understand.

Right now, her palm strike was very slow and very light; it could even be described as gentle, but it was precisely this palm strike that made everyone around her think, "If it were me, I definitely wouldn't be able to dodge this move."

"Ugh—ah—"

After a few seconds, Feng Meiyu suddenly showed a look of pain and screamed.

Under the force of Lin Yan's palm, Feng Meiyu knelt on the ground without any resistance. Immediately afterward, oily blood began to seep out of all the pores on her body...

The amount of filth was so great that it was hard to believe, like clumps of mud being squeezed out of her body, oozing out of Feng Meiyu's clothes in a sticky mess. The dents that Feng Bu Jue had previously blasted out with his positron cannon happened to become the "grooves" for containing this filth.

After another moment, Lin Yan stopped her actions without even panting, retracted her palm, and stood up. "This is the 'method' you wanted..." For her, this was just a casual effort; there was no need to explain too much, just do it. "I've already cleared your meridians and blood circulation. From now on, as long as you don't circulate your energy according to that strange method you figured out on your own, you'll be fine."

As she said these words, Feng Meiyu, covered in blood and filth, was kneeling on the ground, panting heavily. At this moment, Feng Meiyu's appearance had undergone an astonishing change... She had changed from the morbidly obese White Plum Sect Leader back to the graceful and beautiful Feng'er of her younger days.

"Senior!" Having regained her original appearance, Feng'er looked at Lin Yan excitedly. "Senior's great kindness... Feng'er will never forget it!" Her address for herself had also changed. "As long as Senior says the word, even if it means working like an ox or a horse..."

"I have a horse." Lin Yan still used that indifferent manner to interrupt Feng'er. "Your body isn't fit to be an ox or a horse either, so you should just live your life properly."

Feng'er didn't know what else to say, and tears couldn't stop streaming from her eyes. She used her hands to grab the already dirty and sticky, and obviously oversized, clothes on her body and slowly stood up. Although the feeling of the clothes wrapped around her body was quite uncomfortable, if she didn't hold on to them like this, the clothes would basically slip off like a bed sheet.

"Hey! Woman, I haven't finished speaking yet!" When Feng'er stood up, He Yang Xinci opened his mouth once again, saying to Lin Yan, "You listen to me... from this day forward..."

"Liao Zhu Feng, it's been many years since we last met, you haven't changed much." As a result, Lin Yan ignored He Yang once again, continued walking forward, and said to Brother Jue in front, "However... you seem to have encountered some trouble."

At this time, at Brother Jue's request, Cheng Yong had already put him down. Wang Qiong, Cheng Wei, and He Yang Jingzi, who had been hiding in the dark, had also come to Brother Jue's vicinity.

"Hehe... not too bad." Feng Bu Jue smiled. "Now that you've arrived, I don't have any trouble."

"Are you so sure that I'll help you?" A trace of戏谑xì xuè (teasing) flashed in Lin Yan's eyes.

"What do you think?" Feng Bu Jue still had a smile on his face and asked in return.

After a brief silence, Lin Yan also smiled.

This smile was truly captivating, enchanting like a dream, as if even the most ruthless heart in the world could melt for it.

It had been many years since Lin Yan had smiled like this. She couldn't even remember the last time she had smiled from the bottom of her heart.

Over the years, although she had given up her identity as "King Yama," she was ultimately unable to live like an ordinary person.

Without goals and burdens, she was free, but also lonely.

No one in this world recognized her anymore, and she didn't want to get to know those foolish people who were still struggling in the mortal world.

Compared to people, she preferred to interact with this world, with this land...

Therefore, she would go to many places every year to see different scenery.

She would go to the snow mountains in winter to find plum blossoms, go to Guānxī (areas west of certain mountain passes) in early spring for an outing, travel overseas in the height of summer, and go to the Valley of Heart Burial in late autumn to admire the cherry blossoms...

Having entered the Dao through martial arts, Lin Yan's cultivation had already surpassed Cao Qin's of that year. Apart from a head of white hair, even time was unable to leave any more marks on her body.

At this time, Lin Yan was more like an immortal than a human.

The troubles of the mortal world were meaningless to her. After the age of one hundred... she no longer bothered to calculate her age.

For a person like this, what things in this world could still touch her?

Undoubtedly... only "old friends."

Let alone that Feng Bu Jue was a benefactor who had given Lin Yan a "second life," even if he was an enemy, Lin Yan would save him...

When time erases all the people in your memory and constantly changes everything in the world, you will realize just how precious a treasure memories are.

This subtle emotion can only be experienced by those who have lived for a very long time.

"Bastard! I'm talking to you!" Just as Lin Yan revealed a smile, He Yang Xinci on the other side finally couldn't bear it any longer and exploded...

Being looked down upon after calling himself "Sword God" was one thing, but being ignored twice in a row afterward was a humiliation that He Yang Xinci had never experienced before.

He didn't care about Lin Yan and Brother Jue's conversation anymore, picked up his blunt sword, and attacked from behind, a vertical chop aimed straight at the top of Lin Yan's head.

"How annoying..." Lin Yan just muttered with a slightly impatient tone, then turned around and raised her hand, using a movement that seemed unhurried to others, using three fingers of her left hand to easily pinch the blade of the blunt sword that was slashing at her.

When the blade was stopped by her casual movement, He Yang Xinci's face twitched...

Not believing in evil, he exerted his strength again, wanting to press the blunt sword down, but no matter how much strength he used, the blade pinched by Lin Yan didn't move an inch.

"Is it the act of a 'Sword God' to launch sneak attacks from behind?" When Lin Yan looked at He Yang Xinci, the smile on her face had already disappeared, replaced by a look of disdain.

"To be able to defeat all the heroes in the world with the sword in my hand, of course I'm the Sword God!" He Yang Xinci didn't back down. He had his own set of theories. "Only you Central Plains people who are fishing for fame and reputation would be entangled in fallacies such as 'sneak attacks from behind' and 'winning is not honorable'... According to your logic, is it also not honorable if the weapons used by the two sides in a duel have differences in superiority? Is it also unfair if the ages of the two people are different or the years of martial arts practice are different?"

"Is that what you think..." Lin Yan pondered when she heard this. "Hmm... that's fine too." She paused. "At least after I win against you, I won't be said to be 'bullying the younger generation'."

Her words made He Yang Xinci a little confused again.

He Yang's martial Dao was the "Dao of Power," pursuing "slaughter" and "victory." Slaughter and victory were both "obsessions" that only people in the mundane world would have.

These kinds of "obsessions" were precisely the threshold blocking the path of "entering the Dao through martial arts." Therefore, He Yang Xinci couldn't walk on the path of "Dao," and he wouldn't understand why the seemingly young woman in front of him would regard herself as a "senior" in every way.

"Then... according to your theory..." After a while, Lin Yan released the other person's blade and continued, "As long as you lose to my sword today, it will prove... that I am the true Sword God, right?"

He Yang Xinci took advantage of the situation to retract his sword, retreated a few steps, and stood at a distance where he was most confident in the duel. "The victor is king, the loser is the villain... If you can really win against me, it's only natural to be called 'Sword God'." He paused for half a second, squinted his eyes, and looked at Lin Yan. "However... where is your 'sword'?" He looked the other person up and down. No matter how he looked at it, Lin Yan didn't seem to be hiding a sword. "Could it be... that you're using a soft sword hidden in your belt?"

Hearing this, Lin Yan showed a look of disdain. She slowly put her hands behind her back, stood proudly, and gave a strange response: "Where is your sword?"

This seemingly simple question made He Yang Xinci's whole body shake.

He did have a sword in his hand, but that didn't explain anything...

The realm of "the sword is in the hand" and the realm of "the sword is in the heart" were as different as clouds and mud.

He Yang Xinci was very clear about this, because... he was also a person who had reached the realm of "no sword in hand, but a sword in the heart."

If not, he wouldn't have used this long, narrow blunt sword without an edge or a scabbard as his weapon.

"Hmph..." After thinking for a few seconds, He Yang Xinci clenched his left hand into a fist and gently tapped his chest. "My sword... is here."

"Oh..." Lin Yan continued with an almost lazy attitude, "Then my sword is also with you."

"What... did you say?" This time, He Yang Xinci really didn't understand.

"Whether it's the sword in your hand or the sword in your heart..." Lin Yan continued, "You think those are your things, but in reality... they aren't."

"Then could it be your things?" He Yang Xinci felt that the other person was deliberately mystifying, so he retorted with a forceful tone.

"Sigh..." Lin Yan sighed softly. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you..." She showed a look of compassion. "Make your move. When you lose... you'll understand."

"Don't worry..." He Yang Xinci was also unconvinced. He immediately adopted a stance. "I will make my mo..."

Before he could finish his words, he shot forward like a shooting star.

He Yang Xinci was obviously doing it on purpose... The last half of his sentence was just a means to make the other person lower their guard. Under these circumstances, people would often subconsciously assume that the other person would finish speaking before making a move, but He Yang deliberately launched a surprise attack when he was only halfway through speaking.

Although this method wasn't complicated, it was indeed very effective. In the past... many of Japan's top experts had been defeated by his sudden sword strike.

And He Yang Xinci's sword was also the strongest move in the sword technique he had created with all his strength—Shintenchikyukenryū (God-Given Ultimate Sword Style) · Final Secret · The Phantom Moon of the Three Paths.

This was the most evil and murderous sword in the human world, and also the pinnacle technique of the martial Dao that He Yang Xinci followed.

The moment the sword technique appeared, He Yang Xinci turned his figure into a stream of light at a speed that shocked even the players.

Instantly, the sound of a sword breaking flesh and blood suddenly rose!

In the blink of an eye, He Yang Xinci's figure reappeared, and for some reason... the blunt sword in his hand had actually pierced through his own heart...

"Do you understand now?" Lin Yan stood in place, not moving even half a step, and no one saw what she had done in that instant.

But that was no longer important. What was important was... in his dying moments, He Yang Xinci did understand something...

It turned out that above the "realm of no sword," there was an even higher realm; a person who had reached that realm had no sword in their hand, and no sword in their heart.

The true Sword God didn't need to ask, and wouldn't care "where the sword is."

In his final moments, He Yang Xinci also smiled, a smile that revealed a bit of misery, but there wasn't a trace of regret in his eyes.

For a swordsman, to be able to die at the hands of an opponent like Lin Yan, and to be able to understand his own insignificance and the true meaning of the sword through death... then he would definitely die without regrets.

"I thought you wouldn't kill him." At this time, Feng Bu Jue had recovered from the side effects of [The Advent of the Fighting Demon] and had drunk a bottle of Survival Value Supplement. Although Xu Huai Shang and Juan Meng Huan were eager to stop Brother Jue from replenishing his health, considering that Lin Yan was present... they really didn't dare to act rashly.

"I didn't intend to kill him either." Lin Yan turned her head to look at Brother Jue again. "Whether he can survive depends on himself... If there was still a bit of a benevolent heart in his sword, he probably wouldn't have died. Unfortunately, there was no benevolence or righteousness in his martial Dao; it was simply a bloody path paved with death..."

"Oh... so you're saying he deserved to die." As Feng Bu Jue spoke, he approached He Yang Xinci's corpse without making a sound.

At this moment, everyone except Lin Yan knew what he was going to do...

"What are you going to do?" Therefore, the only person who could ask this question was Lin Yan.

"Take something." As Feng Bu Jue replied, he used his very skilled corpse-searching technique to take the "Sword Dance Grass Notes" from He Yang Xinci's body.

At the same time that he obtained the item, a system notification immediately sounded in his ear: [You have obtained ownership of the "Sword Dance Grass Notes"]; and the other three players, as Brother Jue had expected, heard the system notification [Main Quest Failed].

"Is this the Sword Dance Grass Notes?" When Brother Jue put the item in his arms, Lin Yan asked calmly.

"Oh?" Feng Bu Jue guessed something from the other person's question and tentatively continued, "You also know about this sword manual?"

"Of course I know." Lin Yan spoke frankly and openly; there was nothing to hide. "Even if I'm no longer a member of the martial world, how could I not know about such well-known news?"

"Then..." Feng Bu Jue's eyes rolled, and he continued, "You... shouldn't have any thoughts about this sword manual, right?"

"I don't." Lin Yan replied in a very ordinary tone.

These words were still very persuasive when she said them. After all... even if Pei Min himself, who had written the Sword Dance Grass Notes, were resurrected, he probably wouldn't be her opponent...

"Oh." Feng Bu Jue also put on a very casual appearance, responded, and then said, "Then why did you come here today?"

"I want to go out and take a walk." Lin Yan replied.

This reason would definitely be regarded as nonsense if someone else said it... What a coincidence! You just happened to be passing by on a trip on the same day that the Sword Dance Grass Notes appeared here?

But, if Lin Yan said it... it didn't seem inappropriate.

"Eh~ What a coincidence! I also want to go out." When Feng Bu Jue heard this, he immediately went along with it and continued, "Since we're going the same way, how about... we travel together for a while and chat for a bit along the way?"

"Sure, I was also planning to chat with you for a bit." Lin Yan replied casually. Then, she went over to lead the white horse and continued forward along the main street of Linlu Town.

Feng Bu Jue quickly moved to Lin Yan's side, only one person's distance away, and walked forward shoulder to shoulder with her.

"Boss Wang, our deal still stands; don't worry." Before leaving, Brother Jue didn't forget to give Wang Qiong a reassurance. After all, Wang Qiong was also one of the contenders for the "Sword Dance Grass Notes." To avoid any complications, Feng Bu Jue very considerately greeted this NPC in advance, meaning—"I'll give you the Sword Dance Grass Notes later, but not now."

Wang Qiong was also a smart person. According to his thinking... it was actually better for Brother Jue to take the sword manual away first. As long as Brother Jue stood near Lin Yan, then both his people and the sword manual would be absolutely safe.

On the contrary, if Brother Jue gave the sword manual to Boss Wang now, Boss Wang would be very embarrassed, because the other two groups of players and the martial artists lurking around were all potential threats to the sword manual's owner.

But... for Xu Huai Shang and the others, Feng Bu Jue's current actions were a bit of cheating. If he did this, if the other two teams still dared to attack him, the result would probably be that they would be instantly killed by Lin Yan.

But if they didn't attack, then after an hour, Brother Jue could chat casually and achieve victory in the scenario...