At the same time.
At the foot of the Lingzi Mountain Range, within a dense ancient forest.
"You little brat! Where do you think you're going to run now?!"
A coarse roar echoed through the forest.
Following that were the sounds of weapons cutting through the air and a boy's hurried, weak gasps.
"Surrender obediently, and we'll give you a quick death! Otherwise, we'll make sure you wish you were dead!"
At this moment, a chilling, threatening voice, filled with undisguised killing intent, was heard.
Seven or eight black-clad figures, dressed in night clothes with their faces obscured by black cloth, tightly gripped sharp blades that gleamed with a faint, cold light. They formed a encirclement, slowly closing in on a small, stumbling figure fleeing ahead.
The boy, about sixteen or seventeen years old with a ragged face, wore tattered pants and a shirt that seemed to fall off with a single missing stitch, now thoroughly soaked with crimson blood and tattered beyond recognition.
His hair was disheveled, a few strands wet with sweat, clinging messily to his pale, bloodless face.
A striking trail of blood slowly dripped from the corner of his mouth, falling onto the grass in front of him, a shocking sight.
The boy's steps grew heavier and heavier; each breath brought with it a tearing pain, as if his internal organs were about to shatter.
But in his once clear and bright eyes, there was now an unyielding stubbornness and bone-deep hatred!
This boy was none other than Lin Ye, Deculein's target!
Speaking of Lin Ye, he was once a famous figure in Lingzi Province, and even in the surrounding provinces!
He hailed from the Lin Family, once the strongest of the Four Great Families in Lingzi Province, and displayed astonishing cultivation talent from a young age.
However, because his family had too much power in their hands, the three other families plotted to blame them for colluding with a demonic sect and wiped them out in broad daylight!
Why? Simply because they had too much power!
And even more so was because of Lin Ye!
Lin Ye was born with a Innate Sword Heart.
What is a Sword Heart?
It is said to be a supreme power born from the fragments of the Great Dao of Sword, containing immense power!
When a Cultivator has a Innate Sword Heart, they are destined to reach the Soul Transformation Realm, and even glimpse the Void Refining Realm in the future!
Those with a sword heart cultivate both the Dao of Sword and Qi Refining at an incredible speed; Bottlenecks are like thin paper before them, easily broken through, let alone a cultivator with a colossal force as their backing, pouring out all their resources in that cultivator.
Lin Ye lived up to expectations, drawing Qi into his body at the age of three, officially stepping into the Qi Refining Realm.
At that age, ordinary children were still playing in the mud, or learning to write!
At eight years old, he was able to fend off and kill a Foundation Establishment assassin without a single injury, just by using a single sword!
When he was ten, he successfully condensed Spiritual Qi into a liquid form, making a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Stage in one fell swoop, becoming the youngest Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the history of Lingzi Province!
At seventeen, he advanced rapidly, breaking through all obstacles, cultivating all the way to the seventh layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage, with a combat power history of beating a Golden Core master!
He was only one step away from the legendary Golden Core Dao!
Such talent in the dao of sword, such cultivation speed, was simply too astounding!
If a monster like Lin Ye was never born in the Lin Family, but instead a loose cultivator, he would've still reached greater heights with just his sword heart alone!
But alas, the Lin Family had to bear this catastrophe! When nurtured, an Old Ancestor capable of reaching the Soul Transformation Realm can be gained! But such talent is also a warning for the other families, especially the other three great families!
Looking across the surrounding provinces, and even the Northern Domain, such a presence was as rare as a Phoenix feather, one in ten thousand.
The entire Lin Family regarded him as the hope for the future, the carp of the family that can reach the Dragon Gate!
Everyone believed that as long as Lin Ye didn't fall prematurely, he would definitely become the youngest Golden Core realm expert in the history of the Lingzi Province, and even the surrounding provinces.
And even, in the future, there was a slight possibility that he would break the shackles of this province and glimpse the Void Refining, which only existed in legends!
That was a Void Refining monster!
Slumbering for thousands of years, when enraged, a single thought could overturn rivers and seas, a single attack could change the color of Heaven And Earth!
Even more so for a Sword Cultivator with a Innate Sword Heart, such a young cultivator would be treasured even by longevity-rank sects in the northern domain!
However, unforeseen events happen in life, and misfortune can strike at any time.
Just three days ago, a meticulously planned, vicious conspiracy completely plunged the once-hopeful Lin Family into the depths of the abyss.
The genius, surrounded by countless halos, was now reduced to a stray dog, pursued by assassins sent by now three great families, intent on eliminating the remaining scourge!
"How dare you!!!"
Left in a dead end, he used the last ounce of his strength to let out a cry of desperate indignation!
The voice carried endless despair and a resolute determination to perish together!
"Heh, a mere Foundation Establishment Sword cultivator, even if a prodigy, can you beat a group of Golden Core Cultivators?"
The leader of the black-clad men sneered, not only did he not stop, but he quickened his pace.
"Soon you'll know what it means to wish you were dead!"