Chapter 465: The Ferocious Daoist! Bug Exploit! The Towering Butcher! Hell on Earth! Golden Light Mantra!

Liu Jun stared in shock.

This young Daoist is way too fierce!

Then, another shopboy walked out of the inn. This one had a pair of dead-fish eyes, which looked lifeless and unfocused. Yet his smile was unnervingly bright.

“Sir, please come inside.” He bowed deeply, enthusiastically inviting Li Yanchu in.

“Alright!” Li Yanchu nodded.

And the moment the shopboy turned to lead the way, he repeated the same technique. The knife flashed, then the dead-fish-eyed shopboy’s head fell to the ground.

Then came the heavy and merciless hammer, smashing the head to pulp. Just like that, the second shopboy was eliminated.

The power continued awakening inside his body, and his power was now at the intermediate first realm.

At this time, Liu Jun’s scalp tingled from witnessing the young Daoist’s methods. Her chest rose and fell sharply as she breathed; she was incredibly excited.

The ghosts here... seemed pretty easy to kill!?

In truth, although Li Yanchu’s cultivation was sealed, his martial arts experience remained, and his physical strength was far superior to an ordinary person.

It was like Linghu Chong[1] using the Dugu Nine Swords without internal energy; he was still extremely deadly, as he was a technical master.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have been able to handle the

jiangshi

earlier with its speed, strength, and defense. Even these shopboys had quick reflexes, and their eyes carried soul-stealing terror. But they didn’t seem to affect Li Yanchu at all.

As the saying went, “ghosts fear the vicious.” This applied perfectly to Li Yanchu.

He was a man who’d killed without blinking, slain man-eating demons, evil spirits, and unspeakable horrors, and countless taboo beings had died under his hands. Thus, his aura was on a different level entirely. They weren’t even playing in the same league!

A third shopboy walked out, this one with dog eyes.

As the saying went, “Dog eyes look down on people[2]!”

But this shopboy stopped walking long before he got close, and he stared at Li Yanchu cautiously. He didn’t dare approach.

“You mutt, you actually have awareness?” Li Yanchu sneered.

Whoosh!

Then, the kitchen knife in his hand turned into a streak of cold light and flew straight out. The shopboy couldn’t dodge in time, and the knife split his skull open. Blood sprayed everywhere as his pair of dog-like eyes rolled wildly in their sockets. Truly, it was a disturbing sight.

“Freeze.” Li Yanchu pointed a finger, casting a Daoist art.

An intermediate–first realm spell was more than enough to immobilize an ordinary shopboy. Dragging his iron hammer, with his expression stoic and cold, he walked over.

“Sir, p-please come ins...”

“Shut the fuck up!”

With that said, Li Yanchu smashed the shopboy’s head with the hammer as the power of the advanced first realm surged through his body instantly.

He waited a while, and when no more shopboys appeared, Li Yanchu hefted the hammer. “Follow me. We’re dragging them out.”

Game over.

He stormed toward the kitchen, killing intent overflowing. The iron hammer was stained with dried blood and brain matter; a terrifying sight indeed.

Liu Jun gulped and hurried after him.

This Daoist is scarier than the ghosts!

BANG!

Li Yanchu kicked the kitchen door open. To Liu Jun, the move looked ferocious and domineering, like a fierce wolf or tiger.

But this was already Li Yanchu at his gentlest. After all, his martial body and surging blood-qi had not yet recovered.

At this time, a disheveled young man was tied down on the chopping table with his chest exposed, his mouth stuffed with something so he could only let out muffled whimpers. He struggled continuously with his eyes filled with despair, and he really was terrified.

Meanwhile, a shirtless, burly broad-shouldered and thick-waisted butcher held a skinning knife, examining the young man the way one would size up prey.

The young man had already been weak to begin with; now his face was bloodless, looking even more drained.

Hanging around them were blood-soaked corpses, each savagely dismembered. A large cauldron boiled on the stove, bubbling thickly, and inside floated severed hands, heads, and other unidentifiable parts. The floor was covered in scraps of flesh and splattered blood. The air reeked with a nauseating stench.

The massive butcher paused mid-motion when the door was kicked open, and shot a cold glance over.

The young man, whose eyes had been dull with hopeless numbness, suddenly brightened when he saw who had come. He writhed excitedly, looking disturbingly like... a very happy maggot.

Li Yanchu recognized the young man. Without a word, he threw the kitchen knife!

Whoosh!

A streak of cold light tore through the air.

Clang!

The massive butcher actually cut the heavy knife aside with a single swing, glaring murderously at Li Yanchu.

“Freeze!”

Li Yanchu cast the Immobilization Spell, then charged in with the iron hammer, his aura fierce and unrestrained.

The butcher immediately tossed aside Zhang Wei, snatching up a heavy-backed butcher's knife from the chopping board.

Clang!

Clang!

Sparks flew as the two clashed head-on. The butcher’s knife was thick, brutal, and razor-sharp, no less formidable than the iron hammer in Li Yanchu’s hands.

After only a dozen breaths of combat...

CRACK!

The iron hammer snapped in half under a single blow! It

was

just an ordinary hammer, after all.

Whoosh!

The butcher's knife swept across in a waist-level slash, so fast it was nearly impossible for the naked eye to track. But relying purely on battle-hardened martial instincts, Li Yanchu dodged it.

This thing was NOT like those low-level ghosts, it was vicious as hell.

“Mysterious Lord of Heaven and Earth, the root of all vital energies! Through countless kalpas[3] of cultivation, I attain my divine powers! Within and beyond the Three Realms, the Dao alone is supreme; swiftly, in accordance with the command!”

As Li Yanchu’s voice fell, his entire body suddenly erupted in radiant gold light, so dazzling it was impossible to keep one’s eyes open.

It was one of the Eight Great Divine Mantras, the Golden Light Mantra!

The massive butcher shrieked and staggered backward, the golden radiance scorching him. He was a ghost, and Daoist golden light was his direct nemesis.

Li Yanchu charged forward without hesitation, seizing the butcher's knife from the butcher’s grasp.

With a subtle twist of force, the weapon was torn from the butcher’s hands.

Divine Astral Hands! Great Unified Qi Seizing Art!

His arm muscles tightened like coiled steel, his waist generating explosive force as he slashed downward with incredible speed.

Six Yang Saber Art!

Though he lacked his blazing blood-qi and Six Yang inner force, the technique remained ruthlessly lethal.

Shing!

A massive head flew high into the air, and the butcher’s headless body crashed to the floor. He died on the spot! He might have been strong and ferocious, but his durability was clearly inferior to the ghostly innkeepers.

A powerful surge awakened within Li Yanchu’s body; his power was not at the rudimentary second realm.

His eyes lit up with a hint of joy. At the rudimentary second realm, he could already use Telekinetic Command, Flame-Sitting Art, and his Immobilization Spell and Deity Summoning Art would greatly strengthen. He could even perform astral projection; this was real high-tier combat power.

And once he reached the intermediate second realm, he could attempt to summon primordial spirit manifestation.

With the Taiji Yin-Yang Method of Mount Longhu, he could bulldoze his way through anything!

He first cut Zhang Wei loose and asked, “How did you get caught here?”

This guy was unbelievably unlucky.

Zhang Wei looked both terrified and overjoyed. “Senior Cao Cao, my admiration for you is vast and mighty like the unending Yangtze River[4]!”

Suddenly, he remembered something.

“Senior! Hurry! Go to Room A-6 on the second floor! Master Zhiqing was captured by a ghost while trying to save me, and I don’t know whether he’s alive or dead.”

He hadn’t expected that upon escaping upstairs, he’d immediately be snatched by the butcher ghost.

Immediately, Li Yanchu’s expression sank.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The second floor, then.

1. Linghu Chong (令狐冲) is a famous character from Jin Yong’s The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, known for his mastery of the Dugu Nine Swords (独孤九剑), a nearly unbeatable sword technique. ☜

2. The Chinese idiom “狗眼看人低” (gǒu yǎn kàn rén dī) literally translates to “dog’s eyes looks down on people”. Figuratively, it describes someone who arrogantly underestimates or belittles others, often based on social status, wealth, or perceived power. ☜

3. A kalpa is a long period of time (aeon) in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, generally between the creation and recreation of a world or universe. ☜

4. The Yangtze River, also known as Chang Jiang, is the longest river in China and the third-longest in the world, flowing approximately 6,300 km from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea. It is a vital waterway for China, supporting millions of people and diverse wildlife, and has historically been a center for civilization and trade, although it is now heavily impacted by pollution, dams, and climate change. ☜