Ba Sei and the nine other men in the room didn't move in the face of Yin Long's icy sentence. He had given them the order, but it was such a strange order that they weren't even certain if he was serious about it or if he was just saying it to see how they would react. But in front of their hesitant and quick-thinking eyes, Yin Long simply walked forward with slow and calm steps.

He stepped directly over the crippled and mangled body of Xue Qiuling and stopped in front of the table that Ba Sei had been sitting next to. He placed a finger on the metal plate resting on the table and drew it closer, pouring in a bit of his Qi to activate it.

One of the red-robed people, a woman who was currently standing in Yin Long's blind spot moved just as he put his Qi into the metal plate. Two throwing daggers appeared in her hands, her muscles tensing up slightly as she didn't even dare to use any Qi in her attack.

But the moment her arms started to move, Yin Long casually waved the bladeless handle that his right hand was grasping. The woman's body immediately stiffened, the daggers dropping from her hands as she fell to the ground as a lifeless corpse, not a single wound visible on her body. None of these people knew of Yin Long's ability to attack the soul or his ability to see the surrounding space, so the ease at which he killed one, and the calmness he still showed as he activated the metal plate, left their minds reeling somewhat.

"Get. To. It."

A simple order, yet it contained the full animosity that Yin Long was currently feeling, it contained the full scope of the pain he wanted to inflict on Xue Qiuling. Yin Long removed his hand from the metal plate and stepped away from the table, slowly making his way towards the shivering Lan Yun. Ba Sei didn't move to attack despite Yin Long revealing his back, he simply mustered up the courage to finally ask a question.

"Who are you? You're not just a normal disciple, are you?"

Ba Sei didn't really know anything about Yin Long, he only knew what was already public information. Good talent, an exalted law, carefree personality that liked to refine his techniques. But the youth standing in front of him showed none of that, there was nothing carefree or relaxed about him, only endless darkness filled with viciousness. Yin Long only halted his steps for a second as he turned his head, his bright yellow eyes searing themselves into Ba Sei's mind.

"I used to hunt people like you on an almost daily basis. You are not in a position to ask any questions. Just follow orders, and you'll live to see tomorrow."

He had buried it deep when he left the Lang clan, but there was no way you could just erase past actions. So at the depths of his soul and essence, the dark blade of the Lang clan still existed, the dark blade that had hunted and killed traitors, terrorists, and other evildoers alike. He had seen many atrocities in his life, and he had ended many people who could easily be considered extremely vile.

But for him to have killed so many people and evildoers, how could he himself not be capable of performing heinous acts and cruelty beyond belief? When you walk by the edge of the river for long enough, you're bound to get your feet wet. And right now, Xue Qiuling and the others got to personally experience just how deep Yin Long could step into the river when he wanted to.

Ba Sei drew in a cold breath and wanted to open his mouth again, but a sharp pain from his throat made him realize that he truly didn't have the right to ask any questions. He didn't even dare to wipe away the drop of blood that seeped out from the cut that had appeared on his throat, his gaze landing on the broken Xue Qiuling. She begged with her eyes, it wasn't like she had a tongue to beg with, but Ba Sei and his men were not ones known for their mercy.

They descended on Xue Qiuling like ravenous beasts, even the sole remaining woman not daring to stay out of it, lest she ends up like the other person Yin Long had moved against. They tore her robes open and dug in, but Yin Long didn't even turn to look at the cause of the guttural screams, kneeling down on one knee in front of Lan Yun.

Her eyes were flushed green like when he used too much Netherworld energy, but she didn't show any aggression or desire to kill, she was only filled with an all-powerful fear that left her shivering. She wanted to recoil as Yin Long gently took hold of her broken wrist, but the shackles around her prevented her from pulling away.

His expression had originally turned a touch calmer and gentler when he kneeled down, but seeing her torn robes and broken wrist up close, the previous coldness only grew in intensity. The coldness caused the yellow energy within him to flare up further, the crack at the centre of his forehead extending a bit more.

This immediately caused a violent headache to assault Yin Long, who wasn't as blindly raging as he was when the yellow energy first erupted. The flaring up of the energy further intensified the shivers running through Lan Yun's body, Yin Long quickly gritting his teeth to calm down the yellow energy, a process that went so smoothly that it surprised him.

He recognized this yellow energy, it looked the exact same as the yellow light that had swept out when he pushed his cultivation up to the realm of the Immortal Doors. He had some questions about it then, but those questions only grew more numerous now, especially when he thought about the sheer power that the yellow light brought with it, even suppressing the Netherworld Energy inside his soulsea.

Of course, no power came without a price, the many ruptured veins in his body were proof of that. But Yin Long had already experienced enough pain in his life, he already had such a good resistance to the sensation that he could ignore his ruptured veins.

He also had some guesses towards this yellow light, or at least towards the nature of it. When he gained the Netherworld Energy, his soul gained a small black section, when the red section of his soul lit up, he gained the law of blood, when the silver section lit up, his sensitivity towards the law of space increased greatly. And now the yellow section of his soul was acting up quite violently, so he guessed that this yellow energy was, in fact, a sort of law, much like his law of the sword. But he had no idea what sort of law it could be, he had never heard about any law like this before.

He finished pushing down the surging yellow light so that it didn't run out of control, removing a medicinal paste from his interspatial ring and covering her broken wrist with it. He then forced a pill into her mouth and made her swallow it to further speed up the healing of her wrist, much like he had done when Jin Wang bit down on her arm and broke it.

Once he finished applying the medicines, he removed the two rings that Xue Qiuling had stolen and tossed at him. He slid them back onto the same fingers that he had placed them on last time, one on her right index finger and the other on her right ring finger. He then repeated his actions from when he last slid the rings onto her finger, tilting her chin upwards, but the words he said were completely different.

"I'll allow many things in this life, but I won't allow this moth to burn up now that it's touching the flames."

Lan Yun's eyes were still flushed green so she probably couldn't understand his words. Yin Long wasn't even sure if she could see her surroundings, last time she had been like this her focus had been so squarely on killing Yin Long that nothing else registered in her mind. And that suited him just fine, the bladeless hilt in his grasp flashing out once more and cutting up the shackles around her.

She immediately scurried back and hid in the corner, getting as far as possible away from Yin Long. He pulled out a clean white robe from his interspatial ring and tossed it at her to cover her up, standing up and heading over to the sedated Jin Wang. He still didn't even look at Xue Qiuling as he stepped past her, removing all of Jin Wang's shackles and giving his body a thorough inspection to make sure that there weren't any hidden wounds.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

His senses were observing the entire room for the entire duration, so there was no way Lan Yun or the others could make a move without him noticing it. Yin Long's expression sunk a bit further when he saw that Jin Wang's skull had a few cracks, the ambushers clearly hadn't shown the slightest bit of mercy when they knocked him out. He applied the appropriate medicinal paste, but he also made sure to make a mental note that Jin Wang wasn't allowed to fight for at least an entire month. After all, a fractured skull was much harder to heal than a broken wrist.

He injected his law of blood into Jin Wang's body and slowly extracted the sedative that was keeping him down, the lion starting to slowly wake up after two hours. The first thing this groggy eyes saw was the crack in the centre of Yin Long's forehead, a terrified jolt running through his entire body and shocking him fully awake.

But seeing that Yin Long looked and acted mostly as normal, he could let out a breath of relief. Yin Long pointed Jin Wang over to Lan Yun, the golden beast understanding his intentions and walking over there with unsteady steps, Yin Long supporting him while Lan Yun cowered in the corner.

Jin Wang plopped down at Lan Yun's side, allowing her to practically bury herself in his mane and fur as she tried to hide from Yin Long. With both of his companions accounted for, Yin Long heaved a sigh of relief and finally turned to look at the mess that was befalling Xue Qiuling. His expression turned utterly icy as he walked over and sat down at the table, occupying Ba Sei's previous spot.

And he then proceeded to just watch as Xue Qiuling was tormented, occasionally checking to make sure that the metal plate was still recording everything. He didn't call for them to stop despite two hours having already passed, nor did he call for them to stop when Xue Qiuling stopped her screaming and practically entered a mindless state.

Only when the last person had emptied everything they had did he allow them to stop. But even then, the chill in his eyes remained as glacial as previously. He stabbed the bladeless handle forward, small holes immediately appearing in the abdomens of Ba Sei and the others, piercing through their Immortal Doors or the Qi creation spots they had created as they prepared to enter the realm of the Immortal Doors.

A single stab had brought upon them a similar fate as Xue Qiuling's, they had all become crippled, with their only choice being to start over from scratch. But they were already getting up in the years, their talent was far from as great as it was in the past, so they were unlikely to ever reach their previous realm again. The torment had stopped so a bit of life returned to Xue Qiuling's eyes, but that life was quickly drowned in more despair as the voice of Yin Long sounded out.

"That little report you so sneakily bought on me since you weren't capable of making friends without knowing everything about them to determine their worth, did it detail what happened to Bao Dang after he sent assassins after me?"

Xue Qiuling's eyes trembled fiercely when Yin Long spoke, even more fiercely than when she realized that he was tossing her to the wolves. She couldn't answer, but Yin Long saw the answer in her eyes, the report most certainly included Bao Dang's final fate, and his cause of death.

Yin Long stood up from his seated position and swept out with his left hand, a sharp burst of Qi escaping from his fingers and washing over the remaining 10 red-robed people. The Qi that was tainted with the law of swords cut cleanly through their tendons and made them drop to the ground like sacks of potatoes, Ba Sei immediately protesting.

"Stop! You said you'd spare us if we followed orders!"

He and his men had already been crippled, their Qi already seeping out of their bodies and leaving them powerless, this sort of protest was the last option he had. Yin Long stopped in front of Ba Sei, his gaze not showing the slightest shred of emotion as he waved at Jin Wang.

"No, I said you'd live to see tomorrow. And trust me, you will."

Ba Sei didn't even get to feel any despair was over him before Yin Long pulled a rope out from his interspatial ring, tying up Ba Sei and the others. He tied Lan Yun to Jin Wang so that she didn't escape, finishing the setup. He hefted one end of the rope over his shoulder and made his way out of the room, dragging Xue Qiuling and the red-robed people after him. Jin Wang followed after him at a bit of distance to make sure that the tied up Lan Yun wouldn't struggle too much.

Yin Long quickly arrived in the streets of the city, a slew of guards gathered in front of the abandoned shack that hid the underground room where he had just been. The guards moved in uniform fashion when they saw Yin Long emerge, opening a path for him and not looking like they were even thinking of arresting him. The situation was a bit out of the ordinary, so Yin Long's gaze landed on a middle-aged woman clad in grey armour.

"You're not even going to try to stop me?"

The woman had the most elegant armour amongst these guards and was also the strongest one, having reached the 6th Immortal Door. There didn't seem to be anyone more suited to be the leader of these guards, and the woman affirmed his guess when she smiled bitterly, respectfully gesturing that he could go.

"I don't know why, but orders from the highest emperor."

Yin Long's pupils shrank slightly when the woman responded, there was only one person that could be called the highest emperor, Province Emperor Starblood. But Yin Long was certain that he had no relationship with Starblood, so the Province Emperor should have no reason to help him.

He gave it a quick thought and realized that there were only three things that might have some relation with this Province Emperor. The first was Bai Xiang, he was so shrouded in mystery that Yin Long wouldn't be surprised by anything about him. The second was the Lord of Everburning Trees, the mysterious title the people from the Netherworld had used when they saw Yin Long. And the third relation was the yellow energy that was still coursing through him right now, keeping him going so that he could finish carrying out the punishment he had in mind.

These three things were the most mysterious aspects about himself that he could think of, so if Province Emperor Starblood really had a reason to help him, it should be due to one of those three. But Yin Long still had no answer to the question of which it was, and it seemed like he would have to find someone much higher ranked than this woman if he wanted an answer.

But for now, he was content with them not stopping him, quickly dragging the tied-up people after him as he made his way to the second tallest building in the city. The tallest building belonged to the clan ruling this city, but the second tallest building was a large clocktower that towered above the other buildings, it could be seen from almost everywhere else in the city.

The guards accompanied Yin Long as he moved, making sure that no onlookers got too close to him or interrupted him. Thanks to this, Yin Long managed to easily reach the dark brown clocktower. He entered and ascended the tower, finding a few windows that were a bit over four hundred metres above the ground. He changed the way that Xue Qiuling and the others were tied up, making sure that they weren't connected any more and instead each had their own rope coiling around their entire bodies.

Once they were properly tied up, he gathered up the surrounding space and wind to make an exceedingly thin and sharp knife. He made several small cuts on each person with the knife, each person quickly gaining almost 100 new cuts that were very slowly dripping with blood.

He then fastened the robes to the windows and threw the tied-up people out the windows, resulting in them all hanging there and swaying for a few moments, their feet pointing towards the ground. He had made sure that none of the robes went around their necks, he didn't want to strangle them to death here after all.

With all of them hanging out from the windows, Yin Long 200 metres until he reached a balcony so large that it was likely to be a visitors area. He brought out a chair and sat down, Jin Wang lying down a short distance away from him so that Lan Yun stayed somewhat calm.

And then, he proceeded to just sit there and watch the 11 people dangling above him, calmly observing as their blood seeped out and dropped to the floor. After a bit over two hours, the scent of their flesh and blood became too much for some birds to resist, the daring animals quickly landing on their bodies and pecking at the small wounds.

This was to be their fate, they would hang there until they either bled out after about five days, until they starved to death, or until they were eaten alive by birds. There was no way news of this could be kept hidden, one of the elders from Heron's Ascension Dojo entering the balcony after the sixth hour passed. He glanced grimly at the hanging and ruined Xue Qiuling, but he was shot down by Yin Long before he even got to finish his sentence.

"Disciple Yin Long, is there any chance that you can ma..."

"No."

It was a simple rejection that left no room for negotiation. Xue Qiuling was going to die here, he wouldn't allow anyone to change that fact. The same was true for the 10 red-robed people, they had wanted to ravage and sell Lan Yun, they had also wounded her and Jin Wang, he could not spare them.

The elder wanted to keep negotiating, but Yin Long didn't even bother paying any more attention to him, forcing him to leave with a dark expression. There were no more interruptions, the hours passing quickly for Yin Long but slowly for the strung up people. Day gave way for night, a new day quickly dawning on the horizon, Yin Long's flashing yellow pupils momentarily landing on the rising sun.

"That's the first dawn, I wonder how many you'll last."