He fought barehanded in a sea of corpses. Every punch crushed skulls. Every elbow shattered ribs. Every kick snapped spines. Bodies fell around him in heaps, yet for every enemy he destroyed, more crawled from beneath the blood-soaked earth.

Time gradually lost all meaning.

Hours passed.

Then days.

Then months.

Perhaps even years.

His body in that world never truly tired, but his mind was pressed endlessly beneath scenes of slaughter. Everywhere he looked there was blood. Everywhere he listened there were silent screams. Everywhere he turned another enemy rushed to kill him.

At first, Li Yun relied on technique. He observed movement, exploited openings, and fought with precision.

Later, precision alone was not enough.

Only survival mattered.

His attacks became faster. His movements became simpler. He abandoned wasteful flourishes and unnecessary actions. Every strike was aimed only at ending life in the shortest possible moment.

Break the throat. Crush the temple. Pierce the heart. Tear the spine.

No hesitation. No softness. No excess.

The battlefield responded to his transformation.

The corpse soldiers vanished.

In their place came living enemies.

Armored generals rode war beasts with flaming eyes. Cultivators attacked with lightning, wind blades, fire arts, and sword techniques. Assassins emerged soundlessly from shadows. Massive berserkers swung axes the size of houses. Poison users smiled coldly while launching hidden needles.

All of them wanted his life.

All of them attacked together.

Li Yun was wounded again and again. Arrows pierced his shoulder. Hammers broke his ribs. A sword opened his chest. Poison entered his veins. Flames scorched his flesh.

Yet every time he fell, he stood back up.

Every time he rose, something inside him changed.

He became colder.

Sharper.

More focused.

Then he began to understand a truth hidden beneath all battle.

Mercy had no value when the enemy’s blade was already descending.

Hesitation was often death.

Emotion became weakness when survival was decided in a single breath.

On a battlefield of life and death, victory did not belong to the kindest or the noblest. It belonged to the one who could kill first and kill completely.

This realization did not make Li Yun cruel.

It made him clear.

Killing was not rage.

Killing was not madness.

Killing was the pure resolve to remove opposition without wavering.

The world changed again.

Li Yun now stood before a mountain of corpses so immense that its peak pierced the clouds. Rivers of blood coiled around its base like crimson dragons. At the summit stood a lone figure clad in ancient armor, holding a sword forged entirely from scarlet light.

The armored figure raised the sword and pointed it directly at Li Yun.

No words were spoken.

Yet Li Yun understood completely.

Defeat this guardian, or remain trapped forever in the world of slaughter.

He began climbing the corpse mountain. Phantom hands reached upward from the dead, clutching at his legs. Curses, screams, and endless resentment echoed around him. With every step, the pressure of killing intent intensified until it felt like countless invisible blades scraping across his soul.

When he reached the summit, the armored figure attacked immediately.

Its sword embodied absolute slaughter. Every swing carried the will of countless deaths. Each strike seemed capable of cutting apart the heavens themselves.

Li Yun fought first with fists. Then with qi. Then with nothing but instinct. He was cut down again and again, yet the world rebuilt him each time so the battle could continue.

Eventually, he stopped resisting wildly.

As the scarlet sword descended once more, Li Yun closed his eyes.

Then he understood the final truth.

Killing Intent was not born from blood. Blood was only the aftermath.

Killing Intent was born from unwavering will. It was the certainty to end opposition. It was a mind so focused that the enemy’s existence itself was denied. It was the conviction that once one struck, something must die.

Li Yun opened his eyes.

For the first time in that world, they were utterly calm.

The scarlet sword fell toward him.

He raised two fingers.

There was no qi upon them. No technique. No visible force.

Yet the instant those fingers touched the blade, the sword shattered into red dust.

The armored figure froze. Cracks spread across its body from head to toe. In the next moment, it exploded into countless streams of scarlet light.

The corpse mountain collapsed.

The rivers of blood dried up.

The red sky split apart.

An immense torrent of pure murderous will surged into Li Yun’s consciousness.

Back inside the chamber, Li Yun’s body trembled violently atop the Five Elemental Bed. The Iron Blood Banner floated before him while endless scarlet mist poured from it into his forehead. The surrounding chamber shook under the pressure.

Then everything became still.

Li Yun slowly opened his eyes.

They were colder than before. Sharper than before. Deeper than before.

An invisible aura spread outward from him. Flowers in the room withered instantly. Thin cracks appeared across the stone floor. Even the surrounding air felt dangerous, as though any movement within it might be cut down.

This was no ordinary pressure.

This was Killing Intent.

At this moment, the killing intent seed inside his dantian had evolved into a true Killing Intent.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face seeing that.

"So this is Killing Intent."

It was savage, direct, and absolute.

Unlike Sword Intent, which emphasized sharpness and cutting force, Killing Intent magnified lethality itself. It made every strike more decisive, every attack more fatal, and every hesitation disappear.

Li Yun looked at the now dimmed Iron Blood Banner and nodded slowly.

"This journey to Yin Cloud Mountain was more than worth it."

Even though he had only grasped 10% Killing Intent at present, Li Yun could already feel how dangerous this power truly was.

It was not an intent meant for display, nor one that relied on grand visual destruction. Its terror lay in something far more direct. Killing Intent sharpened the purpose behind every strike, strengthened the will to end life, and placed invisible pressure upon the enemy’s heart.

Against weaker opponents, it could shake their minds before battle had even begun. Against equals, it could become the deciding edge in a life-and-death exchange.