Yin Zhou had just left the small pavilion and was preparing to exit Elder Zhuan Yu's training grounds, completely unsuspecting.

A black shadow abruptly appeared behind him, followed by Yang An's sudden materialization. A palm strike shot directly into Yin Zhou's body, piercing through his flesh.

The so-called "three days later" was nothing but empty words.

Since they had already agreed to a life-or-death battle, why wait three days?

So Yang An chose to act now without the slightest hesitation. He had no time to get tangled up with this guy.

But as his arm passed through Yin Zhou's body, just as he was about to unleash a Technique to dissolve him into ash, his brow suddenly furrowed.

'This feeling… it's not right!'

Although he had left a Qi Seal on the man just moments before, and the Qi Seal showed no abnormalities, his instincts screamed that something was wrong. He had used this move to pierce the flesh of countless people, and he could instinctively tell something was off.

'This flesh is too loose, not firm at all!'

Just as he noticed the anomaly, the Yin Zhou he had pierced through suddenly seemed to vaporize. The flesh and blood all over his body rapidly disintegrated, erupting in a massive explosion of silver light.

BOOM!

A large crater was blasted into the courtyard outside the small pavilion.

Yang An had already retreated several meters. The Golden Light Barrier before him dissipated in an instant as his gaze shifted forward.

There, a figure slowly emerged from a swath of silver light, holding a completely silver sword that gave off a faint glow.

"I didn't think Senior Brother Yang would be so impatient as to be unable to wait even that long. Heh heh."

The figure that appeared before him was indeed Yin Zhou, but this version of him bore none of Yang An's Qi Seal. It was clear this was not the same physical body as the one from moments ago.

Seeing him appear, Yang An immediately understood.

The one he had been speaking with earlier was just a clone-like existence, not Yin Zhou's true body.

As for why Yin Zhou had done this, the reason was self-evident—he was fishing!

All to deliberately bait him into attacking!

In that instant, Yang An figured out Yin Zhou's goal. The talk of meeting at Qiushui Court in three days was just a lie. Yin Zhou's purpose in coming here was to provoke him.

"Since Senior Brother has already made a move, it means you wanted to act now, disregarding our agreement.

"In that case, this junior brother won't be so courteous either!"

Yin Zhou looked at Yang An with a smile. Everything was going according to his plan, and Yang An was merely a puppet he was toying with.

If he had attacked Yang An first, even if he had killed him, Elder Zhuan Yu could have punished him under the pretext of "a junior attacking a senior." At that point, not even his master, Elder Wen Zhao, could have stopped it.

But now things were different. Yang An had struck first, so he couldn't be blamed.

He now had a perfectly justifiable reason to fight.

'How treacherous!'

'To think I fell for it right from the start.' Seeing the hypocritical smile on Yin Zhou's face, Yang An smiled back.

Yin Zhou slowly raised the longsword in his hand. He wiped a speck of dust from its blade, and a murderous intent surged in his eyes as he looked at Yang An.

To become Elder Zhuan Yu's disciple, he had sought an audience with the Elder several times, humbling himself and begging to be taken in, all to obtain Elder Zhuan Yu's Technique, the Shell Nourishing Technique.

The sword in his hand came from his former dao companion.

Back then, in order to enter the Golden Thread Pavilion and become a disciple of Iron Mountain Tower, he refined his dao companion into a sword, stripping away all of her innate talent and fusing it with his own.

Only in this way, by relying on the fusion of their two bodies, could his Cultivation Level advance by leaps and bounds.

And her soul, her flesh, her very being—were all forever Sealed within this sword.

But how could love ever truly be severed?

She was his dao companion. Who could possibly understand the anguish of his yearning? 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But if he could be accepted by Elder Zhuan Yu and obtain the Shell Nourishing Technique, he could cultivate the sword into a physical shell and give birth to a consciousness within it!

It would surely be the consciousness of his beloved. From then on, they could become one, never to be parted again.

But to his dismay, Elder Zhuan Yu had chosen to deny him even this small wish.

'By what right?!'

'By what right can someone like Yang An be accepted as a disciple, but not me?'

'I am a Five-Star Disciple of Iron Mountain Tower, the cream of the crop among disciples! Am I really inferior to some outsider who isn't even from the Golden Thread Pavilion?'

'Just some guy Elder Zhuan Yu met outside became his Direct Disciple and got the Shell Nourishing Technique with ease!'

'I've been in Iron Mountain Tower for so many years, only to be shut out.'

'By what right!'

Today, he would show that old fool Zhuan Yu whether he was qualified or not!

SHINK—

An increasingly crazed, murderous intent appeared on Yin Zhou's face. He raised the sword in his hand and plunged it straight into his own Heart.

The sharp longsword pierced through his body, unleashing an infinite sword intent that began to devour his flesh and blood, completely shredding his Heart.

Intense agony instantly swept through his entire body. Blood gushed madly from the wound, spraying from his body and flowing onto the ground.

He had entered a state of Pain Amplification from the very beginning.

He had to win! And it had to be a clean, decisive victory!

Only by crushing Yang An could he demonstrate the gap between them. Only then could he show that old fool Zhuan Yu just how poor his judgment was.

The technique he cultivated was a form of Swordsmanship called Bright Moon Swordsmanship.

Although the name of the Swordsmanship was very plain, it was an incredibly powerful and terrifying technique.

With this Swordsmanship, he had once successfully escaped from the clutches of a Zombie God, completely unscathed.

Among his fellow Five-Star Disciples, he was virtually unrivaled when he used his full strength.

It could be said that although he hadn't reached the Zombie God realm, the only real difference was the lack of a Forbidden Artifact Fragment. In terms of true strength, he wouldn't fear even a Zombie God.

And Yang An was merely at the Middle Stage of Corpse Transformation.

'No matter how strong he is, could he possibly be stronger than a Zombie God?'

The longsword piercing Yin Zhou's body seemed to soften, twisting together with his flesh and blood as a copious amount of silver luster burst from his pores.

From the moment Yin Zhou raised his sword to now, only an instant had passed, but his appearance had changed completely.

His entire body was covered in a layer of silver luster, making him look as if he were smeared with mercury, or perhaps wearing a suit of sinister silver scales.

From his hands, a large amount of blood sprayed forth, seemingly forming two longswords woven from crimson and silver.

He brandished the Blood Swords, and with a light wave of his right hand, a terrifying Sword Qi slashed across the ground, carving out a long trench.

"Senior Brother, are you ready?"

Wrapped within that silver substance, even Yin Zhou's voice had changed drastically. It sounded like the overlapping voices of a man and a woman, strangely bewitching.

But before Yang An could even respond, Yin Zhou's figure vanished from his spot, reappearing behind Yang An in the next instant to slash down with his sword.

With this strike, he held nothing back.

He wanted to end the fight quickly, to kill Yang An in a single blow, so there was naturally no room for probing attacks.

Even a Zombie God who hadn't activated their Power of Rules might not be able to block this strike.

Therefore, Yang An, who was merely at the Middle Stage of Corpse Transformation, definitely couldn't block it!

'Die!'

The longsword of intertwined blood and silver descended upon Yang An at extreme speed. The terrifying Sword Qi was like a physical substance, gushing forth and penetrating Yang An's flesh. A thin line of blood even appeared on his body.

Beneath his silver-shrouded face, a smile had already formed on Yin Zhou's lips. He couldn't wait to see the complex expression on Elder Zhuan Yu's face after Yang An was dead.

But right at that moment, an utterly unexpected scene unfolded.

The Blood Sword had already landed on Yang An, but he simply turned around with perfect calm, looking at Yin Zhou with a disdainful expression.

A dense azure light suddenly flared up around Yang An, enveloping his entire body.

Beneath this layer of azure light, the Blood Sword was unable to advance another inch, stopped dead on Yang An's shoulder.

Although the incomparably sharp Sword Qi from the Blood Sword continued to erupt outwards, it only managed to leave cracks on the azure light, as if it were stuck fast.

'How can this be?!'

Seeing this, Yin Zhou was shaken to his core. At the same time, he raised his other hand and swung down with another sword.

'You can block one of my swords, but I refuse to believe you can block the second!'

As if possessed by a frenzy, he unleashed an endless torrent of murderous intent and Sword Qi.

Under Pain Amplification, this was the full extent of his explosive power. Absolutely no one at the Corpse Transformation stage could block this strike.

'With this strike, Yang An will surely die!'

But Yang An didn't dodge in the slightest. He remained standing right where he was, seemingly unfazed by the descending sword.

A black light suddenly bloomed from Yang An's body like an exceptionally sinister black lotus, instantly enveloping Yin Zhou and freezing his movements in that very moment.

At the same time, a hand slowly rose. Though the movement was incredibly slow, Yin Zhou found he was completely unable to dodge.

RIIIP!

The hand plunged violently into his chest.

Only at this moment did a faint smile finally appear on Yang An's face.

"To be honest, I don't care who becomes the disciple. If you wanted the position, I could have given it to you.

"But..."

Before he could finish, a brilliant radiance erupted from Yang An's body, instantly engulfing Yin Zhou.

Although a look of utter shock had appeared on his face, his expression seemed to be frozen in place.

His entire being was held fast by Yang An from within, making it impossible for him to break free.

One breath's time.

He didn't even have time to scream before the light dissipated.

Yang An's expression was as calm as still water. He lightly shook the ash from his hand, letting it scatter to the ground and drift away on the wind.

"But... you truly are not qualified."