Chapter 2

A blood moon hung on the horizon, its soft light cascading down.

A lean figure walked through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, the sword in his hand occasionally swinging, splashing blood.

In the end, the figure's speed grew faster and his sword strikes became more ruthless.

"Congratulations, host, you have earned 7 points!"

"Congratulations, host, you have earned 8 points!"

A series of cold voices echoed in his mind, Su Bai took a deep breath and looked up at the blood moon, "A strange world, I wonder to what level of martial arts one must cultivate to create such a world."

The moonlight fell on Su Bai's face like flowing water, adding a touch of eerie beauty to his already rather sinister appearance.

"1,236 corpses, of which 300 were still alive."

"It seems this system also awards points based on cultivation level, giving 8 points for higher levels and 5 points for lower levels."

"That means those who can enter the Blood Refinement World must have at least reached the Fifth Level of the Dao Entry stage."

"Only a fool would be tricked into coming here, but I will definitely take revenge."

"Now I have over 1,600 points, enough to practice for five days. Using these points for cultivation is clearly faster than the normal speed."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Su Bai turned to look around, the surroundings were eerily silent.

"First, I need to find a place to practice and recover my strength. If those people come back, it will be a disaster."

Su Bai looked around; the surroundings were a rustling forest, the trees were blood-red and extremely tall, reaching dozens of feet high.

"The disciples of the Langya Sect and other sects enter the Blood Refinement World to hunt the demonic beasts and precious herbs, even martial techniques within."

"If there are demonic beasts in this forest, the strong scent of blood here should attract them."

After determining that there were no demonic beasts in the forest, Su Bai stepped into it.

The shadows of the giant trees fell on the ground. Su Bai found a dense thicket and sat down, the thicket perfectly concealing his figure.

The blood clots on his chest had fallen off, but he still felt a faint stinging pain. Su Bai looked around and, after a moment, sensing no movement, he closed his eyes and entered a state of cultivation.

A warm force appeared in his dantian again. As the Sword Demon Heart Sutra circulated, this force gradually merged into his flesh and blood.

Su Bai knew that this gentle force was the cultivation points, which were much purer than the essence blood refined from demon beasts, naturally making cultivation faster.

Focused on cultivation, Su Bai seemed to forget the existence of the outside world.

Su Bai had such a personality, which led him to play games for days without rest, ultimately dying suddenly.

The stars shifted, and the blood moon gradually became hazy. The sky turned white, and as the blood sun rose, Su Bai finally woke up from his cultivation state, opening his eyes.

In the sunlight, Su Bai's face was no longer as pale as it was yesterday, and his breath had become long and deep.

"The feeling of cultivation is really good. Although I died suddenly in my previous life and was reborn here with such an identity, it's not bad, at least I have a system." Su Bai stood up, feeling the abundant energy in his body, "Fifth Level of Dao Entry?"

The internal strength in his body was far more substantial than at the Fourth Level of Dao Entry. Su Bai threw a punch, causing a gust of wind.

"It seems I really reached the Fifth Level of Dao Entry. After such a severe injury yesterday, I broke through after just one night of cultivation?"

"Could it be that easy?" Through his memories, Su Bai knew that it took this body several months to break through from the Fourth Level to the Fifth Level of Dao Entry.

After some thought, Su Bai could only attribute it to the fact that this body had once reached the Fifth Level of Dao Entry, and although the cultivation level had dropped, the foundation remained, plus the existence of the Swordman System.

"Doesn't that mean that as long as I have enough cultivation points, reaching the Ninth Level of Dao Entry is not a problem?"

The blood had already congealed on the white clothes. Su Bai frowned slightly, then relaxed, "To survive in this world of the strong preying on the weak, I will have to get used to the pungent smell of blood sooner or later."

A simple and ancient sword was stuck nearby. The sunlight reflected off it, casting a cold light, showing the extraordinary nature of the sword.

At the Dao Entry stage, one cultivates the sinews and bones, forging the flesh and blood.

The Dao Entry stage is the foundation of martial arts.

"The son of an elder, it took him ten years to learn a single heart technique and sword skill. It seems this guy is not well-liked in the Langya Sect," Su Bai muttered, his right hand tightly gripping the sword.

The system's scan results showed that Su Bai had mastered a sword skill called the Mountain Breaking Sword Skill.

Su Bai closed his eyes, and the content of the sword skill appeared in his mind. He raised his right hand, and with his current strength, he could easily bear the weight of the sword.

The sword was tilted, and a faint cold light reflected off the blade.

"The Mountain Breaking Sword Skill has seven forms. Only when all seven forms are mastered is it called the Mountain Breaking Sword Skill, with the momentum to break through mountains," Su Bai said softly, starting with the first form.

It had to be admitted that although the original owner's physique was not good, his talent was not bad, at least he had mastered this sword skill well.

Su Bai cultivated this sword skill without the usual difficulty, moving smoothly and without hesitation.

The force brought by the sword struck the leaves, causing them to fall. Su Bai was completely unaware, moving through the second, third, and up to the seventh form, each stroke fluid and effortless, tearing the surrounding leaves to shreds.

"Mountain Breaking Sword Skill (Low-Rank Sword Skill) Proficiency +1" a cold voice echoed in Su Bai's mind. He sheathed the sword, and a screen suddenly appeared in his mind, divided into several sections.

In the martial skill section, a line of text appeared: Mountain Breaking Sword Skill (Low-Rank Sword Skill), Proficiency (Mastery), 1,000 points to the next level.

Familiar with the game "Swordman," Su Bai knew that in the game, proficiency was divided into five levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Mastery, and Grandmaster.

This proficiency also corresponded to the mastery of sword skills in this world. Su Bai, supporting his chin with his left hand, muttered, "1,000 points of proficiency, this guy started learning this sword skill at six years old, practicing no less than a hundred times a day. That means he would need to practice over 300,000 times to reach the Grandmaster level. Suddenly, Su Bai's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Ordinary people need to practice and gain insights to improve their mastery of sword skills, but as long as I reach the required proficiency, the mastery level will naturally be achieved."

To verify his hypothesis, Su Bai raised the sword again, performing the seven forms of the Mountain Breaking Sword Skill, his movements as smooth as flowing water, clearly reaching the Mastery level.

"Mountain Breaking Sword Skill Proficiency +1" the system's voice sounded again. Su Bai sheathed the sword, a smile on his face. With this sudden system and his own talent, he immediately had the capital to look down on the world's geniuses.

Cultivation is the foundation, and cultivation is manifested through martial skills.

In terms of cultivation, Su Bai had the Swordman System. As long as he had enough cultivation points, his cultivation speed would far exceed that of his peers.

In terms of martial skills, Su Bai was already gifted, and with this system, reaching the peak of a martial skill was not a problem.

Suddenly, rustling footsteps were heard outside the forest.

Su Bai immediately crouched down, peering through the gaps in the forest. He saw two lean figures standing on the mountain of corpses and sea of blood outside the forest.

"Who could it be?" Su Bai tried to suppress his own aura. Before he understood the situation, the only thing he could do was to hide himself.

Outside the forest, the blood from yesterday had not yet dried, and the fallen corpses could not cover the blood-red ground.

Two burly young men stood beside several corpses, impatiently flipping them over, cursing, "Young Master Liu is being too cautious. Yesterday, the disciples of the Sword and Blade Pavilion and the Horizon Pavilion fought here. How could that kid escape this disaster?"

"Shut up, it's always better to be cautious," a more refined-looking young man whispered.

"Find that kid's corpse as soon as possible and report back," the two young men, though impatient, searched the sea of corpses without leaving any effort.

"Young Master Liu?" Crouching in the forest, Su Bai frowned. In his memory, there was indeed such a person, Liu Dong.

Liu Dong, also the descendant of an elder, had always been hostile towards Su Bai and had tormented him for years.

"The theory of condensing true qi at the brink of life and death was proposed by this person. Clearly, this matter is related to him." Su Bai carefully parted the thicket. When he saw the two burly young men, the coldness in his eyes intensified, "These two were the ones who tricked the unlucky guy here yesterday, leading to his tragic end."

Su Bai also recognized these two, both outer disciples of the Langya Sect, at the Fifth Level of Dao Entry.

"Fifth Level of Dao Entry, if I am careful enough, it won't be difficult to eliminate these two." Su Bai pondered for a moment, then lay flat on the ground, carefully crawling towards the edge of the forest.

The closer he got to the edge of the forest, the stronger the smell of blood became.

Looking at the two young men flipping through the corpses in the distance, Su Bai crawled out of the thicket and lay in a pool of blood.

The pungent smell of blood surrounded his nose. Su Bai frowned slightly, then relaxed, closing his eyes and pretending to be dead.

The sword was hidden in the blood, and Su Bai kept a firm grip on the hilt.

The two young men, having searched through hundreds of corpses, lost their patience and split up.

After a while, Su Bai heard footsteps approaching, growing louder.

The closer they got, the more cautious Su Bai became.

"Damn, we found the kid's corpse here, finally." A laugh sounded, and one of the young men, looking at the corpse in front of him, sighed in relief. "The kid is finally dead, and we can report back to Young Master Liu."

At that moment, the seemingly lifeless Su Bai suddenly opened his eyes...