Lin Yan didn’t test the power of his Sword Gang. There was no need. Nothing in the vicinity could withstand his three blades of Sword Gang.
He pulled back and turned his focus inward, performing Introspection on his mind.
When he saw the height of his Martial Arts Tree, a look of surprise appeared in Lin Yan’s eyes.
The Martial Arts Tree was taller than he had anticipated. It wasn’t ten feet, but had shot straight up to eleven.
At the same time, the entire trunk had grown thicker, and the existing branches had extended by half a foot.
’Now I’m certain. My Martial Arts Tree grew more than expected, not because of Qi Blood Perfection, but because of my Root Bone. Normally, advancing from the First to the Second Transformation of the Blood Exchange Realm adds two feet. But I just grew by three feet, completely shattering the upper limit. This time, I have a definitive answer. If achieving Qi Blood Perfection allowed one’s strength to far exceed that of a typical Blood Exchange Realm Martial Artist with each transformation, it’s impossible that no one in the family would have mentioned it. Someone would have to know. The Lin Family has existed for over two thousand years; there have certainly been geniuses who achieved Qi Blood Perfection before breaking into the Blood Exchange Realm. As far as I know, the foremost talent of the "Ming" generation, Lin Mingya, entered the Blood Exchange Realm after achieving Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing Qi Blood Perfection.’
Getting to his feet, Lin Yan stretched his limbs, his bones letting out a series of CRACKS and POPS.
The next moment, however, he was already walking toward the courtyard gate.
"Young Master Yan!"
A voice called out. The newcomer froze for a second upon seeing that Lin Yan had already opened the gate.
"What is it?"
"Just... just now, while Master Tong was on patrol, he saw a merchant ship stopped on the river. When he went to investigate, he found it had been robbed. All sixty-two people on board... not a single one was left alive."
The messenger was a Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist and had seen his fair share of conflict, but his face was still pale as he recalled the bloody scene on the ship.
Lin Yan’s gaze sharpened. Being robbed and being slaughtered were two entirely different things.
’Robbing a ship but leaving the people alive is standard practice for Water Bandits. If you kill everyone, who’s going to pay the ransom? Who’s going to inform the merchant guilds? Massacring everyone on board means leaving no witnesses, which means the perpetrators don’t want their identities exposed.’
’Roving Bandits!’
The two words Lin Mingye had mentioned surfaced in Lin Yan’s mind.
"Take me to the scene."
「Half an hour later」
Lin Yan arrived at the merchant ship on the river. Seeing him approach, Zhao Tong’s expression was grim. "The culprits were vicious, Young Master Lin. You should prepare yourself."
Zhao Tong gave the warning intentionally. In his eyes, a talented clansman from the Lin Family like Lin Yan might have a high Realm and great strength, but he likely lacked real combat experience and had rarely taken a life. He was afraid that if Lin Yan showed any signs of discomfort after boarding, he would lose face in front of the others.
"Mm."
Lin Yan nodded and leaped from his small boat onto the deck of the merchant ship. The first thing he saw made his pupils contract sharply.
It wasn’t as if he had never seen the dead before. He had even single-handedly annihilated the bandits of Qingfeng Stockade.
But killing was one thing, and sadistic slaughter was another!
The blood on the deck before him had already coagulated into a dark brown crust. It stretched from bow to stern in a thick layer, sticky and slick underfoot.
Bodies were strewn about, all piled up at the bow. They had clearly been herded onto the deck and massacred together.
Among the corpses were many elderly women, younger women, and even children. Compared to the men, the state of their deaths was far more tragic. A child of about three or four lay on its back. There were no wounds on its body, but its face was a purplish-blue, and a deep strangulation mark was visible on its neck. It had been strangled to death.
Several of the women were completely naked...
Lin Yan’s expression turned to ice. He pulled his gaze away from the bodies and looked at Zhao Tong. "Any clues?"

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