"It's not a bother, Sister Qin, " he smiled, his gentlemanly manners for all to see, "A spirit beast sure is a reflection of its master, beautiful and powerful." He genuinely praised.

"Brother Lei flatters me," Xue Yueliang smiled, "I go by Xue Yueliang now." Though a name was just a name, Xue Yueliang much preferred her current name, and it would also help her send a message.

An understanding look appeared in Lei Jian's eyes, "You have made up my mind. "

As kids, they swore to leave their clan and create their destiny, but he didn't expect her to go through with it before him.

"May we travel together, Sister Xue?" Lei Jian asked, "I hope you won't refuse me again."

Xue Yueliang hesitated before finally agreeing, there was no sense in rejecting him twice, and it would be better to have a friend over an enemy. Since they were companions now, Xue Yueliang informed him of everything she knew so far and told him it would be in their best interest to follow on with what she was doing. She knew that Lei Jian had some secrets he wasn't sharing with her and vice versa, but neither of them probed into each other's secrets. It was the basic courtesy between friends. As they were destroying the skeletal remains, a disturbance occurred, shaking the earth; the colour of the sky has changed and turned into a giant projection featuring the bloody visage of her master. Though he appeared to be distressed, his noble demeanour could not be easily hidden.

"Young cultivators, who came to seek my inheritance, congratulations on making it this far, but my inheritance is not something anyone can get." His noble demeanour soon took a turn for the worse, and a demonic malignant glint appeared in his eyes, "My path is the path of murder; the more you kill, the closer you will get to my inheritance."

The projection disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, and Xue Yueliang couldn't help but laugh, "And we were told not to kill, " she told Lei Jian, "Let's go look for people."

"You can accept this so easily?" Lei Jian asked, seemingly unable to believe her. He remembered how she had always had a fear of blood. Seeing her rush into murder so readily surprised him, but Xue Yueliang remained unphased, "Overexposure cures a lot. " She indifferently said as she led the way.

Lei Jian fell silent at her words, as he was no stranger to her situation and quietly followed behind her. He balled his fists and reconfirmed his faith; he will be the strongest, he will protect those close to him; he would not allow her to suffer alone. At the same time, his doubts about her identity disappeared. Xue Yueliang noticed his actions but did not bother to think about it; people had their convictions, and if he believed that he must protect her, why would she refuse a free bodyguard? Hei Yu, who was perched on her shoulder, realised the strange atmosphere between them and his hostility to Lei Jian doubled.

Xue Yueliang closed her eyes to observe the map in her mind and was now able to see glowing dots moving around, presumably cultivators. Nearby, a group of about ten cultivators were huddled together, they moved around, but none of them left; they must be fighting. They headed toward the group and were greeted by an exceptionally bloody sight. Six cultivators were tied to the ground, beaten bloody and bruised, and four others stood above them. They were torturing them but did not take their life, seemingly taking pleasure in their screams.

"Those bastards." Lei Jian mumbled before trying to rush inward, but Xue Yueliang quickly stopped him and warned him, "That man over there, the leader, is at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Do you have the confidence to beat him?"

The gap between cultivators at their realm and foundation establishment cultivators was almost insurmountable; it would be senseless to rush in like this, especially for people they did not know. Xue Yueliang turned to leave but noticed Lei Jian did not follow behind her, "We can't just leave them like this," he said. Xue Yueliang looked oddly at him and asked, "Didn't we come here to kill them? At least now they could live a little bit longer." Of course, whether or not the type of living was worth it, she did not say.

"Torturing for the sake of entertainment is wrong."

"There is no such thing as right or wrong," Xue Yueliang corrected, "Only strength and weakness."

"Don't we pursue strength to help protect the weak?" He challenged.

"And I'm the weak?" Xue Yueliang asked mockingly, "I pursue power for myself, and I suggest you do the same. Farewell."

After which, she decisively turned around, as she had no intention of following in on his stupidity. Both power and entertainment were benefits they received at others' expense; once they decided to kill, they were already murderers. And there was no point in distinguishing between a murderer and a monster. Lei Jian complicatedly stared at Xue Yueliang's back before deciding to join the fray. Xue Yueliang couldn't help but lament his foolishness and silently prayed for him; regardless of what happened, he was someone she considered a friend. Seeing that Lei Jian was left behind, a smug look appeared on Hei Yu as he cuddled with her, easing her tension.

Xue Yueliang observed the map in her mind's eye and began to move, aiming for cultivators alone or in pairs; she had already memorised the faces of those in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Unless there were other dark horses like Lei Jian, she was confident in killing anyone her blade came across. Soon after Xue Yueliang killed a dozen or so people, she noticed that people gathered in groups of ten or more to lessen the chances of being targeted. Sadly for them, after Xue Yueliang had practised the Blood Sacrifice a few times, her cultivation had already reached the 11th level of the Qi Refinement Realm. She was more than confident in killing them.

Xue Yueliang exercised the Wind Blade technique and kept increasing its power. It wasn't until she felt that it was about to escape her control that she released it, causing disarray amongst the party as a small tornado appeared and injured them all, but to varying degrees. The technique naturally drained Xue Yueliang's spiritual Qi, but this did not affect her movements that much; she and Hei Yu rushed to the party members' sides and ended their lives swiftly. She allowed Hei Yu to eat half of the party members while she initiated Blood Sacrifice on the other half, draining every last bit of their existence.

At this point, Xue Yueliang's pain tolerance was much higher than the average cultivator's. Even though the pain still destroyed her body before remodelling it, it did not even cause Xue Yueliang to sweat, let alone scream in agony. She felt her internal state and noticed that she was incredibly close to breaking through to the next level. After recuperating, Xue Yueliang headed toward the next group. It would be advantageous to her if she could reach the peak of the Qi Refinement Realm before this event was at its pinnacle moment.

As soon as she was near the next group, a voice warily sounded, "Who's there?"

Xue Yueliang was surprised as no one had noticed her before, but all sorts of exceptional people existed. She walked out from her hiding site and cupped her fists, "Greetings." She smiled but quickly unsheathed her sword and rushed into the group. The group quickly assumed formation, readying themselves; it seemed that this was not their first time facing an attack. Xue Yueliang did not feel any pressure from this - though she preferred to divide and conquer - an all-out battle was not a bad thing either.

Though they outnumbered one to twelve, she was not afraid. The cultivator who spoke earlier assumed his position in the middle of the formation. He ordered the other cultivators around, fitting the image of a leader. Xue Yueliang paid no heed to his words and swung her Wind Blade augmented sword at the nearest member. Surprisingly, a faint blue sheen appeared on his body, blocking the majority of her attack, causing a minor injury to appear on his arm rather than cutting him in half.

A serious glint appeared in her eyes as she fell back and looked at their leader, "You are a Formation Master?"

The Dao of Formations was one of the many paths of the Grand Dao; they borrowed the strength of heaven and earth to boost their power and the power of their companions. Thanks to them, group battles were not the sum of their powers but a multiple of that sum as for how much it would be multiplied by, that relied on the wisdom and might of the Formation Master.

The leader did not bother to reply to her and instead told his teammates: "Regardless of how strong she appears, she's not our match. Stay strong, maintain the formation and kill her!"

Xue Yueliang's lips couldn't help but twitch as he turned this situation into a learning lesson, and his words seemed to affect them as their gazes turned bright and firm.

"The fact that I injured one of you so early on should be demoralising." She pointed out.

She curiously prepared another Wind Blade, but instead of releasing it, she increased its strength, wondering what they would do. Unsurprisingly, she could not break a formation so easily. Under the leader's orders, the group of eleven moved synchronously and began to attack her. Xue Yueliang felt a splitting wind from her right side, quickly dodging to the side, but came across a sword slash. An open wound appeared on Xue Yueliang's shoulder, and her previously pure white robes had bright red blemishes. She quickly jumped up and released her strengthened Wind Blade, which - to her disappointment - only caused minor damage to the group. Xue Yueliang did not know any other techniques and found herself briefly lost on what to do. Thankfully, this loss only lasted for a short while before she decided to entirely rely on her physical prowess and sword alone. Even if things did go sideways, she could always summon Hei Yu to protect her. Being unrivalled would only deprive her of learning opportunities.

"Brothers, that wench will soon die in our hand. Hold on a little longer." His hateful voice sounded, but Xue Yueliang was not so immature as to be affected by such low-level insults. A calculating glint appeared in her eyes as she looked at the cultivators in front of her. If she found one weakness to take advantage of, she could completely ruin their formation. As she stalled for more time, more injuries appeared on her body, but they did not affect her fighting as she was now used to pain. After dodging a sword aimed at her neck, Xue Yueliang spun backwards and managed to cut one of their arms and forcibly created the opening she strived for.

"Urrgh!" The man whose arm was cut off couldn't help but groan aloud as he heavily landed on the floor, holding onto his stump. As they saw one of their members fall onto the ground, the rest were momentarily shocked, and it only took a moment for life and death to be decided. Due to their inaction, the power of the formation dissipated, allowing Xue Yueliang to cut down the head of another. Before his head could even land, she augmented her sword again, making a horizontal slash, cutting the abdomen and chest of two more. She then pierced the heart of another man and heavily threw his body onto another member, causing him to painfully land on the remnants of a pillar, and a satisfying crunch resounded. In less than a dozen breaths, Xue Yueliang dispatched half of the party members, causing their faces to pale.

"Why don't we play now?" She demonically grinned as she rushed to her now fear-filled opponents, "Don't let her scare you! There's no way her injuries don't bother her. We just need to hold on!" The leader yelled out again. The man was not entirely wrong, as although she could brave through the pain, her blood loss or the fatigue that she built up wasn't something she could ignore. Of course, that did not mean she appreciated him pointing it out.

"How annoying." Xue Yueliang mumbled and dashed over to his side. She kept her Blood Moon Sword and instead reached out to grab his throat with her left hand, digging into his flesh and ripping out his vocal cord. "Let's see you talk without this," she challenged. His endless orders had long since irritated her, but the formation did not allow her to attack him. She then manifested a few miniature Wind Blades and sent them to the five remaining cultivators that were already retreating, accurately landing on the nape of their necks; their eyes widened from their shock and fear, and their entire existence was reduced to a mere eerie sight. As the cultivators themselves were weak and their formation was destroyed, killing them was a piece of cake. But before Xue Yueliang could fully rest, she felt a powerful aura heading toward her, though it was still far from her, it was quickly closing in on her location and caused her to feel suffocated. After swallowing a healing pill, she retrieved her sword and warily looked at the incoming aura.