From the depths of the Forbidden Tome, Sima Nan, the Archmage, had gifted Wang Lin three killing strokes. The first, the **Finger of Oblivion**, and the second, the **Finger of Demonic Transformation**, were frequently wielded by Wang Lin. Their potency, however, could not threaten a Transcendent Soul cultivator, and only held sway amongst those of the Nascent Soul realm.

Yet, when Sima Nan himself unleashed the twin fingers of Oblivion and Demonic Transformation, the power was cataclysmic! Even a Transcendent Soul cultivator would fall, their life extinguished. This disparity was not merely due to the difference in their cultivation, but in the essence of the techniques themselves.

These three killing strokes were the creations of Sima Nan. Steeped as he was in the dark arts, the techniques were tainted with demonic energy. One bereft of a heart touched by corruption could never fully grasp their true nature.

Wang Lin and Sima Nan walked divergent paths. Thus, when Wang Lin employed the Finger of Oblivion and Demonic Transformation, they lacked the fluidity and metamorphosis of Sima Nan’s renditions.

For, between these two fingers lay a succession of profound spells, a secret Sima Nan kept from Wang Lin. Not out of avarice, but out of caution. For should Wang Lin master these unseen paths, his very Dao might be irrevocably twisted.

The third and final stroke, the **Finger of the Underworld**, held power surpassing the other two, verging on the peak, almost a lesser celestial art.

Sima Nan had hesitated greatly before bestowing it upon Wang Lin, for this killing stroke, while potent enough to threaten a Transcendent Soul, carried a dark secret: Overuse would surely corrupt Wang Lin’s Dao heart, drawing him into the abyss of demonhood.

This final stroke was unlike the others. The Finger of Oblivion and Demonic Transformation, lacking further spells, could be used without end, never polluting the Dao heart. The Finger of the Underworld, however, held all its power within that single touch!

All of this Sima Nan had told Wang Lin. And so, throughout the years, Wang Lin had only employed the Finger of the Underworld once, in his battle against the sixth elder of the Purple Clan, Chen Tao, a Transcendent Soul cultivator of the intermediate stage.

For this final stroke, in truth, was the ultimate killing technique!

The Left Wing Demon General’s **Ten Prefecture Fist Intent** sprang from nothingness and melded with the heavens. Formless, it was a pinnacle of the demon general’s spirit and essence. Though striking at empty air, its intent could shatter the void, slaying unseen.

As Wang Lin extended his right forefinger, the celestial energy within him twisted, instantly transforming into a flood of demonic power, coalescing upon his fingertip. His finger was utterly consumed by a darkness so complete that even the blazing sun could not pierce it.

This blackness was a pure, unadulterated demonization!

The moment Wang Lin’s finger touched the void, he felt the surging fist intent within the nothingness. In that instant, the **First Collapse** arrived!

As if the very heavens crumbled, centered upon Wang Lin, the sky fell!

A cataclysmic force crashed upon Wang Lin from all sides. The darkness on his right hand flared. The speed of his celestial energy’s transformation reached an inconceivable pace. Abruptly, the darkness on his forefinger erupted outward, engulfing his entire body in the blink of an eye.

With a deafening roar that echoed throughout the ancient Demon City, Wang Lin’s face paled, and he staggered backward several steps to regain his balance.

His right forefinger trembled slightly, numb.

The cataclysmic forces crashing upon him receded like a tide, but immediately returned with ten times the fury, swirling from the void!

The **Second Collapse** arrived!

This Second Collapse moved with a speed far exceeding the first, assaulting from all directions in a flash.

Wang Lin’s right forefinger still trembled. The power of the Finger of Demonic Transformation could only withstand the First Collapse!

“This is no technique for a Nascent Soul cultivator! Such power… even amongst the Transcendent Souls, only one or two in ten could hope to master it!” Wang Lin’s eyes gleamed with strange light.

The power of the Second Collapse was tenfold that of the first. Within a thousand feet, the void grew dim, as if swept by storming sand, even pulling at the swirling vortex above the palace.

Wang Lin roared, and two streams of grey energy surged from his right hand, like two ancient dragons. Without hesitation, he unleashed the **Slaughtering Immortal Technique!**

The dragons shrieked, bursting forth and carrying with them a terrifying aura, instantly tearing through the void. But as they did, the dragons met the force of the Second Collapse.

The Second Collapse was mighty. Amidst the resonating booms, the dragons roared, yet failed to shatter. Instead, they transformed into a swirling grey vortex, with Wang Lin at its center.

The power of the Second Collapse crashed against the grey vortex, weakened by its power. At the same time, a torrent of slaughtering energy poured from the vortex.

This slaughtering energy was terrifying, possessing an aura of celestial slaying and demon extermination, carving a path through the Second Collapse, opening a breach!

With a heaven-rending will to kill, it forced back the fist intent of the Second Collapse!

Wang Lin stepped forward. His whole being became like a shooting star, bursting forth from his position. At the same moment, he grasped with his right hand. The grey vortex shuddered, then shattered into two swirling strands of grey energy, appearing in Wang Lin’s grasp.

“Condense!” Wang Lin roared. The intertwining strands of grey energy solidified, forming a seven-foot long sword, radiating endless grey light. As Wang Lin held the sword, a terrifying slaughtering energy erupted from his very being.

In that moment, Wang Lin was utterly transformed. No longer did he possess any aura of celestial grace, only the will to slaughter!

He was like a demon god of carnage, wielding the sword of slaughter, bursting through the void towards the Left Wing Demon General in the distance.
The Left-Wing Demon General chuckled, a gleam of barbaric power flickering in his eyes. “Impressive! Few have dared to counter beneath my Ten Shattering Fists! Let us see if you can overcome the remaining eight and reach my side!”

Nearby, the Blood Ancestress’s daughter, Yao Xixue, stood watching, her brow furrowed in delicate concern. Three years past, upon her arrival in this Ancient Demon City, she had fallen prey to the selfsame Ten Shattering Fists. Such a potent art, each blow more devastating than the last. Her cultivation faltered at the fourth Shatter. Had she not employed the Blood Arts taught by her father, she would never have survived the fifth!

Even so, she was defeated by the eighth. The Left-Wing Demon General, recognizing her spirit, granted her the position of Commandant. A prestigious rank within the Ancient Demon City, second only to the Generals themselves. To this day, only four Commandants stood in the whole city. Below them were the Ensigns, a far more numerous cadre of sixteen souls.

Wang Lin, eyes ablaze with a murderous light, advanced. Alone, wielding naught but his sword, he cleaved through the void, making straight for the Left-Wing Demon General. But between them stood eight Shatters, a formidable barrier. The third Shatter, ten times the power of the second, erupted silently from all sides, crushing down upon Wang Lin like a thousand collapsing mountain peaks.

A crimson glint shone in Wang Lin’s eyes, his aura thick with slaughter. He felt no fear before the third Shatter, only a surge of battle-lust. Raising his blade, the Sword of Slaughter, he roared, “Third Shatter, be broken!”

In that instant, the blade erupted with an unprecedented grey light, engulfing not just the weapon but Wang Lin himself. It burned like a star, transforming him into a meteor, a streak of pure destructive force aimed directly at the unyielding barrier.

One stroke. Power that shook the heavens and moved the earth!

The third Shatter’s ethereal form was rent asunder by the sword’s might. Wang Lin, fused with his blade, tore through the gap, heading straight for the General.

The Left-Wing Demon General’s eyes shone brighter. “Good!” he bellowed.

Barely had Wang Lin emerged when the fourth Shatter descended. With each iteration, the speed and ferocity of the Ten Shattering Fists grew exponentially. The fourth possessed the force of the first, amplified a thousandfold! Such power was beyond the endurance of any ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

The advent of the fourth Shatter caused the heavens themselves to tremble. Even the swirling vortex above the palace contorted, as if straining under its immense weight.

The fourth Shatter roared down upon him, shattering the killing-state fusion between Wang Lin and his sword. The thousandfold might of the first Shatter was too much. Without the cultivation of a late-stage Nascent Soul, it was impossible to withstand!

Wang Lin was wrenched away from his blade. At the same moment, the full force of the fourth Shatter crashed down upon him like a tidal wave. If the fourth Shatter was a raging ocean, then Wang Lin was but a lone boat, tossed about at its mercy.

Wang Lin’s face paled. His advance stalled, his body crushed as if in an unending vise. He knew that with his current strength, he could not withstand this fourth Shatter. Were the Slaughter Sword Art to possess a little more grey energy, he might have stood a chance, but despite the countless souls he had slain in the past four years, the Slaughter Immortal Art remained frustratingly incomplete.

Aside from the Slaughter Immortal Art, the Yellow Springs Finger might also shatter this barrier. But that was Wang Lin’s true trump card, and he was loath to reveal its full power in this treacherous Demon Spirit Land.

With a decisive look, Wang Lin released his grip. The Sword of Slaughter dissolved into two wisps of grey energy, which promptly burrowed into his body through his right hand. Suddenly, two grey runes appeared between his eyebrows. They spread rapidly, covering his entire being, forming a protective barrier – the Marks of Living Death.

Then, the fourth Shatter struck!

The cataclysmic force, a thousandfold increase of the first strike, slammed into Wang Lin. He felt, with horrifying clarity, the fist intent contained within the fourth Shatter!

Within the fist intent was a force that seemed akin to unwavering… conviction!

“Conviction!” Wang Lin’s eyes flared with a light not seen for centuries. It was reminiscent of Zhou Yi of old, that kindling of realization during his Spirit ablaze.