"Where is everyone!!!"
A booming voice echoed, shaking the ground as if thunder were rolling from the sky.
Soon after, a towering figure appeared.
This man stood at least two and a half meters tall, not only large but immensely muscular as well.
Spay Tarré!
In the Earth Dragon Empire, the Spay family was a noble lineage.
Spay Tarré, the lord of Spear City, belonged to this prestigious family.
Only those of noble blood could hold the title of city lord.
As a Martial Master-level warrior, Spay Tarré could fly, and as he descended from the sky and surveyed the scene below, his expression darkened.
Before him lay the mutilated remains of Wang Qiang, cut into several pieces.
Descending to the ground, his face turned even grimmer.
"A sword user did this?"
Upon closer inspection, all the bodies surrounding him bore sword-inflicted wounds.
"And what kind of sword is this?"
Spay Tarré glanced at Wang Qiang's shattered greatsword, noting that it had been destroyed in a sword clash.
Who could have done this?
Wang Qiang was a Ninth-Tier warrior, and now he was dead!
"Get the artist to draw up what you've seen. Issue a city-wide manhunt!"
Spay Tarré ordered the guards standing behind him.
"Yes, sir!"
...
"Is that what a Martial Master looks like? He can fly?"
Ye Fan remarked as he and Lin Luoluo sat atop a mountain within the city, having barely avoided detection by Spay Tarré.
Lin Luoluo sat cross-legged on the ground, absorbing the surrounding energy from the air.
"Killing a Martial Master... I wonder how many evolution points that would be?"
"Ten thousand? Probably not that few, right? If it's a hundred thousand, that'd be amazing."
Ye Fan mused aloud.
But it was just a thought for now. Lin Luoluo wasn't yet strong enough to kill a Martial Master.
"Still, her progress is fast. After absorbing part of that Ninth-Tier warrior's power, she's already reached the Eighth Tier."
Ye Fan couldn't help but marvel.
Back when Lin San wielded the sword, he had a great deal of talent, but even he couldn't keep up with Lin Luoluo's rate of advancement.
"Lin San, the previous sword master, is still alive, isn't he? I wonder what state he's in now, without this sword."
Ye Fan chuckled to himself.
All former sword masters would trigger a notification upon their death, but he had yet to receive any notice of Lin San's death.
That meant Lin San was still alive.
"It's almost time."
Lin Luoluo opened her eyes slowly and murmured to herself.
Looking at Soul Sever in her hand, she directed her source energy into the sword.
Immediately, a vast amount of light attribute energy emerged from the sword's blade, radiating like glowing rings.
The energy entered Lin Luoluo's body, and her wounds, which hadn't fully healed from the earlier battle, began to close quickly.
...
By the next day, the entire city of Spear was in an uproar over the news of Wang Qiang's death.
Wang Qiang had been a Ninth-Tier warrior, the strongest commander of Spear City's guards.
And yet, he had been killed!
Not only Wang Qiang but also Yang Feng had been slain!
"Spay Tarré, who is this white-clad swordsman?"
Meanwhile, within the city lord's mansion, the current head of the Yang family, Yang Tongsan, sat on an ornate chair, his eyes fixed on a portrait in his hand.
The portrait clearly depicted Lin Luoluo, dressed in white robes and wearing a hat that obscured her face.
But from her voice, it was clear that she was a woman.
"I don't know. I've never seen her before."
Spay Tarré shook his head.
The situation had put immense pressure on him, and he harbored a deep fury within.
Wang Qiang had been one of his men, and now he was dead at the hands of this mysterious person.
"But according to my men, her sword is anything but ordinary."
Spay Tarré said, recalling the reports from his guards.
"How so?"
Yang Tongsan frowned at Spay Tarré's words.
"Could it be an S-rank weapon?"
"No, it's more than just an S-rank weapon."
Spay Tarré shook his head.
"That sword not only shattered Wang Qiang's nearly S-rank greatsword, but it also absorbed blood essence."
As he spoke, his expression grew heavier.
The bodies of the dead had been completely drained of blood, something he found utterly shocking.
In all his years, he had never seen such a thing.
"Wait, did you say the sword absorbs?"
Yang Tongsan's pupils contracted as he thought of something.
"Yes, according to my men, that's exactly what it does."
"And the bodies truly had no blood left in them."
Spay Tarré nodded.
He hadn't witnessed the battle firsthand, but the reports from his subordinates were clear.
"No wonder Yang Feng's body was also drained of blood. I thought the attacker had used some evil technique."
"It turns out it was the sword."
Yang Tongsan narrowed his eyes.
"Did the sword have any patterns on it?"
He asked again.
"I believe it did."
Spay Tarré nodded.
"Spay Tarré, I think I know what's going on."
A smirk appeared on Yang Tongsan's face as he began to connect the dots.
"Oh?"
"You've figured out where that sword came from?"
Spay Tarré raised an eyebrow.
Based on his men's description, he was deeply intrigued by the sword as well.
"Soul Sever."
Yang Tongsan grinned mysteriously.
"Soul Sever?"
Spay Tarré frowned.
The name didn't ring a bell.
"You've never been to the Tyrant Empire, so of course you wouldn't know."
Yang Tongsan stroked his long beard and continued.
"There's a city in the Tyrant Empire where the legend of that sword is well known."
"The city lord of that place wields a sword capable of absorbing blood essence."
"Not only does it absorb blood, but it also absorbs the energy of the warriors it kills."
"In other words, the more warriors you kill, and the higher their rank, the stronger the wielder of the sword becomes."
Yang Tongsan's eyes gleamed with excitement.
He hadn't expected to find such a sword here.
"We must track down this white-clad swordsman!"