From Sword to Slaughter: Evolution

A warrior.

At this moment, Lin San clearly sensed the presence of warriors approaching from all around!

Without paying them any mind, Lin San used his Demon Slayer Sword to effortlessly slice the beast's body in half, quickly extracting a beast core from within.

"Is there something you need?" Lin San asked, glancing up to see several men with black masks covering their faces. They held long swords, their eyes filled with malice.

Bandits?

No, they didn't look like bandits. However, their strength didn't seem to be much.

Holding the Demon Slayer Sword in his hand, Lin San remained completely calm.

"Isn't that Zhang Shan?" Ye Fan recognized one of the men among them, slightly surprised. Moreover, the man's gaze seemed to flicker toward the sword.

"Could it be that he's after my sword?" Ye Fan sneered. "This group is no match for Lin San."

"Leave the beast core and the sword, and you can walk away," Zhang Shan demanded, his voice low and menacing as he pointed his sword at Lin San.

"Are you joking?" Lin San asked, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"I'm not joking. Drop your things, and you can leave!" Zhang Shan's eyes widened with ferocity as he spoke.

The others quickly surrounded Lin San, their weapons drawn.

"How dull," Lin San muttered, casting a glance at them before turning to leave.

"Hand it over!!!" Zhang Shan roared, his voice filled with desperation. He had to get his hands on that black sword Lin San carried!

Without hesitation, Zhang Shan lunged at Lin San, his sword aimed straight at him. After all, Lin San was no longer the prodigy he once was. If he died here, no one would care!

Sensing the incoming attack, Lin San's eyes narrowed.

Clang!

In an instant, the Demon Slayer Sword met Zhang Shan's weapon, producing a sharp metallic clash.

"You want to kill me?" Lin San's eyes narrowed further. He wasn't one to take pleasure in killing, but if someone wanted him dead...

Then he would kill them first!

"Kill him!" Zhang Shan snarled, and the other men rushed at Lin San from all sides, their weapons poised to strike.

Lin San smirked, and with a swift motion of the Demon Slayer Sword, he countered.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The weapons of Zhang Shan's men were sent flying, disarmed by Lin San's swift and powerful strikes.

"Ahhh!!!" Zhang Shan screamed in pain as Lin San deftly sidestepped his lunge and, with a swift counter, sliced Zhang Shan's sword arm clean off.

[Absorbed blood of a second-rank warrior, gained 0.2 energy points]

"Need to absorb more blood... I'm running low on energy," Ye Fan thought, slightly frustrated. Absorbing the beast's blood earlier had given him some energy, but it was far from enough to sustain prolonged action.

"Being unable to speak and communicate is really frustrating. But maybe when I evolve to S-rank, or perhaps SSS-rank, it will be different?" Ye Fan mused. After all, S-rank weapons were not just ordinary weapons.

At this moment, the remaining men stared at Lin San in shock and fear. They hadn't expected him to be this strong.

"I'm a good person," Lin San said, glancing around at the terrified men, a smile on his face.

Hearing his words, they sighed in relief.

"But killing those who try to kill me isn't the same as murdering innocent people," Lin San added, his smile growing colder.

The relief on their faces quickly turned to horror.

Swish!

With a swift horizontal slash, the Demon Slayer Sword sent a wave of sword energy through the air. The men barely felt a sting at their throats before their heads rolled to the ground.

[Killed first-rank warrior, gained 100 evolution points]

[Killed first-rank warrior, gained 100 evolution points]

...

"A bunch of first-rank warriors… What a joke," Ye Fan sighed. "Zhang Shan brought a group of first-rank warriors to steal from him? Ridiculous."

"Wait a minute, you look familiar..." Lin San muttered, his gaze falling on the writhing, groaning Zhang Shan. He waved his sword, and a burst of sword energy cut through Zhang Shan's black mask.

"It's you," Lin San said, narrowing his eyes as he recognized Zhang Shan—the outer disciple he had seen sweeping the grounds earlier.

"Please, Brother Lin! Spare me, spare me!" Zhang Shan begged, backing away, trying to ignore the excruciating pain in his severed arm. "It was a moment of madness… It was my mistake..."

"Why did you try to steal from me?" Lin San asked, his curiosity piqued.

Zhang Shan's expression shifted, his eyes darting nervously.

"Could it be that you know this sword is no ordinary weapon?" Lin San continued, his tone calm.

"Yes! I saw this sword with Zhang Xiaoming before, so I thought..." Zhang Shan stammered, "It was my mistake, I was wrong!"

"Originally, I could have spared you, but that last strike of yours clearly meant to kill me," Lin San said coldly, his right hand moving in a blur.

With a speed too fast for Zhang Shan to follow, Lin San delivered a final, lethal slash.

Zhang Shan, a second-rank warrior, didn't even have time to process what happened before he met his end.

[Killed second-rank warrior, gained 200 evolution points]

"Not bad. I've gained a few hundred evolution points. It's still a long way to 100,000, but I'll get there eventually," Ye Fan said, feeling a little more optimistic. Every little bit added up. Once he reached 100,000 points, he could evolve into an S-rank weapon, and that thought excited him.

"So, in the past four years, even an outer disciple like this dared to try and kill me just for a sword?" Lin San muttered to himself, looking down at the bodies. "It's time to show them just how strong I've become."

Gripping the Demon Slayer Sword firmly, Lin San resumed his journey to Star City.

Soon, he arrived at the gates of the city. Star City was large, with a broad entrance flanked by many guards.

"I only managed to get one beast core," Lin San sighed as he entered the city. He had only encountered and killed one beast along the way, and it was just a second-rank.

After selling the beast core for over 200 gold coins at a shop, Lin San headed straight to a blacksmith's workshop.

"You want a scabbard made? Let me see what kind of sword you've got," the old blacksmith said, glancing at the sword in Lin San's hand.

At first glance, he felt a strange, ominous aura emanating from the blade.