Chapter 9

  "Hmph! Tang Yin sneered inwardly, this was the effect he had been aiming for. He slowly withdrew his spear and threw it to the ground."

  "What?!" The silver-armored soldiers were shocked, suspecting that he had gone crazy. With so many of their own side, he actually threw away his weapon, wasn't this just waiting for death?!

  With spears in hand, the crowd still had some reservations about Tang Yin. Now that he had thrown away his spear, the soldiers all thought they had found an opportunity. A tall and sturdy silver-armored soldier let out a loud roar and took the lead in attacking him. He grasped his knife with both hands, raised it above his head, and viciously chopped down at Tang Yin's skull.

  Tang Yin remained calm and composed, not rushing to dodge or hide. He watched intently as the steel knife swooped in with a gust of wind. With a slight shift in his body, he opened up his fist, which had been hanging by his leg, and a small black flame erupted from his palm. Initially, it was only the size of a marble, but in the blink of an eye, it spread to cover his entire hand. The eerie black flames made it seem as though his palm was shrouded in a dark mist.

  The soldier drawing his sword did not see these things, his attention was all on Tang Yin's head, thinking of cutting him down with one knife and making him a headless corpse.

  When the blade was less than three inches from Tang Yin's forehead, the latter finally moved, his body like a mud eel, horizontally shifting out half a foot, just enough to avoid the blade's edge. Before the opponent could retract their sword and attack again, Tang Yin's palm shot forward, grasping the person's face, while the flames in his palm seemed to meet fuel, instantly covering the person's entire body.

  Wow!

  A black flame instantly incinerated the soldier's body, and with a crisp crackling sound, his armor and weapons fell to the ground. The person had vanished into thin air, leaving not even a single hair behind. The burned flesh turned into a faint black mist, as if it had come to life. The mist broke down into countless wisps of smoke that drilled into Tang Yin's body through his pores.

  Silence! The entire battlefield fell silent, the silver-armored soldiers stared with their eyes wide open and mouths agape, forgetting to breathe. A living person had just been made to "disappear" by Tang Yin, a sight they had never seen before, nor even heard of. They suspected that Tang Yin was using sorcery or magic, and a thick sense of fear crept from the soles of their feet to the hairs on their heads.

  They didn't know that Tang Yin's use of black flames was the most difficult and fundamental skill in the Dark Spirit Martial Arts - Black Fire. Burning away the soldiers' bodies, transforming them into spiritual energy for him to absorb, that was the first level of Black Fire, Death Burn.

  The Dark Spiritual Martial Arts also has its own factions, which can be summarized into two major factions: the Internal Sect and the External Sect. The External Sect's Dark Spiritual Martial Arts is essentially no different from the Light Spiritual Martial Arts, as both require practitioners to cultivate their spiritual energy through their own efforts, with only differences in the skills they learn. In contrast, the Internal Sect's Dark Spiritual Martial Arts is completely different, where practitioners cannot increase their spiritual energy through their own cultivation and can only absorb it by constantly fighting and killing opponents with the "Dark Fire". The Dark Fire can be said to be the most basic skill of the Internal Sect, but also the most difficult to master. When first practicing the Dark Fire, there is a high risk of it backfiring on oneself, causing the practitioner to lose their life. This has become one of the reasons why there are not many practitioners of the Dark Spiritual Martial Arts. Furthermore, due to the existence of this extreme and brutal faction within the Dark Spiritual Martial Arts, the entire school has been subject to discrimination and suppression, even being viewed as an enemy by Light Spiritual Martial Artists. As a result, some people who want to practice the Dark Spiritual Martial Arts are forced to give up under pressure.

  Yanlie is a prominent figure in the Dark Spiritual Martial Arts, and what he cultivates is precisely the most notorious and feared inner technique of the Dark Spiritual System.

  Tang Yin combined with Yan Lie, but the spiritual energy obtained was extremely small. Now he is in urgent need of spiritual energy supplement, and the enemy soldiers in front of him are undoubtedly the best targets for his cultivation supplement. However, he did not want the news that he was a dark spiritual martial artist to spread out, so he let the Feng Guo soldiers escape first, so that he could let go of his hands and feet.

  "You... are you human or demon?" A silver-armored soldier was the first to react, swallowing hard and staring at Tang Yin with a voice trembling with fear.

  "Haha...... Hehe......"

  Tang Yin first let out a light laugh, then threw his head back and laughed loudly. He absorbed the small amount of spiritual energy that a soldier had obtained, but it triggered his innate bloodthirsty nature. His ten fingers curled up, and the dark flames on his palms grew more intense as he sneered: "You can call me human or monster, but today, none of you will be leaving!"

  Before he finished speaking, his figure flashed out horizontally and vertically, drilling into the crowd, with both palms waving and opening, burning everyone in sight, encountering people as if they were fierce ghosts, truly like a tiger among sheep.

  Tang Yin's mastery of the dark fire is even more impressive than his strictness. In this world, people cultivate spiritual energy and spiritual martial arts skills instead of internal strength. Tang Yin has been practicing martial arts since he was young, and he has had contact with various schools of martial arts to varying degrees, especially his body technique, which is agile, strange, and unpredictable, making him particularly powerful in chaotic battles.

  He is now combining his kung fu with spiritual martial arts, and his power has naturally increased exponentially. Even ordinary spiritual warriors may not be his match, let alone these ordinary soldiers!

  Nearly a hundred people, under the burning of the dark fire, disappeared more than half in an instant. However, Tang Yin's speed did not slow down at all, but instead became faster and faster. The spiritual energy inside his body was rapidly accumulating with the killings, becoming stronger and stronger. In the end, he could hardly control his own body, and only had murderous thoughts left in his mind.

  Dangdang! After eliminating the last fleeing soldier, absorbing the lingering spiritual energy in the air, the dark fire in Tang Yin's hand finally dissipated. He panted heavily, his face and body covered in sweat, but he didn't feel tired at all. Instead, he felt an inexplicable excitement and a sense of fullness in his body.

  After a while, Tang Yin's mood calmed down, and when he looked around again, he couldn't find a single enemy soldier. The ground was littered with abandoned weapons and armor everywhere.

  He felt the gentle flow of spiritual energy within his body, and then looked down at his palms, this was the Dark Flame, one of the most terrifying skills in the Dark System Spiritual Martial Arts. Tang Yin revealed a smile, and combining with Yan Lie also had its benefits...

  "Black... Black Fire?"

  The sudden voice behind him made Tang Yin suddenly regain his senses, without any warning, the black flame that had disappeared from his palm reignited, and at the same time, his entire body seemed to turn into a flying arrow, rapidly shooting backwards.

  "Is it you?" The person who appeared behind Tang Yin was the young man he had just met in the bushes. He thought the young man had already escaped with other Fengguo soldiers, but unexpectedly, he stayed behind. Without asking, the young man must have seen everything that happened clearly.

  "You didn't run?" Tang Yin furrowed his brow, coldly staring at the young man. Although he was a person from Feng Country, the dark fire on his palm had not dissipated; instead, the killing intent in his eyes grew thicker.

  The young man felt his killing intent, and his heart skipped a beat as he secretly shivered with fear. However, on the surface, he calmed down and revealed a friendly smile, saying: "You... don't have to worry, although I've seen everything, I absolutely won't say it out loud..."

  Before he could finish speaking, Tang Yin let out a cold laugh and slowly said: "Only the dead will forever shut their mouths!" He had never been a soft-hearted person, from young to old, for survival, his knife had stuck to the blood of countless people, now it didn't matter if there was one more youth, although he was a wind person.

  But what was strange to Tang Yin was that the young man in front of him did not possess any spiritual energy, which meant he had never practiced spiritual martial arts. How could he possibly recognize that he was using Dark Fire?

  He intended to ask for clarification first. Taking a deep breath and suppressing his murderous intent, Tang Yin asked in a steady voice: "Have you seen the Dark Flame?"

  The young man let out a slight sigh of relief. When Tang Yin's killing intent was all directed at him, he felt that the air around him seemed to solidify into a substance, an invisible yet palpable pressure that seemed to want to crush his body flat, he knew it was 'Ling Ya'.

  He let out a soft sigh, and said with a bitter smile: "I've never seen the Dark Fire before, this is my first time seeing it." Seeing Tang Yin's raised eyebrows and the flash of doubt in his eyes, he quickly added: "However, I've read many books, from astronomy to geography, and also quite a few books on spiritual martial arts, so I have some understanding of the Dark Fire as well."

  Tang Yin stared straight at the young man, and after a long while, he burst out laughing. He had seen many arrogant people before, but this young man was one of the most exceptional ones, daring to claim that he "understood the heavens above and the geography below". His face must be incredibly thick-skinned.

  Seeing his murderous intent weaken, the young man continued: "So, you can't kill me. If I die, it will be of no benefit to you, only loss."

  Tang Yin smiled and asked: "Why?"

  Young man said: "Because I am knowledgeable and talented, staying by your side will bring you great benefits!"

  Tang Yin couldn't help but burst out laughing, and the dark fire in his hand also disappeared. He thought he was crazy enough, but this young man was even crazier. He sneered and said: "If you really are talented and knowledgeable, why haven't you become an official yet? Why are you still just a small soldier?"

  The young man looked at Tang Yin with a strange expression and asked, "How can ordinary people become officials?"

  PS: Today (1.24) is Da Ge's birthday, so I'm updating 4 chapters as a special treat! This is the third chapter for today, and there's still one more at 9:30! Hope everyone will join in to wish Da Ge a happy birthday! Your collections and votes are the greatest gifts for Da Ge! You can also leave your wishes directly on the birthday post! ^_^