Chapter 186: Acting on Behalf of Heaven

With a collective roar, those burly men drew their weapons and charged straight at Lin Le.

Unfortunately, the combat strength of these underworld thugs was far too low. They might have been able to bully a frail and helpless young woman like Qu Xinyao, but attempting to challenge Lin Le was utterly laughable.

Seeing several thugs lunging forward, Lin Le raised the Sword of Wudao in his hand. With a gentle tap of his foot, his entire body darted forward like a fierce dragon.

Wherever he passed, the Sword of Wudao left a trail of dark afterimages, directly slaughtering those thugs without exception.

With every single sword stroke, the Sword of Wudao pierced a black vortex directly into the chests of the thugs, sucking all the vital spiritual energy from within their bodies straight into the blade.

As Lin Le's figure swept past, those burly men were instantly reduced to fine dust, drifting away into the air without leaving behind even a single drop of blood!

In the blink of an eye, all the thugs across those four vehicles had been completely executed by Lin Le.

Before his eyes, only Second Wu remained, standing frozen in terror and trembling violently. The dagger in his hand clattered as it dropped straight to the ground.

Lin Le raised the Sword of Wudao, his expression cold and solemn, and walked step by step toward Second Wu.

Seeing Lin Le approach like a god of slaughter, Second Wu was frightened out of his wits; his heart nearly shattered, and he collapsed heavily onto his knees with a thud.

"Big Brother, I was wrong, Big Brother! I beg you to spare my dog's life!" Second Wu knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly to Lin Le.

"Do you know you were wrong?" Lin Le said indifferently.

"I know I was wrong. I truly know I was wrong. I will never dare do it again in the future. I..."

Before Second Wu could say another word, Lin Le had already raised the Sword of Wudao and thrust it straight into Second Wu's chest.

"You..." Second Wu found it hard to believe, looking at Lin Le with a gaze of utter disbelief.

"Since you know you were wrong, you can go die!" Lin Le said calmly.

Scum like Second Wu would never change their nature; if a blade wasn't held against their neck, how could they possibly know they were wrong? If he were let go this time, he would simply turn around and continue committing evil deeds. How could Lin Le possibly let such a menace go?

Just like the others, a black vortex formed over Second Wu's chest, and all the vital spiritual energy inside his body was sucked entirely into the Sword of Wudao.

As Lin Le pulled his sword back, Second Wu's entire being vanished into thin air.

In less than two minutes, more than a dozen thugs had all perished under Lin Le's sword. The scene left virtually no bloodstains behind, save for four empty vehicles parked quietly along the roadside.

Lin Le raised the Sword of Wudao and inspected it closely. Inside the blade, a wisp of golden mist could now be clearly seen winding its way through the interior. This was the vital spiritual energy of those felons, which had poured entirely into the Sword of Wudao and was currently being absorbed bit by bit.

Lin Le could distinctly feel that after absorbing this vital spiritual energy, the aura emanating from the Sword of Wudao was noticeably stronger than before. Even the fractured tip of the blade now seemed to show faint traces of regeneration.

For the Sword of Wudao, these vital spiritual energies were quite literally a divine tonic.

Gazing at the blade in his hand, a wave of delight surged through Lin Le's heart. He thought to himself, since the Sword of Wudao is so fond of the blood of villains, I shall use you to sweep away all the wicked men under heaven and execute justice on behalf of the heavens!

At the same time, a trace of doubt inevitably arose in Lin Le's mind.

Right now, the Sword of Wudao was still in a damaged state, and his own cultivation was limited, yet the blade was already capable of unleashing such formidable power. If he could ever bring out the absolute peak of the Sword of Wudao's might, the power would be utterly unimaginable!

He truly wondered who on earth had forged this Sword of Wudao, and what kind of legendary history was tied to it.

Thinking of this, a wave of emotion washed over Lin Le. With a thought, he stashed the Sword of Wudao back into his wrist storage.

Afterward, Lin Le climbed into the jeep left behind by Qu Xinyao. Without sparing the scene another glance, he drove straight ahead in pursuit.

At this moment, parked by the roadside less than a kilometer away from the scene, was Ji Xiaorui's car.

"Xiaorui, will Lin Le be alright? Should we call the police?!" Qu Xinyao asked anxiously.

Earlier, Qu Xinyao had been too terrified to consider much, but now she suddenly realized how dangerous it was to leave Lin Le behind all by himself to face more than a dozen burly men.

Ji Xiaorui, however, was completely unconcerned. While playing with her phone, she casually replied, "Sister Qu, you've already said that three times. Don't worry, my master will be fine."

Ji Xiaorui had immense confidence in Lin Le's strength. With his current prowess as a grandmaster of the Transformation Realm, let alone dealing with a few underworld ruffians, even if the entire Earth-Nine Tower were summoned, they might not be able to suppress him.

On the contrary, the ones who should be worried were those underworld ruffians. Since her master had decided to deal with them, those unlucky bastards probably wouldn't live much longer.

Remembering how Lin Le had dealt with those security guards back in Zijin, Ji Xiaorui had already begun silently praying for those poor fools.

Liang Qiuyang, sitting nearby, was equally unconcerned and was now deeply engrossed in studying the rubbings.

Qu Xinyao could not remain so carefree. Her heart fluttered anxiously the entire time, terrified that something might happen to Lin Le. After all, he had stepped forward purely to save her, and if he suffered any misfortune, she would surely carry the guilt for the rest of her life.

Just as Qu Xinyao was on pins and needles, she suddenly heard the sound of an approaching engine from behind—it was Lin Le driving back.

Overjoyed, Qu Xinyao hurriedly pushed the car door open and leaped out. The moment Lin Le parked and stepped out of the vehicle, Qu Xinyao threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"You're okay! That's wonderful!" Qu Xinyao said excitedly.

"Uh..." Once again enveloped in Qu Xinyao's embrace, the familiar sensation of a full chest pressed against him washed over Lin Le, sending ripples of excitement through his mind.

Catching a glimpse of Ji Xiaorui in the car making mocking gestures at him, Lin Le shrugged and gave her a helpless look.

"Master, shouldn't we get going if you two are done hugging...?" Ji Xiaorui teased.

Only then did Qu Xinyao snap back to reality. She hurriedly released Lin Le, her charming face flushing a deep crimson as she realized she had subconsciously thrown herself into his arms.

"Lin Le, thank you so much for today," Qu Xinyao said gratefully.

"It's nothing, just a minor matter," Lin Le replied with a smile.

To Lin Le, today's events might genuinely have been a trivial matter, but to Qu Xinyao, it was a matter of life and death!

In truth, even now, the terror of being hunted by those men still lingered fresh in her mind.

Qu Xinyao shuddered to think what her fate would have been if Lin Le hadn't arrived in the nick of time.

Looking at the young man standing before her, Qu Xinyao felt a complex swirl of emotions, gratitude being only one of them.

In her moment of desperate crisis, she had thought of him, and he had simply appeared before her to pluck her from the jaws of danger. Such an occurrence felt utterly miraculous, stirring up strange, romantic feelings in the heart of a woman who had only met him twice.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, we should be heading off," Lin Le said.

Qu Xinyao snapped out of her trance.

"What about those people?" she asked, gesturing toward the direction they had just come from.

"Don't worry, they will never have the chance to harass you again. Goodbye."

With those words, Lin Le climbed back into the car, bid farewell to Qu Xinyao, and drove away.

Qu Xinyao watched the receding vehicle, ripples of emotion stirring endlessly within her heart.

The storm had arrived swiftly and departed just as quickly, leaving her feeling as though she had just awakened from a dream.

*Lin Le...*

Qu Xinyao murmured the name softly to herself. *If fate allows, we shall meet again in Haizhou.*