Volume 1, Chapter 41: Blood-Stained Robe of a Hundred Battles

As dawn was breaking, inside a dilapidated temple within a desolate village, the group of children who had previously robbed Zhou Xiao were lying asleep.

A dark-skinned child clutched his stomach, pulled a long face, and whined to the tallest child:

"Boss, I'm starving..."

A flash of annoyance crossed the tall child's eyes as he snapped:

"Hungry, hungry, hungry! Are you the only one whose stomach is rumbling? Don't you think I'm hungry too?!"

"Go to sleep, just go to sleep. Once you're asleep, you won't feel the hunger."

The dark-skinned child curled his lip, but eventually closed his eyes.

The tall child turned around, facing away from the others, and stealthily pulled a dark, coarse corn bun from inside his tunic to eat.

"Crack!"

At that very moment, the temple's heavy wooden doors were kicked open with a violent crash, instantly jolting everyone awake.

The tall child hurriedly shoved the corn bun back into his tunic. Upon seeing that it was Zhou Xiao, he didn't even stop to think before unleashing a barrage of curses:

"Are your blind eyes rotting in your skull, you bastard?! Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?!"

"Didn't I tell you to get lost? What shameless face brings you crawling back here?"

Zhou Xiao remained silent. A faint, inscrutable smile hung at the corners of his mouth as he looked over the group, much like a superior being gazing at lesser creatures.

Seeing that Zhou Xiao actually dared to ignore him, the tall child flared up with anger. He leaped to his feet and barked:

"Zhou Xiao, do you think I've been giving you too much face? Who the hell gave you the nerve to ignore me?!"

Seeing that Zhou Xiao still paid him no mind, he roared in fury and swung a vicious palm straight at Zhou Xiao's face.

The younger followers behind him instinctively closed their eyes in terror. After all, Zhou Xiao's frame was so frail and slight—if he took a blow like that, he would either be dead or severely crippled.

Yet, despite keeping their eyes squeezed shut for a long moment, they heard no sounds of agony from Zhou Xiao. Instead, a chilling squelch echoed through the air—the sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh.

Perplexed, the children opened their eyes, only to witness a scene that would haunt them with nightmares for the rest of their lives.

Zhou Xiao had produced a jagged shard of broken porcelain, and without an ounce of hesitation, drove it straight into the tall child's throat.

Instantly, a torrent of crimson gushed from the wound, spilling across the floor and dripping onto the shattered fragments of the Buddha statue, staining them a gruesome red.

The tall child stared at Zhou Xiao in utter disbelief. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the habitually timid and cowardly Zhou Xiao would dare to fight back.

Even less did he expect that retaliation would be so utterly ruthless.

Meeting the dying child's gaze of sheer disbelief, Zhou Xiao let out a cold snort, reached out, and pulled the porcelain shard free without the slightest hesitation.

The tall child's body convulsed. Clutching his bleeding throat and staggering backward a few steps, he collapsed limply onto the pile of straw.

His blood spread like creeping flames, instantly dying the entire stack of hay a vivid, dripping crimson.

It wasn't until the blood completely blurred their vision that the remaining children snapped out of their paralysis.

"Zhou Xiao... Zhou Xiao, you've killed someone! You killed the boss!"

"Zhou Xiao, you lunatic! How dare you commit murder?! We're going to the magistrate to report you!"

With that, the children scrambled frantically in a desperate bid to escape the temple. But how could Zhou Xiao possibly let them leave?

Lunging at the child closest to him, Zhou Xiao raised the jagged ceramic and plunged it viciously into the boy's abdomen.

That wasn't the end of it. He wrenched the shard out and stabbed down repeatedly until the child's stomach was riddled with bloody cavities, collapsing lifelessly beside the tall child just moments later.

After disposing of another, Zhou Xiao cast a grinning, bloodthirsty gaze over the panicking survivors and hissed:

"Every single one of you damned parasites bullied me."

"But it doesn't matter. Today, I'm going to slaughter every last one of you to vent the hatred in my heart!"

The temple doors slowly creaked shut, accompanied henceforth only by the muffled shrieks of children and the wet tearing of flesh by a sharp blade.

After a brief while, the screams died down entirely, and Zhou Xiao emerged from the temple.

He tried to wipe the bloodstains from his clothes, only to find that the more he rubbed, the wider the crimson smears grew.

With a helpless sigh, he had no choice but to leave the area clad in those gore-soaked garments.

...

Meanwhile, Lin Yang and his two disciples had returned to Chiyang Peak.

Because his blood-red robe carried an unpleasant, lingering stench, he addressed the other two with an apologetic tone:

"You two go ahead and wait for your master in the tea room. I'll go change my clothes and wash up before I join you."

Lin Hongye and Lu Chen obediently nodded in unison. After offering a respectful salutation, they made their way directly toward the tea room.

Lin Yang returned to his own immortal cave, retrieved a fresh set of robes, and headed straight for the private hot spring he had constructed, sinking into the steaming water to bathe.

Once he had thoroughly scrubbed away the lingering aura of blood from his body, he walked into the washroom intending to clean the red robe.

Yet, no matter how vigorously Lin Yang scrubbed, the crimson stains on the fabric refused to wash out. The entire hue of the garment had been permanently locked into a deep, dark scarlet.

With a helpless sigh, Lin Yang stared at the red robe in his hands and muttered:

"Oh well, I'll keep it. If I need to fight again in the future, I can just wear this. At least I won't ruin a fresh set of clothes every time I throw a punch."

Tossing the robe aside to dry, he excitedly murmured under his breath:

"System, where is my reward for saving Lin Hongye?"

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the rewards: Nine-Turn Nether Soul Grass, Hundred-Battle Blood Robe, and Emperor-Grade Alchemy Furnace!]

Gazing at his spoils, Lin Yang felt a momentary surge of curiosity and instructed the system to materialize the rewards into reality.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, right in front of Lin Yang, a massive, luxurious alchemy furnace materialized out of thin air and plummeted to the ground with a thunderous thud. The impact sent a heavy tremor through the earth, causing the terrain of Chiyang Peak to sink by a fraction of an inch.

Lin Yang couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before his entire Chiyang Peak was flattened into a plain.

Surveying the furnace, which stood nearly as tall as he was, Lin Yang muttered:

"What am I supposed to do with an alchemy furnace? I don't even know how to refine pills."

"Oh well, the system wouldn't give it without a reason. I'll just store it away for now."

With a flick of his wrist, Lin Yang stowed the Emperor-Grade alchemy furnace into his storage ring and summoned the Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Grass.

Instantly, a bizarre, glowing herb materialized in his palm. After giving it a brief inspection, he tucked it away into his storage ring as well.

As for the Hundred-Battle Blood Robe, Lin Yang discovered it could not be summoned as a physical object. Puzzled, he questioned the system:

"System, why can't I manifest the Hundred-Battle Blood Robe?"

[Ding! The Hundred-Battle Blood Robe is not a conventional physical item, but rather an attribute enhancement. It can be applied directly to the host's body or onto any existing attire.]

Upon hearing the system's explanation, Lin Yang looked back at the red robe hanging out to dry. With a single thought, he applied the enhancement directly to it.

The moment the enhancement took hold, the red robe flashed with a brilliant crimson radiance. It seemed to awaken with a rudimentary consciousness, suddenly lifting off the drying rack, flying through the air, and automatically clothing Lin Yang's frame.

Once worn, the supernatural blood-glow faded, seamlessly blending into the white outer robes Lin Yang was currently wearing.

With another thought from Lin Yang, the blood-red armor-like aura manifested over his clothes once more, a novelty that amused him greatly.

"Quite interesting. I'll leave it equipped for now."

Having settled everything, he turned and walked toward the tea room.