Sin Becomes a God

Chapter 49: A Butcher’s Knife, a Killer’s Intent

“Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…” Sloan clapped his hands, a mischievous smile spreading across his face. “Truly worthy of being Li’s disciple… I still remember back then, when Li skinned and deboned a rabbit with a guan dao right in front of me… It seems your mastery of the blade is now on par with Li’s…” Fox also wore a mocking smile. Having learned from Sloan about the rules of Lu Renjia’s “organization,” he knew that if Lu Renjia, as the heir, wanted to become the leader, he must kill the previous leader. Though this ancient and bloody rule was cruel, it ensured that every generation’s leader was the absolute strongest. In Sloan’s remarks, while he praised Lu Renjia’s impressive swordsmanship, he also deliberately highlighted just how profound the swordsmanship of Li—the leader assigned to Lu Renjia by the “Evil God System”—truly was. Although Fox specialized in speed, he knew what kind of weapon a guan dao was. To be able to wield a blade over three meters long and weighing more than forty kilograms to skin and debone a small rabbit—this clearly demonstrated the formidable nature of his swordsmanship. “Hmph… So that’s how it is. No wonder this guy went to such great lengths to learn swordsmanship from the Butcher. It looks like there’s going to be a fierce battle when he returns to China…” Fox thought to himself. Meanwhile, the Butcher—a burly man with an intense passion for swordsmanship—suddenly walked up to Lu Renjia. He extended a hand as large as a palm fan, patted Lu Renjia on the shoulder, and laughed heartily: “Hahahaha… I never expected your swordsmanship to be this formidable. If I’d known, I should’ve been the one to welcome you! It’s clear that aside from holding back on your strength, you haven’t held back on any of your techniques… Rest assured, I won’t be holding back either…” Lu Renjia found it a bit hard to adjust to the Butcher’s sudden change in attitude. But then he thought to himself: that’s just how subtle human relationships are. Two people who were originally strangers—once they share a common passion—isn’t it only natural for them to become good buddies? Lu Renjia laughed, “That’s not technique—it’s a martial arts move. If I hadn’t controlled my strength, I’d probably have to get this slaughterhouse remodeled…” “Oh? If you unleashed your full power… how wide would the radius of destruction be?” the Butcher asked. Lu Renjia thought for a moment. Facing this man who was utterly obsessed with sword techniques, he didn’t beat around the bush. “With my current internal energy, the sword aura I release should be able to strike everything within a fifteen-meter radius…” “Tsk, tsk, tsk… Truly, it lives up to its reputation as Chinese martial arts that have been passed down for thousands of years… But I think these techniques are way too damn complicated… Yeah, complicated… Since it’s a sword, all that matters is drawing blood… Only in the instant it pierces the opponent’s body can the sword’s purpose be fulfilled…Watch closely—it’s my turn…” After the Butcher finished speaking, he pressed the switch on the wall. “Click… click… click…” The sound of mechanical gears grinding filled the air as a live pig, secured to a zip line by an iron hook, was hauled out. There he stood, awkwardly balanced on his feet, with two sharp, broken blades that had somehow appeared in his hands—a bullhorn knife about forty centimeters long in his left hand and a Turkish scimitar nearly seventy centimeters long in his right. “One for offense, one for defense, huh? This fat bastard is no pushover… As the saying goes, ‘An inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch more dangerous!’ That seventy-centimeter-long Turkish scimitar looks to be at least three times heavier than the ox-horn knife. Wielding it with his relatively nimble right hand suggests it’s for defense… As for that ox-horn knife—thirty centimeters shorter—that’s his real killing move…” Lu Renjia thought to himself. Sure enough, just as Lu Renjia had surmised, the Butcher held the buffalo-horn knife in his left hand with a standard grip, while the Turkish scimitar in his right hand was held in a reverse grip. This unusual stance left Lu Renjia deeply perplexed. “Long becomes short, short becomes long? Both offense and defense, shifting between them seamlessly…This fat bastard’s mastery of swordsmanship seems to draw on techniques from numerous schools… forming a style all his own…” The Butcher took a deep breath, and a flush of color rose to his unkempt, bearded face—this inconspicuous sign was precisely the phenomenon triggered by the awakening of the “Assassin’s Heart.” His heart rate soared to four hundred beats per minute, causing adrenaline to surge through his system and, for a moment, granting him strength and speed roughly ten times that of an ordinary person. “Whoosh…” Two flashes of cold steel appeared. The Butcher swung his two weapons simultaneously—one forward, one backward. The ox-horn knife he held in his left hand pierced the neck of the struggling pig with pinpoint accuracy, while the Turkish scimitar in his right hand slashed horizontally, embedding itself from the side. The pig’s panicked squeal came to an abrupt halt. With practiced efficiency, the butcher slaughtered the pig with a clean cut. The butcher’s two blades—one long, one short—flashed like two dancing butterflies. The butcher’s fingers, as thick as radishes, moved with astonishing speed; with a slight shift of his fingertips on the handles, the sharp blades followed the muscle fibers of the pig, slicing down from its neck toward its abdomen. The butcher’s gentle movements were like the caresses of lovers; with effortless ease, the two blades in his left and right hands sliced down to the pig’s twitching hind legs in the blink of an eye. The process of gutting the pig was completed in one fluid motion, yet the pig, long since dead, continued to twitch slowly. Humming a little tune, the butcher methodically began dressing the pig carcass. “A butcher’s knife… a killer’s intent! This man treats people like pigs to slaughter… If a living person were standing before him, I imagine he’d be dismembered in the blink of an eye. Even the ancient story of Pao Ding dissecting an ox… would be no different…” Lu Renjia exclaimed in shock. Slowly closing his eyes, every single movement the butcher had just made replayed in his mind with perfect precision. Possessing a grasp of the art three times that of an ordinary person, Lu Renjia was now in no way inferior to Feng Xifan, the man who had created the *Eight Desolations and Six Heavens Sword Technique*. Subconsciously, Lu Renjia felt a nerve in his mind being triggered, as if a door had been opened, allowing him to glimpse a far vaster world. If Feng Xifan’s self-created *Eight Desolations and Six Harmonies Sword Technique* achieved its astonishing lethality through the organic integration of moves and inner energy, then the butcher’s technique—with which he effortlessly gutted a live pig—was characterized by utter nonchalance. “E-rank martial arts only unleash their full power when combined with inherent internal energy and specific techniques… The Butcher’s sword technique transcends the boundaries of conventional moves… Though he lacks internal energy, once he activates the ‘Assassin’s Heart,’ his strength and speed—which are about ten times that of an ordinary person—more than make up for his lack of internal energy… Relying solely on these abilities, combined with the sword technique he hones countless times each day…this fat bastard is nothing short of a killing machine… I’d wager that even a pair of nail clippers in his hands could become a deadly weapon…” “Just as the Butcher said, the true purpose of a blade is to pierce the enemy’s body… In a sense, such intricate techniques do indeed restrain the blade’s true nature… These complicated techniques… If they were simpler… would they restore the blade’s true nature?” Suddenly, a figure identical to himself appeared in Lu Renjia’s mind, wielding two pudao and performing the *Eight Desolations and Six Heavens Sword Technique*. The forty-eight-form sword technique was fierce and relentless, with not a single defensive move. The figure’s twin blades swung faster and faster, until finally, only a blur remained. Suddenly, the forty-eight-move sequence was reduced to a single motion—one so simple that anyone could perform it. “Strike!!” A simple, unadorned swing from top to bottom—the falling pudao seemed to encapsulate the entire “Eight Desolations and Six Heavens Sword Technique.” As Lu Renjia slowly opened his eyes, he heard the icy voice of the “Evil God System” ringing in his ears. “Congratulations, Qualified One, on simplifying the complex and advancing your swordsmanship to create an E-rank sword technique (incomplete). Please name your self-created sword technique…” “An original sword technique, huh? It seems I can’t patent it, but I can still take pride in it—especially since it’s an E-rank martial art. I wonder how high it will reach once perfected… Since the Qualified One’s ultimate mission is to survive the War Chronicles team battles… then I’ll call it the *War Against Heaven Technique*…” Lu Renjia thought to himself. Meanwhile, the others nearby, seeing Lu Renjia open his eyes with a confident smile on his face, were mostly baffled. However, the fox-like Sloan, along with the shrewd-eyed Fox, the Gunsmith, the Butcher, and even the Russian, could all sense Lu Renjia’s transformation. Fox was secretly stunned. “Has this damn guy broken through again?” Lu Renjia walked straight up to the Butcher, bowed his hands slightly, and said sincerely, “Fatso… I have to admit, your sword technique is definitely worth five million…” Hearing the nickname “Fatso” again, the Butcher felt a surge of rage, but then, seeing the sincere smile on Lu Renjia’s face, he couldn’t help but ask, “Kid! I’ll say it again—don’t you fucking call me Fatso… Uh, you haven’t… you know… broken through again, have you?” Lu Renjia shrugged and smiled. “I guess so… I think I’ve finally grasped the true meaning of the blade…” Pouting slightly, the Butcher felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He had once struggled desperately to awaken his “Assassin’s Heart,” then spent day and night mastering the art of the sword to reach his current level of strength. He never imagined that Lu Renjia, just by watching it once, could achieve such a breakthrough. What else could one say about such natural talent other than to be jealous? “Sigh… Congratulations. Let’s find some time to have a good chat. You have no idea… all these years, I’ve never met anyone I could really connect with… Back when I challenged all kinds of weapon masters in Europe… almost no one could give me a fight worth my while… Actually, the true purpose of every weapon is simply to kill…I’ve come to realize that as long as you harness the original purpose of each weapon… then no matter who you face, you’ll have nothing to fear…” The Butcher said slowly. The Butcher’s offhand advice was nothing more than a sign of mutual admiration. Lu Renjia smiled and nodded. “Thanks… you fatso…” “Damn it!!! I told you, stop calling me ‘Fatso’…” The Butcher’s roar echoed through the slaughterhouse. Reflecting on the Butcher’s words, Lu Renjia couldn’t help but think of the Yitian Sword, which was still stored in the “Evil God System.” This Yitian Sword hailed from the world of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes: The Demon Cult Leader* and was capable of unleashing sword energy through inner strength. By all accounts, it was considerably more powerful than the Yitian Sword from the world of *The Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber* as depicted by Jin Yong. “I wonder if I can create my own sword techniques…”