Grievously injured and on the brink of death.
These are the best words to describe Zhou Shang's current condition.
Not far away, Lin Ping'an approached step by step with a calm expression, holding the small fruit knife from earlier.
It looked somewhat laughable, but it was indeed extremely threatening.
Even a small knife, when used to perform the Abi Dao Three Blades, had immense lethality.
Seeing this, Zhou Shang gasped with all his might, his face twisted, and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Damn it... damn it... you little... beast... it's all... all your fault... everything you pushed me to do, if I die... then we'll die together!"
The volume of his voice increased until it reached a roar.
He seemed to have made a significant decision, actively activating a certain bloodline within him to let it fully invade.
In an instant, a mutation occurred. Broken bones began to reconnect and heal continuously. His flesh surged and fused as well, quickly recovering.
Furthermore, hair began to grow outward from his skin, and his fingers curled into somewhat furry claws.
Even his head underwent a shocking transformation, morphing entirely into a tiger's head.
In the large tiger eyes, there was nothing but brutality and bloodlust.
After a series of mutations, the intensity of his aura, once faint, became exuberant again.
"Roar..."
With a tiger's roar to the sky, chaos ensued within a few miles.
Countless ordinary people fell, clutching their ears and rolling.
However, before the chaos could escalate further.
The familiar voice appeared once more.
"Life Severing Slash!"
At the same time, a scar like the one before flickered again, like a meteor.
In the blink of an eye, it swept across the opponent's neck with lightning speed.
A blood trail appeared silently.
At the same moment, Lin Ping'an's cold words echoed again.
"Such a chatterbox, did you think you're invincible while transforming? What a fool!"
With these words, not far in front, a huge tiger head slid from Zhou Shang's neck and rolled to the side.
The wide-open tiger eyes seemed to express disbelief.
The phrase "died with regrets" serves as the most vivid description.
It was unclear whether the knife was too fast for the opponent to react, or if Lin Ping'an's last words angered him into this state.
In any case, Zhou Shang, having just broken through to the Fourth Grade Middle Tier Martial Artist realm, had barely done anything before being sneak attacked and killed outright.
Even his hidden trump card's second state hadn't been activated before Lin Ping'an seized the opportunity and killed him in the bud.
The entire process didn't allow him to exhibit his true strength.
One could say it was truly suffocating to death.
Of course, part of the credit belongs to the Profound-level Technique, Stealth Technique.
As Zhou Shang's bloodline erosion intensified, his humanity weakened, and his bestial nature increased.
And beasts mostly rely on intuition to judge danger.
Coincidentally, Lin Ping'an's Qi Blood Total Value, under the Concealing Breath Technique, showed only 110 cal, akin to a First Grade novice.
In Zhou Shang's subconscious, he was nothing more than harmless, a weedy soldier-class enemy.
Precisely because of this, Lin Ping'an, who went all out, quickly dealt a near-lethal blow with one slash.
As for the second slash, it was simply because he wasn't thinking clearly.
Boldly transforming to the second state in a face-to-face situation, while foolishly spouting harsh words in advance.
Who would give such an opportunity!
Lin Ping'an wasn't a fool; naturally, he chose to strike while the iron was hot, delivering another Life Severing Slash to finish the job.
Below High Grade, a decapitated head is fatal. No matter how strong, with a severed head, even the most resilient life force ends in death.
Standing before the headless corpse, Lin Ping'an looked down with furrowed brows, his eyes glinting coldly.
"Metamorphosis? Cultist? Truly worthy of death."
Honestly, after personally executing a cultist, there was an indescribable satisfaction deep in his heart.
As for the symptoms of nausea or disgust that usually accompany a first kill, he felt none.
Whether it was because of his two lives or his natural disposition, he didn't intend to dwell on such trivial details.
However, at this moment, the corpse before him showed yet another mutation.
Not far away, emerging from the flesh, a phantom blood-colored tiger silhouette appeared, flanked by dozens of smaller humanoid shadows.
Upon appearance, the tiger silhouette roared silently towards the sky.
Then it swiftly turned to devour the humanoid shadows beside it. With each one it bit and swallowed, the blood-colored phantom body glowed brighter and appeared more lifelike.
In an instant.
"Soul Destruction Slash!"
A soft shout, as a blood-colored blade light flashed by.
"Sizzle... Sizzle... Sizzle... Pop... Bang..."
Both the phantom tiger silhouette and the surrounding humanoid shadows were annihilated under the blade light, like bubbles bursting, dissolving into nothingness.
On the other side, Lin Ping'an sneered disdainfully.
"Tch! It looked suspicious from the start, did you really think I'd wait for you to finish devouring before taking action?"
"As if human intelligence wasn't high enough, and as a ghost, it's directly deficient."
"Must've overdosed on brainless pills!"
After saying that, he continued to slash repeatedly until the small fruit knife could no longer withstand and shattered, then he finally stopped.
After these chops, Zhou Shang's headless corpse was directly reduced to thousands of pieces.
Upon seeing the result, Lin Ping'an snorted coldly, a hint of disdain in his tone.
"Chopped up like this, let's see if you can still play dead!"
Then he mustered his Qi Blood, kicked up with a powerful strike.
"Bang~"
The tiger head, like a football, was kicked out, embedding deeply into the wall, instantly twisting and deforming, looking extremely miserable.
After doing all this, Lin Ping'an glanced around, his figure flashed, skillfully avoiding surveillance cameras, and headed to the location storing hotel surveillance data.
He then entered, deftly deleting the data and thoroughly destroying the storage drives.
Don't ask him why he was so proficient.
After arriving at a new place, quickly understanding these basic conditions is fundamental to survival.
Once the cleanup was complete, he flashed away, fully activating the Concealing Breath Technique, and effortlessly blended into the chaotic crowd below.
After leaving, he didn't run far. Instead, he stayed nearby with others, hiding and idly chatting.
To be honest, if not seen with their own eyes, who would imagine that the seemingly frail yet handsome youth before them had just, with three slashes upstairs, killed a Fourth Grade Cultist!
Moreover, not just killed, but slashed into a thousand pieces, with his soul shattered to oblivion—a death as gruesome as it was absolute.
A dozen minutes later, a team of law enforcement officers arrived on the scene, heading upstairs directly to assess the situation.
Upon successfully reaching the fourth floor, they were instantly stunned by the hell-like scene before them.
"Oh my God! What's going on?"
"Captain... this is... too... too... too horrible!"
"Damn! Pieces everywhere! How deep does the hate run?"
"..."
Beside them, the captain's face also looked grim, and he spoke in a deep voice.
"Enough chatter! Investigate the scene! Although there are no Qi Blood reactions nearby, stay cautious! Spread out and survey quickly, report any findings to me immediately!"
Once he finished speaking, the law enforcement members quickly responded.
"Understood!"
"Yes, Captain!"
"Roger that!"
"..."
Immediately, the group, filled with vigilance, began a general exploration.
"Report to the captain! Room 301 is empty."
"Continue the search!"
"Report! Two regular guests found under the bed in room 302."
"Check their identities, if clear, escort them out."
"Captain! Room 303 has major issues; this might be the first site of the battle."
"..."