The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Lin Dan was not used to spending people's money. However, she did not refuse his offer as she was suffering from the immense pain all the time. She followed Bai Yan back to the inn and took out a small book to record her expenses. When Bai Yan received a bill from Lin Dan, it was the first time he felt amused yet awkward at the same time. But for some reason, he did not return the bill and kept it in his sleeve after folding it nicely.

"Why is there a list of wanted fugitives?" Lin Dan pretended to ask casually when they were having a meal.

"The list of wanted fugitives is issued by the Jianghu Alliance which records all the evildoings of these fugitives. Anyone who is able to kill these fugitives will be able to receive a bounty.”

“Where can I see the list?”

"In the Jianghu Alliance. They have a branch in each city, and they have it here too. Shall we go and take a look?”

"Let's go after the meal." Lin Dan quickly finished her food. She finally understood how a penny can stump a hero. As she had to write a bill for all her expenses, including food and accommodation, it was making her very uncomfortable.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at the Jianghu Alliance branch. Although it was only a branch, the building covered a huge area. At the entrance, characters of "Jianghu Alliance" were written in gold on a signboard. There were two halls – the Learning Hall and Martial Arts Hall – and they looked magnificent. 

"Let's go to the Learning Hall." Bai Yan seemed to be familiar with the place and walked in without hesitation. This time around, it was Lin Dan who followed behind him.

They entered the Learning Hall and saw two lists hung on the wall side by side. One was the list of wanted fugitives while the other was the list of martial arts experts. The experts list was updated periodically where old names were erased, and the names of rising martial artists would be featured. 

When Lin Dan stepped into the hall, she was surprised to see that she was on the list. Her rank was not low at all, she had already taken over the four elders of Lianyun City and was placed fourth among the Half-step Grandmasters. There were five other Half-step Grandmasters on the list as well, including Xiaoyaozi of Carefree Sect, Master Fazhao of Bore Temple, Emperor Yan of Yanhuang City and Emperor Yun of Lianyun City.

Lin Dan's eyes stayed on the words “Emperor Yun” for a moment before looking at the list of wanted fugitives at the side. Many martial artists stood in front of the list and were deciding which "assignment" they should accept. The wanted list was arranged according to the fugitives' martial arts level. The higher they were ranked, the more powerful they were. However, there were several Half-step Grandmasters who appeared on the list. There were records of their evildoings in detail, the date they were listed and the bounty amount…

Lin Dan looked through the list carefully and found a fugitive who was wanted for twenty years but had never been caught. But he was not satisfied with his current state and committed more evildoings. More people were contributing to the bounty and he had actually accumulated half a million grams of gold. The bounty for the next fugitives on the list were not low either, they were thirty-hundred thousand, twenty-hundred thousand, a hundred thousand… and the unit was in grams of gold.

Lin Dan scanned from the top of the list to the bottom and thought to herself, "If I can kill all of them, I will become rich instantly and enjoy a luxurious life. I can live in suites, eat happily and life a comfortable life."

As she was deep in thought, her slim and dark eyes narrowed and beamed with joy. Bai Yan did not even look at the list and gazed at Lin Dan silently.

With their eye-catching appearances and overpowering charisma, they soon attracted the attention of others. Someone whispered, "Female, seventeen or eighteen years old, wears a black dress, holds a huge sword, and stands about five feet five. Could she be Lin Dan of the Eastern Holy Sect?”

"It can't be. Someone as powerful as her won't be here looking at the wanted list, it'd be too embarrassing." Someone shook his head and denied immediately.

Once a martial artist joined the ranks of the Half-step Grandmaster, they would become an extremely powerful existence in the world. Many of these powerful martial artists created themselves a mysterious image by isolating themselves from the ordinary people and letting their servants ran errands for them. Meanwhile, they focused on cultivation in order to achieve a higher realm. Improve or be left behind – this was the way of the martial arts.

Those who came to check the wanted list in the Learning Hall were people who were desperately in need money or bounty hunters who were professionals in this field. If they were Half-step Grandmasters, they would have dominated an area and not earn money the hard way.

"No, I'm sure she's not." More people shook their heads and turned around to look at the list again.

Bai Yan was amused at what he heard, as he was the only one who knew the truth. Nobody expected Lin Dan to be so unconventional. After becoming a Half-step Grandmaster, not only did she refuse to take over the Eastern Holy Sect, she even wandered around the world and became so poor that she could not even afford a bowl of water.

He pressed his fist against his lips and chuckled while glancing at Lin Dan with a pair of particularly tender eyes. "Have you decided? Which one do you want to work on?" He walked to Lin Dan's side and asked softly.

"Yes." Lin Dan walked to the counter and said, "Give me the warrant order for numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.”

"Huh?" The martial artist who was in charge of issuing the warrant order dug his ear with a finger and seriously thought he was hearing things.

"Give me the warrant order for number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7." Lin Dan repeated patiently.

"Are you crazy? Whose kid is this running around making trouble?" The surrounding people gasped, but they were also happily gossiping as if they were watching a good show.

The martial artist had seen many people while he issued wanted orders and had a good eye for things. He scrutinized Lin Dan before noticing her glowing red Asura Sword and said respectfully, "Please wait a moment. These orders are not here with me right now, I need to take it from the back hall.”

Soon, seven golden and feather-shaped warrant orders were given to Lin Dan. She casually stuffed them in her clothes and strode away. In a few moments, another martial artist jumped on the stone wall and drew a line on the seven names with red ink, indicating that someone had accepting the task of killing them.

The people looked at the list and realized that the seven fugitives were all Half-step Grandmasters. Disregarding the character and prestige of the martial artists on the expert list, the three elders of Lianyun City may not even be able to stand against them. These fugitives were wanted for decades and lived carefreely even if they were despised by the world. They were not bothered at all to be listed on the wanted list and the increasing bounty was of no threat to them. These fugitives were even proud of their ranking and long list of evildoings.

Now that someone had claimed their warrant orders at once, it was no wonder the onlookers were surprised.

“Could that woman really be Lin Dan of the Eastern Holy Sect?” Someone finally remembered.

"We will soon know the answer.”

“Even if she's Lin Dan, she's only ranked the fourth, how is it possible for her to kill all those fugitives! She's still too young and too naive!”

No matter what they said, Lin Dan had already embarked on the road to make more money. She borrowed some silver from Bai Yan and bought a map. She drew out the location of all seven fugitives and planned her route before setting off after borrowing ten more grams of silver to buy a horse.

Bai Yan carefully kept the bills and followed closely behind. He enjoyed observing Lin Dan and was getting addicted to martial arts training, even though he had long past the age of undergoing such training.

—

Three months later, Lin Dan carried a huge bag and arrived at the Jianghu Alliance. Her Asura Sword was now glowing in deep crimson and it was obvious that it had devoured lots of blood. Bai Yan followed behind her and looked at her with mixed emotions.

He knew that Lin Dan was talented, or she would not have overcome the love barrier and understood the true meaning of the Asura Sword Technique. But after getting to know Lin Dan, he realized that he had no idea where her limit was. As she was brilliant and intelligent, she had transformed after fighting non-stop for the past three months.

When fighting the Lonely Scarlet, she learned her Bagua Shadow Steps; when fighting Nie Cheng the Great Swordsman, she learned his Great Swordsman Technique; when fighting Zhou Tao the Blood Demon, she learned his Evil Blood-Refining Technique… She kept absorbing techniques that was useful to her and overcame the weaknesses of the Asura Sword, bringing the technique to a greater height.

Bai Yan had no doubt that she could eventually overcome herself over time and create an even more powerful Asura Sword Technique that would be even better than his Cloud Technique. She was a born talent but was unfortunately raised by He Chongling and his father, and had to take on a path of no return.

The more he knew Lin Dan, the more he was unable to keep his mind at peace. He felt sorry for her and even broken-hearted at her plight. "If only we could meet earlier!" This thought often occurred in his mind frequently and was making him confused.

Lin Dan did not care about Bai Yan's change of attitude. She focused on killing the fugitives on the wanted list and only had eyes for the bounty. As her debt increased, the small book was not enough to record her expenses anymore.

"I've completed the mission. Please calculate the bounty for me." She threw the huge bag on the floor and passed the seven shiny feather-shaped tokens to the martial artist of the Jianghu Alliance.

As the Jianghu Alliance had set up branches in all the cities on the land of Eastern Tang, Lin Dan arrived at the nearest one after killing the last fugitive. The martial artist who was in charge of collecting the tokens did not know Lin Dan. He accepted the tokens nonchalantly and said, "Please wait while I make the calculations…" Before he could continue, he was shocked and struck dumb. He looked at the numbers one, two, three on the tokens and knew that these meant that top fugitives one, two and three were…

The martial artist looked up immediately and stared at the wanted list, horrified at the sudden realization. Fugitives number one to seven were all Half-step Grandmasters, there was no mistake. This meant that this lady had killed seven Half-step Grandmasters at once in three months' time. This was a terrifying achievement!