Although Qin Ming already possessed martial arts skills and terrifying strength—completely unfit for a traditional disciple recruitment—after some hesitation, Gouken still chose to take him in as a registered disciple of the Assassination Sect on behalf of his own master.
After all, the tragedy caused by a loss of control over Killing Intent Wave was still vivid in Gouken's memory.
His junior brother, Akuma, had turned into a demon overnight and engaged in a deadly duel with their master, ultimately committing patricide by force.
He then abandoned his wife and child, vanished without a trace, and completely gave up everything that made him human.
That child—his disciple, Ryu—Akuma's own son whom he never met, had inherited his father's cultivation talent perfectly. And now, even Ryu was showing signs of awakening the Killing Intent Wave.
Just one Akuma had already brought terror to the martial world.
If another Akuma appeared—one who debuted as a powerhouse and contained multiple powerful forces within—then another era of blood and chaos would descend upon the martial world.
So Gouken felt it was his duty to help Qin Ming gain control over his powers.
And there was one more thought he didn't say aloud: if Qin Ming truly lost control and was consumed by his powers, then Gouken also had a responsibility to eliminate him for the greater good.
Creak—
With the heavy sound of the wooden door opening, Qin Ming followed Gouken to a cave deep within the mountains.
Standing at the cave entrance, Gouken turned and looked at Qin Ming with a solemn expression.
"You've already awakened Killing Intent Wave, so there's no need for the preliminary steps. Go straight to the final stage. Enter, Qin Ming. Whether you emerge a man or a ghost… that depends on you."
Qin Ming's eyes flickered with confusion, but after taking a deep breath, he stepped boldly into the cave.
Watching him enter, Gouken shut the door behind him with a cold face and sat cross-legged in front of it, beginning his meditation.
…..
Inside the cave, Qin Ming's footsteps echoed as he ventured deeper, eventually arriving at the very end.
To his surprise, there were no rare treasures—in fact, there was nothing at all. What filled the cave instead were marks.
Fist prints and claw marks covered the walls and the floor—each one vivid and precise.
Staring at the surrounding traces, Qin Ming was baffled. He couldn't figure out how these things were supposed to help him learn to control his powers.
He subconsciously reached out to touch one of the marks. Just as he did, the world suddenly flickered before his eyes.
In the next instant, the hairs all over his body stood on end as a deep sense of danger surged through his chest.
This was the combat instinct granted by his A-rank martial skill—a powerful expert had appeared nearby!
He whirled around and raised his fists into a stance—but saw no living person behind him.
Instead, what appeared was a phantom—a black mist-shrouded silhouette formed purely from killing intent.
It was one of the former masters of the Assassination Sect! A projection of the Killing Intent Wave they had formed when they broke through here!
Dressed in ragged clothing and cloaked in black mist, the phantom stared at Qin Ming expressionlessly—its eyes filled with icy, murderous malice.
The intense killing aura stung Qin Ming's skin as if pierced by needles.
Before he could even react, the phantom launched its assault.
It charged forward in a blur—leaping into the air—Tornado Whirlwind Kick!
Seeing the incoming attack, Qin Ming's pupils contracted sharply. Without hesitation, he manipulated his blood energy, wrapping it around his arm and throwing a punch.
However, though his punch landed squarely, it passed straight through the target.
In Qin Ming's stunned gaze, the shadowy black mist swept through his attack and slammed directly into his chest, causing him to stagger backward.
The phantom's attack didn't cause any physical damage—but the terrifying killing intent it carried passed straight through his body, violently stimulating his nerves for real!
And this—was exactly what Gouken referred to as the second method.
To recognize killing intent.
To understand killing intent.
To become one with killing intent.
As long as one fused with it, they could naturally control it—no longer fearing sudden outbursts, no longer worried about corruption.
This was the final trial of the Assassination Sect's ultimate limit.
If successful, one could become a grandmaster who perfectly mastered the Killing Intent Wave.
But the risk was equally immense—failure could mean total loss of martial prowess… or instant death.
In other words: either master the killing intent—or die by it.
Boom!
Just as Qin Ming staggered, clutching his chest from the impact of the ancient master's residual killing intent, his eyes suddenly widened.
And the moment he looked up, his pupils shrank violently.
Because surrounding him now were dozens—hundreds—of figures, all cloaked in black mist, each radiating a horrifying aura of murderous intent.
From ancient times to now—all the practitioners of the Assassination Sect who had ever awakened the Killing Intent Wave—their lingering killing thoughts had all appeared!
They gave Qin Ming no time to react. Almost the instant he looked up, the black shadows lunged, bombarding him from every direction.
Each phantom that passed through Qin Ming's body fiercely assaulted his nervous system, wildly amplifying the killing aura within him.
As the endless phantoms crisscrossed through him, Qin Ming's mind was completely drowned in bloodlust. Even his eyes turned blood-red.
Having completely lost control of his body, he could only passively endure this baptism. If he managed to break free—he would completely master the Killing Intent Wave.
But if he couldn't escape… then his body would endlessly absorb the killing intent from these past masters until he could no longer withstand it—and explode on the spot.
From the moment he stepped into this cave, Qin Ming's fate had been sealed: he would either become a martial arts grandmaster—or die.
Of course… that was the case before. Recently, one exception had emerged—a man who blazed a third, never-before-seen path.
That man was Akuma. He hadn't conquered the killing intent—or rather, he chose not to.
Instead, he actively fused with it, seeking to endlessly draw strength from the killing intent to empower himself—becoming one with it in the truest sense.
Killing Intent Wave, in essence, was a power of emotion—a force born of the will.
The stronger your bloodlust, the greater the power you could draw from it.
Theoretically, it had no limit.
Its ultimate strength depended solely on how much your body could withstand.
That was the real reason Akuma refused to rein it in.
After all, controlled power was finite—but this path offered infinite potential.
Akuma didn't want finite power. He wanted an infinite future.
Akuma was indeed a genius—or perhaps better described as a mad genius—braving a path of near-certain death just to do what others dared not.
But Qin Ming…
Qin Ming wasn't even a real martial artist! How could he possibly know how to master killing intent?
Gouken had simply misjudged him. He thought Qin Ming had rapidly reached his current level through his own hard work.
He believed that someone capable of handling multiple top-tier powers without issue must be a prodigy of martial arts.
But what he didn't realize was that Qin Ming only knew how to use Killing Intent Wave because he learned it as a skill.
As for the basics? Qin Ming had never even trained in orthodox boxing.
Forget decades of grueling cultivation or tempering his will with sweat and pain.
At his core, Qin Ming was just an ordinary person—an ordinary guy with a bit of a ruthless streak.
Throwing a regular guy into a place like this—where even seasoned fighters with decades of training had died by the dozens—and expecting him to endure?
If Qin Ming actually made it out alive…
That'd be a miracle.
(End of Chapter)