Chapter 1470: Departure from the Gravel World
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
At half-past eight in the morning, Lin Huang ate an unhurried breakfast before returning to the Emperor Palace.
"It's almost time to send out the coordinates."
He glanced at the time, opened the address book in his Emperor's Heart Ring, selected Jiang Shan, Huang Tianfu, and Ku Ji's names, then composed a message and sent it to them.
The contents of this message contained the coordinates of the dimensional gateway that led to the great world.
Lin Huang had really put a lot of effort into this dimensional gateway.
First of all, in order to prevent the people of the gravel world from being teleported into the God Territory, he went through quite a number of places before setting the teleportation point in the human domain.
The next step was to prevent too high a mortality rate of the gravel world's Virtual Gods after they reached the great world.
After connecting this dimensional gateway, he secretly modified the surrounding area on the gravel world side of the dimensional gateway and, using a divine pattern, enveloped it with an Ice-sealing Elemental Enlightenment.
If an ordinary living creature were to approach within a certain distance from the dimensional gateway, they would slowly be frozen by the cold that radiated from the divine pattern.
For individuals who had not mastered God Rule Power, only those whose Divine Power exceeded Virtual God rank-6 (not including rank-6) could use their Divine Power to overcome being frozen and enter the dimensional gateway.
Those who had mastered God Rule Power could easily resist being frozen by the cold. Since the Elemental Enlightenment that Lin Huang had housed within the divine pattern was only First Glimpse-level, the chill that the divine pattern exuded would not be from the power of the Elemental Enlightenment itself. Instead, it would be pure cold that was isolated from the Elemental Enlightenment.
As for cultivators who were below high-level Virtual God and had not mastered God Rule Power, as long as they retreated in time, the frost from the Elemental Enlightenment would automatically fade away quickly. However, if they were to push through regardless of the cold, they would eventually freeze completely.
Nevertheless, Lin Huang did not tell anyone that he was the one responsible for this. He only vaguely mentioned in the text message that he sent to those few individuals, "The area surrounding the dimensional gateway is enveloped in cold, so Virtual Gods who are not high-level should not enter."
This set-up was done for the good of everyone in the gravel world.
This was because most of the great world's resources were monopolized by various major and minor organizations.
Anyone below high-level Virtual God would find it difficult to join a major organization in the great world. Even if they were lucky and managed to join a grade-3 or grade-4 organization, they would basically only be able to rely on odd jobs for a living, and it would be extremely difficult to obtain cultivation resources.
If one were to be a Lone Ranger, not only would the mortality rate be extremely high, but they would have to hand over at least 50% of their gains every time they entered a secret zone ruin owned by someone else—some ruthless organizations would even take more than 70% of those gains. Even if, once in a blue moon, one were to encounter a secret zone ruin with no owner, it would be full of reckless rogue cultivators who were not afraid of death. Without an organization to maintain order, the degree of danger would only be higher.
The exceptions were those who had amazing talent and potential like Chan Dou and Huang Wuji, who could get various organizations to prioritize their training merely at the sight of them. In the meantime, everyone else would have to slowly go through all kinds of trouble and hardships.
If this had been the past, Lin Huang would definitely not have spent so much effort on such matters. He had always been someone who did not like trouble.
However, now that he had refined the gravel world, his thinking had changed slightly, and he had the vague idea that 'these people are my people.' That was why he had worked hard and spent several days making these arrangements.
The people who received the message were in varying states of mind after reading it.
Huang Tianfu and Ku Ji had no doubts about the message that Lin Huang sent, and they also did not doubt the warning he had given them. Lin Huang must have had his reasons for stating that those below high-level Virtual God should not try to pass through the dimensional gateway, so they would follow what he said. Lin Huang had also told them not to spread this information, so they would keep it strictly confidential.
On the other hand, Jiang Shan's reaction after reading the message was completely different.
"He sent the coordinates over so easily? No concrete requirements or trading conditions?" Jiang Shan's first reaction was to doubt the authenticity of the coordinates, as Lin Huang had given out the information too easily. Even so, he banished this idea in an instant because false coordinates would be too easily exposed. All he had to do was send someone to the coordinates to check, and he would know whether they were real or not. This process would take less than half an hour.
"The area surrounding the dimensional gateway is enveloped in cold, so those who are not high-level Virtual Gods should not enter?" Jiang Shan was also skeptical of this warning. "So, those who are low-level and middle-level Virtual Gods can't enter the dimensional gateway?"
As for the part of the message that mentioned not spreading this information, conversely, Jiang Shan did not doubt that at all. This kind of information was top-secret in itself and could be sold at a high price. Why would he spread it for free?!
After carefully reading Lin Huang's message three times and confirming that there were no hidden messages, Jiang Shan closed the text. He then dialed the communication numbers of the two vice chiefs as well as other senior officials to call for an emergency meeting.
…
By nine in the morning, everyone was already gathered in front of the Emperor Palace.
Huang Tianfu and the other senior officials of Dynasty stood nearby and looked on quietly.
In addition to Lin Huang and Lin Xin, Mr. Fu, Lin Xuan, Xiao Mo, Chan Dou, and Huang Wuji were all present as well.
As for Yi Zheng and his sister Yi Yeyu, Leng Yuexin, and Li Lang, their combat levels were still at imperial-level, and they had not elevated to virtual god-level yet, so Lin Huang did not want to take them with him.
As for Fatty, even though he had good potential after using the Flawless Card, he spent a lot of time in his restaurant, so the amount of time he could devote to cultivation was far less than the others. Just a few days ago, he had contacted Lin Huang to inform him that he had broken through to transcendent. He was still a long way from virtual god-level.
Lin Huang glanced around at everyone present, then nodded slightly. "We're all here, so let's get going!"
After saying that, he stretched his hand out, and a whirlpool like a black hole automatically coalesced out of thin air.
Chan Dou and the others were all taken aback when they saw this; it was the first time they had seen this kind of ability.
Lin Xin and Lin Xuan took the lead and disappeared into the whirlpool. Mr. Fu and the others followed behind them and stepped in one after the other. Lin Huang was the last one to go.
Before entering the whirlpool, he turned to look at where Huang Tianfu and the others were standing, then gave them a slight nod.
"Take care, Your Majesty!" Huang Tianfu and the others shouted, waving to Lin Huang.
Only then did Lin Huang turn around and step into the whirlpool.
After a moment, the whirlpool in front of the Emperor Palace slowly disappeared.
"We don't even know when His Majesty will be back again…"
Huang Tianfu and the others watched with forlorn expressions as the whirlpool disappeared; only after a long while did they turn and leave.
Upon stepping out of the whirlpool, Lin Xin and the others found themselves in a deep sea.
Not far away was a massive shipwreck that was half-buried under sand and silt, and they could only faintly make out the shape of a large ship.
After a while, Lin Huang walked out of the whirlpool as well.
His gaze lingered on the shipwreck in front of him for only a moment before he suddenly turned his head to look in a certain direction.
At this point, Lin Xuan also frowned slightly. "Is someone coming here?!"
"It's the Union Government's people. I sent the coordinates to Jiang Shan half an hour ago," Lin Huang explained with a calm expression, "They've probably come to check on the dimensional gateway."
As Lin Huang spoke, he slapped his hand down on Huang Wuji's shoulder, imbuing a portion of Ice-sealing Elemental Enlightenment into his body.
Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan were both True Gods, while Lin Xin was a Virtual God rank-9. Xiao Mo and Chan Dou were both Virtual God rank-3s, but both had mastered Rule Bending Power. Huang Wuji, who had only just elevated to Virtual God rank-1, was the only one who had not been able to learn Rule Bending Power yet. He was also the only one who could not enter the dimensional gateway on his own.
Huang Wuji merely felt a chill within his body, but it was quickly replaced by a different mysterious sense soon after. Before he could perceive it in more detail, though, the Union Government's team had arrived.
Surprisingly, the leader was Lin Huang's old acquaintance—Guan Zhong, the head of Agency EA.
At the sight of Lin Huang and the others, the expression on Guan Zhong's face betrayed visible embarrassment.
"Your Majesty!" Despite this, he still took the initiative to greet Lin Huang. "Are you getting ready to leave now?"
Lin Huang glanced at the troop that Guan Zhong was leading. There were not many members—only six of them—and their combat levels were all different. They were at virtual god-level rank-1, rank-3, rank-4, rank-6, rank-7, and rank-9, respectively.
Although Guan Zhong was only a Virtual God rank-4, he obviously held the highest position among them.
"Yes." Lin Huang gave an indifferent nod. He did not have any particular opinions about Guan Zhong, nor was there any conflict between them. It was just that they had different standpoints, so it was difficult for them to be friends.
"Then… will you all go first?" Of course, Guan Zhong did not dare to jump Lin Huang's queue.
"Don't worry, I really want to see the results of your exploration trials in this area," Lin Huang replied with a smile.
Guan Zhong obviously had not expected Lin Huang to say this, but he quickly responded nonetheless.
"Then hold on for a moment, Your Majesty. We'll try it out first."
Once he finished speaking, he let the Virtual God rank-1 and rank-3 enter the shipwreck first.
The Virtual God rank-1 approached the shipwreck, but even before he could get within a hundred-meter range, a layer of white frost began rapidly condensing on the surface of his body without any warning. He tried taking two more steps forward, and the speed at which his body was being frozen began to accelerate rapidly. It was too late for him to retreat.
At this point, the Virtual God rank-9 from the Union Government suddenly made a move. A long rattan vine lashed out, wrapped around the other's waist—as yet still not completely frozen—and pulled him out.
Fortunately, the Virtual God rank-1 had not been completely frozen; after leaving the shipwreck, his body slowly began to defrost. However, his face was full of fear and terror. "It's so cold, it's like the chill is freezing my soul along with my body… After I took the last two steps, I couldn't move at all—I couldn't get away even if I wanted to…"
After seeing what had happened to his companion, the Virtual God rank-3 was obviously more cautious, and he took very small, slow steps.
As soon as he was within a hundred-meter range, his body also began swiftly freezing, but he frantically fought back using the Divine Power within him. Even so, the cold was all-pervasive, and his Divine Power was being rapidly consumed with every second that passed…
He moved forward slowly, step by step. As soon as he was within a fifty-meter range, his body began to freeze even more quickly. Remembering his previous companion's misfortune, he did not dare to rashly advance any further. He decided to ignite his Divine Power, sending his body flying backward in retreat.
"It's no good. I can only make it to about a fifty-meter range at most. I think I'd be completely frozen if I were to take one or two more steps forward…" His body was shaking with cold, and he shook his head at Guan Zhong.
Guan Zhong hurriedly handed him a Divine Crystal so he could replenish his Divine Power.
The Virtual God rank-3 could only reach about fifty meters, so the Virtual God rank-4 did not even have to try. He turned his head and nodded at the Virtual God rank-6.
The Virtual God rank-6 looked solemn, but he still began to approach the shipwreck one step at a time.
A few minutes later, he finally arrived at the shipwreck, but the moment he set foot on the wreck itself, a layer of white frost suddenly crawled up his legs and ankles like a living creature, then quickly spread upward.
The Virtual God rank-9 from the Union Government already had his rattan vine on hand, ready to come to the rescue at any time.
The Virtual God rank-6 activated the Divine Power within his whole body, but after only a moment of resistance, his Divine Power was completely exhausted. Seeing the frost rapidly enveloping his teammate's body, the Virtual God rank-9 made a move again, and the rattan vine lashed out.
Just as the rattan vine came in contact with the Virtual God rank-6's waist and was about to pull him back, the frost started to spread onto the vine as well. The moment the Virtual God rank-9 pulled on it, the part of the vine around the other's waist disintegrated.
"Crap!" The Virtual God rank-9's heart thumped hard in his chest.
However, at this moment, the body of the Virtual God rank-6 suddenly rose into the air, as if he was being pulled back by some invisible object, and flew backward.
Those from the Union Government activated their Divine Telekinesis; only then did they discover an invisible telekinetic thread wrapped around the Virtual God rank-6's waist. Their gaze followed the telekinetic thread as it retracted, finally landing on Lin Huang.
"No need to thank me." Lin Huang gave them a faint smile.
He took it upon himself to save this individual because this was his doing after all. Furthermore, its purpose was not to kill people but to prevent those who were not powerful enough from hastily charging into the great world.
After the Virtual God rank-6 had been settled, the Virtual God rank-7's expression darkened slightly, but he still moved forward steadily and walked toward the shipwreck.
His Divine Power surged throughout his whole body, and he quickly stepped onto the shipwreck. The moment his feet made contact, frost began to condense on both his legs but was suppressed by his Divine Power.
He hesitated for a moment but decided to move forward. After entering the hole in the shipwreck, he kept going down, following the coordinates given by Lin Huang.
Fortunately, things went relatively smoothly this time.
After entering the shipwreck, the Virtual God rank-7's aura did not significantly weaken.
After about ten minutes, he withdrew from the shipwreck, his body covered in frost. Although he had an exhausted look on his face, he was obviously relieved.
"How was it? Did you see the dimensional gateway?" Guan Zhong promptly asked.
"I saw it." The Virtual God rank-7 nodded.
"How intense was the cold?" The Virtual God rank-9 asked from the sidelines.
"At the current strength of my Divine Power, I could barely pass through the area enveloped by the cold. However, just entering and exiting once has depleted almost all of my Divine Power," the Virtual God rank-7 explained, "Also, the closer one gets to the dimensional gateway, the stronger the chill, and the greater the consumption of Divine Power. My guess is that a Virtual God rank-6 wouldn't be able to pass through even if they took a large number of Divine Crystals with them because the rate of Divine Power absorption would be far lower than its consumption rate."
"I'll go check it out." The Virtual God rank-9 nodded slightly, then walked straight to the shipwreck, evidently preparing to try it out himself.
Although the Virtual God rank-7 had come back alive, the Virtual God rank-9 was still very cautious as he walked. It also took him about ten minutes before he came out of the shipwreck.
He went back to Guan Zhong, and the two exchanged a few words through voice transmission.
After a short while, Guan Zhong turned his head and looked at Lin Huang again.
"Your Majesty, I apologize for holding you up for so long."
After that, his gaze came to rest on Xiao Mo, Chan Dou, and Huang Wuji for a moment. "You've seen the results of our trials. I'm afraid that it'll be difficult for you young men to pass through."
Seeing the results of the Union Government's trial explorations, Chan Dou and the others were indeed a little worried.
"Thank you for the reminder." Lin Huang nodded slightly at Guan Zhong. He did not refute Guan Zhong's words either, merely led his group toward the shipwreck.
Guan Zhong and the others fixed their eyes on Chan Dou and the other two, waiting to see what Lin Huang would do after they froze. Instead, to their surprise, Lin Huang and his group all proceeded smoothly until they stepped into the shipwreck—none of them showed any signs of becoming frozen.
Within the shipwreck, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo had long since understood what was happening. The moment the two of them were within a hundred-meter range of the shipwreck, the Rule Bending Power within them automatically activated, completely isolating the chill so it was on the outside of their bodies.
As for Huang Wuji, who had yet to learn Rule Bending Power, Lin Huang had imbued a small trace of Elemental Enlightenment into him for protection. Because of that, he had a common origin with the Ice-sealing power, so he did not feel the chill at all.
Those from the Union Government watched on as Lin Huang and his group entered the shipwreck. A moment later, there was a wave of spatial fluctuations from under the shipwreck, and the auras of Lin Huang and his group vanished.
Guan Zhong and the others fell silent for a moment.
"How did they do that?"
At this, the Virtual God rank-9 spoke up, "It's probably due to Rule Bending Power. Lin Huang imbued the two Virtual God rank-3s and that one Virtual God rank-1 with Rule Bending Power to protect them…"
Chapter 1471: Devil Hunter Star Zone
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Pfister Star was an ordinary remote planet located in the border region between the human world and the Abyss.
Lin Huang choosing this place to be the first stop in the great world had been Bloody's suggestion.
This was mainly due to the fact that although this planet was far away, it was located within the administrative zone of the grade-6 Hunt organization—Devil Hunter Star Zone.
Initially, when Devil Hunter Star was established by the Hunt organization, its main function had been to guard the border between the human race and the Abyss, as well as provide members of the organization with a foothold to use for transactions and temporary lodging.
However, with the ever-increasing number of people coming and going, Mysterious Item Pavilion—which was also a grade-6 organization—saw that there was money to be made and established a branch in the same star zone as well.
After that, the entire star zone became more prosperous until even the White Robes specially set up a branch there to maintain order in the entire star zone.
Devil Hunter Star Zone also became a unique scenic route between humans and the Abyss.
Currently, in Devil Hunter Star Zone, including Pfister Star, 38 planets were inhabited by humans and had formed a complete ecological chain.
Pfister Star was merely one of these ordinary planets.
Even so, the level of prosperity was comparable to that of a grade-A foothold in the gravel world. It was just that the buildings were not so densely packed, and the population was slightly smaller.
However, cultivators were much more commonly seen here than in the gravel world.
Looking around, Mr. Fu and his group could see Virtual Gods almost everywhere, and there were a good number of True Gods roaming the streets as well.
Apart from Lin Huang, everyone else was stunned when they saw this.
"Are True Gods this frequent in the great world?" Mr. Fu could not help asking Lin Huang.
Lin Huang could not help but smile and shake his head when he heard this question. "Actually, no. Devil Hunter Star Zone is located on the edge of a battleground, so there are more cultivators coming and going.
"Moreover, in addition to the three large grade-6 organizations—the Hunt, Mysterious Item Pavilion and the White Robes, a good number of other grade-4 and grade-5 organizations have also established their branches here."
"You're thinking of choosing this place as a foothold?" Chan Dou asked.
The others also turned to look at Lin Huang immediately.
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded calmly.
"This place is very close to the Abyss battleground. It's very suitable for hunting abyssal monsters.
"Moreover, Demon Hunter Star Zone is comparable to top-tier grade-5 star zones. Whether it's purchasing supplies, obtaining information, or organizing hunts, and handing over missions, everything is very convenient. There are also White Robes in charge of maintaining order, so, needless to say, it's very safe.
"In the entire human world, the number of star zones that possess this kind of environment don't even add up to five fingers."
"What should we do next then?" Lin Xin could not help asking.
"Let's register our identities at the White Robes' foothold first, otherwise we won't even be able to stay in a hotel," Lin Huang finished speaking, then continued, "When filling in the registration forms, don't reveal that we are from the gravel world—just fill in the mini world number NF404. As for the other pieces of information, you can fill them in normally."
"Is NF404 the number of our gravel world?" Lin Xin asked, unable to restrain herself.
"No, our gravel world isn't officially registered. This number is that of a mini world relatively near here that has connections to the human race."
"If that's the case, won't we be found out?" Lin Xin inquired hurriedly.
"Under normal circumstances, we won't be. Many people from the human world register their identities every day. As long as we don't cause a major incident, normally, no one will check."
After giving his instructions, Lin Huang quickly led the group toward the planet where the White Robes were stationed—Evil Extermination Planet.
The identity registration process was very smooth. After the forms had been filled in, a round of simple physical examinations was conducted to confirm Lin Huang and the others' human identities. The staff members of the White Robes then gave them each a ring that resembled an Emperor's Heart Ring. With that, Lin Huang's group successfully became official citizens of the human world.
After they had obtained their identity rings, Lin Huang then brought a few of his group to the Hunt foothold to register a small hunting team.
Once all of this was finished, Lin Huang found a hotel for everyone to settle in.
"Now that we've already formed a small hunting team, everyone can enter the battleground," Lin Huang finished speaking and glanced at Huang Wuji. "Master Chan and Xiao Mo, your combat levels are about the same as Huang Wuji's, so you can bring him with you and explore around the outer region. At the same time, you can all familiarize yourselves with the environment while you're at it.
"It would be best if all of you can upgrade your combat levels as soon as possible. Don't waste time specifically trying to understand Rule Bending Power—once you've reached Virtual God rank-9, it's still not too late to spend time on that."
After he finished, Lin Huang then turned to look at Lin Xin, "Teacher, Da Xuan, you can team up with Xin Er and explore a little further in."
"What about you?" Lin Xin asked hurriedly.
"I have imperial monsters." Lin Huang smiled.
"Let me briefly give you a rundown now of what the current situation is with the humans in the great world."
"The human world has three Saints and seven sects.
"The three Saints are Daluo Temple, Leiyin Temple, and Sanctuary. They are Holy Land grade-7 organizations and are guarded by Lords. They are also the three most powerful organizations in the entire human world, and they are at transcendent status.
"The seven sects are Taiqing Sect, Tranquil Temple, Mysterious Item Pavilion, the White Robes, Asura, Xiaoyao Sect, and the Hunt.
"Taiqing Sect is an organization that split from Daluo Temple. I won't go into details about the specifics; you can read the information later on your own.
"Tranquil Temple is not a nunnery, but an organization established by a powerful female cultivator. This organization only accepts female members.
"Mysterious Item Pavilion is the largest commercial organization in the entire human world, as well as the largest intelligence organization.
"The White Robes are a management and law enforcement organization jointly established by the three Saints. Practically all the top executives are from Daluo Temple, Leiyin Temple, and Sanctuary.
"Asura is an assassin organization and is extremely mysterious.
"Xiaoyao Sect is a rogue cultivation alliance established by a powerful rogue cultivator, and its administration is a bit more relaxed."
"There's also the Hunt. It's the largest hunting organization in the human world and issues the largest number of hunting missions."
"Is this Hunt organization connected to the Union Government of the gravel world and the Hunter Association?" Mr. Fu was finally unable to restrain himself from asking.
"Yes." Lin Huang nodded. "It's that hunting organization."
Seeing the others' mystified expressions, Lin Huang explained again, "The Hunt is the power behind the Union Government, as well as the Hunter Association in the great world…"
After this round of explanations, Lin Huang continued again sternly.
"Although we have already formed a team, I suggest that you don't hunt first these next few days. Thoroughly read through all the information that I'll be sending to you. Pay attention especially to the great world's monster guide—it contains many more times the number of monsters in the gravel world, so it would be best if all of you can memorize all the monster information."
Everybody nodded one after the other.
All of them were also aware that the great world was certain to contain many monsters that they had never even heard of before in the gravel world. If they were to encounter unfamiliar monsters during the hunting process, it would be extremely dangerous.
"Apart from this, there are also several social media platforms that you should register on. Normally if there's any news or information, it can be found there."
After Lin Huang finished speaking, he put together the various pieces of information and sent them to everyone…
Chapter 1472: Kylie's Situation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After settling Lin Xin and the others in, Lin Huang quickly got in touch with Bloody.
Kylie's situation in the Nephilic Judge Tribe still worried him.
"I've basically settled everything on my side—how are things on your end?"
"Not very optimistic…" Bloody replied, "A while ago, Kylie successfully elevated to Supreme God rank-5. Once news of this got out, the Holy Sons of several lord-level organizations have recently come forward to propose marriage. Based on the current situation, it's only a matter of time before the Nephilic Judge Tribe agrees to a marriage alliance."
Lin Huang knew about Kylie's elevation to Supreme God rank-5; he was not overly surprised by this. After all, the Nephilic Judge Tribe was a top-tier grade-6 tribe. With their abundant resources on top of Kylie's talent and potential, her advancement to supreme god-level was no surprise.
Even within grade-7 organizations, supreme god-level rank-5 was potential at the level of a Holy Son. This was also why several grade-7 organizations were willing to use Holy Sons to propose a marriage alliance after Kylie's advancement.
Upon hearing this, Lin Huang's brows furrowed slightly. This was not good news.
"That won't do at all… I'll recall both of you back right away then."
Before Bloody could reply on her end, a push notification from Xiaohei suddenly popped up in front of Lin Huang.
"It is not recommended to recall the two monster cards back right away. My current authorization is not enough to separate cause and effect. If a Lord or half-step Lord skilled in tracking investigates Kylie and Bloody's whereabouts, the host will have a higher risk of exposure."
Right after Lin Huang finished reading Xiaohei's push notification, Bloody spoke from her end.
"I feel that unless it's a last resort, it's best not to recall both of us back. The Nephilic Judge Tribe is guarded by a half-step Lord who most certainly will not allow Kylie to disappear under his nose. If Kylie were to go missing without a trace, the Nephilic Judge Tribe will definitely try its best to hunt for her, possibly even paying high prices to ask Lords from other organizations to help with the search. As long as there is the slightest clue left behind, it won't escape their detection…"
"Do you know of any other way then?" Lin Huang asked with a frown.
"I do know of several, but most of them are only temporary solutions to the problem and can't resolve the main issue.
"Take, for example, tactics such as faking death with Golden Cicada Molting. Even if I design all kinds of plans ingeniously and flawlessly, it may very well be child's play to the eyes of a Lord who has mastered aura—seen through in just a single glance… This is a failure that's to be expected, given the utter disparity in our abilities. Unless my combat level is the same as theirs, there's no solution otherwise.
"At present, I can think of only one way to solve Kylie's current situation in its entirety…" Bloody paused for a moment before continuing, "That is, to have Kylie advance to Pure Spirit rank-6!
"Once Kylie advances to the level of Pure Spirit, her status in the Nephilic Judge Tribe will longer be that of a pawn used for marriage alliances. Instead, she will officially have the right to speak; she may even be groomed to be the next tribe leader. The Nephilic Judge Tribe will also never allow Pure Spirits within the tribe to marry outside the tribe. They will focus on giving their all in training Kylie so that she can lead the Nephilic Judge Tribe to glory…
"However, although this method will solve the marriage problem once and for all, it also has a huge down-side. Advancing Kylie's status will make it even harder for her to leave the Nephilic Judge Tribe…"
Here, Bloody paused again.
"Actually, even if she doesn't elevate to rank-6 now, it'll still be very difficult for her to leave the Nephilic Judge Tribe. Comparing both problems, the more pressing one for us to solve at the moment is the marriage issue.
"Looking at the current situation, Kylie doesn't have very long. If the First Holy Son from any grade-7 organization comes forward to propose marriage, the Nephilic Judge Tribe will definitely agree without hesitation. Even if it's only the Second or Third Holy Son, the chances of them agreeing to a marriage are very high as well."
"So, you're suggesting that we first find a way for Kylie to elevate to rank-6 and solve the immediate crisis, then find a way for her to leave the Nephilic Judge Tribe later on?" Lin Huang asked, brows slightly furrowed.
"Yes." Bloody nodded once more, "Actually, if we don't take marriage into consideration, Kylie is definitely being treated like a princess within the Nephilic Judge Tribe. As for her leaving the Tribe, we can think of ways at our leisure later on. The most urgent thing now is to solve the current threat of marriage."
Lin Huang fell silent for a moment but eventually nodded in assent.
"As long as I advance to true god-level, my authorization will be upgraded once again. Once I've gotten grade-5 Advance Cards, I can assist Kylie in elevating to rank-6. But after mythical-level rank-4, to continue upgrading your levels, we'll need not just Advance Cards but also other advancement materials; there may even be special advancement conditions.
"In a little while, I'll send you a list of Kylie's advancement materials; you can start preparing these first. On my end, I'll elevate to True God as soon as possible to get the authorization for grade-5 cards.
"Before Kylie officially advances to rank-6, try and find a way to deal with things for a while."
Lin Huang had not expected that Kylie's situation would have become so serious to this extent.
In the beginning, he had not thought that letting Kylie return to her Tribe was a bad thing and was even supportive of it. He certainly did not expect that in less than a year, the Nephilic Judge Tribe would sacrifice Kylie for profit.
This matter of Kylie's also made it all the more urgent for him to elevate his abilities.
After ending his conversation with Bloody, Lin Huang quickly sent his consciousness into his inner world and began swiftly searching.
When a monster card appeared in its monster state, there was a corresponding projection within Lin Huang's body. On the almost-translucent projection, he could see all the information about the card monster.
He soon found Kylie's projection card and flipped it over to check it out.
"Monster Card: Kylie"
"Rarity: Supreme God"
…
"Advancement Conditions"
"Grade-5 Advance Card X5, the blood of a Lord (master of the Lightning aura) X1 drop, the blood of a Heavenly God (master of the Lightning sequence) X10, the heart of an angel (rank-5 angel) X12…"
Just a glance through this list of advancement materials made Lin Huang's head ache. Not counting the several grade-5 Advance Cards, he felt that even for the top-tier grade-6 Nephilic Judge tribe, gathering all these materials would be no easy task.
He could not help thinking how difficult it would be for Bai and the others to advance to rank-6 in the future. Kylie had the Nephilic Judge Tribe to back her up; he did not need to worry about her. For the rest of the other summoned beasts, however, he feared that as their master, he would have to think of ways to obtain the majority of their advancement materials when the time came. As he thought about this, he could not help but feel the mounting pressure.
This was not just confined to future rank-6 elevations; the more immediate situation was that Charcoal and the others were about to advance to rank-5 and needed a lot of advancement materials as well. Moreover, there were more than thirty card monsters like Charcoal waiting to advance to rank-5…
When he got to this point, Lin Huang did not dare to continue his ruminations. Shaking his head to get rid of these distracting thoughts, he immediately copied Kylie's list of advancement materials and sent it to Bloody…
Chapter 1473: Kids Who Are Digging Their Own Graves
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After ending his conversation with Bloody, Lin Huang pondered for a while and decided to bring forward his intended hunting time.
"Your other materials can be put aside for now; you can look at them when you've come back from the hunt. Today, memorize the monster guide—tomorrow we're going hunting first thing in the morning!"
After sending this message to the newly formed chat group, Lin Huang tagged everyone.
"What happened? Why are we suddenly in such a hurry?" Mr. Fu was the first one to pop up and ask.
He had only achieved his breakthrough to true god-level not too long ago and was still adjusting to the novelty of coming to the great world. He had only just begun to relax and had not expected Lin Huang to bring the originally-scheduled hunting time forward.
"Kylie has run into some problems on her end, so I need to upgrade my combat level to true god-level as soon as possible," Lin Huang explained briefly.
"When you enter the battleground this time, you don't necessarily have to kill tons of abyssal monsters. Your main focus is on familiarizing yourselves with the environment." In reality, Lin Huang could enter the battleground entirely on his own but he was a little uneasy about letting Lin Xin and the others charge into the battleground without his supervision. Therefore, after some deliberation, he still ended up choosing to bring forward the entire itinerary so he could take them in to explore first.
After chatting a bit more in the group, Lin Huang closed the chat group and went to the branch of the Mysterious Item Pavilion alone.
After buying a copy of detailed information about the Abyssal battleground nearby, Lin Huang immediately began going through it carefully.
This expanse of battleground where Demon Hunter Star Zone was located went by the name of the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss. It was originally the main battleground where a Lord from the Dragon Tribe and a Lord from the Abyss engaged in combat. It was currently the off-peak season for battles, and entry to the battleground was restricted by the Lords of the Dragon Tribe and the Abyss—only powerhouses below heavenly god-level could go in to hunt.
The reason for preserving this sort of battleground was mainly to train up new blood for various major organizations.
To prevent geniuses who had not yet grown into maturity from encountering more powerful enemies, the battleground was further subdivided into the outer, inner, and core layers.
Only Virtual Gods could enter the outer layer. The inner layer was the battleground for True Gods, while the core layer was where the topmost-tier True God powerhouses clashed.
The core and inner layers were connected, but the powerhouses in the core layer usually could not be bothered to enter the inner layer to battle with low to medium-rank True Gods.
On the other hand, the outer and inner layers were connected, but only one-way. Virtual Gods in the outer layer were able to enter the inner layer; conversely, however, True Gods from the inner layer were unable to enter the outer layer to hunt Virtual Gods.
As a result, in the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss, some virtual god-level peak powerhouses would hunt along the border area between the outer and inner layers and occasionally fought against True Gods. If they were to find themselves in a situation, they could immediately escape to the outer layer to avoid being hunted down by True Gods.
'Looks like I'll have to go around the inner layer first, hunt enough seventh and eighth-rank Divine Fires, then enter the core layer.' Lin Huang's goal was very clear. 'I just don't know whether there'll be any True God peak powerhouses showing up in the core layer…'
After carefully reading over the information once, Lin Huang sent a copy of it to Lin Xin and the rest of the group.
"All of you, take a look through this information. There's no need to read it all—just read the relevant information about the hunting area you'll be in, and that will do."
After making these arrangements, Lin Huang closed his eyes right away and began cultivating Seamless, patiently awaiting the start of the hunt.
At eight o'clock the next morning, everyone met together at the agreed time.
"Has everyone done their pre-battle preparations?" Lin Huang's gaze swept over everyone present. He could sense that, apart from Lin Xuan and Chan Dou, everyone else was more or less slightly nervous, including Mr. Fu.
Lin Xuan was not nervous, perhaps due to the last few years of hardship that had formed his unflappable character.
On the other hand, Chan Dou was not nervous because, as one of the five princes, he had almost never failed while growing up. This gave him massive confidence.
Mr. Fu being nervous was something Lin Huang could understand. After all, Mr. Fu had not utilized his full abilities in many years, much less hunt in ruins. Moreover, after coming to the great world this time, he had seen a large number of True Gods, which had made him more cautious on some levels.
As for Lin Xin and Xiao Mo, they had minimal combat experience, and both of them had never been to any ruins while growing up.
Huang Wuji was nervous because he had just elevated to virtual god-level and had yet to officially cross swords with other virtual god-level powerhouses.
"There's no need be nervous—the main purpose of going in this time is to familiarize yourselves with the environment," Lin Huang reassured them with a smile, "Let me brief you about the specifics of the arrangement now.
"Master Chan and Xiao Mo, realistically there shouldn't be many Virtual Gods who have mastered Rule Bending Power in the outer layer area. So, my suggestion to both of you is not to use Rule Bending Power unless absolutely necessary, and try your best to find rank-3 and rank-4 Virtual Gods for combat practice, otherwise, the experiences won't bring much in the way of results. Also, I did consider that Wuji is a Virtual God rank-1, so he'll find it more difficult to hunt alone. He'll still need you both to accompany him, which is why I don't recommend delving deep into the outer layer area."
After Lin Huang finished talking, he turned to look at Lin Xin, Lin Xuan, and Mr. Fu once again.
"Xiao Xin, although you're only a Virtual God rank-9, with your equipment, running into low-rank True Gods shouldn't be a huge problem. You can follow Teacher and Da Xuan into the inner area and be their reinforcement because both of them can't enter the outer area…"
Only after arranging the itineraries for both teams did Lin Huang set out with all six of them and enter the dimensional portal to the battleground area.
Once they stepped out of the portal, the seven of them appeared right away at the battleground entrance.
From afar, Lin Xin saw groups of men holding hands and walking through the entrance to the battleground.
"What are they doing?" Lin Xin looked astonished.
"This is to allow teams to be teleported to the same coordinates. If they don't hold hands, everyone will be teleported to different locations."
"Alright then…" Lin Xin nodded, but suddenly asked, "We have both Virtual God and True God combat levels so, if we all hold hands, will we also be teleported to the same coordinates?"
"Yes, we'll all be teleported to the inner layer." Lin Huang nodded. "Virtual Gods can enter the inner layer area; it's only True Gods who can't enter the outer layer area from the inner layer. If True Gods and Virtual Gods teleport together, they will all be teleported to the inner layer area.
"Girl, you definitely must not have read the materials carefully yesterday," Lin Huang commented in some irritated.
"I did read them!" Lin Xin's voice faltered, "It's just that I didn't really look at the details…"
There were not many people lining up at the battleground entrance to register. In front of Lin Huang and the others, there were only three teams left, all of which consisted of only True Gods.
Seeing that there were several Virtual Gods on Lin Huang's team, the other teams began discussing quietly amongst themselves.
A female member of the team in front looked at Huang Wuji and a few others before hesitating a moment and walking over regardless.
"The danger level for this battleground is extremely high. The outer layer area is even more chaotic than the inner layer area. I would suggest that unless you're a high-rank Virtual God, it's probably best you don't enter." After the woman finished, she intentionally eyed Lin Huang, who was a Virtual God rank-6, obviously insinuating, "You shouldn't enter either."
"Thanks for the reminder; we're just going in to have a look. If it doesn't work, we'll come back out," Lin Huang replied with a smile, knowing that she meant well.
Upon seeing this, the woman merely frowned slightly but did not say anything further before turning around and going back to her team.
"Why do you bother about them? They're willing to dig their own graves…" A male member of the team grinned at the woman.
The man intentionally did not use voice transmission, so even the other two teams in front looked over as well.
Lin Huang and the others naturally heard him loud and clear but ignored him and continued to line up.
In less than two minutes, the three teams in front finished registering themselves and entered the battleground holding hands.
Registration for Lin Huang's team was also completed very rapidly.
"Team NF404…" The registrar watched as Lin Huang and the others split into two groups and held hands to go through the battleground entrance. His lips twitched in resignation, "Another bunch of kids digging their own graves…"
Chapter 1474: Earth Skeleton
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After teleporting in from the entrance, Lin Huang realized that only Chan Dou, Xiao Mo, and Huang Wuji were still beside him. Lin Xin and the other two had obviously been teleported somewhere else.
Lin Huang lifted his head and looked around. This was a vast canyon; in the distance, one could see a continuous range of mountains looming on the horizon.
However, the most unusual thing was the sky.
The blue-black sky contained no stars at all and was covered with dark clouds. No sunlight illuminated this vast expanse of land; there were only the occasional blood-colored lightning flashes and flares of scarlet flame.
"Is this the real Abyss?" Xiao Mo could not help asking.
"This battleground is the product of combined fragments from both the Abyss and the material world," Lin Huang explained nonchalantly.
"My Divine Telekinesis has been suppressed. I can only sense up to a distance of three thousand meters." Chan Dou turned his attention to the more immediate issue right away.
"I can only sense up to one thousand meters." Huang Wuji frowned slightly.
"There are still will remnants of Lords in this battleground. Anyone who is below heavenly god-level will have their Divine Telekinesis suppressed to about one-thousandth of their normal state."
Lin Huang also spread out his Divine Telekinesis. It was suppressed by an unknown force as well, but he still could sense up to around 1200 kilometers.
"Although Divine Telekinesis coverage range isn't wide, it's best that all of you keep it activated. In this battleground—in addition to Abyssal hunters—there are also spirit types that evolved from remnant corpses and souls left behind on the battlefield. There are also undying species, aberrant species, demons, and other monsters… There are some monsters that specialize in concealment and camouflage, and they can be very difficult to detect with the naked eye."
Lin Huang mentioned this because he had already noticed that not too far off, there were many hidden monsters around. However, he did not intend to take action.
There were only ten or so monsters in this wave, all of which were beginner-stage Virtual Gods. They were just right for Chan Dou and the other two to practice on—there was little sense in him making a move.
Due to the limitations of their sensing range, despite Lin Huang's reminder, Chan Dou and the other two still did not notice the group of monsters hiding not too far away.
However, it seemed that the group of monsters had other perception abilities and could sense the presence of Lin Huang and the other three from afar. Not only that, the monsters were sneaking up on them silently.
"Where do we go from here?" As Huang Wuji asked this, he was very clearly looking toward Lin Huang.
Upon hearing this question, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo also looked at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang raised his brows. "Don't look at me; look at the map."
As Lin Huang spoke, he projected a map. Since there was no way to fix positions within the battleground, they would have to determine their locations by themselves. This was not an obstacle for Lin Huang, whose probing range of Divine Telekinesis was extremely wide, but it was slightly more difficult for Chan Dou and the other two.
Seeing the three of them staring at the map with a blank expression, Lin Huang pointed to a dot on the map. "We're currently here, and we're facing this direction right now…"
Hearing Lin Huang describe their location so breezily, Chan Dou stared at him and asked, "How do you know our current location?"
"I've been here once before." Lin Huang concealed the fact that the probing range of his Divine Telekinesis was abnormally wide.
As one had to use Divine Telekinesis to confirm their own location, the coverage range of one's Divine Telekinesis had to be extremely wide to the extent that they could compare it with a map to know where they were.
After getting this answer, Chan Dou nodded and did not ask further. He pulled up his own map projection as well.
"From what I see, if we continue walking in this direction, we'll go deeper and deeper into the outer layer areas…"
Seeing that Chan Dou had started taking the lead, Lin Huang did not say anything more and waited for Chan Dou to finish talking before adding two reminders, "The distribution of the monsters on the map isn't completely accurate. Some monsters will migrate spontaneously, and some will also move due to man-made influences. Moreover, the Abyssal hunters also won't hunt according to the monster distribution rules and may appear anywhere in any area. It's also possible for intermediate-stage and high-level monsters to appear in the beginner-stage monster distribution area on the map. In short, don't trust the map too much. The information there can only be used as a reference."
Chan Dou and the others nodded solemnly, put away the map, and began flying in Chan Dou's chosen direction at low speed.
The group of them flew no more than ten meters above the ground, and they flew very slowly.
The reason was very simple. Flying high would make it easy for them to be discovered, and would cause them to become targets. Flying fast could also easily cause air turbulence and draw unnecessary attention.
Lin Huang trailed behind the three leisurely, watching Chan Dou and the others getting closer to the direction where the monsters were hiding. However, he did not speak up to remind them.
This was because he knew that he could remind them once, but he could not keep reminding them for the second and third time. Only after encountering the monsters themselves would they truly commit this to memory.
When the team had approached within a certain distance, Chan Dou suddenly frowned slightly.
He detected no anomalies within his Divine Telekinesis sensing range, and there was nothing unusual in sight, but his intuition was sending him warning signals.
"Wait a minute!" He made a decisive decision and waved his hand to stop everyone from moving forward.
"What's the matter?" Xiao Mo was a little bewildered.
"Did you discover anything out of the ordinary?" Huang Wuji immediately increased his vigilance.
"I didn't find anything unusual, but my intuition's sensing there's danger ahead…"
Chan Dou had just finished speaking when they heard a hissing sound. Thousands of meters away, the earth began churning rapidly, before surging toward Lin Huang and the others like a wave.
The tumbling wave of sandy soil roiled higher and higher, increasing in speed. Almost the next instant, it loomed in front of Lin Huang and the others.
Lin Huang had long since vanished in a flash, silently appearing hundreds of meters above the ground and observing the reactions of the three people below him.
Seeing the wave gradually drawing closer, the three were visibly stunned for a moment before they reacted. They began fleeing toward the higher areas in the direction that they had come from.
Chan Dou was the calmest among them and only adjusted his flying altitude to be slightly higher. He narrowed his eyes and observed for a while, then went into combat mode right away.
This was because he already knew what was approaching.
Huang Wuji and Xiao Mo had retreated some distance in a panic. Seeing that Chan Dou did not follow suit, they stopped fleeing.
"Don't panic; it's a spirit type—an Earth Skeleton." After that, Chan Dou added, "Normally its combat level doesn't exceed beginner-stage virtual god-level."
Earth Skeletons were originally skeletons buried beneath the ground that had transformed into spirit types. They were skilled at moving through the earth, but their abilities were not considered strong.
At Chan Dou's words, Huang Wuji and Xiao Mo visibly calmed down.
Both of them had read the monster guide for the great world and had some understanding of Earth Skeletons. Hearing that it was this type of monster, they immediately felt a rush of relief.
Not long after Chan Dou finished speaking, the sand had already barreled its way in front of him. Chan Dou did not fight back either, but let it swallow him up.
Following that, roaring sounds of battle came from within the tumbling sand and the sand's rolling momentum visibly weakened.
Huang Wuji and Xiao Mo glanced at each other, then they moved almost simultaneously, transforming into two streams of light that plunged into the tumbling sand.
Seeing the three of them officially in combat mode, Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction.
Not long after, the tumbling sand's momentum gradually halted. The dust billowing into the air blocked Lin Huang's view, but with Divine Telekinesis, he could observe everything happening behind the curtain of sand clearly.
The Earth Skeletons were easily beheaded by Chan Dou and Xiao Mo, and their numbers were rapidly decreasing. Although Huang Wuji's abilities were limited by his combat strength, he also was able to move freely within the dust and draw fire from several Earth Skeletons, assisting the other two in completing their kills.
Although this was the first time the three of them had joined forces, they had surprisingly good chemistry.
After merely three to four minutes, fourteen Earth Skeletons had all been beheaded on the spot.
The tumbling sand also became still, leaving behind only a pile of earth that looked as if it had been dug over by an iron plow.
Lin Huang's figure gradually descended. He glanced at Chan Dou before turning his gaze on Xiao Mo and Huang Wuji. "Don't panic when you encounter a situation. Observe first, then only make your decisions…"
After briefly discussing some issues regarding the three, Lin Huang allowed Chan Dou to continue leading the team forward…
Chapter 1475: The Battle Is Not Over Yet
After experiencing the first wave of surprise attacks from the Earth Skeletons, Chan Dou and the other two quickly went into battle mode.
Chan Dou and Huang Wuji were the most outstanding of the gravel world's younger generation. They had been through countless battles, both great and small. Therefore, after becoming familiar with the new environment of the battleground, their confidence quickly returned.
As for Xiao Mo, despite not having as much battle experience as the other two, his combat strength was still at virtual god-level rank-3 after all, and he had mastered Rule Bending Power. His overall abilities were only slightly inferior to Chan Dou, and it was hard to find someone who was his match among the beginner-stage Virtual Gods. Seeing that Huang Wuji was so fearless despite only being a Virtual God rank-1, Xiao Mo quickly followed suit and went into battle mode as well.
As they continued on their way, the three of them were also becoming increasingly familiar with the hunting process.
Lin Huang followed behind them the entire time. He did not make any moves and rarely even spoke. He merely briefly pointed out their mistakes and areas for improvement every time the three of them finished a battle.
Chan Dou and the other two also improved rapidly in subsequent battles and rarely repeated the mistakes they had made.
After the group had advanced several thousand kilometers and were about to reach the boundary of the beginner-stage Virtual God area, Lin Huang glanced silently at Chan Dou and the other two, the corner of his lips quirking up slightly.
He had sensed early on that there was a group of Abyssal hunters not too far away, who were all intermediate-stage Virtual Gods from rank-4 to rank-6—seven people in total.
However, he was not planning on giving hints to Chan Dou and the other two.
At this point, all three had gone through a few dozen battles, and their confidence was rapidly beginning to expand. Lin Huang felt that at this moment, it was essential that they experience some hard knocks in the world.
As Lin Huang and the other three continued their approach, the group of Abyssal hunters soon became aware of their presence. However, due to the disparity in their Divine Telekinesis coverage ranges, Chan Dou and the other two did not notice anything out of the ordinary.
With his Divine Telekinesis, Lin Huang could clearly see that the seven people from the other group were split into two teams, with one team making its way around from behind. They were evidently planning to attack Chan Dou and the other two from both sides.
As the distance between the two groups diminished, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo noticed something unusual almost simultaneously, but at this point, they were already less than three thousand meters from the hunters ahead of them.
"It's the Abyssal hunters!"
As soon as Chan Dou finished speaking, the three abyssal monsters in front of them sprang out, appearing in front of Lin Huang and the other three from not too far off and blocking their way forward.
Upon sensing the strength of the three monsters' auras, Chan Dou and the other two grimaced.
This was because their opponents were two Virtual God rank-5s and a Virtual God rank-6.
"Didn't think we'd be lucky enough to bump into a bunch of human kids." The leader, a Virtual God rank-6 monster, had a human-like upper torso with a bald head and knotted muscles, except that it had eight glass bead-like eyes on its face, which made it seem incredibly like a deity. However, the biggest difference between itself and a human was that it did not have legs below its waist—instead, it had dozens of scarlet tentacles.
"Three Virtual God rank-3s, and a Virtual God rank-1. I don't know where you found the courage to enter the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss." The monster off to one side stood upright on both legs; just by looking at its silhouette, one might have thought that it was a tall, thin male human. However, its body was covered by thick blue-black scales, and even the two eyes in its head were fish eyes.
"I actually hope guys like them come here more often—then we'll get to eat fresh, tender meat every day. Humans are a lot more delicious than the monsters in this battleground." The monster that spoke looked slightly deformed, its head taking up a good half of its body. It had a bird beast-like body which was covered in feathers, except for its head.
Chan Dou glanced surreptitiously at Lin Huang, saw that he was clearly not planning on taking action, and knew that he could only rely on the other two to fight this battle.
He started rapidly turning over countertactics in his head.
Their opponents were two Virtual God rank-5s and a Virtual God rank-6, whereas, for his own group, Huang Wuji was only at virtual god-level rank-1—which also meant that he could only rely on himself and Xiao Mo.
Although he and Xiao Mo had both mastered Rule Bending Power, every time they used their Virtual God combat strength to activate their Rule Bending Powers, it put extreme stress on their bodies and depleted their Divine Power immensely.
The more pressing issue was that even with Rule Bending Power, it did not mean that one would be able to run rampant among Virtual Gods. It was true that Rule Bending Power was able to kill Virtual God rank-9s, but Xiao Mo and Chan Dou were only Virtual God rank-3s. If they were hit by an attack from the three monsters in front of them, there was a high chance that they would instantly be killed on the spot.
'Based on how strong my Divine Power is, I can activate Rule Bending Power three times at most. If Xiao Mo can activate his Rule Bending Power twice, we have three opportunities to attack and two to defend… I have to join forces with Xiao Mo. We can't waste a single chance when using our Rule Bending Power!'
Different strategies flashed quickly through Chan Dou's head. He ended up choosing the best option and communicated it to Xiao Mo through voice transmission.
However, as he made this decision, he was unaware of the four ambushers behind them…
After the voice transmission ended, the battle began.
Chan Dou directly launched a frontal attack and charged toward the Virtual God rank-6.
The Tentacle Monster laughed menacingly, "He's mine; don't any of you make a move."
As soon as it finished speaking, the countless scarlet tentacles below the monster's waist turned into scattered shadows that filled the sky. They blotted out heaven and earth as they surged toward Chan Dou.
All of a sudden, the entire space seemed to turn into an ocean of tentacles that swallowed Chan Dou up right away.
When he saw what was happening, Huang Wuji's expression altered slightly. However, he very quickly noticed Xiao Mo's serene expression, and his own emotions calmed down immediately.
The sea of red tentacles in the void only lasted for a moment before suddenly shooting out golden beams of light. An instant later, the tentacles that filled the sky were all annihilated.
The Tentacle Monster was not the only one astonished; the other two abyssal monsters watching the battle from the sidelines were also stunned.
Right at this moment, Xiao Mo suddenly disappeared on the spot.
Almost at the same time, a dark shadow silently wrapped itself around the body of the Big-mouthed Monster.
"Help…help me…" By the time the Big-mouthed Monster managed to cry out, more than half of its body had already been swallowed up by the dark shadow.
The Fish-scaled Monster off to one side was about to reach out and rescue the Big-mouthed Monster. However, it had barely touched the Big-mouthed Monster's body before it realized that a dark shadow was swiftly crawling up its arm and seemed inclined to contaminate its own body. It broke off its arm without hesitation and leaped backward until it reached a certain distance.
After that, it watched with a horrified expression as the Big-mouthed Monster was completely swallowed up by the dark shadow, its life force gradually dying out.
On the other side, the Tentacle Monster also let out a dismal howl.
The Fish-scaled Monster turned its head in that direction, and saw that all the scarlet tentacles in the sky had been fractured into nothingness—even the Tentacle Monster's whole body had been impaled by a blinding golden streak of light
As the anguished howl suddenly ceased, the Tentacle Monster's life force dissipated, and its corpse slumped toward the ground.
When it saw the Tentacle Monster and the Big-mouthed Monster die one after the other, the Fish-scaled Monster turned to flee but saw a streak of golden light hurtling toward it from the spot where the Tentacle Monster had fallen.
That golden streak of light had practically reached maximum speed and pierced right through the Fish-scaled Monster's body in an instant.
Before the golden light had fully dissipated, a human silhouette gradually revealed itself.
It was Chan Dou!
He held his sword in one hand, but his chest was heaving violently. His sword-wielding right hand was also trembling slightly.
He had used Rule Bending Power to attack twice consecutively, which put extreme stress on his body. It had even depleted the greater part of his Divine Power.
Sensing that the three monsters' life force had dissipated, Chan Dou and Xiao Mo were about to exhale a sigh of relief when Lin Huang's voice sounded in their ears.
"The battle is not over yet…"
Chapter 1476: Lin Huang Leaves The Team
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Upon hearing Lin Huang's prompting, Chan Dou and the other two were startled.
Right at this moment, the four Abyssal hunters behind them rushed over.
All four had clearly sensed the fluctuations from the battle here. They had not participated because, on one hand, they did not think their teammates needed help, and for another, they wanted to block Lin Huang and the others' escape route.
Once the battle fluctuations had ended, they were too lazy to even use Divine Telekinesis to check on the outcome before charging straight over to this side of the battleground.
This was because, in the eyes of the four Abyssal hunters, this hunt was nothing to be concerned about; to them, it was entirely a one-sided massacre.
The disparity between Virtual God rank-3s and rank-5s was not something that could be offset easily. Moreover, this human team had also brought along a Virtual God rank-1 who would only be a liability. One did not need to be a genius to know what the outcome would be.
Moreover, the battle had only lasted for no more than half a minute, something that the four Abyssal hunters had expected.
As the quartet ran toward the battleground, they were thinking about how to divide the spoils, but when they arrived at the scene and saw that Lin Huang and the others were still alive, they were immediately stunned.
A single question popped up in the minds of all four Abyssal hunters almost simultaneously, namely, 'What on earth is going on?!'
Right at this moment, Chan Dou sent a voice transmission to Xiao Mo without hesitation, "Now!"
Taking advantage of the four Abyssal hunters' momentary stupefaction, Chan Dou's figure once again transformed into a golden ray of light. Using his remaining Divine Power to boost his Light Elemental Enlightenment, he targeted the Virtual God rank-6 with the highest combat strength among the quartet.
Almost simultaneously, Xiao Mo also made his move, unleashing his full power, his figure once again disappearing into thin air…
The four Abyssal hunters were only briefly taken aback, but before they could recover their equilibrium, they saw a golden streak of light pierce through the body of a Black-armored Monster among them.
Not too far away, another Multi-eyed Monster—a Virtual God rank-5—was also being entangled by a dark shadow.
"Save me…" The Multi-eyed Monster entangled by the shadow struggled wretchedly, calling help from the remaining two hunters all the while.
The two Abyssal hunters that had not been attacked were visibly shocked upon seeing what was happening. As one of them was hesitating over whether to come to their teammates' aid, the other abandoned its companion without hesitation and turned to flee.
Although this Virtual God rank-5 could not figure out what had happened and why these two humans would suddenly manifest such abilities, its two comrades with more powerful abilities than itself were both in jeopardy right before its very eyes. Also, three of its comrades up ahead were now all dead, so it decided it would choose to escape instead.
Seeing its companion decisively abandon it and flee, the Virtual God rank-4 that had initially been hesitating lost its courage and immediately turned to flee in the other direction.
On the battleground, although Chan Dou had succeeded in beheading the virtual god-level rank-6 Black-armored Monster, his Divine Power was completely depleted, and he no longer had even an ounce of strength left in his body to move.
On the other side, the Multi-eyed Monster was being slowly swallowed up by the dark shadow. Although Xiao Mo still had some energy left, he could not catch up with the two fleeing monsters.
When Lin Huang saw this, he finally took action. Two blood-red gleams shot out from the cuff of his sleeve; these instantly pierced through the void and impaled the bodies of the two Abyssal hunters that were frantically running away.
Once Lin Huang's telekinetic threads wrapped around the two corpses and brought them back, Xiao Mo finally completed his kill over on this end.
Xiao Mo was slightly out of breath. Although his Divine Power was not completely depleted, it was not enough to support him in calling up a third round of Rule Bending Power.
His condition was slightly better than Chan Dou's.
Seeing that Lin Huang had killed the last two monsters, Chan Dou lay flat on the ground, face-up, panting heavily.
Lin Huang used Divine Telekinesis to scan both of their bodies. Although Chan Dou had seriously overexerted his physical body, there were no residual effects. Xiao Mo had nothing much wrong with him either.
"Let's call it a day for today's battles then. We'll find a place to rest for a while." As soon as Lin Huang said this, Huang Wuji took the initiative to carry Chan Dou on his back, glancing at Xiao Mo.
"I'm alright; it's just that my Divine Power has been depleted a bit more than usual." Xiao Mo quickly waved him off.
After cleaning up the battleground, Lin Huang led the three of them to find a cave for temporary shelter.
Placing Chan Dou on the ground, Huang Wuji appeared slightly worried. "Is he alright?"
While he was carrying Chan Dou along the way, he felt as if the latter was unable to lift even a finger.
"He's alright, just extremely overexerted. A good rest, and he'll be fine," Lin Huang explained.
Xiao Mo also sat down beside Chan Dou while leaning against the wall of the cave, his expression one of exhaustion.
In truth, he was also aching all over, but his physical body had not reached the point of overexertion yet.
"Let me give all of you a review of your battle just now.
"First of all, you're not vigilant enough. Although the probing range of your Divine Telekinesis isn't as wide as the other team, you still have other probing methods you can use. If you notice anything unusual, you should immediately adopt other probing methods to see if there are enemies ambushing you, so that you can prepare in advance…
"The second point is one that I think you all managed quite well—making decisive moves with no hesitation. Master Chan and Xiao Mo's cooperation was actually very good, and they already have a tacit understanding between them. Not only that, but they also trust each other. This is an excellent thing.
"My third point is one in which Master Chan committed a serious error. There's nothing wrong with fighting to the death. At any given time, however, one must always leave oneself a chance of survival. I know you were worried that a single strike wouldn't be enough to get rid of the enemy, so you didn't dare hold anything back in your third attack. However, this resulted in you utterly losing any means of self-preservation. Since your Divine Power was completely depleted, even if you had a life-saving trump card, you might not have been able to use it. In terms of the appropriate apportioning of Divine Power, you still need more combat experience.
"If I hadn't acted just now, once the two fleeing monsters realized that no one was pursuing them, they would definitely have come back to check. That's because in this kind of hunting ground, even if one person has energy left, they'll chase down any remaining enemies to avoid bringing even more trouble upon themselves. It's normal to fail in any pursuit, but both of you didn't even chase after them at all—this would most certainly have roused their suspicions. Once they'd had a chance to calm down, there's a high possibility that they would have returned to check the battleground; they might even have pursued you in return…"
…
Lin Huang conducted a post-mortem of the whole battle, pointed out some of the group's issues, then took out three storage rings from his space storage, which he tossed to each of them in turn.
"There are some Divine Crystals inside these—not many, but they should be enough for you to replenish your Divine Power during this trial."
Lin Huang finished, then continued, "Personally, my suggestion is that you shouldn't go in any deeper for the time being. It's best that you withdraw a certain distance. If you can elevate your combat level, elevate it; if you can upgrade your abilities in other aspects, then do so. Obtain resources steadily and surely; don't rush in. If you keep going in any further, not only might there be intermediate-stage Virtual Gods, but even teams of high-level Virtual Gods might show up."
After a day's rest, Xiao Mo was back to peak condition. Although Chan Dou's body was not fully restored, he had also recovered eighty percent of his abilities.
Lin Huang gave them a few more words of advice before taking his leave of them, swiftly traveling on his own toward the deeper reaches of the battleground.
After Chan Dou and the other two watched Lin Huang leave, they took heed of his suggestions and turned around, heading back in the direction from which they had come…
Chapter 1477: Border Area
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After separating from Chan Dou's team, Lin Huang continued journeying in deeper without stopping, moving swiftly toward the inner layer.
All the monsters he met along the way, he instantly killed with his telekinetic flying daggers. Lin Huang's speed did not slow down in the least, either. After killing the monsters along the way, he extended his Divine Telekinetic threads and collected all the spoils, not giving anyone else a chance to get their hands on them.
Even if these virtual god-level beast corpses and Godheads were of no use to him, they could still be sold for money.
It took Lin Huang less than ten minutes to get from the outer layer to the inner layer of the battlefield.
At the border between the inner and outer layers, he altered his route again and sped along the boundary line, searching for traces of Lin Xin and her group.
Lin Xin was only virtual god-level rank-9, and both Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan were only first-rank True Gods. Based on their abilities, the best place for them to gain experience was this border between the inner and outer layers. If they were to go deeper into the inner layer, the risk of them dying would also increase.
Lin Huang did not conceal his tracks at all. Under Thousand Face's disguising, he was currently displaying the combat level of a Virtual God rank-9.
At such a combat level, his swift travel along the border quickly attracted the attention of many powerhouses.
Excluding a very small number of cautious fellows, almost all the teams did not hesitate to attack Lin Huang.
However, it went without saying that everyone who attacked Lin Huang was killed instantly, whether they were high-level Virtual Gods or low-rank True Gods. Not a single one of them was spared.
After traveling less than half the distance that he had covered in the outer layer, the number of monsters that had perished by Lin Huang's hand was already more than twice the number of monsters he had encountered in the outer layer.
'Is this border area always this lively?'
Lin Huang extended his Divine Telekinesis and found that the density of monsters at this boundary between the inner and outer layers was far greater than that of the outer area. There were also a dozen times more humans and Abyssal hunters.
After traveling along the border for more than ten minutes, he finally located Lin Xin's trio with his Divine Telekinesis.
The three of them were hunting down a first-rank true god-level aberrant species monster.
Lin Huang appeared near the area where the three of them were and hid himself to quietly watch the battle.
Lin Xin held a silver gun in her right hand and circled the edge of the battleground. She did not fire continuously but only attacked occasionally, aiming at the aberrant species' weak spots.
Every so often, right before the aberrant species was about to attack, she would directly hinder its assault. At other times, it would be a fierce battle between the aberrant species, Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan. The moment the monster let down its guard, Lin Xin would instantly switch to sniper mode with the gun she wielded and attack the monster's weak spots…
Her grasp of battle timing and accuracy had undoubtedly reached the peak of gun technique. If she were to improve just a little more, Lin Huang felt that she might even be able to consolidate Firearms True Meaning.
Lin Xin performed extremely well as combat support in this battle. Under her constant interference, the aberrant species was only able to display less than seventy percent of its full ability and was quickly killed off by Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan.
Once he saw that the battle had ended and Lin Xuan was already beginning to collect the spoils, Lin Huang finally came out of hiding and revealed himself.
Upon becoming aware of the sudden appearance of someone else within their sensing range, the three immediately became vigilant, but they soon sensed that this aura belonged to Lin Huang.
"Brother!" Lin Xin's face filled with joy when she saw Lin Huang.
"You did well." Lin Huang gave Lin Xin a satisfied nod.
"When did you arrive?" Lin Xuan asked, a little surprised.
"More or less when the battle was just starting," Lin Huang did not hide the truth, "I didn't want to interfere with your pace of battle, so I just watched from the sidelines."
Although they had not sensed Lin Huang's aura throughout the entire fight, Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan were not too surprised. After all, they had seen Lin Huang take down a ninth-rank true god-level powerhouse before.
"I assume things are going well for Chan Dou and the others?" Mr. Fu asked with a smile.
The fact that Lin Huang was here likely meant that there were no major issues on Chan Dou's side.
"You could say it's going fairly well." Lin Huang nodded. "Their main issue is that their combat level is too low but other than that, there are no major problems.
"What about all of you? On my way here, I discovered that the distribution of monsters at the border is much denser than in the outer layer, and there were human and Abyssal hunters practically everywhere. The one with the highest combat strength was at fourth-rank true god-level."
Lin Huang had also noticed that the three of them still bore very neat and tidy appearances, so they probably had not encountered too much trouble.
"Well, we've only been here for a day, so we haven't encountered any powerhouses yet. The strongest one we've come across was a second-rank spirit type. However, the difficulty of hunting it down didn't increase very much; it just took more time," Mr. Fu said with a smile.
"Yes, although the spirit type yesterday was a second-rank, it was really dumb!" Lin Xin could not help mocking it, "Whenever one of us hit it, it would chase after that person. It was a lot of fun."
"Monsters with that kind of intelligence level are actually a minority." Lin Huang shook his head after hearing that. "It was just your good luck to encounter it. If it had been even a little smarter, it would definitely have been several times harder to hunt down than a first-rank.
"Just like the aberrant species from earlier—if it had been a second-rank, you wouldn't have been able to break through its defenses at all. It wouldn't be affected by your gun attacks in the least." Lin Huang looked at Lin Xin again.
"You performed well with your firearm just now, but don't fall behind on your sword skills. If I remember correctly, in the beginning, your main cultivation path at the Martial Hunter College was sword skills, and firearms was only supplemental cultivation. If you meet a suitable opponent, you have to use that chance to sharpen your close-combat skills. Don't let your main cultivation path become your shortcoming…"
"Okay…" Right after receiving a compliment, she was being nagged to practice her sword skills—the smile on Lin Xin's face vanished immediately.
"The girl has performed very well; don't criticize her so harshly," Mr. Fu decided to defend Lin Xin this time.
"It's alright, your main issue is that you still lack actual combat experience, so you'll be fine after fighting in a few more battles," Lin Xuan also comforted Lin Xin.
Lin Huang did not say anything more after that.
"Are you preparing to enter the inner layer directly?" Lin Xuan turned and asked Lin Huang—in reality, he did this to change the topic of conversation.
"I'm not in a hurry. I'll come along with you for a while." Lin Huang shook his head, then turned his gaze on Lin Xin. "I want to see how all of you are adapting."
"What are you looking at me for? I'm adapting just fine!" Lin Xin said with a curl of her lips.
Lin Huang withdrew his gaze, then said, "On my way here, I found that there were more powerhouses at the border than I expected. I've already seen five teams with medium-rank True God members, and two of those teams were Abyssal hunters. Among the five teams, the strongest was one of the Abyssal hunter teams. They have three fourth-rank True Gods and five third-rank True Gods… If you encounter them, you wouldn't even be able to escape."
Upon hearing this, not only did Mr. Fu and Lin Xuan fall silent, but Lin Xin as well.
What the three of them did not know was that as Lin Huang was speaking, he had secretly crushed Witch's Monster Card, allowing her to hide off to one side and secretly watch over them.
"I'll accompany all of you for a while, then we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Chapter 1478: Arriving at the Core Layer
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"You've all mastered Rule Bending Power, but from what I've seen in the previous battles, there's still a lot of room for improvement in how you utilize it.
"The use of Rule Bending Power consumes a large amount of Divine Power. At your current combat level, you can't use Rule Bending Power limitlessly. Therefore, you need to learn to accurately judge when to use it and which type of Rule Bending Power to use…
"Based on the last few battles that I saw, Lin Xin was the one who used it most accurately, even though she's only mastered one type of Rule Bending Power. Of course, this is also because she has only mastered one type of Rule Bending Power, so she only needs to determine the timing of her actions. Furthermore, having a good grasp of timing is a must for a firearms master.
"Lin Xuan, you've mastered the most number of Rule Bending Powers—six types, in fact—but your utilization is the poorest among the three of you. Not only did you make mistakes in the utilization of the rules themselves, but sometimes you also hesitated so you could think. This is a cardinal sin in battle…
"My personal suggestion is that you categorize the Rule Bending Powers that you've mastered so you can significantly cut down on the time used for thinking when in combat. When I first started out, I categorized the rules that I had mastered into three main types—strength, speed, and others. Whatever type of rules that I needed in combat, I would directly extract them from one of these categories and use them. Even if it's not suitable, you still won't be too far off if you use a similar type of Rule Bending Power.
"As the number of rules that you master increases, you can branch out from the main categories to divide them into different subcategories and group the rules with similar effects together…
"Of course, there are many people who find this troublesome—they would rather gain experience from actual combat. However, this will depend on individual potential. Most people take a longer time to master Rule Bending Power because it takes repeated practice to be able to make instant judgments in battle…"
Lin Xin, Lin Xuan, and Mr. Fu listened attentively as Lin Huang discussed his experiences because, in the long run, the number of rules that they mastered would increase constantly, and this categorization method would become useful sooner or later.
"Since using Rule Bending Power consumes a large amount of Divine Power, and the Divine Power within you is limited, you can't activate the rules each time you attack. The rules should be utilized within the area of your blade…"
Lin Huang continued to analyze their problems for them, and the three also listened to him very carefully.
Unlike Chan Dou's group, the overall abilities of Lin Xin's team were pretty much at the lowest level within the inner layer areas. To put it bluntly, almost all the other hunting teams in the inner layer were stronger than them.
After all, although the combat level of Chan Dou's team was not high, both Chan Dou and Xiao Mo had mastered rule power, so even if they were to encounter an intermediate-stage Virtual God within the outer layer areas, they were capable of protecting themselves.
However, in the inner layer areas, there was practically no one who had not mastered rule power. Furthermore, their combat strength was stronger than Lin Xin's team.
That was why Lin Huang could not help worrying about the three of them, and also why he let Witch hide off to one side to watch over them.
During their journey afterward, Lin Huang helped the three of them review their battles and pointed out issues. He also gave suggestions regarding the use of rule power based on the actual combat situation.
Under Lin Huang's guidance, the three of them started to become more and more familiar with the use of rule power after every battle.
Lin Huang only accompanied them for one day. During this period, the four of them also encountered an attack by a team of Abyssal hunters, the leader of whom was a fourth-rank.
Although Lin Xin's team was not able to turn the tide even after going a round against them, their performance was clearly miles better than when they had first entered the area.
In the end, Lin Huang stepped in and finished the team off.
Early the next morning, Lin Huang bid farewell to the three of them and headed toward the inner layer area alone.
The reason he could be at ease leaving the three of them behind was that they were being guarded by Witch. Furthermore, after a day of guidance and special training, their utilization of Rule Bending Power was now at a satisfactory level. It would be meaningless for him to continue accompanying them.
After separating from Lin Xin's group, Lin Huang swiftly headed toward his destination.
When the Thousand Snake Sect invaded the gravel world previously, he had actually collected enough seventh-rank and eighth-rank Divine Fires, but he only had six ninth-rank Divine Fires.
This time, his purpose in entering the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss was to hunt for the remaining Divine Fires so he could break through to Virtual God rank-9 in one shot.
While following the path shown on the map, Lin Huang was also attacked by some true god-level monsters along the way. He casually killed them off, then used Divine Telekinesis to put the spoils into his space storage, not letting anything go to waste.
It took him the better part of half an hour to travel across the entire inner layer area. At the speed that Lin Xin's group was traveling within the inner and outer border area, it would probably take them at least half a month to cover this distance.
To avoid any unnecessary problems, Lin Huang disguised himself as a True God rank-9 using Thousand Face.
The Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss was not without solo travelers, and the core layer was no different. However, traveling solo was usually a sign of powerful ability.
Even in the core area where True God rank-9s were everywhere, most powerhouses still came in teams.
The core layer of the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss was not located in the same space as the inner and outer layers but in an ancillary space. To be precise, it was on another battlefield fragment. However, this fragment that comprised the core layer was smaller, and it was embedded into the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss, forming a structure similar to an ancillary space.
Although such a combination of two battlefield fragments was extremely rare, it was not unheard of. Some were formed naturally, while some were created artificially.
The Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss was said to have been formed naturally.
It might have been that the two battlefield fragments had collided together and formed this mosaic structure by chance.
Standing on the edge of a cliff, Lin Huang lowered his head and looked down.
More than ten meters below his feet, everything was shrouded by a layer of gray fog, preventing any kind of probing.
Even his Divine Telekinesis could not pass through, much less his line of sight.
"This should be it…"
Lin Huang put the map away. He knew he had found the right place.
At the bottom of this cliff was the entrance to the core layer.
According to the information given out by Mysterious Item Pavilion, the core area was quite different from other parts of the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss.
As this battlefield fragment of the core layer region had been the battlefield of two other Lords, not only was the material on the battleground more stable, but its gravity was also greater, and Space Rule could not be used.
Besides that, the density of Abyssal energy was also greater. Even the energy in the air was of the type that humans could not absorb at all; it had to be isolated using Divine Power. If a cultivator of insufficient ability were to enter, they would be corrupted in the extreme, to the point of becoming demonic or even deformed.
However, such an environment was an excellent place for Abyssal creatures to cultivate. As a result, there were a large number of abyssal monsters in the core layer, and the number of hunters from the Abyss was far greater than human hunters.
Lin Huang attempted a probe. He found nothing, but he had already expected that.
Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward, plunging down the cliff in free-fall…
Chapter 1479: Encounter with an Aberrant Species
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After landing in the core layer space, Lin Huang clearly felt the difference between this space here and that of the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss.
The gravity in this place was much stronger, and the Space Rule was also very chaotic.
Lin Huang extended his Divine Telekinesis and found that it had been further suppressed. The radius of his Divine Telekinesis coverage had been reduced to about 120 kilometers, which was only one-tenth of what it had been in the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss.
However, the thing that made Lin Huang most uncomfortable was how the air was saturated with dense Abyssal energy that was constantly trying to penetrate his body through every pore and skin cell.
'With such dense Abyssal energy, I'm afraid even seventh-rank and eighth-rank True Gods wouldn't be able to put up any amount of resistance for too long.' Sensing the speed at which his Divine Power was being consumed as he resisted the Abyssal energy, Lin Huang frowned slightly.
This environment was practically the equivalent of home ground for abyssal monsters.
Without waiting until he could fully adapt to this new environment, Lin Huang lifted his head and gazed into the distance.
Right after scanning the area with his Divine Telekinesis, he noticed that there were several monsters nearby. He also clearly sensed that he was being watched.
The monsters that were staring at him had gazes that were almost tangible, and they even made no attempt to conceal their own ill intentions, unabashedly making them known.
The corners of Lin Huang's lips quirked up slightly; from a distance, he looked at the first monster that was approaching him at top speed.
Almost instantly, the monster leaped across a distance of about ten kilometers and opened its blood-stained mouth, pouncing at Lin Huang.
Lin Huang just stood there as if he had been frozen on the spot by fear; only a red gleam faintly flashed from the cuff of his sleeve.
The next instant, the head of the red-skinned, large-mouthed monster exploded, and its body toppled to the ground heavily, stirring up a cloud of smoke and dust in its wake.
At this point, two other monsters had just arrived. Before they could even take action, they witnessed this scene happening in front of them, and their instincts told them to turn around and flee.
However, it was already too late.
As soon as Lin Huang raised his head, his gaze swept over the two monsters who had turned to flee. Two scarlet gleams shot out from the cuff of his sleeves again, instantly impaling the bodies of the two creatures.
"Too bad there's only one ninth-rank, I'm still short of three…" Lin Huang commented regretfully as he watched his Life Wheels absorb only one ninth-rank Divine Fire.
After storing away the corpses of the three monsters, he did not linger but continued swiftly toward the deeper reaches of the core layer.
Along the way, he met several monsters who tried to launch stealth attacks at him, but Lin Huang killed them all. However, he regretted that none of these were ninth-rank monsters. The Life Wheels within him refused to accept their Divine Fires.
In fact, along the way, Lin Huang had sensed a lot of monsters with his Divine Telekinesis, but he did not initiate any attacks, because hunting them down was meaningless to him. Those he did kill were the ones that attacked him first.
After moving forward for more than ten minutes, Lin Huang finally found a ninth-rank True God, which was a humanoid aberrant species.
It looked like a robust human male, but its size had expanded to more than three meters, and its chest and back were full of festering pustules with corrosive green pus seeping out of them.
Its right hand looked like a normal human arm and was holding a broad-bladed battle sword. The other arm was deformed and swollen, more than two meters long. The circumference of this arm was almost comparable to that of its waist, and it was covered in greenish-blue scales.
Lin Huang had never seen an aberrant species like that in the monster guide before, but he was still able to determine that this fellow had most likely been a human in its past life.
It was only that it had been corrupted by Abyssal energy to the point where its soul had also been corrupted after its physical body had been completely deformed. Therefore, it had fully turned into a monster both inside and out.
Monsters formed by the corruption of humans were usually in the top tier among monsters.
Sensing the aura of this monster, Lin Huang also became a little more cautious.
From the looks of things, the other used to be a sword cultivator before its death, and since it had dared to enter this core layer, that meant it was definitely not weak.
Normally, it was unlikely that a ninth-rank True God would be corrupted by the energy in this core layer. Therefore, Lin Huang determined that the other most likely had been corrupted after encountering a major battle that had exhausted its Divine Power.
All this while, Lin Huang was hiding nearby, observing in secret.
However, the aberrant species suddenly looked in Lin Huang's direction. An instant later, the Sword Dao of the aberrant species began to rise rapidly.
"True Self Level Sword Dao?!" Lin Huang was shocked. The other had also reached the third level of Sword Dao true meaning, just like himself.
At this moment, the Sword Dao within Lin Huang's body seemed to be influenced by the other's energy, fluctuating slightly.
Instantly, he felt the aberrant species' Sword Dao lock onto him.
Lin Huang reluctantly stood up from the bushes. He had not expected that his own Sword Dao would betray him like this.
As he looked at the aberrant species in front of him, his gaze had also become serious.
The fact that the Sword Dao within him could respond to the other's energy meant that the other's Sword Dao was at the same level as his own.
However, Lin Huang was not intimidated in the slightest.
Both of them were at the third level of Sword Dao true meaning, and he did not believe that he was any weaker than his opponent.
Under the pull of each other's energy, both parties' Sword Dao flowed out of their bodies and began to elevate rapidly.
In the end, the aberrant species was still slightly weaker, and its Sword Dao was the first to reach its peak.
Under the continued oppression from Lin Huang's Sword Dao, it finally could no longer hold back and attacked.
The broad-bladed battle sword in its hand slashed forward like a violent gust of wind, producing tens of thousands of slashes in an instant. The pitch-black sword gleams compounded together like a wave, coming at Lin Huang like a tsunami.
This attack would have been enough to slice a ninth-rank True God into pieces.
However, Lin Huang was not fazed at the sight of the black tsunami-like wave approaching him. In fact, he was delighted. He had not encountered a worthy Sword Dao opponent in a long time.
At some unknown moment, a narrow red blade had consolidated in Lin Huang's hand. He made just the slightest movement, and the narrow blade stabbed forward.
A violent gust of blood-red wind like a tornado shot out from the point of the blade.
The tornado expanded as soon as it hit the air and began rapidly splitting, instantaneously multiplying into twelve colossal hurricanes that reached from the earth to the heavens.
If there had been other powerhouses present who possessed True Self Level Sword Dao, they would have been able to see what actually happened with his attack. In reality, he had unleashed the same attack twelve times, but the trajectory of the attacks was exactly the same, and the speed at which they were delivered was so fast, it looked like he had only attacked once.
Like twelve gigantic sky-high pillars, the twelve hurricanes abruptly suppressed the tsunami, then completely shattered…
Everything in the path of the blood-red hurricanes turned to dust…
There were even a great many seventh-rank and eighth-rank monsters that suffered unexpected calamity—they were swallowed up by the hurricanes.
A terrifying surge of energy was released in all directions, and this quickly attracted the attention of other hunters nearby.
Quite a number of powerhouses had seen the terrifying hurricanes from a distance.
"I've never seen this kind of attack before—seems like a newcomer has arrived in town."
"Such powerful Sword Dao true meaning… What a powerful sword cultivator!"
"It's coming from this direction… someone can't be hunting down that monster, can they?!"