Chapter 1751: Hunter?
Lin Huang spent two days in the foggy area to clear out most of the Abyssal monsters.
There were quite a few types of monsters in this foggy area. Apart from the Glutton that he encountered in the beginning, he killed at least 20 other types of Abyssal monsters later on.
It was unknown whether it was because probing techniques such as Divine Telekinesis were being blocked here, or some other reasons, but the distribution of monsters within this area was quite dense.
The closest two monsters Lin Huang had encountered were less than 1,000 kilometers away from each other.
One of them was a Glutton that had mastered some 50,000 Dao seals. It had been grumbling about how hungry it was.
Meanwhile, the other one was less than 1,000 kilometers away from it. It was a fat Lazy Devil Pig. It had only mastered some 10,000 Dao seals. It was sleeping soundly, not knowing that danger was close at all.
To a dao-level powerhouse, a 1,000-kilometer gap was no different than a one-meter gap.
However, with the fog blocking most probing techniques, they could not sense each other's existences at all.
Very soon, Lin Huang realized that the fog also blocked energy fluctuations.
Even if the Destructive Divine Mammoth that had mastered 30,000 Dao seals fought with an Abyssal monster with the same ability, the commotion they caused could not be felt more than 30 kilometers away.
This enabled Lin Huang to kill over 3,000 Abyssal monsters with the two God's Figurine's Combat Souls unhindered.
He did not have to get the Destructive Divine Mammoth and the Ninetails Lynx to conceal their battle auras at all.
"This foggy area is the perfect place to grind." Lin Huang was satisfied with his gains throughout these two days. "I wonder if all of the foggy areas in this mystic territory are the same?"
According to the inherited memories, Lin Huang knew that some of the mystic territories had denser spots to grind. However, not all mystic territories contained such spots. Even if they did, they might be distributed in any region of the mystic territory.
Clearly, Lin Huang had encountered such a foggy area this time.
This made him want to verify his speculations in other foggy areas if he had the opportunity to do so in the future.
Throughout the two days in this foggy area, apart from the native monsters of the mystic territory, using the Probing of All Creations, Lin Huang discovered the existence of some 20 explorers.
The weakest one had mastered over 20,000 Dao seals. The most powerful one had mastered over 55,000 Dao seals.
Clearly, those who dared to enter the foggy area were not weaklings.
As two days passed by, Lin Huang had killed almost all of the monsters in this foggy area.
Just as he was going to wrap things up, and just as he was just going to shut his eyes to focus in order to perform the Probing of All Creations, he sensed an aura running away quickly nearby.
The person had mastered approximately 40,000 Dao seals judging by the strength of his aura. However, he seemed to be hurt.
Using the Probing of All Creations, Lin Huang heard the thought. 'This is the foggy area. As long as we're far away, he won't be able to find me!"
A moment later, Lin Huang sensed the aura of the pursuer.
The person had mastered approximately 52,000 Dao seals judging by his aura. He was some 3,000 kilometers away from the person before. However, Lin Huang was unsure how he was locking onto the person's coordinates so accurately. He kept chasing him, and the two were getting close and closer.
Lin Huang sensed his thoughts as well. 'You can't run away from me!'
The former was from the Longevity Tribe. The iconic baldness made him easy to identify.
The pursuer was not wearing a uniform, nor did he have anything that would have made him easy to identify.
However, Lin Huang recalled that this person was a member of Star Cluster.
Although all organizations prohibited their members from killing members from other organizations, if one had a serious personal grudge and happened to run into each other, it made sense that they would seize the opportunity to kill the other person.
The foggy area was the perfect place to do that.
Even Lin Huang would find it impossible to pass up such an opportunity to kill if he encountered an old enemy in such an environment.
Lin Huang did not plan to interfere in this matter as it was none of his business.
Moreover, those who would attack another in here most probably had personal grudges. Otherwise, it was unlikely that they would do such a thing out of the blue.
Although he was quite curious about what kind of probing technique the Star Cluster pursuer was using, Lin Huang soon turned his attention away from them.
He began to look for the remaining Abyssal monsters.
Approximately an hour later, Lin Huang had killed some 30 monsters one after the other.
When he activated Probing of All Creations again, to his surprise, he noticed another guy who was running away quickly.
The person who was escaping this time was a sorcerer from Infinite. He had mastered around 35,000 Dao seals. He was even more injured than the person from the Longevity Tribe earlier. Even his speed was affected.
Lin Huang also sensed the thoughts of fear that were repeating. 'Is this guy from Star Cluster out of his mind?! Why is he attacking me out of nowhere?!'
"Hmm?" Lin Huang suddenly frowned slightly.
The reason being was that he realized that the man behind the Infinite member had a buzzcut, small eyes and looked to be about 40. He was the pursuer who was chasing after the person from the Longevity Tribe earlier. His aura did not change at all.
Connecting the dots with the Infinite sorcerer's thoughts, Lin Huang had a faint feeling that something was wrong.
This time, he was hesitating as to whether he should interfere in this matter.
However, before he made up his mind, the buzzcut middle-aged man suddenly accelerated. The 800-kilometer gap suddenly shrunk to 80 kilometers.
The buzzcut middle-aged man released a vicious laugh. He drew his saber without hesitation. His aim was extremely accurate, targeting the injured sorcerer.
The next second, a black saber gleam flashed and passed through the tens of kilometers in the blink of an eye. It penetrated the sorcerer's black vest directly.
From that one attack, the Infinite sorcerer that was already badly hurt had the remaining Odyl in his body drained. The black Odyl that arrived with the saber gleam spread all over his body quickly, crushing all of the particles in his body.
Within half a breath of time, the Infinite sorcerer's very last ounce of vitality was crushed entirely. He died on the spot.
Watching the corpse land on the ground, the buzzcut middle-aged man landed next to it with a flash.
As he arrived, a black saber gleam shot forth from his fingertip, severing the sorcerer's two ring-wearing fingers.
He tossed them into his storage space and squatted down to examine the corpse. A moment later, he stood up and spat on the corpse. "Another piece of trash."
After putting the corpse into his storage space with a slightly disgusted expression, the buzzcut middle-aged man very soon lifted his head to look into the distance. A moment later, he seemed to have locked on to something and leapt forward. He rushed in that direction without hesitation.
At that moment, Lin Huang sensed a thought in the pursuer's head.
'I'll choose the two of you as my prey!'
"This guy…" At that moment, Lin Huang had a rough idea of what this person was doing.
He was not killing his enemies due to personal grudges, but rather hunting the other explorers in this foggy area.
Chapter 1752: I'll Demonstrate Again
Lin Huang was not a nosy person.
However, he thought that he should take things into his own hands when encountering people like the buzzcut middle-aged man.
Although the target he was hunting had nothing to do with him at all, this guy had broken the rules.
Moreover, he might bring about a greater disaster to the entire exploration team.
After all, he was already breaking the rules by killing other dao-level explorers. He might take it a step further and go to the regions with Lords to kill the lord-level explorers that were helpless to defend themselves.
Thinking about this, Lin Huang recalled his two God's Figurine's Combat Souls and followed him secretly.
Lin Huang did not plan to kill him immediately. He just wanted to further confirm whether he was really hunting other explorers or whether he had misunderstood what had just taken place.
Soon enough, the buzzcut middle-aged man appeared some 10,000 kilometers away.
Lin Huang could clearly sense that he was going after two Snow Kingdom members.
It was the two young men, one tall and one short. They were dressed in white robes. It was very easy to identify them.
Judging by the strength of their auras, they should have mastered some 30,000 Dao seals. They were not considered powerful, but they were not weak either.
"Something is closing in on us." Suddenly, the short young man turned serious.
At that moment, the buzzcut middle-aged man was only hundreds of kilometers away from the two of them. The short young man seemed to have an unique sensing technique that was not hindered by the fog.
As soon as he was done speaking, the tall young man grabbed him and ran quickly in the other direction.
Almost at the same time the two disappeared, a black saber gleam flashed through the place where they were just standing, leaving a massive crater on the ground.
The buzzcut middle-aged man did not feel defeated seeing that the attack had missed them.
He licked his lower lip and revealed a happy smile. "They dodged my attack despite only having 30,000 Dao seals. My speculation must be right…"
The two young men from Snow Kingdom had cold sweat from the scare. They ran away frantically at their fastest speed.
"That didn't seem like an Abyssal monster," the short young man said through voice transmission.
"He's a saber cultivator. He should be an explorer." The tall young man looked rather terrible.
"Why did he attack us out of nowhere? Did you make an enemy out there? And he's here to kill you?" The short young man asked.
"Stop finding fault with me at such a time. Think about how we should deal with this," the tall young man said angrily, "Judging by that saber attack, his combat ability should be much more powerful than ours. He might have mastered more than 50,000 Dao seals."
"How else can we deal with this? We can only run," the short young man said immediately, "No matter how powerful his probing technique is, it's impossible for it not to be restricted within this foggy area. As long as we run far enough, we'll get out of his probing range sooner or later."
"What if he's faster than we are?" The tall young man asked.
"Then… we'll go our separate ways. At least one of us will live." The short young man raised his brows at the tall young man. "Go peacefully. I'll definitely avenge you in the future!"
"If one of us is to live, it'll be me. You have shorter legs, he'll get to you first," the tall young man retorted.
…
The two had no idea that the hunter was not chasing after them at the moment. Instead, he was being blocked by a figure.
"Why are you trying to kill them?"
The buzzcut middle-aged man's expression gradually turned solemn as he looked at the masked man not far away from him.
He could not sense his aura at all, it was as if he did not exist.
He had never had such a strange feeling from anyone before.
"I have a personal grudge with them. Please don't butt into my business."
"Is that so?" Lin Huang scoffed. "If it's a personal grudge, tell me what their names are?"
The buzzcut middle-aged man was stumped at the moment.
"What? You don't even remember your enemies' names?" Lin Huang continued to ask while smiling.
"We only became enemies after entering this mystic territory. It makes sense that I don't know their names," the buzzcut middle-aged man continued to retort.
"What kind of grudge is that then? To make you ignore the exploration's rules and chase after them directly?"
"That is a personal matter between us. I don't think I have to inform you of such things." The buzzcut middle-aged man was still unwilling to spill the beans.
"What about you and that person from the Longevity Tribe? Was that a personal grudge too? And that sorcerer from Infinite, was that a personal grudge too?" Lin Huang asked with a smile, "You should remember their names, right? Or did you only make enemies with them after entering this mystic territory as well? It seems you make enemies easily."
"Did you follow me?!" The buzzcut middle-aged man looked rather unfriendly.
Although he was not sure of the person's ability, the rage of having his secret exposed had surpassed his fear, which gave rise to his killing intent against Lin Huang.
He was secretly convincing himself that someone who had been teleported here should not have too powerful of a combat ability. He must have used some unique technique to conceal his aura on purpose. That was how he was in this aura-less state.
"I wouldn't bother to do such a thing. I just happened to see you kill the two people from before."
Clearly, the buzzcut middle-aged man did not believe what Lin Huang said. He was more convinced that his identity had been exposed, and Lin Huang had been secretly following him to investigate him.
"It doesn't matter what your explanation is. I'm going to kill you anyway, so my secret will stay a secret." As soon as the buzzcut middle-aged man was done speaking, the saber in his hand flashed out.
The black saber gleam shot at an unprecedentedly terrifying speed. It was aimed between Lin Huang's brows.
He did not hold back with this attack at all. He even performed it at an unusually high speed.
It was at least two to three times faster than the attack that had killed the Infinite sorcerer was.
However, his confident attack at full strength that harnessed the power of some 55,000 Dao seals was crushed the second before it landed between Lin Huang's brows.
He did not even notice any signs of Lin Huang defending himself either.
It felt as if the attack had been crushed on its own.
"How is that possible…" The buzzcut middle-aged man was stunned.
He could not understand what had just happened before his eyes.
"What did you do?!" Even now, he had not noticed that the person before him had abilities that surpassed his.
He was more convinced that he had used some sort of illusion technique that made him see things.
He must have created this terrifying scene to scare him.
"Didn't you see it?"
Though there was a mask covering Lin Huang's face, the buzzcut middle-aged man could sense the smirk under the mask.
"I'll demonstrate again, then."
As soon as Lin Huang was done speaking, he lifted his hand slowly. He then stretched out a finger…
He tapped the air. The next second, the space where the fingertip touched was destroyed…
The buzzcut middle-aged man had finally seen it clearly now. The finger tap seemed to have been slowed down countless times, but he could clearly feel that he could not dodge such an attack.
Lin Huang did not really slow down the finger tap. He merely accelerated the buzzcut middle-aged man's senses to the point where he could see the finger tap clearly.
Sensing Lin Huang's real ability, the buzzcut middle-aged man's back was drenched in cold sweat instantly…
Chapter 1753: Encountering A Raider Again
"My name's Lu Yi. I'm a traveler. My current combat strength is at minor dao-level. I have mastered 55,683 Dao seals. In reality, when I was only a True God, the Raiders recruited me, and I became one of them. After I was elevated to lord-level, I came to the universe and the Raiders arranged for me to join Star Cluster's intelligence department. For the past 50,000 years, I've been a spy in Star Cluster, providing all sorts of intel for the Raiders…"
"What's your mission in entering the mystic territory this time?" Lin Huang asked the key question as he looked at Lu Yi, who had completely fallen into the illusion.
"Kill everyone who is suspected to be Club members while trying my best not to leave any traces. I can kill the wrong people, but I can't let go of anyone who might possibly be a member." What Lu Yi said made Lin Huang frown.
That should be the reason why he was hunting all of the explorers. He did not bother to identify them. Instead, he would attack every time he ran into other explorers.
"Aren't you guys worried that someone will find out and that your identity will be exposed?"
"This is my last mission as a spy. After this mission, I'll escape by faking my death and return to the Raiders. Star Cluster would make the follow-up arrangements to prevent my identity as a spy from being exposed," Lu Yi explained in thorough detail.
"How many of you came here this time?" Lin Huang continued asking.
"I don't know."
"Then how do you contact the other spies?" Lin Huang asked without frowning.
"We don't contact each other," Lu Yi explained further after saying that, "The mission was assigned before we entered the mystic territory. Every one of us has our own task. We're only responsible to do our own parts after entering."
"If there are last-minute changes in the mission or other situations that arise, the higher-up will contact us and give us new orders. We can't contact our higher-ups, nor do we need to contact our other colleagues."
"Don't you know the other spies' identities?" In reality, Lin Huang already knew the answer when he asked the question. However, he did not want to give up and asked anyway.
"I don't." Lu Yi shook his head in determination.
"Do you know the rough distribution of spies in each organization? I don't need the specific information, just the rough combat strength level and the number of people," Lin Huang continued to ask.
"I don't know." Lu Yi continued shaking his head.
"You've been with Star Cluster for many years. You should know those in Star Cluster who are spies from the Raiders like you, no?" Lin Huang asked further.
"I don't. I complete all my missions alone. There's no need to work or communicate with others. The only contact person is my higher-up. He can contact me, but I can't contact him."
"Then who is your higher-up?" Lin Huang asked immediately.
"I don't know. I only know that he's also in Star Cluster, and his authorization level is higher than mine in the organization."
Lu Yi's answers gave Lin Huang a headache.
He had already mastered some 50,000 Dao seals, yet he was just a pawn among the Raiders who took orders from someone else. He knew nothing about the Raiders' overall plan or the spies' name list.
Since the hypnosis' result was subpar, Lin Huang searched his memory using the Soul-Searching Tactic before killing him by pointing between his brows. He then casually put away the corpse into his storage space.
The memory he found through the Soul-Searching Tactic was almost the same as the information he spilled while he was hypnotized. However, Lin Huang found more details in his memory.
Including some of the things that he had missed out during the questioning process earlier.
Lin Huang initially thought that Lu Yi had used some unique probing technique to sense the others' existence in the foggy area to accurately lock on to his targets. Therefore, he had not cared too much about that factor.
However, he suddenly found out from Lu Yi's memory that it was not as simple as he thought.
The reason why Lu Yi could probe the people's locations in the foggy area was because his higher-up gave him a Secret Imprint Charm and imprinted it on him before he entered the mystic territory.
The secret imprint was temporary. It would vanish automatically 30 days later.
Its function was that it would suppress a portion of Divine Telekinesis in the mystic territory, as well as conceal his Divine Telekinesis's aura.
Lu Yi did not use any unique probing technique in the foggy area. It was Divine Telekinesis.
Even Lin Huang's Divine Telekinesis could cover less than 1,000 meters in the foggy area if he was to extend it to its maximum range.
However, with the secret imprint on Lu Yi's body, his Divine Telekinesis's probing range spread over 50,000 kilometers in the foggy area.
The secret imprint concealed the Divine Telekinesis's aura. That was why Lin Huang could not sense that he was using Divine Telekinesis.
After finding out that information, Lin Huang could not help but spread his Divine Telekinesis into the storage ring to examine Lu Yi's corpse carefully.
Finally, he found a black imprint the size of a palm on the left side of his chest.
The imprint looked like an image of a monster. However, Lin Huang could not identify what monster it was despite looking at it for a long time.
It was completely encrypted, so he could not analyze it at all.
After giving it some thought, Lin Huang did not take the risk to use the imprint on himself.
One of the reasons was that he did not know the source of this thing, nor did he know its specific function.
Although, according to Lu Yi's memory, its function was to aid his Divine Telekinesis, and allow one to move around more easily in the mystic territory, that was limited to what Lu Yi knew. There might be other functions that Lu Yi had no idea about.
Perhaps the creator of the imprint could clearly sense the user's coordinates.
Perhaps the imprint came with the function of sharing senses.
Perhaps the creator of the imprint could control him from a distance, transforming the imprint into a curse or some other thing.
Perhaps the creator of the imprint could control certain things on him through the imprint…
Lin Huang had to watch out for those risks.
Moreover, he did not lack probing techniques in the foggy area after all. There was no need for him to take the risk to use some unknown thing like this.
This secret imprint made Lin Huang think even more that the Raiders had a bigger plot going on during this exploration.
"They're doing so much and don't mind sacrificing a bunch of dao-level spies. Are they really doing all this just to hunt down Club members?"
"The order they gave is outrageous as well. They'd rather kill the wrong people than missing any?! They're clearly asking the spies to conduct a massacre."
"Even if they could escape by faking their death, the resulting death rate within this exploration team would definitely attract the attention of powerhouses above dao-level from all organizations. They would definitely investigate this…"
Lin Huang frowned. He still could not understand the exact goal of the Raiders' plot.
Moreover, what worried Lin Huang even more was that Lu Yi, who had mastered over 50,000 Dao seals, was nothing but a pawn in this mission.
It proved that there must be major dao-level powerhouses participating in the Raiders' mission.
It would also mean that, among the 21 major dao-level powerhouses that entered the mystic territory this time, at least one of them was a spy for the Raiders. There might even be more than one of them..
Chapter 1754: Leaving the Foggy Area
After thinking about it for a long time and figuring out that any effort would be to no avail, Lin Huang could only put aside the matter regarding the Raiders.
"I can only tackle the problem when it arises."
He could not think of any feasible solutions anyway.
There were seven organizations from the Eastern Eight Zone that participated in the exploration this time. There were some 4,700 explorers in total, including both lord-level and dao-level.
Moreover, the 4,700 or so people were randomly distributed in various regions.
To find the Raiders' spies among these bunch of people was no different than looking for a needle in a haystack.
Not only that, there was no communication signal in this mystic territory.
Lin Huang could not contact Old Wang, Old He and the rest.
Another thing was that he could not confirm entirely whether Old Wang and Old He were the Raider's spies either.
Even if he had a way to contact them, he could not discuss the matter with them.
The reason being was that he might expose himself to the Raider's higher-ups.
He did not want to be targeted by people above dao-level.
Therefore, he could only play it by ear passively.
However, Lin Huang informed the bunch of imperial monsters under him about this matter.
After all, he did not have to worry about his imperial monsters being spies.
After the imperial monsters received the news, they would have to be even more careful during the exploration from now on.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang put the matter aside and went back into hunting mode.
Within half a day, he killed all of the Abyssal monsters in this foggy area.
Throughout the journey, he came across the brothers that Lu Yi was chasing after earlier.
The two of them had traveled over hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. They must have stopped running after realizing that nobody was going after them.
However, it was unknown why these tall and short brothers had yet to leave the foggy area.
Apart from them, Lin Huang conducted a simple investigation on the ten or so explorers in this foggy area secretly.
He did not discover any one of them to be the Raiders' spies.
He did not continue to waste time staying there and instead left the foggy area.
In the foggy area, the tall and short brothers from Snow Kingdom did not realize that they were being watched at all.
"I can't believe that that guy didn't come after us. I thought one of us would definitely die today." The short man sat on a rock and took out a packet of meat jerky from his storage space. He began to eat on his own.
The tall man stretched his hand to ask for one when he saw that.
"Didn't you bring yours?"
"I'm too lazy to take it out," the tall man responded expressionlessly.
"There's not even bird poop in this lousy place and we were even chased after by a lunatic. I shouldn't have come in with you," the short man complained while chewing on the meat jerky.
"It was you who picked the foggy area," the tall man retorted calmly.
"Didn't I pick it because you left me no option?" The short man rolled his eyes as heard the tall man's comments.
The two fell into a moment of silence. Only the sound of the chewing could be heard at the moment.
"How about we… leave," the tall man took the initiative to speak a moment later, "If that man is still in the foggy area, he might come after us again. His probing range is larger than ours. We'll be at a disadvantage if we stay in the foggy area."
This time, the short man did not argue with him. He only asked after falling into a moment of silence, "Are you sure you want to leave this place?"
"It's been almost three days since we came in. We've only seen a few monsters. Moreover, that man wanted to attack us for no reason. I think this area is just too strange." The tall man nodded.
"Where do we go then?" The short man asked.
The tall man fell into silence for a moment before speaking again, "Let's go to the sea."
"It might be even more dangerous over there," the short man said to the tall man while staring at him.
"But there will definitely be sufficient monsters for us to hunt." The tall man seemed to have made up his mind. "It'll be alright as long as we're more careful and avoid those that we can't kill."
"Alright then." The short man nodded after thinking for a little bit. "But it's your choice. If something happens again, you'll have to take responsibility."
"Sure!" The tall man agreed to that directly.
…
North of the foggy area was a vast sea.
When Lin Huang was investigating those explorers in the foggy area, he had heard about the existence of the sea. Therefore, he chose it as his next hunting ground.
Usually, a sea of that size would definitely contain more monsters.
Lin Huang thought that it would likely be a great place to hunt.
He summoned the Shackle Serpent as he looked at the vast and endless black sea before him.
It would be a little absurd to be riding the Destructive Divine Mammoth in the sea. Therefore, Lin Huang decisively changed his mount to the Shackle Serpent.
Apart from the Shackle Serpent, he had also summoned the Enchanted Fairy that had mastered the Moon Power.
The Enchanted Fairy had certain advantages in and around water.
The two of them rode on the Shackle Serpent's back and submerged into the depths of the sea silently.
Lin Huang still did not spread out his Divine Telekinesis. He remained low-key as he concealed his aura.
This time, he chose the long-distance ocular skill as his probing technique of choice once again.
Countless Dao tattoos consolidated into an eyeball the size of a fist before him, observing everything within hundreds of thousands of kilometers.
Within three seconds of the long-distance ocular skill being performed, Lin Huang suddenly frowned and turned his head in a particular direction.
"Liu Fu?!"
He did not expect to run into Liu Fu in this mystic territory.
Although Liu Fu had already concealed his aura entirely and disguised himself as a passing reef, Lin Huang's long-distance ocular skill not only had the ability to probe at long distances, but also could see through illusions and disguises.
Given Liu Fu's ability, it was only natural that he could not escape his probing. Lin Huang sensed him instantly.
"Seems like this guy is stuck in the sea…" Naturally, Lin Huang noticed that the area Liu Fu was in was a Putrescent Dragon Whale's territory.
Judging by the Putrescent Dragon Whale's aura, it should have mastered some 23,000 Dao seals.
As soon as Liu Fu moved, it would definitely sense him.
Lin Huang speculated that Liu Fu must have invaded the Putrescent Dragon Whale's territory by accident and had been trapped there ever since.
Lin Huang thought for a moment when he discovered Liu Fu. He decided not to meet up with him.
One of the reasons was that he did not want to expose his ability.
As soon as they met up, Liu Fu would definitely suggest that they team up. Teaming up would bring many inconveniences to him later on.
Another reason was that he was unsure as to whether Liu Fu was the Raiders' spy.
Although Liu Fu had been pretty nice to him up to this point, from what Lin Huang knew about Raiders, if Liu Fu really was one, he definitely would not show mercy to him when they fell out. Yang Ling was the perfect example of this.
Lin Huang gave the Shackle Serpent an order while he stayed in place with the Enchanted Fairy. He watched Shackle Serpent head toward Liu Fu's direction.
It was simple to solve Liu Fu's current crisis. He just had to kill the Putrescent Dragon Whale.
Meanwhile, the Shackle Serpent looked like an aquatic monster. It was nothing out of the ordinary for it to hunt the Putrescent Dragon Whale..
Chapter 1755: Black Sea
It was already the fifth day since Liu Fu entered the mystic territory.
For the whole five days, he had been disguised as a reef and had not dared to move at all.
The reason for that was the Putrescent Dragon Whale wandering in the area nearby.
He had escaped death since the monster was not proficient in probing techniques.
However, he knew that as long as he moved an inch, it would definitely notice him instantly.
Therefore, he could only remain in his motionless state for the past five days. He secretly hoped that the monster would leave on its own accord, or that other explorers would come here and kill this monster.
However, as time went by, he felt his hopes were gradually getting slimmer as he watched the Putrescent Dragon Whale wandering nearby happily everyday.
There were less than 5,000 people from the seven organizations participating in the exploration this time. They had been randomly teleported, and there were definitely only a few people who were teleported to the same area as he was.
Even if there were people teleported to the same area, they might not be this Putrescent Dragon Whale's match. They might have gone around the Putrescent Dragon Whale after sensing its aura from far away. Naturally, it would be impossible for them to notice him, given that he had concealed his aura.
Moreover, the exploration would only last for a month. If he failed to escape within a month, the chances of him dying here would be high.
The reason being was that, under normal circumstances, the first time each mystic territory appeared, the dimensional anchoring had yet to stabilize completely.
Its appearance would not last for long.
If he did not retreat with everyone else, the fog might cover this mystic territory once again. By then, even if he was a major dao-level powerhouse, he would not be able to return.
Even if he managed to live, he could only wait until the mystic territory's second anchoring for a chance to return. That process might be a couple of years if short, or tens of thousands of years or even hundreds of thousands of years, if long. The mystic territory might not even have a second anchoring. He could even be stuck in this mystic territory forever.
As Liu Fu knew those rules regarding the mystic territory, he thought that the chances of him surviving were extremely slim.
However, just when Liu Fu was about to despair, he suddenly heard a familiar roar.
It was the sound of the Putrescent Dragon Whale!
He had heard this sound countless times throughout the past five days.
However, it seemed to be a little different this time. There was fear and horror in its roar. It even sounded somewhat like it was begging.
Nevertheless, the sound only lasted a moment before suddenly stopping.
Liu Fu did not even sense any battle energy fluctuations.
"What happened?" Liu Fu looked in the direction of the source of the sound. He still did not dare to not spread out his Divine Telekinesis or use other probing techniques.
A moment later, he saw a giant monster swimming over slowly.
It was a giant snake that was completely black, whose size was no smaller than the Putrescent Dragon Whale. Its aura was even more powerful than the dragon whale.
As Liu Fu was checking it out, he suddenly saw the giant snake peeking at the place where he was hiding.
He suddenly had goosebumps from the scare.
He closed his eyes immediately and concealed his aura completely.
"Oh no, oh no… I've been discovered… As I expected, I can't escape death…"
He did not even have the intention of fighting and escaping.
Given the gap between him and the monster, he would only die a more painful death if he tried to fight back or escape.
However, he did not sense himself being attacked at all after closing his eyes for a long time.
He could not help but open his eyes after some hesitation.
He realized that he was still where he was and still in one piece.
That snake monster was gone.
"It didn't notice me?!" Liu Fu was overjoyed. This was not the ending that he had expected.
When that snake monster peeped in his direction, he really thought he was going to die.
A casual peep from the monster's had startled him.
"Seems like the snake monster killed the Putrescent Dragon Whale. Otherwise, it's impossible that the snake monster would be wandering around its territory with such ease." Liu Fu had a rough estimation of what happened. "But the battle ended a little too fast. The Putrescent Dragon Whale didn't seem to struggle much before being killed. There weren't even battle energy fluctuations."
"So what exactly was that snake monster's ability level then?"
Liu Fu did not think about running away just yet. Instead, he analyzed the Shackle Serpent's ability.
The reason being was that monsters usually fought over territory.
Since the Putrescent Dragon Whale was killed, it meant that this area had become the snake monster's territory.
Liu Fu thought the snake monster would most probably occupy this area for a long time. The chances of him escaping might be even slimmer now.
The Shackle Serpent returned to Lin Huang after it completed the assigned task.
Lin Huang noticed that Liu Fu did not seize the opportunity to run.
He shook his head helplessly.
He guessed that Liu Fu might not know that the Shackle Serpent had already left the area, and that his crisis had been lifted.
After all, he dared not spread Divine Telekinesis to probe.
However, Lin Huang did not want to tell him that. He had already done what he had to do. Liu Fu would have to depend on himself now.
He only hoped that Liu Fu would find out about it soon before other sea monsters came to occupy the area.
After solving Liu Fu's crisis, Lin Huang and the Enchanted Fairy rode on the Shackle Serpent's back and began a new round of hunting.
There were many monsters in this sea. Most of them were undying and spirit species.
Although the monster density was lower than the foggy area, the number of monsters in the sea was a few times more than the foggy area.
Lin Huang's hunt came along much easier than before.
It was mainly because the sealing power the Shackle Serpent had was useful.
Even if the Shackle Serpent could not seal a creature whose number of Dao seals surpassed it completely, it could suppress it using its ability.
It worked together with the Enchanted Fairy. It would usually control the monster while she would attack.
In water, the Enchanted Fairy's Moon Power was rather useful too. Each attack came with an extreme freezing effect.
The two of them could almost kill the enemies that had mastered some 40,000 Dao seals or so instantly when they worked together.
This meant that Lin Huang's hunting rate only dropped by less than 10%.
He did not have to fight most of the monsters at all.
The Shackle Serpent's sealing power was indeed useful. Most of the battles ended before any energy fluctuations were leaked.
Within a day of entering the sea, Lin Huang and the other two had killed over 1,800 monsters; most of these monsters had mastered between 10,000 to 40,000 Dao seals.
Throughout the day, Lin Huang had personally attacked less than 15 times.
Apart from finding Liu Fu in the beginning, Lin Huang had also seen a few more explorers in the sea. One of them was Royalty.
He chose to avoid them decisively.
He would just hunt while keeping a low profile. It was unnecessary for him to interact with those people..
Chapter 1756: Good Friends Whose Fate Clashed
For the next two days, Lin Huang stayed in the sea to hunt.
He almost forgot about his encounter with the Raider earlier throughout those two days.
However, he encountered the tall and short brothers from the Snow Kingdom once again on the third day.
They were running away frantically.
It was not some sea monster that was chasing after them, but a member from the Snow Kingdom in a white robe just like theirs.
Without having to think about it, Lin Huang knew what was happening.
As colleagues from the Snow Kingdom, they definitely would not attack members from the same organization, even if they really had a grudge against each other.
Clearly, the pursuer should be the same as Lu Yi, a Raider spy.
After making sure that there were no other explorers around, Lin Huang put away his two God's Figurine's Combat Souls. He put on a mask and a white robe, and appeared in front of the pursuer in a flash, blocking his way.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be a spy for the Raiders, right?"
As soon as Lin Huang said that, the pursuer turned around to run immediately.
He had not sensed how Lin Huang appeared at all, which proved that Lin Huang's combat ability was greater than his. Not only that, he exposed his identity directly. Therefore, he chose to run away without hesitation.
Even Lin Huang was stunned momentarily. He did not expect that the person would run away so straightforwardly without even fighting back.
However, no matter how quick he was, it was impossible that he could run faster than his Divine Telekinesis.
A Divine Telekinesis thread tied the man in white robe into a dumpling, sealing his God's soul, Odyl and Divine Power. Lin Huang then pulled the person toward him.
A minor dao-level powerhouse who had mastered some 50,000 Dao seals was like a newly-hatched chick in front of Lin Huang.
Lin Huang did not bother to talk to him. He invaded his God's soul directly to search his memories.
That white-robed man's name was Bai Rong, who was, as expected, a spy that the Raiders planted within the Snow Kingdom.
He had the same mission as Lu Yi did, which was to hunt down Club members.
However, his hunting strategy was different from Lu Yi's. He made a list before entering the mystic territory. He listed all of the people who were suspected to be Club members from the seven organizations in the Eastern Eight Zone. There were people from lord-level to minor dao-level.
He had also recorded down their information and tallied them with the people he investigated.
He would directly skip those who were not on the list. However, if he ran into people on the list, regardless of whether they were Club members or not, he would attack without hesitation.
The brothers he attacked were on his list too.
Bai Rong was even sure that the two of them were Club members.
Therefore, he attacked them without hesitation despite the fact that they were colleagues from the Snow Kingdom.
After all, nobody would know that it was him who killed them.
Moreover, following the plan, he would escape by faking his death as well. He would not return to the Snow Kingdom. Naturally, that was out of his concern.
After reading Bai Rong's memory, Lin Huang killed him casually and put his corpse away into his storage space.
That was the second spy from the Raiders.
However, Lin Huang still had no clue as to what the Raiders were really trying to achieve.
Going by Bai Rong's memory, he did not know any more than Lu Yi did.
"I've run into the Raiders' spies twice now." Lin Huang frowned lightly. "This shouldn't be a coincidence at all. It only proves that they have planted many spies."
His instinct told him that the Raiders' goal was definitely not as simple as killing Club members. That was probably just a disguise or facade on the surface for something else. These people definitely had other intentions.
It was just that he did not know what those were.
Not only that, there was no way for him to find out the Raiders' mission assignment.
Lin Huang knew that there was only one enemy, but he could not do anything about it. That aggravated him greatly.
He had almost forgotten about the incident with Lu Yi over the past two to three days.
Now that Bai Rong had appeared out of nowhere, his rage was triggered once again.
"Since that's the case, I'll visit all of the regions. I want to see how many spies you guys have planted!"
…
At the border of the sea, two figures, one tall and one short, finally stopped running.
"He seems to have stopped chasing us." The tall one released a ragged breath.
"Why do you think Bai Rong wants to kill us?" The short one suddenly asked after a moment of silence.
"The two of us have no grudge with him. There's only one possibility remaining if that's the case." The tall one clearly understood things now.
"Are you saying… he's a Raider?! And he found out about our identities?" The short one reacted instantly.
"Do you think there are any other possibilities aside from that?" The tall one asked in reply. "We're colleagues from the Snow Kingdom. Notwithstanding any grudges which, even if we had bad blood with him, according to the rules, he shouldn't have attacked us during the mystic territory's exploration."
"So do you think that the guy who attacked us in the foggy area was a Raider too?" The short one suddenly connected the dots to them being attacked a few days ago. "I don't think we have grudges with anyone among the people participating in the exploration. That man attacked us out of nowhere as well."
"That's possible." The tall one nodded after thinking for a moment. "However, there's a possibility that he's purely a lunatic who loves to kill as well. He might have nothing to do with the Raiders at all."
"There's another thing that I find very strange…" The short one raised another question. "Why did they give up on killing us? Bai Rong especially, given that he had already discovered our identities. Theoretically, it's impossible that he would let us live. As long as we survive and get out of here, we'd definitely report him. Not only that, Bai Rong has mastered more than 50,000 Dao seals. If he really came after us, it's unlikely that we can successfully escape."
"I don't understand that point as well." The tall man shook his head. "Bai Rong definitely wouldn't let us live. The only reasonable explanation I can think of as to why he didn't come after us is that something is holding him up."
"What about that guy from before? Was he held up too?" The short one asked.
"I don't know." The tall one could not understand the situation either.
"I wonder if we're having a bout of bad luck lately." The short one thought further. "Think about it. We didn't encounter many monsters in the foggy area, and we were chased after by a lunatic. It's the same case now that we're here in the sea as well. We didn't encounter many monsters and we were chased yet again. Misfortune keeps befalling the both of us since entering this mystic territory."
"I've always been quite lucky previously. Maybe your bad luck is rubbing off on me," the short one said, feeling annoyed.
"Or perhaps we're not suitable to be in a team, and our fates clash with each other?" The short one suddenly said.
The tall man fell into silence momentarily while lowering his head. He seemed to be thinking, after which he spoke again.
"I suddenly recalled that we seemed to have encountered many situations when we teamed up for the first time in the ruins when we were at heavenly god-level. We almost died there."
"Um… I think that happened." The short one recalled and soon nodded. "It wasn't exactly smooth sailing when we entered other secret zones and ruins a couple of times later either."
"If this trend continues, maybe it's best for us to explore alone," the tall one suggested.
"I think that's a great idea." The short one agreed.
They instantly came to an agreement as they locked eyes.
Chapter 1757: An Unexpected Raider
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang stayed for another two days in the sea.
This time, he did not clear out all of the monsters. He merely cleared out approximately 80% of the total monster population.
However, he did not leave behind any monsters that had mastered over 30,000 Dao seals.
Up until now, one-third of the 30-day exploration duration had passed.
After crossing the sea, Lin Huang arrived at a mountain range.
He came after discovering the auras of even more powerful powerhouses.
Through his ocular skills, he found many auras above 50,000 Dao seals in this mountain range.
As soon as he arrived at the mountain range, he went into hunting mode.
He did not summon his God's Figurine's Combat Souls since the monsters here had surpassed their combat abilities.
Instead, he disguised himself and began to hunt.
He disguised his God Weapon battle armor as a pure white robe.
Meanwhile, he wore a golden mask which was transformed from a God Soul Weapon.
The two precious treasures were enough to shield him from all probing techniques.
He even disguised his attack techniques.
He converted the form of his God Weapon flying daggers to sabers.
The new identity he gave himself was a white-robed saber cultivator.
For the next two days, Lin Huang wandered around the mountain range, looking for the explorers in the region while hunting local monsters.
He initially thought that it was an unrealistic plan to actively look for Raiders. It would be difficult for him to detect them if they hid their identities. Moreover, he did not really want to expose his true ability either.
However, he could no longer hold back after seeing the Raiders hunting the other members several times without bothering about their identities being exposed at all.
Since they had exposed themselves, he would not show mercy, killing them wherever he found them.
His plan was to travel through each region and kill as many as he could.
'I don't care what your plan is. As soon as you expose their identity, you've bought your ticket to hell.'
'Each one I kill is a gain for me.'
'For those who have great disguises that I can't identify, you better lay low like a good boy and not create a commotion.'
'I'll investigate as much as I can with regards to the Raiders' plan. However, I won't force the issue.'
'My top priority is to kill.'
Lin Huang chose the most overbearing way to handle things.
As he was actively looking for Raiders, within a day, he found one in the mountain range.
Even he had never expected this person to be a spy.
He was Infinite's minor dao-level leader—Ao Yu!
Lin Huang had a distinct impression of Ao Yu.
As he was Infinite's minor dao-level leader, Liu Fu had provided a detailed introduction of him before they entered the mystic territory.
Not only that, Lin Huang had sensed that Ao Yu had mastered way beyond 80,000 Dao seals that he revealed on the surface before they entered the mystic territory. Instead, he had mastered close to 100,000 Dao seals. He was on the cusp of major dao-level.
He was also the one with the most powerful combat ability among all minor dao-level powerhouses from the seven organizations.
He had even surpassed Royal's Old Wang and the Snow Kingdom's Shang Yang.
To be honest, if Lin Huang did not see Ao Yu killing Infinite's own member with his own eyes, he would not have figured out that Infinite's leader was a Raider.
It proved that Infinite had been infiltrated by the Raiders.
Deep in the dense forest in the mountain range, Ao Yu was cleaning up the remaining blood stains. As he was going to put the corpse away into his storage space, he suddenly sensed a figure appearing not far away from him.
He lifted his head and looked over immediately with his guard up. He saw a man in white robe and a golden mask on his face.
He sensed nothing at all after trying to probe him with Divine Telekinesis. He was fully alert now.
"I'll give you a chance to explain. Why did you kill him?"
Ao Yu looked calm and responded anyway as he secretly prepared to attack, "We had some prior grudges and happened to run into each other. I wanted to ignore him initially, but he came after me and couldn't stop criticizing me. He thought I wouldn't dare to attack him seeing that we're in the middle of the exploration, so he used terrible words. I killed him by accident out of rage."
"Oh?" Lin Huang raised his brows beneath the mask. "You're the No. 1 minor dao-level powerhouse in Infinite with the potential to elevate to major dao-level, Ao Yu. Instead of buttering you up, someone is so foolish as to make you an enemy? That aside, instead of avoiding you, he even came after you to criticize you after entering the mystic territory?"
"Should I call this person an idiot, or you who made up the story an idiot?"
In reality, Lin Huang saw everything that happened. The Infinite member who was killed had just killed a monster and was about to leave. Ao Yu showed himself when he noticed him and greeted him passionately before attacking the member out of the blue.
The deceased had never said anything terrible throughout the entire thing. He was even quite respectful toward Ao Yu.
Ao Yu frowned lightly as he realized that he had failed to fool Lin Huang.
He guessed that Lin Huang must have seen the whole thing unfold. However, he was still unwilling to tell the truth.
"I'm telling the truth. It's up to you whether you want to believe it or not."
"I think something's wrong with you as well. You're wearing a mask to hide yourself. If you've got nothing to hide, take off your mask and talk to me," Ao Yu retorted.
"Your capability to distort the truth is more powerful than your actual ability." Lin Huang laughed.
"If nothing's wrong with you, why are you wearing a mask instead of showing your true colors? If you don't take off your mask, I can't help but suspect that you're a spy that another organization has planted in the Eastern Eight Zone," Ao Yu continued to accuse Lin Huang.
He insisted that something was wrong with Lin Huang as he was actually worried that there were major dao-level powerhouses watching in secret.
"Why don't you directly say that I'm a spy the Raiders have planted?" Lin Huang exposed his identity while smiling. "Are you worried that if someone found out, they would be alerted of the Raiders' mission this time?"
What Lin Huang said almost made Ao Yu break his character. His pupils constricted, and he even fell into a daze momentarily, causing him to fail to retort directly.
Indeed, he did not expect Lin Huang to know about the Raiders' plan. He was startled by that.
However, he responded immediately, "Do you think you can distract me and escape suspicion by spewing nonsense?"
Meanwhile, he was thinking to himself, 'This guy must've found out something. He definitely can't be allowed to live!'
"I have my suspicions now that the Dao seal you're most proficient in is the mouth escape method." Lin Huang was getting more impressed by his ability to distort the truth.
Though Ao Yu did not really understand what "mouth escape method" meant, he knew that Lin Huang was definitely mocking him.
"Alright, I don't want to talk further with you. I'll reach the same result by killing you and reading your memories." Lin Huang did not bother to talk further with him seeing that he was going to speak even more nonsense.
The God Weapon flying daggers consolidated into a million golden saber gleams in front of him instantly.
As he did not want to expose his identity, not only did Lin Huang disguise himself as a saber cultivator, he even intentionally disguised the color of his Odyl and Divine Power.
"You're a saber cultivator?!" Ao Yu looked serious now.
Chapter 1758: Killing Ao Yu
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Not many people could see through Lin Huang's saber cultivator disguise.
One of the reasons was indeed that not many saber cultivators used telekinetic weapons like he did.
Another more important reason was that Lin Huang had truly mastered thousands of Saber seals.
They were consolidated from the unlocked god sequence chains in the Kingdom in his body.
Most of the god sequence chains in his Kingdom came from his refining of other Lords' Kingdoms.
Meanwhile, it was impossible for most powerhouses who had cultivated to lord-level and dao-level to not have touched Saber Dao at all, even if they were not legitimate saber cultivators.
After all, there were quite a few low-level powerhouses below lord-level who cultivated Saber Dao.
Many people had to turn to another direction later as they were lacking in talent.
Therefore, there were many Saber Dao heavenly rules in the Kingdoms he refined. There were more than onefold compared to that of Sword Dao.
Lin Huang did not cultivate Saber Dao on purpose. It was just that there happened to be many Saber Dao heavenly rules in the god sequence chains he unlocked. He thought he would conveniently analyze them and consolidate them into Saber seals.
As time went by, he consolidated quite a number of them, almost 1,000 Saber seals.
Apart from that, the Saber seals that were refined in his Kingdom were close to 100,000.
Therefore, when he attacked with saber gleams and Saber seals, nobody would doubt his identity as a saber cultivator.
Judging by Lin Huang's saber cultivator attack and the terrifying suppression of his aura, he was clearly a major dao-level powerhouse.
Ao Yu instantly realized that was not his match. Names were flashing through his head quickly as he tried to identify him.
There were only 21 major dao-level powerhouses from the Eastern Eight Zone who entered the mystic territory this time.
There were only four saber cultivators among them.
They were White Brow from the Longevity Tribe, Han Zhongjun from the Snow Kingdom, Xing Wuchen from Star Cluster and Jian Xin from Infinite.
He considered himself quite close with Jian Xin, so he was sure that Lin Huang was not Jian Xin.
Apart from Jian Xin, Ao Yu had never seen the other three fight.
However, he had heard of their stories.
Judging from the stories that he had heard alone, this man in the white robe and mask before him did not seem to be one of those three people.
However, since Lin Huang had put on a mask to avoid exposing his identity, he must have disguised his saber techniques as well.
"Are you White Brow, Han Zhongjun or Xing Wuchen?!" Ao Yu shouted instantly as he watched the saber gleams arriving in front of him.
Naturally, he did not remain idle.
He activated his precious treasure armor that sparkled with Dao seals instantly.
The precious treasure wings on his back had six wings opened. They flapped frantically and, together with the spiritual treasure battle boots on his feet, he dodged the attacks over and over again.
Lin Huang was envious of his equipment.
'This guy is loaded!'
What Lin Huang had no idea about was that Ao Yu had not purchased the precious treasure wings.
If one were to really purchase a wing-type precious treasure, its price would be at least tenfold that of a weapon or defensive precious treasure.
Even regular major dao-level powerhouses might not be able to afford that.
Ao Yu specifically borrowed it from Infinite's treasury this time. He said he wanted to prevent himself from being attacked by major dao-level powerhouses in the mystic territory.
In reality, he was ready to escape by faking his death. He did not have the intention to return the item that he borrowed at all.
With the support of both precious treasures and spiritual treasures, Ao Yu's body was as slippery as a loach.
The saber gleams poured down like rain, but he dodged them though each was a close call.
Even if he encountered attacks that he could not dodge at all, he would disperse them by using a water element technique to cover his precious treasure wings and block the remaining attacks by covering his precious treasure armor with a layer of ice.
The Odyl that actually penetrated his body was less than one percent of the full attack.
Surprisingly, he did not suffer any substantive harm from the attack. This was outside of Lin Huang's expectations.
Although he did not use all of this strength in the attack, he speculated that it should have been enough to kill Ao Yu instantly.
He did not expect that this would happen.
"This guy has some great tricks up his sleeve…" Even Lin Huang could not help but exclaim.
To prevent exposing his identity, he did not use the Dao seals that he consolidated, nor did he activate his Divine Telekinesis or the Critical Hit Hammer's critical hit effect. Instead, he used the 120,000 Dao seals in the Kingdom in his body and attacked with a saber technique. However, the standard of the attack was truly a legitimate major dao-level attack.
Nevertheless, Ao Yu was not hurt by the attack.
Lin Huang knew that, apart from Ao Yu's exquisite movements, he was actually the one to blame.
The reason being was that he had almost never used saber techniques in the past. Naturally, it was not as handy as using Divine Telekinesis, nor was it as smooth as controlling Divine Telekinesis.
However, it was also true that he had underestimated his opponent.
In reality, Ao Yu was a little surprised that he was not killed by that first attack.
Nevertheless, he did not have the mentality that he would escape death by relying on luck again this time.
The attack earlier was sufficient proof that Lin Huang was a major dao-level powerhouse.
He managed to escape death by relying on the set of precious treasure wings that he had just obtained. On the other hand, Lin Huang might not have performed the skills that he was most proficient in to conceal his identity.
In reality, there were a couple of times that he thought he might be hurt if Lin Huang's attacks deviated by merely a few centimeters from their initial trajectory. It would have been impossible for him to dodge them so easily in that case.
After confirming that the opponent was a major dao-level powerhouse, Ao Yu turned around to run away without hesitation.
He pushed his precious treasure wings to their maximum speed and escaped toward the distance.
He knew that he was still alive because Lin Huang was reckless.
If he did not run now, he would definitely be killed by the second round of attacks.
A ferocious gleam flashed through Lin Huang's eyes when he saw Ao Yu running away.
The number of saber gleams in front of him began to increase. Within a blink of an eye, they increased to ten million saber gleams.
Meanwhile, the number of Dao seals he borrowed from his Kingdom increased to 200,000.
Countless saber gleams shot at Ao Yu, who was running away at speed at least tenfold that of when he was dodging the first round of attacks.
Lin Huang still refrained from using Divine Telekinesis in this attack. Instead, he borrowed Dao seals from his Kingdom.
However, regardless of whether it was the number of Dao seals, saber gleams or attack speed, they were on a higher level compared to the first attack.
As soon as the saber gleams were shot out, Ao Yu could clearly sense numerous fatal threats coming from his rear.
He dared not turn his head around. Instead, he spread out his Divine Telekinesis quickly behind him to sense the energy fluctuations from the saber gleams. He knew that he was doomed.
Even if he was hit by one the saber gleams, he would be killed instantly.
Dispersing the attack?
Dodging the attack?
It was impossible.
In the presence of absolute power, his skills were useless.
"Have mercy, senior!" Ao Yu could not help but shriek in terror as he watched the endless saber gleams engulf him.
The only way to survive now was if the opponent showed mercy.
Naturally, Lin Huang would not show sympathy.
He could only read his memories after killing him.
Ao Yu's authority in the Raiders might be higher than the two people from before. He might know more of the Raiders' secrets.
Right before Ao Yu was going to be swallowed up by the saber gleams, the endless saber gleams suddenly vanished completely, as if they had been engulfed by darkness.
Almost at the same time, a figure appeared before Ao Yu…
Chapter 1759: Red-haired Lady
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a lady whose red hair reached her waist. She had a cold expression on her face.
Lin Huang could not help but frown under his golden mask.
Naturally, he recognized this lady. Liu Fu had mentioned before that her name was Xia Bing. She was a rogue cultivator who had only joined Star Cluster during the past hundred or so years.
The reason why Lin Huang had a distinct impression on her was that, among the 21 major dao-level powerhouses who entered the mystic territory this time, this lady's ability could definitely rank within the top two.
White Brow from the Longevity Tribe and her were the only two people who he could sense a threat from.
Now that Xia Bing had suddenly appeared here, he could not help but suspect that she was on the same side as Ao Yu.
After all, she was from Star Cluster, while Ao Yu was from Infinite.
Theoretically, they should not be in contact at all.
However, now that Ao Yu was in danger, she was the first one to come to his rescue.
It made Lin Huang suspect her identity.
"What are you doing?" Xia Bing stared fixedly at Lin Huang. Her tone was cold.
Just when Lin Huang was thinking about how to respond to that question before he could confirm her identity, Ao Yu answered instead.
"Senior Xia, there's a high chance that this person is the Raiders' spy. He put on a mask intentionally to hide his identity and then attacked me for no reason. If not for the fact that he's not using the battle techniques that he's proficient in, as he's worried about exposing his identity, he might've already killed me."
As soon as Ao Yu said those words, the way Xia Bing looked at Lin Huang turned more and more unkind.
What he said made Lin Huang even more confused about Xia Bing's identity.
On one hand, if she was also a Raider, what Ao Yu said was basically telling her that Lin Huang had discovered the Raiders' plan and he was getting her to kill Lin Huang.
On the other hand, if Xia Bing was not a Raider, Ao Yu was making him a scapegoat in an attempt to mislead her intentionally to generate conflict between him and Xia Bing.
"You can really distort the truth to suit your purpose."
"If you say that he's distorting the truth, I'll give you a chance to explain then," Xia Bing spoke while frowning. "However, if I'm not happy with your explanation, I can only treat you as a spy and act accordingly."
"Don't give him a chance to defend himself!" Ao Yu instantly shouted as he stood aside.
Xia Bing merely glanced at him and ignored him.
In reality, before confirming her identity, Lin Huang was unwilling to fight her. It was not that he was worried that he would not be her match, but rather that he would have to expose his true ability if they really ended up fighting. He would most probably have to reveal his Sword Dao and Divine Telekinesis techniques.
Moreover, given their abilities, the energy fluctuations caused by the battle would definitely be felt even far away. It would definitely attract the probing of ill-intentioned people.
Meanwhile, such probing would mean that there would be a high chance that the Raiders would find him after the mystic territory exploration ended.
Discovering the threat that his ability elevation speed posed, he was almost sure that the Raiders would send powerhouses beyond dao-level to kill him as soon as they locked on to him.
Lin Huang nodded anyway as hundreds of thoughts flashed through his mind.
"I chased after him because I saw him killing an Infinite colleague with my very own eyes. I didn't attack him for no reason. Instead, I questioned him. I only attacked him after confirming that he's a spy that the Raiders planted in Infinite."
"Nonsense! Don't believe him, Senior Xia! He's framing me because I exposed his identity," Ao Yu retorted immediately. He soon pinpointed Lin Huang's weakness. "If he's not a spy, why is he wearing a mask to conceal his aura, not daring to show his real face?!"
"Explain your mask," Xia Bing said.
"I wear a mask because I have some grudges with the Raiders in the past. I think I'm most probably on their blacklist now. I don't want to be targeted by them again because of this exploration. They'll send individuals above dao-level to come after me," Lin Huang explained casually.
"I'm suspicious of your identity too, and I hope that you can explain yourself. How can a Star Cluster member like you get here so quickly when an Infinite member is in danger? I have reason to suspect that you're his accomplice."
"Let me answer your question." Xia Bing slowed down her tone. "My goal in entering the mystic territory this time is to investigate the Raiders' plan. In order to prevent Raiders from causing too much of a harm during this mission, I left an imprint on a couple of minor dao-level powerhouses I targeted."
"I can sense them as soon as there's odd fluctuations in the Odyl in their bodies, as well as locate their coordinates."
"That's why I came here immediately as soon as something went wrong with him." Indeed, Lin Huang could not find any flaws in Xia Bing's explanation.
"Now, I have a question for the both of you." Xia Bing looked at Lin Huang and Ao Yu as she spoke. "What proof do you guys have to show that the other is a Raiders' spy?"
Clearly, she did not believe either Lin Huang or Ao Yu entirely.
Ao Yu was stunned when he heard the question. He indeed did not have proof to show that Lin Huang was a spy.
However, he was much more relaxed as he thought that Lin Huang also did not seem to have any proof that he was a spy as well.
However, what Lin Huang said next made his heart race.
"If you want proof, I secretly recorded a video when I questioned him. Although he did not directly admit to being a spy in the video, it's enough to prove that he was lying when he told you that I attacked him for no reason."
Lin Huang projected the video that he had recorded not long ago as he spoke.
However, he remained on guard against Xia Bing throughout the entire thing.
Very soon, the video started to play.
The beginning of the video displayed the scene of Ao Yu cleaning up the blood stains on the ground and preparing to put away the corpse.
Although there was blood on the corpse's mouth and nose, his face could be seen clearly.
A major dao-level powerhouse could recall a person's face from their memory just by taking a glance. This person was an Infinite member.
Ao Yu's face turned pale when he saw that.
Lin Huang began his questioning in the scene after that.
He asked Ao Yu why he had killed his colleague from Infinite.
The lie Ao Yu made up was pretty poor.
Later on, when the term "the Raiders' spy" was mentioned, panic clearly appeared on Ao Yu's face for a second.
Although he disguised it well at that time, whereby he concealed his panic instantly, Lin Huang paused the video on his panicked expression directly.
After watching the video to this point, Xia Bing seemed to think that it was unnecessary to continue watching.
She turned her head and looked at Ao Yu directly. Her eyes were cold. "So do you have anything to say for yourself now?"
Lin Huang too looked at Ao Yu while smiling.. "I'd like to see how you are going to distort the truth again."
Chapter 1760: Strange
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang and Xia Bing took turns to read Ao Yu's memories. They killed him after confirming his identity as a Raiders' spy.
"Let me handle the corpse," Xia Bing suggested.
"To be honest, I don't trust you," Lin Huang said directly, "Until now, you still can't prove that you're not a Raiders' spy. If I give the corpse to you, you might destroy it without a trace, causing future investigation to become even more difficult."
"If I'm really a Raiders' spy, there's no need for me to put up an act like this with a junior who has the potential to achieve major dao-level. I can totally silence you directly," Xia Bing said as she felt helpless.
Lin Huang thought about it and realized Xia Bing did not seem to be aware of his true ability.
After all, he had only used 200,000 Dao seals in the attack he targeted Ao Yu with.
Meanwhile, the red-haired lady before him had mastered at least 800,000 Dao seals.
Even among major dao-level powerhouses, she absolutely ranked at the top.
She could totally silence him judging by the level of ability that he had revealed.
"Moreover, for a guy who is still unwilling to show his real face until now, it's considered great that I didn't suspect your identity."
"It doesn't matter whether I wear a mask or not. The video from before proves that I'm not from the Raiders," Lin Huang said while staring at Xia Bing.
"Speaking of the video you recorded, I'm still a little suspicious," Xia Bing said directly, "In the video, why were you so sure that Ao Yu was a Raiders' spy instead of some spy from another organization?"
"Because he was the third Raider I encountered. I've killed two others before him," Lin Huang explained without hesitation, "To be honest, I have two other videos. I recorded them when I killed the other two Raiders.
"They include the entire process of me interrogating them under hypnosis. They admitted that they were Raiders when they were hypnotized."
"If you can prove that you're not a Raider, I can show you the two videos." Lin Huang insisted on confirming her identity.
Xia Bing nodded slightly after hearing that. She only spoke again after falling into silence and thinking about it for a moment.
"I can give you the proof, but you must send me those two videos."
"Sure," Lin Huang agreed to that immediately while nodding.
"These are the few Raiders that I ran into in the mystic territory over the past few days."
Xia Bing took out a memory crystal from her storage space and tossed it at Lin Huang. "Check it yourself."
Lin Huang sent a wisp of consciousness inside. However, he kept his guard up against Xia Bing.
After spending a couple of minutes looking through it, Lin Huang frowned lightly as he retrieved his consciousness.
The memory crystal stored the images of four minor dao-level powerhouses.
Without a doubt, the four of them were spies that the Raiders had planted in the seven organizations in the Eastern Eight Zone.
"As I've left an imprint on those geniuses, I'll sense it as soon as something odd happens to them. Throughout these ten days, my senses have activated five times in total."
"Apart from you chasing after Ao Yu this time, the other four times people were being chased after by the Raiders too. Among those four, I've only managed to save three, and I failed to save one in time. However, I killed the four Raiders, as well as read their memories."
"Did you already discover that something's off with the people among the explorers this time before coming into the mystic territory?" Lin Huang's question was rather sharp.
Xia Bing left imprints on some people in advance before entering the mystic territory. She had clearly foreseen that something would happen during the mystic territory exploration this time.
"That's right." Xia Bing nodded and continued to explain, "Throughout these recent years, apart from the Eastern Eight Zone, the frequency of mystic territories appearing in the entire universe has increased. Not only that, there are some zones that are fighting against each other due to the conflict that took place during the mystic territory exploration."
"A small number of people noticed that there were people quietly adding fuel to the flames, but no one could show any evidence."
"Throughout these recent three years, this is the fourth time we've had a mystic territory opening in the Eastern Eight Zone. The previous three were the reappearance of mystic territories that had been explored before. As everyone has designated regions they're responsible for, nothing much happened throughout those three exploration quests. However, this time is slightly different, as this is an exploration of a brand new mystic territory."
"Almost all of the conflicts that occurred in the few regions happened during new explorations."
"Before the mystic territory opened this time, we speculated that there's a high chance that something would go wrong."
"If that's the case, apart from your Star Cluster, the rest of the organizations should've come prepared." Lin Huang figured that it would be impossible for Star Cluster to be the only one who possessed this information.
"Yes, theoretically they are, but we can't rule out that there are higher-ups of some organizations that aren't as sensitive and didn't really do anything about the information. Moreover, we have no idea as to what arrangements the other organizations made." Xia Bing nodded.
"Take a look at the videos I recorded then." Lin Huang thought for a moment and projected the two videos that he recorded previously.
As there was no network in the mystic territory, he could not send the videos to her at the moment, so they could only watch it on the spot.
The two videos finished playing soon, after which Xia Bing reminded him, "Send them to me when you get out of here."
"Don't worry. I won't go back on my words since I've given you my promise." Lin Huang nodded.
"Is that all that you've discovered so far? Do you have more about their plans for the exploration this time from reading their memories?" Xia Bing continued asking.
"That's all I have. The content I obtained from reading their memories is basically identical to the information I managed to get from hypnotization." Feeling helpless, Lin Huang shook his head. "Their authorization level is low. They don't know what the real plan is. Including Ao Yu. He doesn't know any more than what the other two knew."
"Ao Yu is already reaching the major dao-level. Therefore, I suspect that there are definitely major dao-level powerhouses among the Raiders' spies that are participating in the exploration this time!" Lin Huang speculated.
"What about you? Did you find anything that's different from my discovery?" Lin Huang continued asking.
"The four Raiders I killed are at minor dao-level, and what they know is the same as the memories you retrieved. They don't know the full mission."
"But connecting the dots from the explorations in other zones, I suspect their main goal is to create conflicts by seizing opportunities during the exploration this time, breaking the seven organizations in the Eastern Eight Zone apart," Xia Bing informed him of her speculation.
However, Lin Huang frowned lightly and voiced his opinion, "I don't think it's that simple. They can totally achieve that by using more secrecy if their goal is purely to create conflict. They could've done it without leaving any traces like they did in the other zones. However, this time, we discovered the Raiders' actions rather easily."
"To be honest, I thought it to be rather strange as well."
"Now that you've mentioned it, I suddenly feel that this isn't the same style as their previous interferences in the other zones," Xia Bing could not help but agree after hearing his words.