Chapter 281: Chapter 277: Killing a Soul Gathering Realm Expert

’That old bastard was there back at the Danling Sect. He knows the situation crystal clear—not only did I make the Jinglian Saint Institute wary, but I also have deep ties with the Misty Palace, one of the five great divine sects.’

Yet, despite all that, he still dared to make a move on Lin Hao. Lin Hao would never believe he didn’t have a trump card up his sleeve.

However, Lin Hao had still underestimated the old bastard’s cunning and caution.

"A trump card? Young Master Lin, you must be joking. You stole our sect’s Secret Skill. I’m merely here to take it back. I don’t think that’s asking too much, do I?" Elder Ning said, a look of feigned shock on his face.

With that one statement, he had instantly seized the moral high ground.

It made sense. Lin Hao had stolen another sect’s Secret Skill, and they were demanding its return. It was perfectly reasonable.

The problem was, Lin Hao hadn’t stolen anything.

Of course, Lin Hao wasn’t going to argue. It was obvious this old bastard had already planned for every contingency.

’Whether I resist or not, this old bastard won’t let me go today.’

’When the time comes, he can just say it was an "accident" to shrug off all responsibility. There are plenty of scapegoats available. For the sake of this Secret Skill, this old bastard probably wouldn’t even care about the entire Sanqing Sect.’

"Impressive! A truly crafty old fox!" At this point, Lin Hao had to admire the old bastard’s scheming.

Elder Ning remained unprovoked, maintaining a benevolent and kind expression. He smiled. "Young Master Lin, isn’t it time you handed over the Secret Skill?"

"Alright!" Lin Hao gave an odd smile, then began to recite loudly, "When Heaven and Earth were chaos, the Dao formed itself. The chaos opened, transforming into Yin..."

"Silence!" Elder Ning roared in fury, abruptly cutting Lin Hao off.

In the thatched hut behind Woniushan, Lin Hao had recited a few lines that sounded incredibly profound.

Elder Ning had been convinced that this was the real Secret Skill. How could he possibly let Lin Hao recite it in front of everyone?

Lin Hao’s body trembled, as if he’d been startled by Elder Ning’s sudden roar.

Then, Lin Hao abruptly clamped his mouth shut.

The next moment, Elder Ning tapped a series of points on Lin Hao’s body, sealing all his major acupoints.

"So you did secretly memorize the sect’s Secret Skill. It absolutely cannot fall into the hands of an outsider!" Elder Ning said, grabbing Lin Hao and starting to leave.

He had been in charge of the Sanqing Sect for over a hundred years and was the absolute authority. No one dared to question him.

He carried Lin Hao through a pair of large doors and went straight into a room.

Without stopping, Elder Ning reached out, twisted a vase, and an opening suddenly appeared in the floor.

Clearly, there was a secret chamber in this room.

After tossing Lin Hao down, Elder Ning leaped down as well.

They passed through a long, narrow corridor, and the space suddenly opened up.

Lin Hao discovered that the place was decorated exactly like the room above; it didn’t have a gloomy or sinister feel at all.

Seeing the decor, a smile appeared on Lin Hao’s face.

"You old bastard. Playing the saint after acting the whore. I’m impressed."

"Tell me the Secret Skill, or you’ll die a miserable death!" Now that they were here, the smile on Elder Ning’s face vanished, replaced by completely undisguised killing intent.

Lin Hao retorted sarcastically, "And you’ll let me go if I tell you? Do you take me for a fool?"

"Did you think I’d have no way of finding out if you didn’t tell me?" Elder Ning said sinisterly. He suddenly struck out, grabbing Lin Hao’s head.

Immediately, Lin Hao felt an intense, sharp pain.

This wasn’t a soul-stealing technique, but the old bastard trying to forcibly extract Lin Hao’s memories.

Lin Hao’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.

’If this continues, even if I don’t die, I’ll be turned into a cripple.’

As he resisted with immense willpower, Lin Hao’s mind raced.

’I need to try using my Cultivation Technique, but my major acupoints are sealed. I’m completely powerless.’

A sudden idea struck Lin Hao.

Abruptly, a brilliant light erupted from the center of Lin Hao’s Dantian.

Lin Hao had awakened his True Self.

BOOM!

An incomparably domineering aura suddenly burst forth from within Lin Hao, instantly blasting open the acupoints sealed by Elder Ning.

The hand Elder Ning had clamped on Lin Hao’s head was violently thrown back.

Before Elder Ning could react, Lin Hao’s body transformed into a streak of light and lunged forward.

’My only hope of escape today rests on this old Daoist. I have to take him down.’

Although Lin Hao’s current cultivation was the same as it was a few months ago—the early stage of the Elemental Realm Fifth Layer—his current power at this stage was on a completely different level compared to before.

Lin Hao pushed his speed to the absolute limit, arriving in a flash.

Before his body even arrived, his fist was already there.

Months of cultivation had allowed Lin Hao to mobilize his True Essence with a mere thought. With this punch, Lin Hao executed a martial skill—the Tyrannical Dragon Emperor Fist.

A surging tide of True Essence gushed forth.

Across from him, Elder Ning had no way to dodge and could only hastily raise a fist to meet the blow.

RUMBLE!

The two fists collided with earth-shattering force.

It was as if a massive explosion had occurred. Not only did the secret chamber blow apart, but the entire room above ceased to exist.

Lin Hao didn’t have time to check if Elder Ning was dead or alive. Pushing his Ghostly Divine Step to its limits, he shot into the distance.

"Stop him!" Elder Ning’s furious roar echoed from behind.

Immediately, Lin Hao’s Body Technique was impeded.

An expert at the Soul Gathering Realm had made a move.

Despite the distance, Lin Hao was sent plummeting like a kite with a broken string.

Then, an incredibly violent force surged toward him from the sky.

Lin Hao gritted his teeth and mobilized all his True Essence to defend himself.

But it was futile.

Even with the distance, Lin Hao couldn’t block it. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward.

At that moment, a massive hand formed of True Essence reached for Lin Hao’s body.

When a Soul Gathering Realm expert attacked, they didn’t even need to use martial skills. They could suppress an Elemental Realm Martial Artist with a mere wave of their hand.

Lin Hao, covered in blood, his hair standing on end, roared and threw a defiant punch.

BOOM!

The punch, containing all of Lin Hao’s True Essence, was still useless.

The massive hand of True Essence immediately slapped Lin Hao down to the ground.

BANG!

Lin Hao’s body slammed into a large boulder. The boulder instantly exploded, and a large crater formed beneath it.

A crater created by the impact of Lin Hao’s body.

"They say you were invincible in the Blood Coagulation Realm. A pity that in my eyes, you are nothing but an ant. So what if your physical body is invincible? It still can’t change the outcome." A person landed in front of the crater and spoke coldly.

Then, he reached out to grab Lin Hao from the crater.

Just then, Lin Hao abruptly looked up and gave him an eerie smile.

The next moment...

BOOM!

A multicolored light flashed, and the attacker was instantly turned to ash.

Lin Hao staggered to his feet. His clothes were in tatters, his body was drenched in blood, and his gaze was terrifyingly cold.

At this time, several Sanqing Sect Martial Artists appeared nearby, but not a single one of them made a move.

The man just now had been at the Soul Gathering Realm, yet he had died so completely that not even a scrap was left. The key thing was, they hadn’t even seen clearly what had happened.

Lin Hao was just too uncanny.

An Imperial Art was circulating within him, rapidly healing his injured body.

On the surface, however, Lin Hao still looked as if he was about to collapse as he stumbled forward.

"If I don’t die today, I will kill every single person who attacked me!" The bone-chilling words came from Lin Hao’s mouth.

"Lin Hao, you stole our sect’s Secret Skill, and now you dare to brazenly kill our people! We cannot let you live today," someone said, their voice harsh and severe.

As soon as the words fell, the man attacked.

He appeared in a flash, and everything around Lin Hao began to disintegrate.

Boulders shattered like thin paper, and trees snapped like dry twigs!

This was a level of power that an Elemental Realm Martial Artist could only achieve with the force of their fist, yet this man accomplished it without moving a muscle.

His cultivation surpassed the Elemental Realm!

Lin Hao wanted to punch back, but his body was completely beyond his control.

The Imperial Art circulated, and a roar like bells and drums echoed from within Lin Hao’s body, but it was still futile.

The gap between the Elemental Realm and the Soul Gathering Realm was just too vast.

"You can’t kill me." But even so, Lin Hao was smiling.

The man was less than a hundred meters from Lin Hao, yet he didn’t dare to strike.

"Hmph! My sect possesses the virtue of cherishing life. I’ll start by severing your legs!" the man snorted. With that, he chopped a palm toward Lin Hao’s legs, his speed reaching an extreme.

BOOM!

Lin Hao’s hand shot out, and the multicolored light appeared again.

Then, the hand chopping toward Lin Hao’s legs instantly vanished without a trace.

"Fire... a Strange Flame!" The attacker retreated in a panic, his right hand gone.

Gone was his earlier arrogance, replaced by a face full of terror.

It wasn’t just him; the faces of the others also changed.

To be able to instantly kill one Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist and incinerate the hand of another... this Strange Flame was simply too terrifying.

"You lot, want to give it a try too?" A mocking smile appeared on Lin Hao’s face.

At that moment, Lin Hao stood bathed in blood, a wide smile on his face, looking for all the world like a demon incarnate.

"You underestimate us," someone said at this moment.

An old man stepped forward.

Although Lin Hao didn’t know his name, he knew the man was one of the core elders of the Sanqing Sect. Lin Hao had seen him on his first night here.

The elder took a single step, and Lin Hao violently spat out a mouthful of blood, his body jolting as if struck by lightning.

A Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist didn’t even need to attack up close. With just one step, the force traveled through the ground and heavily injured Lin Hao.

A sense of powerlessness rose in Lin Hao’s heart.

’Of course, I know how terrifying Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artists are. I only succeeded just now by catching them off guard. Once a Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist is on alert, I have absolutely no way to fight back.’

Lin Hao did a quick scan. There were at least seven other Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artists around.

’This is an impossible situation. A death trap.’

But Lin Hao had no intention of giving up.

Across from him, the elder took another step.

SQUIRT!

Lin Hao staggered backward, spraying another mouthful of blood.

When a Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist attacked, he simply couldn’t dodge.

"Tell me the Secret Skill, and I’ll leave you with an intact corpse." The elder’s subtle voice sounded in Lin Hao’s ear.

Clearly, this elder was one of Elder Ning’s trusted confidants. He was using a secret voice transmission to speak to Lin Hao.

Lin Hao shook his head and took another step back.

The elder stepped forward again.

This time Lin Hao didn’t spit blood, but his body was trembling so hard he could barely stand.

Lin Hao tried to retreat further but found his path blocked. A massive stone stele was right behind him.

A smile appeared on the elder’s face.

He loved seeing the despair in his opponents’ eyes. It gave him a thrill.

Lin Hao paused for a moment, then flipped his body over, hiding behind the stone stele.

The elder wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He just waved a hand.

BOOM!

The stone stele immediately shattered, crushing Lin Hao’s body beneath it.

The elder saw that only Lin Hao’s head was visible, blood pouring from the corners of his mouth.

The elder smiled and walked over.

But just then, an alarm bell went off in his mind.

The next moment, his body was suddenly engulfed by a ball of fire, and not even ash remained.

For a moment, the scene was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.