Chapter 282: Chapter 278: Escape from Sanqing Sect

A Martial Artist at the Elemental Realm had killed two at the Soul Gathering Realm in an instant. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would have dismissed it as a tall tale.

Though the two Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artists had been consumed by an exotic flame, the sight was still utterly terrifying.

Setting aside the first, the second Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist had known the exotic flame was there.

Even so, he was still consumed by it. It was horrifying!

But what shocked them even more was that they could now clearly see two Lin Haos.

One was pinned beneath a stone monument, while the other stood perfectly unharmed where the Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist had just been standing.

At first, they didn’t understand what was happening. Not until the Lin Hao pinned beneath the monument gradually vanished.

"A Primordial Body! He manifested a Primordial Body!" an elder cried out, his eyes wide as saucers and his hair and beard standing on end.

No one in the Sanqing Sect could manifest a Primordial Body—not even a single one—because the sect’s supreme Secret Skill had long been lost.

The surviving Element Transformation Skill manual in the sect, even when cultivated to its highest level, could only manifest the Four Extremities.

To suddenly see Lin Hao manifest a Primordial Body left them all stunned—not just the elder, but even Ning Laodao, who had just appeared.

"Seize him!" From above, Ning Laodao’s eyes burned with greed as he commanded in a low voice.

In the secret chamber moments ago, he had frantically traded a blow with Lin Hao. Though uninjured, he’d been left in a rather pathetic state.

To preserve his image, the old bastard had even gone to clean himself up.

Ning Laodao gave the order, but no one dared to move. Lin Hao was too terrifying.

Looking back, they now realized Lin Hao had orchestrated the entire fight.

The core elder had taken a step, and Lin Hao had spat blood. Then, he had deliberately retreated behind the stone monument, instantly manifesting a Primordial Body to create the illusion of being trapped, luring the elder into letting his guard down.

In that exact moment, his true self appeared and unleashed the exotic flame.

That core elder, it could be said, had been completely entrapped and killed by Lin Hao.

Two Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artists were dead at his hands, and another’s arm was crippled. Even as Soul Gathering Realm experts, they no longer dared to underestimate Lin Hao.

Just then, Lin Hao’s icy voice rang out. "I’ve said it before: as long as I live, I will kill anyone who makes a move against me! You’re welcome to try."

Lin Hao’s eyes were devoid of emotion, like those of a cold, wild beast. His words sent a shiver through the Soul Gathering Realm experts.

The aura this boy exuded was enough to make even their hearts pound with fear!

"Young Master Lin, you’re merely at the Elemental Realm Fifth Layer. You just manifested a Primordial Body, so your True Essence must be nearly spent. This old Daoist advises you to stop this futile resistance." A strange glint shone in Ning Laodao’s eyes; he could tell Lin Hao was merely putting up a brave front.

Lin Hao stood ramrod straight, immovable as a mountain. He simply said, "Why don’t you come and find out?"

Ning Laodao smiled without answering. A jade hairpin appeared in his hand.

Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed. It was a Doppelganger Pin. At Yu Mengru’s birthday party at the Danling Sect, this old Daoist had gifted one just like it.

That pin had no offensive power; it could only transform into a Primordial Body at a critical moment to help its owner escape.

This one, however, was clearly different.

Lin Hao watched as Ning Laodao dripped a drop of True Blood onto it. The pin flared with brilliant light, and a Primordial Body that looked exactly like Ning Laodao appeared.

"Seize him!" Ning Laodao commanded, pointing at Lin Hao.

BOOM!

The Primordial Body arrived in a flash. Before it even reached him, the Duster in its hand lashed out.

The snow-white Duster was whipped straight, each of its strands becoming a deadly weapon.

Lin Hao sidestepped, letting the Duster fly past him.

Behind him, a massive boulder weighing over a thousand pounds exploded with a BANG.

The strike missed, and the Duster swept out horizontally. But Lin Hao’s gaze turned cold, and he shot his right arm forward.

Guided by his True Essence, power erupted from Lin Hao’s arm, and a multi-colored flame shot out from his palm.

BOOM!

The Flowing Light Divine Flame incinerated everything in its path. If even a Soul Gathering Realm expert couldn’t utter a scream upon contact, what chance did a mere Primordial Body have?

In the blink of an eye, the Primordial Body was reduced to cinders.

Ning Laodao’s expression soured, but then he laughed.

"The exotic flame is stored in the Laogong Acupoint of his right hand! Chop off his right arm!"

How could Ning Laodao not be delighted, having traded a Primordial Body for the location of the exotic flame?

Several Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artists closed in, surrounding Lin Hao.

The pressure from the Soul Gathering Realm cultivators was overwhelming, pinning Lin Hao in place, unable to move a muscle.

Just then, a blade of True Essence materialized in one of their hands.

The blade elongated, instantly shooting out to a length of over ten meters. The man raised the True Essence Greatsword high and brought it down toward Lin Hao’s right arm.

A roar thundered within Lin Hao’s body as he circulated the Imperial Art.

But it was useless.

He wouldn’t have been able to break free from even one Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artist, let alone several.

Lin Hao’s eyes were bloodshot, nearly splitting with rage. He had to burn their faces into his memory.

The man with the sword met Lin Hao’s gaze and felt a chill run down his spine.

Steeling himself, he raised the sword higher.

And brought it down...

Just then, the ground began to shake violently.

An overwhelmingly terrifying aura instantly blanketed the entire Sanqing Sect.

The True Essence Greatsword in the man’s hand vanished without a trace.

Everyone looked up, their gazes fixed on a single direction.

It was the edge of the fire-ravaged jungle, the part that connected to the Celestial Break Mountain Range.

They saw countless massive Devil Beasts appearing.

There were giant bears, walking upright and standing over ten meters tall, and towering tiger-leopards that were dozens of meters long...

RUMBLE!

Trees so thick it would take several people to encircle them were shattered with ease. Boulders weighing thousands of pounds were swatted into pieces by a single claw...

ROAR!

In the distance, another roar echoed.

Even from so far away, they could still feel the crushing pressure.

And then, countless eyes went wide with shock.

They saw that with this one roar, an entire mountain peak was actually collapsing!

Shattering mountains with a single roar!

A Devil Beast like that was powerful beyond belief.

"A beast... a beast tide!"

Seeing this, even the Soul Gathering Realm Martial Artists were struck with terror.

If these countless Devil Beasts were to charge the sect, it was likely that few would survive.

The elder-level figures of the Sanqing Sect all began to back away, having completely forgotten about Lin Hao.

Surrounded in the center of it all, Lin Hao suddenly felt the pressure on him vanish.

’If not now, when!’

SWOOSH!

Lin Hao’s body turned into a streak of light, and he charged straight toward the beast tide.

This move took everyone by surprise.

No one had expected Lin Hao to make such a suicidal move.

By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. Lin Hao had already landed among the countless Devil Beasts.

After several months of recuperation, Lin Hao had gone through a growth spurt and was now over 1.7 meters tall. For a boy of fifteen, this was by no means short.

But now, amidst the herd of Devil Beasts, Lin Hao seemed as insignificant as an ant.

"Seize him!"

In the distance, Ning Laodao roared in fury.

Lin Hao possessed the Secret Skill he had sought for over a century; he couldn’t possibly let him escape.

But now, no one was listening to him.

The few Soul Gathering Realm experts released their powerful auras, hoping to hold back the beast tide.

"Activate the Spiritual Artifacts!"

One of the Soul Gathering Realm experts yelled.

If these Devil Beasts broke through, countless Sect Disciples would meet a violent end!

BOOM!

A Soul Gathering Realm expert took action, activating a Spiritual Artifact.

RUMBLE!

The destructive power unleashed by a Soul Gathering Realm expert activating a Spiritual Artifact was staggering.

With a wave of a hand, a single attack sundered mountains and rivers!

With several Soul Gathering Realm experts attacking simultaneously, the resulting spectacle was even more awe-inspiring.

The sundered earth continued to spread, instantly forming a deep chasm.

A Devil Beast leaped up, trying to cross the chasm, but was immediately cut in half, blood raining down.

In the end, a canyon dozens of feet wide was formed, halting the Devil Beasts on the other side.

But Lin Hao had long since vanished, perhaps trampled to death under the Devil Beasts’ iron hooves.

Of course, Lin Hao hadn’t died.

The moment he landed among the Devil Beasts, Lin Hao had leaped away, dashing deeper into the mountain range.

With dust and sand kicked up by the charging beast tide, Lin Hao moved against the current, and surprisingly, not a single Devil Beast noticed him.

Pushing his speed to its absolute limit, Lin Hao ran for several miles before finally letting out a slight sigh of relief.

He looked around. The area was a wreck of splintered trees and shattered boulders, but beyond that, it was terrifyingly silent.

Not a single Devil Beast in sight.

’Too strange.’

"Guì Dàn, Guì Dàn, you get your ass out here!" Lin Hao muttered after catching his breath.

Lin Hao hadn’t charged in recklessly.

He was gambling—gambling on the origin of these Devil Beasts.

This was the outer edge of the Celestial Break Mountain Range; it was impossible for so many Devil Beasts to appear here. The only explanation was that they had been driven out from deeper within.

And when he thought of who might have such an ability, Lin Hao’s mind naturally went to Guì Dàn.

He clearly remembered the journey from the Heaven-Stepping Sect to the Danling Sect. He had wanted to find Devil Beasts to temper his cultivation, but because of Guì Dàn, he hadn’t seen so much as a single Devil Beast hair, let alone a whole one.

He also remembered the look on that Demon Ape’s face when it saw Guì Dàn.

Guì Dàn had been suppressed beneath Forbidden God Mountain for ten thousand years. Its origins were astounding; it surely possessed the ability to command these Devil Beasts.

That was why Lin Hao had charged in.

But even after calling for a long time, Guì Dàn didn’t appear.

With no other choice, Lin Hao could only venture deeper.

This area was still too dangerous. That old bastard from the Sanqing Sect wouldn’t give up so easily.

’Old bastard, the day I emerge from these mountains will be the day you die!’

If not for the beast tide, he would have been tortured to death by that old bastard.

Lin Hao was always one to repay kindness and avenge grievances. That old bastard was now on his kill list.

Lin Hao glanced back in the direction of the Sanqing Sect, then continued deeper into the mountains.

He had barely taken a step when the hairs on his neck stood on end. He instantly took off.

An incredibly terrifying aura was spreading through the air, sending a chill to the very core of his being.

Lin Hao didn’t dare look back. He could only race forward. He encountered no Devil Beasts, but the terrifying aura clung to him like a shadow.

’I must have been targeted by a Devil Beast.’

Lin Hao cursed his luck.

He had assumed Guì Dàn was helping him from the shadows, but now, it seemed his situation wasn’t so optimistic.

ROAR!

Suddenly, a great roar thundered from the sky above.

That single roar scattered the True Essence in his body. As if struck by lightning, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying a great distance.

RUMBLE!

Behind him, a Devil Beast dove from the sky and landed with a ground-shaking thud.

Lin Hao turned his head. When he got a clear look at the Devil Beast, he couldn’t help but gasp.