Chapter 68

Two days later, Wang Lin was standing by a small river, watering himself while cautiously observing his surroundings. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he cursed, "Truly a persistent ghost."

He released his flying sword, put away his gourd, and leaped over the river, rushing into the depths of the forest.

Not long after, Feng Li cautiously followed, not daring to use any magical power. He was in a terrible state; the golden inner armor that once shone brightly had lost its luster and had large patches missing. His right hand was clearly injured, hanging limply by his shoulder.

His hair was disheveled, his face was ashen, and his eyes blazed with fury. His hatred for Wang Lin had surpassed everything. From a young age, as a prodigy, he had never been in such a humiliating and desperate situation.

All of this was due to Wang Lin.

Two days ago, those bizarre vines had nearly brought him to the brink of death. He never imagined that those unremarkable vines would have such immense power. The liquid they sprayed had caused his inner armor to start melting upon contact.

If that were all, he could have used his flying sword to attack, but the vines seemed indestructible. Cutting one only made it split into two, and they multiplied rapidly.

Even the lightning balls attached to his flying sword could not completely eliminate the vines.

Worse still, Wang Lin's bizarre flying sword would occasionally appear to launch surprise attacks. His right arm had been injured by that flying sword.

In the end, Feng Li had no choice but to use the life-saving magical treasure given to him by the old master of the Feng family—a powerful ingot. This ingot had only one attack, and since he had received it, he had never encountered a crisis that required its use. But two days ago, he knew that if he didn't use it, his life would be in grave danger.

In the end, the immense power of the ingot destroyed most of the vines, and the rest retreated underground. Seizing the opportunity, Feng Li quickly rushed out.

Even now, thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat. His hatred for Wang Lin had become bone-deep.

Especially since Wang Lin never engaged him in direct combat, always launching surprise attacks. The bizarre flying sword was unpredictable, forcing Feng Li to expend his spiritual energy to keep his flying sword circling around him for protection.

By the river, he cautiously looked around, hesitated for a moment, then squatted down to scoop up some water and drink it. After being pursued for six days, he was parched and thirsty.

The water was sweet and refreshing, and Feng Li felt his spirits lift. He scooped up more water, just about to drink it, when his heart suddenly skipped a beat. A green flying sword appeared silently in front of him and lunged at him.

Without blinking, Feng Li quickly retreated, and his own flying sword, which had been circling him, rushed forward to engage the green sword. The two swords clashed with a metallic sound, and the green sword, clearly outmatched, showed deeper scratches before disappearing in a flash.

"Damn it, if I catch you, I'll make you suffer every torment in the world, and then I'll extract your soul and refine it alive. I, Feng Li, swear this!" Feng Li, looking at the hair that had been cut by the green sword, roared with fury.

Wang Lin ran through the forest, his face flushed, and a mouthful of blood trickled down his lips. He flipped his right hand, and the green sword appeared. Looking at the deep scratches on the sword, Wang Lin's eyes flashed with a cold light. Without a word, he quickly left.

Five days later, at midnight, Wang Lin and Feng Li, one running and the other pursuing, had entered the depths of the forest. That night, while running, Wang Lin suddenly stopped.

"Kid, did you sense it? There's a dense spiritual energy fluctuation to the northwest. Let's go check it out," Situ Nan said quickly. In recent days, he had been on high alert, using his knowledge to help Wang Lin avoid one crisis after another in the forest.

Without a word, Wang Lin changed direction and rushed northwest. Soon, he arrived at the source of the spiritual energy fluctuation.

The scene before him made his pupils constrict.

Under the moonlight, a massive tree had been uprooted and lay scattered around, clearing a patch of ground. A corpse, completely rotten and devoid of life, lay on the ground.

Above the corpse, a green orb floated in the air, drawing spiritual energy from all directions, forming vortices around it.

"Green Core? I didn't expect someone in a third-level cultivation country to be practicing the Green Core technique of a fourth-level cultivation country's demonic path," Situ Nan said, surprised.

"What's a Green Core?" Wang Lin asked.

"A unique core formation method of the demonic path in fourth-level cultivation countries. This Green Core is also called an Explosive Core. Unlike the orthodox Golden Core, which can only have one, the Green Core has no limit on the number. I remember a fourth-level cultivation country once had a deranged madman who possessed tens of thousands of Green Cores. Although he was only at the Core Formation stage, even experts at the Nascent Soul stage from fifth-level cultivation countries were reluctant to provoke him. After all, the main function of the Green Core is to self-destruct. The explosion of tens of thousands of Green Cores is no small matter," Situ Nan explained.

Wang Lin's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked, "How many Green Cores does this person have? Can you sense it?"

"Only one, and this person is clearly not alive. It's probably a zombie with some intelligence, likely a practitioner of the demonic path from a fourth-level cultivation country who transformed into a zombie using a secret technique before death."

The zombie had clearly noticed Wang Lin. It did not rise but raised its right index finger, and a green beam shot out, heading straight for Wang Lin's forehead.

Wang Lin quickly retreated, dodging the green beam.

The green beam did not pursue but circled around and suddenly coalesced into a translucent figure that stared at Wang Lin and spoke in a muffled voice.

"Leave... this place... or... die..." After speaking, the figure shimmered and dissolved into countless green dots, disappearing into the surroundings. The intense spiritual energy fluctuation vanished instantly, completely concealed.

Wang Lin cautiously retreated, his eyes not blinking, and quickly left. His eyes flashed with a cold light, and instead of continuing to flee from Feng Li, he stood in the distance, spreading his divine sense, waiting for Feng Li to catch up.

Feng Li's flying sword circled around him, cutting through all obstacles in front of him. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he smiled viciously. He pointed his left hand at his flying sword, and it shot forward rapidly.

Wang Lin's figure was now visible, and Feng Li's heart skipped a beat. He looked around suspiciously but found nothing unusual. However, the abnormal behavior of his opponent made him cautious. He sneered, "Why aren't you running?"

Wang Lin pointed with his right hand, and the green flying sword appeared in front of him. Without a word, he swiftly swung it, and the flying sword lunged forward. At the same time, he tapped his storage bag, and a jade slip flew out. Wang Lin formed a seal with his hands, spat out a mouthful of spiritual energy, and sprayed it onto the jade slip.

Four golden characters immediately appeared on the jade slip.

Feng Li smiled viciously, bit his left index finger, and flicked a drop of blood onto his flying sword. The flying sword trembled, emitting a sinister red light, and grew into a giant sword. Several lightning balls appeared, but there were far fewer than before.

The giant sword emitted a strong cold aura. As Feng Li waved his left hand, the giant sword swung down.

Wang Lin's green flying sword instantly appeared behind Feng Li, about to strike. Feng Li tapped his storage bag, and a small bell flew out, instantly growing and becoming translucent, covering Feng Li.

The green flying sword struck the bell, causing ripples to appear on its surface.

At the same time, the giant sword swung down. Wang Lin pointed at the golden characters on the jade slip, and they all flew out to meet the giant sword. After doing this, he quickly retreated, reaching the location of the zombie in the blink of an eye.

The four golden characters collided with the giant sword, exploding and causing a surge of spiritual energy. The giant sword rose, but with only four characters, it paused in mid-air and then swung down again at high speed.

The ground cracked, unable to withstand the pressure of the giant sword, and the surrounding massive trees collapsed. As the giant sword was about to strike, Wang Lin's eyes flashed, and a blue light appeared on his chest, quickly spreading over his body, and he teleported.

Almost brushing against the edge of the giant sword, Wang Lin appeared a hundred feet away. A trickle of blood flowed down his forehead.

The giant sword struck with a loud boom. Suddenly, a piercing, ghostly scream echoed, and a figure emitting a strong stench of decay rushed out from where the giant sword had struck, lunging at Feng Li.

Feng Li's face changed. He had been suspicious earlier but did not expect such a monster to be here. He quickly pointed his left hand, and the lightning balls on the giant sword rained down, striking the zombie.

The lightning balls were extremely powerful and inherently suppressed all dead things. They exploded on contact with the zombie, causing it to groan in pain as its rotten flesh was blasted away, revealing black bones in some places.

Feng Li sneered and pointed his left hand again. More than ten lightning balls appeared around the giant sword and rained down. Additionally, the giant sword moved and swung down.

Wang Lin cursed inwardly. He did not expect the zombie to be so weak and was about to flee.

The zombie, sensing the danger, screamed and spat out a Green Core. As soon as it appeared, it exploded with a deafening roar.

A circular shockwave immediately spread out from the zombie, instantly turning the surrounding trees to ash. Feng Li, being close, could not escape in time. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the giant bell covering him.

The giant bell flashed, instantly becoming solid, with several ancient symbols visible on its surface.

As the shockwave collided with the giant bell, it flickered violently and shattered after a moment.

Using the time the giant bell bought him, Feng Li threw out several magical treasures. As the giant bell shattered, one defensive layer after another appeared around him.