Chapter 712 – Thorough Slaughter
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“And there’s that damned Xuan Wuji. To think he goes to chase the Giant Leviathan on his own and leaves behind this scourge in the South Sea Demon Region! Xuan Wuji, as long as you do not kill that boy, it’s impossible for me to return to the South Sea Demon Region. If I run into him again then chances are that my life will fall under his hands. Luckily, I found this ‘Evil Soulfire Step’ in the possession of a late Revolving Core martial artist I’ve killed. With this, on top of my own speed, I should be able to easily escape this catastrophe.”
The yellow-robed Elder simply never expected Lin Ming to chase him in order to kill him. After all, out of all the Elders there, he was one of the weakest; Lin Ming shouldn’t be attracted to him. And, in terms of speed, he was one of the best here. If one or two Elders were to die, then it likely wouldn’t be his turn.
“That Lin brat can’t be possessed by a ghost or something. He shouldn’t do something as unreasonable as chasing me. I hope that he chooses to bother with the Eastern Faction Sovereign. With that old man stalling for time, I’ll be much safer.”
As the yellow-robed Elder was thinking about the possible scenarios, he suddenly heard the rustling of wind behind him and a faint rumbling sound approaching him.
“Huh? What?”
As the yellow-robed Elder turned around, he was frightened almost to the point where his spirit left his body. Behind him, just six or seven miles away, there was a black-clothed youngster chasing after him with a bloodstained white spear, his hair flying recklessly as thunder and fire covered his body. With every step he took, he seemed to teleport two-three miles ahead.
At this speed, Lin Ming would overtake him in less than ten breaths’ time!
“What kind of movements are these!?!?” The yellow-robed Elder turned whiter than death. He punched himself in the chest, forcing out the power of his blood essence as he escaped at a speed surpassing his limits.
However, this ‘Evil Soulfire Step’ was, in the end, far from being able to compare with the exquisite ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’. Moreover, he was also weaker than Lin Ming. Now, in just a few breaths’ time, Lin Ming was already chasing right behind him. He could feel that Lin Ming’s fearful killing intent had already locked onto him.
The yellow-robed Elder was scared breathless. In his entire life, he had experienced many dangerous life-or-death situations, and had stumbled through many danger zones. But, he had never felt the specter of death approach him as much as it did today!
It hadn’t even been a hundred years since he had successfully crossed into Life Destruction. He still had a lavish and sumptuous life to enjoy! He refused to die here today!
“Wait… Wait, wait, wait! Young Hero Lin, do not kill me! I… I can give you any information you need, as well as all of my wealth!” the yellow-robed Elder desperately cried out.
However, Lin Ming didn’t seem to care at all, as if he hadn’t even heard these words. He simply grasped his white spear and thrust out!
“Ahhh! This old man will fight you to the death!” Seeing Lin Ming’s ruthlessness, the yellow-robed Elder took up a crescent halberd in hand and struck at Lin Ming.
However, at this moment, he suddenly felt an enormous pressure smashing into him, like an endless tide. His breathing became heavy, his heart nearly stopping, and the blood in his veins and the true essence in his meridians stagnated, nearly reversing course. At the same time, a killing intent so pure and thick struck him, that it almost suffocated him to death. He felt as if he had plunged into one of hell’s blood ponds. Under this chilling killing intent, the fires of his life were like a candle in the wind, about to go out at any time.
This was the Asura force field and Death God force field released by Lin Ming.
“No…!” the yellow-robed Elder miserably sobbed.
However, he was still unable to change his fate; Lin Ming’s spear pierced his throat!
Blood sprayed, and the yellow-robed Elder died. Out of the seven Life Destruction Elders still within the South Sea Demon Region, there were now only four left!
Lin Ming waved his left hand, taking the yellow-robed Elder’s corpse and spatial ring. Then, without pause, he turned around and chased towards the second Life Destruction Elder!
With Lin Ming’s ‘Golden Rock Shattering the Void’ approaching the third layer, his speed could no longer be compared with that of a normal martial artist.
Out of the remaining Life Destruction Elders, this second one was the slowest of all. The reason Lin Ming decided to chase him was just because he was the farthest away from everyone else.
After half an incense stick of time, Lin Ming was only ten miles away from this Life Destruction Elder. Lin Ming was already able to sense him with his perception. He was a middle-aged man with sharp ears and round cheeks. He was flying away with extreme caution, revolving his protective true essence to the limit, at the same time being tense and wary of his surroundings.
After leaving the South Sea Demon Region’s three islands, this Elder had stumbled into a small isolated jungle. There, he fully restrained his energy and hid in a pile of lush green bushes.
At that time, the moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the night gales were howling. This sharp-eared Elder seemed to be proficient in camouflage techniques. Lowering himself into the bushes, he seemed to melt into the surrounding environment, becoming one with the earth. Even if one knew he was there and used their perception to look for him, it would still be difficult to find any trace of him.
“I should be safe here.”
The sharp-eared Elder’s face darkened, becoming gloomy. He didn’t know just where this Lin Ming had come from. How could he have suddenly become so strong? A twenty-or-so-year-old youngster was actually chasing someone like him, who was nearly a thousand years old, into the jungle. If this news ever spread out then it would truly be laughable.
“That Lin Ming brat never locked onto me from the start. Even if he finishes off his first target and then comes chasing after me, it will still be useless. With my camouflage technique, even Xuan Wuji might not be able to find me.” The sharp-eared Elder had faith in his own abilities. If a few Life Destruction Elders were to die because Lin Ming chased them down, he definitely wouldn’t be one of them.
“I won’t be able to return to the South Sea Demon Region for quite some time. I’ll stay and hide here for a while before reassessing the situation.”
As the sharp-eared Elder thought this, his face suddenly froze in place. At the same time, his heart sank into the depths of despair!
He watched helplessly as a black-clothed youth carrying a white spear fell into an open area just thirty feet in front of him. This black-clothed youngster turned in his direction and cruelly smiled at him, as if he could see through all lies and illusions!
Seeing this young man’s smile, the sharp-eared Elder felt a chill crawl up his spine, his spirit fading into the heavens!
‘How did he discover me!?’
The sharp-eared Elder couldn’t believe this. Now that things had come to this point, any of his camouflage techniques had no meaning whatsoever.
His forehead was dripping with sweat, but he forced his heart to stay calm as he began to think about escaping possibilities. But at this point, Lin Ming laughed and said, “This Elder’s camouflage technique is quite skilled; much better than my own in the past. But, in such a hot and humid place with so many insects everywhere, you must be suffering too much. Let me help you a bit!”
With these words, Lin Ming suddenly turned towards the bushes and thrust his spear!
The sharp-eared Elder shrieked like a cat that had its tail stepped on. He was ready to rush out, but at that moment, something strange occurred. All of the branches and leaves and plants around him seemed to twist like countless pythons, wrapping around him. The normally fragile plants seemed to become as tough as metal, forcefully holding him down.
If the Elder revolved his true essence to the limit, he could work his way out in less than two breaths’ time. However, in front of Lin Ming, that was more than enough time to die a hundred times!
The sharp-eared Elder was frightened to the point that his soul fled his body. He raised his sword, ready to cut through the branches, but it was already too late. A cool feeling bloomed in his chest and an icy-white spear pierced through his heart!
His life fading away at a fast pace, the sharp-eared Elder lifted his eyes, staring at Lin Ming with unwillingness.
“Just… what happened…”
This was the last thought to pass through the sharp-eared Elder’s mind.
He died without understanding how Lin Ming had discovered him, or how the surrounding bushes had managed to trap him.
Once the sharp-eared Elder died, the surrounding branches and leaves delivered his corpse into Lin Ming’s hands. This was the simple application of battle spirit. The battle spirit could be attached to the foliage, moving it and forming a cage. This had been the fastest way to kill that sharp-eared Elder.
Lin Ming indifferently took the sharp-eared Elder’s corpse and spatial ring. Then, he flew away again, chasing after the last first stage Life Destruction Elder.
At this time, Lin Ming had chased for a full quarter of an hour. Along the road, he slightly deviated off course to kill off any Revolving Core martial artist that passed within a hundred miles of him. Lin Ming didn’t even bother taking in the spatial rings of martial artists of only this level. Even more, he simply burnt their corpses to ashes with a fireball after killing them.
As he advanced, another quarter of an hour passed. Lin Ming finally sensed that sixth Life Destruction Elder.
This Elder and the sharp-eared Elder had chosen completely different escape paths. This one had run in a straight line for several dozen miles before temporarily stopping to make sure he did not have a tracing mark on him. Then, he changed directions, flying several dozen miles, and then changed directions again and again, in a zigzag line.
For a common martial artist, chasing after him would have been impossible. But to Lin Ming, this Elder’s zigzagging path only made it much easier to chase him.
This black-clothed Life Destruction Elder kept his head down as he flew away. He had originally worn a red-robe, but in order to disguise himself, he had switched into black night-clothes. Even though he had already escaped several hundred miles away, he didn’t once relax his guard. He kept running away at full speed.
Just as he was thinking of how to inform Xuan Wuji of this matter, he suddenly heard the wind twisting behind him.
The black-clothed Elder’s heart turned cold.
‘Who!?’
He didn’t think that Lin Ming was chasing him; he had already thrown him off long ago. But, as he looked back, he could see Lin Ming flying there, his hand gripping a bloodstained white spear as his two eyes flashed with the power of thunder!
“No…no… This isn’t possible!”
The black-clothed Elder’s mouth fell open. In that instant he felt his entire body turn leaden, his limbs ice-cold. Was this Lin Ming really human!?
As this thought crossed the black-clothed Elder’s mind, Lin Ming’s spear had already pierced towards him.
The black-clothed Elder’s cultivation was much deeper than that of the last two. He was actually able to block one of Lin Ming’s strikes. But, that was his limit.
Lin Ming’s second spear easily thrust through the black-clothed Elder’s dantian. With a twist, his Revolving Core shattered to pieces.
The black-clothed Elder died!
After putting away this corpse, Lin Ming began to chase after the remaining Revolving Core martial artists. To Lin Ming, these were only small fries.
Most of them had only escaped several hundred miles away. Then, they had diverged, some continuing to escape, some finding an island to hide, and some even plunging into the waters.
Lin Ming first killed the martial artists who kept on running. Killing these Revolving Core martial artists was much simpler. As long as he could come within several miles of them, he could simply flick his finger and kill them with a battle-spirit-infused wind current.
Lin Ming had no qualms about killing these South Sea Demon Region martial artists. In his view, killing one of them meant that there was one less future disaster in the world.
Life after life perished under Lin Ming’s hands!