That single word 'kill' gave everyone's heart an abrupt, tight squeeze, as their breath caught in their throats.
But under the icy gazes of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, who dared voice even the slightest objection? None even dared to breathe loudly.1
"Now, go on." The brawny male Foundation Establishment cultivator gave a casual wave, his gaze fixed on the mountain range shrouded in black mist, an almost indiscernible trace of fervor and anticipation flashing in his eyes.
"Dismount! Proceed on foot into the mountain immediately!" a Qi Refining cultivator bellowed sharply.
These over eight hundred people dared not hesitate. They abandoned their Blaze Horses and began running towards the mountain.
The several dozen cultivators, however, floated low on their magical weapons, following behind at a leisurely pace, and coldly scanned the crowd like overseers.
Under the cultivators' icy gazes, no one dared hesitate or retreat. Bracing themselves, they plunged into the vast, foreboding forest suffused with black mist.
The moment he entered the Siming Mountain, Lu Lin immediately exercised the utmost vigilance, his sharp gaze scouting his surroundings.
The mountain was eerily strange. There were towering ancient trees and thick vines everywhere, but all were pitch-black, as if soaked in thick ink, their leaves an ominous jet black.
The soil beneath their feet was also unsettlingly black, with almost imperceptible wisps of black mist seeping continuously from the cracks in the ground, coiling around their legs.
Confirming that there was no immediate, obvious danger around, Lu Lin cautiously advanced, examining the environment while searching for Mingtie Cardamom.
The so-called Mingtie Cardamom was a specialty of the Siming Mountain, a black fruit only the size of a mung bean, yet as hard as iron. It was said to be a minor ingredient for a certain pill.
It seemed today was not his day. After nearly an hour of searching in the mountain, he hadn't even glimpsed the shadow of Mingtie Cardamom.
Hmm?
Just then, Lu Lin keenly caught a series of hurried footsteps approaching from behind and to the side.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dozen figures rapidly coming over. They quickly fanned out, forming a loose circle that trapped him in the middle.
Lu Lin stopped walking, his expression calm as he looked at these men.
Within the Body Tempering Realm, there was none he would fear.
"Brother, all alone?" The leader, a brawny, broad-shouldered man with a full beard, stepped forward, forcing a seemingly friendly smile on his face.
"That's right." Lu Lin offered a slight nod, his gaze sweeping over the distinctive set of black battle armor the man wore.
The standard-issue "Dark Demon Armor" of the Xuesha Demonic Sect's Martial Army.
This meant the other party was at least at the Body Tempering Seventh Level.
And within this group, four others wore the same armor!
"How about coming with us? There's strength in numbers. We can watch each other's backs," the bearded man continued with a smile.
Lu Lin sneered inwardly.
With so many experts, why would they need a mere warrior like him?
Could they possibly be so kind-hearted as not to mind a ' burden'?
"No need. I'm used to being alone," Lu Lin shook his head in refusal.
The smile on the bearded man's face stiffened slightly. Before he could speak, a young man with a haughty expression behind him stepped forward and shouted sharply, "Kid! Do you know who we are? Jiuchong Gang! This is our former leader, Yu Chong!"
Jiuchong Gang?
Lu Lin's mind stirred.
He had heard of this gang. It was one of the top forces at the Xuan-iron mine, controlling multiple rich mining areas, its strength far surpassing the Blood Wolf and Black Tiger Gangs, and rumored to have a decades-long history.
All its past leaders had broken through the Body Tempering Seventh Level. They had either been selected by Immortal Masters to become personal guards or had joined the Martial Army.
This bearded man before him was one of them.
"We are showing you respect by inviting you! If you keep refusing, they are your example!" the young man continued coldly, pointing to a few other people in the group.
Those few individuals looked pale, one of their arms twisted at an unnatural angle, clearly broken by a great force.
Lu Lin immediately understood that these people from the Jiuchong Gang were forcing others to act as cannon fodder, scouting the path.
Disagree? They'd beat you until you agreed!
"I said, I'm not interested. Get out of the way." Lu Lin's tone remained flat, but carried a hint of coldness.
The young man's face completely darkened, his Qi and Blood churning around him. He said coldly, "You ill-bred bastard! Could have had an easy time, but you just asked for trouble! I'll break one of your arms first, see if you're still so stubborn!"
Before his words faded, he had already attacked.
With the fingers crooked, his right hand formed a claw, creating a sharp gust of wind as it viciously went for Lu Lin's left arm.
This claw strike was powerful and ruthless, clearly intended to cripple Lu Lin's arm first.
Judging by how miserable those injured martial artists looked, this man must be cruel with his attacks.
Lu Lin's gaze instantly turned as cold as ice.
I initially wanted to lie low, survive, and grow steadily stronger...
Why did you have to provoke me?
Crack!
A sudden, crisp sound of bone breaking rang out!
However, it was not Lu Lin's arm that had broken.
In the split second before the young man's claw reached him, Lu Lin shot his right hand out like a knife, chopping down on the other party's wrist, moving later but striking first.
A terrifying, overwhelming force erupted, shattering the young man's wrist bone!
"Ah—!" He let out a shrill scream like a stuck pig, clutching his wrist as he staggered back. The blood instantly drained from his face, now full of pain and horror.
"You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" In the group, an old man wearing Dark Demon Armor, his hair graying, roared upon seeing this and lunged at Lu Lin like an enraged lion.
His broad palm surged with Qi and Blood, and, stirring up a sharp wind, smacked at Lu Lin's face!
His savageness far surpassed the young man's.
Body Tempering Eighth Level! Proficiency in the Demonic Ape Palm!
Lu Lin instantly figured out the opponent's strength.
"I see, you are not going to stop..." At this moment, Lu Lin's eyes were filled with coldness. The vast sea of Qi and Blood within him erupted, and he also delivered a palm strike.
The same Demonic Ape Palm!
Whap! Crack!
The dull thud of the two palms colliding and the sound of bone fracturing burst out almost simultaneously.
One of the old man's arms twisted and deformed visibly.
A pale broken bone even pierced through the skin, flesh, and the armor vambrace, sending blood splattering.
The smug, savage grin on his face instantly turned into pain and horror as his body flew back uncontrollably.
Lu Lin took a rapid series of steps, clinging to the old man like his shadow, before unleashing the second palm strike.
This palm blow, holding his peerless strength of ten thousand jin, landed squarely on the old man's chest like a thunderbolt.
Bang!
The old man's body, weighing over two hundred jin, was sent flying through the air like a ragged sack, crashing into a massive tree behind him!
Boom!
The towering ancient tree, thick enough for several people to embrace, shook violently from the impact, showering down a rain of black leaves.
The old man slid limply down the trunk, fresh blood gushing from his mouth and his eyes brimming with terror and despair.
He struggled to look down, seeing a deep palm mark dented into the chest of the sturdy Dark Demon Armor. The terrifying force had already penetrated the armor, shattering his internal organs.
He twitched a few times, his head lolling to the side, and fell completely silent.
Hush!
A deathly hush!
Everyone from the Jiuchong Gang gasped at this moment, their faces overflowed with shock and fear. They all retreated seven or eight involuntary steps, putting a distance between themselves and Lu Lin.
The young man whose wrist had been crippled earlier was so frightened that his soul seemed adrift. Staggering back, he tripped over a vine on the ground, falling on his rear and shivering like a sieve.
Even Yu Chong, the former Jiuchong Gang Leader with the highest Realm, also stared fixedly at Lu Lin as his pupils contracted sharply and his face froze with severity.
They had really picked the wrong guy this time!
He had been in the Martial Army for over twenty years and participated in more than ten sect missions, big and small, each time a narrow escape from death, surviving only by being cautious and having a bit of luck.
He knew well enough the dangers of the Demon Sect's missions. Therefore, whenever on a mission, if he had the chance, he would do everything possible to find cannon fodder to scout the way ahead, using others' lives to keep dangers away, which he was long used to.
This mission made him uneasy, so his determination had been cemented to 'stock up' on cannon fodder.
But he had never expected that he would run into such a ferocious beast in their casual hunt for an ordinary warrior.
Just who was this man?
Could it be an Immortal Master's personal guard that had mixed in? Killing, in just two moves, an expert at the Body Tempering Eighth Level clad in Dark Demon Armor---a feat that even he himself might not be able to achieve.
Wasn't it that Body Tempering Tenth Level experts did not participate in this mission? Why did this person have a strength so terrifying?
But if he just let this man go, how could he, Yu Chong, maintain authority among the Jiuchong Gang members?
"Friend... you were being too cruel, weren't you?" Yu Chong took a quiet, deep breath, forcefully suppressing his inner fear, and spoke in a deep voice, trying to preserve some dignity.
"You want your death, too?" Lu Lin's icy gaze swept over him, looking at him as if he were already dead, his tone devoid of any emotion.
His strength had been exposed. He was considering whether to silence everyone.
Otherwise, if his true strength saw the light of day, it would absolutely attract cultivators' attention. If it was someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm...
The consequences would be unimaginable.
"You..."
Meeting Lu Lin's gaze, Yu Chong felt an immediate chill run down his spine, his pores constricting, instinctively sensing danger.
Just at that moment...
Rumble!
The earth emitted a sudden, dull, thunderous sound.
It didn't come from afar, but from... beneath the ground.