Chapter 679: Surging (I)
At the first formation defense line, Ji Haozhong smiled and waved his hand when he saw Lin Zheyu approaching from outside. "I know what you intend to do, so there is no need to stand on ceremony. Go ahead."
After more than half a year, he had long since grown accustomed to Lin Zheyu's habits. Whenever he came over, he would enter the space-time node, wander around inside for a while, and then return. No one knew what he did in there, but he never stayed long, usually less than half an hour. Although Ji Haozhong, Zong Linjing, and the others were somewhat curious, none of them intended to press him for answers.
"A few days ago, I heard from cultivators infiltrating the demon realm that things have been unsettled there. They seem to be preparing another invasion. You must be careful when you enter," Zong Linjing warned.
"Thank you for the warning. I will be careful." Lin Zheyu smiled and cupped his hands before leaping lightly into the space-time node.
Dense demonic qi rushed toward him, while the familiar violent and chaotic energies of the laws raged through the void. Lin Zheyu stepped out of the node fissure, then frowned slightly and glanced back toward the space-time node behind him.
As expected, have I attracted the attention of other experts by entering too frequently? Lin Zheyu wondered.
Just now, as he passed through the node fissure, Lin Zheyu had sensed a powerful divine sense sweep across his body. It far surpassed the level of the Nascent Soul realm, and had Lin Zheyu's perception not been sufficiently keen, he would never have detected it. It was the probing gaze of a mighty Deity Transformation realm expert. This was not the first time he had sensed that expert watching him. He had already noticed it three months ago.
It was not only that mighty Deity Transformation realm expert either. Lin Zheyu also sensed other cultivators secretly observing him through formations. Apart from the Deity Transformation realm expert, however, none of them posed much of a threat to him.
Although he had yet to break free of the second shackle, his strength had already reached the threshold of the Nascent Soul realm. With the final strike of the Seven Absolute Sabers, Gods and Demons Extinguished, he could threaten even a mid-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator.
However, battles between Nascent Soul realm cultivators were not decided solely by the power of their attacks. Upon advancing to the Nascent Soul realm, immortal cultivators gained the ability to teleport across short distances.
With Lin Zheyu's current attainments in the spatial laws, he was not confident that he could prevent a Nascent Soul realm cultivator capable of short-range teleportation from escaping. Even so, it would not be easy for a Nascent Soul realm cultivator to deal with him either. Martial artists were naturally durable and possessed formidable vitality, and Lin Zheyu was exceptional even among them.
The Primordial Golden Body granted him extraordinary defenses, while the vast energy stored within his three great divine repositories gave him astonishing endurance. Combined with the Primordial Chaos Pool, a dharma treasure of the Shamanic Clan, ordinary Nascent Soul realm cultivators simply could not pose much of a threat to him.
Just as Lin Zheyu's thoughts began to wander, the enormous phantom of a yao suddenly emerged from the darkness. Seemingly incorporeal, it concealed itself within the dark void and silently approached him. Then it abruptly opened its hideous, gaping maw and bit down at Lin Zheyu.
The upper and lower jaws of the gaping maw slammed together, and cruel, savage delight flashed through the yao's eyes.
"To dare enter here alone, you are simply... Hmm? I missed?" The yao worked its jaws and widened its pitch-black eyes, surprise and alarm flashing within them.
Not good! A sudden premonition of imminent disaster arose in its heart. Energy surged violently through its body as it merged into the void and attempted to flee into the distance. However, it was too late.
A silvery-white saber light abruptly slashed out from the darkness, cutting straight down the center of the yao's back and cleaving it in two.
"Awoo!"
The yao let out a shrill howl. Despite being cleaved in two, it could still control both halves of its body, concealing them within the darkness as it fled toward the node fissure leading to the demon realm.
"Hmm?" Lin Zheyu exclaimed softly in surprise.
Although yao possessed terrifying regenerative abilities, cleaving both the body and head in two would still leave them temporarily incapacitated. This was the first time he had seen one continue fleeing after being split in half. Moreover, the two halves had separated, each escaping in a different direction.
"Interesting. What kind of yao race is this?" An intrigued expression appeared on Lin Zheyu's face. None of the texts he had read contained any information about this kind of yao.
So fast! This man is definitely beyond the six-pattern level. He is a human Nascent Soul realm cultivator!
Horror filled the single eye on each of the two fleeing halves.
How could a human dare do this? If a Nascent Soul realm cultivator entered the node's void and fought here, the already violent and chaotic energies of the laws would become even more terrifying. That was not something a Nascent Soul realm cultivator could withstand.
In the instant the yao was overcome with horror, Lin Zheyu had already caught up. Holding his saber in his right hand, he delivered a seemingly ordinary forward slash.
"Argh!"
The yao's half-body was utterly incapable of resisting. After letting out a miserable scream, it was cleaved in two once again.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
The saber lights did not stop. After chopping it into more than a dozen pieces of flesh, Lin Zheyu waved his right hand and swept the writhing remains into the Primordial Chaos Pool, suppressing them within.
"There is still another half. Heh, such a rare species of yao makes an excellent research subject. How could I let you escape?" Lin Zheyu looked toward the remaining half, which had already fled midway between the two node fissures, and smiled faintly.
He stepped forward as powerful blood qi surged out, forcibly dispersing the violent and chaotic energies of the laws within the void. He then activated the Earth Shrinking Technique. With each step, the entire void seemed to contract beneath his feet, allowing Lin Zheyu to move at an astonishing speed. Within a few breaths, he caught up to the remaining half.
Saber lights flashed through the dark void like lightning. Before the yao could react, it had already been hacked to pieces.
"Consider yourselves fortunate." Lin Zheyu collected the yao's flesh and cast a calm glance at the other yao fleeing toward the demon realm.
There were rather more yao lurking within the void space this time, eight in total. However, they were all merely six-pattern yao, equivalent to human Golden Core realm cultivators.
Lin Zheyu glanced toward the node fissure. To be safe, I should leave immediately after completing this advancement.
His figure flickered as he plunged into the depths of the demonic lake. He sent out a thought and immediately used his Origin Force. Use 20 units of Origin Force to cultivate the Primordial Chaos True Art.
In an instant, a vast torrent of mysterious energy emerged, sweeping up the energy within the demonic lake and pouring it into Lin Zheyu's body. Even after so many rounds of refinement and optimization, the Primordial Chaos True Art remained extremely difficult to cultivate, and the process was agonizing.
Using 20 units of Origin Force at once placed a considerable burden on Lin Zheyu. His face contorted hideously as he endured unimaginable agony. However, the results were equally astonishing. Vast amounts of energy poured into his body under the influence of the mysterious energy. One portion was transformed into blood qi, while the rest merged into his muscles, tendons, skin, membranes, and bones, strengthening his physique.
At the same time, six powerful Life Shackles condensed into existence. Drawn taut to their limits, they swayed continuously beneath the surging currents of blood qi and produced crisp metallic clangs. The sound contained a mysterious energy that repeatedly cleansed Lin Zheyu's physique and purged the impurities from his blood qi. His golden blood qi, already condensed to its utmost limit, grew even stronger amid the shackles' resonant ringing.