135-140

Chapter 135 - The Wind Changes

Wang Lin didn't hesitate to use the Earth Escape Technique to move toward the War God Shrine. As he moved, he found fire beasts everywhere. The more he traveled, the more shocked he became.

He quickly changed directions. Meeting Lin Tao wasn't his objective anymore. Instead, he moved toward the border of the country using information from Ma Liang's memories. He could no longer stay in Hou Fen.

But before he got very far, a giant divine sense swept by him. This divine sense quickly moved back and concentrated on him. Shocked, he scanned the sky. What he saw were 16 giant fire beasts in a circle with a ring of fire in between them.

Threads of fire from the fire ring were connected to the fire beasts' heads.

The powerful divine sense came from the ring of power. This was clearly a special technique the fire beasts were born with. It was something they could only use when working together.

When they found Wang Lin, all 16 fire beasts' eyes went cold. They all roared as they descended from the sky and charged at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin sped up without a word and escaped. The 16 giant beasts all let out angry roars and spat out fire, causing the ground to turn red and split apart.

Wang Lin had already seen this before, so how would he let it hit him twice? As the fire came out of the beasts' mouths, he came out of the ground and disappeared in a ray of rainbow light.

The 16 beasts didn't give up. The only reason they left the volcano was to find and kill the cultivator that killed their ancestor. This was the only thought in their minds right now.

At the same time, because of Wang Lin, these fire beasts now hated all cultivators. They basically wanted to kill every single one they saw. Their losses were heavy too, especially under the powerful cultivators' magic treasures.

To be more accurate, these fire beasts don't have a souls; they exist in a special way. Normal flying swords cannot damage their hard bodies. The best way is to hit them with powerful blunt weapons.

However, there were just too many of them. Even now, there were endless fire beasts coming out of the big and small volcanoes in Hou Fen. As for exactly how many there were, no one but the ancestor fire spirit, who was absorbed by the heaven defying bead, would know.

As Wang Lin flew more, he got faster. These fire beasts were faster than him when they were inside the lava, but out here in the open, Wang Lin managed to keep his distance.

However, Wang Lin didn't feel very well. The surrounding spiritual energy was filled with fire element. Every time he absorbed some, he would feel waves of pain.

In addition to the constant roars of the 16 giant fire beasts behind him, there were countless fire beasts coming to obstruct him. More and more fire beasts accumulated behind him, chasing after him. He spread out his divine sense and felt his scalp go numb. There were so many fire beasts behind him that he couldn't tell how many there were right away.

If he were to pause for just a moment, the fire beasts would tear him apart, but Wang Lin was not one to be hunted. Back when he was only at the Qi Condensation stage, he dared to sneak attack Teng Li, who was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

At this moment, a vicious gaze flashed across his eyes. He took out a bucket full of spirit liquid and drank it as he ran to recover the spiritual energy he had consumed.

Next, a black light flew out of his bag of holding and disappeared. It reappeared before a fire beast and stabbed it.

The sound of two pieces of metal hitting each other rang out. A bloody wound appeared on the chest of the beast and it was knocked far away. It let out a roar as it got up and continued chasing.

Wang Lin's expression was normal, but his face darkened. Not only were the fire beasts immune to his Ji Realm Divine Sense, but their bodies were also this tough. The flying sword was only able to wound that beast's body, and from the looks of it, it could only be considered a light wound.

Wang Lin was unwilling to give up. As he flew, he continued to attack the fire beasts. Using its ability to teleport, the sword moved in a very strange way until it stabbed in between the brows of a fire beast. The sword sunk in and the fire beasts exploded, releasing waves of heat.

Wang Lin's hair immediately curled as the smell of burning hair reached him, but his eyes lit up. Although these fire beasts were tough, they were not without weaknesses.

After this, Wang Lin continued to control the flying word to ambush the fire beasts. One by one, the fire beasts were beheaded by him. Based on his calculations, the normal-sized fire beasts were only at the Qi Condensation stage, but because they had no souls and tough bodies, it was difficult to kill them.

But because Wang Lin was only one person, and adding on the fact that the fire beasts knew no fear, they continued to chase after him.

Eventually, the flying sword teleported too much and it's shape began to change. After all, the sword's spirit was simply possessing a new body. It was not fused with it. There were dents on it and some parts of it had completely melted. If the flying sword's original owner were to be revived, even he wouldn't be able to recognize it anymore.

Wang Lin realized that this was not a long term solution as more and more fire beasts showed up. Even though he had spirit liquid, once he runs out and can't recover fast enough, he will die.

Wang Lin clenched his teeth and changed directions. He no longer went to Xuan Wu, but flew toward the War God Shrine. He didn't believe that the War God Shrine would have been wiped out by these first beasts. If he was the War God Shrine's ancestor, he would definitely decide to move, and that would take time.

And even if they were going to move, it wouldn't be too quick because there were too many people. He had only been in the cave for a few days; even if the fire beasts had moved on the first day he went into the cave, the War God Shrine still wouldn't able to move this fast.

These were merely guesses by Wang Lin. What made him make this decision was the Soul Blood Essences telling him the general location of Yang Xiong and Lin Tao.

The moment Wang Lin changed directions, the fire beasts closed in on him. They spewed lava at him, and many times, he was almost hit. He clenched his teeth as he moved even faster toward the War God Shrine.

Not long after, Wang Lin felt a powerful aura from a distance. He spread out his divine sense and noticed a group of tens of thousands of cultivators slowly closing in.

The scene of tens of thousands of cultivators on their swords shocked Wang Lin for a moment, but he quickly recovered and charged toward the army of cultivators.

Among the army of cultivators, there were many war chariots that emitted waves of spiritual energy.

The fire beasts suddenly stopped and the 16 large fire beasts blocked the army of cultivators.

The army of cultivators didn't stop. More than 10,000 flying swords attacked without any hesitation under the orders of ten Nascent Soul cultivators. Soon after, two more groups flew out from the army and 2000 more people joined the battle.

Before Wang Lin even arrived got to the army, two lights flew out and surrounded him. The person in the middle was an ordinary looking young woman, but there was heavy killing intent coming from between her eyebrows. She looked at the fire beasts behind her and revealed a look of hate. She turned to Wang Lin and asked, "Fellow cultivator, which sect's disciple are you? Quickly, say your name."

Wang Lin revealed a look of fear and quickly replied, "I'm a disciple of the War God Shrine, Ma Liang."

The woman looked at Wang Lin coldly and said, "Qiang Xuan, take him to the War God Shrine to verify his identity. If he isn't a disciple of the War God Shrine, kill him."

A young man flew out and nodded at Wang Lin, gestering Wang Lin to follow him. Then he flew toward the army. Wang Lin clasped his hands at the young woman before following the young man.

Soon, they arrived at the center of the army of cultivators. The closer he got to the center, the more he realized how terrifying an army of cultivators large enough to cover the sky was. The fluctuations of spiritual energy here had already reached an unimaginable level.

Although the entire country was covered by the black smoke coming out from the volcanoes, under the fluctuations of the spiritual energy from the army of cultivators, a path has been cut open in the huge cloud of black smoke.

Everywhere they, the black smoke was split apart, unable to stop the army at all. What was even denser than the fluctuations of spiritual energy was all of the Sword Qi. It was so dense that it could cause the sky to change colors.

The Sword Qi revealed its might as it clashed against the black smoke. Especially now, at dawn, and adding on the fight before them, it created this very majestic feel.

Various flying sword and magic treasures shined in the sky like fireworks that were too chaotic to keep track of. This scene was something Wang Lin will never forget. After all, this scene was something that only appeared in large scale battles.

Compared to the collapse of the foreign battleground, there was an extra sense of everyone working together and the need to charge out of Hou Fen.

This power wasn't something an individual could wield; it was achieved because the entire country had been forced to move to survive.

Only the horde of fire beasts could compete with it.

Wang Lin couldn't help but enter a trance. By the time he regained himself, he had already reached to the center of the army with the young man.

Xuan Qing shouted, "Scout from Lou He Sect, Qingxuan, has brought War God Shrine disciple Ma Liang. Would someone from the War God Shrine confirm his identity?"

Wang Lin's expression was normal. That Nascent Soul woman didn't act against him and her voice was filled with the intention of bringing him to their side.

But even without that woman's intent, Wang Lin would still come here. After all, this was the only place he could go while being chased by the army of fire beasts.

But Wang Lin was a very cautious person, so he was prepared to escape the moment things looked bad. With the battle with the fire beasts before them, there wouldn't be many people willing to chase him.

As for the Nascent Soul cultivators, none of them would take time away from managing the migration to come and kill him. Core Formation cultivators were the main fighting force against the fire beasts, so the best people to send after him would be late stage Foundation Establishment cultivators at the pseudo-Core Formation stage. But Foundation Establishment cultivators were no threat to Wang Lin. If one came, he would kill one. If ten came, he would kill ten without any fear.

Chapter 136 - Middle Aged scholar

The moment Qingxuan finished speaking, the expression of a female cultivator, who was standing on a flying sword, suddenly darkened and became unsettled after hearing the words "Ma Liang". She clenched her teeth, stopped, and turned around. This woman was very beautiful, but her expression was very ugly as she came over.

This woman was the person who Ma Liang couldn't get out of his mind even in the foreign battleground, his junior apprentice sister Xu Si.

She greeted Qingxuan, then looked at Wang Lin with an ugly expression and cold eyes as she said, "Where did this evil doer come from? You dare to pretend to be a disciple of the War God Shrine? Brother Qingxuan, please help me kill this person." With that, she slapped her bag of holding and a two inch black rain needle appeared in her hand. She gently moved her wrist and the rain needle violently attacked Wang Lin.

Strands of grey light spread from the needle, creating a shower of needles. The shower of needles covered the sky, then rained on Wang Lin.

Qingxuan was startled. He didn't act, but took a few steps back. He stared coldly at Wang Lin without saying a word.

Wang Lin's expression was calm as he sneered on the inside. He reached out, formed a giant hand with his attraction force technique, and easily caught all of the needles. He wiped off the divine sense on them, snorted, then casually placed them into his bag of holding.

The young woman's beautiful face suddenly turned pale as a stream of blood flowed down from her red lips. Her body shook, and the flying sword under her feet lost its shine. She stared at Wang Lin with a look of disbelief. In her memory, Ma Liang couldn't possibly have this kind of power. Not to mention stopping her magic treasure, but also to be able to so casually wipe her divine sense away from it. Her heart was in turmoil as she thought about this.

Just at this moment, three sword lights came from the middle of the army of cultivators. When they arrived, they revealed three young men. One of them was Yang Xiong.

He looked at the woman once, then turned around to Qingxuan and said, "Sorry for bothering you, brother Qingxuan. Junior apprentice Ma Liang is indeed a disciple of the War God Shrine. Thank you for guiding him here."

Qingxuan looked at them meaningfully. He let out a chuckle as he shook his head and left. After he moved away a bit, he turned around and saw Yang Xiong being very respectful to Ma Liang. This startled him. After pondering for a bit, he changed directions and went toward the He Tu Sect.

Yang Xiong ignored everyone around him and whispered to Wang Lin, "Does master know ancestor Feng Luan? The person on the five-colored phoenix chariot is her. She ordered me to bring you to her."

Wang Lin raised his head to look at the constantly moving army of cultivators. In the center, there was a five-colored phoenix chariot, and standing on it was a woman wearing a court dress. She seemed to notice Wang Lin's gaze and glanced at him.

Wang Lin's expression was calm as he knew what was going on. This ancestor Feng Luan was the same middle-aged woman who had come for Zhou Zihong's Soul Essence Blood. After pondering a little, he moved toward her with Yang Xiong. When he passed Xu Si, he shot her a vicious look and silently placed a sliver of his divine sense on her.

This divine sense will activate after one month and then this girl will die. After experiencing the events in Zhao, Wang Lin decided he would eliminate anyone who had ill intent towards him, whether they were man or woman. He would nip the bud before anything else could happen. Since this Xu Si attacked first, then she couldn't blame him for being ruthless.

Yang Xiong guided the way and whispered, "When Lin Tao was making a copy of the map, he was caught by ancestor Feng Luan, so the map is currently in her hands. Lin Tao was also punished. If it wasn't for the migration, he would have been locked away for ten years."

Wang Lin's expression was normal, but he became even more cautious and followed Yang Xiong to the five-colored phoenix chariot. Yang Xiong stopped after arriving near the chariot, but Wang Lin went past him. He arrived before ancestor Feng Luan, clasped his hands, and respectfully said, "Wang Lin greets senior."

The woman withdrew her gaze from the battle and looked at Wang Lin. She gently asked, "Wang Lin is your real name?"

Wang Lin silently nodded. The name Wang Lin was simply too common, so there was no need to hide it. If it was discovered by her that he was lying about his name, then it would be bad.

The woman looked at the advancing army of cultivators. She pondered a bit before saying, "Currently, the country of Hou Fen is in danger. Once we reach Xuan Wu, there will be another big battle. Thus, we can forget about this matter, so you don't have to worry about it. If someone bothers you, I can protect you, but only once. After I help you, then I no longer owe you for saving Zihong."

Just as Feng Luan finished speaking, the sky suddenly darkened. In the distant battlefield, ten large volcanoes were ripped out from the ground and tossed aside by the ten Nascent Soul cultivators. The fire beasts all scattered, but some of them were hit by the impact and were turned to paste.

Using this chance, the army of cultivators charged through the opening and broke though the army of 20,000 or so fire beasts that were chasing Wang Lin.

Flying swords charged into the gap one by one. Once a gap was opened, the cultivators had already won. After all, their goal wasn't to eliminate the fire beasts, but to escape.

Feng Luan stared at the battlefield. The phoenix chariot suddenly charged forth and broke through as well.

The 16 giant fire beasts were held down by the Nascent Soul cultivators. They roared repetitively, but eventually stopped and stared coldly at the escaping army of cultivators. Then they linked their hands together in a weird wave and waves of roars like before came from their mouths.

Shortly after, red lines came out of their foreheads to form the ring of fire. The moment the ring of fire appeared, the 16 giant fire beasts revealed looks of devotion and let out sad growls.

Their bodies shrank rapidly as bursts of dark red energy entered the ring of fire.

This processes lasted more than an hour. Some cultivators noticed the change and came to stop them, but when they got close, they were turned to dust by a destructive force. After seeing this, no one else dared to come too close.

One more hour later, the bodies of the 16 giant beasts had dissipated. They had all fused with the ring of fire. The ring didn't grow any larger, but the color was now dark red. Finally, it silently shattered into tiny red specks and disappeared.

At this moment, all of the fire beasts inside Hou Fen stopped moving and knelt on the ground, letting out sad sounds at the same time. Suddenly, one of the fire beasts fell to the ground and started twitching. If one looked closely, they would see a speck of red light on its forehead. Its body rapidly expanded and in less than one hour, it grew to ten feet tall.

Shortly after, one fire beast after another was touched by the red speck and their bodies rapidly grew. In less than 2 hours, all of the fire beasts in Hou Fen seemed to have undergone a change. Their powers were also increased ten fold.

The beasts that changed flew into the air and chased after the army of cultivators. More and more changed fire beasts joined the chase. This scene looked very intimidating.

As for the army of cultivators, of the ten Nascent Soul cultivators that returned from the battle, four came back to the War God Shrine's group. One of the old men with a pale face swept the chariot and locked onto Wang Lin. His voice was cold as he asked, "It was this junior who lured the fire beasts here?"

Wang Lin stared at the old man with his cold gaze and nodded.

The old man let out a few cold snorts, then his giant hand reached toward Wang Lin. Feng Luan's face slightly darkened as she slapped the five colored phoenix chariot. A five colored phoenix appeared and let out a chirp. It flapped its wings and a five colored light spread out.

The old man withdrew his hand. He stared at the woman and angrily shouted, "Feng Luan, what are you doing? Not only did this guy possess a disciple of our War God Shrine, but also lured the fire beasts here. You have to know that more than 1000 disciples of Hou Fen died in that battle."

Feng Luan revealed a determined look and decisively said, "As long as I'm here, you can't kill him."

Zhou Jin stared at Feng Luan with a dark expression. He pondered for a bit, then said, "This person isn't Ma Liang, so he isn't a disciple of my War God Shrine. Although I can't kill him, he can't stay here either."

Feng Luan turned toward Wang Lin and asked, "Wang Lin, are you willing to become my honorary disciple?"

Wang Lin quickly thanked her and nodded.

Zhou Jin's eyes narrowed and became cold. Feng Luan's cultivation level was the same as his, at the early stage of Nascent Soul, but her cultivation partner, Yang Sen, was at the mid stage of Nascent Soul. It wasn't really worth it to offend two Nascent Soul cultivators over something this small. Zhou Jin snorted and said, "Since junior apprentice sister Feng Luan is willing to take this person as her disciple, then I naturally won't pursue this matter anymore. Putting the identity of this person aside, seeing that there are more battles to come, with his mere mid stage Foundation Establishment cultivation level, it would be hard to ensure his safety."

With that, he waved his sleeves and left.

Of the three remaining Nascent Soul cultivators, only one flew toward Feng Luan. The other two wryly smiled and scattered. The person who flew toward Feng Luan looked like a middle-aged scholar. He was the mid stage Nascent Soul cultivator that Zhou Jin dreaded, Yang Sen.

He looked at Wang Lin and frowned. He then sighed at Feng Luan and asked, "Junior sister Luan… why did you do this?"

Feng Luan coldly stared at the middle aged scholar and said, "If it wasn't for him, Hong Er would have died in the foreign battleground. If it wasn't you for inciting her, how could Hong Er have entered that dangerous place?"

The middle aged scholar turned toward Wang Lin and deeply bowed. After he finished, he took out a piece of jade and swiped his hand over it. He threw it at Wang Lin and said, "This jade is a Nascent Soul level treasure I made in my earlier years. I have already removed my divine sense from it. Once you imprint yours, you will be able to use it to protect yourself in the coming battles."

Chapter 137 - Country Sealing Array.

Wang Lin revealed a joyous expression as he accepted the jade talisman. The middle-aged scholar no longer said anything to Wang Lin. He entered the phoenix chariot to talk to Feng Luan.

Wang Lin was not someone who didn't know his place. The moment the middle-aged scholar walked into the phoenix chariot, he left and joined the army's ranks.

At the border of Hou Fen was Xuan Wu. Along with the cultivators, all of the mortals were also migrating with their families to Xuan Wu. Those fire beasts that underwent change rarely attacked mortals now; their only target was Wang Lin.

As time passed, the fire beasts began to catch up. More and more fire beasts appeared behind the army of cultivators, causing a heavy pressure to weigh above everyone's heads.

There was a giant basin at the border of Hou Fen. After the army of cultivators arrived there, the heads of various sects and cultivation families, along with the 19 Nascent Soul cultivators, began an important secret meeting.

After the meeting was over, 19 figures flew into the air above the basin. One of the Lou He Sect cultivators shouted, "After many years of studying, my Lou He Sect has determined this to be the ancestral home of the fire beasts, the birthplace of the fire spirit beasts. If we lay a seal here, it will affect all of the volcanoes in Hou Fen. Then, if we use the country sealing array left by our ancestors from more than 1,000 years ago, we can seal the fire beasts within Hou Fen."

One of the Evil Demon Sect's Nascent Soul cultivators looked at the ground and snorted. "If our ancestors already had things prepared, then why didn't they just wipe them out back then instead of letting things become like this?"

The three Nascent Soul cultivators of the Corpse Sect had no coffins behind their backs. That meant they were close to completely possessing their bodies.

The three of them had the most calm expressions. It was as if nothing interested them. If it wasn't for the fact that Hou Fen's current spiritual energy made it impossible for them to recover, they wouldn't even be involved in this migration.

Ancestor Song of the War God Shrine rolled his eyes and said, "Even the ancestors wouldn't be able to predict that this disaster would come. Even if they did predict it, they wouldn't be able to help. To be able to leave something behind from 1,000 plus years ago to give us a chance to live is good enough. Fellow cultivators, let us begin."

After Ancestor Song finished speaking, six Nascent Soul cultivators, including the middle-aged scholar and Feng Luan, stood together in a certain formation and formed a strange seal with their hands.

The six of them let out shouts together and six lotus flowers flew out toward the eastern corner of the basin. The entire basin shook as a cloud of red smoke floated into the air.

After that, the Lou He Sect, Corpse Sect, and Devil Demon Sect shot lotus flowers at the South, West, and North corners respectively.

More roars echoed in the basin as more and more red smoke appeared. The red smoke gathered in one place and formed many shapes before turning into a hollow ring.

At this moment, the Nascent Soul cultivators from the cultivation families who hadn't acted yet let out bitter smiles. They hit their own foreheads and their Nascent Souls appeared. Then they flew into the empty space inside the ring and stayed there.

One of the Lou He Sect's cultivators shouted, "Fellow independent cultivator, act now. What are you waiting for?"

One of the Nascent Souls inside the ring replied with a sharp tone, "Forget it! Since the four great sects are willing to repay us with Nascent Pills, it is only losing 100 years of spiritual energy! I'll do it!" With that, the Nascent Soul formed a seal and charged into the smoke. The moment he entered the smoke, his Nascent Soul disappeared as if it had fused with the fog.

The rest of the Nascent Souls clenched their teeth and changed in. The ring of fog didn't change in size, but there were movements of spiritual energy within it.

The country sealing array left by this ancestor not only required all four sects to act, it also required Nascent Soul cultivators to use their Nascent Souls to ensure that the seal was perfect.

The color of blood became stronger and stronger on this ring of smoke as it floated higher into the air. Soon after, the ring quickly expanded toward the four corners of Hou Fen.

All of the volcanoes that the red ring passed released red smoke. The red smoke from the volcanoes joined the ring and increased its expansion speed.

After one hour, the ring covered the entire country of Hou Fen like a bowl. The country sealing array had successfully opened.

Once the country sealing array had opened, only mortals could freely enter. Anything with spiritual energy and under the Soul Formation stage would not be able to pass.

As the sealing array opened, the 19 Nascent Soul cultivators of the four sects grabbed the bodies of the independent Nascent Soul cultivators. Those who had families had entrusted their bodies to them while those without had entrusted their bodies to the Lou He Sect.

Several cultivators of Lou He Sect stood outside the array. They bowed and shouted, "Fellow cultivators, please be at ease while you maintain the array. We promise to keep your bodies safe. This array only needs to last three months. I believe we will have a spot in Xuan Wu by then. I believe that by then, the higher cultivation country will also come to wipe out the beasts. We will personally come to greet your return."

The moment the those words were said, the Nascent Soul cultivators of the other three sects sincerely bowed without a hint of dishonesty.

After the country sealing array opened, the fire beasts let out angry roars and slammed into the red cover. Every time they slammed into it, the barrier would tremble, but none of them could break through.

Now that they had managed to temporarily stop the fire beasts, the cultivator army moved at top speed. One could see ray of light left by the flying swords charging toward Xuan Wu.

At the border of Xuan Wu were some mortal armies. These mortals gawked at the sky as countless flying swords flew over their heads. No one knew who, but someone let out a scream and began to kowtow toward the sky. Soon, everyone was kneeling on the ground, praying to the sky.

There was one person who was dressed like a cultivator within the army. His face was pale as he muttered, "This… these are the cultivators of Hou Fen…"

He sucked in a breath of cold air and took a few steps back, but just at that moment, a creepy laugh came from the sky. One of the Devil Demon Sect's Core Formation cultivators came by on a flying sword. Three flying swords quickly pierced through the middle-aged cultivator.

The middle-aged cultivator let out a miserable groan as he was cut into pieces.

The mortal army immediately scattered. Even the mortal general ran away, afraid of getting caught in this mess.

Tens of thousands of flying swords charged into Xuan Wu in the blink of an eye. They stopped at a mountain covered in fog. An old man with a gloomy expression moved to the front of the army. He waved his hand and a powerful force smashed down on the mountain.

Rays of golden light appeared, forming a screen to block the descent of the hit.

Below the light screen were thousands of cultivators. They looked at the sky with fear in their faces. An old woman walked out and shouted, "Fellow cultivators of Hou Fen, what is the meaning of this?"

The War God Shrine's Yang Sen gently moved his body and appeared on top of the lightscreen. His expression was plain as he grabbed with his right hand. The lightscreen immediately cracked under the pressure and shattered.

The old woman's pupils shrank. She turned around and left without a word. Her body disappeared and reappeared more than ten kilometers away. However, clouds gathered before her in the shape of Yang Sen. He looked at her with a cold gaze and waved his hand at the old woman without a word. The old woman let out a roar as she hit her head and her Nascent Soul came out.

The moment her Nascent Soul appeared, her body was disintegrated by a destructive force.

The old woman was frightened. She was only at the early stage of Nascent Soul, while her opponent was clearly at the peak of the mid stage of Nascent Soul. There were only three people at this cultivation level in Xuan Wu. She didn't even have the heart to resist; she only wanted to survive this.

Yang Sen let out a snort and shouted, "You won't be able to run!"

Ignoring Yang Sen, the moment the lightscreen failed, all of the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators of Hou Fen attacked. They killed everyone they saw, and in the blink of an eye, the entire mountain peak was covered in blood. No one was left alive.

This large mountain was now completely occupied by the four sects. Tens of thousands of disciples stood on the mountain peak with all of the Nascent Soul cultivators other than Yang Sen above them.

The War God Shrine's Ancestor Song's eyes were like lightning. His voice was filled with killing intent as he shouted, "This is a war without right or wrong. If we can't establish a foothold in Xuan Wu within three months, then we must face the fire beasts. The fire beasts aren't scary. What is scary is not having spiritual energy to cultivate."

"As of today, the War God Shrine, Evil Demon Sect, Lou He Sect, and Corpse Sect will become the Hou Fen Union. Every disciple of the Hou Fen Union will be gifted a Core Formation treasure, and every Core Formation disciple will be gifted a Nascent Soul treasure."

"During the war, everything you seize belongs to you. The union will not take it from you. Disciples, this is war, but I personally want you all to see it as an invasion, an invasion for survival."

A Nascent Soul cultivator of the Lou He Sect on the side let out a cough and said, "Aside from the treasures, each of you will receive a jade talisman that can be used to record the number of enemies you have killed. Anyone who kills 100 5th layer Qi Condensation or higher cultivators, or ten Foundation Establishment cultivators will be gifted ten medium-quality spirit stones. Anyone who kills 200 5th layer Qi Condensation or higher cultivators, 20 Foundation Establishment cultivators, or one Core Formation cultivator will be rewarded ten bottles of spirit pills."

Chapter 138 - Distant Heaven Pill

A very skinny and old man walked out of the Lou He Sect section. He was wearing a black robe and his face was filled with wrinkles. His eyes were dull, as if his soul wasn't there. His eyes turned and then he said, "Whoever kills the most enemies each month will be given a Distance Heaven Pill."

The moment the Distant Heaven Pill was mentioned, Wang Lin noticed that all of the surrounding cultivators became tense and their breaths became ragged.

There was some information about the Distant Heaven pill in Ma Liang's memory. There were no more than 30 of these pills in Hou Fen and it could be considered one of the top pills in Hou Fen because it could increase one's chance of forming their core. If someone who just formed their core consumes it, then they would immediately enter the early stage of Core Formation and stabilize. The key ingredient had long gone extinct; these 30 or so pills were carefully preserved from over 1,000 years ago.

After that, 5,000 cultivators were split into teams, each with their own mission. Wang Lin was among them.

The teams were to spread out and kill any cultivator they saw. The Nascent Soul cultivators would also be around to help deal with enemy Nascent Soul cultivators.

Wang Lin was assigned to the 8th Squad of the 10th Brigade. There was a total of 30 people in the 8th squad, all from various sects. It contained five Foundation Establishment cultivators, while the rest were 13th or 14th layer Qi Condensation cultivators. The person leading them was a Core Formation cultivator from the Evil Demon Sect. For some reason, Wang Lin was the only person from the War God Shrine in his squad.

Their mission was to help the 10th Brigade take control of a medium-sized spirit vein. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the War God Shrine, Wang Lin received a Core Formation treasure. This treasure wasn't very strong. It could be used many times, so the quality of each attack was low. It would not be inappropriate to say it was quite weak.

Before he left, Feng Luan ordered someone to call Wang Lin over.

Feng Luan stood at the window of a beautiful loft looking over Hou Fen. After a long time, she threw out a piece of jade and said, "Hong Er said that you were extremely powerful in the foreign battleground, so why is your cultivation level only mid stage Foundation Establishment?"

Wang Lin caught the jade. After sweeping it with his divine sense, his expression became strange. This jade contained a small portion of a map. It included about seven or eight countries north of Hou Fen. It even showed the rank of each country and what products they were known for.

After pondering a little, his eyes lit up. He was able to guess the hidden meaning behind her words.

Feng Luan waved her hand and said, "There are a total of three pieces to this map. If you can kill 50 Foundation Establishment cultivators, I'll give you the second piece. If by the end of the war you can kill 150 or more Foundation Establishment cultivators, I'll give you the last piece."

Wang Lin left without saying a word. He understood what Feng Luan wanted. There was no such thing as charity in this world, only unfair exchanges.

In comparison to the other Nascent Soul cultivators in Hou Fen, this Feng Lou was at least quite sympathetic. Because of the matter with Zhou Zihong, she dealt with the matter of him possessing Ma Liang's body. As for the map, her intentions were clear. If Wang Lin had the ability, he could have the map, but if he didn't, then he couldn't blame anyone if he were to die on the battlefield.

Wang Lin originally didn't intended to get mixed up in this war, but now he had other plans. The map was only one reason. That Distance Heaven Pill was the main reason.

A pill that could increase the chance of his core forming was something he must have. According to his plans, he already had a high chance of forming his core once he created his three cold cores, but there was still a chance of failure.

Wang Lin was really anticipating reaching the Core Formation stage. Once he successfully forms his core, he will be the number one cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage. Thus, he won't allow any mistakes to be made. With the Distance Heaven Pill and the Underworld Ascension Method, he was 80% confident in forming his core.

Thinking about this, his eyes released a powerful killing intent.

The invasion team from the Hou Fen Union spread out on the second day. Ten Nascent Soul cultivators circled the area. The moment an enemy Nascent Soul cultivator appears, they will immediately teleport over.

A team of 30 cultivators flew north on their flying swords and stopped above a desolate mountain. An ordinary looking old man, whose eyes would occasionally reveal powerful killing intent, proudly said, "The cultivators of the 10th Brigade have already began their attack on the people around the spirit vein. I believe they will have reinforcements coming, so our job is to stop anyone from passing this 500 kilometer area. All of you, spread out and immediately report to me if you find anything."

With that, the old man sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. This old man, Zhang Zili, was the captain of the 8th squad, an early stage Core Formation cultivator from the Evil Demon Sect. He only cared about the five Foundation Establishment cultivators; the rest weren't worth his attention.

Wang Lin took one step and flew far into the distance. He landed on top of a canopy and began to cultivate. As for the rest of the team, they all spread out to look for places to cultivate. Soon, it was completely silent in the area aside from the sound of breathing.

Zhang Zili opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings with contempt. He was very dissatisfied with being assigned to this place. In his mind, he should be in the main army, attacking the enemy's sects. If that was the case, there would be enough targets for him, but now he was assigned to this place where there wasn't even any guarantee that there would be any reinforcements for them to stop.

Time slowly passed. Suddenly, Wang Lin opened his eyes. He looked into the distance and sneered.

At this moment, Zhang Zili also noticed the change and stood up. He looked into the distance and saw more than 10 flying swords coming this way. He licked his lips and spat out a black light. The moment the black light appeared, it turned into a pair of scissors. He waved his hand and the scissors flew out. He let out an insidious smile and shouted, "Kill!"

With that, he took a step and his body shot out like a sword. The rest of the 8th squad flew into the air to form a blockade.

The two sides didn't waste any time talking. The moment they saw each other, they attacked. The 15 or so cultivators of Xuan Wu were all Foundation Establishment cultivators, so when they saw Zhou Zili, eight of them placed down a very strange sword formation and surrounded Zhou Zili. Suddenly, Zhou Zili was trapped inside the formation, unable to escape. This caused him to curse loudly.

The remaining seven people began their battle with the 8th squad.

Wang Lin's eyes turned cold. He didn't have any time to waste as he had to get the map and Distance Heaven Pill. At this moment, his body moved and he shot out his flying sword. Like lightning, the sword went through a Foundation Establishment cultivator's chest, causing blood to spray everywhere.

His Ji Realm Divine Sense spread out and the remaining six Foundation Establishment cultivators' eyes immediately dimmed. Then his flying sword quickly stabbed through their chests.

From an outsider's point of view, these seven Foundation Establishment cultivators died to Wang Lin's sword. Little did they know that these cultivators' souls had been destroyed.

The moment the seven Foundation Establishment cultivators died, both sides were completely startled. Whether it was the eight cultivators surrounding Zhou Zili, Zhou Zili, or the rest of the 8th squad, they all had their gazes locked onto Wang Lin.

That killer flying sword was currently floating around Wang Lin, releasing a very cold aura.

The faces of the eight people surrounding Zhou Zili immediately turned pale. One of them quickly shouted, "Retreat!" Shortly after, the eight of them quickly retreated and tried desperately to escape.

Zhou Zili looked at Wang Lin and revealed a hint of dread. He wasn't confident he could kill seven Foundation Establishment cultivators in an instant like that. He believed that Wang Lin was hiding his cultivation level to look like a mid stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He secretly cursed, but suddenly thought that this idea was really good. Once the enemy drops their guard, it would create great opportunities.

But none of those things were important right now. Those eight Foundation Establishment cultivators were able to use some kind of formation to trap him. This was a bit too embarrassing, especially when it happened in front of his own team.

Zhou Zili's face was gloomy as he charged out to chase them. Just as he was about to catch up, the eight cultivators used some strange technique that made white gas come out of their bodies. The white gas surrounded their legs and made their speed increase by one fold.

Zhou Zili sneered. He formed a seal with both of his hands and pressed it on his chest. Suddenly, he spat out a golden core that was emitting thick spiritual energy. After pointing with his finger, the golden core shot out and quickly caught up to the eight Foundation Establishment cultivators. The golden core smashed into three of them before returning to him.

The three who were hit coughed out blood and fell from the sky.

The remaining five didn't even bat an eye as they pushed their bodies to the limit to escape. Zhou Zili let out an angry roar just as the bodies of the five that escaped suddenly went limp and fell from the sky.

Zhang Zili suddenly became very cautious as he saw Wang Lin approaching from the distance. After seeing this, his expression quickly changed. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Wang Lin's voice.

"There are no less than 100 cultivators coming from behind us!" With that, he passed by Zhou Zili's body and disappeared into the distance.

At the same moment, Zhou Zili also noticed more than 100 flying swords in the distance. He turned around to leave and saw that Wang Lin had already disappeared. He couldn't help but secretly curse.

The rest of the 8th squad saw that things were going south and retreated toward the spirit vein.

After Wang Lin flew far away, he made sure no one was around before entering the ground with the earth escape technique and moved south.

He had killed 12 Foundation Establishment cultivators just now, so he only needed 38 more to get the second piece of the map. This would be very difficult if he traveled with his teammates. Although it wouldn't be as safe, he would need to move alone if he wished to get enough kills to get the Distant Heaven Pill.

Hundreds of flying swords flew by toward the spirit vein. Wang Lin stared at them with a cold gaze and followed them.

Chapter 139 -Pseudo Core Formation Stage

The flying swords were fast, but the earth escape technique was even faster. Wang Lin trailed them from a distance as the 100 plus cultivators flew across the sky and arrived at the location of the spirit vein.

There were powerful spiritual energy fluctuations coming from the many holes on the ground. There were limbs all over the place and a strong stench of blood covered the area.

The moment the 100 cultivators arrived, countless cultivators from Hou Fen appeared and the battle began.

At the same time, eight rays of light charged in and a powerful aura surrounded the area. Wang Lin's eyes squinted. Those eight were all Nascent Soul cultivators.

The moment they came close, they were targeted by the patrolling Nascent Soul cultivators of Hou Fen. Nascent Soul cultivators from both sides began fighting. The earth shook and the sky changed colors.

Shortly after, 100 more teams appeared in the distance and joined this battle.

Wang Lin's eyes became cold. After looking for a while, his Ji Realm Divine Sense shot out from the ground and charged into the battlefield.

A Foundation Establishment disciple of Xuan Wu had just killed a 15th layer disciple of Hou Fen. Just as he was about to attack again, a red light flash past him. He felt like his head was hit with a giant hammer and lost consciousness. His soul was destroyed without any resistance and he fell from the sky.

Eight Foundation Establishment cultivators of Xuan Wu used a sword formation to trap a Core Formation cultivator of Hou Fen, but after a red light flashed by, the eight of them trembled and their faces froze. They felt their souls being stirred into a mess and lose their shapes as their bodies fell from the sky.

The trapped Core Formation cultivator was startled, but the current situation didn't give him time to think as he charged toward the enemies.

After a pseudo Core Formation cultivator of Xuan Wu killed several cultivators of the same level with the help of a Nascent Soul rank flying sword, he grabbed the neck of a female early stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. He ripped off her clothes, revealing her pink pocket. She let out a scream, which sounded very weak in this messy battle.

The pseudo Core Formation cultivator licked his lips. His eyes revealed an evil look as he quickly backed up with the female cultivator in his hand. However, a red light flashed by him and his body trembled. He let go of the female cultivator and his body fell from the sky.

After he died, not only did his flying sword not stop, it charged toward the ground. Just as it got near the ground, a hand came out, grabbed the sword, and retreated back into the ground.

As more and more Foundation Establishment cultivators from Xuan Wu fell from the sky for seemingly no reason, the cultivators of Xuan Wu began to pay close attention to this matter. A purple-robed Core Formation cultivator from Xuan Wu stared at the ground and pointed with his finger. He used some unknown method to send out a message. Then, ten late stage Foundation Establishment cultivators charged toward that direction.

Wang Lin's expression was calm. He turned around to leave at a leisurely pace using the earth escape technique. One of the ten cultivators held a compass and chased after Wang Lin.

After moving more than ten kilometers, Wang Lin stopped and sent out his Ji Realm. Before Foundation Establishment cultivators, Wang Lin was king, with full control over their lives and deaths. The ten of them didn't even have time to react as their souls were destroyed.

The current Wang Lin no longer had the naive nature or the kind heart of a village boy; he would now kill anyone who dared to get in his way.

There was no right or wrong on the battlefield; only life and death. If he had a sliver of pity, then the person to die would be him. Along with the power that the Ji Realm had brought him, it also quietly changed his nature. The Ji Realm focused on the extremes. If the user planned to walk the path of good, then he would be a hero of the generation who would fight all evil.

If one walked the path of evil, then that person would definitely be a demon king; evil enough to even cause the demonic cultivators to fear him and be worthy of the title of demon king.

Under the influence of the Ji Realm, it was impossible to have a personality that switched between good and evil.

Wang Lin, with his honest personality, wanted to become an immortal hero and create a righteous path to honor his ancestors. Unfortunately, Situ Nan's appearance caused his personality to slowly change, which eventually led to disaster.

What family was there to honor when his family had been wiped out? The Ji Realm caused his personality to change. Since he couldn't become a hero of his generation, then he would become a demon king.

Wang Lin's eyes were emotionless as he collected the bags of holding without even looking at the bodies. He returned to the ground and headed toward a different part of the battlefield.

But soon, he came out again. He looked at the battlefield, then took out a few spirit stones, formed a formation, and threw the ten bodies inside it. Each body exploded into a bloody pulp before being absorbed by the formation.

When the last body exploded, Wang Lin bit the tip of his finger and flicked a drop of blood onto a spirit stone.

Suddenly, a sliver of purple smoke came out of the formation and circled it once. The purple smoke disappeared along with the spirit stones. If one didn't look carefully, they wouldn't notice any difference.

After finishing all of that, Wang Lin sank back into the ground and returned to the battlefield.

The battle had become even more tense as everyone was engaged in the fight. The battle between the Nascent Soul cultivators also became more intense, forcing the rest of the cultivators to avoid them.

Just at this moment, Foundation Establishment cultivators of Xuan Wu started to mysteriously fall from the sky. Their bodies became bloody messes as they hit the ground.

As more and more Foundation Establishment cultivators of Xuan Wu died due to mysterious circumstances, the cultivators of Xuan Wu panicked. The cultivators of Hou Fen took this opportunity to attack.

The purple-robed middle aged man who had sent the ten Foundation Establishment cultivators to kill Wang Lin frowned. His eyes swept the ground like lightning before locking onto a spot on the ground. He pointed at the location and an early stage Core Formation cultivator charged out without a word.

The moment the Core Formation cultivator charged over, Wang Lin quickly escaped. The Core Formation cultivator sneered as he slammed his hand into the ground. A huge handprint appeared on the ground, forcing Wang Lin to come out. Wang Lin came out from underground and quickly ran toward the formation he had set up.

The Core Formation cultivator revealed a mocking smile. He believed that Wang Lin was only able to kill so many Foundation Establishment cultivators because he was using a powerful magic treasure. He thought that with a bit of caution, he could easily kill Wang Lin.

With that in mind, he waved his hand and a golden awl appeared before him. It paused for a moment before lunging toward Wang Lin. The awl's speed was too quick. It created ripples in the air as it travelled.

Wang Lin didn't even turn his head as he threw out the treasure passed out by Hou Fen. The treasure turned into a silver fist and attacked the awl.

The moment they collided, the awl spun even faster and pierced through the silver fist. The awl dimmed, but it didn't slow down. It continued to chase Wang Lin.

Wang Lin was calm. As the awl caught up to him, he jumped into the ground again. He activated the earth escape technique to move a few dozen meters before coming out again. Wang Lin did this several times before arriving at the formation he had laid down.

The Core Formation cultivator casually caught up. His eyes were filled with disdain as he shouted, "You little rat! Do you have no other ability besides ambushing people?"

Wang Lin didn't say a word. He charged through the formation without pausing. After going past it, he stopped and turned around to see the Core Formation cultivator above the formation.

Wang Lin's eyes became cold and he shouted, "Open!"

The moment he shouted that word, purple smoke came out of the formation and trapped the Core Formation cultivator inside. If someone were to look from a distance, they would be unable to see what was going on through the thick, purple smoke.

Wang Lin sat down cross-legged and sneered as he threw out the treasure Yang Sen had gifted him. Suddenly, a ring of energy came out from the treasure and surrounded Wang Lin. The awl hit the ring of energy, but it only caused it to ripple slightly.

Wang Lin didn't even pay attention to the awl as he stared at the purple smoke and took out his flying sword. After he touched the sword, red smoke escaped from it and the devil appeared. The devil stared at the purple smoke with greed in his eyes. He wanted to go devour the person inside, but he was hesitant because of Wang Lin.

Wang Lin took a deep breath and closed his eyes without a word. Rays of red light came together to form a red cloud, which charged out of Wang Lin's consciousness.

This was the first time the Ji Realm had gone all out and left Wang Lin's body. The moment the devil saw the red cloud, his face became filled with fear and he stepped off to the side.

The red cloud immediately turned into a circle and circled the devil once before dragging it into the purple smoke. The Core Formation cultivator sat cross legged inside the formation with a dark expression on his face. There was a gourd floating around the cultivator. It was slowly absorbing the purple smoke.

This was a very vicious formation called Heaven Devouring Demon Formation. The key ingredients were the bodies of cultivators to use as the base of the formation. Wang Lin used ten Foundation Establishment cultivators to set up this formation, so it wasn't too big of a deal to trap a Core Formation cultivator for a while.

If he had the bodies of Core Formation cultivators, then he would only need five to kill any mid stage or lower Core Formation cultivator. But this formation had a high requirement for the bodies. He had to have killed the people himself, making this formation very inconvenient to use.

The moment Wang Lin's Ji Realm Divine Sense entered the purple cage, the Core Formation cultivator noticed that something was off and opened his eyes. Wang Lin quickly charged into the Core Formation cultivator's consciousness with the devil while completely ignoring the gourd.

Inside the Core Formation cultivator's consciousness, the cultivator's soul took the form of a giant and angrily roared at Wang Lin. The Ji Realm Divine Sense activated its full power against the cultivator's soul. Wang Lin commanded the red cloud to send out countless bolts of red lightning to attack the Core Formation cultivator's soul.

The giant revealed a painful expression and his body shrank. He quickly waved his hand and a chunk of red lightning was split in half.

Shortly after, the red cloud turned into more red lightning bolts and once again charged toward the giant. The giant's body became smaller and smaller, but his fists became more and more deadly. Every time he punched, a large number of red lightning bolts were destroyed.

With Wang Lin's cultivation level, he could barely handle early stage Core Formation cultivators. If he were at the pseudo Core Formation stage, it would be much easier for him.

But Wang Lin was not a reckless person. Why would he take a fight he only had a chance of winning? As the fight reached its peak, the devil received an order from Wang Lin and reluctantly attacked.

The giant panicked. He immediately hit the devil with his hand and the devil shattered into pieces. The giant let out a sigh of relief before panic filled his face again. He saw the devil reappear on his hand. The devil began taking large bites out of his soul.

No matter how hard the giant swung his arm around, the devil clung onto him like it was part of his body. Eventually, the giant gave up on fighting the red lightning and used his other hand to constantly smash the devil. Every strike would cause the devil's body to dim a bit, but the devil not only never let go, it began to devour even faster.

The truth was the devil was also in a pretty sorry state. If he were to let go now, Wang Lin would surely kill him. If he let go, he would die, but if he held on, there would be a chance for him to survive. If he could devour this Core Formation cultivator, there would be a chance for him to become powerful enough to deal with Wang Lin. Once he deals with Wang Lin, he will be free to do as he pleases.

With that idea in mind, the devil became determined and started to devour even faster. It can be said that the devil focused all of his power on devouring.

The giant began to weaken. His strikes became weaker and weaker. His giant body rapidly shrank until it became a smaller, golden soul, which was devoured by the devil.

The devil revealed a look of ecstasy as he attempted to quickly devour this soul, but the red cloud suddenly surrounded the devil. The devil let out frustrated roars as it slowly spat out the Core Formation cultivator's soul.

After having passed through the devil's body, the soul's consciousness had been wiped out. It had become divine sense without an owner. Wang Lin controlled his Ji Realm to leave the collapsing consciousness with the divine sense and returned to his body.

Wang Lin suddenly opened his eyes and let out a cold smile. The Core Formation cultivator's divine sense was floating in his consciousness and being slowly devoured by his Ji Realm.

The golden awl attacking Wang Lin lost its glow and fell to the ground. Wang Lin put away the treasure that had been protecting him. He grabbed the awl and, after examining it, put it away.

Then he walked forward and stopped at a corner of the formation. He dug out a piece of spirit stone from underground and crushed it. The purple smoke dissipated, revealing the corpse of the Core Formation cultivator.

Wang Lin stood next to the corpse. His hand pointed at the corpse's brow and he shouted, "Come out now or I'll immediately kill you!"

A ray of red light unwillingly came out of the cultivator's head and turned into the shape of the devil. His eyes were filled with hatred, but he soon let out a sigh and obediently returned to the flying sword in Wang Lin's bag of holding.

Wang Lin stared at the cultivator's body. Ideas flashed through his mind. He took the cultivator's bag of holding and waved his hand. The body was lit on fire and burned to ashes, but within the ashes there was a shiny, golden core. The golden core was rapidly shrinking and its color was becoming dim. It seemed like it was about to disappear.

Wang Lin grabbed the golden core and put it into his mouth without any hesitation. He then took a step back and sunk into the ground.

Wang Lin sunk more than 1,000 feet into the ground and sat down cross legged. He began digesting the core. The core immediately dissipated and spiritual energy surged through his body.

This spiritual energy was too powerful for Wang Lin's body to handle, so he bled out of his mouth and nose. Wang Lin pointed at his brow and the heaven defying bead appeared. He grabbed it and disappeared into the heaven defying bead's space.

Inside the heaven defying space, Wang Lin immediately flew to Situ Nan's Nascent Soul and began to cultivate. He began bleeding all over his body and his veins began to show through his skin.

Wang Lin's hands formed a seal. He entered a weird position where one hand was on his forehead and the other on his stomach. This formed a complete loop.

The large amount of spiritual energy rapidly cycled through his body, and with each cycle it would strengthen his body.

After two months had passed inside the heaven defying bead, Wang Lin suddenly opened his eyes. However, his eyes were cloudy and it took some time before they became clear again.

"The jade from the Evil Demon Sect said that one can raise their cultivation level by devouring cores. This seems to be true as long as I follow the seal and chant in the jade. Sadly, I have to use the same cultivation method as them to absorb more than 20% of the core's spiritual energy. Right now, I can only absorb 10%"

Wang Lin stood up and checked his cultivation. He secretly thought, "I only absorbed 10% of the core's spiritual energy, yet it allowed me to break past the mid stage of Foundation Establishment into the peak of the late stage of Foundation Establishment, putting me at the pseudo Core Formation stage."

The two months in the heaven defying space were like ten days outside. Once Wang Lin left the heaven defying bead, he immediately moved away with the earth escape technique. It was currently late at night.

Wang Lin arrived at the scene of the battle. There were many corpses strewn about and the spirit vein had been pulled out of the ground by someone, leaving a bottomless chasm.

After checking for a bit, he quickly charged toward the mountain the Hou Fen Union was at. Once he arrived at the foot of the mountain, he came out of the ground and jumped on his flying sword.

There were a lot of cultivators patrolling the area, but once they saw the jade Wang Lin used to record his kill count, none of them stopped him. Wang Lin went straight to one of the side buildings at the mountaintop. This was where Fen Luo had summoned him last time.

There are two female Core Formation cultivators cultivating outside. They opened their eyes as he walked toward them, but when they noticed that it was Wang Lin, they closed them again.

Wang Lin stood outside the building and loudly said, "Disciple greets master."

"Come inside." Fen Lou's gentle voice came from inside the building.

Wang Lin walked in without a word and saw Fen Lou sitting on a stone bench. There was another person beside her, Yang Sen. He nodded at Wang Lin before turning his gaze back outside and furrowing his brow.

Feng Lou's expression seemed tired as she looked at Wang Lin and asked, "What is it?"

Wang Lin didn't say a word, he only threw out the jade. Feng Lou was startled. She hadn't checked the jade yet, only Wang Lin. After her divine sense entered the jade, her expression became strange.

Yang Sen took the jade from Feng Lou and scanned it with his divine sense. His face brightened up and he smiled. "Not bad. You killed 61 Foundation Establishment cultivators and one Core Formation cultivator. If you can continue this, then you have a chance of getting the Distant Heaven Pill. But I am very curious. You were only at the mid stage of Foundation Establishment before. How did you reach the pseudo Core Formation stage so quickly? And even so, it should be almost impossible for you to kill a Core Formation cultivator. How did you do it?" Near the end, his voice became more serious.

Wang Lin had already expected these questions before he came here. His expression was calm as he plainly said, "That Core Formation cultivator was already heavily wounded by other people before escaping. I was lucky to catch him off guard and took his core. Then I used the Evil Demon Sect's technique to devour his core to reach the pseudo Core Formation stage."

"Devouring technique…" Yang Sen's eyes pierced through Wang Lin. He noticed the trace of core spiritual energy inside him. This made him believe Wang Lin's story a bit and he remained silent.

Feng Lou shot Wang Lin a meaningful look, then threw the jade back to him. She said, "This is the second piece of the map. I'll count that Core Formation cultivator as ten Foundation Establishment cultivators. If you manage to kill 150 Foundation Establishment cultivators, then you can come to me for the third piece.

Wang Lin nodded. He checked the jade with his divine sense and found that it was indeed the map. If he were to combine the two maps, then he would have a clear understanding of Hou Fen's surroundings.

Hou Fen bordered the Sea of Devils. According to the map, there was no Zhao around Hou Fen. According to the description on the map, there was another continent on the other side of the Sea of Devils. He believed that on the 3rd piece there would be some information on that other continent.

There was also a detailed description of the Sea of Devils, but Wang Lin didn't pay much attention to it as he withdrew his divine sense.

Yang Sen looked at Wang Lin in a favorable light and said, "The cultivators of Xuan Wu have gathered together for a big fight. If you want to get credit, then this will be your best chance."

Wang Lin was about to speak when a scream suddenly came from outside. Yang Sen and Feng Lou immediately disappeared as they charged outside.

Wang Lin quickly walked out and saw a Nascent Soul that had many wounds. It was leaking spiritual energy everywhere. The Nascent Soul said, "Fellow cultivators, the country sealing array has been broken… the fire beasts are on their way…"

Chapter 140 - Sea of Devils

Wang Lin's expression became unsettled as the country sealing array being broken was very bad news for him. Once those fire beasts get out, their first target will be him.

The thought of the fire beasts chasing him made Wang Lin's scalp go numb. He immediately made up his mind; he had to get the map no matter what, and it didn't seem like he could wait until the end of the month for the Distant Heaven Pill.

Thinking of this, Wang Lin's brow furrowed. The last piece of the map was in Feng Luan's hands and he didn't have enough time kill the the required cultivators. After pondering a bit, Wang Lin's eyes lit up and he made a decision.

He immediately found Lin Tao and Yang Xiong with his divine sense and then quietly moved away before flying toward Yang Xiong.

Yang Xiong was one of the disciples responsible for patrolling the area. He didn't dare to relax at all as he vigilantly kept watch, but his eyes couldn't help but move toward the top of the mountain. When that broken Nascent Soul flew past him, he had a feeling that something big was about to happen.

Yang Xiong let out a sigh as he suppressed the heavy feeling in his heart. Just as he was about to go patrol the northwest area, he suddenly felt something, so he flew into the dense forest in the north. After he entered the dense forest, he looked around and respectfully said, "Yang Xiong greets master."

Wang Lin came out of a tree. He examined Yang Xiong before asking, "Where is Zhong Zihong?"

Yang Xiong was suspicious, but he didn't dare say anything. He pondered for a bit before replying, "If I remember correctly, junior sister Zhong should be in the third squad of the fourth army, but I don't know the exact details."

Wang Lin looked at Yang Xiong and said, "I have already returned Zhong Zihong's soul essence blood."

Yang Xiong's body shook and his breathing became rough, but he quickly calmed himself down. He raised his head and looked at Wang Lin. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.

Wang Lin's expression was calm as he said, "If you can make Zhong Zihong come here, then I'll return your soul essence blood to you."

Yang Xiong's eyes became bloodshot and his breathing became rough again. After a long time, he whispered, "Is what master is saying true?"

Wang Lin frowned but still nodded.

Without a word, Yang Xiong took out a piece of jade and placed it on his forehead. Wang Lin only saw the jade gleam a few times before being thrown. Yang Xiong then disappeared into the distance.

After one hour, the sound of flying swords came from the distance and a very beautiful woman with red lips, white skin, and a curvy figure arrived. This person was Zhong Zihong.

She put away her flying sword, and just as she was about to speak, she saw Wang Lin beside Yang Xiong, making her face immediately go pale.

Wang Lin waved his hand and Yang Xiong's soul essence blood flew toward Yang Xiong. He felt very shameful as he caught it and left without daring to look at Zhong Zihong.

Zhong Zihong's face was pale and she bit her red lip. After a long time, she talked with a chill on her back. "Ancestor Feng Luan… is my mother. When she saw me, she immediately noticed that something was off, so…"

Wang Lin shook his head. He sighed and said, "This matter is over, so there's no need to mention it again. Zhong Zihong, I would like you to help me with something."

Zhong Zihong was startled and asked, "Is it the map?"

Wang Lin nodded and said, "My home is very far away. It would be impossible to find it without a map."

Zhong Zihong looked at Wang Lin with a very complex gaze and said, "Help me kill two people."

Wang Lin raised his brow. "What cultivation level?"

Zhong Zihong's eyes became cold as she answered, "One is at the mid stage of Foundation Establishment and the other is at the peak of late stage Foundation Establishment."

"Okay!" Wang Lin didn't hesitate to agree.

"You should know the two of them. One of them is Ma Liang's precious junior apprentice sister, Xu Si. The other is Zhou Au, who is always fooling around with her. You don't have to kill them now, you can kill them when you leave. As for the map, I'll bring it to you within one hour." After Zhong Zihong finished speaking, she looked at Wang Lin meaningfully before leaving on her flying sword.

"Ma Liang, this is the last time I'm helping you…" Zhong Zihong revealed a melancholy look as she slowly flew away.

Wang Lin meaningfully looked at Zhong Zihong's back before spreading out his divine sense to find Xu Si. He left a sliver of his Ji Realm on her before, so it was very easy to find her.

After finding Xu Si's location, Wang Lin took a step forward and went underground.

Half an hour later, Wang Lin resurfaced. He sat down cross legged, waiting for Zhong Zihong's return.

There was a strange look on his face as when he found Xu Si and Zhou Au. The two of them were in a remote area of the mountain. They were having fun with their two white bodies colliding and creating popping sounds.

Wang Lin took one look and placed a sliver of divine sense that would activate in half a month on Zhou Au before quietly leaving.

After waiting in the dense forest for a while, the person that came wasn't Zhong Zihong but a female Qi Condensation disciple. She threw a piece of jade into the forest and ran away without even looking back.

Wang Lin's right hand moved and the jade quickly flew into it. He checked the jade with his divine sense before putting it away. Then he took a deep breath, entered the ground, and quickly left.

After the three pieces of the map were fused, Wang Lin could tell that Hou Fen belonged to the Zhou Wu continent. A place called the Sea of Devils was between here and the continent Zhao was on.

If he wanted to return to Zhao, he would have to cross this Sea of Devils, which was rumored to be filled with demonic cultivators.

The map contained only some details of the Sea of Devils. It only said that it was a very dangerous place and that even Nascent Soul cultivators didn't dare to casually enter.

And the map even pointed out that the Sea of Devils wasn't a real sea anymore. Back in ancient times, the sea was evaporated by a very powerful cultivator to kill his enemy.

Since then, the entire Sea of Devils was filled with fog, so it's more accurate to say that it's a fog sea. The creatures living in the Sea of Devils have adapted to survive in this fog too.

At the same time, because of the the special fog of the Sea of Devils, the fog becomes seawater for one month out of the year.

Due to the harsh landscape, resources are very lacking, there are very few spirit veins, and killing people is very common. All of this caused the Sea of Devils to become a gathering point for demonic cultivators. Even criminals from high ranking cultivation countries being hunted by their countries escape to the Sea of Devils.

The name Sea of Devils comes from this. As for its real name, no one even remembers it. The Sea of Devils is a very messy and chaotic place. Very few non-demonic cultivators are willing to enter that place.

Wang Lin digested the information in the jade as he was using the earth escape technique. He suddenly stopped when his divine sense spread out from the ground and saw two flying swords flying across the sky. The one in front was a girl whose face was very flustered and pale. Her body seemed like it was ready to fall over.

This girl was as beautiful, graceful, and elegant as a fairy. She was Li Muwan from the Lou He Sect who he met once.

The person chasing her was a young man with slicked hair. Not only was the young man not in a rush as he casually chased her, but he also loudly teased, "Little darling, I have kill everyone else in your 13 man squad. Where can you possibly run to?"

Li Muwan remained silent as she bit her lower lip and flew forward.

The young man waved his hand. Li Muwan let out a scream as a large piece of the clothes on her back was torn off, revealing her white and tender skin.

The young man let out a laugh as he sniffed the ripped piece of cloth. His eyes lit up.

Wang Lin only looked for a bit before withdrawing his gaze. That young man's cultivation level was very high, at the mid stage of Core Formation. He doesn't want any trouble as his goal is to leave before the fire beasts arrive.

He only met Li Muwan once, so there was no real reason to risk his life to save her. But just at this moment, the young man's eyes lit up and he threw a black light toward where Wang Lin was hiding.

"There is a junior who knows the earth escape technique hiding here. Since we met, you might as well stay."

Wang Lin let out a sigh and jumped out the moment the black light hit the ground. Li Muwan noticed a change, so she turned around. She revealed a joyous expression and shouted, "It's you! Senior apprentice brother, please save me!" With that, her flying sword turned and arrived next to Wang Lin in an instant.

The young man let out a laugh. He waved his hand, making eight flying swords appear. They all shot toward Wang Lin and Li Muwan. The flyings swords closed in, but most of them were targeting Wang Lin. Only one sword was targeting Li Muwan, and it wasn't trying to kill her. Clearly, the young man wanted to keep her alive.

Wang Lin secretly let out a sigh as he grabbed Li Muwan's arm and dangerously dodged the flying swords. He pulled her underground and activated the earth escape technique to run away.

The earth escape technique was really a technique of the ancient cultivation world, even if this was just an inferior branch of it. Even when Wang Lin was carrying another person, his speed barely dropped.

The youth controlled the flying swords to attack the ground. He showed a mocking smile as the shock waves transferred underground, but as Wang Lin's speed became faster and faster, the youth's expression became more serious and he focused on chasing.

Although he was a Core Formation cultivator, he wasn't specialized in speed. If Wang Lin was using a normal flying sword of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would be nothing, but against the specialized earth escape technique, his weakness was exposed. The more he chased, the bigger the gap between him and Wang Lin became.

Wang Lin's face was gloomy as he looked back at Li Muwan with a merciless expression. Li Muwan's heart began to pound. She knew that she had dragged him down with her. She bit her lower lip and quickly said, "That person is the Xuan Wu's Double Cultivation Sect's elder. He somehow knew that I had a Distant Heaven Pill. That's why he disregarded his status and came after me."

Without waiting for her to finish speaking, Wang Lin's eyes lit up and he asked, "You have a Distant Heaven Pill?"

Wang Lin's gaze caused Li Muwan to become very frightened. She was a very clever person or else she wouldn't have risked saying the three words "Distant Heaven Pill" to get him to save her.

After all, they were both from Hou Fen, so falling in his hands would be better than falling in the hands of that Core Formation cultivator. Thinking about this, she immediately said, "I don't have a finished Distance Heaven Pill, only a semi-complete product…" Her eyes began to turn red as she saw Wang Lin's unkind gaze and quickly explained, "None of the Lou He Sect's Distance Heaven Pills are complete; they are all in a semi-complete state. However, it would only take half an hour of refining to make it a complete product. This is because once the Distance Heaven Pill is complete, there is no way to store it. It must be consumed within one year, otherwise its effectiveness will drastically decrease."

Wang Lin's mind quickly turned. He originally planned on going around Hou Fen to get into the Sea of Devils, but now he grabbed Li Muwan's soft little hand and charged toward Hou Fen's border.

Wang Lin had two options right now. One was to return to the Hou Fen Union. There were many powerful cultivators there and the moment they arrive, they would be safe. However, that Core Formation young man might not even let them get that far. If Li Muwan changes her mind once they get to safety, then it would be very hard for him to get the Distance Heaven Pill.

The second option was to go to the border of Hou Fen. Considering how long it had been since the country sealing barrier broke, the fire beasts should be on their way.

Wang Lin didn't hesitate to choose the second option.

The young man kept chasing. Seeing his prey getting farther and farther away, he let out an angry grunt and took out a crystal leaf from his bag of holding. The young man looked at the leaf for a bit before throwing it out. The leaf immediately grew longer and wider until it was ten feet long. The young man jumped on the leaf, then his hand formed a seal and he shouted, "Quick!"

The moment he said that word, the leaf flew forward at an incredible speed. It was so fast that it left an afterimage that took a while to dissipate.

The distance between the two parties began to lessen and Li Muwan's face became even more pale. She didn't dare to think of what would happen if the young man caught up. She was angry that Wang Lin didn't go toward the Hou Fen Union, but she only dared to kept it inside as she didn't want to show her face in fear of Wang Lin leaving her behind.

Wang Lin's expression remained calm as he carefully calculated the time. It had been about three hours since the news of the country sealing array breaking arrived. Adding the time it took for the Nascent Soul to use all its power to teleport here and the time after the fire beasts broke the array, the fire beasts must have arrived at the border of Xuan Wu by now.

As he was calculating, he detected a red cloud rolling in from the distance with his divine sense.

When the young man saw the red cloud, he immediately stopped and gave up the chase. With his position, he knew the reason Hou Fen was invading Xuan Wu. The reason was that the fire beasts were forming that red cloud.

The herd of fire beasts was very fast and Wang Lin's earth escape technique was also very fast, so when they passed each other, a huge gap was created.

Li Muwan's heart pounded rapidly as she watched the red cloud. She finally calmed down a bit when she noticed that they moving farther away from it. However, she suddenly realized something and shouted, "Quickly, stop! We need to go back and report it… aren't the fire beasts supposed to be sealed by the country sealing array?"

Wang Lin looked at her coldly and said, "They already know, there is no need for you to worry."

Just then, a powerful divine sense spread out and suddenly locked onto Wang Lin's body. Wang Lin realized that something was wrong, so he took out a bottle of spiritual liquid and drank it all. He throttled the earth escape technique to 120% of its normal speed and quickly escaped with Li Muwan.

The fire beasts that had already flown far away suddenly stopped. They all let out roars, then turned around and started chasing after Wang Lin.

However, the distance between them was very large and Wang Lin's reaction was very quick. Instead of slowing down, he sped up, so even though the fire beasts were chasing, they could only follow far behind and were unable to catch up anytime soon.

Li Muwan was horrified as she noticed the change, but then she suddenly had a very strange thought. It felt as if the fire beasts weren't out to destroy Hou Fen but were after this cold youth.

The real five elemental escape technique is a legendary technique. Not only does it require a large amount of spiritual energy, it also has strict requirements for one's talent. However, what Wang Lin learned was only a branch variant called the earth escape technique. Aside from the large spiritual energy consumption, the amount of talent required isn't very high. He could even fine-tune the technique after many uses. Although he hadn't known the technique for long, he had used it a lot since learning it, so now he could use it with ease.

As for the spiritual energy consumption, well, to be honest, the last thing Wang Lin was afraid of was the consumption of spiritual energy.

Wang Lin continued to use the earth escape technique for three days straight as he brought Li Muwan across Hou Fen. The fire beasts chasing him had gotten closer and their roars could now be heard. At the border of Hou Fen, Wang Lin came out of the ground. He looked at the Sea of Devils, then he turned to Li Muwan, who had a pale and weary face, and asked, "Are you confident you can finish refining the pill before the fire beasts catch up?"

At this point, Li Muwan feared Wang Lin from the bottom of her heart. She was now sure that the fire beasts' target was the person before her. Why would those fire beasts ignore the Hou Fen Union and all turn to chase him otherwise? Also, looking at the fire beasts, it was as if they all had some deep hatred for this person.

Most importantly, Li Muwan knew a bit about the earth escape technique. Unless one reaches the Core Formation stage, it is impossible for a cultivator to use for it three days straight. She became very curious about the liquid Wang Lin always drank whenever he ran low on spiritual energy.

Now that she heard Wang Lin's words, her face became even more pale. With how smart Li Muwan was, how could she not realize the hidden meaning in that question? If she could do it, then he might give her a way out, like luring the fire beasts away or something.

But if she couldn't, she believed that this cold youth would take away her half-completed Distant Heaven's Pill and leave her behind.

Thinking about it, Li Muwan's body began to tremble. She had seen a lot of cultivators being torn apart by the fire beasts, so she was terrified right now.

Wang Lin's brow furrowed. Time was of the essence right now, yet this girl was in a daze. How could he possibly know what was going through her head right now? Li Muwan's guess was a bit off however. Even if she couldn't finish it now, Wang Lin would have taken the semi-complete product, but he still would have given her a life-saving treasure. Adding on the fact that the fire beasts were after him, she would have had a high chance of survival.

Li Muwan's heart trembled when she saw Wang Lin frown. She bit her lower lip and said, with a trembling voice, "Senior… senior apprentice brother, time is too short for me to produce a complete product, but I… I can refine pills. I know how to refine almost every pill from the Lou He Sect and I have memorized many ancient recipes. As long as I have the materials, I can refine them."

Wang Lin was startled and looked at Li Muwan a few times, then he saw the red light coming in from the distance and grabbed Li Muwan. He then charged toward the Sea of Devils.

Li Muwan didn't know that her words had really tempted Wang Lin. In his eyes, Li Muwan was a walking pill furnace. If he used her properly, his cultivation level would be able to increase greatly.

Wang Lin obtained this idea from Sun Youcai's life journal.

The Sea of Devils was very large, and it was basically a big hole. It wouldn't be wrong to call the Sea of Devils a giant basin, only this basin had many mountain ranges within it. There weren't any trees, but there were many strange plants. If one were to check their ancestry, they would find that these plants would trace all the way back to ancient sea plant life.

The season Wang Lin entered the Sea of Devils was when the fog was the thickest. Shortly after, the fog will turn into water, and then one month later, all of the water will become fog again.

Li Muwan was dragged into the thick fog by Wang Lin. Her charming body trembled as she bit her lower lip and whispered, "Senior… senior apprentice brother, this is the Sea of Devils!"

Wang Lin coldly replied, "I know!"

Li Muwan secretly let out a sigh and no longer said a word.

The moment they entered the Sea of Devils, slivers of Ying energy entered their bodies. This caused Wang Lin to become alert. He didn't expect to find Ying spiritual energy here. This made him very happy.

Compared to Hou Fen, the Sea of Devils was like a piece of ice, creating a vast contrast with Hou Fen. This was the first time Li Muwan had come to the Sea of Devils. Various stories she had heard about the Sea of Devils entered her mind, causing her face to become ever paler than it was before.

Wang Lin stopped in the middle of the fog. The fog in this spot wasn't too thick, so the border of Hou Fen was visible. He saw the red cloud closing in from the distance, but once the fire beasts arrived at the border, none of them crossed it. They could only roar at Wang Lin.

Gradually, more and more fire beasts gathered, but not one fire beast entered the Sea of Devils. It was as if there was a giant crevice in the way and they didn't want to cross it.

After a long time, one fire beast finally charged out, but the moment it touched the fog, it let out a miserable scream. Its body quickly shrank and its skin went from white, to red, to grey. This scene looked exactly like throwing a hot coal into ice water.

After seeing this, Wang Lin's heart calmed down a bit. According to his plan, even if the fire beasts charged in, the beasts and cultivators from here would stop them.

And the Sea of Devils was the size of several thousand Hou Fens. Although the map did not show it, it clearly pointed out the difference in size.

With how large the Sea of Devils was, if Wang Lin were to hide here, it would be hard for the fire beasts to find him.

Wang Lin's body moved and he grabbed Li Muwan, the portable pill furnace, and quickly flew away. His Ji Realm divine sense spread out. He kept a watchful eye on the surroundings.

He had to make a cave and reach the Core Formation stage as soon as possible. Only after reaching the Core Formation stage and becoming the number one cultivator below the Nascent Soul stage would he have any confidence in surviving in the Sea of Devils.