One Sword to Seal the Throat!

Clearly, when Lin Mang and his son betrayed the Lin Family, Lin Chen had already guessed they would come this way. That was why he had set up this trap and waited for them.

What baffled Lin Mang and his son was how Lin Chen could have known.

If Lin Zhentian and the others had found out in advance and sent Lin Xiao along with Lin Chen, then they would have become turtles in a jar, with no chance of escape at all.

Fortunately, Lin Chen was alone.

Even though there seemed to be no one else around Lin Chen, Lin Mang, in order to protect his own life, still had to cautiously scan the surroundings.

Indeed, there was no one.

Lin Mang was extremely puzzled. Although he no longer had the strength of the Heavenly Yuan Stage, he at least still possessed the strength of the Earthly Yuan Stage. No matter what, he should be stronger than the Body Tempering Lin Chen before him.

Was this brat really in such a hurry to die?

"Lin Chen!"

Lin Hong brandished his spear and said coldly, "You beat me with tricks at the Clan Tournament. Now, I'll make you understand that I'm the only genius!"

With that, he immediately charged out.

A fierce spear radiance bloomed at that moment.

"Die!"

Lin Hong used all his strength, aiming straight for Lin Chen's throat, trying to kill him with one spear thrust and wash away the humiliation he had suffered at the Clan Tournament.

Faced with the seemingly vicious spear attack, Lin Chen's expression did not change. He raised his hand and slashed the Green Lotus Sword toward the spear.

A streak of sword qi instantly cut the spear in half at the waist!

"With that bit of strength, you dare act presumptuous in front of me?"

Lin Chen's wrist moved slightly, and he thrust the Green Lotus Sword straight toward the brow of Lin Hong, whose face was filled with horror.

Hiss!

A vivid red plum blossom bloomed between Lin Hong's brows.

The freezing sword qi instantly stripped away his life!

Lin Mang had thought that with him standing by to hold the line, Lin Hong, wielding a spear, would have a chance to defeat Lin Chen, perhaps even easily kill him, so that he could rebuild his invincible heart.

Then, when he saw Lin Hong's eyes wide open as he crashed to the ground, no longer breathing, he froze completely.

After he came back to his senses, he threw his head back and roared, "No, Hong'er!"

His eyes were also covered in blood red.

His entire body was shrouded in dense killing intent.

"Lin Chen, if I, Lin Mang, don't kill you, I swear I'm not human!"

Lin Chen just stared coldly at Lin Mang, whose aged face was streaked with tears. Unmoved by his words, he said mercilessly, "Second Uncle, it's time to send you to reunite with Cousin Lin Hong."

At that moment, a streak of cyan sword light bloomed from the Green Lotus Sword.

The sight jolted Lin Mang, and he immediately snapped back to his senses.

"You—when did you break through to the Earthly Yuan Stage?!"

Feeling the threat of death, Lin Mang could no longer care about the corpse lying on the ground. His face full of terror, he shouted the question.

He had thought Lin Chen was only at the Body Tempering Stage and could be easily handled.

Now it seemed that Lin Hong being stabbed to death by the other party's sword just now was no coincidence, but a crushing difference in strength!

No wonder he had seen unbelievable terror in Lin Hong's eyes, which had remained open in death.

Who could have imagined that Lin Chen, who had only displayed the strength of Body Tempering Stage Seven at the Clan Tournament, had become a powerful Earthly Yuan Stage expert in the blink of an eye!

Lin Mang knew well that his current strength had been greatly reduced and that he was gravely injured. Facing an Earthly Yuan Stage expert like Lin Chen, who was at full strength, even if he won, he would probably have no extra strength left to escape.

He took out a large saber and stared fixedly at the Green Lotus Sword in Lin Chen's hand.

After seeing Lin Hong's spear cut apart by a single sword strike just now, he had deeply understood that trying to block that sharp treasured sword with a flesh-and-blood body was more than a little wishful thinking.

"Brat Lin Chen, take my saber!"

Lin Mang's eyes were bloodshot and his face savage. The chaotic yuan power inside him was quickly mobilized, and he suddenly cleaved down toward Zhao Chen's head.

Behind him, there was also a large saber condensed from yuan power, carrying the icy chill of Yin Sha Qi as it slashed down together.

"Yin Han Saber?"

Lin Chen recognized the saber technique Lin Mang was using now. His brow lifted slightly, and sensing the abundant degree of yuan power inside the other party's body, he did not directly take it head-on, but flashed aside to dodge.

The large saber struck the ground, splitting open a huge crack.

The icy chill instantly sealed the crack in ice.

It had to be said that Lin Mang, at the Heavenly Yuan Stage, had already fused with Yang Gang Qi.

The ferocity of that Yuan Power was simply not something someone at the Earthly Yuan Stage, who had only just fused with Yin Sha Qi, could easily withstand.

"Don't run!"

Lin Mang immediately swung his great saber in a horizontal slash, determined to cleave Lin Chen in two and avenge Lin Hong's death.

This time, what he used was the Yang Gang Saber.

Scorching flames blazed up along the great saber.

In that instant, the surrounding temperature rose rapidly.

Quite a few trees were set ablaze, their trunks wreathed in raging fire.

"Throat Slitting Sword!"

Lin Chen's expression did not change. He swung the Green Lotus Sword in his hand and released the deep-blue Yuan Power within him, wrapping it around the blade. Then, from an extremely tricky angle, he brushed past the flaming great saber and stabbed at his opponent's throat.

"Even if I no longer have the strength of the Heavenly Yuan Stage, I'm still not someone a brat like you, who's only just entered the Earthly Yuan Stage, can threaten!"

Lin Mang's eyes bulged with fury. His left hand formed an eagle-claw shape, Yuan Power wrapping around it as he actually reached out, trying to seize the Green Lotus Sword coming at him!

That startled even Lin Chen. Seriously? There were still idiots like this these days?

Sure enough, beneath the sharp sword energy of the Green Lotus Sword, Lin Mang's so-called Green Eagle Claw was split open in an instant.

Hiss!

Blood splattered across Lin Mang's face.

"Ah!"

Before Lin Mang could even scream, the sword's edge had already stabbed into his throat.

Deep-blue cold Qi sealed him in ice at extreme speed.

Lin Mang was dead!

The ice sculpture crashed to the ground and shattered into fragments.

Seeing this, Lin Chen sighed.

This was a world where the strong preyed on the weak. It was either you died, or I did.

After simply dealing with the traces of battle here, Lin Chen also left the place.

No matter what, if Lin Zhentian and the others learned that he had killed Lin Mang and his son, an unavoidable sense of estrangement would appear between them, causing their relationships to fracture.

Lin Chen did not want the deaths of his enemies to affect his normal life.

--

"Damn it! Lin Mang, that rebellious son—when I catch him, I'll beat him half-crippled!"

From the distant sky, three figures flew over.

Lin Zhentian, an old man in brocade robes with a head full of white hair, was the first to land at the forest entrance.

Lin Xiao and Lin Ken followed closely behind him.

"Father, those black-clothed Heavenly Yuan Stage men from earlier should have been from the Lei Family, the Xie Family, and the Mad Saber Martial Hall, which seems closely tied to us on the surface, right?"

After thinking for a while, Lin Xiao still asked about the obstruction they had encountered in Qingyang Town.

All these years, he had not been involved in the Lin Family's specific affairs, nor had he had the heart to care about them.

Now that his strength had recovered, it was necessary for him to pay more attention at this time.

When Lin Zhentian heard this, his face grew even darker, and he snorted coldly.

"Those damned bastards just want to see my Lin Family's strength weakened, to see us lose a Heavenly Yuan Stage expert while their own clans gain one! They can dream on! Lin Mang, that rebellious son, has secretly killed many innocent people over the years. I'm afraid he prepared an escape route long ago. There's no way he'll return to Qingyang Town in the short term."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao asked, "So Second Brother—no, Lin Mang and his son have most likely already fled into the Boundless Mountain Range?"

Lin Zhentian did not answer, but he clearly thought the same.

Lin Ken, beside them, did not speak. He paid attention to their surroundings and soon noticed the few trees ahead that had been burned into blackened charcoal.

"Father, there are traces of a fight up ahead!"

Lin Zhentian and the other two left and came to this small clearing. They could faintly see the marks Lin Mang had left behind when he swung his great saber, and all their expressions turned solemn.

After checking the area, they looked at one another and shook their heads.

"It seems Lin Mang encountered a Demonic Beast. After killing it, he left with the corpse. And both father and son were seriously injured, too. They probably won't appear again for the time being."

On the ground, there were bloodstains left behind by Lin Mang and Lin Hong, which they had had no time to clean up.

Following the direction in which the faint traces of blood disappeared, Lin Zhentian also looked toward the Boundless Mountain Range.

"Let's go. We're heading back."

Only after a long while did he say wistfully, "Just take it as... Lin Mang and his son are dead."