The Ninth Great Body Tempering

Zhang Lin and Old Daoist halted, sweeping their gazes over the two enormous figures before and behind them.

Both enormous figures were Mist Ghosts that had already condensed physical forms.

The Mist Ghost in front resembled a tree demon, with barely passable facial features.

It had two vaguely humanoid arms and four short little legs like suction cups.

At that moment, it was snatching Mist Ghosts from every direction and tossing them into its mouth.

The Mist Ghost behind them was nothing but a head, with long black hair.

It had three mouths, two of them on its face.

It too was wolfing down the surrounding Mist Ghosts.

When they were still a hundred meters away from the two men, both stopped.

"Pick one each!"

Zhang Lin's eyes shone brightly. These were all experience for advancing!

The Two-headed Corpse and Evil Buddha Statue from before had both been formidable, far beyond Old Daoist's ability to handle.

But things were different now. Judging from appearance and aura alone, these two enormous Mist Ghosts were slightly weaker than those two, roughly on par with the Blood Shadow Ghost Mother from outside.

"I'll take the one in the back!"

Old Daoist felt that the Head Mist Ghost was somewhat weaker and decided to choose it.

With that, he flung out dozens of talismans, and a spirit sword appeared in his hand.

He then slapped two Swiftness Talismans onto his legs and instantly appeared before the Head Mist Ghost.

"Edict!"

The talismans around him instantly detonated. Dozens of huge fireballs came crashing down, flames soaring into the heavens.

The nearby Mist Ghosts were burned to ashes on the spot.

"Gah..."

A shriek rang out next. Yin energy churned, overturning the raging flames and sending them spreading outward.

Zhang Lin received another large amount of blue-white energy!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Several piercing whistles shot toward Zhang Lin from all around.

Zhang Lin darted aside to evade two attacks, then reached out with both hands and directly seized the thin branches launched by the Tree Demon Mist Ghost.

Then he yanked hard!

The Tree Demon Mist Ghost's enormous body was dragged straight toward Zhang Lin.

The Tree Demon Mist Ghost had not expected its opponent to possess such tremendous strength, but its reaction was swift as well.

While still in midair, its four short legs instantly stretched out, piercing the ground and rooting themselves within it.

Once it steadied itself, its former cherry-like mouth had turned into a gaping bloody maw. A spiraling green sphere of magical power condensed within it!

When it had condensed to a radius of seven or eight zhang, it shot forth in one burst.

The surrounding Mist Ghosts had long since begun retreating!

The sphere of magical power swept everything in its path. Some Mist Ghosts that failed to flee in time were directly melted, becoming nourishment for the sphere and causing it to swell even further.

By the time it neared Zhang Lin, its diameter had expanded by another three zhang.

Its power was terrifying!

By Zhang Lin's estimate, it had already reached the level of the Two-headed Corpse's all-out strike!

The Yin energy around them churned and erupted into turmoil.

Zhang Lin gathered a massive amount of blood energy into his right arm, and his entire arm began to radiate a dense crimson glow.

Boom!

He threw a punch at the sphere of magical power. The two collided, and green light engulfed heaven and earth.

After exchanging a move with the Head Mist Ghost, Old Daoist also looked over.

When the green light faded, Zhang Lin was still standing in the field.

Other than his upper garment being destroyed, not even a single wound remained on his body!

"What a freak!"

Old Daoist let out a breath of relief and charged at the Head Mist Ghost again.

Zhang Lin examined his physical body, lost in thought.

He had made a discovery: after body tempering, his physical body would gradually become more solid after being tempered through battle after battle.

During his previous fights with the Two-headed Corpse and Evil Buddha Statue, he had noticed that his body's defense had steadily grown stronger with each battle and blow.

This time, after taking another powerful impact, he still remained unscathed, and his physical body's defensive power had risen another notch.

"Let's finish this early!"

Zhang Lin vanished in a flash. When he reappeared, he was already above the Tree Demon Mist Ghost's head!

"Four Symbols: White Tiger: Shatter Void Battle Axe!"

Dense blood energy erupted from his foot as he cleaved straight downward.

The Tree Demon Mist Ghost sensed danger. Countless branches sprouted across its body and gathered overhead.

They quickly converged into a disk above its head.

In the blink of an eye, countless Mist Ghost heads appeared on the disk and charged toward Zhang Lin.

Those heads were all Mist Ghosts it had devoured.

A flash of crimson streaked across the sky. The Mist Ghost heads were evaporated by the blood energy, while the disk and the Tree Demon Mist Ghost were cleaved in two.

Tentacles extended from the Tree Demon Mist Ghost's two halves, trying to stick themselves back together.

But Zhang Lin's blood energy remained upon the severed surfaces. They could not adhere at all, and the energy continued wearing away at its body.

"Ah..."

A miserable cry of unbearable agony rang out.

The Tree Demon Mist Ghost was ruthless enough. Two slender branches extended from its body and directly cut away the portions tainted by Zhang Lin's blood energy.

At last, its two halves merged together again.

"Skree..."

The Tree Demon Mist Ghost bared its teeth at Zhang Lin, spat out two mouthfuls of unknown green liquid, then turned and fled!

"Huh?"

Two huge corroded pits remained where it had stood. Zhang Lin's blood energy erupted again, and he caught up with the Tree Demon Mist Ghost in an instant.

Crimson light condensed around both hands, and he struck over a hundred times in the blink of an eye!

The Tree Demon Mist Ghost was directly dismembered and fell to the ground.

The fragments squirmed, still trying to fuse together once more.

Zhang Lin directly suppressed them with his blood energy!

Before long, the Tree Demon Mist Ghost was ground out of existence, leaving neither corpse nor bones behind.

A wisp of blue-white energy was absorbed by him.

During his clash with the Tree Demon Mist Ghost just now, he had also gained a large amount of blue-white energy!

He was even closer to the next Great Body Tempering!

Old Daoist's battle with the Head Mist Ghost had already entered its fiercest stage.

The Head Mist Ghost had quite a few tricks: long hair, tongues, poisonous mist, sound waves...

Had Old Daoist not possessed extensive experience and a large number of talismans, he would likely have been taken down long ago!

But after fighting for so long, he had gradually fallen into a disadvantage.

At that moment, the Head Mist Ghost unleashed every means it had. First came sound-wave suppression, then an encirclement of long hair, followed by tongue attacks.

Old Daoist was already trapped, fighting amid peril upon peril!

With one moment of carelessness, his limbs were bound by long hair, leaving him unable to move. A long tongue had also constricted his neck.

One long tongue stabbed toward his head.

Another gouged toward his heart.

Old Daoist's life hung by a thread!

Bang!

Just as Old Daoist despaired, the head before him was blasted apart.

"Old Daoist, you still need to cultivate more diligently!"

Zhang Lin stood there smiling at Old Daoist.

"Watch out!"

Old Daoist had just been about to sigh in relief when he saw a massive spear behind Zhang Lin stabbing toward him like lightning!

It was formed from the Head Mist Ghost's Yin Soul as its core, with its long hair manipulated and condensed around it. It was incomparably sharp!

Old Daoist knew he would not be able to block it.

Zhang Lin merely tilted his body and seized it with his right hand.

A great amount of blood energy poured from his hand into the spear, carrying a thread of electrical arcs with it.

"Ah..."

After a burst of howling, the spear turned back into long hair and scattered to the ground!

Zhang Lin gained another wisp of blue-white energy.

He looked around, unleashed a sonic howl, and harvested another wave of blue-white energy.

Suddenly, dense blood energy erupted from within him, sending Old Daoist flying several hundred meters away.

The ninth Great Body Tempering had arrived!