A Close Call

"Damn it!"

Zhang You jolted awake from his daze, feeling that this bolt of lightning was far more powerful than the Heavenly Thunder he'd experienced when he first entered this world.

His current condition was half-crippled, with his special constitution used entirely to repair internal injuries.

Worse, this lightning bolt contained a dense killing intent, as if it were aiming to reduce him to ashes.

If he were struck directly, the chances of him dying were 99.9%!

He couldn't just sit and wait to die, or it would cost him his life!

But there was no time to spare; the lightning was already descending in the blink of an eye!

He gritted his teeth and summoned the last of his blood qi, swinging the Immortal artifact Broken Sword in his hand, and slashing fiercely at the descending lightning.

"Open for me!"

Suddenly, he felt nearly half of his blood being instantly drained. The Immortal artifact Broken Sword glowed intensely red, and a thick stream of energy shot upwards, colliding with the lightning above.

"Crackles!"

The killing intent within the lightning was directly severed, but the lightning itself was still unstoppable, pouring down from the crown of his head!

His face paled a bit more, and he felt a sense of exhaustion!

He remembered the wisp of lightning the White Tiger phantom in his Dantian had swallowed. Acting on desperation, he gritted his teeth, ignoring his own weakness, and directly communicated with it, causing it to burst forth from his body.

"Roar!"

The White Tiger opened its maw wide and spat out a wisp of lightning.

This wisp of lightning entered the descending lightning from the sky!

Zhang You felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, and then he saw a ball of lightning form above his head.

The White Tiger phantom behind him opened its mouth and swallowed it, then disappeared back into his Dantian, falling silent once more!

Zhang You quickly concealed his aura!

Above, the lightning in the sky let out a few more explosive sounds, its gathering momentum faltered, scattering in all directions before finally vanishing!

"Whoosh!"

It began to rain and snow!

The Immortal artifact Broken Sword in Zhang You's hand suddenly transformed into a beam of light and sank into his Dantian!

"Aren't Immortal artifacts supposed to be things of the immortal path? Shouldn't they repel me? What's going on now?"

"Perhaps it's not a genuine Immortal artifact after all!"

Zhang You's consciousness sank into his Dantian, gazing at the Broken Sword, lost in thought!

"Thump thump thump..."

At this moment, chaotic footsteps echoed from outside.

"Five people?"

Zhang You was surprised and dropped the hard plank he was holding.

He quickly took the opportunity to recover a trace of blood qi, forcibly stabilizing his stance.

Apart from his pale complexion, there was no outward sign of injury.

Soon, five people entered the secret chamber.

He recognized all five of them; it was Shopkeeper Li's group.

They looked at Zhang You, noticing his tattered clothes and bloodstains.

"Little Zhang! Where have you been these past two days?"

Shopkeeper Li asked with a frown.

"I don't know! That night, I went to the steamed bun shop outside to buy a few buns to fill my stomach. On the way back, I was ambushed and knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was here!"

Zhang You looked confused, shaking his head and indicating his own bewilderment.

He looked at them, now realizing who the five people fighting in his room that night were!

These were the diners who had wanted to eat him!

On the surface, Tang Julou was the strongest, possessing the strength of the second level of Foundation Establishment.

City Lord Qin Fengtian also had the strength of the first level of Foundation Establishment.

Although Shopkeeper Li had concealed his aura, Zhang You could sense that he also possessed the strength of the first level of Foundation Establishment, only his aura was a bit unstable, clearly indicating a recent breakthrough.

Boss Ren had also concealed his aura, but he possessed the strength of the second level of Foundation Establishment.

Only Pang Biao had the strength of the Half-step Foundation Establishment Realm.

It seemed these people had their own little secrets!

"What's the deal with the blood on you? And what was that lightning just now?"

Pang Biao asked unceremoniously.

A trace of lightning power still lingered outside the secret chamber.

This was also the question in the minds of the others.

"Bloodstains? I don't know either!"

"As for the lightning, I saw a black shadow in the sky just now, and the lightning was heading for him!"

Zhang Lin also shook his head, indicating he didn't know what had happened.

"What was the result?"

Pang Biao's face looked a bit displeased. This was too perfunctory; anyone with a brain knew Zhang Lin wasn't telling the truth.

"The result... that lightning almost blinded me, and I couldn't see anything clearly afterward! When I opened my eyes, both the lightning and the black shadow were gone! That's it, and then you guys arrived!"

Zhang Lin put on an innocent expression.

"You..."

Pang Biao was about to explode!

"Alright, since the person has been found, Shopkeeper Li can rest easy. Let's all go back! It's getting late!"

Tang Julou interrupted Pang Biao and walked out first.

After that, the others no longer hid their identities as cultivators and leaped out in front of Zhang Lin.

Shopkeeper Li also grabbed Zhang Lin, and with a few leaps, they were out of the ruins.

Afterward, the group parted ways!

"Shopkeeper, you're a cultivator, right? Can you teach me another day?"

Zhang Lin seemed very excited, chattering all the way.

"I'll teach you when you've rested properly!"

Shopkeeper Li didn't refuse, stating it very calmly.

Before long, they returned to their residence.

"Get some rest early! We need to open for business early tomorrow!"

Shopkeeper Li said and returned to his room.

"Okay! Okay!"

Zhang Lin nodded and bowed repeatedly, a smile on his face, but a curse in his heart!

Back in his room, he closed the door.

After searching for a long time, he found no one was monitoring him. He then sat cross-legged on the bed.

He also took the time to sort through his gains from visiting the Ghost Domain.

At the same time, a person in a black robe suddenly appeared above Fahua Temple.

He lightly drew a line with his finger in front of him, and a rift appeared. He then stepped into it.

Not long after, this person walked out of the rift again.

"I didn't expect the Ghost Domain to be completely swept clean, and the Netherworld Ghostfire was snatched by someone else!"

The person's voice was hoarse, and a strong killing intent emanated from him.

A surge of spiritual power suddenly spread out from under his feet, and the nearby ruins directly turned into powder!

Then, with a wave of his hand, a huge transparent sphere suddenly appeared in front of him.

If Zhang Lin were here, he would definitely recognize that the scene inside was the Ghost Domain where he had been before!

This Ghost Domain was not naturally formed!

Soon, the transparent sphere gradually shrank, finally turning into a small bead in his hand.

The Ghost Domain Bead, a treasure that could transform into the Ghost Domain, was something he had accidentally obtained from an ancient tomb. The method of its creation had long been lost.

"What is this?"

After sensing it with his eyes closed, he was somewhat shocked.

The Ghost Domain Bead had recorded functions.

However, due to the intensity of the battle, only a small portion of the visual record remained.

This resulted in him not obtaining any useful information!

He only knew that two people had broken in, one of whom was Qingyuan Old Daoist, whom he recognized.

But the figure of the other person was always obscured by an invisible force, so he didn't know Zhang Lin's true identity.

He only knew that he saw traces of martial arts on that person!

How could this be?

"Hmm? The Life Origin Sustaining Formation!"

The person suddenly sensed that Xiaolin City was surrounded by a massive formation, and he mused!

"Good, this can be used to recover some of my losses! But that little thief who took the Netherworld Ghostfire, you'd better not let me catch you, or else..."

A moment later, he sent the Ghost Domain sphere out again, sinking it into the ground!

After doing all this, he disappeared from the spot!