Bang!
Just as everyone thought Lin Chen was about to back down, he suddenly raised a hand and struck the old man on the neck.
The old man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed straight onto the ground.
"I've never heard a request like that in my life!"
Lin Chen glanced at the old men on the ground, his expression calm. "Since you're all so insistent, I'll just have to give you what you want!"
"Ah!"
"Murder!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the old men on the ground screamed in terror and scrambled to their feet. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from everyone's sight, running even faster than young men.
"See? Problem solved." Lin Chen looked at Master Huiming and the others beside him.
At his words, Master Huiming and the others couldn't help darkening their expressions. The old men on the ground weren't dead; they were only unconscious. Did they lack the ability to do that themselves?
Of course not. But if they took action, the reputation of both they and Vajra Temple would be ruined, so they hadn't dared!
"Benefactor Lin sees things clearly. We were too attached to appearances!" Master Yi Jie said with a sigh.
"Reputation?"
Lin Chen scoffed. What could be sweeter than origin?
"Now we can investigate!" Lin Chen went to the old well and peered down. It was a dry well, filled with a gloomy, ghostly aura.
Whoosh!
Lin Chen moved and leaped straight into the well. Seeing this, Master Huiming and the other four left two people to guard the well's entrance, while the rest also jumped inside.
At the bottom of the well, Lin Chen spotted a hidden passage along one side. The ghostly aura's true source lay deep within it.
Following the passage, Lin Chen soon reached a vast cavern inside the mountain. Nine coffins stood not far away, each giving off a dense ghostly aura!
"The Nine Star Coffin!"
At the same time, a sudden voice came from behind Lin Chen. The speaker was none other than Master Huiming, who had caught up with him.
"What is the Nine Star Coffin?" Lin Chen asked, looking at Master Huiming in confusion.
Master Huiming raised an eyebrow, his tone grave. "The Nine Star Coffin is a secret method unique to the Ghost Raising Lineage of Tian Nan Province. Ghosts are raised in nine coffins at once, then the ghost in one coffin absorbs the other eight and becomes a Vicious Ghost. If the process succeeds, its strength will be at least Fourth Order!"
Among their group, Master Sanjie was the strongest, yet he was only at the late Third Order. If the ghost successfully emerged, they would be no match for it.
Fortunately, all nine coffins still had ghostly energy inside, which meant the ghosts within them hadn't yet been devoured. A Fourth Order Vicious Ghost hadn't been born!
This was undoubtedly good news for everyone. They wouldn't have to face a Fourth-order Ghost; they only needed to deal with the ghosts that had yet to emerge from the coffins.
"Attack at once and destroy these coffins. Otherwise, once the ghosts take shape, they'll—" Master Huiming hurriedly began.
Whoosh!
But before Master Huiming could finish, a figure had already darted out and reached one of the coffins. Blood Qi True Flame surged forth, instantly engulfing it.
"Slain Third-order Ghost. Origin +2000."
Lin Chen's eyes lit up at the system notification. Nine Third-order Ghosts were a much better deal than one Fourth-order Ghost. After all, a Fourth-order Ghost was only worth four thousand origin, while nine Third-order Ghosts meant eighteen thousand!
Lin Chen sent his Blood Qi True Flame toward another coffin and said to Master Huiming and the others, "Master Huiming, go look for the person behind this. I'll take care of things here!"
"This..."
Seeing Lin Chen strike without hesitation and kill a ghost already, Master Huiming and the others were stunned. His method was ferocious—he'd reduced the ghost to ashes in an instant.
"Senior brother, Benefactor Lin is just like that. He can't stand even a speck of dust in his eyes!" Master Yi Jie explained from the side.
Hearing this, Master Huiming said no more. The ghosts inside these coffins were mostly Third-order Ghosts, and killing them would take some effort.
Now that Lin Chen had stepped in and easily slain a Third-order Ghost, he had saved them a great deal of trouble.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Master Huiming and two others didn't hesitate. They immediately headed toward the back of the cavern. By then, Lin Chen had already slain a second ghost, gaining another two thousand origin.
Buzz! Buzz!
Suddenly, the remaining seven coffins shook violently, as though their lids were about to blow apart.
"You noticed?"
Seeing this, Lin Chen knew the ghost-raiser behind it had sensed his ghosts were in trouble and activated the coffins ahead of time.
Whoosh!
Lin Chen moved and instantly reached one of the coffins. He once again urged his Blood Qi True Flame, killing the ghost inside.
Bang! Bang!
At the same time, the remaining six coffins exploded. Six figures appeared in the cavern—the six remaining ghosts!
The six ghosts didn't immediately attack Lin Chen. Instead, they instantly converged, their ghostly energy surging as they began to merge.
"Damn it, don't you dare merge!"
Lin Chen's expression changed drastically. He urged his Blood Qi True Flame to its limit and, with a flash, appeared in front of the six ghosts. His fists flew wildly as he scattered the merging ghostly energy and killed the ghosts one by one.
"Slain Second-order Ghost. Origin +1000."
"Slain Third-order Ghost. Origin +2000."
Ghosts kept falling, and the system's kill notifications continued to sound. But Lin Chen's expression grew exceptionally grim. Aside from one Third-order Ghost, the other five were all only Second-order Ghosts!
The six ghosts were worth just seven thousand origin in total. The three ghosts from earlier had already been worth six thousand!
Clearly, even though Lin Chen had reacted quickly, the ghosts' merging had still weakened some of them, dropping them from Third Order to Second Order and significantly reducing the origin he gained.
"You actually ruined my Nine Star Ghost-Raising Formation! I'll kill you!"
Just then, a furious shout came from the well's entrance. A figure immediately charged toward Lin Chen.
"Stealing my origin? Die!"
Lin Chen was already furious. He met the attack coming from behind with a full-strength punch.
Boom!
Blood Qi True Flame erupted, instantly swallowing the incoming attack. A shrill scream rang out, and in the blink of an eye, the attacker turned to ash and vanished.
"Ah! Ah!"
A furious roar rang out. Seeing his peak Third-order Ghost slain, the newcomer's expression darkened to the extreme. "Who are you?"
"Weren't you going to kill me? Why aren't you attacking?"
Lin Chen looked at the gray-robed old man, his voice icy. "You bastard, either you beat me to death today, or I beat you to death!"
Wrapped in Blood Qi True Flame, Lin Chen sprang forward and charged straight at the gray-robed old man. The old man had cost him several thousand origin. Until Lin Chen vented his anger, he wouldn't find peace!
"Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"
The gray-robed old man flew into a rage. Seeing that Lin Chen was powerful, he had originally wanted to talk things over. He hadn't expected Lin Chen to deny him any chance at all, and now he was completely furious.
Before you continue