Chen Lin felt his mind reel and his thoughts scatter, unable to concentrate.
Through his blurred vision, he saw a puddle nearby, with a dry, leafless tree beside it and a crow-like bird perched on a branch.
The cry that had sent him collapsing helplessly to the ground had come from that crow's beak.
"Caw!"
Chen Lin circulated the Diamond Body-Refining Technique and activated his dharmic manifestation force. His condition finally eased somewhat, but before he could stand, the crow cried again.
The concentration he had just mustered scattered at once. His mind could no longer control his body; though countless ideas filled his head, he could act on none of them.
Terror gripped him. He had no idea what this crow was or why it was so bizarre. Worse, it did not appear to be a yin soul, but a physical being!
"Caw, caw!"
The crow gave two strange cries, then suddenly took flight from the dry branch and flew above Chen Lin's head.
It hovered in place, flapping its wings, and stared at Chen Lin for a while with its tiny black eyes. Then it opened its beak, and a black vortex appeared before it.
The vortex was small and seemed to have no offensive power, yet Chen Lin felt his soul begin to leave his body, drawn toward it.
Horrified, he hurriedly urged his divine sense to pull it back. But the lingering effects of the crow's cries had yet to fade, making his divine sense extremely difficult to gather. He was no match for it at all.
He could only watch helplessly as his soul was sucked toward it inch by inch. He felt even more powerless than when he had faced the Buddha statue bearing his previous life's face during his tribulation.
*Was he really