The four who remained felt their blood run cold, every hair on their bodies standing on end. Ever since they had entered the cultivation world, they had never faced an enemy who made them feel this way—as if he were a god high above, able to wipe them from existence with the faintest effort.
Yet Lin Chuan's cultivation was only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage, lower than every one of theirs. The person Lin Chuan had just killed had been at the seventh level, a full two levels above him. Even so, Lin Chuan had killed him in a single strike, as if their cultivation meant nothing at all in his presence.
The moves that had never failed them before were all useless against Lin Chuan. Their powerful attacks couldn't even touch him, while the defenses that made them sturdier than others crumbled before the bone spikes of his Shikotsumyaku. They were as flimsy as paper—one poke and they split, one stab and they tore!
By now, the nerves of everyone there were stretched taut. At last, they felt fear—terror. They felt it in the presence of someone they had thought as insignificant as an ant, and it was more terrifying than facing someone at the tenth level of the Qi Refining Stage.
Inside the cave, Zhang Leyang and the others waited anxiously. They didn't believe Lin Chuan could defeat those six, but the three of them weren't strong enough to fight them either. All they could do was heed Lin Chuan's words and retreat for the time being.
But they hadn't chosen to flee. They hadn't studied the teachings of the sages in their clan's school for nothing. Though such brutal training had long since crushed their illusions about the world, they still couldn't completely abandon the convictions and principles in their hearts.
Lin Chuan was fighting for their sake, so they couldn't possibly abandon him and escape on their own. Even Lin Chuan thought that sort of thing was a little foolish: I risked my life to save you, and you still insist on throwing yours away? What else could that be but foolishness?
Still, with Lin Chuan's strength as it was now, seeing Zhang Leyang make that choice warmed his heart. But only this once. He was strong enough to guarantee that nobody would die because of it. If he ever had to risk his life to save someone, only for that person to wait beside him and throw their life away, he'd probably be so angry he'd slap them flying.
"Why is it so quiet? Has Brother Lin Chuan already been killed?" Zhang Wei said anxiously.
"No way. Maybe the fight hasn't started yet. Should we go help?" Zhang Mo said. The others were risking their lives out there, while they were stuck hiding inside. Just thinking about it made him feel useless.
"Since Lin Chuan told us not to get involved, we should respect his decision. Besides, charging out now wouldn't help at all—we'd only get in the way. And even if we take the worst-case scenario: if Lin Chuan really has a way to kill those six, wouldn't we be seeing his secret if we ran out there? What would he do then? Kill us to keep us quiet, or let us learn his secret and spread it everywhere?"
Zhang Leyang rattled off a long speech, hoping to ease his anxiety by talking. Deep down, he wanted to charge out and fight too. Even if he got killed, at least he wouldn't die like a coward!
"I wouldn't go blabbing about it..." Zhang Mo muttered under his breath.
"Whether we blab or not is up to us, but whether Lin Chuan trusts us is up to him. How could he let people he barely knows learn something that could cost him his life?" Zhang Wei added.
"Let's wait a little longer. I hope nothing goes wrong..." Zhang Leyang stared intently at the rock wall in front of them. None of them had looked back.
By now, Lin Chuan had unknowingly drawn the battle outside to a spot a hundred meters from the cave. Even the sounds of the fighting could barely reach Zhang Leyang and the others.
Looking at the four people around him, Lin Chuan remained calm and composed. Four opponents were well within his limits, so he hadn't gone straight for a killing move. Instead, he'd used them as human punching bags to practice his taijutsu. After all, he'd been in this world for less than a month.
Even after eating the Fruit of the God Tree, which had given him exceptional talent for all kinds of techniques, he couldn't instantly acquire the experience that could only be built through battle. The only way was to accumulate it through one fight after another, one clash after another, constantly improving until he had mastered his skills completely.
Lin Chuan had only just acquired the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai. Watching Kimimaro use it in Naruto had looked incredible, but using it himself was another matter entirely. He had to keep adjusting his fighting stance to match the attacks of his bone spikes.
And because of All-Killing Ash Bones, Lin Chuan knew the Shikotsumyaku would stay with him until the very end. It wasn't an ability he'd use early on, only to forget about later. He had to master the Shikotsumyaku to perfection.
"What's the matter? Is this all you've got? Where's that swagger from earlier, when you said you'd kill us and take the Crimson Flame Lotus?" Lin Chuan lowered his hands and stood still. By now, he could handle all four of them with ease.
With the Byakugan's 360-degree vision and the Shikotsumyaku's powerful defense, their attacks could hardly touch him. Even when he couldn't dodge an attack because he hadn't yet mastered his movements, the bones of the Shikotsumyaku blocked most of its force. So far, apart from the Senjutsu Chakra he'd used up, Lin Chuan was practically unscathed.
In the eyes of the four surrounding him, Lin Chuan was a complete monster—a terrifying monster. The ghastly white bones that thrust out from his limbs and joints were like death-dealing swords from Hell, stabbing deep into their hearts and minds.
They wanted to use their strongest attacks to break those bones, but to their horror, the bones were far harder than they'd imagined. They were nothing like human bones.
And this was only Lin Chuan's Dance of the Willow. He hadn't used Dance of the Larch or any of the techniques beyond it. Kimimaro had needed Cursed Seal Stage Two to perform Dance of the Larch, but the Cursed Seal was essentially an imperfect, artificial Sage Mode. Lin Chuan, on the other hand, had a genuine Sage Mode with almost no flaws, so he could use Dance of the Larch with ease. It would simply consume a tremendous amount of energy, making it not worth the cost—and unnecessary besides.
"Looks like these people have reached their limit. There's no point using them for practice anymore. If it weren't for the threat underground, I might keep playing with you, but the Nascent Soul Queen Ant means I don't have time to waste!" Lin Chuan thought. He could also see that the four before him were already planning to flee. It was time to kill.
The next moment, the eyes in Lin Chuan's pale gaze changed abruptly, turning blood-red, with two Tomoe spinning rapidly in each eye.
As the four stared in astonishment, Lin Chuan fixed his gaze on the cultivator at the eighth level of the Qi Refining Stage. Their eyes met, and he unleashed his genjutsu.
"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"
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