Killing for Treasure? A Brutal Counterattack

Soul Beast Forest.

Following the coordinates marked by the system, Lin Mo proceeded cautiously. Layers of rotten leaves covered the ground beneath his feet, while cold, damp mist spread close to the earth.

The thunderstorm continued, and the sky was abnormally dark. Raindrops the size of beans pounded against the leaves with crackling sounds. Purple lightning occasionally tore across the sky, illuminating the entire dense forest.

The Thunder Hell Vine martial soul stirred excitedly, continuously drawing in the stray flashes of lightning.

The external environment caused the Soul Power within Lin Mo to circulate at an astonishingly faster speed. Even breathing allowed him to sense the fluctuations of Soul Power.

The distance of four hundred and thirty meters vanished in an instant. The terrain ahead suddenly dipped downward, forming a hidden depression.

At its center, a slender emerald bamboo stalk shimmered with pale gold and purple light as it swayed in the wind. Fine currents of electricity coiled around its body, and every bamboo leaf flickered with tiny lightning arcs.

The Golden Thunder Bamboo was rooted in the damp soil. Its roots intertwined with the surrounding lightning, making it the core of this small lightning domain.

[Soul Beast: Golden Thunder Bamboo]

[Age: Four Hundred and Twenty-Seven Years]

[Attribute: Lightning, Plant]

[Danger Level: Moderate]

Lin Mo tightened his grip around the Blood Curse Blade. The crimson curved blade looked ordinary, yet it contained the Bleeding Curse.

He did not rashly launch a direct attack.

Although the Golden Thunder Bamboo lacked conscious aggression, its four hundred years of cultivation and lightning attribute meant that its explosive power would likely be considerable. If he were struck head-on, his current physical strength would still leave him injured.

Lin Mo lowered his body and slowly approached under the cover of the rain curtain and trees.

The Golden Thunder Bamboo seemed to sense him. Its stalk trembled slightly, and the lightning around it suddenly surged. Crackling arcs wove an electrical net across the ground.

Lin Mo's gaze sharpened. His footsteps abruptly accelerated, and he pounced forward like a leopard.

The Blood Curse Blade tore through the air and accurately slashed into the Golden Thunder Bamboo's stalk!

Pfft—

The blade cut into the bamboo, and pale golden sap seeped down its edge. A system notification sounded at once:

[Ding! Blood Curse Blade activated. Blood Curse stacks: 1/10]

The Golden Thunder Bamboo writhed madly in pain, dense lightning lashing toward Lin Mo like long whips.

Lin Mo had been prepared. He threw himself sharply to the side, narrowly evading the sweeping golden lightning.

The wet ground cracked apart, and bamboo roots burst from it. At the same time, glittering golden bamboo strips whipped through the air with the force of wind and thunder, overwhelmingly domineering.

Lin Mo dodged behind a nearby tree, only for the bamboo strip to blast the tree apart with a single strike.

He immediately rolled to the side, mud splattering over his body as his calves tensed and propelled him forward.

His eyes saw through the gaps between the lightning. With the extraordinary reactions and speed gained through Thunder Body Tempering, he darted flexibly through the openings and struck whenever an opportunity appeared.

One slash, two slashes, three slashes...

The Blood Curse stacks continued rising.

Three stacks, five stacks, seven stacks...

He never confronted it head-on. He only waited for the right opportunities and struck with precision.

As the battle dragged on, the Golden Thunder Bamboo's vitality rapidly drained away. The luster of its stalk dimmed, and the intensity of its lightning visibly weakened.

It twisted wildly, trying to root itself into the soil and heal, but the Blood Curse remained in effect. Every stack steadily stripped away its life essence.

Lin Mo's breathing grew slightly hurried, but his eyes remained as sharp as an eagle's.

He maintained his rhythm throughout, unwilling to greedily overextend himself or take risks. Every slash landed steadily, accurately, and ruthlessly on the same spot.

[Ding! Blood Curse stacks reached maximum: 10/10. Target will continuously lose health. Curse effect maximized.]

The ten layers of Blood Curse were like invisible shackles, tightly locking down the Golden Thunder Bamboo's life force.

The Golden Thunder Bamboo trembled violently. The lightning surrounding its surface rapidly faded, and its stalk withered and curled at a visible rate. Its Soul Power scattered wildly, and it could no longer release even a trace of lightning.

Within moments, the once-rampant and upright Golden Thunder Bamboo had completely lost its vitality. It stood dry, decayed, and silent. A pale yellow soul ring rose from its stalk and slowly revolved, its glow gentle yet faintly containing violent lightning power.

A Hundred-Year Soul Ring!

Lin Mo suppressed the excitement in his heart and scanned his surroundings again.

Only after confirming that the area was safe did he sit cross-legged on the ground. Following the cultivation method from his memories, he began guiding the soul ring into his body and adding it to his martial soul.

Wisps of Soul Power fluctuations emerged from the yellow soul ring and gathered toward Lin Mo, beginning to form an ethereal outline above the surface of his Thunder Hell Vine.

The soul ring's energy flowed into his body strand by strand, perfectly merging with his Thunder Hell Vine martial soul as it crazily Devoured the soul ring's power.

The compatibility between the martial soul and the soul beast was remarkably high, making the absorption process exceptionally smooth from the start.

But just as he focused completely on the crucial point where his Soul Power and the soul ring's strength thoroughly merged, hurried footsteps and noisy voices came from outside the forest depression!

"That intense Soul Power fluctuation just now, along with the lingering lightning aura—it has to be here!"

"Look! There's a brat down there absorbing a soul ring!"

"There's also the dried-up shell of a soul beast beside him. It's an extremely rare lightning-type plant soul beast, a Golden Thunder Bamboo!"

Five figures rushed into the depression. They were the same soul master team that had mocked Lin Mo at the edge of the forest earlier.

Two men and three women, all drenched from head to toe. They had already been irritated after gaining nothing in the thunderstorm, but the moment they saw Lin Mo in the center of the depression and the yellow soul ring revolving above him, their gazes locked onto the remaining dried husk of the Golden Thunder Bamboo. Then they looked at the young Lin Mo, their eyes full of shock and suspicion.

The woman's eyes abruptly lit up. She stepped forward at once and stared from the edge of the depression.

"A Golden Thunder Bamboo over four hundred years old was actually hunted alone by a child of seven or eight? That doesn't make much sense!"

"Even an ordinary One-Ring Soul Master might not be able to take down a lightning-type soul beast like that. How did a little brat like him do it?" the woman asked suspiciously.

"This kid must be hiding some great treasure!"

As soon as those words were spoken, their eyes immediately turned greedy.

The boy had come alone. They had happened to encounter him before.

That meant he had most likely hunted the soul beast by himself, with no one nearby to protect him.

At such a critical point in absorbing a soul ring, any protector could not possibly remain hidden.

No one else could absorb a soul ring from a soul beast killed by another person. Forcing contact would only cause a clash of Soul Power and backlash.

They could not target the soul ring, but they could seize his fortuitous treasure!

That would be worth far more than a Hundred-Year Soul Ring!

The woman did not care in the slightest about the soul ring that already had an owner. Her mind was filled only with the secret and supreme treasure hidden on Lin Mo's body.

She immediately raised her hand to activate her Soul Power, intending to interrupt Lin Mo's soul ring absorption and attack him while killing him for his treasure.

Although Lin Mo was currently absorbing the soul ring, he had not completely lost consciousness.

Sensing the intense malice outside, the Soul Power around him suddenly condensed.

The soul ring absorption process accelerated, while lightning power accumulated within his body.

"Kid, if you know what's good for you, surrender obediently and hand over the treasure on you. Maybe we'll spare your life!" the scar-faced brute shouted harshly.

Though he said that, the five of them spread out during the pause and surrounded Lin Mo. Their Soul Power fluctuations erupted without the slightest concealment.

Among them were three One-Ring Soul Masters, while the two men were both Two-Ring Soul Grandmasters.

The five worked together and gradually pressed toward the depression below.

"To possess such combat strength at such a young age, the opportunity on him must be extraordinary."

"Brat, you can't keep that treasure. Hand it over!" The woman's eyes were vicious as she stopped hesitating and directly summoned her white soul ring.

"He was able to kill a four-hundred-year Golden Thunder Bamboo alone. He probably has plenty of tricks left. Even if he is absorbing a soul ring now, we can't let our guard down," the tall, thin man warned, his eyes full of caution.

"So what if he has tricks? The five of us together completely crush him in strength! Besides, he's at the critical point of absorbing a soul ring and can't fight back at all."

"Precisely because he's hiding such a great opportunity, we need to act early. Otherwise, once he completely fuses with the soul ring and his strength rises another level, he'll be much harder to deal with," the scar-faced man said.

The other four nodded in agreement.

The Soul Beast Forest had always been a place where the strong preyed on the weak. Killing for treasure was simply commonplace.

Whoever had the harder fist could seize the opportunity.

Lin Mo slowly opened his eyes, his cold gaze sweeping across the five people.

He calculated the order in which he would use the Blood Curse Blade to bring them down.

The greatest threat was naturally the scar-faced man among the two Two-Ring Soul Grandmasters.

As if sensing his icy gaze, the tall, thin man beside him gave a sinister chuckle.

"Kid, the strong preying on the weak is the rule of the soul master world. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for possessing a great treasure without enough strength to protect it."

"Stop wasting words on him. Attack directly, interrupt his absorption, take him down, and search him!" The scar-faced man summoned his martial soul. It was actually a sickle, with a white and a yellow soul ring floating above it.

The other four also summoned their martial souls, preparing to attack.

At that crucial moment, Lin Mo gritted his teeth and forcibly accelerated the absorption process, stabilizing the merging Soul Power within his body.

The pale yellow soul ring beneath his feet suddenly lit with a faint glow, and the Thunder Hell Vine inside him instantly stirred.

Though he could not fight at full strength, the basic defense of his martial soul had already activated. Thunder Hell Vine tendrils coiled around his body.

"He's forcing the soul ring fusion to speed up! Attack now—don't let him recover!" The scar-faced man's expression changed, and he immediately gave the order.

All five attacked at once. Soul skills rained down upon Lin Mo, making it obvious that they intended to overwhelm the weak with numbers and kill him for his treasure.

The conflict fully erupted!

Though trapped in danger, Lin Mo showed no fear.

The woman's attack was the fiercest, her expression twisted and crazed.

"Die! The opportunity on you belongs to us!"

Lin Mo's eyes turned cold as killing intent surged in his heart.

Using the gap in her attack, he seized a fleeting opening. By then, the soul ring absorption had already reached its final stage.

Lin Mo fully activated the Soul Power within his body and temporarily drew upon the power of the soul ring that had not completely fused yet!

[Ding! Soul ring absorption progress: 99...100%]

The crazed attacking woman froze when she saw the Hundred-Year Soul Ring above the soul beast completely disappear.

A Hundred-Year Soul Ring could be absorbed that quickly?

The others also sensed that something was wrong. The tall, thin man even began to edge backward.

Lin Mo, who had been sitting cross-legged, suddenly unleashed a surge of lightning from his palm. A purple-gold Thunder Prison Vine Whip howled forth like an enraged lightning serpent, instantly coiling around the woman who had attacked most viciously!

Caught off guard, the woman was immediately bound around the waist by the vine whip. Violent numbing currents shot through her entire body. She shuddered, and the Soul Power inside her fell into chaos on the spot. She collapsed limply to the ground, unable to activate another soul skill.

"You coveted my opportunity and wanted to kill me for treasure? You're courting death!"

Lin Mo rose to his feet, taking advantage of the moment. The final restraint on his soul ring absorption completely shattered, and the pale yellow soul ring floated steadily beneath his feet, its dazzling light intimidating everyone present!

[Ding! Successfully absorbed first soul ring.]

[Cultivation: Level Thirteen.]

[Realm: One-Ring Soul Master.]

Having fully absorbed the soul ring and reached his peak condition, Lin Mo no longer had any reservations.

The yellow soul ring on Lin Mo's body suddenly lit up.

[First Soul Skill: Thunder Prison Vine Whip]

The Thunder Prison Vine Whip danced nimbly in his hand, attacking fiercely at times and Binding at others. Purple-gold lightning crackled along it, and every strike carried formidable destructive power and a numbing effect.

The scar-faced man roared as he activated his two-ring soul skill and charged forward, only for Lin Mo's Thunder Prison Vine Whip to wrap around his arm. Purple-gold currents exploded, his weapon flew from his hand, and his body stiffened before he crashed to the ground.

The tall, thin man tried to launch a sneak attack, but the vine whip directly tightened around his neck, turning his face purple and leaving him unable to move.

The remaining two female soul masters fled in panic.

But they could not evade the agile Thunder Prison Vine Whip at all. In the blink of an eye, it wrapped around their legs and violently dragged them to the ground.

In only a few dozen breaths, the five people who had arrogantly surrounded him and intended to kill him for treasure were all bound to the ground by the vine whip. Their bodies twitched as they completely lost their ability to fight.

Especially the greediest woman. Her face was now filled with terror, and her eyes held nothing but fear when she looked at Lin Mo. None of her earlier greed or arrogance remained.

"Don't kill me! Please, let me go, alright? I'll never dare covet your things again."

Lin Mo withdrew the Thunder Prison Vine Whip. The lightning around his body receded as he looked down at the people bound and restrained on the ground.

The five trembled violently, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Didn't you want this?" Lin Mo asked, holding the Blood Curse Blade as he slowly approached.

They desperately shook their heads. Fear had overcome greed.

"The strong prey on the weak, and possessing a treasure is a crime, right?" Lin Mo said coldly.

Pfft!

"Aaaahhh!"

After dealing with them, Lin Mo wiped the blood splattered across his face.

Those people were not completely dead yet, but they had paid an extremely heavy price.

The Blood Curse Marks had reached maximum stacks. These people were already as good as dead.

If he had been the weaker one today, forcibly interrupted at the critical point of absorbing the soul ring, then at best his meridians would have been damaged and his martial soul left with hidden flaws. At worst, he would have suffered cultivation deviation on the spot and become crippled.

By then, the thunderstorm had gradually weakened. The night was terrifyingly overcast, and the howls of wolves came from deep within the forest.

Lin Mo turned to glance at the five people lying in the mud, then turned and walked toward the outskirts of the forest.