Battle

Just as Hu Liena's consciousness was about to be swallowed by darkness—

A streak of blood-red lightning tore through the cave's darkness without warning.

It came so fast that the seven vines had no time to react.

The thunderbolt carried an overwhelming, tyrannical aura of fiendish energy. It shot in from the cave entrance, ionizing the air along its path into a dazzling blue-white glow as sharp crackles rang out.

Blood-red arcs of electricity leaped and coiled across the surface of the lightning, illuminating the entire cave as bright as day.

It was a halberd.

Its entire body was pitch-black, with three blood-red patterns winding around the shaft like three living blood serpents slowly writhing.

The two sides of its blade spread out asymmetrically: one was a crescent-shaped curved blade, the other a row of serrated fangs. Dark-red fiendish energy curled around the edge, so thick and intense it seemed ready to drip blood.

The Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd.

Dragging a long trail of lightning behind it, the halberd slammed with pinpoint precision into the vine about to pierce Hu Liena's heart.

"Boom—!"

Lightning exploded. Blood-red arcs of electricity burst outward in a ring. The instant the vine touched the lightning, the Black Lotus let out a shrill scream—not a sound any plant could make, but a howl that seemed to come from somewhere close to the soul.

The black patterns on the vine crumbled inch by inch under the lightning's assault, releasing pungent black smoke.

The vines binding Hu Liena came loose first, recoiling into the pond like snakes that had been scalded.

With nothing supporting her, her body sagged and began to fall.

A hand caught her back, steadying her.

Her consciousness was already growing hazy. In the final moment before her eyes closed, the only thing she glimpsed from the corner of her eye was a figure wearing a Ghost Face Mask.

Jiang Lin looked down at the unconscious Hu Liena in his arms. She had a lovely face and a natural air of seduction.

She was young. Jiang Lin guessed she was no more than twelve or thirteen.

After glancing at the still pond ahead, Jiang Lin laid Hu Liena down in a corner near the cave entrance, then walked slowly toward the pond.

After being ambushed just moments ago, the Black Lotus no longer dared to act rashly.

No, it was more accurate to call it the Immortal Herb, Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus!

No one knew how many years this Immortal Herb had grown here. Jiang Lin was certain it had developed remarkable intelligence.

It had most likely already transformed into a Soul Beast.

For an Immortal Herb to transform into a Soul Beast, it had to possess considerable cultivation and intelligence. Otherwise, it would remain nothing more than a rare treasure of heaven and earth.

Facing an opponent like this for the first time, Jiang Lin couldn't help but stay on high alert.

Sensing Jiang Lin's approach, the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus paused briefly, then instantly formed seven vines once more.

The vines surged from the pond with a thunderous crash.

Jiang Lin was on guard at all times, so he wasn't about to be caught off guard by this sudden ambush.

"Second Soul Skill, Heavy Halberd Guard."

Jiang Lin's second Soul Skill was a purely defensive one. It formed a protective barrier around him from Blood Fiend Divine Lightning while increasing his defense by 30%.

An opponent at the same level couldn't break through it.

The vines lashed against the protective barrier. In an instant, the black patterns on them once again crumbled inch by inch under the lightning's assault, releasing pungent black smoke.

But this time, the vines' destruction didn't provoke nearly as strong a reaction from the Black Lotus as it had before.

Still, judging by the slight trembling of its petals, it seemed the attack had affected it.

"Hmph, you're pretty good at holding it in."

Jiang Lin snorted coldly. He had roughly gauged his opponent's strength.

It was above Soul Ancestor, probably at the initial Soul King level.

The next moment, the first and third Soul Rings on Jiang Lin's body lit up at the same time.

First Soul Skill, Armor-Piercing Blood Light.

Its effect was simple: it coated his Martial Soul in a layer of blood-red light, allowing its attacks to ignore 50% of the opponent's defense.

Third Soul Skill, Berserk Bear Fury.

It came from a nine-thousand-three-hundred-year-old Blood-Armored Berserk Bear. Its effect was to increase all attributes by 100%.

With these three Soul Skills bolstering him, Jiang Lin seized the right moment and hurled his Martial Soul toward the Black Lotus's main body.

"Buzz—!"

The moment the halberd left his hand, the air split open, forming a visible white shockwave.

The Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd dragged a long trail of lightning behind it. Blood-red light and lightning interwove around its blade, transforming it into a straight crimson shooting star that hurtled toward the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus at an inconceivable speed.

The Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus sensed the threat of death.

It hurriedly roused every vine that could still move—at a glance, there were at least sixteen or seventeen. They wove together in front of it, forming three overlapping layers of defense.

Evidently, it had meant to keep its hidden vines in reserve, waiting until Jiang Lin drew closer before ambushing him. It had never expected him to hurl his Martial Soul straight at it.

Wasn't a Martial Soul supposed to be a weapon? Who used a heavy halberd like a javelin?

The reason it had such thoughts was that it had only recently developed intelligence. In short, it was stupid.

But whether it understood or not, the bone-like scales on every vine stood on end, their edges glowing with a shadowy violet light. It had clearly poured all its strength into defense.

The first layer of vines was pierced straight through by the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd.

The armor-piercing effect erupted across the blade. The upright bone scales were torn to shreds like paper, and dark-purple fluid sprayed from the broken vines with a sizzling, corrosive hiss.

The second layer of defense was the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus's trump card. The mouth at the center of its flower opened as wide as it could, and from deep in its throat it spat out a black shield condensed from compressed fallen energy.

Countless twisted runes flowed across the shield's surface. Each rune frantically drew in the residual energy in the surrounding air, and the shield visibly grew thicker by the second.

The Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd slammed into the black shield.

"Boom—!"

A deafening crash erupted through the cave.

Lightning and black mist collided violently, bursting into a dazzling white light.

A shockwave spread outward in a ring, sweeping away all the black water remaining on the pond floor. Stalactites rained down from the cave walls.

The runes across the shield's surface began flashing frantically. Layer upon layer shattered in the lightning, dissolving into black specks of light.

Yet more runes kept surging out from within the shield, desperately filling the cracks being torn open.

The Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd's momentum was halted.

But before the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus could celebrate, a fresh impact suddenly struck.

The moment the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd stopped, Jiang Lin unfurled his Wind-Thunder Wings. In the next instant, he appeared in front of the halberd's shaft and threw a punch.

The force slammed into the shield, crushing the runes along with it.

By now, it realized it couldn't stop this attack.

The vines it had been saving for an ambush were all crushed as well. It had no strength left to counterattack anytime soon.

So it stopped defending.

Or rather, it chose a different way to defend itself: attack.