The Battle

Just as Hu Liena's consciousness was on the verge of being swallowed by darkness—

A bolt of blood-red lightning tore through the darkness of the cave without warning.

The light arrived too fast, so fast that the seven vines had no time to react.

Carrying an overbearing and peerless baleful aura, the thunderbolt shot in from the cave entrance, ionizing the air along its path into a blinding blue-white glow and emitting a crackling explosion.

Blood-red electric arcs danced and coiled across the surface of the lightning, illuminating the entire cave as if it were broad daylight.

It was a halberd.

Its body was pitch black, with three blood-colored patterns coiled around the shaft, writhing slowly like three living blood snakes.

The blade was asymmetrical; one side was a crescent-shaped arc, while the other featured jagged, saw-toothed fangs. A layer of dark red baleful aura lingered on the edge, so thick it seemed as if it might drip blood.

Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd.

Trailing a long wake of thunder, the halberd struck with pinpoint precision against the very vine that was about to pierce Hu Liena's heart.

"Boom—!"

The lightning exploded, and blood-red arcs scattered in a ring. The moment the vines made contact with the lightning, the Black Lotus let out a shrill, piercing shriek—not a sound a plant could make, but a scream that resonated on a soul level.

The black patterns on the vines crumbled inch by inch under the erosion of the thunder, emitting a pungent black smoke.

The vines binding Hu Liena were the first to loosen, recoiling back into the pond like snakes burned by fire.

Her body lost its support and slumped downward.

A hand caught her back firmly.

Her consciousness was already fading, and in the final moment before her eyes closed, she caught a glimpse of a figure wearing a ghost-face mask.

Jiang Lin looked at the unconscious Hu Liena in his arms; her face was delicate and possessed a natural allure.

She was not old; Jiang Lin estimated she was at most twelve or thirteen.

Glancing at the now-motionless pond ahead, Jiang Lin placed Hu Liena in a corner near the cave entrance before walking slowly toward the water.

After the failed ambush, the Black Lotus dared not act rashly.

No, it should be called—Immortal Grade: Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus!

Jiang Lin was certain that this immortal plant, having grown here for who knows how many years, possessed significant intelligence.

It was highly likely that it had already transformed into a Soul Beast.

For a spirit herb to transform into a Soul Beast, it must possess at least decent cultivation and sentience; otherwise, it would forever remain merely a treasure of heaven and earth.

Facing such an opponent for the first time, Jiang Lin could not help but steel himself with absolute focus.

Sensing Jiang Lin's approach, the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus, after a brief pause, instantly condensed seven more vines.

The vines surged forward from the pond with a roar.

Jiang Lin had been on high alert, so he was naturally not about to be caught by this sudden sneak attack.

"Second Soul Skill, Heavy Halberd Guard."

Jiang Lin's second soul skill was a purely defensive ability, forming a protective barrier composed of Blood Fiend Divine Thunder around his body while increasing his defense by 30%.

It was impossible for anything of the same level to break through it.

The vines lashed against the protective barrier, and instantly, the black patterns on them crumbled inch by inch under the erosion of the thunder, emitting a pungent black smoke.

However, the shattering of the vines this time did not cause as much of a reaction from the main body of the Black Lotus as it had before.

Still, judging by the slight trembling of its lotus petals, it was clearly still affected.

"Hmph, quite the endurance."

Jiang Lin let out a cold snort, having roughly gauged the opponent's strength.

Its power was above that of a Soul Ancestor, likely at the level of a newly ascended Soul King.

The next moment, the first and third soul rings on Jiang Lin's body flashed simultaneously.

First Soul Skill, Armor-Piercing Blood Light.

The effect was simple: it coated his martial soul in a layer of blood light, allowing his attacks to ignore 50% of the opponent's defense.

Third Soul Skill, Berserk Bear Fury.

Derived from a 9,300-year-old Blood-Armored Berserk Bear, its effect was to increase all attributes by 100%.

Under the augmentation of these three soul skills, Jiang Lin seized the moment and hurled his martial soul toward the main body of the Black Lotus.

"Hum—!"

The moment the halberd left his hand, the air was torn apart, creating a visible white shockwave.

The Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd trailed a long wake of thunder, the blood light and lightning on its blade intertwining to become a straight, blood-colored meteor, shooting toward the main body of the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus with incredible speed.

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

It hurriedly mobilized all the vines still capable of movement—roughly sixteen or seventeen of them—weaving them into a three-layered defensive net in front of itself.

It was obvious that those hidden vines had been prepared for a sneak attack once Jiang Lin got closer, but it never expected that Jiang Lin would simply throw his martial soul at it directly.

This Martial Soul isn't a javelin, is it? What kind of heavy halberd is used like that?

The reason it harbored such a thought was mainly because its intelligence had only just been born; to put it bluntly, it was dim-witted.

But understanding or not, every bone-like scale on its vines stood on end, the edges of the scales glowing with a dim purple light, clearly pouring all its power into defense.

The first layer of the vine defensive net was pierced directly by the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd.

The armor-piercing effect erupted on the halberd blade, tearing through those upright bone scales as if they were made of paper. Dark purple sap sprayed from the severed vines, emitting a sizzling, corrosive sound.

The second layer of the defensive net was the trump card barrier of the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus—the mouth at the center of its stamen opened to the limit, spitting out a black shield condensed from compressed corrupted power from the depths of its throat.

Countless twisted runes flowed across the surface of the shield, each one frantically draining the residual energy from the surrounding air, causing the thickness of the shield to increase at a speed visible to the naked eye.

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

"BOOM—!"

An earth-shattering roar exploded within the cavern.

Thunder and black mist collided violently, bursting forth with blinding white light.

The shockwave spread outward in a ring, blasting away all the remaining black water at the bottom of the pool, while the stalactites on the stone walls were shaken loose, raining down with a rustling sound.

The runes on the surface of the shield began to flicker frantically, layer after layer shattering in the thunderous light and dissipating into black specks.

But more runes surged continuously from within the shield, desperately filling the cracks being torn open.

The momentum of the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd was halted.

However, before the Soul-Devouring Evil Bone Lotus could rejoice, a new impact suddenly arrived.

Seeing that the Blood Fiend Divine Thunder Halberd had stopped, Jiang Lin instantly unfurled his Wind-Thunder Wings, appeared before the halberd shaft in the next second, and threw a punch.

The force was transmitted onto the shield, crushing even the runes upon it.

As things stood, it realized it could not block this strike.

The vines it had prepared for a sneak attack were all crushed, leaving it with no remaining strength to counterattack for the time being.

And so, it stopped defending.

Or rather, it chose a different way to defend: by attacking.