Ruthless Strike

Chapter 39: Ruthless Strike

"Whoosh!"

The sound of air being torn asunder rang out abruptly!

Suddenly, Chen Lin moved. The veins on his right arm bulged, and he lashed out with a violent swing!

The Yin Corpse's head whistled through the air as Chen Lin smashed it toward Jiang Yue, who was caught off guard at close range. At the same time, Chen Lin's figure exploded backward. Mid-retreat, he slapped his Storage Bag, and five streaks of Sword Qi instantly tore through the sky, trembling in the void!

Never having expected Chen Lin to resist, Jiang Yue was visibly stunned. However, he was a Demon Cultivator of the Sea Opening Realm for a reason; the moment Chen Lin retreated, he sensed something was wrong. He tilted his head, and the Yin Corpse's head flew past his cheek by a hair's breadth.

"Void Formation!"

Simultaneously, Chen Lin spat out the words with an expressionless face!

Among the five dharma swords, the strongest three-foot-long blade suddenly hummed and vibrated. Carrying an intent to slaughter all in its path, it shot out, piercing through clouds and moon, and in the blink of an eye, it struck toward the center of Jiang Yue's brow!

"How bold!"

Jiang Yue reacted with a furious roar. However, when he turned his head, he was met with a chilling streak of sword light!

The sword's howl was fierce, tearing the air apart!

Jiang Yue's pupils constricted, but he sneered coldly, showing no panic. His fingers moved, and invisible Sword Qi instantly condensed in his palm, ready to strike out. Yet, the next moment, the world in his eyes suddenly changed!

The Demon Prison, previously filled with gloomy Yin energy and ghostly mist, transformed in an instant into a vast volcano. Everywhere he looked, magma boiled and fire-stones shot into the sky—it was a hell of molten rock!

And he was standing right at the mouth of the erupting volcano!

"What is happening?!"

Jiang Yue's expression shifted.

At the same time, several streams of magma within the boiling crater hissed like meteors, erupting from the mouth of the volcano and roaring toward him!

Jiang Yue was struck with terror. He moved to fly into the air to dodge!

"Get down here!"

Chen Lin's eyes flashed, and he tossed the four small flags in his hand into the sky once more.

Top-grade dharma treasure, Immortal-Descending Formation Flags!

A binding force descended. Caught off guard, Jiang Yue plummeted, landing mere inches from the magma vent. Scared out of his wits, he could only roll away in a pathetic display to narrowly avoid the stream of magma!

But he had clearly forgotten about the sword light aimed at his brow!

It was only when the chilling sensation of Sword Qi piercing his skin struck him that his hair stood on end, and he only had time to tilt his head slightly.

Swish!

A two-foot-long wound appeared on his cheek, flesh and skin torn open and mangled! His already ugly face became even more hideous.

"You little bastard! I'll kill you!"

Jiang Yue stood up in a disheveled state, his eyes bloodshot and his aura erupting violently. Standing in the volcanic crater, he was consumed by rage, but he had realized that this magma hell was a fake!

"Illusion Formation!"

The boiling magma, the blood-red tongues of fire—though everything looked authentic, there was no sensation of heat, only the gloomy, bone-chilling cold of Yin energy.

In an instant, Jiang Yue understood that this was an extremely sophisticated Illusion Formation, one that was nearly indistinguishable from reality!

Yet, even with this realization, Jiang Yue's expression remained incredibly ugly and his heart trembled. The magma hell was so vivid that even knowing it was fake, he couldn't help but try to dodge. Meanwhile, an invisible, chilling sword light always struck at him the moment he moved, its movements bizarre and impossible to distinguish from reality, leaving him in a state of utter disarray!

"You little bastard! Do you think you can kill me with this? You're too naive!"

Jiang Yue dodged left and right in a sorry state, his anger burning. He hissed, "This Illusion Formation is powerful, but it must be an effect triggered by some dharma treasure. You are merely in the early stage of the Xiantian Realm; your internal spiritual energy is limited and surely cannot last long. Once I get out, I will dismantle your lowly dog bones one by one to satisfy my hatred!"

Chen Lin remained expressionless, watching Jiang Yue struggle and dodge in place, a flash of mockery in his eyes.

Trying to exhaust my spiritual energy?

Chen Lin sneered inwardly. The Dao Heaven technique he cultivated was mysterious and powerful; after several major battles, his internal spiritual energy was nowhere near exhaustion. Jiang Yue's wishful thinking was all for naught!

Of the five dharma swords, the four sub-blades maintained the Illusion Formation, while the mother-blade focused on slaughter. Although Jiang Yue was temporarily trapped, Chen Lin clearly did not believe these means alone could destroy a Demon Cultivator of the Sea Opening Realm.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, Chen Lin let out a low growl. His body transformed into its true form, two demonic horns burning with raging flames. His pupils flashed with red light, the Yin and Yang meridians within him vibrated violently, and the Source Blood seed spun incessantly, driving his spiritual energy to the limit!

Finally, Chen Lin held nothing back, fighting with all his might!

His entire body swelled strangely. Behind him, a pair of fleshy wings suddenly manifested with a blood-red light like crimson flames, snapping open with a thwack. Reflecting the two scythes of death in Chen Lin's hands, he looked like an ancient demon god descending!

"Rumble~!!"

With a violent flap of his wings, he unleashed the Thunder Flash Step and vanished from his spot. Only after he had moved did the thunderous sonic boom follow his trajectory, echoing and reverberating through the air!

Dragons roared and elephants trumpeted, thunder rolling in his wake!

"What a powerful physical body!"

Not far away, Situ Kong and the others, who had been watching in a daze, revealed looks of shock. Liu Han's hair stood on end, his face turning pale. He felt a sense of relief that he hadn't truly fought Chen Lin earlier; otherwise, the true threat of this Chen Lin was likely far beyond that of the Yin Corpse!

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a shrill, miserable scream rang out!

Chen Lin's eyes glowed with a scarlet, chillingly predatory light. His cold scythe of death tore through a woman's chest with the force of a falling mountain, piercing the body of the other woman beside Jiang Yue—the one who was not Lan Xin!

As it turned out, Chen Lin intended to slaughter everyone around Jiang Yue first, so that he could focus his undivided attention on Jiang Yue himself.

The beautiful woman spat out a mouthful of blood, her delicate body trembling. She only had time to lower her head slightly to look at the grim, dark scythe protruding from her chest, her eyes filled with disbelief and despair.

Innate Divine Ability: Blood Absorption Healing!

Chen Lin felt not a shred of pity for her beauty. Wisps of blood-red light coiled densely around the scythe, and the woman let out another shrill, harrowing scream. Her skin withered at a rate visible to the naked eye, and the blood within her body was rapidly drained into Chen Lin as if he were a sponge soaking up water.

Thud!

He tossed the corpse—now nothing more than skin and bone, looking like a body left to bake in the sun for months—casually onto the ground. The corpse instantly shifted from its human form back to its true form: a massive Demon Rabbit with short teeth, a long snout, and a grotesque appearance.

Seeing this hair-raising, gruesome method of death, everyone present turned pale, their eyes filled with shock and terror.

Chen Lin glanced indifferently at the demon corpse, then fixed his bloodthirsty, ruthless gaze once more upon the other woman, Lan Xin!

Everything happened with lightning speed. Jiang Yue, still trapped within the Illusion Formation, heard the woman's scream and realized in an instant that one of his two female companions had already fallen victim to Chen Lin's cruel hand.

"Damn you! You little bastard, I will make you wish you were dead!"

Jiang Yue was utterly enraged, his eyes burning red. He never imagined that he would suffer such a heavy loss at the hands of an ant as lowly as a blade of grass. That Chen Lin had slaughtered his companion right under his nose was, to him, an unbearable humiliation.

Chen Lin remained expressionless, turning a deaf ear to Jiang Yue's threats. Instead, he moved, lunging toward the woman named Lan Xin not far away.

Lan Xin's face was deathly pale, her lips trembling. As she looked at the terrifying, discarded corpse nearby and saw Chen Lin's cold, merciless eyes locked onto her as he charged, her entire body shuddered, and immense fear flashed in her eyes.

She had originally assumed that with Jiang Yue's cultivation, he could toy with Chen Lin in the palm of his hand, but the current situation clearly subverted her expectations.

Swish!

In her panic, she gritted her teeth, a look of venomous cruelty crossing her face. Knowing that if she didn't fight for her life now, she would surely meet the same miserable end, she let out a sharp cry and revealed her true form!

It was a massive Crimson Flame Bat. Its wings were a vibrant, blood-red, and two sharp claws extended eerily from its abdomen.

The Crimson Flame Bat tilted its head back in a silent, piercing screech and flapped its wings violently. Red flames surged, and a scorching, suffocating wave of heat rushed toward Chen Lin.

Unexpectedly, Chen Lin did not dodge as he charged; his entire figure was instantly engulfed by the flames.

Seeing Chen Lin wrapped in fire, the Crimson Flame Bat's small, vicious eyes flickered with a human-like surprise.

"Hmph, mere parlor tricks!"

Chen Lin sneered. His physical body, tempered by the Essence of Li Fire, was incredibly formidable; ordinary flames could not harm him in the slightest.

Standing amidst the crimson fire, Chen Lin looked like a demon god stepping out of hell, as steady as a mountain, riding through the sea of flames without moving an inch.

The Crimson Flame Bat panicked completely. Her most prized innate divine ability was useless against Chen Lin, and trapped beneath the Immortal-Descending Formation Flags, she had nowhere to run!

"Senior Brother Jiang Yue! Save me!"

Seeing Chen Lin's bloodthirsty, icy gaze locked onto her as he sprinted toward her like a bolt of lightning, Junior Sister Lan Xin's eyes filled with despair, and she shrieked for help.

"Stop! You little bastard! If you touch a single hair on her, I will make you regret ever being born!"