Spiritual Harvest

They had been discovered!

That was the first thought that flashed through Yu Chong and the others' minds.

Their faces turned paper-white in an instant, without the slightest trace of blood.

Two of them even went weak in the knees and fell to the ground with a thud, kowtowing desperately toward the Black Banner, their heads pounding like garlic in a mortar. "Immortal master, spare us! Spare us! We were only being chased by monsters, and in our panic we lost our way and accidentally trespassed here..."

But the Black Banner stood silently in place, without the slightest reaction.

Yu Chong and the others looked at one another, shocked and uncertain.

Just then—

Roar!

A heart-stopping howl came from behind them. Those few monsters had already chased them close, and at the same time, the ground began to tremble faintly.

Clearly, even more monsters underground were swarming over.

A cold glint flashed in Yu Chong's eyes. He suddenly unleashed the Demonic Ape Dragon-Capturing Hand, seized a gang member beside him who was at the sixth level of Body Tempering, and without the slightest hesitation hurled him viciously toward the Black Banner!

"You go scout the way!"

That gang member was horrified to the point his soul nearly fled his body, cursing Yu Chong's shamelessness in his heart, but he could only desperately drive the qi and blood throughout his body, trying to protect himself.

The instant he was about to crash into the Black Banner, a sudden change erupted.

The Black Banner, which had been standing motionless, abruptly spread out a dense black light. Billowing black smoke surged forth like living tentacles, instantly coiling around the man.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

A terrifying sound of corrosion immediately rang out.

The man's body seemed to have been thrown into strong acid. His flesh and blood rapidly dissolved, revealing stark white bones.

A shriek so miserable it tore through the forest's silence rang out. In just a few breaths, the man and his bones were completely melted away, entirely absorbed by that eerie Black Banner.

Yu Chong and the others' faces were bloodless, their livers and gallbladders chilled through.

Even Lu Lin, who was hiding in a large tree not far away, watched with a dark expression.

So it really was death for anyone who left without permission...

He immediately thought of those people who had been killed before—their blood seeping into the ground and being absorbed, the essence, energy, and spirit in their mangled corpses being devoured...

What connection was there between the two?

"Go!"

Yu Chong gritted his teeth and growled, turning to leave with the remaining people.

But at that moment, a large number of monsters had already closed in.

Bang, bang, bang!

The ground exploded one after another, earth flying everywhere. More monsters burst out from underground, their scarlet long tongues like venomous snakes leaving their holes, either stabbing or coiling as they frenziedly attacked Yu Chong and the others.

Among the monsters that appeared this time, a few were especially massive, reaching seven or eight meters in length. Their strength was terrifying; with a single collision, they could easily snap trees as thick as bowls and send man-high boulders flying.

The few monsters that had been chasing them earlier also pressed in at the same time and joined the battle.

In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded layer upon layer, three rings inside and three rings outside.

Yu Chong and the others fought desperately with all their might, yet they still found it difficult to break out of the encirclement.

Screams rang out from time to time.

Soon, another two gang members lost their lives, leaving only Yu Chong and three other martial cultivators above the seventh level of Body Tempering struggling bitterly to hold on.

At the same time Yu Chong and the others were being forced into a dead end, Lu Lin also came under attack.

Below the large tree where he was hiding, a monster six or seven meters long suddenly sprang out. Its sharp claws sank deep into the trunk, and it actually climbed upward along the tree at high speed.

Before it even got close, its scarlet long tongue was already like an arrow loosed from the string, shooting straight toward Lu Lin's face with a terrifying shriek through the air.

"Its senses are actually this sharp?"

Lu Lin's brows furrowed slightly.

He had already circulated the Breath Concealment Art with all his strength, hiding his qi and blood and sealing his pores. He was confident that anyone below the Foundation Establishment Realm would have no chance of seeing through his cultivation, yet this monster had accurately discovered him.

"I chose to hide because I didn't want to invite trouble, not because I'm weak and easy to bully... Do you really take me for a soft persimmon?"

A cold glint flashed in Lu Lin's eyes. With a flip of his palm, a dagger gleaming with cold light was already in his hand—the spoils he had obtained from that Goatee Steward.

Swish!

A cold gleam suddenly appeared!

With a pfft, a section of scarlet tongue flew off in response!

"So sharp?" Lu Lin himself was somewhat surprised.

This monster's tongue was extraordinarily tough. Earlier, that martial artist at the fifth level of Body Tempering had found it difficult to damage it in the slightest even with full-force chops, yet now it had been easily severed by this dagger.

This was naturally partly because his own qi and blood were abundant and his explosive force fierce, but the dagger's sharpness had also far exceeded his expectations.

"As expected, it's good stuff!"

Lu Lin gripped the dagger in a reverse hold, sprang down from the tree, and leaped. His qi and blood surged, pouring entirely into his arms, then spilled out through the dagger's edge as he slashed downward with all his strength!

Pfft!

Pitch-black, foul-smelling blood splattered everywhere.

The monster's throat was severed in an instant, its entire head left hanging by little more than a layer of skin and flesh. Its body went rigid, then dropped weakly from the tree trunk and slammed heavily into the ground, kicking up fallen leaves all over.

Lu Lin's figure plummeted like a sparrowhawk. When he was still several meters from the ground, the tips of his toes tapped hard against the tree trunk, borrowing the force to shift several meters sideways before landing lightly.

Bang! Bang!

He had only just set foot down when the ground beside him exploded open again, and two more monsters roared as they lunged out to kill him!

Lu Lin moved with the agile grace of a cat, swiftly avoiding their pounces. Then his legs suddenly exerted force, and he charged straight at one of the monsters.

The dagger sliced through the air, bringing with it a cold, startling streak like a swan flashing past.

Pfft!

A huge head shot into the sky, then rolled more than ten meters away.

Almost at the same time, he twisted at the waist, shifting sideways to avoid the sneak attack of another venomous tongue. With a shift of his steps, he closed in on the second monster in an instant; his hand rose and his blade fell, and he dispatched it cleanly once more.

Hm?

Just then, Lu Lin felt the Martial Dao Melting Furnace inside him give a faint tremor.

He was all too familiar with this sensation...

There was spiritual energy nearby!

And the source... seemed to be these monsters.

He quickly pressed his palm to one monster's corpse and sensed it carefully. Then his dagger fell with precision, picking out a milky-white chunk of flesh from within.

[Low-grade spiritual energy discovered. Can be exchanged for one year of bitter cultivation. Exchange?]

One year of bitter cultivation!

Equivalent to twelve Inferior Spirit Stones, or one standard Low-grade Spirit Stone.

"Exchange. Of course exchange."

Lu Lin did not hesitate in the slightest.

At once, a surge of energy poured into his sea of consciousness, and his immortal cultivation time gained one more year.

"Brother! Brother! Please, save us! I, Yu Chong, will definitely repay you handsomely! Definitely repay you..."

Not far away, Yu Chong, who had long since noticed Lu Lin, shouted himself hoarse.

Seeing Lu Lin cut down several fierce monsters so easily, he knew full well that the other man's strength was unfathomable. At this moment, Lu Lin was already the only hope left in their desperate straits.

They were already spent arrows at the end of their flight. Another person had died, leaving only three still struggling.

The "Black Demon Battle Armor" on their bodies had long since been torn apart. Every one of them was wounded, their flesh and blood mangled, danger springing up at every turn. At any moment, they could become dead souls beneath the monsters' jaws.

If this continued, death was certain.

If Lu Lin was willing to act, they might still have a thread of life.

"Save you?"

Lu Lin lifted his eyes and looked over, his gaze indifferent, the corner of his mouth curving into an icy arc.

Not long ago, these people had still tried to threaten him into becoming cannon fodder to scout the way. Now that they were trapped in a deathtrap, they expected him to step in and save them?

Far too naive.

It was nothing more than trying any doctor when the illness turned desperate.

He casually took care of another monster that lunged at him, then stopped moving. He merely stood where he was, watching coldly from the sidelines.