Who's the Dog?

'We can't let this drag on any longer.'

The scarred, burly man gathered the Magic Power in his body into his feet, stamped the ground to pieces, and charged at Lin Yu with the speed of a thunderclap.

'Do you think you can get away?' Chen Beiwu changed his hand seal.

Sensing the fluctuations of the surrounding spiritual energy, the burly man grinned viciously and suddenly crushed the Tiger Seal at his waist.

"Roar!"

A furious tiger's roar that shattered wind and clouds rang out. Visible shock waves tore through the mist in the dense forest, revealing Chen Beiwu and Iron Egg.

"Die!"

Seizing this moment of paralysis, crimson blood energy surged around the burly man as he charged at Chen Beiwu with overwhelming force.

Chen Beiwu did not retreat. The hand seals in his hands flew rapidly.

He had lain in wait for several minutes before acting not to watch a live sex show, but to finish setting up the Formation Arts.

"Tide Array, rise." Chen Beiwu planted his feet at the Kan Water Position and unleashed the Tide Array.

The Tide Array had originally been called the Mist-Congealing Tide-Returning Array. It could harness the rise and fall of river tides to gather the water-element spiritual energy permeating the world, briefly enhancing the combat strength of water-element Companion Beasts. It was a low-grade array.

Because the boost lasted for only three seconds, the Formation Arts teacher at Shouhe No. 2 Middle School had once jokingly called it the "humidifier array" in class, saying it could be useful when the house was dry. Chen Beiwu did not agree.

Every Formation Art in the world had its use. It all depended on how the array-user applied it.

Using the Mist-Congealing Tide-Returning Array simply to boost a Companion Beast's combat strength was indeed useless, but using it to increase the burst power of a water-element Spell Art would produce a completely different result.

To confirm his hunch, Chen Beiwu had spent several days improving the Mist-Congealing Tide-Returning Array into the Tide Array.

"Tide Array: Instant Slash!"

Chen Beiwu took out a Water Blade Talisman. As he injected Magic Power to activate the Talisman, he channeled all the force drawn up by the Tide Array into boosting the Talisman's power.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Countless azure threads, fine as hairs, shot into the air. They wove together into a net, then in the blink of an eye condensed into a razor-sharp water blade that sliced everything in its path in half.

'That power... I can't block it!'

Watching helplessly as the soaring water blade cut through his shield Artifact and Protective Talisman, terror appeared in the burly man's eyes.

"Impossible. We're clearly at the same cultivation level!"

As a line of blood appeared, the burly man's life came to an end. His body abruptly split in two and fell to the ground.

Perhaps he had died too quickly; his eyes were still filled with unwillingness and confusion.

'There's something off about the power of this Spell Art.' Chen Beiwu's expression shifted slightly.

He did not know whether it was because of the boost from the spiritual energy of the world, but the Spell Arts he cast in this world were astonishingly powerful. He could even kill a Seventh Layer of Qi Refining cultivator in an instant.

Seeing this terrifying scene, Lin Yu stood frozen in place, a trace of regret welling up inside her.

How was this possible!

It wasn't as if she had never ambushed Late Qi Refining cultivators before.

Under normal circumstances, even if Zhong Shan, at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, were no match for his opponent, he could still hold out for dozens of breaths with the Talismans and Artifacts on him.

She only needed four breaths to conceal her aura and activate the power of the Soul-Seizing Nail, then carry out her ambush from the side.

When facing Qi Refining cultivators whose lust had gone to their heads and who wanted to play the hero and save a beauty, she could even use her looks to ambush them without a sound.

It was no exaggeration to say that at least five Late Qi Refining cultivators had died at her hands.

But in a head-on fight, she could not even beat Tong Yu, at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, let alone Zhong Shan, at the Seventh Layer.

"&...@." (Please spare my life, senior.) Lin Yu dropped her Hairpin Artifact and pressed her forehead to the ground.

To be safe, Chen Beiwu flicked his fingertips. Two jets of water shot out and easily severed both of Lin Yu's arms.

As blood spurted out, she shuddered and struck her head against the ground, hiding the venom in her eyes.

"Woof."

Iron Egg growled softly and stood in front of Chen Beiwu to keep watch.

"Hand over the Spirit Stones, Artifacts, and Talismans on you." Chen Beiwu used Divine Sense to communicate.

At this, Lin Yu bit through her undergarment without hesitation and took out the Storage Bag hidden against her chest.

Chen Beiwu: "Bring theirs over too."

Lin Yu circulated Magic Power to stanch the bleeding and struggled to her feet. With her foot, she fished a Storage Bag out of Tong Yu's crotch and another from beneath Zhong Shan's shoe.

"Good." Chen Beiwu looked at her impassively. "Do you want to live?"

Lin Yu nodded quickly, surprise flashing in her eyes.

She had thought she was sure to die, but she had not expected to get a chance to live.

"Please spare my life, senior," she conveyed with a thought.

A Jade Slip suddenly fell in front of Lin Yu.

"Use your Divine Sense to record your language and writing system in the Jade Slip. If the information is sufficiently detailed and complete, I won't kill you."

Lin Yu was stunned.

She had considered many possibilities. Maybe Chen Beiwu was mute, or perhaps he had never spoken because of the cultivation method he practiced, and could only communicate with Divine Sense.

She had never expected that he might actually be illiterate.

How unbelievable. An illiterate person could never have come from one of the Five Great Sects. Could he be a cultivator from the outer realms?

"Is there a problem?" Chen Beiwu's gaze sharpened.

"Woof, woof!" Iron Egg barked twice, urging her on.

Lin Yu quickly knelt and pressed her forehead against the Jade Slip.

After a long while, she cautiously raised her head.

"Senior, it's done."

Chen Beiwu crouched down and picked up the Jade Slip, giving it a cursory check under Lin Yu's expectant gaze.

"You can go."

Hearing this, Lin Yu immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

She had finally survived!

She had thought she was certain to die today, and could only blood-sacrifice the Soul-Seizing Nail before her death to try to trade her life for another.

She carefully took a few steps. Once she confirmed Chen Beiwu was not following her, Lin Yu quickly picked up her pace.

Watching her figure about to vanish in the distance, Chen Beiwu looked at Iron Egg.

Iron Egg understood. It planted its feet on the ground and spat out flames.

After a week of cultivation, it had not managed to master Blazing Flame Pull, but it had successfully gleaned a set of offensive Spell Arts of its own from it.

"Rumble!"

As a deafening roar rang out, a menacing Flame Hound suddenly blocked Lin Yu's path.

"You broke your promise!" Her pupils contracted, and she regretted it so much she could have kicked herself.

Damn it, she should never have trusted an enemy's promise.

"Soul-Sealing Art!"

At the critical moment, Lin Yu spat out Essence Blood and summoned the Soul-Seizing Nail she had been building up for a long time. One strike shattered the Flame Hound blocking her way, but she could not stop the Flame Pillar sealing off her escape route behind her.

"Rumble!"

Watching the billowing smoke in the distance, Chen Beiwu rubbed Iron Egg's head and sighed. "I said I wouldn't kill her, but you dared to disobey me and attack. You blockhead, you really deserve a punishment."

At this, Iron Egg's eyes widened. For a moment, it could not tell who the real dog was.

It got up and barked furiously, cursing up a storm.

"How about this? Illusion Weasel Wolf meat is poisonous, so I'll punish you by making you eat a big piece."

As soon as Chen Beiwu finished speaking, Iron Egg stopped barking.

If it got to eat Variant Beast meat, then maybe carrying the blame wasn't so bad after all.

"A big, meaty bone-in hunk," Chen Beiwu added.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Iron Egg grinned and leaped high into the air.

That's right, it was the one who killed her!

Nobody had told it to do it.

(End of chapter)