Chapter 99: Escape

A cry of searing pain rang out, and the power within Lin Hao’s thunder-bone surged upward with it. Eighth level of Spirit Gathering, ninth level of Spirit Gathering, half a step from Foundation Establishment—until at last, a terrifying force of thunder erupted from within him, and the thunder-bone in his body suddenly released an overwhelmingly mighty aura.

That aura was Foundation Establishment.

“This time, let Lin see how I... cut you down.” Feeling the incomparable strength of his own fleshly body, Lin Hao let out a wry, lingering laugh, still shaken by his narrow escape from death. Then killing intent gradually surfaced in his eyes, and with a flicker of his form, he shot away into the distance.

At the same time, outside the secret realm of Azure Lake, Zhong Ming, who had been seated in meditation, abruptly felt a sharp unease rise in his heart. After furrowing his brow and pondering for a moment, he seemed to find no answer. His lips moved slightly as he sent a message of some sort, and then he settled once more, no longer thinking on it.

Only Zhao Guangyuan, not far away, had a trace of brilliance imperceptibly flash through his eyes.

“Thunder Valley, Windwood Forest, Flame Lands, Snowfield... and another place that remains hard to discern...” Standing atop the black mountain above Thunder Valley, Lin Hao looked out in all directions with the gaze of one who had stepped into Foundation Establishment, and he more or less understood the general layout of this place. After a brief moment of thought, he drew his sword and flew toward the Snowfield.

Though fleshly Foundation Establishment could grant formidable strength, his cultivation had never truly reached Foundation Establishment, and thus could not support the consumption required for flight through the air. If he wished to fly, he still needed the art of sword control.

He chose the Snowfield because his senses told him that place seemed to contain some strange power. Another reason was his intuition: Fang Zhan was very likely there.

The Snowfield lay adjacent to Windwood Forest. Though they seemed close at a glance, to Lin Hao they were still in different directions. After flying for about three hours, the endless sight of snow began to fill his eyes.

Compared with the snowfield illusion he had seen before entering the secret realm, this place carried less of a sinister oddity and more of a biting chill. As the cold wind howled past his ears, Lin Hao, despite having reached fleshly Foundation Establishment, still faintly felt the sting of cold.

“A cultivator tempers both body and spirit; his perception is naturally extraordinary. Fang Zhan must be here.”

Looking at the boundless snow-covered land ahead, Lin Hao’s eyes flashed with coldness, and he stepped directly into it.

A glance revealed a world draped entirely in silver. Though the forested hills rose and fell in uneven layers, with jagged peaks standing from time to time, they were still buried beneath endless ice and snow, creating a beauty all its own. Rather than calling it a snowfield, it might better be called a field of snow-capped peaks. From afar it seemed vast and blank; up close, the mountains stood tall and erect, while frost and snow drifted and fell, lending those noble heights a fearless, defiant air, as though they stood proudly between heaven and earth.

Following the direction of his senses, Lin Hao soon saw a small lake. It was not as immense as Azure Lake, vast as the sea, but more like a great cold pond. Its waters were a deep ice-blue, and endless chill radiated from within, as if it were the source of the entire Snowfield.

At that moment, three figures stood there.

One of them wore black Daoist robes and had handsome features. Another had a gaze as deep as an abyss, impossible to fathom. And when Lin Hao clearly saw the third figure not far from them, a youth with a face like carved jade, his aura burst forth violently. The Heaven-Punishing Battle Blade appeared in his hand, and with a single step, he used the technique of shrinking the earth into an inch, vanishing and reappearing in an instant as he charged straight in!

Ever since entering the Snowfield, Lin Hao had not concealed his aura. Thus, when he erupted so suddenly, the three ahead of him naturally sensed it.

“Not good!!”

The noble youth with the jade-like face felt a fierce life-and-death danger surge in his heart at that explosive burst of aura. Turning abruptly, he saw a handsome figure with terrifying pressure all around him, carrying an eerie long blade as he slashed toward him out of nowhere.

“Not dead?”

Though Fang Zhan had faintly felt that strong crisis of life and death in his heart, he still did not believe Lin Hao could kill him. A light laugh escaped his lips, and killing intent flashed in his eyes. White light suddenly enveloped his body, and as a mighty, unparalleled aura erupted, a flawlessly translucent white jade longsword appeared in his hand.

All this sounded slow, yet it happened in the blink of an eye.

“Sword Fiend!” Fang Zhan gave a cold shout. The white jade longsword suddenly blazed with an incomparably fierce and scorching radiance, meeting Lin Hao’s Heaven-Punishing Blade in an instant.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion rang out, and a boundless storm suddenly rose from the place where they stood. The endless frost and snow in the area were swept up by the tempest and scattered everywhere. The two of them were driven back several steps.

“Fleshly Foundation Establishment... interesting...” The richly dressed man nearby looked at the two in the midst of battle, a trace of amusement barely flickering in the depths of his eyes as he murmured softly. On the other side, Ji Tianyao gave Lin Hao a thoughtful glance, as if he had already vaguely guessed something.

“Lin Hao, since you are not dead, hand over the weapon in your hand. What I said earlier still stands,” Fang Zhan said, gazing disdainfully at Lin Hao before him. His voice was calm, as though Lin Hao still amounted to nothing more than an ant in his eyes.

“Arrogant beyond reason.” Lin Hao gave a cold smile. Madness spread through his eyes as frost gathered over the Heaven-Punishing Blade, and endless chill condensed in an instant. The fierce blood and qi within his body surged as he took one step forward. As vast amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy poured into him, a second step landed, and with it rose a sky-shaking aura. Without pause, he used the Three Steps of the Immortal Spirit!

The instant a phantom force appeared around him, Lin Hao stepped out once more, and his figure suddenly appeared at Fang Zhan’s side.

“Comparable to instant movement? How is that possible!!” Fang Zhan’s eyes flashed with shock, and he hurriedly raised the white jade longsword to block. Their weapons met in an instant.

Crack!

A sharp, shattering sound rang out, and under Lin Hao’s full-force strike, the white jade longsword in Fang Zhan’s hand suddenly broke apart.

“Demonslaught!”

How could Lin Hao possibly give Fang Zhan a chance to breathe? With a surge of crazed and overbearing intent, the power of his flesh and blood roared forth. Using the second step of the Immortal Spirit technique, he closed in with a single punch.

Boom!!!

A monstrous impact exploded, and a storm carrying endless frost and snow suddenly swept out in all directions from where the two stood.

“No good!” Lin Hao’s heart sank when he saw the emerald-green light curtain suddenly appear before him. His face darkened, and he quickly leapt backward to widen the distance.

“You destroyed my protective treasure. Lin Hao, you truly make me look at you in a new light...” Fang Zhan’s expression was so dark it seemed water might drip from it. Looking at the shattered jade pendant in his hand, his eyes were full of coldness.

This jade pendant was something he had obtained by chance, capable of withstanding a full strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. By what right had Lin Hao survived his pursuit, let alone broken through into fleshly Foundation Establishment?

“Do you think that because your body has reached Foundation Establishment, you can kill Fang? Today I’ll show you... what a true prodigy is!” Fang Zhan’s expression was extremely ugly, as if he had suffered some great humiliation. He casually tossed aside the shattered jade pendant, and with killing intent flashing in his eyes, he spoke slowly and icily: “I’ll tell you this much without hesitation: both my body and my cultivation are at the ninth level of Spirit Gathering. I’ll let you see how I, at the ninth level of Spirit Gathering, cut you down!”

“Enough nonsense!” Lin Hao’s eyes flashed with killing intent. After putting away the Heaven-Punishing Blade, blood qi surged violently around him. With a single step, he again employed the technique of shrinking the earth into an inch and punched toward Fang Zhan!

As the direct second prodigy of the Fang family, Fang Zhan excelled in techniques and possessed formidable combat strength. Since entering the world of cultivation, Lin Hao had crossed realms again and again to slay his enemies, and in his heart, a sense of invincibility had long since taken root. Both men were proud by nature. Since Fang Zhan wished to kill him with the body and cultivation of the ninth level of Spirit Gathering, then Lin Hao would forgo the sharpness of the Heaven-Punishing Blade and fight him with his life on the line!

Let this prodigy of the Fang family in the Eastern Region learn to curb that arrogance!

Their battle intent rose fiercely, and the clash was imminent.

Lin Hao stepped forward. Massive amounts of heaven and earth spiritual energy poured into his body in an instant. With two light steps, the scene before his eyes shrank at once, and when his foot touched the ground, he appeared beside Fang Zhan! With the power of his flesh and blood surging violently, he drove a fist straight down at him.

“Frontline!” Fang Zhan looked at Lin Hao, who had suddenly appeared, and a ruthless light flashed in his eyes. White light erupted around him as he threw a punch to meet it.

A booming crash rang out, and the two figures were both driven back. Killing intent burst forth from their eyes with the utmost intensity as they charged at one another again.

“Demonslaught!”

Lin Hao’s voice came out somewhat hoarse. Madness and domineering force filled his body, and with the second step of the Immortal Spirit technique combined with shrinking the earth into an inch, he appeared once more before Fang Zhan and slammed a brutal punch straight toward his chest!

“Windward Step, Holy Flame!” Fang Zhan’s battle intent did not diminish in the slightest. The moment that strange footwork reappeared, he sidestepped the vital point of his chest and, with blazing light radiating from his hand, sent a fist crashing toward Lin Hao’s abdomen!

With two dull thuds, blood qi surged within both of them, and they each spat out a mouthful of blood.

“This man’s movement art is strange. Only that one move...” Fang Zhan raised his sleeve to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. Killing intent flickered in his eyes, and an unmatched sharpness erupted from within his body as he rushed toward Lin Hao.

“What is this...” Ji Tianyao, watching from the side, had his pupils suddenly contract. Beneath the sharp force radiating from Fang Zhan’s body, even he felt a chill creep over him. This method was precisely the famed technique of the Fang family: the Sword Seed!

The Fang family cultivated by taking the body as the Dao. Their martial techniques were exceptionally fierce, and this Sword Seed art was one of the family’s greatest secrets. The body’s blood and qi constantly nourished the sword seed, while all the power of cultivation was stored within it. Once the sword seed emerged, even ghosts and spirits would tremble in fear.

“Turning one’s foundation into a technique, taking the body alone as the root—only that band of madmen from the Fang family could have made something like this...” Yin Tiannan looked at Fang Zhan, who was killing toward Lin Hao in an instant, and a strange expression appeared in his eyes as he muttered to himself: “The art created by the Fang ancestor is indeed formidable, but it is a pity that you are the one who has cultivated it...”

At this moment, Lin Hao was also in grave peril. Though the detonation of the Immortal-Destroying Dao Seed within him had caused his recovery ability to skyrocket, and the injuries from before had already been repaired in a single breath, he still felt a fierce life-and-death crisis rise in his heart upon facing Fang Zhan.

In his senses, Fang Zhan seemed like a drawn sword, with boundless sharpness crashing down upon him from every direction. Red veins gradually spread in Lin Hao’s eyes, and the power of his thunder-bone surged abruptly. With the second step of the Immortal Spirit technique and a Demonslaught punch carrying unmatched overbearing force, he flashed once more with brilliant lightning and charged toward Fang Zhan.

At the place where the two fought, a blinding light burst forth with extreme intensity. Amid endless roaring explosions, a storm seemingly capable of tearing apart a ninth-level Spirit Gathering cultivator suddenly swept out in all directions.

Lin Hao spat out blood amid that storm, and countless gashes appeared across his body. Fang Zhan looked even more terrifying. The instant their fists met, his Frontline technique shattered abruptly, his clothes were in tatters, and he was sent flying far away like a broken kite. Large amounts of blood gushed from the pores of his body, and his aura instantly became weak and dim.

“So this is a prodigy?” Lin Hao suppressed the urge to cough blood, along with the excruciating pain of flesh being torn apart all over him, and his eyes did not lose a shred of coldness. As his hoarse voice slowly fell, the wounds on his body were actually recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“What astonishing recovery!” Ji Tianyao and Yin Tiannan both looked at Lin Hao’s rapidly healing body, and their hearts were equally shocked. In their view, only the most top-tier body-tempering arts of the Fang family could possibly achieve such recovery.

Crack...

Fang Zhan was not having an easy time either. After trading fists with Lin Hao, the sword seed he had nurtured for years was grievously damaged, and his fleshly technique collapsed outright. As he coughed out a mouthful of blood, his aura grew even weaker.

“You’ve toyed with Lin for so long. It is time for you to die.” Lin Hao looked coldly at Fang Zhan, whose aura was weak as a candle in the wind, and grinned. The Heaven-Punishing Blade reappeared in his hand as he stepped forward.

“I... I am a prodigy of the Fang family... I have a Nascent Soul protector... you... how dare you kill me?” Fang Zhan’s weak voice came haltingly. The final words were almost forced out with all his strength, hoarse and strained into a roar.

“Those who kill will themselves be killed!” Lin Hao looked at Fang Zhan, whose eyes were full of venom, and gave a cold laugh. Killing intent flashed in his heart, and the Heaven-Punishing Blade in his hand fell at once.

A clear metallic ring sounded.

An eerie, brilliant white light suddenly appeared around Fang Zhan, and Lin Hao’s Heaven-Punishing Blade came to a halt against it. When the light faded enough to see clearly again, Fang Zhan was already gone.

Lin Hao stared at the empty space before him, his expression grim. With his wits and Fang Zhan’s words combined, he naturally understood that it must have been the Nascent Soul cultivator who had just intervened and saved him.

“I’m still too weak...” Lin Hao gazed fixedly at the place where Fang Zhan had disappeared, and a silent sigh rose in his heart.

At that very moment, the entire world suddenly began to tremble.

The snow and wind over the Snowfield slowly dispersed, while a powerful, intense purple radiance suddenly burst from the cold pond. At the same time, in Thunder Valley, the Flame Lands, and the central region of this realm, all kinds of incomparably profound purple auras erupted in an extreme brilliance.

“Purple spiritual energy has appeared in the world. Gentlemen, farewell.”

Watching the sudden change in this place, Yin Tiannan’s eyes flashed with sharp brilliance. After speaking in a clear voice, he flew straight toward the place in the central region where that purple radiance had manifested.

“Brother Lin, I will leave the purple spiritual energy here to you. After this secret realm ends, I too shall depart. If you are free in the future, you must come to my Ji family for a visit.”