From the distance between them, Mo Tou could clearly sense the terrifying density of the Qi-Blood contained within Lin Sheng's body. It was so heavily compressed that it had almost begun to materialise, forming an invisible pressure that distorted the surrounding air, and even without deliberately releasing his aura, Lin Sheng's physique gave Mo Tou the impression that he was standing before an ancient beast.
'What a monstrous physique!'
Mo Tou's eyes narrowed as he carefully examined his opponent.
'Could he be a transformed yao beast?'
The thought only lasted for an instant before he dismissed it.
'No. A yao beast must reach at least Rank 5 before it can transform into human form. This fellow is clearly at the Rank 4 level.
His expression gradually darkened.
Could my capture of that fellow with the dragon bloodline have alerted the Great Yao Clans?'
He remembered the cultivator he had previously captured, whose bloodline had possessed an unusual dragon characteristic. Although he had concealed his tracks, it was possible that some powerful yao faction had discovered what happened and sent someone to investigate.
However, Mo Tou quickly abandoned the thought.
'It doesn't matter. I'll simply kill him and leave this place'
His eyes became cold.
The demonic aura surrounding his body suddenly began to condense, the purple radiance that had previously enveloped him gradually turning crimson. His aura grew increasingly concentrated, and the spiritual energy in the surrounding air began flowing towards him as though drawn by an invisible force.
Lin Sheng observed the transformation without moving.
From his perception, Mo Tou seemed to have activated some kind of auxiliary method, one that was rapidly increasing his combat strength by compressing and strengthening his demonic aura. The fluctuations were unusual, and although Lin Sheng couldn't immediately determine the exact nature of the technique, he could tell that his opponent was preparing something considerably more troublesome than an ordinary spell.
His mental perception briefly swept across the surrounding forest.
Lou Han and the others had already arrived.
They had quickly picked up the unconscious Lin Yan, and Lin Sheng immediately transmitted his voice to them, instructing them to leave the area without hesitation and take her somewhere safe.
Lou Han glanced towards Lin Sheng, but he didn't waste time asking questions. He understood that the situation was far more dangerous than it appeared, and with Lin Xiaolu and the others assisting him, they immediately retreated towards the distance.
Only after confirming that they had disappeared from his immediate perception did Lin Sheng return his attention to Mo Tou.
Those few breaths had been enough for him to make several preparations.
Unfortunately, Mo Tou had also finished preparing his technique.
The crimson aura around his body suddenly glittered.
The instant Lin Sheng sensed the change, the surrounding world disappeared beneath an enormous wave of mist.
BOOOOM!
A thick, dark mist erupted in every direction, rapidly spreading across the wilderness until even the sky above was completely concealed. Trees, rocks, and the distant mountains vanished from Lin Sheng's sight, leaving him standing within an endless sea of greyish darkness.
His eyes narrowed.
"Divine Ability."
He immediately spread his mental perception.
But the moment it entered the mist, he felt an unusual resistance, as though countless invisible hands were pulling at his consciousness and attempting to drag it into the darkness.
Then came the whispers.
They were faint at first, resembling the murmuring of people speaking quietly in a distant room, but their numbers rapidly increased until they seemed to surround him from every direction.
Some sounded like men, others resembled women. A few were so distorted that they barely resembled human voices.
Lin Sheng recognised the nature of the fluctuations.
Yin spectral energy.
His expression remained calm, but his senses became considerably more alert.
SHING!
A cold flash suddenly emerged from the mist.
A gigantic scythe materialised directly before him, its blade carrying a dense concentration of Yin Qi as it swept towards his neck.
Lin Sheng's body shifted.
The scythe passed within inches of his shoulder, cutting through the air with a chilling whistle before disappearing into the darkness.
Before he could turn around, countless semi-materialised figures emerged from the mist.
They were ghosts.
Their bodies were translucent, their appearances twisted and distorted, and each one carried an enormous concentration of Yin spectral energy. Some possessed the vague outlines of human beings, while others had elongated limbs, distorted faces, or bodies that seemed to be held together by nothing more than the darkness surrounding them.
There were far too many to count.
More importantly, their auras were not weak.
Among them were Rank 3 ghosts, but there were also several Rank 4 Vicious Souls whose bodies had already become nearly materialised. Their spectral forms possessed a terrifying density, and every movement released waves of Yin Qi that caused the surrounding mist to churn violently.
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed.
'So this is his method'
He immediately understood what Mo Tou intended.
Body cultivators were notoriously disadvantaged when dealing with spiritual attacks. Their bodies were powerful, their Qi-Blood was vigorous, and their physical strength could overwhelm opponents of similar cultivation, but their spiritual awareness and spiritual defences were generally weaker than those of cultivators who specialised in refining the spirit.
Yin ghosts were particularly troublesome opponents.
The conventional method of dealing with them was to release powerful Qi-Blood, using its immense vitality to suppress, dilute, and dissipate the Yin Qi sustaining their spectral bodies. Once the Yin energy was sufficiently weakened, the ghosts would lose their materialisation and become incapable of maintaining their physical forms.
However, this method came with an obvious disadvantage.
It consumed enormous quantities of Qi-Blood.
Against one or two ghosts, an external martial artist could easily overwhelm them, but against an entire army containing Rank 3 and Rank 4 ghosts, the expenditure would become considerable. Even a powerful practitioner could find their combat strength severely diminished after continuously releasing Qi-Blood to destroy them.
And that was precisely what Mo Tou wanted.
Lin Sheng could feel the mist suppressing his mental perception, making it increasingly difficult to determine the precise positions of the ghosts. The whispers also seemed to contain a spiritual influence, attempting to disturb his consciousness while the spectral creatures attacked from every direction.
'This Divine Ability is meant to exhaust its opponent'
He understood that the mist and the ghosts were not independent techniques. They complemented one another, the mist restricted perception, the whispers disturbed the spirit, and the spectral army forced the opponent to continuously expend energy defending themselves.
It was an exceptionally troublesome combination.
Meanwhile, outside the mist, Mo Tou hovered in the air, observing the enormous domain he had created.
Although his expression appeared calm, he was actually rather annoyed.
To force him into using his combined Divine Abilities against a single opponent was already an unpleasant development.
A Golden Core cultivator normally possessed five Divine Abilities, although the number of abilities a person could comprehend and the number they could effectively unleash in battle were two different matters. Most cultivators preferred to activate one or two at a time because Divine Abilities consumed considerable quantities of Golden Core magic power, and attempting to maintain several simultaneously could rapidly exhaust their reserves.
Naturally, certain powerful factions possessed inheritances that allowed their disciples to combine multiple Divine Abilities while reducing the burden on their Golden Cores. Such methods were extremely valuable, and even among Golden Core cultivators, not everyone had access to them.
Mo Tou was currently relying on precisely such an inheritance.
The combination of his Yin Mist and Spectral Army Divine Abilities had created an enormous killing field, and with the auxiliary method he had activated earlier, he could maintain the combined technique for considerably longer than an ordinary cultivator.
He stared at the mist.
That beast should be exhausted by now.
Several breaths passed.
Then several more.
Mo Tou frowned.
Something was wrong.
He had expected the Qi-Blood fluctuations within the mist to weaken considerably, yet the spectral army seemed to be disappearing at an astonishing rate.
Before he could investigate, a sudden disturbance erupted within his Golden Core.
WENG!
His expression changed.
A violent wave of spiritual energy surged through his Purple Palace, and the connection between his consciousness and the Divine Abilities became unstable.
The mist trembled.
The whispers abruptly stopped.
Then the entire spectral domain collapsed.
BOOOOM!
The surrounding darkness dispersed, revealing the wilderness once more.
A figure stood several metres away from Mo Tou.
Lin Sheng.
His expression was calm, although his breathing was slightly heavier than before. A faint golden radiance surrounded his body, and the immense Qi-Blood pressure that had previously been contained within him was still spreading through the air.
Mo Tou stared at him.
Black blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"You destroyed all my spectres!"
His voice was filled with disbelief and anger.
Lin Sheng smiled faintly.
He hadn't used any particularly complicated technique.
He had simply released the strengthened Qi-Blood Furnace within his body.
Normally, when activated internally, the Qi-Blood Furnace circulated its enormous reserves throughout his physique, providing an extraordinary increase in physical strength, defensive ability, and recovery. It was one of the most important foundations of his Rank 4 Golden Body, and when used in that manner, the benefits were considerably greater than what an ordinary external martial artist could achieve.
However, Lin Sheng had chosen to release its power outwards.
The moment the furnace erupted, an enormous quantity of concentrated Qi-Blood surged in every direction, spreading through the mist like a raging ocean of vitality. The Rank 3 ghosts were immediately overwhelmed, their spectral bodies dissolving beneath the terrifying pressure, while even the Rank 4 Vicious Souls struggled to maintain their forms.
The entire spectral army had been swept away.
Naturally, there was a price.
Releasing the Qi-Blood Furnace outwards was considerably less efficient than circulating its power internally, and the enormous expenditure had left Lin Sheng somewhat drained. His Qi-Blood reserves had not been completely exhausted, but he had certainly consumed a substantial portion of them.
Still, compared to allowing Mo Tou to continue draining his strength, it had been the more efficient choice.
Lin Sheng didn't give his opponent time to recover.
His brows glowed.
A brilliant five-coloured radiance suddenly emerged, transforming into an enormous stream of Five Elements Profound Light that swept towards Mo Tou. At almost the same moment, a beautiful butterfly formed from rainbow-coloured light appeared above Lin Sheng's forehead, its wings gently fluttering as it released an invisible spiritual fluctuation.
The Rainbow Illusion Butterfly.
Both Divine Abilities were unleashed together.
Mo Tou's expression changed.
He immediately retrieved a talisman from his storage ring, and the moment spiritual energy entered it, a sinister gust of Yin Wind began gathering around his hand. The talisman was intended to release a concentrated Yin Wind capable of penetrating the body and destabilising its physical foundation, a particularly troublesome method against external martial artists.
However, before he could activate it completely, the Five Elements Profound Light swept across the talisman.
WENG!
The talisman trembled.
Its runes flickered violently as the five-coloured radiance passed over its surface, and the spiritual energy contained within it rapidly dispersed. In less than an instant, the once-brilliant runes became dim and disordered, leaving the talisman defective.
Mo Tou's expression changed drastically.
But the Rainbow Illusion Butterfly had already reached him.
Its rainbow-coloured wings fluttered once.
Countless strands of spiritual light shot towards his head, carrying a strange fluctuation that seemed to bypass the physical body and strike directly at the spirit.
Mo Tou reacted almost immediately.
A faint brilliance appeared around his forehead.
BOOM!
The rainbow light collided with an invisible defensive force.
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed.
The attack had been destroyed.
Not merely weakened or deflected, but completely neutralised before it could penetrate Mo Tou's spiritual defences.
Interesting.
He could clearly sense that Mo Tou possessed something capable of defending against spiritual attacks, and judging from the strength of the resistance, it was unlikely to be an ordinary defensive treasure.
It might be a specialised spiritual treasure.
Alternatively, Mo Tou could possess another Divine Ability with similar defensive properties.
Either possibility made him considerably more troublesome.
Mo Tou finally steadied himself, his expression becoming increasingly sinister as he stared at Lin Sheng.
Both of them had expended a considerable amount of power, yet neither had reached the point of complete exhaustion. Lin Sheng still possessed his terrifying physique and the remaining reserves of his Qi-Blood Furnace, while Mo Tou had several Divine Abilities, talismans, and unknown treasures at his disposal.
Neither side had run out of methods.
For several breaths, the two simply watched one another.
Then Mo Tou suddenly opened his palm.
A small crimson orb appeared above it.
The moment the orb emerged, the surrounding spiritual energy began flowing towards him, gathering around his body like countless streams converging into a river. The crimson surface of the orb pulsed gently, releasing a strange fluctuation that seemed to resonate with Mo Tou's Golden Core.
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed.
The orb released another pulse.
Mo Tou's previously pale complexion gradually regained its colour, the faint flush that had disappeared after his earlier injuries returning to his cheeks. Even the instability within his spiritual energy began to settle, and his aura, which had been noticeably weakened moments earlier, rapidly strengthened.
In only a few breaths, he had recovered a considerable portion of his lost strength.
Lin Sheng observed the transformation carefully.
'He's recovering already?'
His gaze settled upon the crimson orb.
'What kind of treasure is that?'
He could sense that the object wasn't simply gathering the surrounding spiritual energy. There was something else within it, a concentrated reserve of energy that was being transferred directly into Mo Tou's body, replenishing his depleted spiritual power and helping him stabilise his Golden Core.
A treasure capable of restoring a Golden Core cultivator's strength during battle was already extraordinary.
But the aura surrounding this orb felt somewhat unusual.
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed further.
'It doesn't seem like an ordinary Dharmic treasure.'