Chapter 408 - 376: Rage
Chapter 408: Chapter 376: Rage
Zhao Lin unleashed his Water Manipulation Skill at full power, shooting forward like a javelin. In the blink of an eye, he was before the Earth Dark Sect cultivator.
With a flash of cold light from his hand, the iron ruler plunged into the other man’s chest.
"You... Who are you?"
The Earth Dark Sect cultivator coughed up blood, asking with difficulty.
"Your ancestor!"
Zhao Lin wrenched the iron ruler free and, with a reverse grip, plunged it into the man’s lower abdomen, giving him the same death as Fu Dong.
"Brother Zhao..."
Tao Yan stared at the floating corpse, his mouth agape in astonishment.
From the moment Zhao Lin attacked to when he killed the Earth Dark Sect cultivator, the whole process had taken only a few breaths. Tao Yan was utterly astounded by his swift and ruthless efficiency.
Having just used the Thunder Blade Skill, Zhao Lin felt a wave of exhaustion. He immediately took out a Spirit Pearl to recover his Spiritual Power.
He casually ripped the sect insignia from the Earth Dark Sect cultivator’s chest and tucked it into his storage bag.
Tao Yan was stunned for a moment before he finally came to his senses. He bowed solemnly to Zhao Lin, then grabbed a handful of Spirit Pearls from his own storage bag. "I am deeply indebted to you for saving my life," he said. "Please, take these Spirit Pearls."
Having narrowly escaped death, he had come to a realization. Merit points, Spirit Stones—none of it was more important than his life.
Zhao Lin waved a hand dismissively. "There’s no need. I appreciate the sentiment, though."
Tao Yan shook his head firmly, his tone sincere. "Please, Brother Zhao, you must take them!"
Zhao Lin didn’t insist. "Alright, in that case, I won’t be polite." With that, he took the Spirit Pearls and put them away.
Most of the Spirit Pearls Tao Yan had collected were Fourth or Fifth Grade; there was only a single Third Grade one that could be exchanged for merit points.
In fact, the merit points they could get from killing a single Earth Dark Sect cultivator were worth more than what they had earned after an entire night of work.
Zhao Lin glanced at the corpse, noticed a semicircular storage bag at its waist, and yanked it off.
Seeing this, Tao Yan took the hint and tactfully swam a short distance away.
Zhao Lin tucked the storage bag under a reef rock and carved a mark on the stone with his iron ruler. He planned to retrieve it and bring it back to the island when the mission was over.
’The sect has ways to open these storage bags. If there’s anything valuable inside, I’ll get a reward.’
As for the body, it was difficult to burn it in the sea, and Zhao Lin couldn’t be bothered to dispose of it. He gave it a kick, sending it past the edge of the pearl shoal to be carried away by the undercurrent.
"Brother Zhao, I had no idea you were hiding your strength. If I’m not mistaken, your Ice Blade Skill and Water Manipulation Skill are both at the Grand Achievement level, and your Thunder Element Magic is at least at the Minor Achievement Level."
Tao Yan reappeared, chattering with admiration. "That’s amazing! If I’d known, I would’ve stuck with you from the start. Then I wouldn’t have had to worry about surprise attacks from the Earth Dark Sect."
The light on the seabed was dim, so while Tao Yan couldn’t see clearly, he could sense the Mana fluctuations and make a rough guess as to which Magic Zhao Lin had used.
"Fellow Daoist Tao, you flatter me. The Earth Dark Sect excels at underwater combat; the man I killed wasn’t necessarily one of their experts."
Zhao Lin said with a casual, dismissive smile.
"It’s no exaggeration at all!"
Tao Yan shook his head emphatically, his expression turning serious. "That man dared to venture deep into our sect’s territory alone, and he had the skill to ambush and kill Fu Dong. How could he be some common cultivator?"
"Your Ice Blade Skill loses almost no power underwater, which is like having two different Grand Achievement level skills. With strength like that, as long as you don’t get surrounded, you can walk sideways all over Yongdeng Ansha!"
"I’m not a crab, so why would I walk sideways?"
Zhao Lin made a casual joke, but he took the words to heart and began to ponder them.
’My Void Trapping Skill and Flame Stream Arrow are severely limited in the sea. I have three Grand Achievement level skills I can use effectively: Ice Blade Skill, Rock Armor Skill, and Water Manipulation Skill.’
’My Thunder Blade Skill is only at the Adept Level, but its power surpasses even my Grand Achievement level Ice Blade Skill.’
’The Water Manipulation Skill is the hardest to cultivate. Other skills can be practiced on land, but Water Manipulation can only be done in water, and the higher its level, the more specific the requirements for the body of water become.’
’To master the Water Manipulation Skill to the Grand Achievement level, one has to practice for years in great rivers or the ocean.’
’Maybe... I’ve been underestimating myself.’
Zhao Lin’s cultivation had just broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, so he hadn’t consciously registered how much stronger he’d become. But with all his skills upgraded from the Adept Level to the Grand Achievement Level, his power was now worlds apart from what it was before.
In the Qi Refining Realm, he could absolutely be considered outstanding. After all, a magical prodigy like Miao Kefa was the kind of talent that appeared only once a century.
However, he didn’t let the compliments go to his head. He still planned to focus on collecting Spirit Pearls.
’If I run into a lone Earth Dark Sect cultivator, maybe I can try taking them out.’
"Brother Zhao, where are you headed next?"
Tao Yan asked tentatively when Zhao Lin didn’t speak.
"There aren’t many Spirit Pearls left at Kuimu Beach. We’ll rest here for the night and move to a different spot tomorrow."
Zhao Lin said after a moment of thought.
"Sounds good, let’s do that!"
Tao Yan readily agreed. He had already made up his mind: ’Wherever Zhao Lin goes, I’ll go. My life comes first.’
Night fell, and the seabed grew quiet.
Zhao Lin hid within a cluster of reefs overgrown with long seaweed, a well-concealed position.
He had set a hidden trap nearby. A careless attacker would trigger a magical assault.
Tao Yan rested at the entrance to the reef cluster, acting as a sort of gatekeeper.
’He might be a coward,’ Zhao Lin thought, ’but he knows how to make himself useful. He’s not annoying.’
The night passed without incident. The two only surfaced for a brief rest in the middle of the night.
The next morning, Zhao Lin continued searching for Spirit Pearls at Kuimu Beach, but the yield was noticeably smaller than the night before.
Clam Demons and shell spirits were timid by nature. Once disturbed, they would flee through the shifting sands of the seabed and relocate to other pearl shoals.
Half an hour later, having found nothing more, Zhao Lin said to Tao Yan, who was still trailing him, "Let’s go. This place isn’t good for collecting Spirit Pearls anymore."
Tao Yan agreed readily. "Alright, where to?"
Zhao Lin already had a plan. "Di Tutan."
Hearing this, Tao Yan’s expression changed. He hesitated. "Di Tutan is the pearl shoal closest to the Earth Dark Sect. Isn’t that a bit risky?"
"It’s our territory, and it’s defended by traps. What’s there to be afraid of?"
Zhao Lin said noncommittally.
Di Tutan was the second-best pearl shoal. It wasn’t large, but it was rich in Spirit Pearls and heavily trapped. Zhao Lin wasn’t worried about the danger.
Besides, he wanted to see if Tao Yan was willing to follow him. If not, it would be a good chance to part ways and be on his own.
Tao Yan thought for a moment but didn’t dare stay behind alone. "Let’s go. I’ll go with you."
The two left Kuimu Beach and swam toward Di Tutan.
Di Tutan wasn’t far from Kuimu Beach; with an Adept Level Water Manipulation Skill, the journey would take less than half an hour.
Zhao Lin deliberately slowed his pace so Tao Yan could keep up, all the while continuously scanning the surrounding sea with ultrasonic pulses.
Halfway there, Zhao Lin stopped.
He had detected four people approaching. If they didn’t stop, the two groups would soon collide.
Their formation was unusual. Three were in the front, arranged in an inverted triangle, while a fourth brought up the rear to one side. It looked like an encirclement formation.
The silhouettes from his ultrasonic scans showed that all four of them carried longswords at their waists, and the magic they used to propel themselves through the water was the Fubo Skill, a specialty of the Earth Dark Sect.
Tao Yan, not understanding, asked, "Why have we stopped?"
"Earth Dark Sect cultivators ahead. We need to hide."
"Ah! How many?"
"Four!"
Tao Yan’s face fell. He scrambled to follow Zhao Lin as he moved off to the side, clearing the direct path.
They both reduced the output of their Water Manipulation Skill to a bare minimum, lest the Earth Dark Sect members detect the Mana fluctuations.
Tao Yan had absolute faith in Zhao Lin after his earlier display of power and didn’t even think to question him.
A short while later, the four Earth Dark Sect cultivators passed the spot where Zhao Lin and Tao Yan had just been, continuing on toward Kuimu Beach.
Every few breaths, the four of them formed a Dharma Seal with their hands, as if they were searching for someone.
Zhao Lin observed in silence, guessing that the Earth Dark Sect also had a communication skill similar to the Celestial Secret Seal. ’The person they’re looking for,’ he thought, ’is probably the one I killed last night!’
And he was right. The Earth Dark Sect cultivator Zhao Lin had killed was named Cang Zhen, and this group, led by Qingchi, had been tracking him.
The four Earth Dark Sect cultivators reached Kuimu Beach and circled its perimeter, continuously forming Dharma Seals, but they received no response.
"What’s going on? Don’t tell me the guy is dead."
Qingchi, the leader, finally lost his patience, his expression turning grim. He turned his head. "Changze, didn’t you say Cang Zhen wouldn’t go far? We’ve searched three pearl shoals without finding a trace of him."
Changze’s face fell. "That’s what he said," he argued. "He said he was near Di Tutan and wouldn’t go any farther than Kuimu Beach."
"Then where is he?"
"I don’t know."
Just then, another cultivator chimed in. "Do you guys think... something happened to Cang Zhen?"
Qingchi shot him a glare. "Impossible!"
"Cang Zhen’s Fubo Skill is at the Adept Level, with speed rivaling a Grand Achievement level Water Manipulation Skill. Do you think a Chenghua Sect cultivator has the ability to take him on?"
As he said this, Qingchi suddenly felt something. He glanced upward and, in the faint light filtering down through the surface, saw a dark shadow.
The other three looked up as well.
Without a word, the four of them propelled themselves upward through the water and saw Cang Zhen’s corpse.
"Cang Zhen... is dead?"
Changze said, his face etched with disbelief.
Qingchi carefully examined the body, his expression grave. "Judging from the wounds, Cang Zhen was struck by a blunt object, probably a heavy magical weapon."
He didn’t know that Zhao Lin was a Martial Cultivator, which led him to this assumption.
"I didn’t expect the Chenghua Sect to have someone capable of killing Cang Zhen in the sea."
Changze found it hard to believe. "Is it possible they used the seabed traps?"
Qingchi shook his head. "There’s no sign of that. He has no other wounds."
Changze was silent for a moment before asking, "So what do we do now?"
"What do we do?"
Qingchi’s face twisted into a snarl. "We repay them in kind, of course! We kill our way back! Isn’t that what we came here for in the first place?"
...
"Our luck is good. Just as I thought, no one’s been here yet."
Zhao Lin and Tao Yan arrived at Di Tutan and found it was rich with Spirit Pearls.
In just one hour, they had harvested one Second Grade Spirit Pearl, six Third Grade Spirit Pearls, and more Fourth and Fifth Grade Spirit Pearls than they could count.
Tao Yan didn’t compete or try to snatch anything. He only collected some Low Grade Spirit Pearls, and if he found any that were Third Grade or higher, he proactively offered them to Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin saw him for what he was—a man trying to pay for his own safety. So, Zhao Lin accepted without any further ceremony.
By evening, they had basically cleared out all the Spirit Pearls at Di Tutan, so they decided to move to another pearl shoal.
As they reached the edge of the pearl shoal, they were surprised to see another body drifting toward them from the distance.
’Who died this time?’
Zhao Lin and Tao Yan swam closer in confusion. When they got a clear look at the dead person’s face, they both gasped.