208: Resurrection and counterattack, a sincere invitation

A mountain-heavy pressure completely solidified the space for several hundred zhang around.

Every speck of dust, every wisp of twisted hot wind, fell into absolute stillness under this terrifying aura belonging to a Refining Void Realm expert.

The sorrowful look on Elder Liu's face peeled away completely, like faded painted skin.

Replacing it was undisguised, cold Killing Intent.

And the greed for the unknown secret treasure, which was almost materializing.

He walked toward Lin Fan step by step, and every step landed like a heavy hammer smashing heavily onto Liu Qingqing's heart.

“Elder Liu, stop!”

Liu Qingqing cried out in alarm, wanting to rush forward to stop him, but the terrifying pressure pinned her firmly in place, making it impossible even to move a finger.

She could only watch helplessly.

Watching Elder Liu walk up to Lin Fan, looking down condescendingly at the dying young man lying in the pile of rubble.

In those hawk-like eyes, there was no longer any warmth, only coldness and cruelty.

“Brat, you played your part very well.”

Elder Liu's voice was low and hoarse, devoid of any human emotion.

“To be able to use the identity of a dying person to counter-kill a Transformation Mid-Stage Cultivator, and even trick an old fellow like me.”

“I have to say, you are the most outstanding young person I have seen in the past century.”

He seemed to be praising him, but the Killing Intent in his tone was so thick it couldn't be dissolved.

“Now, it's time for the curtain to fall.”

Elder Liu slowly raised a finger. At the fingertip, a flash of emerald green spiritual light began to gather rapidly, emitting a heart-stopping aura of destruction.

“Hand over all the secrets you possess: your Cultivation Technique, your Magic Treasures, your Legacy, everything.”

His voice, like a cold wind from the Nine Netherworlds, drilled into Lin Fan's ears.

“I can... grant you a quick death.”

Lin Fan lay on the ground, his bones groaning under the immense pressure.

He raised his head, looking at the finger pointed at his glabella, feeling the power that could instantly obliterate him.

On his face, there was neither fear nor pleading.

Only a deathly calm remained.

Liu Qingqing's tears finally burst forth uncontrollably, streaming down her pale cheeks.

She closed her eyes in despair.

It was over.

Everything was over.

This white-robed youth who had saved her life would ultimately die here.

Dying at the hands of the Elder she respected most.

Boom!

Spiritual light burst forth from Elder Liu's fingertip.

It was a wood-element Divine Ability condensed to the extreme, containing terrifying Laws capable of severing life force.

It did not produce an earth-shattering boom.

It just lightly tapped Lin Fan's chest.

Pfft.

A soft sound.

Lin Fan's chest was instantly pierced with a fist-sized blood hole, visible straight through.

His heart, along with the surrounding Meridians, was instantly pulverized into dust.

His body trembled violently, and the last hint of vitality in his eyes quickly faded.

His life force was completely severed.

A cruel and satisfied arc curved at the corner of Elder Liu's mouth.

No matter your thousands of schemes and countless calculations, before absolute power, you are ultimately nothing more than dirt chickens and clay dogs.

He was about to bend down to take the Storage Pouch from Lin Fan's waist.

But just as his body leaned forward.

An anomaly suddenly occurred!

The “corpse,” which should have been completely lifeless, specifically the location of the thoroughly pulverized heart, suddenly lit up with a white light more dazzling than the sun!

That was not spiritual power, nor a Spell, nor any power Elder Liu could understand.

It was a pure, ultimate power of rules, representing “Termination” and “Destruction.”

“Not good!”

Elder Liu had lived for over a hundred years, and his combat experience was extremely rich. The moment the white light appeared, an unprecedented fear, originating from the depths of his Soul, made the hairs on his entire body stand on end!

Without thinking, his body frantically retreated!

But it was already too late.

Buzz—!

A white beam of light, as thin as hair but containing an aura of endless destruction, shot out from Lin Fan's “corpse.”

Its target was not the rapidly retreating Elder Liu.

It instantly sliced through the sky in a manner that transcended space and ignored distance.

Its target was Junior Brother Zhang, the Cuiyun Sect Disciple who was still unconscious from the backlash of spiritual power on the large, door-like Flying Sword in the distance!

Liu Qingqing had just opened her tear-blurred eyes when she witnessed this unforgettable scene.

That white light was too fast.

So fast that even her Divine Sense couldn't track its trajectory.

She only saw the white light flash and disappear.

Hiss.

An almost inaudible light sound.

Junior Brother Zhang, lying on the Flying Sword, didn't even have time to groan. His entire body, along with his Magic Robe, Storage Pouch, and everything else he possessed...

...were instantly reduced to the smallest particles under the illumination of that white light.

Then, blown away by the mountain wind.

Completely dissipated.

As if this person had never existed in this world.

Instant kill!

Complete and utter obliteration!

The entire basin fell into a deathly silence once again.

Liu Qingqing froze in place, her mouth slightly open, the tears in her eyes solidified, and her mind was blank.

Dead?

Senior Brother Zhang... just... gone?

How could this be?

Why did this happen?

Elder Liu, who had just retreated a hundred zhang away, was struck as if by lightning, frozen completely in mid-air.

He stared intently at the empty Flying Sword, then suddenly turned his head to look at the spot where Lin Fan had fallen.

His pupils contracted into the most dangerous pinpricks!

A chill rushed frantically from the soles of his feet, up his spine, and straight to his crown, causing his entire Divine Soul to tremble!

What is this?!

What the hell is this thing?!

A terror he completely failed to understand, or even imagine, seized his heart.

An attack launched by a dead man?

A guaranteed killing technique that locks onto the aura of a fellow Sect member and traces its Karma?

This is absolutely not a method used in the Cultivation World!

This is a devil's curse!

Just as his mind was violently shaking and his spirit was terrified.

An even more horrifying scene occurred.

They saw that on Lin Fan's “corpse” in the distant pile of rubble, the blood hole visible straight through was rapidly healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Broken flesh and fractured bones were rapidly undergoing Rebirth under the effect of a mysterious power.

In just two or three breaths of time.

Lin Fan's body was restored to its original state.

His long eyelashes trembled slightly.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes.

He slowly sat up from the ground, his face showing a trace of the confusion and innocence of someone who had just woken up.

He first lowered his head to look at his intact chest, then reached out to touch it, seemingly confirming something.

Afterward, he raised his head and looked at Elder Liu in the distance, whose face was twisted with extreme fear.

He blinked, a perfectly timed look of confusion appearing on his face.

“El... Elder Liu?”

His voice carried a hint of weakness and uncertainty.

“Just now... did something happen?”

“I... I think I had a nightmare, where I dreamed you... you killed me...”

Lin Fan's utterly “innocent” words, falling into Elder Liu's ears, were no less than a deafening thunderclap!

Boom!

Elder Liu's mind went blank with a buzzing sound.

He killed you?

Yes! I killed you! I personally used a Refining Void Realm Divine Ability to crush your heart!

But why aren't you dead?!

Not only are you not dead, but you fucking resurrected on the spot!

Not only did you resurrect, but you also casually pulverized one of my unconscious Disciples into ashes!

And now, you're asking me what happened with an innocent look on your face?!

Are you a devil!

In this instant, all the previous clues frantically connected.

The inexplicable fear of that Void Refining Earth Dragon!

The “Substitute Death Green Wood Shield” that could withstand a guaranteed killing blow!

Chen Hu's incredibly strange death by “poisoning”!

And now, this terrifying secret technique that allows for resurrection and triggers a guaranteed counterattack!

An extremely clear yet utterly terrifying truth surfaced in Elder Liu's mind.

This kid is absolutely not a Loose Cultivator!

Behind him, there must be an unimaginable, possibly even terrifying existence from the Upper Realm!

All the treasures and methods he possesses are talismans granted to him by that existence!

Whoever dares to touch him must die!

The Earth Dragon sensed this terror, which is why it was afraid!

Chen Hu triggered some kind of taboo, which is why he died suddenly!

And just now... I personally killed him once!

Therefore, Junior Brother Zhang died!

If... if I were to strike him and kill him again, would I be the next one to die?!

Thinking of this, Elder Liu's body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He looked at Lin Fan's delicate and innocent face, yet it seemed as if he was seeing an ancient god from the abyss, wearing human skin.

Greed?

Killing Intent?

Stealing treasures?

Screw that!

Now, only survival matters! I must survive!

I absolutely cannot provoke this fiend again!

All the thoughts in Elder Liu's mind transformed into the purest desire for survival at this moment.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the trembling of his Divine Soul.

The muscles on his face, twisted by fear, began to desperately squeeze and writhe.

Finally, a smile uglier than crying, filled with flattery and terror, was forcibly squeezed out of him.

The terrifying pressure belonging to the Refining Void Realm instantly vanished without a trace from his body.

He descended from mid-air and bowed deeply to Lin Fan from a distance.

“Little Friend Lin! A misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!”

His voice was distorted by the intense emotional fluctuations, high-pitched with a trace of fawning.

“This old man... this old man merely wanted to play a joke on Little Friend and test out your protective Divine Ability!”

“I never expected Little Friend's Sect Legacy to be so earth-shattering! It has truly opened my eyes. I am impressed! I am completely prostrate with admiration!”

Liu Qingqing was utterly dumbfounded.

Watching Elder Liu, who was full of Killing Intent one second and groveling the next, she felt her worldview being repeatedly crushed and reconstructed within a single day.

Elder Liu, however, paid no attention to her gaze.

He quickly walked up to Lin Fan, his ugly smile becoming increasingly “sincere.”

“Little Friend Lin, previously, my Cuiyun Sect was blind and offended you deeply!”

“That beast Chen Hu deserved death for offending Little Friend! And Junior Brother Zhang... well, it was his destiny!”

“To show my apology, I sincerely ask Little Friend to honor us by returning to the Cuiyun Sect as a guest! This old man will certainly clean the mat to welcome you and offer the best resources within the Sect, only seeking Little Friend's forgiveness!”

He was bent over, his posture extremely humble, and his tone utterly sincere.

It was as if he wasn't inviting a Transformation Initial Stage Cultivator whom he had just “killed.”

But rather an Emperor's Son from a Holy Land whom he absolutely could not afford to offend.

Lin Fan looked at him, then looked at Liu Qingqing, who was completely stunned nearby.

His face still wore a look of “confusion” and “flattered surprise.”

Deep inside, however, he was already ecstatic.

When staging an accident, this is how you have to do it.

Not only must you scare the opponent witless, but you must also make them politely deliver the compensation right to your door.

Cuiyun Sect?

Sounds like a good long-term meal ticket.