32: Chaotic Devouring Power, Breaking Through the Innate Realm

The grey mist formed by the Protective Aura grew thicker and thicker, and Lin Yang felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; every breath brought a stinging pain.

The operation of the five-element True Essence within his Dantian became sluggish, as if bound by invisible chains, and even the rotation of the chaos star core slowed by half a beat.

"Die!" The bandit leader's roar came from the mist, and the edge of his ghost-head saber lit up once more, this time aiming straight for Lin Yang's heart at an angle so devious it was impossible to avoid.

Lin Yang abruptly lowered his body and rolled backward.

The edge of the Protective Aura brushed past the tip of his nose, smashing the rock behind him into powder; the flying stone debris struck his face, stinging with a burning pain.

He seized the opportunity to look for the bandit leader's opening—when the opponent swung the saber, the Protective Aura at the Dantian would briefly weaken, a sequela of relying on forbidden drugs to boost cultivation for many years.

"Now!" A fierce light flashed in Lin Yang's eyes. He condensed Water Element True Essence in his left hand and flicked three ice cones from his fingertips, not at the bandit leader, but at the stalactites atop the canyon.

The ice cones struck the connection points of the stalactites precisely. With a few crisp "crack" sounds, several millstone-sized rocks crashed down, perfectly blocking the bandit leader's line of sight.

Taking advantage of the swirling dust, Lin Yang pounced out like a wildcat, his right fist aimed straight at the bandit leader's Dantian.

A sharp radiance condensed from Metal Element True Essence swirled around his fist; this was his trump card, infused with nearly seventy percent of his Chaos True Essence.

"Petty tricks!" the bandit leader roared. He swept his left arm across, and the blue-grey Protective Aura condensed into an energy shield before him.

His fist struck the energy shield with a muffled "clang." The sharp radiance instantly dissipated, and Lin Yang felt a massive force impact him. He was sent flying backward, slamming into the cliff wall, and a metallic, bloody taste welled up in his throat.

"Young Master!" Liu Qingluan cried out involuntarily. Unable to hold back any longer, she rushed out, and vines driven by Wood Element True Essence entangled the bandit leader's legs like a rainstorm.

"Get lost!" The bandit leader kicked out, his Protective Aura shattering the vines and sending Liu Qingluan stumbling backward, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

This momentary delay gave Lin Yang a chance to catch his breath.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and the chaos star core suddenly erupted with a powerful suction force—not to absorb Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, but to lock onto the bandit leader's dissipating Protective Aura!

Those blue-grey currents of Qi, as if pulled by an invisible vortex, flowed in wisps toward Lin Yang's palm, entering his Dantian along his Meridians.

"What?!" The bandit leader's expression changed drastically. He felt his Protective Aura draining away, and his Dantian was gripped by an empty, twisting pain. "What kind of evil art is this?!"

Lin Yang was also surprised by the anomaly.

The chaos star core was actively devouring the Protective Aura. Once those overbearing energies entered his Dantian, they were quickly ground down and converted by the star core into a more refined, grey-gold True Essence that flowed through his Meridians; wherever it passed, the Meridians previously injured by the Protective Aura were rapidly repairing themselves!

"Ah—" The bandit leader roared and lunged forward. He had gone completely berserk, recklessly driving his Protective Aura. The blue-grey currents of Qi surged toward Lin Yang like a tsunami, attempting to crush this eerie devouring power.

Lin Yang felt as though his Dantian was about to burst. Under the catalysis of the star core, the Chaos True Essence proliferated wildly, and the barrier of the fourth layer of the Xiantian Realm was shaken, teetering on the verge of collapse.

He could clearly feel that the True Essence within him was undergoing a qualitative change. The grey-gold currents of Qi faintly revealed the texture of Protective Aura, yet they were more restrained and heavier than true Protective Aura—that was the unique characteristic of Chaos power.

"Break!" Lin Yang opened his eyes abruptly. The grey-gold True Essence within him erupted like a burst dam. Although it did not form an outward-projecting edge, it carried a crushing force that forcibly pushed back the bandit leader's Protective Aura by half an inch.

He seized this fleeting opportunity and swung his right fist again. This time, he did not rely on the Metal Element sharp radiance but poured all his Chaos True Essence into his fist, striking the energy shield with a force that was almost brutal.

"Crack!"

A crack actually appeared on the blue-grey energy shield.

The bandit leader's pupils constricted sharply, and for the first time, terror appeared on his face—he could not understand how someone in the Xiantian Realm could shake the defenses of a Gang Qi Realm expert.

Lin Yang did not give him time to think.

The devouring power of the chaos star core surged violently, pulling at the bandit leader's Protective Aura like a giant whale drinking water, causing the opponent's energy shield to momentarily destabilize.

In that very instant, the sharp radiance pierced through the crack. Although it did not injure the Dantian, it precisely struck the wrist with which the bandit leader held his saber.

"Ah!" The bandit leader let out a miserable scream, and the ghost-head saber flew from his hand, the blue-grey Protective Aura instantly dimming.

Lin Yang took the opportunity to close in on his side, his right fist, condensed with the just-broken-through Chaos True Essence, slamming fiercely into the old scar on his chest—that was the weak point in the circulation of his Protective Aura.

"Pfft!" The bandit leader, as if struck by a heavy hammer, spat out a mouthful of black blood and stumbled backward, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He looked down at his chest; the scar there was turning black and rotting at a speed visible to the naked eye, clearly the result of the devouring characteristic contained within the Chaos True Essence.

"You... what kind of monster are you..." The bandit leader's voice trembled. He could feel his life force draining away along with his Protective Aura, the power of the forbidden drugs within him completely out of control, his Meridians feeling as if they were being gnawed by thousands of ants.

Lin Yang did not answer.

He stood where he was, the grey-gold True Essence within him surging ceaselessly, and the aura of the fifth layer of the Xiantian Realm spreading out like a tide.

Although it lacked the sharp edge of outward-projecting Protective Aura, it carried an unfathomable sense of weight, making the surrounding bandits tremble with fear, and no one dared to step forward.

"Speak! What exactly do Lin Hongfeng and the Misty Immortal Palace want?" Lin Yang's voice was as cold as the ice in the canyon, and the invisible pressure condensed by the Chaos True Essence shrouded the bandit leader, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

Coughing up blood foam, the bandit leader's vision blurred, yet he stared fixedly at Lin Yang's chest, as if seeing something extremely terrifying: "Chaos... Chaos Supreme Treasure... they want to open... the Heavens..."

Before he could finish, his head slumped to the side, and he completely lost all signs of life, his eyes wide open, as if still trapped in extreme terror.

The mountain wind gradually ceased, and the Yixiantian Canyon fell into a deathly silence.

Only Lin Yang's heavy panting and the low sobbing of Liu Hongluan in the distance remained.

He gazed at the bandit leader's corpse and clenched his fists—the fifth layer of the Xiantian Realm; although he had not mastered the outward projection of Protective Aura, he had forcibly slain a Gang Qi Realm expert by relying on the uncanny nature of the chaos star core.

More starlight leaked down through the narrow slit overhead, illuminating the Chaos strewn across the ground.

Lin Yang turned and walked behind the giant rock, where Liu Qingluan was using a cloth strip to wipe Liu Hongluan's face; the sisters' eyes instantly turned red upon seeing the wound on his shoulder.

"Let's go, let's go home." Lin Yang took the lantern, the lamplight dancing in his eyes, reflecting a bottomless calm.

The sound of horse hooves rang out once more, echoing through the empty canyon, heading in the direction of the Lin family.

The shadows on the cliff walls remained heavy, but Lin Yang knew that after this bloody battle, some things had already changed—the secret of the chaos star core was, as he grew, slowly tearing open the veil covering the sky.