15: Tempering the body reveals the traces, snipe and clam fight

The turbulent dark river still roared, but the figure in the rock crevice was completely different.

Lin Chen slowly straightened his body; the jagged rock walls no longer posed an obstacle in his eyes. The power of a six-star Dou Master at its Peak surged through his Meridians, bringing with it a deep sense of power originating from Medusa's essence blood and a natural affinity for cold energy. Beneath his skin, the newly formed flesh was tough like python hide, and his bones faintly glowed with a dark purple metallic luster. Although his internal injuries were not fully healed, the feeling of near-death weakness had completely vanished. In his Sea of Consciousness, his Soul, though still entangled by the chilling sting of the Soul Erosion Guidance, was solidified like iron, and his control over the annihilating properties of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi had further improved.

He lowered his head; the dark red chain-like imprint, entwined with purple-black poisonous patterns on his left wrist, was like a living, eerie totem, emitting cold and obscure fluctuations. The devouring characteristic of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi and the newly integrated serpentine essence blood aura formed a natural confusing barrier. Although it couldn't completely eradicate this Hall of Souls death mark, it greatly weakened the clarity of its tracking.

"Power..." Lin Chen clenched his fist, his knuckles making a slight popping sound, and the air seemed to be twisted. This power was gained through a near-death experience, and the cost was etched into his memory. There was no joy in his eyes, only a cold, biting glint that had settled.

"Hall of Souls, Medusa... This debt will be settled sooner or later." A hoarse voice echoed in the rock crevice, killing intent solidified.

He didn't leave immediately. This place was cold and damp, with abundant water vapor from the dark river, plus the lingering aura of shed snake skin (although its essence had been completely devoured by him), which was still beneficial for suppressing the Hall of Souls imprint and recovering from injuries. He sat cross-legged, fully circulating his Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, greedily devouring the sparse cold, water-attribute energy around him to consolidate his Realm and repair subtle internal injuries. The newly generated Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, with a trace of the serpentine essence blood's tenacity, had far greater repair efficiency than before.

Three days later.

Lin Chen opened his eyes from meditation, his sharp gaze restrained, and his aura completely stabilized at the Peak of a six-star Dou Master. Although he was still a step away from seven stars, his condition had been adjusted to its best. The imprint on his wrist still existed, but the sense of urgency, like a sword hanging over his head, had greatly diminished.

"It's time to leave." He stood up, like a leopard merging into the shadows, silently slipping out of the rock crevice and moving upstream along the dark river's flow. Shadow Erosion Dou Qi covered his entire body, his aura was suppressed to the extreme, and his movements were silent, perfectly blending into the dark and damp environment. After refining Medusa's essence blood, his affinity for shadows and cold environments greatly increased, and his Shadow Escape technique became even more refined.

Days later, on the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, in a secluded valley near Black Rock City.

Lin Chen hid in the shadow of a huge ancient tree's crown, his aura completely restrained, like a dead tree. His gaze penetrated layers of branches and leaves, locking onto the entrance of the valley below.

There, the atmosphere was tense.

On one side were three burly men dressed in mercenary attire. The leader, with a face full of flesh, had a fierce aura and was, surprisingly, a seven-star Dou Master! The other two were also five-star Dou Master cultivators. They held weapons, firmly surrounding a rock, their faces filled with greed and a sinister smile.

Surrounded were two women. One was dressed in a light blue tight-fitting outfit, with an agile posture, holding a long sword. She was approximately a two-star Dou Master cultivator. At this moment, blood stained the corner of her mouth, and her face was pale; she was clearly injured and was protecting another person. The one she protected was a young girl, dressed in a simple white dress, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a delicate appearance and a gentle temperament, but at this moment, her small face was full of panic. In her hands, she tightly clutched a jade box emitting a faint chill. On the surface of the jade box, natural ice-like patterns were vaguely visible.

What caught Lin Chen's attention was precisely that jade box! And the extremely pure plant aura and faint water-attribute energy fluctuations emanating from the white-clothed girl. This aura caused a slight craving in the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi within Lin Chen's Dantian.

"Hehe, Young Miss Xuenie, obediently hand over the 'Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid'." The leading seven-star Dou Master mercenary licked his lips, his gaze lewdly sweeping over the white-clothed girl. "And you, little beauty, what future is there in following this useless mercenary group? Why not follow me? I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury in Black Rock City!"

"Bah! Blood Butcher, you wish!" The blue-clothed woman angrily rebuked, gripping her long sword. "This Body Tempering Fluid was snatched from the mouth of a cold pond python by our 'Snow Mist Mercenary Group' at the cost of our lives! Want to snatch it? Only over my dead body!"

"Sister Xue Lan..." Xuenie's voice was tearful, and the hand holding the jade box trembled slightly.

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" Blood Butcher's face darkened, and he sneered, "Attack! Kill the man, keep the women! I want both the Body Tempering Fluid and the beauties!"

The three mercenaries simultaneously unleashed their Dou Qi and ferociously charged! Blood Butcher directly threw a punch, his crimson Dou Qi like a burning boulder, smashing towards the blue-clothed woman, Xue Lan, with a scorching heatwave!

Xue Lan gritted her teeth, her long sword forming a screen of ice-blue sword light, attempting to block. But the disparity in their strength was too great; the sword screen instantly collapsed under the crimson fist print! She grunted, spitting blood again as she flew backward, crashing heavily against a rock, completely losing her ability to fight.

"Sister Xue Lan!" Xuenie exclaimed, watching Blood Butcher approach with a sinister smile, her eyes filled with despair.

Just as Blood Butcher's large hand was about to grab Xuenie and the jade box in her arms—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three subtle, almost imperceptible sounds of air being torn rang out! Three strands of Shadow Erosion Dou Qi, condensed like needles, dark purple to nearly black, like the fangs of a venomous snake, shot out with a speed beyond visual perception, precisely targeting the vital points in the backs of Blood Butcher and the two five-star Dou Master mercenaries behind him!

Fast! Ruthless! Poisonous!

As a seven-star Dou Master, Blood Butcher's reaction was undeniably quick. The moment the tearing sounds rang out, he felt a deadly chill! He twisted his body sharply, crimson Dou Qi surging wildly towards his back!

"Puff! Puff!"

Two subtle sounds of flesh being pierced rang out! Although Blood Butcher avoided the vital heart, his left shoulder and right ribs were instantly pierced by two strands of purple-black Dou Qi! That Dou Qi not only contained terrifying penetrative power but also a tyrannical devouring and highly poisonous characteristic! The wounds instantly turned black, and intense pain accompanied by numbness spread wildly! Even more terrifying, his internal Dou Qi was being frantically extracted and disintegrated by the devouring force coming from the wounds!

"Ah—!!!" Blood Butcher let out a shrill scream, his movements instantly stiffening!

The two five-star Dou Masters behind him were not so lucky. The third strand of purple-black Dou Qi, like the scythe of the Grim Reaper, precisely pierced the heart of one of them! The man didn't even let out a scream, his body stiffened abruptly, the vitality in his eyes rapidly dissipated, and he fell to the ground with a thud! The other person was also grazed on the arm by the Dou Qi's aftershock; his entire arm instantly turned black and swollen, and he staggered backward, screaming, terrified as he watched his companion die instantly!

"Who?!!!" Blood Butcher was furious and shocked. Enduring the severe pain and the weakness from the loss of Dou Qi, he suddenly looked up in the direction from which the Dou Qi had come!

In the shadow of the tree crown, a slender and slightly thin figure slowly descended. The newcomer was dressed in ordinary black tight-fitting clothes, with a young face, but with a cold indifference that did not match his age. Most striking were his eyes; deep in his pupils, dark red and dark purple faint lights intertwined, like an abyss vortex, making people's hearts palpitate upon seeing them. His overall aura was not particularly strong (Peak of a six-star Dou Master), but that cold, domineering, and strangely captivating aura, as if it could devour everything, made even Blood Butcher, a seven-star Dou Master, feel his scalp tingle!

"Drop the item and get out." Lin Chen's voice was flat, yet carried an undeniable, icy killing intent. His gaze swept over Blood Butcher and his sole remaining subordinate, as if looking at two corpses.

Xuenie, clutching the jade box, stared blankly at Lin Chen, who had descended from the sky. Her small face still bore tear stains, and her eyes were filled with the daze of having survived a calamity and a hint of... curiosity? The pure plant aura within her seemed to produce a faint resonance with the cold, domineering, yet strangely attractive aura emanating from Lin Chen.

"You... you're asking for death!" Blood Butcher roared, both shocked and enraged, his bluster betraying his fear. He couldn't comprehend how a six-star Dou Master could unleash such bizarre and terrifying attacks? The attributes of that Dou Qi were something he had never heard of!

"It seems you've chosen a path to death." Lin Chen's eyes turned cold, with no unnecessary words. His figure flickered, leaving a blurry afterimage in his original spot, his true body vanishing like a ghost!

Shadow Escape · Serpent Walk!

Infused with the serpentine essence blood's affinity for the environment, Lin Chen's Shadow Escape technique became even more bizarre and unpredictable! He seemed to merge into the gap between light and shadow, moving so fast that in Blood Butcher's eyes, only a faint black-purple stream of light remained!

"Playing tricks!" Blood Butcher roared, forcefully enduring his injuries and the loss of Dou Qi. His fists erupted with scorching crimson Dou Qi, like two small suns, fiercely smashing towards the approaching stream of light!

However, his fists missed! Lin Chen's figure, like a slippery loach, glided past the edge of his fist-wind at the last possible moment, instantly appearing at his side! A palm covered in dark purple-black Dou Qi silently pressed against Blood Butcher's injured ribcage!

Shadow Erosion · Essence Devour!

"Ugh!" Blood Butcher's pupils suddenly dilated! A terrifying devouring force instantly erupted! His already dwindling internal Dou Qi, like a floodgate opening, surged frantically towards Lin Chen's palm! At the same time, a cold and highly toxic energy fiercely invaded his Meridians and internal organs through the wound!

"No—!" Blood Butcher let out a desperate roar. He could clearly feel his life force and Dou Qi rapidly draining away! He tried to resist, but his body quickly became numb and stiff under the strange devouring and potent poison!

In just two breaths!

Blood Butcher's robust body, like a skin bag drained of water, collapsed softly to the ground, his eyes wide open, filled with endless fear and disbelief, completely devoid of life! A dignified seven-star Dou Master was in an instant drained of his Dou Qi and poisoned to death!

The remaining one-armed mercenary was already scared to the point of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. He let out a strange cry and scrambled away from the valley entrance, not daring to look back.

Lin Chen didn't even look at the fleeing mercenary. He slowly retracted his palm, a faint wisp of crimson Dou Qi instantly devoured and assimilated by the deep purple Shadow Erosion vortex in his palm. He felt the pure energy gained from devouring a seven-star Dou Master (though most impurities were annihilated), and the Dou Qi vortex in his Dantian seemed to solidify a little more.

He turned, his cold gaze falling upon Xuenie, who was clutching the jade box tightly, her face pale.

Xuenie trembled all over under his emotionless gaze, instinctively taking a step back, tightly guarding the jade box in her arms, her voice tearful and feigning composure: "You... what do you want to do? This Body Tempering Fluid is... it's our mercenary group's!"

Lin Chen's gaze swept over the jade box; the pure icy aura and vast life energy once again made the Shadow Erosion Dou Qi in his Dantian crave it. But he didn't act immediately, instead looking at the heavily injured and unconscious blue-clothed woman, Xue Lan, and then glancing at the pure plant aura on Xuenie's body.

"Name." Lin Chen's voice remained cold.

"I... I'm Xuenie." Xuenie answered timidly.

"And her?"

"Sister Xue Lan... she's the leader of our Snow Mist Mercenary Group..."

"Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid?" Lin Chen's gaze locked onto the jade box again.

Xuenie's heart tightened. She bit her lip and bravely said, "Yes... yes, it is. We only managed to get it after great difficulty..."

"You can't keep it." Lin Chen interrupted her, stating a fact. "Without me, it would already be someone else's, and you would both be dead."

Xuenie's small face turned pale, unable to refute. It was indeed the truth.

"I need it." Lin Chen stated bluntly, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "In exchange, I will save you and escort you to a safe place." He didn't say "buy" or "ask," but directly proposed a trade. On the Dou Qi Continent, strength was the rule.

Xuenie looked at Lin Chen's cold face, then at her heavily injured and unconscious Sister Xue Lan, and then thought about Blood Butcher's terror just now and the strange methods of the young man before her who instantly killed a seven-star Dou Master... She understood that she had no choice. Refuse? The outcome might be even worse than falling into Blood Butcher's hands.

"Alright... alright." Xuenie lowered her head, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, tinged with humiliation and unwillingness, but she still trembled as she handed over the jade box she was holding. That Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid was her and Sister Xue Lan's hope for improving their strength and revitalizing their mercenary group, but now... staying alive was more important.

Lin Chen expressionlessly took the jade box. It was cool to the touch, and the ice-like patterns on the jade box emitted a pure cold aura. He opened a tiny gap, and a rich, almost solidified life essence and icy energy instantly overflowed, invigorating him! Inside the box, a milky white, viscous liquid, like solidified jade fat, quietly floated, emitting a soft glow—it was indeed the legendary Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid!

Confirmed. Lin Chen closed the jade box and put it away. He looked at Xuenie: "Help her up and follow me."

Xuenie silently nodded, laboriously helping the unconscious Xue Lan up. Lin Chen had no intention of helping, merely leading the way, his aura still cold, like the most ruthless bodyguard.

The three, or rather, two with one unconscious, silently left the blood-stained valley. Lin Chen's Soul perception was like an invisible radar, constantly alert to his surroundings. He knew that the aura of the Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid could very likely attract other coveters, and the Hall of Souls imprint was also like a sword hanging over his head.

But, opportunity and risk coexisted. This Earth Core Body Tempering Fluid would be the key for him to completely repair his internal injuries, solidify his foundation, and break through to a higher Realm! And the pure plant aura on the young girl named Xuenie... perhaps, it was not entirely without value.

When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman benefits. And he, Lin Chen, was that hunter lurking in the shadows, ultimately seizing the fruit. A new plan had quietly formed in his cold heart.