23: Chapter 23 The Deadly Old Man

"Hahaha..."

Inside Lin Ming's Sea of Consciousness, Daoist Fu Xu Zi's soul body appeared.

A wanton smile bloomed on his face.

After seeing Daoist Fu Xu Zi's smile, Lin Ming knew his suspicion was correct.

This Daoist Fu Xu Zi indeed had an ulterior motive.

He wanted to see exactly what Daoist Fu Xu Zi intended to do.

"Senior, can you teach me the Cultivation Techniques of the Wuji Pavilion now?"

Lin Ming asked.

"I will certainly give you the techniques, but not to the current you."

Daoist Fu Xu Zi said.

"Senior, what do you mean by that?"

Lin Ming asked, feigning confusion.

"You will know once your body belongs to me."

Daoist Fu Xu Zi's expression turned inexplicably hideous, and a dark, sinister aura gradually emanated from him.

"Possession."

These two words jumped straight out of Lin Ming's mouth.

"You're not stupid,"

Daoist Fu Xu Zi laughed.

By now, he didn't bother hiding his intentions anymore; after all, this body was already in his grasp.

He was finally going to leave the cage that was the Fusion Ring.

"Senior, why are you doing this?"

Lin Ming's face also feigned a hint of panic.

"You talk too much,"

Daoist Fu Xu Zi said impatiently.

There was no need for him to continue chatting with a dead man.

He needed to quickly occupy this kid's body; he didn't think a mere Spirit Platform Realm cultivator could pose any threat to him.

He just wanted to obtain a body for himself as soon as possible.

Besides, this kid's Junior Sister was quite good-looking; he would enjoy her on the kid's behalf.

No, she should be called his Junior Sister.

At this thought, Daoist Fu Xu Zi stopped wasting time and directly attacked Lin Ming's Divine Soul, intending to devour and occupy it.

From now on, he would be Lin Ming.

But in the next second, his soul body was unable to move, frozen in place.

What happened?

Daoist Fu Xu Zi looked horrified.

Why couldn't he move?

"How boring. I thought you were really a 'hidden mentor' grandpa."

Lin Ming said with a look of boredom.

He thought it was a hidden mentor, but it turned out to be a life-taking old man.

"You? How could this be?!"

Daoist Fu Xu Zi saw Lin Ming's reaction.

He realized then that this person had never trusted him and had been on guard all along.

But his soul body was actually unable to move; this was not something just anyone could achieve.

"What do you mean 'how could I'? You should ask yourself how you're going to save yourself now."

Lin Ming said with a smile.

"Do you think you've got me cornered?"

Daoist Fu Xu Zi snapped back to his senses.

He wouldn't give up his plan just because of this, even if he didn't know what method the other party used to freeze his soul body.

Dark aura swirled around Daoist Fu Xu Zi's body. Using the power of this dark aura, he gradually broke free from the mysterious binding force.

After breaking free, he attacked Lin Ming's Divine Soul once more.

Lin Ming remained calm and composed as a rope condensed in his hand.

With a casual toss, the rope flew toward Daoist Fu Xu Zi to bind him again.

"Go."

The dark aura immediately tried to corrode the rope, but it was whipped away in a single exchange.

Facing the rope's binding, Daoist Fu Xu Zi realized something was wrong and tried to flee, but it was too late.

The rope naturally bound Daoist Fu Xu Zi's soul body, and this time, there was no escape.

"Who on earth are you?"

Daoist Fu Xu Zi could no longer remain calm and questioned Lin Ming.

He wasn't just a mere Spirit Platform Realm cultivator; why did he have such powerful Divine Soul strength?

"I am Lin Ming, a Disciple of Zichen Peak of Yuanxu Mountain."

Lin Ming's Divine Soul appeared before Daoist Fu Xu Zi and spoke slowly.

"Spare me."

Daoist Fu Xu Zi began to beg for mercy.

If he could have escaped, he would have done so long ago.

It was precisely because he couldn't escape that he took the initiative to beg Lin Ming for mercy.

"Give me a reason to spare you,"

Lin Ming said with interest.

"I know a lot of information you don't, some secrets."

As the words fell...

Daoist Fu Xu Zi's soul body shattered.

This time, it was Lin Ming's turn to deal with Daoist Fu Xu Zi.

Since no useful information was forthcoming, there was no need to keep this person around; he would search for some things himself.

There was no need to waste time playing games with this guy.

Until his death, Daoist Fu Xu Zi couldn't understand how he, despite being only a soul body, was still a high-level Other Shore Realm cultivator...

...yet he was actually killed by a Spirit Platform Realm brat just like that.

While disposing of the guy, Lin Ming also performed a soul search.

After the soul search, a look of realization appeared on Lin Ming's face.

Fu Xu Zi—this guy's name was indeed Daoist Fu Xu Zi, but he wasn't an Elder of the Wuji Pavilion.

Instead, he was an Elder of the demonic Inverse Demon Cult, at the eighth stage of the Other Shore Realm.

This Inverse Demon Cult had been destroyed by the Wuji Pavilion itself.

As an Elder, Daoist Fu Xu Zi was hunted by one of their cultivators. Unable to defeat his opponent, he could only abandon his Physical Body and merge into the Fusion Ring.

Over the years, he had been waiting for a destined person whose body he could occupy to start over.

But none of the people he encountered could meet his requirements.

Take the Blood Butcher Old Demon, whom Lin Ming had killed; in Daoist Fu Xu Zi's eyes, he wasn't even worth a glance.

That guy's potential had reached its limit, especially after that sword strike three years ago. It was Daoist Fu Xu Zi who had stepped in back then to pull the Blood Butcher Old Demon back from the brink of death.

Otherwise, he would have died long ago.

As for Lin Ming, it was mainly because Daoist Fu Xu Zi's Divine Soul was gradually becoming unable to hold on.

He had to find a Possession target as soon as possible.

Lin Ming reluctantly became his target for Possession.

A Disciple of Yuanxu Mountain might be a good cover.

But despite all his calculations, he never imagined—not even in death—that the person he was targeting was actually a Nirvana Realm cultivator.

If he had known, he wouldn't have dared to do it even if he were given a hundred times the courage.

"The Inverse Demon Cult's treasure vault?"

Lin Ming also saw a memory he was interested in.

It was the treasure vault belonging to the Inverse Demon Cult. Although the sect had been destroyed, its secret vault still remained, and no one had been able to open it.

Daoist Fu Xu Zi had treated it as his private treasury, intended for his future cultivation path.

But now, all of it belonged to Lin Ming.

It was all Lin Ming's.

"I should go take a look if I get the chance."

Lin Ming glanced at the location of this secret vault; it certainly wasn't a simple place. If he had the chance, he could go and loot it.

Besides that, Lin Ming actually saw some gossip and secrets of the cultivation world.

Lin Ming wasn't particularly interested in those.

But this harvest could be considered quite good.