109: Chapter 109 The Old Monster Appears

Lin Chen took the silk handkerchief, his fingertips gently brushing over the smear of blood that had not yet dried.

The blood was warm, carrying a faint, metallic scent unique to a Cultivator's Spiritual Qi circulation.

Chu Yun's judgment was not wrong; this was not Wang Shu's blood.

Although One-armed Zhang Heng had killed Hua Sanniang, he had left too quickly, and it was impossible for him to have left his own blood behind.

Then, whose blood was this?

Lin Chen's gaze fell upon the bag of Black Sha Stones on the ground, and a bold thought flashed through his mind.

He did not speak, simply walking to the cloth bag, bending down, and picking up a fist-sized piece of Black Sha Stone that was also stained with a trace of blood.

The bloodstain on this stone was even less, almost an imperceptible dark mark; had his five senses not been far superior to an ordinary person's, he would never have detected it.

He held the stone in his palm, his Divine Sense stirred slightly, and a stream of pure Spiritual Qi surged from his palm, instantly enveloping the Black Sha Stone.

"Click—" The Spiritual Qi contracted violently inward, and the hard Black Sha Stone shattered in his palm at the sound.

But it did not turn into powder; instead, under the guidance of an invisible force, it fractured into countless fine, black grains of sand.

Chu Yun and Liu Ruxu held their breath, watching this eerie scene.

Lin Chen tilted his palm slightly, and those black grains of sand, as if possessing life, slowly flowed from between his fingers, automatically gathering and arranging themselves on the dusty floor of the stone room.

A moment later, two ancient Seal characters formed from black stone powder appeared clearly before everyone's eyes.

"Hai Hour." (9:00 PM to 11:00 PM.)

Liu Ruxu's pupils contracted sharply; she instantly understood what this was.

This was not a warning, nor was it a show of force; this was a token of allegiance left by One-armed Zhang Heng!

"He wants to use our hands to eliminate Old Monster Wu!" Liu Ruxu's voice carried a trace of incredulous astonishment. "He used his accomplice's blood to leave the exact time of Old Monster Wu's attack on the Black Sha Stone!"

Lin Chen ignored her exclamation; his attention was entirely drawn to another detail.

Those two characters, especially the final stroke of the character "Hai," had shifted slightly toward the west side of the valley entrance after forming.

That was not an unconscious shift; it was a form of guidance.

He slowly raised his head, looking toward the area at the west side of the valley entrance that was shrouded in toxic fog year-round.

"Ruxu, adjust the Star-Leading Formation and monitor the west of the valley with all your might." Lin Chen's voice was low and calm. "Do not skimp on Spirit Stones; I want to know the flow of every wisp of Spiritual Qi within that toxic fog."

"Yes, Clan Chief!" Liu Ruxu did not dare to delay and immediately accepted the order, her figure transforming into a green shadow as she disappeared into the depths of the courtyard.

Lin Chen's gaze swept over his son, who stood silently to the side.

Lin Haoyu had not said a word from beginning to end, but his right hand was tightly gripping the heavy mysterious iron sword behind his back, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

"Father, I will go investigate." Lin Haoyu finally spoke, his voice sounding like two stones rubbing together, low and firm.

Lin Chen looked at those eyes, which were seventy percent similar to his own but sharper and brighter, and did not stop him.

He knew that this young tiger, which had begun to bare its fangs, needed real combat to hone its claws.

"Take this." Lin Chen took a crystal-clear jade talisman from his bosom and handed it over. "This is a 'Mind-Clearing Jade Talisman' refined by Qing Yao; it can keep your mind clear for one hour and protect you from the mental erosion of the toxic fog."

"I understand, Father." Lin Haoyu took the jade talisman and solemnly tucked it away close to his body.

He did not waste any words, turning around and striding toward the west side of the valley entrance.

His footsteps were steady and powerful, each step seeming to measure the earth, while the heavy sword dragged a shallow mark behind him.

As he drew closer to the purple-black toxic fog, the fishy, sweet smell in the air grew increasingly thick, as if it could bore into one's very bones.

Lin Haoyu did not hesitate in the slightest, stepping into the rolling miasma.

"Hiss—" Almost the moment he stepped in, the ground beneath his feet was corroded by the toxic fog, sizzling loudly.

A bone-chilling coldness rapidly spread upward from his feet, as if countless venomous snakes were gnawing at his Meridians.

Lin Haoyu let out a muffled grunt, and the thick Spiritual Qi within his body erupted instantly, like a sturdy dam, firmly blocking the coldness below his knees.

He did not stop, continuing to walk deeper into the toxic fog.

The light around him dimmed rapidly, visibility dropping to less than three feet, and the only sound in his ears was the ghostly wailing of the rolling toxic fog.

Lin Haoyu slowly drew the heavy sword from his back.

The wide, thick blade emitted a faint, moon-like radiance within the dim toxic fog.

"Hum—" The blade trembled lightly, emitting bursts of low, thunderous sounds.

As he ventured deeper, a thin layer of white frost began to condense upon that radiance.

This was a phenomenon formed by the collision of the overly dense, sinister, toxic Qi of this place and his extremely Yang and rigid Sword Qi.

Lin Haoyu's footsteps suddenly stopped.

He could feel that three zhang ahead, the toxic fog in one spot was flowing abnormally slowly, almost in a stagnant state.

The aura there was colder and more obscure than anywhere else around.

He closed his eyes slightly, concentrating all his perception on the heavy sword in his hand.

The white frost on the blade was thickening at a rate visible to the naked eye.

That was it!

Lin Haoyu opened his eyes abruptly, a sharp gleam shooting from them!

Without the slightest warning, even omitting the opening stance, he channeled all the strength in his body through his spine and instantly into his right arm. The mysterious iron sword in his hand brought with it a shrill whistle that tore through the air, striking heavily toward that empty Void Realm!

"Qinghe Sword Art—Severing the Flow!"

This sword strike was simple and unadorned, yet it contained all his essence, energy, and spirit.

"Boom!" The Sword Qi, like an invisible giant axe, fiercely split open the thick toxic fog.

Right within that forcibly torn gap in the fog, a bizarre scene was suddenly exposed!

A withered old man with a face full of wrinkles was sitting cross-legged on a black stone platform suspended in mid-air.

His cloudy eyes were filled with shock and disbelief; clearly, he had not expected that his deeply hidden formation eye would be discovered by a mere brat with a single sword strike!

It was none other than Old Monster Wu!

"Little bastard, you are courting death!"

Old Monster Wu's shock lasted only for an instant before turning into monstrous rage.

To have his location discovered by a junior in the Qi Refinement Stage was a great humiliation for a Nascent Soul old monster like him!

His withered right hand clenched abruptly, and a long-prepared spell instantly took shape, which he then fiercely crushed!

"Rumble—" The moment the spell shattered, the entire Zangtian Abyss valley, along with the Jieyin City outside, began to tremble violently!

This was not an ordinary earthquake, but a violent pulsation originating from deep within the earth's core!

It was as if a giant beast, imprisoned for ten thousand years, had been thoroughly enraged at this moment and broken free from all its shackles!

In the secret chamber of Geng No. 9 Courtyard.

Lin Chen, who had been sensing with his eyes closed, opened them abruptly, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" A series of crisp cracking sounds came from his right arm.

That arm guard, woven from ten-thousand-year ice silkworm silk and incomparably tough, was now breaking inch by inch as if it were fragile spider silk!

The arm guard shattered, revealing the skin of his right arm.

That originally bronze-colored skin now had eerie, ink-like black patterns emerging all over it.

A terrifying, irresistible suction force from deep underground was frantically draining the Spiritual Qi from his body through these black patterns!

It was the Eye of the Earth Vein!

Old Monster Wu had detonated the Earth Vein, forcibly opening this sealed plane node!

Lin Chen was horrified; he could clearly feel his cultivation base fading at a terrifying speed, all being sucked into the unknown abyss beneath the earth.

Just then, the coarse stone ring on his thumb suddenly erupted with an unprecedented burning sensation!

"Whoosh!" The stone ring actually detached from his finger on its own, transforming into an almost imperceptible stream of light. Ignoring the hard blue-brick floor, it shot straight toward the fissure that had been torn open again due to the Earth Vein riot!

"Hahaha! Indeed, a rare treasure has appeared!"

In the toxic fog, Old Monster Wu sensed that fleeting spatial fluctuation and let out a burst of mad laughter.

He mistakenly thought that the Earth Vein riot had triggered a deeply hidden treasure.

Without a second thought, he flicked his finger, and three black poison needles, as fine as ox hair, transformed into three streaks of dark light. Breaking through the fog, they shot directly at the stone ring flying toward the fissure, attempting to intercept it.

However, a bizarre scene occurred.

Those Soul-Snatching Flying Needles, capable of piercing metal and stone, upon the moment of almost touching the stone ring, were like ice and snow thrown into a furnace; they silently turned into the purest iron filings and were instantly swallowed and absorbed by a tiny vortex that appeared on the surface of the stone ring.

The Ring Spirit... ate them as snacks!

The mad laughter on Old Monster Wu's face instantly froze.

Before he could react, ten thousand zhang of golden light erupted from that bottomless fissure!

"Boom—" The floor of the entire secret chamber exploded with a roar, sending gravel flying in all directions.

Amidst that sky-piercing golden light, a walnut-sized piece of spiritual essence, entirely liquid and golden, slowly emerged.

Its surface shimmered with flowing light, and the Spiritual Qi it emitted was so pure that just smelling it made one's mouth water, and even one's cultivation Bottleneck faintly loosened.

"Geng Metal Spiritual Essence!" Old Monster Wu exclaimed in shock, an unprecedented greed erupting in his eyes.

He no longer cared about dealing with Lin Haoyu; his figure flickered, and like a vulture pouncing on prey, he threw himself desperately toward that piece of golden spiritual essence!

Just at the moment his fingertips were about to touch the spiritual essence, that piece of liquid spiritual essence suddenly trembled violently, instantly dividing into seven golden streaks of light of varying sizes.

Four of the light streaks, like a startled school of fish, instantly plunged deep into the earth and disappeared.

The remaining three, however, as if finding their home, traced a bizarre arc, ignored the barriers of space, and precisely drilled into the wound on Lin Chen's right arm that had been blackened by spatial force!

"Ah—" An indescribable, intense pain and comfort exploded simultaneously in Lin Chen's right arm, and he could not help but let out a low roar.

"No!" Old Monster Wu watched helplessly as the meat that had reached his mouth flew away, letting out a shrill, miserable scream.

In that moment of distraction, a sharp, peerless sword light had already slashed down upon his head!

It was Lin Haoyu! He had seized this fleeting opportunity and swung the heavy sword again!

However, the sword light fell, only shattering a wooden, expressionless substitute Puppet that was identical to Old Monster Wu.

Old Monster Wu's true body had long since turned into a wisp of black smoke, fleeing rapidly toward the outside of the valley.

From within the black smoke came his incomparably venomous screech: "Lin family... you have no idea what you have touched! Just wait! Wait for the wrath of the entire Xuanling World!"

Before the screeching sound had dissipated, a noisy clamor of startled birds suddenly arose from outside Zangtian Abyss, as if some terrifying existence was closing in from all directions.

In the secret chamber, the golden light dissipated, and everything returned to silence.

Chu Yun and the others rushed in, and seeing the mess on the floor and the pale-faced Lin Chen, they were all greatly alarmed.

"Clan Chief, are you alright?"

Lin Chen slowly raised his head and shook it, but his gaze remained fixed on his right arm, which had returned to normal.

The moment those three streaks of Geng Metal Spiritual Essence entered his body, a complex, brand-new rune imprint automatically appeared on the surface of the silent stone ring in his Sea of Consciousness.

Ignoring everyone's concern, he turned around directly, walked quickly back to his room in the inn, and locked the door behind him.

He took a thick stack of blank talisman paper from his Storage Pouch, but after hesitating for a moment, he put them all away again.

Subsequently, he took out dozens of sheets of rough, specially made sandpaper used for grinding Magical Artifacts, and cautiously, one by one, covered the entire floor of the secret chamber tightly.