145: Chapter 145 Will

He profoundly realized the terror of Lin Qing; as long as Lin Qing did not die today, he would surely meet a gruesome end in the future.

Just as his demonic saber was almost touching Lin Qing's back—

Swoosh!

The teleportation Formation erupted with brilliant spiritual light, instantly swallowing Lin Qing and the others within it.

As the light faded, Lin Qing and the others had vanished, leaving only scattered Formation Materials on the ground.

Old Ghost paused in mid-air, the killing intent in his eyes freezing as he narrowed them slightly.

He swept his hand and collected all the scattered spiritual Materials. These were things he had gifted to Fang Shuo years ago; today, it could be considered returning to their original owner.

The gray-robed elder from the Ten Thousand Ghost Cave flew over slowly with five Primordial Spirit phantoms, landing beside Old Ghost.

His eyes were devoid of ripples, and the gilded Soul-Suppressing Bell in his hand had already been put away. He said indifferently:

"I will not participate in what happens next."

His mission was only to deal with Jue Chenzi's Divine Thought. Now that Jue Chenzi's Divine Thought had completely collapsed, there was naturally no need for him to continue acting.

Moreover, the lineage of the Ten Thousand Ghost Cave was extremely unique. The entire force had few members, totaling only a dozen or so people. Each one was a Foundation of the Sect, and they could not afford any losses.

He was only at the Ninth Realm of cultivation. Logically, he was not permitted to act alone outside, and this time, he had agreed to act privately.

If he delayed too long, once the God Realm experts from the Chuyun Immortal Sect arrived to encircle him here, the overall strength of the Ten Thousand Ghost Cave would directly lose nearly one-tenth, a price too high to pay.

Now that the mission was complete, withdrawing was the safest choice.

Old Ghost nodded and cupped his hands at the gray-robed elder, saying:

"I have troubled Senior Brother Yun Song to act this time."

Lin Qing had escaped, and he neither would nor dared to vent his anger on Yun Song. Ultimately, it was because he had relied on his God Realm cultivation and had not used his full strength in the first strike, which allowed Lin Qing to delay him for a few breaths.

Yun Song nodded slightly and said nothing more. With the five Primordial Spirit phantoms circling around him, he chose a direction and fled through the air at high speed, soon disappearing at the edge of the world.

Above the valley, only Old Ghost remained.

Unwilling to give up, he spread out his Divine Thought, his Divine Soul power sweeping across the surroundings and covering millions of miles of territory to search for where Lin Qing and his group had landed.

A moment later, Old Ghost suddenly let out a low laugh, the sound filled with a sense of schadenfreude:

"Lin Qing, it seems your luck is really not very good."

Then, he soared into the air, transforming into a streak of pitch-black light, and rushed toward the direction where he had detected Lin Qing and the others.

...

In the Land of Chaos, within a swamp shrouded in black fog all year round, a spatial fluctuation occurred, and Lin Qing and the others stumbled out of the Void Realm.

After quickly steadying himself, Lin Qing immediately extended his Divine Thought to see where they were located. A moment later, his heart suddenly sank.

Then, Lin Qing took out Jue Chenzi's communication token:

"Revered Master, I am sorry."

After a brief silence on the other end of the token, only a long, weary sigh from Jue Chenzi finally came through.

Jue Chenzi had already guessed what had happened through Lin Qing's tone; clearly, their landing spot after the random teleportation was not very good.

The swamp they were currently in was a notorious dangerous place in the Land of Chaos: the Rotting Bone Swamp.

The black mist drifting all over the sky had an extremely strong corrosive effect on a Cultivator's Physical Body. Within mere moments of landing, the skin of Ling Shu and the others began to flush with an unnatural crimson.

But this actually did not amount to much; Ling Shu and the others were, after all, at the forefront of the Heaven Ranking, and the miasma corrosion was not yet enough to be fatal to them.

These black mists drifting in the air did not have the effect of blocking Divine Thought, so as long as they expanded their Divine Thought and identified the correct direction, they could escape calmly.

But on the other hand, it also meant one thing: if Old Ghost were to expand his Divine Thought to investigate at this moment, he should have already locked onto their location.

And unfortunately, their teleportation landing spot was directly south of the valley from just now, while the Chuyun Immortal Sect was due north; due south was the direction of the Xuanye Demon Court.

They were not only far from the Immortal Sect's reinforcement route but had also happened to land on the path Old Ghost must take to return to the Demon Court!

Ling Shu and the five of them had been mixing in the borderlands for many years and had recognized the Rotting Bone Swamp even earlier than Lin Qing; their expressions at this moment were likewise ugly to the extreme.

After greeting Jue Chenzi, Lin Qing's expression suddenly became firm. He then took off his Storage Ring, grabbed Ling Shu's right hand, stuffed the Storage Ring into her palm, and urged:

"Keep it safe, and take it back to the Immortal Sect."

Immediately after, he pointed toward the due east direction:

"You all retreat along this direction, and do not stop for a single moment."

Then, Lin Qing fled toward the due west direction.

"Lin Qing!"

Ling Shu and the others instinctively took a step, wanting to chase after him. How could they not understand Lin Qing's intention?

He intended to lure Old Ghost away alone, using his own life to trade for a chance for everyone else to survive.

Lin Qing was actually not the type of person who could sacrifice himself for others, but the opponent was clearly coming for him. Given the conditions, he was unwilling for these people to be implicated.

Just as they took a step, Lin Qing suddenly turned his head and shouted sternly:

"Get out!"

Ling Shu and the others trembled, their footsteps freezing in place. They looked at that resolute back, their eyes red and their hearts feeling as if they were being cut by knives, yet they dared not take another step forward.

A Disciple behind them suppressed their bitterness, gritted their teeth, and whispered:

"Let's go!"

Everyone gritted their teeth, took one deep look at Lin Qing, turned around, and left at full speed toward the due east direction.

The black mist of the swamp churned, quickly swallowing the figures of the group. As for Lin Qing, his speed was fast to the extreme.

His strength had long since exceeded the Eighth Realm by too much. If the person coming was just a newly promoted God Realm Cultivator, with his strength, he might not have been unable to maneuver and drag things out, holding on until the Immortal Sect reinforcements arrived.

But Old Ghost was clearly not a newly promoted God Realm expert!

He was a figure from the same era as Jue Chenzi. Although his progress had been slow after achieving the God Realm and he had been left far behind by Jue Chenzi, he had, after all, honed himself in the Ninth Realm for hundreds of years.

More importantly, he had also comprehended Will. Not every Ninth Realm expert could Revered Master the power of Will, because Will was a necessary condition for ascending to the Tenth Realm. Old Ghost's Realm was firmly at the Peak of the Ninth Realm.

Even though Lin Qing's talent was Heaven-Defying, the gap in Realm was, after all, an insurmountable chasm.

Sure enough, in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the environment around Lin Qing darkened once more, and the familiar Domain of Will enveloped him again.

This time, Old Ghost did not waste any words. With Lin Qing's Divine Thought completely suppressed, the pitch-black demonic saber landed silently on Lin Qing's left shoulder.

Lin Qing didn't even have time to react. At the critical moment, it was Ultra Instinct that saved him.

Under the enhancement of Ultra Instinct, his body's reaction speed exceeded the speed of his thoughts. The moment the saber light touched his shoulder, his body twisted to the extreme, and he fell backward.

Sshh—!

A harsh sound of tearing silk resounded through the sky!

Although he had saved his life, there was still a hideous and terrifying saber scar, slashing diagonally from his left shoulder down to his right abdomen!

His flesh was turned outward, his tendons and bones exposed; it had almost sliced open his entire chest!

Five Elements Spiritual Power circulated throughout his body, easily dispelling the residual spiritual power on the saber scar, but that extremely domineering Saber Intent was locked firmly within the wound.

With Lin Qing's self-healing ability, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, he could only barely keep pace with the speed of the Saber Intent's erosion.

At this moment, Old Ghost's surprised voice came from the dark space all around:

"Kid, what exactly are you hiding on your body?"

Previously, when they were in the valley, Jue Chenzi had personally concealed it, so no one had noticed the abnormality of Lin Qing's spiritual power.

At this moment, Lin Qing was alone, and he had even given away his Storage Ring, so the characteristics of his own spiritual power were completely exposed.

Old Ghost clearly sensed that there were actually five different types of spiritual power circulating within the opponent's body simultaneously.

In an instant, a sense of greed sprouted in the depths of Old Ghost's heart. Just to reach the Ninth Realm, he had to cultivate for hundreds of years, and the future could almost be seen at a glance.

But now, he saw a brand-new possibility in Lin Qing. Regardless of whether it would help his cultivation, he at least had to first figure out this unheard-of abnormal situation.

His intent to kill gradually receded, and his greed skyrocketed! Compared to killing a Genius, seizing the secrets on his body was clearly of higher value!

The next moment, Old Ghost finally unleashed his Primordial Spirit Leaving the Body.

For Lin Qing, he had a sliver of a chance to resist physical onslaughts and spiritual power attacks, but unfortunately, the Primordial Spirit was immune to physical attacks and Spell attacks.

And as for the only power that could touch the Primordial Spirit—Divine Thought—he and Old Ghost were far too different.

After all, the first step of the God Realm, the Ninth Realm, was called Spirit Refining. Old Ghost had been refining his spirit for hundreds of years, so naturally, it was not something Lin Qing could contend with.

In the pitch-black environment, Old Ghost's Primordial Spirit suddenly appeared in front of Lin Qing, a pitch-black, solid Primordial Spirit hand firmly gripping Lin Qing's skull!

No matter how Lin Qing's Physical Body struggled or how his spiritual power raged, that Primordial Spirit hand did not move a single bit, locked tightly onto his head.

Soul Search!

Lin Qing's mind went completely mad!

No!

Absolutely not!

Others could pry into his Physique, could pry into his Cultivation Technique, could pry into his fortuitous encounters, but only the place in his mind—that root of his origin—must absolutely not be exposed!

He was not sure if this world had those kinds of experts capable of crossing Realms. Once the news leaked, the consequences were something he could not bear, even in death.

He absolutely could not be subjected to a Soul Search!

He absolutely could not be pried into!

Even if he were to be doomed forever or have his Divine Soul destroyed today, he had to stop this Soul Search!

Kill!

Old Ghost must die!

Boom—!

A brand-new power suddenly exploded within Lin Qing's body!

That was the power of Will that even ordinary Ninth Realm experts might not be able to condense.

That was the resolution of pressing forward, preferring death to retreat, and using any means necessary!

A wisp of vast, domineering, and paranoid Will shot straight into the sky!

This Will—Burning the Bridges!