198: Chapter 198 Obsessive-compulsive disorder

"Lin Qing, you are indeed very alert!"

They were the Peak Ninth-Stage Disciples from the four super forces. They had also broken free from the illusion and arrived here a step ahead of Lin Qing.

This did not mean they were stronger than Lin Qing. After all, the passageways were constantly changing; their route was different from Lin Qing's, and the traps they encountered were also different.

Therefore, it was quite reasonable for them to be either ahead of or behind Lin Qing.

Originally, there were five Peak Ninth-Stage cultivators in the Secret Realm, but the one from the Lingxiao Sword Sect, who was Ren Wudi's Senior Brother, had by now become an idiot.

It was unclear if his fellow Junior Brothers had taken him along when they entered the Secret Realm's passageways later. If they had, he was likely dead by now.

Among these four, one person had a rather special status: the one from the Wanyan Spirit Pavilion. He was a fellow Disciple of Senior Sister Tao Tao.

Senior Sister Tao Tao was quite famous in the Central Continent, so as her Senior Brother, it was impossible for him not to recognize her. Seeing Senior Sister Tao Tao following Lin Qing at this moment, his expression became very ugly.

"Senior Sister Tao Tao, come here!"

Because the Fellow Daoists from the other three super forces were present, this Senior Brother spoke in a very harsh tone, not giving Senior Sister Tao Tao any Face at all.

Lin Qing watched Senior Sister Tao Tao with great interest, wanting to see what choice she would make.

For a moment, Senior Sister Tao Tao was caught in a dilemma. In terms of faction background, she should have immediately stood on the side of the four Peak Ninth-Stage cultivators.

However, having followed Lin Qing all the way here, she knew deep down how terrifying he was. Although her role to Lin Qing was that of a pathfinding stone, whenever she triggered a trap, Lin Qing was always able to save her with ease.

Moreover, Lin Qing had now acquired the stone Puppet, further strengthening his power.

Thinking of Lin Qing's strength, and recalling what her Senior Brother had said to her before he passed away, Senior Sister Tao Tao made her choice.

She wanted to live, and she did not believe the four people opposite them were any match for Lin Qing, so she moved a few small steps closer to Lin Qing.

Senior Sister Tao Tao's action explained everything. The other three looked at the person from the Wanyan Spirit Pavilion with playful eyes, clearly watching him make a fool of himself.

"Fine, fine, fine, you little harlot, I will make sure you beg for death but cannot die later."

The trace of evil intent in his eyes did not escape those present. The other three looked pleased; Senior Sister Tao Tao was quite beautiful, and since her own Senior Brother had such thoughts, they naturally would not object.

Furthermore, in order to keep the three of them quiet, the other party certainly wouldn't keep her all to himself.

The person from the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace leaned in toward Senior Sister Tao Tao's Senior Brother and whispered:

"Brother Yuwen, about that... I have mysophobia, do you think...?"

"If you have mysophobia, you go last and clean up the mess!"

The Disciple from the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace choked on his words, his expression becoming very ugly, and then he turned around and glared fiercely at Lin Qing.

"Kid, are you going to surrender yourself, or do you need me to break your limbs first?"

Lin Qing scoffed; he didn't know where the other party's confidence came from.

"Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain, go play with them."

The four of them had naturally noticed the four stone statues behind Lin Qing long ago. It was precisely because their footsteps were too loud earlier that the four of them had noticed them in advance, thus hiding behind the rocks to set an ambush.

But unfortunately, Lin Qing had discovered them beforehand.

The four did not take the stone statues seriously. In their view, since Lin Qing could subdue the stone statues, they naturally could as well.

The Disciple from the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace stepped forward.

"Everyone, let me handle this."

Judging by his demeanor, he wanted to take on all four, but Lin Qing did not give him that chance. Having already fought a battle against the four stone statues, Lin Qing did not want to take action himself at this moment.

It would be better to let them fight four-on-four, so Lin Qing turned his head and said to the stone statue holding a long sword:

"Fire, you go."

The order was given, and the stone statue immediately executed it. It quickly stepped forward a few paces to the center of both parties, then raised its sword and swept it horizontally toward the Disciple from the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace.

Fire's speed was not fast; its Moves were mainly fierce and explosive. Lin Qing had named them based on the stone statues' different characteristics.

This horizontally sweeping strike of ordinary speed caused the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace Disciple's confidence to swell once again. He raised the weapon in his hand, performed a very standard blocking maneuver, and said with an arrogant expression:

"Hmph, petty tricks!"

"Wha..."

Boom—!

He had blocked it, but he clearly hadn't blocked it successfully.

The moment his weapon made contact with the long sword, he realized something was wrong. His block did not slow down the long sword in Fire's hand; that fierce force was simply not something he could withstand.

Thus, before his exclamation was even halfway out, he was swept away, crashing into a boulder at the side. The boulder was shattered by his body, and stones scattered and flew everywhere.

After all, he was a Peak Ninth-Stage cultivator. Although blood was flowing from his mouth and nose and his clothes were covered in dust, he quickly stood up and stared warily at the Fire stone statue.

Fire did not wait for him to get ready and charged toward him again with its sword raised.

The Disciple from the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace had indeed been careless just now. Now that he had witnessed the strength of the stone statue, he no longer held back his strength and was soon locked in battle with Fire.

The other three Peak Ninth-Stage cultivators' expressions had become serious by now. The strength of these stone statues exceeded their expectations; could it be that Lin Qing had used some special method to subdue them?

Lin Qing did not give them too much time to think.

"Wind, Forest, Mountain, you go too!"

Very quickly, the four Peak Ninth-Stage cultivators from the super forces were locked in battle with Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain. They each took one and fought in pairs.

Soon, the four of them discovered that the characteristics of the four stone statues were different, so they began to swap for suitable opponents, and the situation was immediately stabilized by them.

Lin Qing had been watching from the side, applauding their performance.

The representative Disciples of the super forces did have some substance; whether it was the connection of their Moves or the transition between offense and defense, their performance was extremely outstanding.

Looking at the leisurely Lin Qing on the sidelines, Senior Sister Tao Tao's Senior Brother's expression became even gloomier. He immediately shouted to the other three:

"Everyone, continuing like this is not the way. Join forces!"

The other three had been unable to secure a victory for a long time and had already harbored the intention to join forces, but they had just been too embarrassed to say it. Now that Senior Sister Tao Tao's Senior Brother had spoken up, they no longer tried to hold out.

"Alright!"

Thus, the few of them quickly retreated together.

Seeing this, Lin Qing shook his head; it seemed the battle was coming to an end.

The four stone statues, Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain, were inherently a systematic existence. When fighting individually, their advantages and flaws were very obvious.

But if they joined forces and cooperated with each other, the four super force Disciples would only be defeated faster.

Sure enough, only a few breaths after the group battle began, a scream came from the fray.

"Ah!"

Lin Qing saw a spray of blood in the arena, and then an arm was sent flying into mid-air.

It was the Disciple from the Qianyuan Heavenly Palace from earlier. He had already suffered a heavy blow from Fire due to his carelessness, and injuries had already appeared inside his body; it was only reasonable that he would be the first to be defeated now.