Chapter 138: Head of the Lin Family

With a casual flick of his hand, Jin Zhan was sent flying sideways, crashing heavily into a great tree. Yin Tianfang pointed a finger, and a thread of force shot forth. Jin Zhan let out a terrible cry and clutched his lower abdomen. His face instantly turned deathly pale as beads of sweat the size of beans slid down his forehead.

Yin Tianfang had destroyed his dantian with a single finger, reducing decades of cultivation to nothing. Jin Zhan stared at him, his eyes filled with venomous hatred.

He had painstakingly cultivated for decades and had finally reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm. With one more step, he would have entered the Core Formation Realm. At that point, he would have become one of the foremost experts in the Clear Water Kingdom, rising above ordinary men. Yet with that single finger, all his efforts had vanished.

“Yin Tianfang, even if I die, I will never let you go! I will return from the Netherworld and take revenge on you!” Jin Zhan snarled, his eyes blazing crimson. He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of vital blood, then formed a strange seal with both hands.

In an instant, violent winds swept through the forest, and the surroundings gradually grew bitterly cold. The icy wind howled among the trees, sending an eerie chill through the air. Jin Zhan fixed his blood-red eyes on Yin Tianfang as black lines appeared across his face, making him look like a terrifying, savage ghost.

A sinister, eerie smile appeared on Jin Zhan’s face before slowly freezing in place. The vitality within him gradually faded, and in the end, he became a corpse.

Jin Zhan was dead. To see him die so strangely before everyone’s eyes left them oppressed and uneasy. The bizarre phenomena that had appeared around him at the moment of his death were especially disturbing. They had never before witnessed such an uncanny sight accompanying someone’s demise.

“Senior Brother Yin, what happened?” Qiu Fei hurried to Yin Tianfang’s side, his expression somewhat panicked.

Yin Tianfang slightly furrowed his brows as he looked at Jin Zhan’s dead body, the strange smile still frozen upon its face. He shook his head faintly. “I’m not entirely sure myself.”

“But even if he truly can return from the Netherworld, so what?” Yin Tianfang said calmly. Such a threat could hardly make him afraid.

He turned his gaze toward the members of the Profound Dao Sect. “Do you want to leave with us?”

The group exchanged glances. Once they had reached a decision, one of them stepped forward and cupped his fists toward Yin Tianfang and Qiu Fei.

“We were blind before and too quick to trust Jin Zhan. Thank you both, Senior Brothers, for saving us. We are willing to follow you.”

“If that is the case, then we should set out at once and look for the others,” Yin Tianfang said.

He then leapt onto the back of the Heavenwing Demon Tiger and said to the others, “Come up.”

The Heavenwing Demon Tiger’s body swelled, and in the blink of an eye it grew as large as a small mountain. Qiu Fei led the members of the Profound Dao Sect onto its back.

A month later, within the Divine Medicine Mountains, a massive demon beast streaked across the sky. Its snow-white fur shimmered like silk, and when it spread its wings, it moved as swiftly as lightning. Several dozen figures stood upon its back. At the head was a young man dressed in blue. His features were refined and handsome, but every strand of his hair was white as snow.

It was Yin Tianfang and the others.

After a month, all the surviving disciples of the Profound Dao Sect who had been scattered throughout the Divine Medicine Mountains had gathered here. Of the more than a hundred people they had numbered at the beginning, fewer than a hundred remained. The rest had been left behind forever in the mountains.

Carrying them on its back, the Heavenwing Demon Tiger flew toward the outskirts of the Divine Medicine Mountains. All the disciples of the Profound Dao Sect were now gathered together, so there was no need for them to remain there any longer.

Although the mountains held immense opportunities, such opportunities were beyond their ability to seize. Even Yin Tianfang, who had reached the Core Formation Realm, would certainly have died with both body and soul destroyed had he rashly involved himself in them.

The Heavenwing Demon Tiger was astonishingly fast. It flashed through the sky, leaving behind overlapping afterimages as it sped toward the capital of the Clear Water Kingdom beyond the Divine Medicine Mountains.

Suddenly, a black pillar of light shot into the heavens ahead. Demonic energy surged and rolled as a powerful aura spread through the air. Before that overwhelming presence, even the Heavenwing Demon Tiger’s eyes revealed fear, and its body abruptly halted in midair.

Deep within the forest below stood a lone figure. An intensely dense demonic aura emanated from his body, billowing upward into the clouds. Several corpses lay scattered around him.

Judging from the lingering fluctuations around those bodies, the dead had unmistakably reached the peak of the Core Formation Realm.

The man was shrouded in black mist, making his features impossible to discern. Only a pair of scarlet eyes could be seen.

“Hm?”

The demonic energy filling the sky suddenly swept backward and poured into the man’s body, revealing a middle-aged man. Black hair fell over his shoulders, and crimson light flickered within his eyes. He raised his head and looked toward the Heavenwing Demon Tiger in the sky.

“What a familiar little fellow.”

The middle-aged man’s gaze fell upon Yin Tianfang. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of confusion appeared in them.

On the back of the Heavenwing Demon Tiger, Yin Tianfang inexplicably felt a chill. He looked downward, and the instant his eyes met those of the middle-aged man, a strong sense of foreboding arose in his heart.

“Take them away from here. Go to the capital of the Clear Water Kingdom!” Yin Tianfang leapt from the Heavenwing Demon Tiger’s back and hovered in midair. With a solemn expression, he spoke to the beast.

The Heavenwing Demon Tiger did not hesitate. It spread its wings and carried the members of the Profound Dao Sect away like a bolt of lightning, vanishing into the distance in an instant.

Within the forest, the middle-aged man stood motionless. He did not care in the slightest that the Heavenwing Demon Tiger had departed. His gaze remained fixed upon Yin Tianfang.

Only after watching the Heavenwing Demon Tiger disappear did Yin Tianfang turn his attention back to the middle-aged man below.

With a sudden blur, the middle-aged man vanished from his original position. When he appeared again, he was already hovering in the air a hundred yards from Yin Tianfang, scrutinizing him closely. After a moment, his eyes narrowed, and a sharp killing intent radiated from his body.

“Boy, so it really is you!” the middle-aged man shouted in a chilling voice.

At the same time the middle-aged man recognized Yin Tianfang, Yin Tianfang remembered him as well. He had seen this man during the sect’s grand competition, and the two of them had a deep grudge between them.

He was none other than Lin Xiao, patriarch of the Lin Family.

Lin Tian of the Lin Family had attempted to assault Nuo Lan and had been slain by Yin Tianfang. The Lin Family patriarch had then brought the Lin Family’s old ancestor to seek revenge, only to be driven back by Elder Xuan Yin.

Since then, Yin Tianfang had not seen the Lin Family patriarch again. He had never expected to encounter Lin Xiao in this place today.