Chapter 195: Sweeping Away All Resistance, Killing to Silence

Wang Lin's gaze was icy cold as he swept over Qian Kun, saying in a gloomy tone, "Meng Tuozi is your Grandmaster?"

Qian Kun's body immediately trembled. If he had harbored a trace of doubt before, it now vanished completely. One must know that Meng Qingfan, the master of the Poison Devil Palace, had an extremely notorious reputation in the Devil Cultivation Sea. Ordinary Cultivators, whether in public or private, would respectfully refer to Meng Qingfan as Senior Meng whenever they mentioned him.

Even a few people of his generation would call him Palace Master Meng. The reason for this, besides his Soul Transformation Stage cultivation which was almost at the peak within the Devil Cultivation Sea, was most importantly his mastery of Poison Arts. His Poison Arts were truly impossible to guard against, colorless and odorless; often, by the time the victim was fatally poisoned, they still couldn't figure out how they had been poisoned before they died.

Furthermore, Meng Qingfan had a peculiar temperament; if a single word displeased him, he would exterminate an entire School. Once, there was a large School in the Devil Cultivation Sea that, although it didn't have any Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators, possessed several Late Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators. The strength of this School was considered a regional overlord within the Devil Cultivation Sea.

Yet, precisely because a Nascent Soul Stage Disciple of this School inadvertently saw Meng Tuozi, not only did he fail to recognize his identity, but he also mocked him with malicious words.

That very night, Meng Qingfan entered the School alone. An hour later, when he left, all three thousand four hundred and fifty-six people, including all the servants, Outer Sect Disciples, Inner Sect Disciples, and even the several Late Stage Nascent Soul Cultivators, everyone in the entire School, were left without a single survivor.

Meng Qingfan liked to leave a line of text when he killed, stating the reason, which was how the cause of the incident became known to all Cultivators.

As a result, Meng Qingfan's infamous reputation in the Devil Cultivation Sea was such that everyone spoke of him with a change in expression.

Those who could call him Meng Tuozi in the Devil Cultivation Sea were absolutely few and far between. Now, Qian Kun's heart grew even more certain of his conjecture upon hearing Wang Lin's words.

"Se-Senior, Old Ancestor Meng is indeed this Junior's Grandmaster," Qian Kun dared not conceal anything and quickly said. After speaking, he gritted his teeth and, without waiting for Wang Lin to ask, spilled all the secrets he had just been holding in his heart.

It turned out that Qian Kun had, by chance, overheard the current Palace Master mention that Old Ancestor Meng Qingfan was not missing, but had entered the Shattered Star Chaos to search for treasure. It was said that this was the Old Ancestor's second trip to the Shattered Star Chaos.

And it was mentioned that if, one day, large-scale spatial rifts appeared within the Shattered Star Chaos, it would signify the Old Ancestor's return!

After Qian Kun heard this, he initially kept it in mind, but as time passed, and since it had no direct bearing on his personal interests, he gradually forgot about it.

Thus, when he first saw the rifts appear in the Shattered Star Chaos, he only felt a sense of familiarity but didn't think deeply about it. However, later, when he answered Wang Lin's questions, it was as if lightning had struck his mind, and he immediately remembered the reason.

Therefore, his expression had changed drastically earlier. Spatial rifts had opened in the Shattered Star Chaos, but the Old Ancestor had not returned. Even those Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators from two hundred years ago—Seven Plums Master Duanmu Ji, Xuantian Sect Master Six Desires Demonic Lord, and Heavenly Devil Cave's Soul Transformation Old Monster Gu Di—none of these individuals had emerged from the rifts. Instead, a unfamiliar young man had walked out from within.

This couldn't help but make him form various associations.

After Wang Lin finished listening, he pondered for a moment. At this time, Qian Kun's heart was tense, and he quietly placed his right hand on his Storage Pouch. Then he secretly gritted his teeth, and suddenly threw out a handful of black sand. At the same time, his body instantly retreated, turning his head and fleeing desperately without looking back.

The black sand emitted a foul, fishy stench, and upon appearing, immediately produced faint rustling sounds. A hint of mockery flashed in Wang Lin's heart. He did not dodge, but instead slapped his Storage Pouch, and immediately the Poison Sword flew out.

As soon as the Poison Sword appeared, it instantly weaved back and forth several times through the overwhelming falling sand. Green flames immediately ignited on the black sand, emitting crackling sounds. Finally, all the black sand completely transformed into wisps of green mist, which were absorbed into the sword body by the Poison Sword.

All of this happened extremely quickly; almost the instant Qian Kun threw out the black sand and fled, Wang Lin's Poison Sword transformed the black sand into mist and absorbed it.

At this moment, Qian Kun's heart trembled again. This time, a chilling coldness permeated every part of his body. He gritted his teeth, urged his spiritual power, and frantically fled for his life.

Wang Lin's gaze was cold. He tapped his right hand on his glabella, and immediately, a black shadow floated out from the Soul Core within his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness. This black shadow, faster than lightning, rushed out from his Sea of Consciousness and flashed away from Wang Lin's glabella.

The Devil Head Xu Ligou's voice, filled with a trace of wild joy, immediately echoed all around.

"This Old Man is finally out! I was suffocating! Kid, don't run! Let your Grandpa Xu devour you to repay the grace of indirectly allowing this Old Man to see the light of day again! I promise you won't feel any pain, don't worry!"

The instant this voice appeared, the Devil Head Xu Ligou's body, like a wisp of smoke, had already caught up to Qian Kun. Under Qian Kun's astonished gaze, Xu Ligou pounced on him, devoured his Divine Sense, and then, carrying a glittering Golden Core and the opponent's Storage Pouch, he drilled out of Qian Kun's body and returned to Wang Lin's side.

Xu Ligou forced out a fawning expression, reluctantly handing over the Golden Core.

Wang Lin glanced at the Golden Core, took it, and threw it into his mouth. As soon as the Golden Core entered his mouth, the Ancient God Art within his body immediately began to circulate. In just a few breaths, it was instantly broken down and completely absorbed.

Wang Lin could feel that over eighty percent of this Golden Core was absorbed by his body the moment it was broken down, with the remaining twenty percent transforming into spiritual power.

After absorbing the Golden Core, Wang Lin placed the Storage Pouch in his embrace, then pointed a finger at Qian Kun's body. A small fireball emerged from his fingertip, quickly landing on Qian Kun's corpse in the distance. In an instant, Qian Kun's body turned to ash.

Yun Fei witnessed the scene before her, and her face immediately grew even paler. She subconsciously took a few steps back. In her opinion, this white-haired young man's cultivation was too unfathomably deep, especially the Magic Treasure he used; she recognized it at a glance—it was actually a Nascent Soul.

It was no wonder Yun Fei made a mistake; the Devil Head Xu Ligou's Divine Sense was originally refined from a Nascent Soul, and coupled with the series of Old Ancestors Xu Ligou encountered in the third trial of the Ancient God Land, he had undergone some changes.

More importantly, Wang Lin had formed a Soul Core. Although this Soul Core didn't directly increase the Devouring Soul's own cultivation, once a Soul Core was formed, the Devouring Soul could create Wandering Souls itself and greatly assist them.

As for Wang Lin killing Qian Kun, he naturally didn't want the fact that he emerged from the Shattered Star Chaos to be exposed.

What made Yun Fei feel utterly terrified was witnessing Wang Lin swallow Qian Kun's Golden Core. One must know that even in the Poison Devil Palace, the Palace Master would not directly swallow a Golden Core, but would use it as medicine before consuming it.

She had almost never seen such a bloody scene before. Now, the sense of danger Wang Lin brought her was even greater than what Qian Kun had given her earlier.

Wang Lin's gaze fell on Yun Fei, and her body immediately trembled. She lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes. Wang Lin's expression was normal as he slowly said, "I helped you kill Qian Kun. How will you repay me?"

Yun Fei trembled as she looked up, forcing herself to be calm and squeezing out a smile, but her voice uncontrollably quivered as she said, "Se-Senior, this Junior and Qian Kun are not acquainted."

Wang Lin didn't speak, merely looking at her calmly.

Yun Fei immediately saw a cold glint in his eyes. Her heart was anxious; the other party was clearly a naturally heartless person who wouldn't show any mercy just because she was a female Cultivator. She knew well that such people were the most pragmatic; if she didn't have something that could thoroughly impress him, then a dead end awaited her.

Yun Fei was originally a clever and intelligent person. Through all that had just happened, she already knew in her heart that the other party did not want the matter of his emergence from the Shattered Star Ring to be known. Now that Qian Kun was dead, she was the only one who knew about it.

She bit her lower lip tightly, a decisive look on her face, and took out a Jade Slip from her Storage Pouch, respectfully presenting it to Wang Lin.

"Senior, this is a copied version of my School's relic. It records several precious Pill Formulas and is the treasured artifact of my Qihuang Sect."

Wang Lin took the Jade Slip, swept it with his Divine Sense, then looked up at Yun Fei.

Yun Fei's heart was bitter; she could tell that a mere Jade Slip clearly wouldn't impress the other party. Her mind raced, and finally, a flash of inspiration struck her. She quickly said, "Senior, this Junior grew up in Qilin City and owns an Earth-Grade house there. Moreover, this Junior is very familiar with Qilin City. If Senior needs anything, this Junior can assist." After speaking, she was somewhat worried that Wang Lin might not know the rules of Qilin City, so she continued:

"Senior, you know that if you don't have a local identity in Qilin City, outside Cultivators can only stay in the city for a maximum of three days. After that, they need to spend ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones every day, and even then, they can only stay for a maximum of ten more days. But this Junior is different; I have Qilin City residency status. With this Junior leading the way, Senior can reside without any time limit.

Additionally, this Junior is very familiar with the inner Devil Cultivation Sea, including the locations of cities and the strengths of the Cultivators within them. These past years, this Junior has specifically handled these matters in the Devil Palace. One could say there are very few places in the entire Devil Cultivation Sea that this Junior doesn't know. If not for being chased by Qian Kun in such a panic this time, this Junior would never have mistakenly come to this Shattered Star Chaos."

After speaking in one breath, Yun Fei nervously looked at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin pondered for a moment. He casually grabbed with his right hand, and Yun Fei's body involuntarily floated towards him.

At the same time, he twisted his right wrist, joined his index and middle fingers, and swiftly waved them. Immediately, a residual image of a Restriction appeared, striking Yun Fei's glabella.

"This Restriction will activate every three days. Each time it activates, your blood will flow backward, your cultivation within your body will become chaotic, thereby igniting the Five Elements fire in your heart and lungs. If I don't remove it within a quarter of an hour, your entire body will immediately turn into a pool of blood."

Yun Fei's beautiful face changed color, but soon, she calmed down. After taking a few deep breaths, Yun Fei knew that her life had been temporarily preserved.

"Take me to Qilin City!" Wang Lin's expression was normal, his voice without any fluctuation.

Yun Fei quickly nodded, guiding the way carefully beside Wang Lin with her sword light. Wang Lin flew without using a Flying Sword; instead, he floated forward as if a gentle breeze was supporting his body.

This unique flying method was actually his most proficient Gravity Art from his early years. Now, after so many years, with his continuous use of Gravity Art, even describing it as 'masterful' would be an understatement. More accurately, under his use, this Gravity Art had already infinitely approached a state of perfection.

For example, even if he were to use a Flying Sword now, his speed wouldn't be much faster, and it would consume spiritual power. However, this Gravity Art, being one of the most basic Spells, consumed almost negligible spiritual power for a Late Stage Core Formation Cultivator. If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't even notice the spiritual power depletion.

One could say that the spiritual power consumed in one breath was merely one ten-thousandth of the spiritual power generated by a Golden Core rotating once in the same amount of time.

This understated flying method caused Yun Fei's heart to tremble again. The trace of hope she had for escaping his clutches in the future immediately dissipated considerably.

Actually, a distance of thirty thousand li wasn't very far, but after flying for a day, Wang Lin still hadn't found Qilin City, so his expression immediately darkened. Yun Fei also secretly complained; when she mentioned the distance to Qilin City earlier, she forgot about the unpredictable clusters of deep blue aurora that appeared outside the Shattered Star Chaos.

These auroras didn't appear frequently, but each time they did, they covered a vast area. Once entered, although there would be no danger, Divine Sense couldn't leave the body within the aurora, making it easy to get lost.

Outside the aurora circle, Yun Fei nervously explained the situation. She was afraid of angering the other party, speaking with trepidation. Finally, she suggested going around, which might take a bit longer, but definitely no more than five days.

After Wang Lin heard this, his Divine Sense suddenly extended, sweeping around. His Divine Sense then transformed into a straight line and quickly stretched out. Soon, he saw the aurora circle and, after examining it, confirmed it was as Yun Fei had said. He nodded, agreeing to her suggestion.

Yun Fei let out a sigh of relief and quickly led the way.

Wang Lin was not a talkative person, and Yun Fei was mostly fearful, not daring to speak rashly. Thus, for three consecutive days on this journey, the two barely exchanged any words.

At noon on the third day, the Restriction in Yun Fei's body activated. She verified Wang Lin's previous words, experiencing the pain of blood flowing backward and spiritual power becoming chaotic, threatening to escape her body. She even felt as if there was a ball of fire within her body, as if her entire being was about to melt.

Fortunately, the activation didn't last long and was soon lifted by Wang Lin. After this incident, Yun Fei's last trace of unwillingness completely vanished, and she no longer harbored any rebellious thoughts.

Wang Lin knew exactly what the other party was thinking. Although he was not skilled at controlling people's hearts, he was certainly adept at manipulating Devil Heads.

The methods he used on Yun Fei were actually not much different from raising Devil Heads; their essence was the same.

—

During the holiday period, there were indeed many things to do. It's not that my body can't handle it, but there isn't enough time. However, the promise of the total word count for October will not be deviated from.