Chapter 68: Seizing the Foundation (Three)

Two days later, Wang Lin walked alongside a small river, taking a drink while cautiously observing his surroundings. Suddenly, his expression shifted, and he cursed, "This guy is truly a lingering ghost."

Releasing his Flying Sword and putting away his Gourd, he leaped over the river and rushed toward the depths of the jungle.

Before long, Teng Li cautiously pursued him, daring not to use even a shred of magical power. He was extremely haggard at this moment; the golden Inner Armor on his body had lost its luster, with large sections peeling off, and his right hand was clearly drooping below his shoulder.

His hair was disheveled, his face was ashen, and his eyes burned with raging fury. His hatred for Wang Lin surpassed everything. Since childhood, as a favored genius, he had never been so humiliated and wretched.

All of this was thanks to Wang Lin.

The bizarre vines two days ago had nearly pushed him to the brink of death. He never expected those few inconspicuous vines to possess such immense power; when the liquid sprayed by the vines touched his Inner Armor, it actually began to melt.

If that were all, it would have been fine, he could have just attacked with his Flying Sword. But these vines seemed indestructible; cutting one down caused it to split into two, eventually multiplying endlessly.

Even the Lightning Orb attached to his Flying Sword could not completely eradicate the vines.

Furthermore, Wang Lin's strange Flying Sword would occasionally appear to launch sneak attacks. His right arm was injured by that Flying Sword of Wang Lin's.

Finally, Teng Li had no choice but to take out the life-saving Magic Treasure given to him by the Teng Family Old Master, a powerful Ingot. This Ingot only had one attack. Since receiving it, he had never encountered a crisis that necessitated its use, but two days ago, he knew that if he didn't use it, his life would likely be forfeit.

Ultimately, under the immense power of that Ingot, most of the vines were destroyed, and the rest retreated underground. Seizing this opportunity, Teng Li quickly rushed out.

Thinking back now, he still broke out in a cold sweat. He hated Wang Lin to the core.

Especially since Wang Lin refused to fight him head-on, always resorting to sneak attacks. That bizarre Flying Sword was impossible to guard against. Left with no choice, he risked exhausting his Spiritual Qi to keep his Flying Sword circling his body for defense around the clock.

By the river, he cautiously looked around, hesitated for a moment, then squatted down to scoop up the river water and drink a mouthful. After five or six consecutive days of pursuit, his mouth and throat were parched.

The river water was sweet and refreshing. Teng Li instantly felt revitalized. He scooped up some more, and just as he was about to drink, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. A green Flying Sword appeared silently before him and shot toward his face with a whoosh.

Teng Li retreated quickly without blinking. At the same time, his own Flying Sword, which was circling nearby, swiftly met the attack, tangling with the Green Small Sword. A "clang, clang" sound of metal collision rang out. Ultimately, the Green Small Sword was clearly inferior, the scratches on its body growing deeper before it flashed and vanished into thin air.

"Damn it! If I catch you, I will make you suffer every torture in the world, then extract your soul and refine it alive! I, Teng Li, swear this now!" Teng Li roared fiercely, looking at the strands of hair slowly drifting down, which had been swept by the edge of the Green Small Sword just moments ago.

Running through the jungle, Wang Lin's face flushed red, and a mouthful of fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He flipped his right hand, and the Green Small Sword appeared. Heart aching, he looked at the deep scratches on the sword's body. A cold light flashed in Wang Lin's eyes. Without a word, he quickly departed.

Five days later, deep in the night, Wang Lin and Teng Li—one running, one chasing—had already entered the depths of the jungle. That night, while running, Wang Lin suddenly stopped.

"Kid, did you notice? There's a dense Spiritual Qi fluctuation to the northwest. Go take a look," Situ Nan quickly said. During this period, he had been keeping his spirits high every day, using his knowledge to help Wang Lin evade one jungle crisis after another.

Wang Lin didn't say a word, changed direction, and leaped toward the northwest. Before long, he arrived at the location of the Spiritual Qi fluctuation.

The scene before him caused his pupils to contract sharply.

Under the moonlight, the massive towering trees ahead had been uprooted and scattered around, clearing an open space. A corpse, completely rotten and devoid of any Life Qi, lay on the ground.

Above its head, a green spherical bead floated in mid-air. Strands of Spiritual Qi gathered from all directions, forming Vortexes around the green orb.

"Green Core? I didn't expect someone in a Third-grade Cultivation Country to actually Cultivate the Demonic Path's Great Green Core Method from a Fourth-grade Cultivation Country." Situ Nan was stunned and said in surprise.

"What is a Green Core?" Wang Lin asked.

"It's a Core Formation method unique to the Demonic Path of Fourth-grade cultivation Countries. This Green Core is also called the Exploding Core. Unlike the orthodox Golden Core, which can only be one, the Green Core has no quantity limit. I remember a Fourth-grade Cultivation Country once produced a crazy pervert who possessed tens of thousands of Green Cores. Although he was only in the Core Formation stage, even a Nascent Soul Transformation expert from a Fifth-grade Cultivation Country wouldn't easily provoke that lunatic. You must know that besides increasing cultivation, the Green Core's greatest function is self-detonation. Tens of thousands of Green Cores detonating together—hehe, that power is extraordinary." Situ Nan explained.

Wang Lin's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked, "How many Green Cores does this person currently possess? Can you tell?"

"Him? One would be good enough. Moreover, this person is clearly not alive; he should be a Corpse Wraith that has just gained initial intelligence. He was probably a Demonic Path member from a Fourth-grade Cultivation Country in life, who used a Secret Technique at the moment of death to transform into a Corpse Wraith."

The Corpse Wraith had clearly noticed Wang Lin. It did not rise but slightly raised its right index finger. A green light shot out from its fingertip with a crackling sound, heading straight for Wang Lin's glabella.

Wang Lin quickly retreated, dodging the green light.

The green light did not pursue. Instead, it circled around, suddenly condensed, and transformed into a phantom human figure, staring at Wang Lin and emitting a vague sound.

"Scram… This place… You… Die…" After speaking, the figure flickered, turned into countless green dots, and vanished into the surroundings. Immediately afterward, the previously intense Spiritual Qi fluctuation instantly disappeared without a trace, completely concealed.

Wang Lin carefully retreated, leaving quickly without blinking. A cold light flickered in his eyes. Instead of continuing to flee from Teng Li, he stood straight in the distance, spreading out his Divine Sense, quietly waiting for Teng Li to catch up.

Teng Li's Flying Sword circled his body, constantly severing all obstacles in front of him. Suddenly, his expression changed, revealing a sinister smile. He pointed his left hand at his Flying Sword, which immediately shot forward rapidly.

Wang Lin's figure was now visible. Teng Li suddenly felt a stir in his heart and suspiciously looked around. He found nothing unusual, but the opponent's abnormal behavior forced him to be cautious. He sneered, "Why aren't you running anymore?"

Wang Lin pointed his right hand, and the Green Flying Sword immediately appeared before him. Without a word, he quickly flicked it, and the Flying Sword stabbed out. At the same time, he slapped his Storage Pouch, and a Jade Slip flew out. Wang Lin formed Hand Seals with both hands, opened his mouth, and exhaled a mouthful of Spiritual Qi onto the Jade Slip.

Instantly, four golden characters were imprinted from the Jade Slip.

Teng Li sneered, bit the index finger of his left hand, and flicked a drop of blood onto his Flying Sword. The Flying Sword immediately trembled, emitting a strange red light. It instantly grew larger, forming a Giant Sword, and several Lightning Orbs appeared along with it, though significantly fewer than before.

As soon as the Giant Sword appeared, it emitted an intense chill. With a wave of Teng Li's left hand, the Giant Sword immediately chopped down.

Wang Lin's Green Small Sword instantly used Teleportation to appear behind Teng Li, just about to stab him. Teng Li slapped his Storage Pouch, and a Small Bell immediately flew out, instantly growing larger and transforming into a translucent state, covering Teng Li.

The Green Small Sword stabbed the Bell, and ripples immediately appeared on the surface of the Bell body.

At the same time, the Giant Sword swung down. Wang Lin pointed at the golden characters on the Jade Slip. All four characters flew out to meet the Giant Sword. After doing this, his body rapidly retreated, arriving at the location of the Corpse Wraith in the blink of an eye.

The four golden characters collided with the Giant Sword and burst open one after another. Amidst the turbulent Spiritual Qi, the Giant Sword was repeatedly forced upwards. However, since the characters were too few, after all four exploded, the Giant Sword paused briefly in mid-air before slicing down again at an extremely fast speed.

The ground made cracking sounds, clearly unable to withstand the pressure of the Giant Sword, and the massive towering trees around them collapsed one after another. Seeing the Giant Sword about to strike, Wang Lin's eyes flashed. A blue light appeared from his chest area, rapidly covering his entire body, initiating Teleportation.

Wang Lin appeared a hundred zhang away, barely skimming the edge of the Giant Sword's attack. A trickle of fresh blood flowed down his forehead.

The Giant Sword struck down with a boom. Immediately afterward, a piercing, ghost-like shriek suddenly rang out. A figure emitting a dense stench of decay swiftly rushed out from the spot where the Giant Sword had landed, charging straight toward Teng Li.

Teng Li's expression changed drastically. He had been suspicious before, but he never expected such a monster to be here. He quickly pointed his left hand, and the Lightning Orbs on the Giant Sword rained down, smashing onto the Corpse Wraith.

The Lightning Orbs were incredibly powerful and Innately restrained all dead things. They exploded immediately upon hitting the Corpse Wraith. The Corpse Wraith groaned miserably, its rotten flesh blasted everywhere, and in some places, the dark black bone was exposed.

Teng Li sneered, pointing his left hand again. Over a dozen more Lightning Orbs immediately appeared around the Giant Sword and rained down. Furthermore, the Giant Sword moved and sliced down as well.

Wang Lin secretly cried out that things were bad. He hadn't expected the Corpse Wraith to be so weak and was about to flee.

The Corpse Wraith also seemed to realize the danger. Under the crisis of life and death, it immediately shrieked a few times and spat out the Green Core. The moment the Green Core appeared, it instantly let out a heaven-shaking boom and exploded.

A circular ripple immediately spread rapidly with the Corpse Wraith as the center point. The surrounding trees instantly turned into ashes. Teng Li was too close to escape in time. Gritting his teeth, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of Vital Blood onto the Giant Bell covering his body.

The Giant Bell flashed, instantly turning solid from its translucent state. Several ancient symbols were faintly visible on the surface of the bell body.

The moment the circular ripple collided with it, the Giant Bell flashed violently, only holding on for a moment before shattering.

Using the time the Giant Bell resisted, Teng Li threw out several more Magic Treasures. The instant the Giant Bell shattered, layer after layer of defense appeared outside his body.