Chapter Seven: Ambushed

  Above the pool, an ancient sword lies horizontally. The sword is three feet long, with a dark purple body and mysterious symbols densely covering its surface. The hilt is half a foot long, and the entire sword looks like it was carved out of a single giant amethyst as a work of art.

  I suppose the sharp aura just now was emitted by it. Thinking of this, Ling Lin's heart was burning with excitement. The appearance of this sword was extremely extraordinary, and he didn't know what level it was... a magical artifact? A precious artifact? Ling Lin didn't dare to think further. Precious artifacts were already extremely rare, and even in the Qing Yuan Sect, only some powerful inner sect disciples possessed one. Even some elders used only precious artifacts.

  "Hum... hum... hum..." The dark purple sword body began to tremble, "Excitement..." Ling Lin's face was filled with puzzlement, he somehow felt that this sword was excited.

  "Illusion, illusion, it must be an illusion. How can a sword exude excitement."

  A faint tearing sound filled the air, an ancient sword sliced through the atmosphere and flew rapidly towards Ling Lin. Before he could even react, "My life is over", feeling the piercing sharpness of the sword's body, Ling Lin lost his last thread of luck.

  ……

  "It's actually not dead." Watching the ancient sword pierce through himself and then disappear bit by bit at his brow, Ling Lin couldn't help but feel: He really had a big life. This is nothing.

  "It won't go into its own body, will it?" Ling Lin furrowed his brow, his consciousness slowly sinking into his body.

  The Sea of Consciousness, where the spiritual energy converges and the primordial force is stored. This is the most important place within a cultivator's body. It can be said that this is the source of power for every cultivator. Ling Lin had not yet entered the Pre-Heavenly realm, so there was no primordial force in his Sea of Consciousness, but there was true energy. Threads and strands of true energy gathered together to form a small surface of true energy water. A miniature dark purple ancient sword floated quietly on its surface.

  Watching this scene, Ling Lin was left with a bitter taste, and an uninvited guest had taken up residence in his sea of consciousness. Moreover, this uninvited guest was still absorbing his true energy!

  Ling Lin had thought of driving it away, and had even tried to do so, but looking at the purple ancient sword that didn't budge no matter what he did, Ling Lin was thoroughly out of patience.

  "It's okay, I don't have any other skills anyway, it's just that my absorption of spiritual energy is a bit faster. At worst, I'll just treat it as a burden. After all, its absorption of true energy is still within my acceptable range." Ling Lin could only comfort himself like this.

  ……

  The dark clouds that had shrouded the earth were slowly dispersing, and a glimmer of dawn was beginning to appear on the distant horizon. Outside the cave, the breeze blew gently, and the air was fresh and clean. Ling Lin took a deep breath, and his mind, which had been somewhat dazed by the series of events that night, also cleared up a bit.

  "It's time to go back." Ling Lin took a look at the mysterious cave behind him, this night had too many extraordinary things. The mystical pool and the purple ancient sword with unknown origins, all these were waiting for him to slowly uncover, but now, it was time to return to Tiewood Forest.

  ……

  Ling Lin's light carriage sped along the familiar road, and he quickened his pace, heading towards Tie Mu Lin.

  Although the sky was gradually brightening, the iron forest remained pitch black. Looking at the iron forest in front of him, Ling Lin suddenly felt a throb in his heart, as if he were being stared at like prey. His hairs stood on end, and he stopped in his tracks, looking at the dark forest that seemed to swallow everything, his body slowly backing away.

  "Whoosh"

  Just as he was about to retreat, a sharp and piercing sound suddenly rang out, and a sharp arrow shot out from the darkness in front of him, at a tricky angle, directly aiming at Ling Lin's chest.

  The sudden attack also made Ling Lin's face change. The arrow was extremely fast and was already in front of him, with no place to hide!

  At a critical moment, Ling Lin did not lose his composure, his true energy surged, and the arrow shot out like lightning.

  The arrow was slightly deflected and changed its original trajectory, but still grazed Ling Lin's left arm, bringing up a trail of blood.

  The arrow shot fiercely onto the ground, with half a foot of it buried in the earth. The tail of the arrow quivered rapidly, emitting a humming sound.

  Feeling the pain transmitted from his arm, Ling Lin's eyes narrowed slightly, with a cold gleam flashing in them. If he were shot, he could have died on the spot.

  Ling Lin's face was solemn, his true energy surging around him, ready to unleash a thunderous strike at any moment.

  "Who wants to kill himself?" A figure suddenly appeared in Linglin's mind, "Is it him."

  "Bang! Bang!"

  Ling Lin's face was icy cold when suddenly a loud slap echoed, Ling Lin turned his head and saw a figure slowly emerging from the dark iron forest.

  "Li Jiefei!"

  It was him after all! When Ling Lin saw Li Jie Fei, his eyebrows furrowed. This guy had been targeting him since their first meeting, and now he was here to ambush him again. Ling Lin really couldn't think of what conflict he had with this guy.

  "Haha, kid, not bad, you actually managed to dodge my steel arrow." As Ling Lin frowned, Li Jiefei smiled, but the smile was tinged with gloom and deep greed. Ling Lin's lightning-fast reaction also greatly exceeded his expectations.

  According to his thoughts, Ling Lin should have been lying on the ground by now, even if he wasn't dead. However, this didn't affect the outcome at all; under the absolute crushing of superior strength, nothing would change!

  "Why do you keep thinking of me and death?" Ling Lin asked in puzzlement.

  "Haha, haha!" Li Jiefei burst into a fit of mad laughter and said, "Since you're about to die anyway, I'll tell you. If anyone's to blame, it's because you possessed something that wasn't meant for you. That treasure which accelerates the gathering of heaven and earth spiritual energy isn't something you should have owned."

  Looking at Ling Lin's puzzled expression, Li Jiefei said again: "Do you still want to pretend? I'll let you die with a clear conscience..." Then he slowly told what happened that night.

  After listening to Li Jiefei's words, Ling Lin was filled with black lines. It turned out that this series of events were all because... this guy had always thought he had some treasure that could quickly gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

  Helpless, it's still helpless. Can I tell him that there is no such thing as a treasure? Looking at him like this, he won't believe me anyway.

  Since that's the case, a cold glint flashed in Ling Lin's eyes. Moreover, if he hadn't reacted quickly just now, he would have been dead already. The Clay Bodhisattva still had three parts of fiery energy, and for those who tried to send him to his death three or four times, there was only one way - a bloody battle!

  "Haha, gotcha! Seeing Ling Lin not responding, Li Jie thought he had hit the nail on the head and a cold smile flashed across his face. "Hand over your treasure obediently, I'll give you a quick death."

  "The sect strictly forbids disciples from self-mutilation and slaughter. Those who disobey will be beheaded! Aren't you afraid of the sect finding out?" Ling Linli shouted.

  "Heh heh, do you think I sent you to this remote Ironwood Forest for no reason? To let the ferocious beasts here eat you?" Li Jie flew shook his head and said slowly, "I wouldn't bear to see you being eaten by ferocious beasts. However," his tone suddenly changed, and a sinister grin spread across his face, "in this godforsaken place, even if you die, who would know? Who would suspect me? At most, it would just be another unfortunate soul devoured by the beasts."

  "Call"

  Ling Lin took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, raised his head, and on the young face, a hint of determination emerged, as he actually took the initiative to charge towards Li Jiefei.

  "You think you can really take me down? You want to kill me? Based on your abilities, you're not even qualified!"