Chapter 4717: The Deal
Without another word, Lin Moyu swung his fist straight at Supreme Boyang.
Vast soul force crashed down like a celestial waterfall, locking onto Boyang and cutting off any chance of escape.
His Supreme aura raged openly in the void, the stance clearly one of fighting to the bitter end.
"Let's talk this out, no need to "
Before Boyang could finish, Lin's fists swallowed him, tens of thousands of blows in an instant.
Boyang threw everything into defense, but it lasted less than half a second before shattering.
Lin's punches were brutally heavy, tearing Boyang's flesh and making him howl.
In terms of physical body, Boyang lagged far behind Lin.
Facing this sudden, wild bombardment, he could only take the beating.
In mere seconds, Lin had thrown at least hundreds of thousands of punches, every one landing solidly, nearly blasting Boyang's body apart.
When that storm of blows finally stopped, Boyang's form no longer resembled a human.
Lin exhaled in satisfaction. "That felt good. Said before I'd thrash you and this Lin always keeps his word."
Blue light flickered over Boyang as his mangled flesh slowly knit back together.
Anger colored his eyes. "You've gone too far."
Lin chuckled. "You lot dragged my wife away by force. This Lin roughing you up once is 'too far'?"
"We did it for your own good," Boyang said.
Lin snorted. "This Lin doesn't care why. Fact is, you separated this Lin from his wife. There's nothing to argue. And don't claim there was no selfish motive we all know better. Save your breath. This Lin won't listen."
Boyang and Zixing, his Dao partner, had taken Lin's wives, ostensibly to protect them from Calamity Supreme and spare Lin that leverage.
But they had their own agenda: using Ning Yiyi and the others to restrain Lin as well.
Still, they had at least shown restraint and treated the women well.
Otherwise today would have been more than a simple beating.
Boyang gave a wry smile. "Plans never keep up with changes. Daoist Lin's cultivation speed is truly astonishing."
"Enough," Lin said. "You've been beaten, we're even. Now say what you came for."
He had long understood Boyang's scheme.
After learning Calamity Supreme had survived, Boyang and a few others had deduced the larger layout and begun plotting countermeasures.
They had even discovered another world, seeing hope of surpassing the Supreme level.
Unfortunately, despite years of effort, Zixing had failed.
Later, Lin had gifted Zixing a clump of Primordial Qi.
With good fortune, she might use it for a minor breakthrough, but reaching Calamity Supreme's tier would still be extremely difficult.
Boyang's body reformed, though his skin was still mottled with red and purple; Lin's fist power was not so easily dispelled.
Sighing helplessly, he said, "This time, I actually came to thank Daoist Lin for that chance. Zixing is now just a hair's breadth from breakthrough, so we came seeking your aid."
"You know very well," Lin replied, "that little lump of Primordial Qi might barely push her past Supreme, but she'll still fall short of those monsters."
"Used well, though, it may at least let you survive this Calamity."
"We understand," Boyang answered. "But that leaves us too passive."
Lin frowned. "You want to take the initiative?"
Boyang nodded. "To be frank, we found another world stronger, and more dangerous. So we hoped to ask Daoist Lin for help."
"You want a deal?" Lin asked.
Boyang grunted assent. "If Daoist Lin is willing."
"It's not about willing," Lin said. "It's about what you intend. Do you want to live, or do you want to compete with them?"
"You've helped this Lin more than once, so let it be said plainly.
If you only wish to survive, this Lin can help.
If you want to fight for that peak… then forget it."
"The strongest seat of this world is already decided.
It won't be yours."
At that, understanding dawned on Boyang. "The Sword Supreme, then?"
"There's no one else," Lin said.
He had already chosen who would become the ultimate powerhouse.
Boyang had no idea where this confidence came from, yet he could sense Lin was not joking.
It felt as though Lin actually had the ability to make it so.
Boyang found he could not even summon doubt.
He knew Lin's history.
A declared World Enemy had later become a World Supreme; those statuses should have been mutually exclusive, yet Lin had forced both to coexist.
If he could accomplish that impossibility, what could he not do?
Boyang even felt as if Lin were playing the entire world in his palm.
He thought for a long moment, then decided. "We hope to pass this Calamity safely. If we can advance our cultivation as well, so much the better."
"You ask for quite a lot," Lin laughed. "Fine. Then let this Lin see whether the world you found is worth that price."
"Please come with me," Boyang said.
He took out a formation disk and activated it a teleportation array, one capable of covering an immense distance.
Lin stepped into the array and left with him.
Toward Boyang, Lin felt a certain measure of gratitude.
So long as the request was not excessive, he was willing to agree.
Between Supremes, in addition to friendship, strict fairness of exchange mattered.
That was how they avoided needless karmic entanglements.
Compared with ordinary cultivators, Supremes understood the world more deeply and knew how to act best.
The teleport was swift.
Lin felt a spatial barrier and realized they had left the Central Domain and entered the Upper Domain.
Conveniently, he had needed to come here anyway.
"This saves some trouble," he remarked.
"The Calamity is about to peak," he went on. "The world is on the brink of its greatest slaughter and countless fortunes will appear. This world you found is linked to many world remnants; by then, you can search for more."
"As long as the remnants are strong enough, you can trade them with this Lin. I'll give you a fair return."
To most people, world remnants held little value.
Even Supremes were not guaranteed to draw enough opportunities from them.
They were better spent trading with him; the benefits gained would likely be greater.
Boyang naturally understood this logic, and Lin trusted him to act accordingly.
When the teleport ended, they emerged into the Upper Domain.
Lin immediately sensed its unique, pure power.
The laws and Daos here were clean and untainted, and so were the Dao hearts of the beings who lived within them.
But that purity made them fragile.
Their Dao hearts were like blank sheets of paper, easily stained.
Within the Calamity, the Upper Domain was hit especially hard.
The moment he arrived, Lin smelled blood a bloody scent from the very rules themselves, far thicker than in any other region.
"You can feel it already, can't you?" Boyang said. "The killing here is fiercer than elsewhere."
"Sometimes power that is too pure is not a good thing," Lin replied.
"Yes," Boyang agreed. "But there's no helping it. The World Source Spring lies here in the Upper Domain. Under its influence, the rules and Daos became pure."
"Daoist Baizhong wanted to change this.
But he failed."