Currently, most cultivators within the Great Python Mountain range were concentrated in the area saturated with dense heaven and earth spiritual energy. Those traveling elsewhere were generally along the route connecting to Xing City. Lin Feng was fleeing northwestward, so he encountered no other cultivators along his path.
Gritting his teeth, he ran desperately. After covering over a kilometer in one frantic burst, Lin Feng glanced back. His pursuers were still hot on his heels, and the distance had shrunk further!
Initially, about three hundred meters had separated them. Now, it was less than three hundred. At this rate, they would catch him within minutes.
"Hmph, runs surprisingly fast."
Behind him, Qin Lin watched Lin Feng's frantic flight, a disdainful sneer curling his lips. He held his quarry in utter contempt. Even now, he wasn't exerting his full speed, merely matching the pace of his junior brother, Li Hao. In his view, the fleeing cultivator wasn't worth his full effort.
The fact that a mere Second Layer Foundation Establishment cultivator possessed a flying sword did give Qin Lin a slight moment of pause. Otherwise, he wouldn't even have bothered; Li Hao alone could have handled it.
"Let's see what you're truly made of."
A cold glint flashed in Qin Lin's eyes. He abruptly raised his hand and swept it forward. A streak of cyan light materialized before him—his flying sword shot out with astonishing speed, aimed straight for the center of Lin Feng's back!
Lin Feng heard the sharp whistle of the projectile tearing through the air behind him. Whirling around, his expression instantly changed. Without hesitation, his right hand snapped out. The Crimson Soul flying sword shot from his grasp, intercepting the cyan sword several dozen meters behind him.
"CLANG!!"
A clear, crisp ring echoed as the two swords collided violently and recoiled. Lin Feng wasted no time. Retrieving his sword instantly, he spun back around and resumed his desperate sprint, though his pace inevitably faltered slightly.
"He does have a flying sword! And… it's actually a mid-grade spirit artifact!!"
Qin Lin, having tested his opponent, didn't immediately press the attack. Instead, his eyes lit up with astonishment. He hadn't expected the opponent's flying sword to be of a higher grade than his own!
"No wonder he managed to defeat that waste, Loong Tian'ao. He was relying on the advantage of his sword's grade," Qin Lin sneered inwardly. "What right does a mere Second Layer Foundation Establishment ant have to a mid-grade spirit artifact flying sword? Today, I'll make you understand that before an absolute gap in strength, even powerful magic treasures are useless!"
Thinking this, Qin Lin unconsciously increased his speed, overtaking Li Hao beside him and closing in rapidly on Lin Feng.
"This won't do. If this keeps up, my true essence will be exhausted soon. I won't even have the strength to fight then!"
Sensing Qin Lin drawing nearer, anxiety gnawed at Lin Feng. He was already running flat out, his true essence depleting alarmingly fast. The pursuing Golden Core cultivator's true essence reserves dwarfed his own by an unknown magnitude. If this chase continued, he'd collapse from exhaustion before they even laid a hand on him.
"Right! The Spirit Spring!!"
Suddenly, Lin Feng's eyes lit up. He recalled the Spirit Spring he had just acquired. Focusing his will, he drew two drops from the jar within his storage ring, enveloped them in true essence, and swallowed them.
As the two drops entered his mouth, it felt as if a mighty river surged into his body. An unimaginably vast amount of spiritual energy instantly flooded his system, seeping into every cell.
He had used two drops fearing one might be insufficient, but now he realized his worry was unfounded. Even one drop contained more energy than he could currently absorb fully. Fortunately, the Spirit Spring's nature was incredibly mild. Despite the excess, Lin Feng felt no discomfort whatsoever. The spiritual energy simply distributed itself evenly throughout his body, neither raging nor dissipating—a sensation indescribably profound and comforting.
Simultaneously, Lin Feng felt strength flooding back into his limbs. His depleted true essence was replenishing at an astonishing rate, far faster than when he had taken a Tier 3 Spirit Restoration Pill before.
This development filled Lin Feng with elation. Pouring every ounce of his true essence into his legs, his speed surged once more. He raced forward like the wind.
"Hmph?!" Qin Lin, clearly sensing Lin Feng's sudden renewed vigor, was momentarily stunned. "Burst Essence Pill?"
The sudden burst immediately reminded him of such pills. But then he frowned inwardly. "No… not a Burst Essence Pill. It doesn't feel like a secret technique either… So, he consumed some other high-grade pill?"
This thought ignited sparks of excitement and greed in Qin Lin's eyes. He tapped his foot lightly against the ground, accelerating slightly himself. In an instant, he erased the small distance Lin Feng had just gained and pulled significantly further ahead of Li Hao behind him.
...
Under the dawn sky, three figures raced through the forests on the periphery of Great Python Mountain: one fleeing desperately, two in relentless pursuit. Despite the continuous support of the Spirit Spring, providing an unending supply of true essence within him, Lin Feng was still only at the Second Layer of Foundation Establishment. Even maintaining his absolute top speed, he simply couldn't match Qin Lin's velocity. The gap between them steadily narrowed.
Qin Lin, too, grew increasingly astonished as the chase wore on. For a Second Layer Foundation Establishment cultivator to evade him for nearly ten minutes was nothing short of miraculous. But it ended now. He had closed in to his "sure-kill range."
"Hummm…"
Qin Lin focused his will. The flying sword hovering beside him immediately trembled faintly, readying to strike at Lin Feng once more.
"Almost there!!"
At that exact moment, Lin Feng, who had been fleeing for his life ahead, suddenly flashed a fierce gleam in his eyes. Planting his foot firmly, he pivoted instantly to face his pursuer.
"DIE!!"
"PERISH!!"
Shockingly, both men roared the same words simultaneously! And both struck at the same instant!!
Qin Lin thrust out his right hand. The flying sword before him blazed with light, transforming into a gale-force whirlwind that swept towards Lin Feng! Simultaneously, Lin Feng also raised his right arm—but instead of summoning his flying sword like his foe, he activated the White Tiger Soul Rending Talisman in his grasp!
"SWISH…"
"ROAR!!!"
The sharp whistle of displaced air and an earth-shaking tiger's roar erupted together. Blinding white light burst from the talisman in Lin Feng's hand. A massive phantom image of a white tiger coalesced instantly in the air and pounced forward!
In the next heartbeat, Qin Lin's flying sword met the White Tiger Soul in the air midway between them. But what filled Qin Lin with utter terror was that they didn't collide at all. His flying sword passed straight through the tiger phantom as if it were an illusion!
"WHAT?!"
The lack of resistance brought Qin Lin no joy. Staring at the mountain-sized tiger phantom hurtling towards him, his face turned deathly pale, frozen in speechless horror.
In his panic, Qin Lin frantically activated the light-element defensive treasure in his left hand while channeling every shred of his true essence. A swirling vortex of cyan wind instantly materialized around him, attempting to carry him sideways.
It all happened in a split second. As Qin Lin reacted, the White Tiger Soul was already upon him. He barely managed to evade the gaping maw aimed at his head, but a massive tiger paw, thick as a man's thigh, slammed into his chest!
The protective light shield shimmering before him and the swirling wind barrier offered absolutely no resistance. The paw struck his chest… and passed straight through without pause. Yet, as it emerged from his back, the phantom claw now clutched a vaguely human-shaped silhouette!
"ROAR!!!"
The White Tiger Soul let out a deafening roar. With a violent twist of its head, it snapped the captured soul silhouette into its jaws and tore it to shreds!
The moment his soul was ripped from his body by the tiger's claw, Qin Lin's entire body locked rigid. Every motion, every expression on his face, froze instantly. As his soul was shredded, the aura of his true essence vanished abruptly. His body, locked in its evasive posture, continued its sideways trajectory purely by momentum. It slammed onto the ground with a "THUD!", tumbling several times before coming to rest. It lay utterly motionless. There were no visible wounds on his body, but it was now merely an empty shell. His soul had scattered; he was utterly extinguished.
By now, Lin Feng had grown increasingly adept at wielding the White Tiger Soul Rending Talisman. Not only was his activation speed much faster than before, but its power had also increased significantly. Coupled with the Spirit Spring energy sustaining him, the summoned White Tiger Soul now possessed strength equivalent to Tier 3, Rank 6—a Sixth Layer Golden Core cultivator! Qin Lin, utterly unprepared for such a sudden, overwhelming assault, died in an instant due to his momentary lapse in caution. His soul extinguished, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Meanwhile, as the White Tiger Soul annihilated Qin Lin, the cyan flying sword also shot towards Lin Feng. Engrossed in activating the talisman, Lin Feng couldn't dodge completely, nor could he spare the focus to deploy his own flying sword or activate his light shield. Gritting his teeth, he twisted his body slightly, allowing the sword to strike his chest.
"CLANG!!!"
A harsh metallic clangor echoed. Sparks exploded across Lin Feng's chest. The flying sword did not pierce his flesh. Instead, it was deflected by the combined defenses of his spirit artifact robe and inner armor, skittering off his left ribs. It flew a few more meters before losing momentum and clattered to the ground.
"Ugh!!"
Though he had weathered the blow without mortal injury, Lin Feng felt as if several ribs in his chest had cracked. A muffled groan escaped him, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
A minor injury, but a successful kill. It was worth the cost.
"AAAAHHHH!!!"
As the White Tiger Soul dissolved back into light and retracted into the talisman, a scream of pure, unadulterated terror ripped through the air.
The shriek came from Li Hao, who had been trailing behind Qin Lin.
He stood frozen, utterly petrified by the sudden, nightmarish turn of events. After a moment of stunned disbelief, he jolted back to horrifying awareness. Staring at Qin Lin's lifeless form lying ahead, devoid of any aura, terror seized him completely, threatening to shake his soul loose. A primal scream escaped him, and he spun around, fleeing for his life!!
He was utterly broken, too terrified to even glance at Lin Feng's condition, consumed by the dread that he would suffer Qin Lin's fate in the next second. His only thought was to escape immediately.
"…"
Lin Feng was momentarily taken aback. He frowned slightly, hesitated only briefly, and then dismissed the idea of pursuit.
He swiftly retrieved the cyan flying sword lying behind him, then conjured a burst of flame to incinerate Qin Lin's corpse to ashes. He quickly scooped up the few spirit artifacts left among the embers. Without a moment's pause after completing these actions, he turned and sped away into the distance, vanishing into the dense forest within moments…