The seeds of joyful emotion, in Lu Sheng's vision, resembled flickering flames scattered throughout the darkness. Suddenly, a spark of fire flickered out without a sound.
It's coming.
Lu Sheng's eyes flickered. He stared intently in that direction without hesitation. This time, the chosen one was also a martial arts powerhouse who had reached the twelfth level.
Lu Sheng noticed the rapid fluctuations in the emotions emanating from him—a surge of anger was growing rapidly.
Lu Sheng stared intently, his body silently closing in on the target.
Regrettably, he hadn't been chosen by the figure on the fifth level. But he refused to believe his conspicuous behavior wouldn't draw the other's attention.
Sure enough, as Lu Sheng approached the selected Level 12 warrior,
Suddenly, a colossal mental force, vastly surpassing his own, locked onto him. Lu Sheng's body tensed, then relaxed just as quickly.
Without specialized attack techniques, killing an opponent purely through mental force was no easy feat. Unless the disparity in mental power between combatants reached an extreme level.
Clearly, this figure lurking in the shadows, though residing on the fifth level and possessing slightly stronger mental power than Lu Sheng, wasn't powerful enough to annihilate him solely through mental force.
At most, it served as a mere display of intimidation.
Lu Sheng, naturally, wasn't intimidated by this. He stood his ground fearlessly, confronting the other.
His composure immediately piqued the other's interest. The cold, eerie spiritual force began to shift.
"Is it coming?"
Lu Sheng took a deep breath, understanding that the real show was about to begin.
This was his chance to decipher the opponent's methods and prove whether he was worthy of facing them head-on.
"Boom!"
The moment that icy psychic force touched Lu Sheng, countless images flashed through his mind.
Every single one stirred feelings of frustration, irritation, anger, and rage.
There was the scene of his sister, Lu Qinghe, mocking him with cold, cutting remarks when he was a high school loser. There was the scene of him being beaten and robbed by thugs outside school on his way home.
There was the feeling he had when he first saw the evidence of the crimes committed by the Lian family father and son.
There was the scene of him being hunted down by the Yakuza Martial Saint's men after killing the Lian family father and son.
Lu Sheng, who had fought his way through life since childhood, saw countless scenes of his past rage and fury replay before him in that instant.
A flame of fury ignited deep within his heart, rapidly surging to unprecedented heights.
This flame twisted and coalesced into a formless humanoid figure, its gender indistinguishable, its features blurred.
Its mouth twisted into a high, sneering curve, as if delivering the world's most scathing mockery and provocation toward Lu Sheng.
This form held no specific identity, resembling a composite of every person Lu Sheng had ever hated or resented.
In that instant, Lu Sheng felt an overwhelming urge to charge forward and kill it without hesitation.
Yet...
He held back.
"Huuu-uh."
With that exhalation, the rage burning within his chest seemed to dissipate entirely.
As a master of the four emotions, expelling this unwarranted, trash-like fury from his body was as easy for him as eating and drinking.
"Is that all you've got?"
Lu Sheng channeled his mental energy to send the calmest, most scornful mockery to the figure standing on the fifth layer.
Is that it?
The rage in the void flared once more, but this time it originated from the other side.
Lu Sheng could almost see the opponent stomping his foot in frustration.
Lu Sheng decided to pour fuel on the fire. With a slight probe of his psychic energy, he absorbed and neutralized all the rage within the chosen Level 12 powerhouse.
"Huh?!"
The moment the unwarranted fury vanished entirely, the chosen Level 12 powerhouse's eyes cleared instantly. Like someone waking from a dream, he gasped for breath several times."What just happened to me?"
Not only did I fail to deal with Lu Sheng, but the duck that was practically mine flew away.
The creature instantly grew even more furious.
Yet its ability to toy with a Level 12 powerhouse at will had no effect whatsoever on Lu Sheng. Helpless, it could only retreat grudgingly.
"Seems he's not that impressive after all. Or am I just too awesome?"
Feeling the traces of the other's departure, Lu Sheng silently pondered.
This invisible clash yielded significant insights for Lu Sheng, deepening his understanding of the Way of Emotions.
During the journey ahead, that guy sneaked back several times.
But each time, Lu Sheng disrupted him, leaving him empty-handed.
That guy was skilled at harnessing anger, and clearly possessed a temperament prone to rage himself.
By the time the entire group halted,
"Another one gone..."
The two guides looked utterly grim, while the rest of the group was shocked and terrified.
What they didn't know was that these disappearances had started half a day earlier. If not for Lu Sheng, the group would have lost even more members by now.
"Everyone, halt and rest here. We'll wait for Lord Haiji Dao to come and assist us!" the guide announced loudly.
Time rewound to the present.
"Damn, this is way too weird. Where the hell did those vanished people go?"
Saya sat on the ground, his face slightly pale, speaking in a low voice to Lu Sheng and Tang Dun.
Tang Dun's expression wasn't much better either, though his face was completely covered in black rock fragments, making it hard to tell.
Lu Sheng, however, seemed quite relaxed.
He had already uncovered some information about their opponent.
Though it was a Level 13 beast he'd never fought before, with his current strength, even if he couldn't defeat it, escaping unscathed should be manageable.
"Wait. Wait for the Level 13 powerhouse from the base."
Lu Sheng offered a faint reassurance to Saya.
"We have no choice but to wait."
Saya muttered gloomily, then buried his hands in his hair and scratched fiercely, looking visibly restless.
Everyone remained quietly in place, waiting under the guide's orders.
No one spoke, the atmosphere thick with tension.
Lu Sheng kept a close watch on that creature's movements.
After the group halted, the creature remained undeterred, making several more attempts.
Each time, Lu Sheng blocked it, enraging the creature into a furious howl.
After the third attempt, the creature seemed to finally give up and vanished without reappearing.
Just then, good news arrived from the guide.
"Lord Haiji Dao will arrive within half a cosmic day at most!" This news struck everyone like a shot of adrenaline, causing many to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Saya included.
Half a day.
Half a day passed all too easily.
Then the crowd began silently counting down the time. With every passing second, the gloom hovering over the convoy seemed to lift a fraction, and everyone's expressions brightened a little more.
Finally, the half cosmic day slipped away unnoticed.
As the final second ticked away, many instinctively lifted their heads.
Suddenly, someone leapt to their feet, pointing in one direction and shouting in surprise, "They're here! Someone's coming!"
At that very moment, the middle-aged guide, setting down his communicator, spoke with a grim expression: "Lord Haiji Dao has been delayed. He'll need another half-day."
"Huh?"
Everyone froze upon hearing this news.
Then who was approaching now?
Instantly, a wave of dread washed over the crowd.
All eyes turned sharply toward the distant figure approaching, every body tensing.