Chapter 192: A Spirit Vein Forms Beneath the White Jade Platform!
The moon hung high in the sky, the sword light having long since dissipated.
The zombie had been utterly reduced to dust.
Lin Mu turned his head to look at the black-robed man, who was still staring in utter shock.
"If you have any other tricks up your sleeve, now would be the time to use them," he said, his tone calm as if he were discussing some insignificant trifle.
The black-robed man fell silent for a moment before speaking. "It seems you’re really determined to fight me to the death."
Lin Mu neither confirmed nor denied it.
Had it been anyone else, Lin Mu might not have bothered, so long as they didn’t interfere with him. But this man practiced dark arts, specifically the Corpse Control Technique, and could not be left alive. Such techniques were an affront to nature and could bring great disasters to the world if things went wrong. If Lin Mu hadn’t been here today, Huang Ning and the others might not have escaped with their lives. Even worse, with a single lapse in control, the villages at the foot of the mountain could have been used to refine his zombie.
And that was merely the immediate goal. In the future, as the zombie advanced, it would require even more sacrifices of essence and blood. At that point, this man would surely stop at nothing to acquire them.
However, Lin Mu didn’t believe the man could truly control that zombie. After two hundred years of cultivation, the zombie had already developed its own consciousness. Although it was just a sliver, its intelligence would grow along with its strength. By then, the zombie turning on its master would be a minor issue; the real danger would be the threat it posed to the world.
In his past life, Lin Mu had been a world-class assassin who specialized in eliminating great evils. After embarking on the path of cultivation, he learned a saying from a senior: "As cultivators, we either bring benefit to the world or focus on our own enlightenment."
Lin Mu had taken this saying to heart as his guiding principle, which was why he chose to act now.
The black-robed man took a deep breath. "Boy, do you realize..."
Lin Mu cut him off impatiently. "I’m not a patient man, and you can spare me the threats."
"Very well! Very well!" the man laughed, his voice sharp with anger. "Since I first set foot on this path, you are the first person to dare act so presumptuously before me. In that case, I will kill you first and then refine you into a puppet!"
As he finished speaking, a surge of black energy erupted from his body.
WHOOSH!
This energy was thick with a heavy aura of Evil Qi and death. Lin Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly. Evidently, this man had been cultivating in a corpse-refining ground. Otherwise, he wouldn’t emanate such an intense deathly aura.
However, this alone was not enough to affect Lin Mu. With a casual wave of his hand, a gust of wind swept forward, rolling the black energy back on itself before it dissipated into nothing.
"Die!"
Just then, a voice filled with killing intent rang out. The black-robed man had somehow appeared behind Lin Mu.
"Boy, do you think I have as little combat experience as that beast? You are sorely mistaken." The black-robed man sneered, his palms now a pitch-black color. "Yin-Transforming Palm!"
A frigid, bone-chilling gale of deathly energy howled toward Lin Mu.
Such dense deathly energy.
But Lin Mu remained completely still, neither moving nor counterattacking. It was as if he intended to take the blow head-on.
BANG!
The black-robed man’s palm struck Lin Mu’s back, but the rebound sent the attacker flying several meters away. Landing on his feet, he suddenly burst into triumphant laughter.
"Boy, you’re as good as dead!" he sneered, his voice filled with excitement. "This Yin-Transforming Palm is a secret technique from my sect. To master it, one must cultivate in a place teeming with corpse energy on the seventh, seventeenth, and twenty-seventh of every month. A single strike is enough to melt an ordinary person into a pool of blood. I have practiced this technique for over thirty years. Even if you’re a Martial Arts Grandmaster, the Yin Qi will invade your body, leaving you unable to use even thirty percent of your strength!"
"Is that so?" Suddenly, Lin Mu turned around, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. "Is that all you’ve got?"
The black-robed man was first stunned, then horrified. "How are you unharmed? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" He pointed a trembling finger at Lin Mu. "You’re faking it! You must be faking it, right?"
Lin Mu’s face was etched with mockery. "Why don’t you look at your own hand first?"
"Eh?" The man glanced at his palm. "It’s fine, isn’t it?"
"What an idiot!" A mocking voice sounded in his ear as a shadow flashed before him. A figure suddenly appeared and threw a punch.
"How dare you trick me!" the black-robed man roared in fury, realizing he had been played by Lin Mu.
But he would never dare to take this punch. If even a zombie with a body like iron couldn’t withstand Lin Mu’s fist, what chance did he have? The man roared again as black energy swirled around him.
WHOOSH!
The punch landed, but it only struck the swirling black energy.
Lin Mu’s brow furrowed. All that remained before him was an empty black robe; the person inside had vanished.
Shedding his skin to escape? He does have some skill.
Suddenly, a black shadow flickered in a corner of the chamber as a dark gleam shot toward the exit.
"Thinking of leaving? It won’t be that easy!"
Lin Mu pointed his finger, and a thick shaft of light shot out, whistling toward the target.
"Godslayer Finger!"
With a cry of alarm, a figure smashed onto the ground, his face filled with terror. He had been completely unable to dodge that finger attack.
Lin Mu slowly walked over and found that the man was actually a dwarf. He had the wizened face of an old man, a few strands of sparse yellow hair, and a rather ugly appearance. The look he gave Lin Mu was both vicious and terrified.
"That isn’t a martial technique," Lin Mu said, shaking his head.
The man was stunned. "Impossible! If it’s not a martial technique, then what is it?"
Lin Mu spoke slowly. "This is Immortal Law. Naturally, it isn’t a martial technique."
"Immortal Law?" The man’s eyes widened slightly, and as if he realized something, his pupils shrank. "Could you be..."
Lin Mu shook his head. "It’s over."
"No... don’t kill me! I am—"
Before he could finish, Lin Mu brought his foot down on the man’s chest, crushing it and ending his life.
"I’m not interested in who you are."
After dealing with the man, Lin Mu was alone in the tomb chamber. From the adjacent chamber, the sound of thunderous explosions echoed, causing him to frown slightly.
ROAR!
Lightning flashed in his hand as a Thunder Dragon roared into existence. It then flew into the chamber wall, disappearing as it placed a seal upon it.
This way, no one else can get in.
Having done this, Lin Mu slowly walked over to where the coffin had originally been. In its place was a stone platform that seemed to be carved from white jade, a faint light flowing across its surface.
BANG!
Lin Mu threw a punch, cracking the platform open. A potent surge of Spiritual Energy immediately gushed out.
Who would have thought there would be a minor Spirit Vein here? What a find.