Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Including Lin Jue, the Lin family dispatched a total of eight Martial Artists.

The auras of these eight were formidable; not a single one was weak.

The youth walking just one step behind Lin Jue was especially noteworthy. He strode like a dragon and pounced like a tiger; with each step, the fallen leaves on the ground were whipped up by air currents, many of them torn to shreds. A rumbling like bells and drums echoed from within his body, and the sheer vitality of his blood and qi was astonishing.

"Lin Jue, stop." The youth spoke casually, yet the leaves stirred by his steps suddenly met a turbulent force and instantly turned to dust!

Every move this youth made was terrifying beyond measure!

Hearing him, Lin Jue quickly stopped, turned around, and said with a broad smile, "Brother Feng, what are your instructions?"

His surname was Chi, which meant this youth was not from the Lin family. It was baffling why Lin Jue would be so respectful to him.

"We rest here. We’ll set out again in an hour." The youth named Chi Feng was expressionless, but his voice carried a majesty that was impossible to refuse.

His tone and expression were just like Lin Wu’s, which startled Lin Jue.

"Well..." Lin Jue froze, becoming hesitant.

"Hmph! Lin Jue, don’t you forget, even though you’re a young master of the Lin family, you must listen to me this time," Chi Feng said, his expression souring.

Lin Jue quickly replied with a smile, "Of course. You are the one Big Brother Lin Wu values most. I’m just out front to lull Lin Hao into a false sense of security. I’m well aware of that."

"It’s good that you know. Not only did Lin Hao survive, but he’s also achieved so much. His cultivation is terrifying." Chi Feng’s expression softened slightly as he offered the reminder.

’He’s overstating things,’ Lin Jue was unconvinced but played along. "Of course I know that. I’m afraid even I am not his match. But he definitely wouldn’t last a single move against Brother Feng. Brother Feng, I’m truly curious. Your constitution is just an Element Body, so how can you have such terrifying cultivation?"

Before entering the Trial Forest, Lin Jue didn’t know Chi Feng. But upon arriving, Chi Feng had introduced himself, stating he was one of Lin Wu’s men and was here only to help them kill Lin Hao, even providing a token as proof.

At first, although Lin Jue was respectful on the surface, he inwardly looked down on him. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

This was because Lin Jue had seen through Chi Feng’s constitution with a single glance—it was just an ordinary Element Body.

However, after they started moving together and Lin Jue witnessed the terrifying phenomena that occurred with Chi Feng’s every move, even he was shocked.

Making a comparison, Lin Jue was horrified to realize that he was no match for Chi Feng. His Barbaric War Body had no deterrent effect on this man whatsoever!

There was only one possibility: Chi Feng cultivated a Cultivation Technique several times more powerful than his own!

And the source of this Cultivation Technique was obvious.

Now, using this opportunity, Lin Jue feigned ignorance and asked.

Due to his constitution, Lin Jue held a high status in the Lin family; he was a true young master.

Now, with a young master of the Lin family being so respectful to him, and the others looking as if they were hanging on his every word, Chi Feng’s vanity was immensely satisfied.

Chi Feng smiled faintly and asked, "Is my cultivation really that impressive?"

"Not just impressive—it’s *extremely* impressive," Lin Jue hurried to flatter him.

He had noticed something: Chi Feng’s tone of voice and posture seemed to mimic Lin Wu. In fact, after Chi Feng had spoken a few more sentences, an air of impoverished origins began to show.

’A person like this should be easy to fool as long as I go along with what he wants.’

With this thought in mind, Lin Jue humbled himself.

"Haha, it’s all thanks to my master. If it weren’t for him, I’d still be chopping wood in the mountains." Sure enough, upon hearing the flattery, Chi Feng roared with laughter and revealed a piece of information that stunned the Lin family disciples.

Lin Jue’s eyes flickered; he already had a general idea of what was going on.

After arriving at the Lin family, Lin Wu hadn’t indulged in luxury and debauchery. Instead, he constantly went out, tempering himself in all sorts of dangerous places.

At first, Lin Wu’s excursions were regular; he would always return within a month. But one time, he disappeared for a full half-year.

And when Lin Wu returned, his status in the Lin family instantly skyrocketed. A rumor circulated that Lin Wu had found a secret realm of gods and demons and had obtained an Emperor Venerable’s inheritance.

People were skeptical of this news, but one thing was certain: after that incident, Lin Wu’s cultivation became increasingly terrifying, and his every move carried a world-shaking pressure.

Lin Jue had seen Lin Wu once. Lin Wu had only glanced at him from a distance, and his entire body had frozen, unable to move.

After that, Lin Jue believed the rumor.

’It seems that Lin Wu not only received the Emperor Venerable’s inheritance and cultivated his imperial arts, but he also obtained other Cultivation Techniques.’

’This Chi Feng probably saved Lin Wu, and then Lin Wu passed a Cultivation Technique on to him.’

’I’m a member of the Lin family, for crying out loud! And my constitution is far stronger than an Element Body. How could he not pass such a good Cultivation Technique to me?’

A single Cultivation Technique allowed a Spirit Body to surpass a Barbaric War Body. This filled Lin Jue with both jealousy and envy.

"I know what you’re thinking. As long as we kill Lin Hao this time, I’ll put in a good word for you with my master." Chi Feng’s expression suddenly changed, and he spoke in a cold tone.

"Ahem, thank you, Brother Feng. Shouldn’t we be heading out now?" ’This Chi Feng is much smarter than I thought.’ Lin Jue was a bit embarrassed.

"Actually, Lin Hao’s appearance was well within my master’s expectations. So you don’t have to worry at all. If we don’t make a move, someone else will."

"You mean the people from the Hu family?"

"Of course. The Hu family sent four people. One of them has a constitution that is by no means inferior to yours. And his cultivation is at the Eighth Layer of the Elemental Realm."

"What? If someone like that makes a move, how could Lin Hao possibly survive until we get there? Brother Feng, we should move now." Hearing this, Lin Jue became anxious, afraid that someone else would steal his credit.

Chi Feng pondered for a moment, then said to the other six, "You six, go on ahead!"

The six of them exchanged glances and shot forward. Among them was Lin Zhan.

Lin Wu’s status in the Lin family was too high. Even though Chi Feng was just a servant, they didn’t dare to offend him.

"Brother Feng, what is the meaning of this?" Lin Jue asked, confused.

"Hehe, if they manage to kill Lin Hao, they’ll surely be exhausted. At that point, we’ll kill them, and the credit will naturally be ours," Chi Feng said sinisterly.

A trace of fear and vigilance flashed in Lin Jue’s eyes, and he shivered involuntarily.

’This Chi Feng is too ruthless.’

"It wouldn’t be easy for me to kill you. If you escaped, it would do me no good. I’m just maximizing our gains. I’ll let you in on a secret: if we can kill Lin Hao, the master will reward us handsomely," Chi Feng said to Lin Jue in a low voice.

"Thank you, Brother Feng." Lin Jue cupped his fists, a look of gratitude on his face.

"We’ll conserve our strength and let them fight until the heavens and earth collapse. That would be best," Chi Feng said with a treacherous look.

"Right. We’ll reap the fisherman’s profit," Lin Jue said, laughing along.

’With so many Martial Artists trying to kill Lin Hao, it would be great if he died. But even if he doesn’t, he’ll be in a sorry state. When Chi Feng and I make our move then, Lin Hao will have absolutely no chance of survival!’

Unfortunately, Lin Jue’s calculations were far too naive.

He would never have guessed that shortly after Chi Feng had told him to stop, Lin Hao had already killed the first group of Martial Artists.

It was true that the four’s combination attack technique was terrifying, but Lin Hao’s strength far exceeded their imagination.

Back to Lin Hao. Under the four-man combination attack, he felt a sense of threat. Not only was his body resisting, but even his True Self Divine Soul stirred.

The moment his True Self Divine Soul moved, Lin Hao immediately felt the pressure on him lessen.

A Divine Soul was something one could only form after entering the Soul Gathering Realm. Even an ordinary Divine Soul held absolute suppressive power over an Elemental Realm Martial Artist.

What’s more, Lin Hao’s Divine Soul was anything but ordinary.

As his Divine Soul acted, the four attackers’ movements immediately became sluggish.

An aura that made their hearts palpitate began to spread.

How could Lin Hao possibly let such an opportunity slip by?

With a flicker of his form, Lin Hao’s body teleported away.

With no superfluous moves, Lin Hao’s movements were grand and open as he directly threw a punch.

Now that Lin Hao’s cultivation had advanced to the Seventh Layer of the Elemental Realm, a single strike contained over 100,000 pounds of force—far more than any Elemental Realm Martial Artist could withstand.

BOOM!

Under this punch, one of the men’s bodies directly exploded.

Moreover, the remaining force continued unabated, snapping a giant tree over ten li away!

With one man dead, the combination attack technique was naturally broken.

Without their combination technique, the remaining three were no match for Lin Hao.

Lin Hao’s body flickered, shifting between three different positions in an instant.

And when he came to a stop, the heads of the other three had been smashed down into their necks.

Just as the second group of four arrived, they happened to witness the three corpses being blown to smithereens.

Lin Hao’s methods were horrifying!

"Use your Bloodline Power directly! Kill him!"

These four were the men from the Hu family Chi Feng had mentioned. Their leader glanced at Lin Hao’s face and, without any unnecessary words, gave the direct order to kill him.

As soon as the words fell, even the leader himself attacked alongside them.

A light shone from the other three’s Dantians, and then their bodies were enveloped in a layer of orange light, as if they had donned a suit of battle armor.

These three were originally at the Seventh Layer of the Elemental Realm. Now that they had directly used their Bloodline Power, their strength was comparable to the Eighth Layer of the Elemental Realm.

Yet the leader, without even using his Bloodline Power, exuded a pressure even more terrifying than theirs.

Lin Hao knew at once. This must be the guy Wenren Yuxin had told him about—the one with a constitution comparable to Lin Jue’s and the cultivation of an Eighth Layer Elemental Realm expert.

Though these four attacked together without a combination technique, they were even more terrifying than the previous group.

The area was drowned in furious sonic booms. The earth trembled and the wind howled—a scene of apocalypse. Even the ferocious beasts in the Trial Forest had fled this region from a great distance.

And at the center of this area, Lin Hao’s body was like a lone boat in a colossal wave, in constant danger of capsizing.

After activating their Bloodline Power, the four’s speed was simply too fast. For a short time, Lin Hao could only rely on his Body Technique to evade.

"Lin Hao, today you will pay for my brother’s life!" the leader roared, thrusting out a palm. His hand swelled to the size of a millstone, glowing a brilliant gold.

As the palm shot out, a series of explosions ripped through the air, creating the illusion that if it landed, it could even shatter the void itself.

The Guard who had been ordered to go to the Heaven-Stepping Sect was his elder brother, killed by Lin Hao.

At the same time, the other three sealed off Lin Hao’s escape routes.

Four Martial Artists at the Eighth Layer of the Elemental Realm attacked simultaneously. Lin Hao was in crisis.