Chapter 286 - Conflict in the Forest

Up ahead? Lin Yun stepped up and stood beside Lin Qiushan. Gu Beixuan was shocked when he noticed Lin Yun’s speed. After all, Lin Yun was at the rear of the team just a moment ago.

Lin Yun looked up and saw a stretch of brilliant lights. He frowned beneath the mask because he had no idea where the dazzling brilliance came from in the forest. “This is…?”

“That’s a stretch of water known as Swordlake. The Imperial Sword Herb is located right at the center of the lake,” said Lin Qiushan with a grave expression.

“There’s something weird about the mist,” said Lin Yun while he pointed at the grey fog up ahead.

Lin Qiushan looked at Lin Yun with shock. If Lin Yun had never been here before, how did you know that?

“The Imperial Sword herb will swallow up all forms of energy within a hundred mile radius. In addition to spiritual energy, it will also pull the surrounding poison over. Their accumulation forms the grey mist you see in front of us,” explained Gu Beixuan. He continued, “The mist is very terrifying, even a cultivator in the Violet Palace Realm will lose his life if he stays in the mist for too long.”

“It’s that terrifying?” The three alliance-unions’ disciples took in a cold breath.

“You guys don’t have to worry about it. The Imperial Sword Herb will devour it all twelve hours before it’s born,” smiled Lin Qiushan.

“Do you have any idea when the Imperial Sword Herb will be born?” asked Chen Ling while looking at the poisonous mist.

“The Imperial Sword Herb is born once a month. According to this pattern, it will be born before the sun sets.”

Before the sun sets? Lin Yun looked at the sky and saw the bright brilliance from the sun. It was still morning right now, so they still had plenty of time before it was born. Lin Yun sat beneath a tree and took out the Swordcloud Core. He had a total of five Swordcloud Cores, excluding the one that Lin Qiushan gave him.

He didn’t necessarily have to consume them with the Imperial Sword Herb. So he decided to refine one to test its effect. Lin Yun placed his palms together and closed his eyes to cultivate the Iris Sword Sutra. With the origin energy fluctuating within his body, Lin Yun swiftly refined the Swordcloud Core.

The Iris Flower trembled with excitement when spiritual energy from the Swordcloud Core poured into his body. The flower greedily absorbed the spiritual energy without leaving anything behind. At the same time, the bottleneck in Lin Yun’s Iris Sword Sutra in the pinnacle seventh stage also loosened a little.

The power of the beast core made Lin Yun’s face change. He never felt the Iris Sword Sutra so restless. This cultivation technique that was passed down through the Golden Age had an insatiable appetite. Lin Yun was surprised that the sword sutra was so stirred by the Swordcloud Core.

It must be related to the sword intent in the beast core. The Swordcloud Core had such great effects. If Lin Yun paired it together with the Imperial Sword Herb, then he might be able to make a breakthrough. The sword intent mixed with the origin energy was entirely absorbed by Lin Yun’s body.

“This fellow actually started cultivating…” Lin Qiushan and the others who were chatting were surprised to see Lin Yun refining the Swordcloud Core.

Lin Yan glanced at Chen Ling and said, “The Shatterlegion Alliance is actually treating a nobody like him as someone important? Do you not know that there are many demonic beasts here? He didn’t help along the way and now we even have to protect him?”

Chen Ling wasn’t happy because Lin Yan had been nitpicking everything along the way. It appears that the slap from Lin Yun wasn’t enough.

Lin Qiushan glared at Lin Yan and instructed, “Remain guarded. We’ll proceed when the poisonous mist dissipates. We’re already at this crucial moment, so don’t let your guards down.”

Lin Yan was still afraid of her elder sister. So she didn’t dare to utter a word after being glared at. Time gradually passed and it soon became noon. The atmosphere in the forest also started to get restless. The group could even hear beastial roars from time to time. As time continued to pass, more demonic beasts and alliance-unions began approaching.

The Imperial Sword Herb’s temptation was something that no one could resist and many alliance-unions would come to fight for it. When rustling sounds of footsteps were heard, Lin Qiushan and everyone immediately raised their guard. They turned around and saw a group approaching them. The one leading the group had a powerful aura and his aloof gaze made everyone feel uncomfortable.

“The Fire Alliance’s Xiao Feng!” Gu Beixuan’s face sank. Xiao Feng was ranked twenty-ninth and he was difficult to handle. He had also caused them a lot of trouble before the three alliance-unions got together.

The thirtieth rank represented a change in tiers. There was a huge difference between thirtieth and thirty-first on the Mortal Ranking. Xiao Feng was naturally powerful since he was twenty-ninth on the Mortal Ranking. Even if Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan joined hands, they would have some trouble dealing with him. If this wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t have invited Chen Ling to join them.

They didn’t have a good relationship with Xiao Feng. Being in the Burial Sword Peak revealed a lot of Xiao Feng’s nature, which didn’t bode well for them. Unfortunately, The Fire Alliance just happened to be one of the many alliance-unions that were camped around the forest, waiting for the poisonous mist to dissipate.

The group’s eyes flickered coldly and they directed their attention at the person who was approaching. By now, everyone had roughly gotten used to the rules here. As long as someone revealed a weak point, the bystanders would pounce over like wolves.

They would try to snatch whatever resources they could. After all, being benevolent here meant being cruel to oneself.

“Haha, what a coincidence, Junior Sister Lin. We were lucky to be teleported to the same region at the beginning of the Alliance-Union Battle and we actually met again,” smiled Xiao Feng as he examined Lin Qiushan’s figure.

Lin Qiushan was a famous beauty in the outer sect and she was just slightly inferior to Xin Yan. If it wasn’t for her clan, many people would’ve gone after her by now.

“How shameless. You must be secretly following behind us like a rat. Someone like you wants to woo my elder sister? Have you looked in the mirror before?” Lin Yan insulted him with no regard for his face.

Her words made Xiao Feng’s face sink and a murderous aura flickered through his eyes. This was the Burial Sword Peak, where killing was permitted. The law of the jungle was practiced here and this was no place for the weak. Xiao Feng suddenly stretched his hand out towards Lin Yan with a burst of cold murderous aura.

His action made Lin Yan’s face change. She immediately retreated, but Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan came at him just when he was about to attack again.

“Great timing!” smiled Xiao Feng. He wasn’t afraid of facing them both. It only took ten moves for Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan to know that they couldn’t contend with Xiao Feng.

When Chen Ling saw this situation, he immediately joined the battle without any hesitation. Once he joined the battle, it suddenly became a balanced fight. However, it seemed like Xiao Feng was still handling them easily.

Xiao Feng threw out a punch to push back Chen Ling and retreated with a smile. This made Lin Qiushan, Chen Ling, and Gu Beixuan feel relieved. Although they didn’t use their swords, they could sense pressure when facing Xiao Feng. The twenty-ninth ranker on the Mortal Ranking truly deserved his reputation. If they were fighting by themselves, none of them would last more than a hundred moves.

“And here I was wondering why you guys become so bold all of a sudden. So it turns out that you have an additional member, a piece of garbage that’s forty-eighth on the Mortal Ranking!” Xiao Feng smiled with disdain towards Chen Ling.

“You wouldn’t hold back if you were confident in dealing with all three of our alliance-unions. Why don’t you just say what you want?” questioned Lin Qiushan. Xiao Feng might be strong, but the three of them weren’t afraid.

“That person just insulted me. Either you give her a slap or I’ll do it myself. Otherwise, get lost from here. I’m taking this place,” threatened Xiao Feng.

“You dare to slap someone who’s a direct descendant of the Lin Clan? Are you courting death?!” Lin Yan’s face turned dark.

“Haha, your mouth is really annoying. It’s a pity that we’re in the Burial Sword Peak because there aren’t any rules. Brother Wei, stop hiding and come out!” barked Xiao Feng.

Brother Wei? The Upstream Alliance’s Wei Songhan who was twenty-eighth on the Mortal Ranking?

A figure leaped out of the trees and appeared before them. It was clear that this figure with a cold expression was the Upstream Alliance’s Wei Songhan.

“Damn it. How did these two get together?” Gu Beixuan started to panic. He was under the impression that Xiao Feng and Wei Songhan would go after the Imperial Sword Herb by themselves. But he was shocked to see that they had allied.

“Then we’ll give up this place,” replied Lin Qiushan in a grave tone.

“You want to leave now? I’m sorry, but it’s too late!” Xiao Feng pointed at Lin Yan and demanded, “Leave your younger sister behind or else none of you will be leaving here!”

Lin Yan started to panic. She knew that she made a mistake. The other alliance-unions were observing them from the shadows and a few of them had a cold flicker through their eyes.

“Lin Qiushan’s group is finished. Let’s go!”

“The fight for the Imperial Sword Herb still hasn’t started. They must be stupid to provoke Xiao Feng and Wei Songhan. Let’s follow them!”

“Hehe. There’s bound to be a good show in a battle between tigers and wolves.”

There were many powerful fluctuations coming from the forest, belonging to those who intended to harm the group. After all, Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan definitely had good stuff on them.

Sensing the surrounding energy fluctuations, Liu Qiushan and the others started to feel nervous. Gu Beixuan looked around and saw many alliance-unions were coming over from the depths of the forest. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy to get through this ordeal.

“Xiao Feng, don’t push it! We’ve already given you this place! What more do you want!” Lin Qiushan gnashed her teeth with her eyebrows knitted.

“Cut the crap. Either hand your younger sister over to me to be slapped or stay behind. Don’t even dream about fighting for the Imperial Sword Herb!” Xiao Feng couldn’t be bothered with Lin Qiushan. The entire situation was under his control with Wei Songhan helping out.

“You’re not the one who can decide if we are allowed to fight for the Imperial Sword Herb.” A clear voice pierced the tense atmosphere.

“Who said that?!” Xiao Feng followed the voice with furrowed brows. He then saw a masked man sitting beneath a tree behind Lin Qiushan’s group. But in the next second, that person disappeared.

What is going on? A sharp piercing through the wind sounded out and a figure dashed over. The speed was so astonishing and before Xiao Feng could respond to it, a punch flew over. The punch was accompanied by fifty thousand kilograms of strength, which was one cauldron’s worth of strength.