207: Unexpected counterattack, professional actors

The entire area was deathly silent.

The acrid smell of sulfur filling the air, mixed with the metallic sweetness of the fresh blood Lin Fan spat out, drilled into everyone's nostrils.

Chen Hu froze in place, his outstretched hand still suspended in mid-air, his palm seemingly retaining the sensation of shattering the small azure shield.

He looked at the shattered shield, which was slowly dissolving into specks of light on the ground, and then at Lin Fan, who lay in a pool of blood, eyes tightly shut, completely silent. His mind buzzed and went blank.

What... what did I do?

I just wanted to search his Storage Pouch.

I just wanted to expose his lies.

How could I have... shattered his Master's relic?

And even... angered him so much that he spat blood and passed out?

If this accusation sticks, even if he is an Elder's Disciple, he will definitely face severe punishment upon returning to the Sect.

"Senior Brother Chen!"

Liu Qingqing's heart-wrenching shriek finally broke the solidified silence.

Her tears broke their banks again, but this time it was not out of emotion or guilt, but out of anger and despair.

She violently pushed away Chen Hu, who was still in a daze, and stumbled toward Lin Fan, her trembling hand reaching to check his breathing.

"What have you done!"

She turned her head and roared at Chen Hu, her voice becoming sharp and hoarse with agitation.

"He saved us! He saved all our lives! Why would you treat him like this!"

Chen Hu flinched at the roar and finally came back to his senses.

His face was deathly pale, and he backed away repeatedly, offering incoherent excuses.

"No... it wasn't me! I didn't... I didn't mean to kill him!"

"It was him! He faked it himself! Yes! He must be faking it! How could a Soul Transformation Cultivator be so fragile!"

His voice grew louder, as if trying to convince himself.

However, his excuses appeared pale and powerless in the face of the widening pool of blood beneath Lin Fan.

Elder Liu's eye twitched violently.

The turn of events had completely exceeded his control.

With a grim expression, he slowly stepped forward.

"Silence!"

He softly rebuked Chen Hu's sophistry.

"Haven't you made enough of a spectacle of yourself?"

Elder Liu's gaze was like a cold knife scraping Chen Hu's face, causing him to instantly shut his mouth, lower his head, and dare not speak again.

Then, Elder Liu's gaze fell upon Lin Fan, who had "passed out." The greed and murderous intent deep in his eyes were masked by a layer of solemnity.

He crouched down, pretentiously extending two fingers to rest on Lin Fan's wrist.

Just at this moment.

Lin Fan's long eyelashes trembled slightly.

He slowly, and with difficulty, opened his eyes.

His eyes were unfocused and hollow, as if his Soul had been extracted.

He didn't look at anyone.

His gaze was fixed, blankly, on the spot where the azure specks of light were about to dissipate.

That was where his "Master's sole relic" had been.

A single clear tear silently slipped from the corner of his eye.

The sorrow and despair contained in that look pierced Liu Qingqing's heart like an invisible needle.

She instantly softened; all her anger transformed into intense sympathy and guilt.

So... so that shield was that important to him.

However, Chen Hu, upon seeing Lin Fan "wake up," showed not an ounce of guilt. Instead, he grabbed onto it like a lifeline and shrieked, pointing at Lin Fan.

"Look! I told you he was faking it! He didn't pass out at all!"

Overwhelmed by extreme humiliation and fear, Chen Hu's rationality completely snapped.

In his view, everything Lin Fan was doing now was an act, intended to garner sympathy and ensure Chen Hu's eternal damnation.

"A charlatan pretending to be a ghost!"

Chen Hu's face was distorted, his eyes bloodshot, and a surge of violent spiritual energy gathered in his palm.

"Today I will rip off your mask of hypocrisy and see how you continue to pretend!"

"Chen Hu, how dare you!"

Liu Qingqing was horrified and tried to intervene, but it was already too late.

Elder Liu stood to the side, his expression shifting, showing no intention of stopping the attack.

He tacitly allowed it.

Boom!

Chen Hu's murderous palm strike, wrapped in azure spiritual light, ruthlessly slammed toward Lin Fan's chest.

He intended to kill him instantly, leaving no witness.

Lin Fan seemed terrified, merely staring blankly at the hand that was rapidly growing larger in his pupils.

Pfft—!

Another mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, and Lin Fan's body was sent flying violently, like a ruined, falling leaf.

His body traced a miserable arc through the air before crashing heavily into a pile of charred rubble a dozen zhang away.

"Fellow Daoist Lin!"

Liu Qingqing let out a cry of desperate sorrow.

Chen Hu, who had launched the attack, was breathing heavily, a cruel and delighted sneer appearing on his face.

With that strike, he must surely be dead.

He was about to step forward to confirm the result of the battle.

But right at this moment, an unexpected change occurred.

Most of the blood Lin Fan spat out when he was blasted away scattered into the crevices of the rubble beneath him.

There, an inconspicuous, strange small grass, entirely colored a bizarre dark purple, was growing.

That mouthful of blood, containing Lin Fan's faint spiritual energy, acted like the most fatal catalyst.

Hiss—

A sound so slight it was almost imperceptible.

The dark purple grass withered rapidly at a visible speed, turning into flying ash.

Simultaneously, a colorless, odorless, thin mist silently spread out from the pile of rubble.

"Finally... this trouble is solved..."

Chen Hu sneered and stepped towards the direction where Lin Fan had fallen.

He wanted to personally cut off Lin Fan's head, take his Storage Pouch, and claim all his secrets for himself.

However, just as he took two steps.

His steps suddenly halted.

The cruel sneer on his face also froze in place.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands in disbelief.

He saw strange black lines appearing on his skin, spreading rapidly like living things.

"Ugh..."

Chen Hu opened his mouth, trying to call for help, but only strange, rattling noises escaped his throat.

The spiritual energy inside his body, like a burst dam, began to rampage wildly, flowing backward and crashing into itself.

A searing, bone-gnawing pain spread from his limbs and bones.

"Poison... it's poison..."

He used his last ounce of strength to squeeze out two words through gritted teeth, his eyes bulging, filled with terror and incomprehension.

Then, he fell backward stiffly, his body convulsing violently, as black, foul-smelling blood gushed from his mouth and nose.

In just a few breaths, he was completely motionless.

Dead.

This sudden and incredibly bizarre scene stunned everyone present.

Liu Qingqing covered her mouth, her eyes filled with horror and bewilderment.

Dead?

Senior Brother Chen... just died like that?

How could this be... The last trace of pretense on Elder Liu's face vanished completely.

He did not look at the miserably deceased Chen Hu.

His gaze, like two drawn swords, was fixed firmly on Lin Fan, who lay in the pile of rubble in the distance, seemingly with only a thread of life remaining.

Luck?

No.

This is absolutely not luck!

Once is a coincidence, twice is inevitable!

This boy definitely possesses a bizarre method he couldn't understand, or even imagine.

A terrifying secret technique capable of frightening a Void Refining Earth Dragon and counter-killing a Soul Transformation Cultivator!

At this moment, all the greed in Elder Liu's heart transformed into the purest, most blazing murderous intent.

This boy must not be allowed to live!

He must die!

The secrets on his body must belong to me!

"Qingqing, Chen Hu has been poisoned by a strange toxin. Retreat quickly and act as my Protector!"

Elder Liu shouted in a deep voice, his tone filled with "grief" and "urgency."

He flashed beside Chen Hu, placing one hand on his chest, releasing surging wood-element spiritual energy, pretending to exert all his effort to save him.

But from an angle Liu Qingqing couldn't perceive, his other hand was rapidly forming hand seals.

Invisible threads of spiritual energy spread rapidly outwards from him, forming an inescapable net that completely sealed off the space spanning several hundred zhang.

A moment later.

Elder Liu slowly stood up, shook his head, and wore a perfectly appropriate expression of sorrow.

"He can't be saved. The toxin has already invaded his Divine Soul. There is nothing I can do."

Hearing this, Liu Qingqing's delicate body trembled, and her face grew even paler.

Elder Liu ignored her, slowly turning around and walking step by step toward Lin Fan, who lay on the ground, barely breathing.

The sorrowful look on his face completely vanished, replaced by undisguised, cold murderous intent and greed.

A terrifying, mountain-heavy pressure belonging to a Void Refining Realm expert violently descended, locking firmly onto Lin Fan.

Under this pressure, the air seemed to solidify into substance, and even the light distorted.

Lin Fan's "weak" body was pressed down, unable to move even slightly.

Elder Liu looked down at him condescendingly, his voice cold and devoid of warmth.

"Boy, your performance was excellent."

"Now, it's time for the curtain call."

"Hand over all your secrets—your Cultivation Technique, your Magic Treasure, and your Legacy."

"I can... grant you a quick death."