218: Heart Demon Tribulation

Boundless darkness receded, and Lin Feng's consciousness re-coalesced.

He found himself lying on a soft bed, covered by a brocade quilt with a faint orchid scent.

The room was elegantly and serenely furnished, and a few crisp bird calls came from outside the window.

Lin Feng sat up, stretched his limbs, and still felt that familiar sense of powerlessness.

He was still a Mortal.

Where was this?

Just as he was wondering, the door creaked open.

A light green figure hurried in, and seeing Lin Feng sitting up, her beautiful face immediately lit up with surprise.

"Big Brother Lin, you're awake!"

It was Mo Fengwu.

There was an unconcealable urgency in her brows as she quickly walked to the bedside and said anxiously, "Big Brother Lin, come with me quickly! The Five Colors Sect people are here, Mother says they will soon attack the Mo Estate, we must leave the city through the back door immediately!"

Lin Feng's heart sank.

He had returned to this point in time again.

Were the Extra-territorial Demon's methods to make him repeatedly experience these moments?

"Old Woman Mo! If you know what's good for you, hand over 'that Magic Treasure' obediently!"

Outside the estate, a sinister and arrogant shout penetrated the courtyard wall and clearly reached them.

Mo Fengwu's small face grew even paler; she grabbed Lin Feng's hand, her eyes full of pleading: "Big Brother Lin, let's go!"

Lin Feng did not resist, letting her pull him as they hurried through the corridor.

He could feel that he still had no trace of magic power on him.

A moment later, the loud clang of weapons and desperate screams came from the direction of the Mo Estate's main gate.

Shouts of killing and cries of distress mingled together.

Lin Feng followed Mo Fengwu, and under the cover of the house servants, they fled miserably from the secluded back door.

Behind them, the Mo Estate was engulfed in a sea of flames.

Madam Mo and the three Mo sisters also escaped from other directions under the desperate cover of the house servants, but the family was separated.

Lin Feng and Mo Fengwu fled all the way, eventually settling down in the Qin family of a neighboring city, living incognito as a pair of medicine apprentices.

And because he had no System and no magic power, Lin Feng became a complete Mortal.

Life was as calm as still water.

Gathering herbs, drying herbs, pounding herbs, brewing medicine.

Spring passed and autumn came, cold and heat alternated.

How short is a Mortal's life.

Fifty years of time, in the long river of memory, was but a flick of a finger.

In the small courtyard of the medicine shop, under an old locust tree.

Lin Feng sat on a stone bench, holding a bowl of warm herbal soup in his hand; his hair had already turned white, and his face was etched with the furrows of time.

On the bed lay a white-haired old woman, who was Mo Fengwu.

Her breathing was already weak, and her cloudy eyes struggled to look at Lin Feng, her face filled with deep reluctance.

"Lin Feng…" Her voice was hoarse and weak.

Lin Feng put down the medicine bowl, held her withered hand, and said softly, "I'm here."

"I… I am so unwilling… I haven't taken revenge yet… haven't found Mother and my sisters…" Two lines of cloudy tears streamed down Mo Fengwu's eyes, "This life… to have met you… is my greatest blessing… it's just… you've suffered…"

Lin Feng shook his head, wiping away her tears with his rough fingers: "It's not hard, with you here, every day is sweet."

A happy smile appeared on Mo Fengwu's face, a smile that smoothed out the wrinkles on her face.

She looked at Lin Feng, and the light in her pupils gradually dimmed.

Finally, it completely lost its luster.

Holding her hand, feeling the last trace of warmth dissipate, Lin Feng's heart felt a genuine, agonizing pain, as if being cut by a knife.

Just then.

The wind in the courtyard stopped, the falling locust leaves froze in mid-air, and the distant laughter of children abruptly ceased.

The entire world seemed to turn into a static painting.

A distorted demonic shadow slowly emerged before Lin Feng.

"Boy, how does it feel to be a Mortal?"

The Extra-territorial Demon's voice was hoarse and grating, full of mockery.

Lin Feng looked up, expressionlessly staring at it, his eyes as calm as an unfathomable ancient well.

The Demon seemed somewhat displeased with his reaction; it floated around Lin Feng in a circle, cackling, "This woman is very important to you, isn't she? See, even dying in an illusion causes you such grief.

"If I… were to make her truly die like this in the outside world, would you still be so calm? Haha… Hahahaha!"

Sharp laughter echoed in the frozen courtyard.

Lin Feng still looked at it calmly, without saying a word.

The Demon's laughter gradually stopped; it seemed to be enraged by Lin Feng's deathly calm.

It moved closer to Lin Feng, its chilling aura almost touching his face.

"Boy, do you think this is over? This is just the beginning!"

The demonic shadow let out an angry roar.

"I will personally kill every single person you care about, one by one, right before your eyes! I want to see how hard your Dao Heart truly is! I'll see how you overcome this Heart Demon tribulation then!"

Lin Feng's eyes still showed no ripple of emotion.

It was a complete disregard, as if looking at a clown.

"Hmph!"

The Demon was completely enraged by this gaze, snorted coldly, and the demonic shadow instantly dissipated.

The surrounding static world, like a shattered mirror, also cracked inch by inch, eventually turning into an endless darkness.

When Lin Feng opened his eyes again, a strong smell of blood entered his nostrils.

He found himself in a strange, blood-red jungle.

Lin Feng immediately looked inward.

This time, within his Dantian, there was actually magic power flowing!

Although weak, it was indeed present.

Qi Refining, tenth layer.

He carefully sensed it, but his brows furrowed.

This body's Spiritual Root was a mixed, impure Five Elements pseudo-Spiritual Root, and its Cultivation speed was unbelievably slow.

He stood up, surveying his surroundings.

Blood-red earth, eerie plants, and a suffocating atmosphere permeated the air.

This was… the Blood Forbidden Ground!

Lin Feng's heart understood.

The Extra-territorial Demon's second round of methods had begun.

He casually identified a direction and began to trek through the jungle.

After an unknown period of walking, the path suddenly opened up.

An ancient and majestic stone hall appeared in his vision.

Lin Feng did not approach rashly but quietly snuck into a dense patch of grass in front of the hall.

As soon as he hid himself, he saw a group of over ten people arrive before the stone hall.

Leading them was a delicate, doll-like loli girl.

It was Nangong Wan!

And the Yanyue Sect Disciples behind her.

Sure enough, it was the Blood Forbidden Ground timeline.

Lin Feng watched Nangong Wan summon the Vermillion Bird Ring, break open the hall door, and lead the Disciples inside.

He did not move.

He was waiting.

As expected, not long after, two stealthy figures emerged from the forest.

Zhong Wu of Spirit Beast Mountain, and a male Disciple from Tianque Fortress.

"Heh heh, once they've fought each other to exhaustion, we'll collapse the entrance, so not a single one of them can escape alive!"

Zhong Wu's sinister voice came through.

Lin Feng's eyes turned cold.

Just as Zhong Wu was activating the Mountain Shaking Pearl, preparing to act.

Lin Feng moved!

He had no System, no Talismans, and even less, no Magic Treasures.

The only thing he could rely on was his meager magic power at the tenth layer of Qi Refining, and the combat experience already etched deep into his Soul.

He poured all his limited magic power into his legs, his body shooting out like an arrow from a bowstring.

"Who?"

Zhong Wu and the other man noticed the movement and sharply turned their heads.

What they saw were a pair of icy, bone-chilling eyes.

Lin Feng said nothing, a Low Grade Magical Artifact short sword, picked up from the ground, presumably dropped by some unlucky Cultivator, appeared in his hand at some unknown point.

A flash of sword light, striking directly at Zhong Wu's throat.

Zhong Wu was greatly alarmed and hastily conjured a small shield to block.

"Clang!"

With a crisp sound, the short sword was deflected.

"A tenth-layer Qi Refining Cultivator dares to ambush? You're courting death!" Zhong Wu's face twisted into a sneer as he recognized Lin Feng's cultivation.

He slapped his Storage Pouch, and a colorful fierce tiger appeared out of thin air, roaring as it pounced at Lin Feng.

On the other side, the Tianque Fortress Disciple also summoned a flying trident, attacking from the flank.

Lin Feng's eyes were calm, his footwork shifted, narrowly dodging the fierce tiger's pounce.

At the same time, he swung his sword back, deflecting the incoming flying trident.

To face two opponents, plus a peak-level first-grade Yao Beast, was an almost certain death situation for a tenth-layer Qi Refining Cultivator with a pseudo-Spiritual Root.

But Lin Feng's combat awareness was terrifyingly high.

Every dodge, every parry, was executed with extreme precision, always resolving the opponent's attacks with the smallest cost.

Zhong Wu grew increasingly alarmed as he fought; this boy clearly had low cultivation, yet he was as slippery as an eel, his combat instincts were simply terrifying.

"Ah!"

A scream rang out.

It was the Tianque Fortress Disciple, who, in a moment of carelessness, was caught by Lin Feng's opening and had his heart pierced by a sword.

Seeing this, Zhong Wu was greatly shocked, no longer daring to fight, and turned to flee.

How could Lin Feng give him the chance?

He took a claw from the colorful fierce tiger head-on, leaving three deep, bone-visible bloody gashes on his back.

Using this impact force, his speed surged, and he caught up to Zhong Wu.

"Pfft!"

A sword to the throat.

After dealing with the two, Lin Feng felt a burning, excruciating pain in his back; he gasped for breath, his face somewhat pale.

This meager magic power was truly insufficient.

Just then.

"Ah! The entrance! The entrance is blocked!"

"Help!"

Inside the hall, panicked screams and desperate cries of the Yanyue Sect Disciples could be heard.

And a deafening roar of a beast.

Lin Feng stood outside the hall, listening to the screams from within, and fell silent.

He was injured, and most of his magic power was depleted.

Inside the hall was a Ink Dragon that had already advanced to the second grade.

Entering in his current state would mean a near-certain death.

In this illusion, he wondered what would happen if he died.

Finally, Lin Feng slowly exhaled a mouthful of stale Qi.

He tightened his grip on the short sword and walked towards the entrance, which Zhong Wu had collapsed but still had a slight gap, and entered.