15: Chapter 15: The Fragment of the Poisonous Scripture, the Lion King's Wrath

The noisy human voices and footsteps outside the cave approached rapidly, like the drumming of a death knell. The arrogant shouting belonged to none other than Mu Li, the young leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group!

The air inside the stone chamber instantly froze. With a mysterious inheritance ahead and vicious pursuers behind, they were caught in a dilemma!

Xiao Yi Xian's face turned pale, panic flashing in her eyes, but it was immediately replaced by determination. She swept a quick glance at the three stone boxes, her gaze lingering for a moment on the one engraved with a snake-like symbol, before looking at Lin Yan and speaking rapidly: "The Wolf Head Mercenary Group is here for me! I cannot implicate you; let's split up! As for the items... if fate allows, we shall retrieve them another time!" As she spoke, she actually turned to rush toward the other side of the cave entrance, attempting to lure the pursuers away.

"Wait!" Lin Yan grabbed her wrist, his grip gentle but impossible to break free from. His eyes were sharp as blades as he quickly analyzed the situation: "There is only one entrance, and they will be here immediately. If we split up, neither of us will escape. Take the items, and let's go together!"

His decisiveness and composure instantly influenced Xiao Yi Xian. She bit her lower lip and nodded heavily: "Alright!"

Time was tight, and there was no room for hesitation. Lin Yan swept his gaze across the room and made his decision. He pointed to the stone box engraved with poison patterns and the one labeled "Purification Lotus Demon Flame Fragmented Map": "You take the Poison Manual, and I will take the Fragmented Map. We cannot touch the third box for now; we will return another day! The ring..." He glanced at the black ring on the skeleton's finger, his mind racing. A strong intuition compelled him to make a decision: "Take that as well!"

Xiao Yi Xian did not dally. She rushed toward the poison-patterned stone box and swept her jade hand across it. Using some unknown technique, the stone box clicked open, revealing a colorful, ancient scroll—this was none other than the "Seven-Colored Poison Manual." She quickly tucked it into her bosom, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

Lin Yan headed straight for the box labeled with the Fragmented Map. This box had no mechanisms, just a regular stone lid. He pried it open, and inside lay an ancient map made of an unknown, charred-edged, and tattered material. The lines on it were blurry, but a lotus pattern was vaguely visible. He didn't have time to examine it closely; he swept it, along with a few low-level magic cores scattered beside the stone box and a small pouch of gold coins (the poison master's legacy), into his storage ring. Finally, enduring the potential unknown risks the black ring might bring, he reached out and slid it off the skeleton's finger bone. The ring felt icy to the touch and, apart from its antique style, felt nothing special, though the few strands of Seed Flame of Void Devouring Flame within his body stirred slightly.

Just as Lin Yan tossed the black ring into his storage ring—

"It's here! The cave entrance is open!" A shout filled with surprise and greed exploded at the tunnel entrance! The light of torches flickered as it projected inside, and several figures had already blocked the exit!

"Xiao Yi Xian, you've made this young master search hard for you! Hmm? And there's a pretty boy here too?" Mu Li surged into the stone chamber with seven or eight elite mercenaries. His gaze first swept greedily over Xiao Yi Xian, then fixed on Lin Yan. Seeing the emptied stone boxes and the skeleton, his expression instantly darkened, and a fierce light appeared in his eyes: "Very well! I didn't expect there would be someone waiting to swoop in at the end! Hand over the items, and then... the man can finish himself off, and the woman can obediently come with me. Perhaps you might suffer a little less!"

The mercenaries behind him fanned out, vaguely surrounding the two. Swords were drawn, and the air was filled with killing intent. Most of these mercenaries had strength around the sixth or seventh stage of Dou Zhi Qi, while Mu Li himself had reached the eighth stage, making him a standout among the younger generation in Qingshan Town.

Xiao Yi Xian stepped forward, vaguely shielding Lin Yan behind her, her pretty face frosty: "Mu Li, we discovered these items first; it has nothing to do with you! Get out of the way!"

"Hahaha!" Mu Li seemed to have heard a great joke: "In Qingshan Town, whatever the Wolf Head Mercenary Group sets its eyes on belongs to us! Xian'er, I advise you to be sensible. Follow me, and you will have endless enjoyment in the future..." Before he could finish, his expression suddenly turned ferocious: "Do it! It doesn't matter if the man lives or dies, but don't hurt Xian'er!"

Two of the leading mercenaries lunged toward Lin Yan with sinister smiles, their steel blades slashing down with a vicious wind! In their eyes, this unfamiliar kid with a weak aura (due to the breath-concealing talisman) was nothing more than a bug that could be crushed with a flick of a finger.

"Watch out!" Xiao Yi Xian exclaimed, her silver needles about to be fired.

However, Lin Yan moved.

Facing the slashing steel blades, he did not retreat but advanced. He instantly activated Explosive Step, his figure sliding like a ghost, cutting right through the gap between the two blades! He was so fast that the two mercenaries were left dazed.

Immediately after, two dull "Bang! Bang!" sounds rang out almost simultaneously!

Lin Yan threw both fists out, appearing simple and unadorned, but they struck the mercenaries' chests with pinpoint accuracy. The first level of Eight Extremities Collapse's open force erupted, and the tyrannical power instantly shattered their hastily raised Dou Zhi Qi defenses.

"Pfft!" "Pfft!" The two mercenaries sprayed blood wildly and flew backward like broken sacks, slamming into the stone wall before sliding down, knocked unconscious instantly.

Clean and efficient! Two men taken out in an instant!

The stone chamber suddenly went quiet. Including Mu Li, all the mercenaries were stunned, looking in disbelief at the clean-cut youth standing in place, as if he had just done something insignificant.

"You've got some skills!" Mu Li's eyes suddenly turned sinister; he hadn't expected this seemingly unremarkable kid to be such a tough nut to crack. "No wonder you dared to snatch food from this young master! All of you, attack together and slaughter him!"

The remaining five mercenaries roared in unison, their Dou Zhi Qi surging as they lunged at Lin Yan from different directions. These men had spent years licking blood off the edge of a knife; they had tacit coordination, and their attacks were vicious.

Lin Yan's expression remained calm as he used Explosive Step to the extreme, moving and dodging within the narrow stone chamber like a butterfly flitting through flowers, narrowly avoiding fatal attacks every single time. At the same time, his fists became the most lethal weapons, with the force of Eight Extremities Collapse pulsing; every strike inevitably caused a mercenary to scream and lose their combat ability. Whether it was broken bones or internal injuries, it was clean and efficient.

In just over a dozen breaths, three more mercenaries had collapsed. The stone chamber was filled with dull thuds, painful groans, and the sound of breaking bones.

Xiao Yi Xian watched from the side, her beautiful eyes sparkling with brilliance. She had not expected this youth she had encountered by chance to be so powerful, his combat style sharp and decisive. The silver needles and medicinal powder she held in her hand had, for the moment, found no use.

Mu Li's face turned completely black, his eyes boiling with killing intent, mixed with a hint of shock. The strength and combat awareness this kid had displayed were definitely far beyond what his surface-level Dou Zhi Qi fluctuations suggested! He couldn't let this drag on!

"Trash! Get out of the way!" Mu Li roared, taking a sudden step forward. His eighth-stage Dou Zhi Qi erupted without reservation. At the same time, a strange gray light flashed in his eyes, and that cold, chilly aura that Lin Yan had previously sensed suddenly became clear and intense! Gray energy flowed faintly beneath his skin, his aura surged instantly, briefly climbing to the level of a ninth-stage Dou Zhi Qi, even carrying a sinister sense of oppression!

"Kid, to be able to force me to use this 'Soul Fiend Force,' you can die with pride!" Mu Li grinned viciously, his palms wreathed in gray-black airflow, carrying a piercing ghost-like wail as he slammed them toward Lin Yan! Wherever his palm wind passed, the air became cold and viscous, vaguely having the effect of eroding Dou Zhi Qi and the spirit!

The sinister methods of the Hall of Souls!

Lin Yan's eyes narrowed; he dared not be careless. This gray-black airflow carried the scent of soul erosion, which ordinary Dou Zhi Qi could hardly resist. He circulated his Dou Zhi Qi rapidly, preparing to mobilize the aura of the Green Lotus Core Flame to counter it—

"ROAR—!!!"

Just at this critical moment, a heaven-shaking, violent lion's roar, like thunder from the nine heavens, exploded from outside the cave, from the very center of the distant mountain range! The roar contained endless fury and terrifying pressure; just the sound wave arriving made the entire cave shake violently, causing gravel to rain down!

"Rumble—!" Following that were even more intense and terrifying sounds of energy explosions and collisions. The earth shook and the mountains swayed, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth sinking! Even through the cave walls, one could feel the earth-destroying energy fluctuations!

The Amethyst Winged Lion King! And judging by the commotion, its battle with Yun Yun had entered its most intense stage! It might even spread to this area!

Inside the cave, everyone was stunned by this sudden display of heaven and earth might, their movements pausing. The gray-black airflow on Mu Li's body also became chaotic for an instant. The injured mercenaries were so frightened that their faces turned pale, thinking the cave was about to collapse.

"Opportunity!" A sharp light exploded in Lin Yan's eyes. Without hesitation, taking advantage of the moment Mu Li was distracted and his momentum slightly weakened, he fused his Dou Zhi Qi with a wisp of the Green Lotus Core Flame's scorching aura and poured it all into his right fist! On his fist, a cyan-red firelight flared instantly. Although it remained restrained, the intense heat and pure fire energy emitted made the air slightly distort!

"Eight Extremities Collapse—Flame Break!"

This time, he did not hold back. The simulated fire-attribute Dou Zhi Qi erupted with full force, combined with the dual hidden forces of Eight Extremities Collapse. His fist turned into a blazing streak of light, moving several times faster than before. It tore through the gray-black airflow surrounding Mu Li's palm wind and slammed fiercely onto his crossed arms!

"BOOM!!! CRACK!"

The scorching fire force clashed violently with the cold Soul Fiend Force, emitting a dull explosion! This was followed by the clear sound of bones breaking! Mu Li screamed, his arms bent at unnatural angles, and his entire body was sent flying backward by the violent fist force, slamming heavily into the stone wall behind him. He sprayed blood from his mouth, his face filled with pain and shock! The gray-black aura on his body instantly dissipated by more than half.

Lin Yan retreated as soon as he succeeded, grabbing the still-stunned Xiao Yi Xian and whispering: "Let's go!"

The two were like arrows released from a bow, taking advantage of Mu Li's severe injury and the other mercenaries being terrified by the Lion King's might and in disarray, they dashed out from the cave entrance!

Outside the cave, the torrential rain had stopped at some unknown time, but the sky remained overcast. In the distant horizon, purple light and cyan radiance collided frantically. The Lion King's furious roars and a cold, sharp female shout echoed continuously, while the terrifying shockwaves of the battle turned into gales, sweeping through the mountains and forests!

Lin Yan dared not linger, nor did he care about the direction. Dragging Xiao Yi Xian, he pushed Explosive Step to the limit, fleeing desperately toward the deeper parts of the mountain range, in the opposite direction of both the Lion King's battlefield and Qingshan Town!

Only after sprinting for over ten miles, with no sound of pursuers behind them and only the heart-palpitating roar of the battle vaguely audible in the distance, did the two stop behind a hidden vine-covered waterfall, gasping heavily.

Xiao Yi Xian's face was pale, still shaken. Looking at Lin Yan, her beautiful eyes were filled with gratitude and lingering fear: "Thank you... for saving me again." She paused, looking at Lin Yan's similarly pale face and slightly trembling right hand (the consumption from continuous outbursts and countering the Soul Fiend Force), "Are you okay?"

Lin Yan shook his head and swallowed an improved power-accumulation pill. Feeling the medicinal power dissolve, he said in a low voice: "I'm fine. The power Mu Li used at the end was very strange, like... some kind of secret technique that stimulates potential while eroding the mind." He did not explicitly mention the Hall of Souls, but he believed Xiao Yi Xian would understand.

Recalling the gray light that flashed in Mu Li's eyes and that cold, chilly aura, Xiao Yi Xian felt a lingering fear and nodded. She hesitated for a moment, then took out the "Seven-Colored Poison Manual" from her bosom, her expression complex: "This... is very important to me. Thank you for helping me get it."

"It was just a mutual exchange of needs." Lin Yan waved his hand. Just as he was about to take out the Purification Lotus Demon Flame Fragmented Map from his storage ring to examine it, the system's notification sound suddenly rang out sharply in his mind!

[Warning! Warning! Detected high-concentration unstable soul fragments and strong residual Heavenly Flame aura fluctuations within the storage ring! This item has been marked by an unknown high-level soul! It is strongly recommended that the host immediately isolate it or take protective measures! It may attract tracking or backlash!]

Lin Yan's movements suddenly stiffened, his expression changing drastically. Soul fragments? Residual Heavenly Flame aura? Marked? It was that black ring!

He immediately stopped the action of taking out the item, his soul power cautiously probing into the storage ring, locking onto the black ring that was lying quietly inside. Sure enough, after the system notification, he vaguely felt that inside the ring, there seemed to be a sealed, extremely weak but essentially high-level broken soul, as well as a trace of... flame aura that seemed to have been forcibly stripped away, yet remained violently scorching! The level of this aura even made the Seed Flame of Green Lotus Core Flame within his body tremble slightly!

This was not a gentle, sleeping soul body like Yao Lao's! This was a remnant soul filled with resentment, pain, and violent obsession! Furthermore, that Heavenly Flame aura... was definitely not an ordinary Heavenly Flame!

"Damn it!" Lin Yan cursed inwardly. He immediately mobilized a trace of the devouring characteristic of the Seed Flame of Void Devouring Flame within his body, forming a thin isolation layer inside the storage ring to barely wrap the black ring, isolating its fluctuations from leaking out. After doing all this, he breathed a slight sigh of relief, but a shadow had already been cast over his heart.

This ring was a hot potato, and it might even be... a death warrant!

Xiao Yi Xian noticed that Lin Yan's expression was wrong and asked with concern: "What's wrong?"

Lin Yan shook his head. Just as he was about to say something, in the distant sky, the Amethyst Winged Lion King's roar suddenly rose to a terrifying frequency, filled with pain and fury! Immediately after, a female voice, cold as a goddess from the nine heavens but carrying unquestionable majesty, pierced through space and arrived:

"Lion King, I am determined to obtain the purple spirit crystal! If you continue to obstruct me, do not blame me for being ruthless under my sword!"

Yun Yun's voice!