Chapter 490: Chapter 428: Elusive (Part 1)

Yuan Peng died before he could even draw his magic treasure. It must have been a fatal sneak attack.

’It must be Matsuo!’

Zhao Lin felt a chill. At the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, a cultivator’s senses were sharp. Sneaking up on one for a surprise attack was incredibly difficult, yet Yuan Peng had died without a sound.

From this, he could tell that Matsuo must be proficient in some kind of presence-concealing Cultivation Technique, making him an expert at hiding his movements. Furthermore, his strength was formidable—he could end a fight with a single slash.

He scanned his surroundings to confirm no one was nearby, then his gaze returned to the corpse.

Yuan Peng’s fist was clenched tightly, as if he were holding something.

Zhao Lin stepped forward and used his Moon-Cutting Saber to pry open his palm.

PITTER-PATTER...

Dozens of grains of Sponge Sand fell out. Upon hitting the seawater, they instantly expanded, turning into sponge-like clumps.

"A lure?"

Zhao Lin murmured, forming a rough guess about what had happened.

He didn’t linger, quickly returning to the Sea Ridge to tell Chang Jianqiu the news of Yuan Peng’s death.

"What... Was it that high-level cultivator?"

Chang Jianqiu asked in astonishment.

"Most likely."

Zhao Lin nodded. "He’s extremely powerful. We must pull back our perimeter immediately."

"Alright!"

Chang Jianqiu didn’t hesitate. He formed the Fan Fall Seal to summon the other three cultivators, and they returned to the temporary camp with Zhao Lin.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, the traps are set!"

Sun Jue saw Zhao Lin and walked over with a smile. He pointed to a nearby reef shaped like a wolf’s head and said, "The core of the array is under that reef. It covers a radius of fifty zhang."

"Excellent. Good work!"

Seeing the Array Masters were all safe, Zhao Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Should we set up another trap?"

Sun Jue then asked.

"Not for now."

Zhao Lin shook his head firmly, his expression grave. "Someone from the Earth Dark Sect is here!"

"Where? How many are there?"

Hearing this, the Array Masters immediately grew tense, and Chao Duan also looked wary.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan has been killed. It was most likely the work of that high-level cultivator. We don’t know how many of them there are yet."

Zhao Lin explained briefly, then said to Chang Jianqiu and Chao Duan, "You two, please keep an eye on things here. I’m going to find Du Zhen and his group and bring them back. I’m worried they’re in danger."

"Don’t worry, Fellow Daoist Zhao!"

"Alright. Go, and hurry back."

Chao Duan and Chang Jianqiu replied one after the other.

Zhao Lin acknowledged them and rode the water to the south side of the Sea Ridge, where he found Du Zhen and explained the situation.

After hearing him out, Du Zhen acted without a word, sending out two Fan Fall Seals in a row.

A short while later, three cultivators arrived. One person was missing.

"Who’s not back yet?"

"Luo Zhengyun!"

Zhao Lin and Du Zhen exchanged a look, and both had a bad feeling.

The group immediately went to the place Luo Zhengyun had been guarding, only to find he was gone.

After searching the area, they found a corpse, severed in two, amidst a patch of seaweed.

"We were a step too late!"

Zhao Lin sighed, his brows knitting together tightly.

Back at the camp, everyone gathered around.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, what do we do now?"

Chao Duan asked, his expression grave.

"He’s right. We can’t just keep watch here,"

Chang Jianqiu added worriedly.

Having lost two cultivators in a row, everyone felt a heavy weight in their hearts. What made it even more frustrating was that they hadn’t even gotten a clear look at the enemy.

"If the enemy doesn’t move, we don’t move. We will counter their myriad changes by remaining unchanged."

Zhao Lin knew that fear mostly stems from the unknown. Right now, the priority was to stabilize morale. If everyone was on edge and acting for themselves, refusing to follow orders, they would likely give the enemy an opening.

He feigned a relaxed tone and said, "We’ve already dismantled three of the Earth Dark Sect’s traps and successfully set one of our own. Even if the mission ended right here, that’s still no small achievement!"

When the others thought about it, they realized he had a point, and their expressions eased somewhat.

As Zhao Lin spoke, he glanced around. The area around the Sea Ridge was dense with reefs and seaweed, creating a feeling that enemies could be hiding behind every corner.

He sent out a sonic pulse, but it was constantly blocked and refracted, making it difficult to probe very far. He couldn’t help but add a warning, "He must be nearby. Everyone, be careful..."

Before the words had even left his mouth, a sudden change occurred!

A brilliant white light suddenly flared from behind a reef, slashing toward the nearest cultivator at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

A wisp of blood-red light coiled around the white light’s surface, carving a strange, illusory afterimage through the water.

Zhao Lin saw it clearly: the white light was a large, thick-bladed wild saber. He immediately raised his hand and shot out the Moon-Cutting Saber, sending it to strike from the side.

"Cao Yan!"

Du Zhen also reacted, shouting a loud warning.

The wild saber was incredibly fast. The Moon-Cutting Saber’s attempt to intercept it missed, and the two magic weapons brushed past each other.

Though shocked, Cao Yan didn’t panic. He quickly formed a hand seal and cast the Water Wave Shield to protect himself.

With a sharp CRACK, the Water Wave Shield was like paper before the keen edge of the wild saber, shattering instantly.

After shattering the Water Wave Shield, the wild saber still had momentum, and it viciously slashed down upon Cao Yan’s chest, continuing downward and cleaving him in two.

Cao Yan’s body split down the middle as blood gushed out.

Everyone was stunned speechless by the vicious slash. The four Array Masters, in particular, were frozen on the spot.

"Everyone, don’t panic! Form a defensive array!"

Seeing the dire situation, Zhao Lin let out a great shout, his Moon-Cutting Saber giving chase to strike at the wild saber.

The wild saber spun in the air, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Moon-Cutting Saber and instead attacking the other cultivators.

A gleam of saber light weaved back and forth. Terrified, the cultivators all summoned their magic treasures and simultaneously cast defensive Magic, wrapping themselves in layer after layer of protection, terrified of suffering the same fate as Cao Yan.

Chao Duan didn’t forget his duty. He moved to the center of the Array Masters, formed a hand seal, pointed forward, and shouted, "Water Wheel Wall!"

Water-elemental Spiritual Qi rapidly gathered, condensing into a thick wall of water that spun continuously, enclosing him and the four Array Masters.

Seeing the saber light flashing like a meteor, Zhao Lin gave up on pursuing the wild saber. He leaped forward, his Moon-Cutting Saber hacking toward the reef from where the white light had originated.

With a loud BOOM, the reef shattered, revealing the figure of an old man. It was, as expected, Matsuo—the old man from the group of two men and a woman.

Zhao Lin directed the Moon-Cutting Saber to slash viciously at Matsuo.

Matsuo hastily recalled his wild saber to meet the attack head-on.

The two magic weapons collided, sending sparks flying as they were both knocked away.

Zhao Lin’s Divine Sense wavered, and he was secretly astonished. Matsuo’s wild saber was not only incredibly fast, but its power could also match his own in a direct clash. ’So this is the One-Slash Style?’

Matsuo was equally shocked. In a single exchange, he had gauged that Zhao Lin’s Ice Blade Skill had already reached the perfection level, and his power was even a notch above his own.

Now he could be certain that Chunying and Ji Zhang had met with disaster and died at Zhao Lin’s hands.

Seeing Zhao Lin lunging at him, he gave a cold sneer, his body turning into an illusory shadow as he fled toward the outskirts of the Pearl Beach.

Zhao Lin rode the water in pursuit for a short distance, but the Mana fluctuations Matsuo left behind were extremely faint. Moreover, he seemed to be deliberately circling around, so Zhao Lin didn’t dare to continue the chase.

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