Chapter 424: Not giving the slightest chance

Only at this moment did Lin Zhangqing realize that Linyuan City was truly formidable; even those on the verge of death had to be exploited one last time.

However, now that he knew the mastermind behind the scenes was the City Lord of Linyuan, he actually didn't want to place a heavy bet. He didn't want to invite unnecessary trouble for the sake of a few spirit stones.

Therefore, in the end, he only bet 100,000 low-grade spirit stones on himself to win. After handing over the spirit stones, Lin Zhangqing received a specialized voucher.

Once he won, he could use this voucher to claim his winnings.

By the time he finished all this, the time was almost up. He swept a glance at the people surrounding the Life-and-Death Stage.

A large circle of cultivators had already gathered, visually estimated to be at least three or four thousand people, and more people were arriving one after another.

At this moment, Lin Zhangqing was consciously channeling the thunder mana within his body, infusing it into the Thunder Horn.

Ever since he had truly reached Foundation Establishment and possessed mana, he could basically unleash the vast majority of the Thunder Horn's power when wielding it.

Thus, as he channeled his thunder mana, with the help of Eight Hundred, he quickly generated three Geng Metal Divine Thunders within the Thunder Horn.

That's right, three divine thunders—but this was already the limit of the Thunder Horn!

He had to wait until these three divine thunders were fired before he could inject mana again to generate new Geng Metal Divine Thunders.

However, this was enough for the time being. Geng Metal Divine Thunders generated with mana were at least ten times more powerful than those generated with spiritual energy.

It could be considered a preliminary display of the divine thunder's reputation; using it on a Foundation Establishment cultivator was like using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken.

However, he also saw that the middle-aged cultivator was already preparing at this moment.

After applying three second-tier defensive talismans to his body, he gripped a second-tier upper-grade shield spiritual artifact in his hand.

Only then did he take out a set of twelve water-attribute upper-grade spiritual artifact flying swords. However, Lin Zhangqing did not take these seriously.

What he truly focused on was a jade pendant tied to that man's waist. He was far too familiar with this item! He himself had several, and although he had given two or three away, that didn't stop him from recognizing it.

This was definitely a top-grade defensive spiritual artifact. Combined with the spiritual talismans and the shield spiritual artifact on his body, this defense could be considered extremely tight.

Therefore, besides putting on a show by sticking a few spiritual talismans on himself and taking out a top-grade flying sword to paralyze his opponent, Lin Zhangqing did something else.

Fearing that a single strike wouldn't kill him, he slowly gathered his mana and generated a Geng Metal Divine Thunder in his own hand.

But this divine thunder did not take shape immediately; it remained in a state between being formed and not yet formed.

This was the result of his deliberate control. He feared that generating the divine thunder directly would allow the middle-aged cultivator opposite him to sense it in advance, so he specifically kept the divine thunder in this state.

After Lin Zhangqing and the middle-aged cultivator were both prepared, the cultivator surnamed Guo who was presiding over the Life-and-Death Stage spoke up: "The two-quarter-hour preparation time is up! If the two of you have nothing else to say, you may now ascend the Life-and-Death Stage to resolve all your grievances!"

Lin Zhangqing and the middle-aged cultivator exchanged a glance, both seeing the cold killing intent in the other's eyes.

However, neither of them spoke, and with great tacit understanding, each ascended the Life-and-Death Stage from opposite sides!

In truth, the so-called Life-and-Death Stage was merely a platform about three hundred zhang in circumference and chest-high.

After the two ascended, the Life-and-Death Stage was immediately shrouded by a layer of formation. This was to prevent the battle above from being too intense and accidentally injuring the cultivators watching below. However, the defensive barrier produced by this formation was completely transparent, so everyone could see the situation inside.

At this moment, the life-and-death battle had already begun. Moreover, the distance of two to three hundred zhang was just right, so the Geng Metal Divine Thunder in his hand immediately took complete shape.

Then, he immediately locked onto the middle-aged cultivator and fired it. This wasn't the end; he brushed his hand against the storage bag at his waist, pretending to take out the Thunder Horn from within.

And after locking on as well, he fired the three Geng Metal Divine Thunders.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Four consecutive thunderous sounds rang out; the distance of two to three hundred zhang was covered in an instant! As for the middle-aged cultivator, just as he was about to wield that set of flying swords to attack, his divine sense suddenly detected something amiss, and he immediately identified it as a thunder technique.

He was instantly terrified, letting out a scream of extreme horror, and then with all his might, he urged the top-grade defensive spiritual artifact in his hand.

Simultaneously, his mind communicated with the top-grade defensive spiritual artifact hanging at his waist.

He activated it proactively and poured his mana into this top-grade defensive spiritual artifact, hoping to withstand this wave of attacks and win a glimmer of survival for himself.

However, all these defenses, upon encountering the Geng Metal Divine Thunder, were completely shattered; all his defensive measures barely managed to block two Geng Metal Divine Thunders.

The remaining two struck the middle-aged cultivator, and his body was instantly torn asunder, with his belongings and flesh and blood splattering everywhere.

In fact, the final Geng Metal Divine Thunder did not strike the middle-aged cultivator, because he had already been torn apart by then.

Instead, it passed through that mist of blood and struck the formation barrier at the edge of the Life-and-Death Stage. Although it did not break the barrier in one strike,

it covered the entire barrier in cracks. One must know that this was a third-tier defensive formation; fortunately, after a short while, the formation automatically completed its repairs.

By this time, the area outside the Life-and-Death Stage had completely boiled over, because the result was truly far beyond their expectations.

They had estimated that Lin Zhangqing, a cultivator who had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, should have had some means, otherwise he wouldn't have dared to ascend the Life-and-Death Stage.

They just never expected the disparity in strength between the two sides to be so great! The outcome was decided in an instant, and it was a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator killing a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator in one strike, and the person who made the move was a relatively rare thunder cultivator.

However, what happened outside didn't have much to do with Lin Zhangqing. Facing the blood-drenched scene, after considering it for a moment,

he decided to collect the spoils of war from the scene. After all, even the smallest piece of meat is still meat, and didn't those people provoke Lin Zhangqing just for the spiritual objects on him? That made it even more impossible to leave them behind, otherwise, these things would eventually end up in someone else's hands.

It was just that there was flesh and blood everywhere, which looked a bit uncomfortable! Overcoming it slightly was actually nothing.

By the time Lin Zhangqing had collected all the spoils of war, the formation on the Life-and-Death Stage finally dissipated and disappeared.

That cultivator surnamed Guo who was in charge of the Life-and-Death Stage said to Lin Zhangqing with a face full of smiles: "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, for displaying such divine might!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 425 =====