Chapter 108: All Hunting Spirits Are Old Tricks

This burst of externalized primordial energy obliterated everything around it, only fading after traveling fifteen zhang.

A long, wide trench remained on the ground.

Everyone was instantly scattered.

Li Lin and Su Huafang, along with Bai Bu Fan, were forced to the left, while the other four were on the other side.

Eunuch Qi looked at Yan Han and the other three and laughed: “I’ll handle them. You two take Su boy and that handsome young master.”

The two black-clad men nodded.

At this moment, the seven Hunting Spirit jade plaques glowed red again.

When they first entered the Spirit Powder Circle, the red glow had already vanished.

Now, Eunuch Qi’s burst of primordial energy shattered nearly half the Spirit Powder Circle; the corrupted spirits, sensing the energy, naturally came running.

The black-clad man with the iron club said: “Finish them quickly! Our primordial energy won’t last long.”

The other black-clad man nodded.

Meanwhile, Su Huafang shouted urgently: “Run! We’re no match for Eunuch Qi!”

Just this one move of externalized primordial energy proved Eunuch Qi was at least a martial artist’s level—though his exact rank was unreadable.

His strength was too high, utterly inscrutable.

The Hunting Spirits immediately turned and fled, without hesitation.

Everyone quickly scattered, fleeing into the nearby woods.

The man with the iron club shouted: “I’ll take the pretty boy—you handle the other two.”

“Got it.”

As for Eunuch Qi, he watched the four fleeing figures, lightly tapped his feet, and gave chase.

Li Lin’s light-body technique was already quite refined; within a few breaths, he had hidden himself within the woods.

Once certain he wasn’t noticed, he crouched beside a tree, entering stealth mode.

The corrupted spirits lost his trail.

The red glow of the jade plaques vanished instantly.

The man with the iron club charged into the woods, glanced left and right, found no trace of Li Lin, and cursed: “Pretty boy, you’re a coward! Hiding like this is no skill—come out and fight me three hundred rounds!”

Li Lin had already moved behind the black-clad man.

A red frame lit up.

Li Lin was puzzled: Hunting Spirits relied on jade plaques to repel corrupted spirits, but these martial artists had no jade plaques—how did they move so freely in the dark?

Then Li Lin noticed a swirling current of energy surrounding the martial artist.

And he understood.

Martial artists externalize their primordial energy into a protective layer around their bodies.

Primordial energy naturally repels yin energy, allowing them to remain undetected by corrupted spirits for short periods.

But this drains primordial energy rapidly—it couldn’t last long.

In other words, if he just waited long enough, the man would tire and flee on his own.

But Li Lin wasn’t the type to hide forever. He thought for a moment, then devised a plan.

He stared at the red frame behind the black-clad man, slid a short sword from his sleeve into his hand, and whipped it forward.

The short sword shot silently toward the enemy’s right flank.

But the black-clad man spun instantly, his iron club sweeping the blade away.

He lunged toward the direction the blade came from—but saw no one.

“Daoist invisibility technique?” The black-clad man had some knowledge—he snarled: “Let’s see how much yin energy you’ve got left… when it runs out, you’ll still have to show yourself—and still die.”

That was just a feint—to test if he had defenses against ambushes. And he did.

So caution is indeed a good habit.

Li Lin slowly shifted to the black-clad man’s side.

He crouched behind a tree, pulled out a small stack of guiding paper figures from his clothes.

Channeling yin energy, he controlled them with his spiritual sense, using trees and bushes to creep closer to the black-clad man.

Meanwhile, Li Lin quietly moved again—this time to the man’s rear.

Several small paper figures reached the black-clad man’s side, then leapt out, pouncing at his feet.

At the same moment, Li Lin burst from behind the tree, spear thrusting straight for the man’s waist.

The black-clad man reacted instantly, swinging his iron club to shatter several paper figures—he’d been startled by those pink, big-eyed little things.

Now that he realized they were just paper, he relaxed.

Then he suddenly felt cold air approaching from behind—he spun around, iron club clashing repeatedly against the spear.

The ambush failed.

After a rapid series of clinks, Li Lin, despite his longer weapon’s reach, was still forced close by the enemy’s speed.

He had no choice but to leap backward.

The black-clad man, seeing him try to break off combat, immediately chased after him—but then several paper figures flew at him again.

The black-clad man instinctively assumed they were dangerous, halted his pursuit, and swung his iron club to smash them.

Then he looked again—Li Lin was gone.

He exploded in rage: “Pretty boy, always playing cheap tricks!”

At this moment, he believed Li Lin used these paper figures to distract him, then struck.

He used harmless little paper figures to deceive his attention and escape.

Next time, I won’t fall for it.

Li Lin hid behind a tree, knowing why his ambush had failed.

Around the black-clad martial artist, a faint layer of primordial energy circled his body—any spear thrust entering that zone would alert him.

But this didn’t greatly affect Li Lin’s plan.

He pulled another stack of paper figures from his robes, then another stack of lightning talismans.

Six of the paper figures stepped out, each carrying a lightning talisman.

Then they scattered, creeping silently toward the black-clad man.

And Li Lin once again moved behind the black-clad man.

The black-clad man walked slowly through the woods, feeling the pretty boy was nearby—but couldn’t find him.

Then suddenly, he saw many more paper figures rushing up from the ground—obviously meant to distract him.

He ignored them, spun around—and saw the pretty boy standing right before him, poised for ambush.

Found you!

The black-clad man sneered.

Then he realized—the pretty boy was smiling too, and had already used his light-body technique to leap far away.

Very far.

Was that a feint?

Why reveal himself so far away? Why smile?

The black-clad man suddenly shuddered—he realized something, looked down, and saw the paper figures he’d ignored had all clung to his feet.

And six of them carried talismans on their backs!

“No…”

The black-clad man’s face twisted in horror.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Six bolts of lightning struck nearly simultaneously.

The green and red light nearly illuminated the entire small grove.

Li Lin stood behind the tree, rubbing his ears hard.

The six consecutive thunderclaps were deafening.

Then, a charred head landed not far to his right.

Li Lin stepped out from behind the tree, staring at the spot—only a pile of blackened, charred meat remained, cooked through and scattered everywhere, nauseating to behold.

Lightning arts truly were the strongest offensive technique—even such a powerful black-clad martial artist couldn’t keep his corpse whole.

At that moment, a scream echoed from nearby.

Li Lin ran toward the sound, and soon saw two red glows ahead.

Closer still—he recognized Su Huafang and Bai Bu Fan.

Bai Bu Fan bore four wounds, severe and bleeding heavily, yet his face was smiling.

Before them lay the black-clad man’s corpse, half-rotted, emitting white smoke and a foul stench.

Su Huafang and Bai Bu Fan also spotted Li Lin—the red glow from the jade plaques was too obvious.

“Hunting Master Li, excellent—you’re safe too,” Su Huafang smiled. “When I heard those six thunderclaps, I knew you were fine.”

Li Lin stared at the still-smoldering corpse and asked: “What was that?”

“My Bai family’s poison arts are quite potent,” Bai Bu Fan laughed. “He actually thought I only knew how to throw lime powder!”

(End of Chapter)