Chapter 217: Another Three Hundred Rounds

Hearing Master Master Kurong's words, Li Lin smiled and said, "It seems the Buddhist sect intends to defect to the Qin traitor. Are you not afraid the government will find out?"

Master Master Kurong chuckled lightly, indifferent, and said, "We are indeed afraid, but some matters can no longer be delayed. Moreover, since you have all joined Qin Wang's ranks, the government will not know."

Li Lin's gaze turned toward the forest edge; no one from the Daoist side had entered, so he surmised they must have lost.

He did not know whether they had been annihilated or driven away by force.

Afterwards, Li Lin withdrew his gaze and said, "Master, how about letting these friends of the Wu Lin depart? Let them go, and I will go with you."

Hearing these words, the Wu Lin people looked at Li Lin with confusion or a sense of unease.

Master Master Kurong's expression froze, then turned gloomy.

Naturally, he could not let these people go.

They were all personnel needed for the pledge of loyalty; they were all karmic debts of our Buddhist sect. How could we let them go?

This man was not on the pledge of loyalty.

Whether he was present or not made no difference to the grand scheme of the Buddhist sect.

Thinking this, Master Master Kurong smiled and said, "If County Lieutenant Li is willing to bind his own hands, we will naturally release all fellow practitioners of the Wu Lin."

Li Lin smiled and said, "No, I do not trust your Shaolin Temple. Release them first, then I will bind my own hands."

"Our Shaolin Temple's thousand-year reputation..."

"I am an official!"

With one sentence, Li Lin silenced the other's sophistry.

Master Master Kurong closed his eyes slightly; when he opened them, he had already surged forward violently.

A sneak attack!

His speed was extremely fast; in the blink of a sleepy eye, he had already reached about one zhang in front of Li Lin.

Then a Sikkim Zen staff came crashing down.

Though the two were clearly one zhang apart, a phantom image appeared on the Sikkim Zen staff, instantly extending its length to one zhang.

Yet at that very moment, a purple spear thrust forward, blocking the Zen staff.

Then the weapons of both sides constantly shifted positions, rapidly reappearing in another location.

The air was filled with continuous afterimages.

The stirred-up force oscillated around the two of them.

Neither of the two moved; only within the space between them did spear afterimages and Zen staff phantom images constantly collide.

Amidst waves of wind, the expressions of both men grew increasingly solemn.

After another ten breaths or so, Li Lin stepped back and wiped the blood droplets spitting from his mouth.

Meanwhile, Master Master Kurong's face was deathly pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Although he had not retreated, everyone could see he seemed more severely injured.

Because sometimes, having time to wipe away the blood spitting from your mouth indicates composure.

At this moment, two old monks stepped forward, supporting Master Master Kurong on both sides to prevent his body from swaying.

Master Master Kurong closed his eyes: "Heroes emerge from youth. This old monk has lost. I admire you, I admire you."

Everyone looked at Li Lin in astonishment.

In the Wu Lin, Master Master Kurong was a renowned expert.

Although not the top-tier combat power, he was still a second-rate martial artist; in government terms, a fifth-rank expert.

However, Master Master Kurong then smiled and said, "But County Lieutenant Li, you no longer have a spear in hand. Come with us."

His eyes were filled with a triumphant expression.

Actually, from the very beginning, Master Master Kurong knew he could at best draw with Li Lin.

Because the instant they clashed, he knew the opponent's Great Completion Spear Intent was very 'strange'.

Although he had only just entered Great Completion, his Yuan Qi quantity was astonishingly vast, and his Yuan Qi was very 'heavy'!

He did not know what cultivation method the opponent practiced, so formidable.

If the opponent had used a normal spear, he would most likely have already lost.

It was just that the opponent used a paper spear, which gave him an opportunity.

He deliberately used more of the 'smash' technique, forcibly hammering Li Lin's paper spear until it was full of 'cracks'.

At this moment, the paper spear in Li Lin's hand was indeed, as Master Master Kurong had said, turned into paper scraps.

And around them, there were no intact paper spears left.

Li Lin looked at the Wu Lin people around: "Is anyone willing to lend me a spear!"

With over a hundred people, naturally, a few used spears.

But... no one was willing to throw their spear to Li Lin.

They believed they also needed weapons for self-defense.

If they gave it to Li Lin, what would they use!

Seeing the Wu Lin people remain motionless, Master Master Kurong smiled even more happily.

"County Lieutenant Li, please..."

But at that very moment, a rustling sound came from behind Li Lin.

Afterwards, a paper figure with a human body and snake tail arrived beside Li Lin.

Everyone recognized it; this was the paper figure that had previously rescued the mother and child covered by the veiled apparition.

The impression was too deep, because it was very special.

But Master Master Kurong did not see it; he had arrived later.

The moment he saw the Tree Immortal Lady, his eyes widened slightly: "What kind of demon is this... a paper figure? How can a paper figure possess such evil qi!"

The Lady Tree Immortal paid no heed to Master Master Kurong; in her 'hand', she still dragged a large sheet of paper.

Then, she crumpled and rolled this large sheet, and the paper became a paper spear.

Compared to the previous paper spear, this one was longer and thicker.

She placed the spear horizontally before Li Lin.

"Thank you, Lady." Li Lin took the paper spear and smiled: "Monk, shall we play a second round?"

Master Master Kurong said nothing; instead, the two old monks beside him stepped forward a few paces.

"Benefactor... this time, the two of us shall spar with you. We beg your instruction."

"Two against one is unfair."

But the two old monks ignored him and advanced together.

At that moment, a gust of strong wind whipped past.

The long snake tail forced the two old monks to halt.

Just as the Lady Tree Immortal was about to step forward, Li Lin reached out and stopped her: "Lady, they are living humans. You now receive incense offerings at the Taowu Zhenjun Temple; killing would harm your soul. Return and protect those two for me."

The Lady Tree Immortal stared at him steadily, her expression somewhat stubborn.

Li Lin spoke with a serious tone: "Be good, listen."

The Lady Tree Immortal was somewhat indignant and somewhat helpless; finally, she slammed her long snake tail hard against the ground, then turned and left.

With the Lady Tree Immortal's departure, the scene instantly became somewhat more relaxed.

After all, the Lady Tree Immortal's appearance was considered rather 'ominous' to many.

Li Lin looked around and said: "Friends of the Jianghu, next I will tie up Master Master Kurong and the two old monks for you. Whether you leave or whether you flee depends on yourselves."

Having spoken, Li Lin slapped a yellow talisman onto himself.

Then he charged forward.

This time, Li Lin exerted his full strength; the paper spear, over one zhang long, danced in his hand, weaving out purple afterimages.

Each afterimage was nearly three zhang in length, appearing even more magnificent in the darkness.

Master Master Kurong and the two old monks were forced to retreat step by step.

"How can it be... so powerful!"

The three old monks resisted desperately, but could only defend; they were utterly unable to attack.

Three zhang against one zhang... the advantage is mine.

After blocking more than ten times, one old monk was struck down by the spear on the spot, blood spurting from his mouth.

At this moment, the people of the Jianghu finally moved.

Ji Feng cast a deep glance at Li Lin, then led the Qingcheng Sect in charging outward first.

In fact, seeing someone take the lead, the people of the Jianghu did not hesitate a second and followed, charging outward.

Master Master Kurong blocked another spear afterimage, retreated two steps, then roared: "Stop them! These people are needed by Qin Wang!"

Moreover, if these people of the Jianghu truly all escaped, then... the Shaolin Temple's reputation afterward would be difficult to manage.

Hearing these words, the people of the Jianghu charged even faster.

They did not engage in direct frontal conflict; instead, they seized opportunities to run outward, threw a few flying darts, and slipped away.

Although the overall strength of the people of the Jianghu was far inferior to the twenty-odd experts of the Shaolin Temple, intercepting more than a hundred people determined to flee was still very difficult.

After striking the old monk down with a spear thrust, Li Lin himself suddenly retreated.

He would not exert himself fully for these people of the Jianghu.

Helping them just now was merely to ensure these people of the Shaolin Temple could not spare hands to surround him.

Simply put, these people of the Jianghu were also his bait.

Seeing Li Lin flee, Master Master Kurong shouted in anger: "Li County Commandant, if you have the courage, return and fight me another three hundred rounds..."

(End of this chapter)