Chapter 1040: Shadow Hunter
Lin Feng’s expression tightened, and he nodded slightly. This was the trial ground of the Martial Emperor’s disciples, a land of slaughter. He had no idea how many powerful cultivators would be here. Although his combat strength was considerable, if he encountered someone at the high levels of the Heavenly Martial Realm, he would still be in trouble. Moreover, those Martial Emperor’s disciples who were truly skilled at hunting others were bound to be terrifyingly formidable.
He lifted his foot from the man’s body. The man’s expression stiffened as he stood up, giving Lin Feng a deep look. “Thank you!”
Clearly, he was surprised that Lin Feng had actually let him go. He had been completely at Lin Feng’s mercy moments ago, and Lin Feng could have killed him with a single thought, regardless of any promise.
“How many people have you hunted so far?” Lin Feng asked.
“Eighteen,” the man replied. Lin Feng nodded slightly. This man’s hunting ability was undeniable. He only needed to hunt twelve more to leave this place. Every person who left meant the deaths of dozens of others. There were over a thousand people who entered together, but in the end, fewer than eighty-one would likely walk out alive.
“Follow me,” Lin Feng said calmly. The man frowned, not expecting Lin Feng to ask him to tag along.
“You don’t want to?” A sharp, icy glint flashed in Lin Feng’s eyes, so piercing that the man’s expression stiffened again. Indeed, no one who entered this place was a pushover. This guy seemed to have already adapted to the environment. If he defied Lin Feng, the consequences would likely be dire.
“No, I’ll follow you,” the man had no choice but to agree. The two of them then began moving through the forest.
“Ah…” A bloodcurdling scream suddenly rang out, making both Lin Feng and the man freeze in their tracks. The scream had come from nearby, meaning someone was hunting in the vicinity.
“This way,” Lin Feng said coldly, leading the man in the opposite direction of the scream. The man naturally had no objections. In this land of slaughter, anyone who tried to show off or be reckless would die without even knowing how they were ambushed. Lin Feng was decisive—though he was quite powerful, he turned away immediately when he sensed someone hunting.
“Pfft…” Before they had taken a few more steps, another faint, crisp sound reached their ears, making Lin Feng stop again, his brow slightly furrowed.
“There’s the smell of blood. Someone else has been hunted. We might be targeted,” the man said with a grim expression. He used to be the one lurking in the shadows, watching others. Now, someone was watching him, and he knew all too well how terrifying it was to be watched in this land of slaughter. It was the beginning of a nightmare.
But he only saw Lin Feng fall silent for a moment before lifting his foot and continuing forward, as if nothing had happened.
“What a calm guy.” The man stared at Lin Feng’s indifferent expression, but a sense of fear crept into his heart. He could already feel the killing intent closing in on him.
“Swish!” At that moment, a terrifying sharp whistle sounded, making his gaze freeze.
“Boom!” Lin Feng raised his hand and struck out with a palm. The space exploded, and the attack was instantly obliterated.
“Pfft!”
A splash of blood suddenly erupted from the ground in front of them, extremely eerie, sending chills down their spines.
Lin Feng lifted his foot and stomped hard on the ground. With a loud rumble, a figure was thrown up from beneath the earth, still bleeding profusely—a corpse.
“Dead!” The man beside Lin Feng froze in place again, his face pale. The attack just now must have come from this person, yet he had been silently killed without even a sound of struggle.
Lin Feng stepped forward and nudged the corpse with his leg. He saw a deep gash on the neck, caused by a sharp blade—a throat slit in an instant.
After a moment of silence, Lin Feng lifted his foot again and walked forward slowly. A faint white light emanated from his body, carrying a chill. Snowflakes seemed to fall from the void.
“We can’t go any further. That’s a dead end,” the man behind him said, his expression stiff as he watched Lin Feng continue forward. His own feet were rooted to the spot.
“Follow me,” Lin Feng said, looking back at him. But the man shook his head repeatedly. “I can’t follow you anymore. Farewell.”
With that, his body suddenly turned and ran in the opposite direction from Lin Feng.
“Come back!” Lin Feng shouted, but the man acted as if he hadn’t heard, turning into a blur as he flickered away rapidly.
“Swish!” A brilliant cold light burst forth like a spark in the dim space. A trail of blood splattered through the air, and the man’s body instantly froze in place, stumbling back half a step.
“Sha…dow…Hun…ter…”
The man spat out his final words before his body crashed to the ground. Though Lin Feng had spared him, he was ultimately killed by someone else.
No one!
In the dim forest, there was no sign of anyone. That flash of light had vanished in an instant, completely swallowed by the darkness, as if it had never appeared.
“Shadow Hunter!” Lin Feng murmured. What a lethal method. In just a brief moment, several people nearby had died by his hand. And he had witnessed the expert who had just assassinated him being killed without even a chance to fight back.
Cold, ruthless—that was Lin Feng’s state of mind at this moment.
But after only a moment of silence, Lin Feng lifted his foot and continued walking, as if nothing had happened, so calm it was terrifying.
Having weathered so many storms and struggled on the brink of life and death countless times, Lin Feng no longer knew what panic was when facing danger. Only absolute calm remained.
In the dim forest, icy snowflakes continuously fell from the void, making the surrounding space feel much colder.
Occasional rustling sounds came from the forest, like the death knell of a demon, threatening to seep fear into one’s soul.
But none of this could affect Lin Feng’s state of mind. He walked through the forest as if nothing was wrong, the snowflakes accompanying his steps. The silence of the forest was terrifying.
“Swish!” The brilliant cold light burst forth again, this flash as fast as lightning, as if it would annihilate everything.
“Hum!” At the same time, a surge of void power erupted.
The lightning-fast cold light sliced through the air, making a tearing sound, but it struck nothingness. The power of the void had isolated it.
“Boom!” An overwhelmingly domineering aura exploded forth. The void technique vanished, and in that moment, the previously calm Lin Feng became as sharp as a peerless sword. Sword light surged everywhere, endless, tearing everything apart.
“Kill!”
“Boom!”
A thunderous roar erupted. With this roar, endless sword light radiated in all directions, seeking to annihilate everything around. At the same time, his palms slammed toward where the light had vanished. Even though he still couldn’t see anyone, it didn’t hinder the eruption of his terrifying power.
A muffled groan seemed to come from the darkness, followed by more rustling sounds. In an instant, the dim space fell silent again, with no further noise.
Lin Feng stood motionless, lowering his head to look at the ground. There, he saw traces of blood. This made him raise an eyebrow slightly, realizing what he had encountered.
Shadow Hunter, shadow assassin—shadow!
When that flash of killing light had appeared, there had been no figure in front of him.
“Old Man Kong!”
A serious figure flashed through his mind, pulling his thoughts back to the Cloud Sea Sect, to that old man in the cave dwelling on the solitary peak, who had saved him with his life.
Old Man Kong’s martial soul was Shadow, a shadow martial soul. In darkness, there would be nothing, not even a shadow, just like the situation just now. The Shadow Hunter likely possessed the same or a similar martial soul as Old Man Kong—a shadow martial soul.
Lin Feng let out a long breath. The trial ground, the land of slaughter, a gathering place for powerful Martial Emperor’s disciples. He had only just entered moments ago, yet he had already experienced two heart-stopping moments!
PS: The flower count has been overtaken. This is the fourth chapter. Brothers, check if you have any guaranteed flowers to spare!