BOOM.
He slammed into the ground outside the crater, rolling several times before coming to a stop.
Silence fell over Qinghe City.
...
Everyone was stunned.
"What just happened?"
"Can someone please tell me what the hell just happened? One second he was all powerful, next he collapses!" The entire city was in an uproar at the unexpected scene. Everybody thought it was supposed to be Lin Mu lying on the floor unconscious, but no, it turned out to be Zhao Lee.
"Third Elder Zhao!"
"Mr. Zhao!"
Hearing the clamoring of the crowd, the Zhao family search party came back to their senses and rushed to Zhao Lee, forming a defensive circle around him.
When everyone couldn't figure out the situation, they turned to the Alchemist Association present for an explanation.
"Well, this is a unique fifth-grade elixir, which even the president didn't say much about, but from what he said, this kind of pill is a double-edged sword. Although it gives a big temporary boost, the backlash is just as big. As in this case, maybe his potential is used up, or all his meridians and his body can no longer bear the amount of boost." Sure enough, the alchemist search party leader explained. Everyone nodded, seeing as the explanation was reasonable. He continued giving alternative causes of Zhao Lee's present state, and everyone listened, including Lin Mu and Ye Feifei, which is why neither they nor anyone in the city realized that another situation was developing right in their vicinity.
Over at Lin Feng, who at some point left the side of the Third Elder and gone a few meters behind him, was now half-kneeling, clutching his chest. He felt the violent energy running rampant inside of him, crashing around inside his meridian channels, stretching them almost past their limits and corroding his meridian veins, delivering a dose of severe pain as though the surgeons of his previous life were performing surgery without anaesthetic. Despite the pain, he refused to scream or even make a sound, knowing that even a sound would attract attention, potentially revealing his secret. He bit his bloodied bottom lip to distract himself from the pain.
[DING! DING! DING!]
[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]
[THE HOST BODY CANNOT ACCOMMODATE THE LARGE AMOUNT OF ENERGY AND IS COLLAPSING]
[HOST BODY INTEGRITY 80%]
[THREE MINUTES TO COLLAPSE AND COMPLETE DEATH OF HOST]
[75% TWO AND A HALF MINUTES]
[65% TWO MINUTES]
[50% A MINUTE AND A HALF]
[SYSTEM ANALYZING SOLUTION TO PROBLEM]
[30%]
[ANALYSIS IN PROGRESS]
[10%]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE]
[5%]
[DOES HOST WISH TO DEPLOY COUNTER MEASURES? YES/NO]
Time seemed to slow down for Lin Feng, who was hovering between consciousness and an unconscious state, barely hearing the system.
"Yes," he said weakly as he felt a blinding light envelop him, a familiar sensation he had felt once before.
[1%]
[ACCEPTED. EXECUTING COUNTER MEASURES]
Lin Feng felt as though he was caught by a hook that pulled him back, like pulling him back from the gates of hell.
His eyelids trembled and opened weakly. Seeing the scene in front of him, he knew that he didn't die.
"Ahh, I can't believe I was so close to death again. I hope this doesn't turn into a habit," he thought somberly.
"System, what happened?" he asked mentally.
[HOST SHOULD CHECK THE SITUATION HIMSELF]
Hearing the reply, he hurriedly used the system perception skill to look inside of him.
He immediately found the situation was different from the previous time. The berserk energy from before in the meridian channels was nowhere to be found. Although the swollen channels and cracked veins from before weren't healed and it still hurt, at least he was not in danger and the situation was stable.
As he continued to investigate, he found that at the center of his core there was an additional cube-like object chained there by dark tentacles, not moving. He tried to use the perception skill to check out the cube, then he felt the violent energy it contained. He quickly backed away, knowing it was the previously absorbed energy.
"System, is this your doing? How exactly did you do it?" he inquired curiously.
[THE SYSTEM USED THE HOST CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE TO GATHER THE ENERGY THERE AND BIND IT]
"Sigh, but you know you didn't really solve the problem. As long as the energy is still there, it is a hidden danger. How am I supposed to get rid of it? What am I supposed to do with this energy?" he sighed dejectedly and asked.
[SIGH. THE HOST IS INDEED HOPELESS]
His eyes widened at the mocking tone of the system.
"What do you mean, System?"
[THE HOST CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE IS A SUPREME TECHNIQUE THAT ABSORBS ALL KINDS OF ENERGY FOR USE]
[ALTHOUGH DUE TO ITS CURRENT LOW LEVEL, THE HOST CANNOT ABSORB THAT AMOUNT OF ENERGY BECAUSE IT WILL BE HARMFUL]
[BUT IN LITTLE QUANTITIES IT CAN BE ABSORBED AND BE USED TO FURTHER THE HOST'S CULTIVATION]
His eyes lit up as though he just had an epiphany.
"So you mean I just need to open small holes in the seal and absorb it slowly to increase my strength?" he asked.
[YES]
He nodded. "It seems it was a blessing in disguise," he thought.
He was just about to enquire more when a sudden increase in the volume of the crowd brought his attention back to the current proceedings.
He saw his Third Uncle leave Feifei and walk towards Zhao Lee in the middle of the Zhao family search party.
"Not good." The leader, seeing Lin Mu walking towards them, quickly took out a flare talisman and threw it into the air, and it exploded red, dyeing the sky in their position.
"Senior Lin Mu, after all, my Third Elder Mr. Zhao has been defeated and is no longer able to threaten you or your Lin family. Please sell our Zhao family face and lift your hand in mercy. Our clan leader, I'm sure, will come and thank you later," the leader of the Zhao family search party bowed deeply in Lin Mu's direction and said.
"Hmph, mercy? He didn't show my Lin family mercy when he killed them, so why should I show mercy to him?
"As for face, did he give my Lin family face when he was humiliating them?" Lin Mu replied while still walking towards them, a monstrous killing intent flowing from him, seeming to freeze the atmosphere.
Zhao Lee and the rest's hearts sank to the bottom hearing him.
"Senior, I have already called for backup. My family's Second Elder, Fourth, and Fifth Elders should be coming, and you are keenly aware of grandmasters' speed. It will only take a few breaths," their leader continued to speak.
"A few breaths is more than enough to kill you. Alright, no more wasting time. You all can die together.
"DIE!" Lin Mu roared and managed to gather just enough energy to create a hundred-meter wind blade in the air.
The Zhao family members there were frightened by the sword, but their leader quickly recovered his composure.
"In that case, we can only offend Senior Lin."
"EVERYONE, FORM THE FIVE ELEMENTS DEFENSIVE FORMATION! PROTECT ELDER ZHAO LEE!" he yelled at the rest of his teammates, snapping them out of their thoughts.
"Yes!"
They all quickly closed the circle around Zhao Lee and formed hand seals, and five elements consisting of wood, water, fire, earth, and wind erupted from them depending on their corresponding Qi attributes and formed a circle covering them with golden light.
"Humph, petty trick." Lin Mu snorted coldly and dropped his hand down, bringing the sword and the formation to collide.
The formation could only withstand the sword for a moment before fine cracks appeared on it, and the cracks began to expand until it could no longer withstand the power and disintegrated into golden light dust particles.
"BOOM!"
The shattered formation triggered a backlash for them all, causing them to spit out a mouthful of blood while flying backwards in an arc, rubbing against the floor for a few meters after their landing.
The sword was only stopped for a second before proceeding on its original course.
Seeing the giant shadow above them, the Zhao members present managed with great difficulty to sit up, and when they saw the sword looming, they all felt regret for accepting the mission they thought was a sure one and despair, for they were about to lose their lives.
As the giant sword was about to hit them, it suddenly dispersed like it never existed, and Lin Mu suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Third child, stay your hand."