Chapter 5: The Mysterious Power of Devouring

  Tiě Mù Lín, abounds with a black plant called Hei Tiě Mù, so the entire forest has become a black ocean. Hei Tiě Mù is dark in color and its biggest characteristic is that it's extremely hard, even harder than many metals, and it doesn't easily corrode or rust, which is why it's widely used by the Zong Pai to manufacture law swords.

  To put it bluntly, going to Tie Mu Lin to chop firewood is not a difficult task. At least here, cultivating is absolutely better than in many other places, because the spiritual energy here is relatively abundant. However, almost no one would think of going to Tie Mu Lin.

  Because there are ferocious beasts in the Ironwood Forest! Here, at the northernmost tip of the small mountain peaks, further north is another mountain range. At this intersection, it's inevitable that some ferocious beasts will sneak down from the mountains and run into the Ironwood Forest. Although the sects often send people to clean up the ferocious beasts, there are still some fish that slip through the net and hide secretly. You should know that outer door disciples are only at the martial path level, and the martial path level has not yet entered the realm of cultivators. This realm is used to lay the foundation, refine the body and spirit, and does not possess too much killing power. When encountering some ferocious beasts, it's absolutely a matter of life and death. Moreover, this place is remote, and if you're eaten by ferocious beasts, no one will know.

  Forbidden land! This has become a consensus among all outer sect disciples.

  Ling Lin furrowed his brow, having encountered such a thing as soon as he arrived at the sect. For a newcomer, it was absolutely disastrous. Fortunately, with two lifetimes of experience and the strong willpower tempered by his previous life's struggles against illness, he wasn't about to be intimidated by this little incident. But why did he want to harm himself?

  A moment later, Ling Lin's eyes gleamed with a cold light as he said, "No matter what the reason is, water will cover the earth and soldiers will be met with generals. I'll make you regret this!"

  ……

  The mountain wind blows by, and the forest rises and falls, a vast expanse of blackness, extremely majestic.

  Ling Lin walked into a small room next door.

  "This is where I'll be staying for a year." Pushing open the door, a strong musty smell wafted out. The room was small and shabby, messy and disorderly, with a feeling of having been swept through by someone, but the thick layer of dust on the floor told Linglin that no one had come here for a long time. Picking up an axe lying at the door, Linglin walked towards Timur.

  Looking at the tall and majestic black iron trees in front of him, some of which would require several people to encircle with their arms. "This..." Even Ling Lin's strong willpower couldn't help but feel a slight chill upon seeing this scene. "How are we supposed to cut these down?"

  Lin Lin slapped his forehead, secretly ashamed that he had been scared by these trees. The main trunk was cut off, couldn't he just cut some branches to take back? With the weight of the black iron tree, one hundred catties shouldn't be too much.

  Ling Lin got up early, and it was still dawn. A faint mist floated between the trees, and there were sparkling dew drops on the leaves of the trees on both sides of the small road, beautiful and transparent. Ling Lin didn't have the heart to appreciate these beautiful scenes, he only knew that if he couldn't complete this task of one hundred catties today, he would go hungry. Looking left and right, he chose a relatively large iron tree, and with a "whoosh" sound, Ling Lin climbed up.

  Standing on a thick branch, surrounded by large and small tree trunks, aiming at the target, Lin Ling swung twice and chopped down with force.

  A loud, piercing metallic impact cut through the forest. Ling Lin's right hand, gripping the machete, trembled uncontrollably as he took a deep breath. The tree was incredibly hard, many times harder than iron. Looking at the shallow white mark, Ling Lin's mouth twitched slightly.

  "Ding ding ding......" A strange iron-beating sound came from the quiet woods, and this strange phenomenon had been going on since dawn.

  Tall black iron tree branches are lush and straight into the sky, light shines through the gaps between the leaves and branches, leaving a patch of shade on the ground.

  Ling Lin leaned against a giant black iron tree, with a few small branches scattered around him, this was his harvest for the morning.

  The noisy ironing sound in the forest has disappeared, and there is no insect or bird calls in the iron wood forest, making it unusually quiet.

  Ling Lin fell asleep, with a faint snore escaping from his mouth, and the beads of sweat on his forehead sparkling in the sunlight. He was exhausted.

  A gust of wind blew, and the "rustling" sound echoed through the iron forest, which was the leaves swaying. However, the black iron tree with lush branches and leaves behind Ling Lin remained still. The leaves on the tree didn't move at all. Upon closer inspection, the entire tree emitted a pale green glow. And this pale green glow slowly flowed and poured towards Ling Lin!

  Time flew by, and Linglin's body was covered with an extra layer of emerald green, finally becoming a large emerald-green cocoon. The cocoon shone with flowing light, dazzling to the eye, while that sturdy black iron tree seemed to be aging at a visible rate.

  The spiritual energy on this Hei Tie Shu is disappearing!

  ……

  Linglin had a dream, in which he himself, with his sword flashing, cut down many black iron trees.

  He didn't know how long it had been when he woke up.

  Open your eyes, looking at the gradually falling sunset, and the golden edge of the sky dyed by the sunset. After a moment of daze, Ling Lin suddenly jumped up, he had actually fallen asleep, and it seemed that the sun was about to set, and the person who came to collect firewood would soon arrive. Looking at the few miserable branches beside him, Ling Lin shook his head helplessly, tonight he would probably go hungry.

  "This……" Ling Lin stared at himself in shock, as if he had seen a monster. He was exhausted to the point of collapse before falling asleep, but after waking up, he didn't feel any fatigue at all. More importantly... Ling Lin picked up the axe and struck a nearby Ironwood tree with lightning speed. "Ding", where the axe hit, a shallow crack appeared.

  "Hiss..." He took a deep breath, "Power has increased by nearly 30%, but I myself just slept and didn't cultivate." Ling Lin clearly remembered that last night he involuntarily swallowed a large amount of spiritual energy, although it almost burst him with spiritual energy, the harvest was also quite rich. He went from the third stage of martial arts to the fourth stage in one night's time, equivalent to half a month of ordinary people's cultivation. However, the feeling of wandering around the Ghost Gate, Ling Lin didn't want to experience again.

  Now that he had woken up from his own accord, although he hadn't crossed the boundary again, the explosively rising power told Ling Lin that he wasn't far from the fifth layer. This strange phenomenon was happening to himself, and Ling Lin didn't even know whether he should be secretly delighted or what.

  His cultivation speed was actually so fast, Ling Lin raised an eyebrow, his own body's unlucky ghost had practiced for a lifetime and only had three heavy realms. But he used two days to almost reach the fifth heavy realm. This gap, indeed wasn't ordinary at all.

  "Is there something on me that can attract spiritual energy?" Ling Lin looked at himself, wearing only a coarse linen robe, poor and white, "Does this look like someone with treasure? Am I some kind of genius? But I've never heard of any genius being blown up by the spiritual energy they attract, which is also beyond their control. This is the biggest problem."

  Ling Lin didn't know that since he crossed over into this body and absorbed, no, to be precise, merged with the residual soul inside it. His soul underwent a strange transformation, producing an eerie ability, which is now known as devouring spiritual energy. As for why there's an uncontrollable phenomenon, it's probably because he hasn't grasped control yet.

  "Hey, wanting to blow me up isn't that easy." Ling Lin's heart suddenly rose with a heroic spirit, "Cultivation is originally a road of many disasters and difficulties, and I'm not so fragile either. How can I be intimidated by this little trouble!"

  No more hesitation, Linglin decided to cut some branches and head back. Although there wasn't much time left, his own strength had increased a lot, so maybe he still had a chance to complete it.

  Looking at the iron tree behind him, Ling Lin's eyes suddenly narrowed. "This tree has actually shrunk." Reaching out to touch the trunk, Ling Lin clearly felt that the spiritual energy within had decreased a lot. The entire tree also looked older. Where did this escaped spiritual energy go?

  "It was swallowed by itself." This is the only outcome that Lin Ling could think of.

  In fact, it is indeed so.

  Every ironwood tree contains a lot of spiritual energy, especially some with huge shapes, which contain even more spiritual energy. I actually plundered its spiritual energy and plundered the spiritual energy of other lives! If one can plunder the spiritual energy of an ironwood tree, then can't they also plunder the spiritual energy within a cultivator's body? Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine, it's truly... too against the heavens!

  ……