Chapter 9: Phagocytosis

  The Blood Burning Technique was suddenly stopped by a powerful external force, and Ling Lin stared blankly at the scene in front of him...

  A purple ancient sword floated quietly above Ling Lin's head. It was hard to imagine that the overwhelming aura of evil came from such a beautiful ancient sword. Without any embellishment, like a born king, it just floated quietly, yet could make the world lose its color.

  At this time, the ghostly face no longer had the fierce air of just now, but was trembling with fear on the ground, like a small white rabbit that had encountered a fierce tiger, leaving only unease and terror.

  The ancient sword hummed softly, and immediately a mournful and piercing sound shook the air. In mid-air, wherever the ancient sword passed, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth hastily retreated, leaving behind a dark trail that seemed to tear apart the sky and earth, like a majestic and powerful path!

  A quivering ghost face with a desperate expression stared at the ancient sword shooting towards itself, its bright red single eye filled with pleading, pitiful expression.

  "Hmph..."

  The ancient sword pierced through the ghost face, and then another clear sword hum filled the air. At this moment, it was like a child who had obtained a toy and was satisfied, emitting joy, where was the half of ferocity just now? Surrounding Ling Lin and swirling around him, like a child showing off in front of his parents.

  After the ghost face was pierced by the ancient sword, a stream of black gas slowly flowed from the tip of the sword into the ancient sword, and the ghost face became increasingly dim. Finally, it turned into a wisp of black smoke, and with one inhalation, the black gas was instantly absorbed by the ancient sword. The ghost face dissipated, never having resisted at all.

  "Pffft!" Just as the ghostly face dissipated, Li Jie suddenly spat out a blood arrow, his spirit severely injured, and he fell to the ground, his pale face filled with confusion and despair.

  This is like being directly knocked from heaven to hell! One second ago, still with a ferocious smile, as if everything was under control. The next second, beaten back to its original shape, face deathly pale, the great ups and downs of life are just like this!

  "You...... how... can...... possibly......" After trembling and stammering out a few words, "Hiss", countless fine blood lines shot out from his body, a bloody fountain, instantly dyeing Li Jie's flight red, like a blood man.

  Intermittently, Li Jiefei's mournful laughter echoed through this desolate place. The residual laughter grew fainter and fainter...

  "It's windy."

  The secluded mountain forest regained its former tranquility, and if it weren't for the bright red on the ground, no one would have known that a bloody battle had taken place here. The wind blew up a corner of clothing, and a streak of blood swayed in the wind, making a "whooshing" sound. Li Jiefei lay quietly on the ground, without any movement, but his chest rose and fell slightly, showing that he was not yet dead.

  Looking coldly at the bloodstained figure on the ground, Ling Lin said word by word: "He who kills shall be killed!"

  Everything happened too fast, from the appearance of the purple ancient sword to Li Jie's fall, only forty or fifty seconds had passed. In this short period of time, earth-shattering changes took place, shocking Ling Lin and leaving Li Jie in despair.

  Step by step, Ling Lin walked towards Li Jiefei, without a word, but his eyes, which were filled with a chill, revealed a murderous intent and determination.

  Li Jiefei must die!

  Only dead enemies are good enemies. Although Li Jiefei was now lying in a pool of blood, looking extremely miserable, Ling Lin did not reduce his killing intent at all. If he himself were not strong enough, if there hadn't been this sudden change, it would be him lying here right now!

  Now Li Jiefei seems to be able to die at any time, as if there is no danger at all. However, Ling Lin knew that as long as he gave him a chance, this guy would definitely come and bite himself hard. Since I didn't die, then you go die for me.

  Ling Lin crouched down, slowly extending his right hand, a thread of black light flashed by. Then, he placed his hand on Li Jiefei's body.

  "What are you going to do?!" Li Jiefei exclaimed in terror.

  "Can't you stop pretending to be dead?" Ling Lin coldly laughed and stopped talking.

  This black light was the greatest harvest that Lin had cultivated in the past two days, a thread of devouring power! At this moment, taking Li Jie as an experimental object, Lin wanted to verify a question he had been thinking about for several days. He could devour the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and he could devour the spiritual energy of the Ironwood Tree, so, could he devour the true energy inside a cultivator's body?

  If you can swallow true energy now, then you can also swallow yuan energy in the future!

  With a focused expression, serious as an experienced researcher, Ling Lin quietly unfolded his devouring force, and the hand he placed on Li Jiefei's body faintly glowed with black light.

  The true energy in his body suddenly began to lose control, Li Jiefei discovered with horror. He started to resist, desperately trying to control it, but unfortunately, his injuries were too severe and he was powerless. Then, he found that the true energy had begun to surge towards Ling Lin's arm.

  "De...de...", Before he could finish, Li Jie had already died, his wide-open eyes filled with terror.

  Feeling the gradually increasing true energy in the sea of consciousness, Ling Lin revealed a hint of intoxication. He found that he somehow liked this feeling.

  "I'm not some kind of demonic cultivator." As the last wisp of true energy was absorbed, Ling Lin slowly stood up, his entire body bursting with true energy, a momentum several times stronger than before erupting from within him.

  It has already reached the sixth level of cultivation.

  He hadn't even had time to rejoice, as if he thought of something, his eyebrows furrowed tightly. Although it's no longer the era where immortals and demons couldn't coexist, and would fight to the death upon meeting. Except for a few extremely evil ones, the immortal sects and demon sects generally got along harmoniously. However, there were very few immortal sects that allowed their disciples to practice demonic arts. At least, the Qingyuan Sect absolutely did not allow its disciples to practice demonic arts.

  Different paths, no need to discuss, that's all. Think about yourself, although you've joined the Xian Dao sect, but what makes you look like a Xian Dao disciple? The strange and overbearing devouring power, the ferocious and sinister purple ancient sword... and then take a look at this guy in front of you who was killed by your own hands. This is clearly a Mo Men disciple!

  It's a pity that I didn't go to the Demon Dao sect, Ling Lin self-deprecatingly smiled, and unexpectedly found himself in such a dangerous situation, with the risk of death and destruction at any time.

  The current situation is quite unfavorable to myself, now that I am in the Qingyuan Sect. Even if I am extremely careful, it's hard to guarantee that others won't discover my secret. If the sect were to find out, Ling Lin's eyes would turn icy cold, his pupils suddenly constricting: this outcome wouldn't be any better than that guy's, anyway.

  The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became, and he couldn't find any way to solve it. Gradually, Ling Lin's breathing began to become heavy, and his eyes slowly revealed an extremely abnormal red color.

  "Hum!" The purple ancient sword let out a soft hum that rang in his ears, and Ling Lin suddenly woke up with a start. He thought of the situation just now and secretly said it was a narrow escape.

  Recently, too many things have happened, and Ling Lin's spirit has been exhausted from the continuous sudden events. Moreover, just now, he had used his devouring power again, consuming a lot of his spiritual energy, and was invaded by the heart demon. He managed to save himself once more, and with gratitude, glanced at the purple ancient sword floating beside him. The last bit of resentment in Ling Lin's heart also disappeared along with it.

  Fierce sword, demonic sword, whatever. It's still the sword in my hand, Ling Lin! The master of the sword is used for killing and chopping, it's a cruel weapon to begin with, what's the difference between good and evil? They say that precious swords have spiritual power, this sword has been treated like this by me, how can I let it down?!

  After understanding all of this, Ling Lin suddenly felt refreshed and revitalized. The fatigue he had felt earlier instantly disappeared, and more importantly, his Dao heart became even more stable.

  The mind of the Tao, the heart that asks about the Tao, directly points to the original heart. If a cultivator wants to become strong, they must first have a strong heart of the Tao. Moreover, the stability of the heart of the Tao has many benefits. For example, if Ling Lin's heart of the Tao was as stable as it is now earlier, he would not have been invaded by the demon of his own heart.

  "Hum...", as if sensing Linglin's intentions, the purple ancient sword hummed excitedly and affectionately rubbed against Linglin's arm, like a child coaxing his parents. Slowly stroking the icy hilt of the ancient sword, Linglin's heart finally calmed down...