1631-1640

Chapter 1631: The Voids

"Enjoy the big gift that I've prepared for the three of you!"

The three Virtual Eyes in the void opened slowly, while Zhan Zhuo's figure became increasingly indistinct as well, vanishing a moment later.

"We're in his God Territory." Buried Heaven frowned slightly.

After undergoing unification just a few days ago, seeing the Virtual Eyes opening once again gave him a vague sense of unease.

"He must have shrouded the entire ancient palace with his God Territory before we entered." Zhan Guang seemed to have noticed this as well. "However, I have no idea how he managed to do it and spontaneously open a passage to a virtual zone within his own God Territory."

Under normal circumstances, the consolidation of a Dao seal during a Heavenly God's unification would attract raptors. This process would be initiated by the raptors opening a passage from the virtual zone to come into the material realm. However, Zhan Zhuo had currently used some unknown method to spontaneously open a passage to the virtual zone on his own.

As to what methods Zhan Zhuo had used, Lin Huang had a vague suspicion that it might be connected to the other party's Goldfinger. That was because he could not figure what other methods Zhan Zhou could have used to do this.

Furthermore, ever since the beginning of the fight until now, Zhan Zhuo did not seem to have displayed his Goldfinger's ability. If that were the case, it was entirely possible that communicating with the virtual realm was his Goldfinger's ability.

The auras emanating from the Virtual Eyes were becoming increasingly powerful. Lin Huang could even clearly sense that the aura radiating from one of the Virtual Eyes was already a threat to him.

Zhan Guang and Buried Heaven looked grim as well. Both of them also clearly sensed that the monsters within the Virtual Eyes this time were much more powerful than those that Lin Huang had killed earlier. In particular, as the aura of the strongest monster began permeating through, both of them experienced the suffocating feeling that preceded death.

Although they had seen Lin Huang's display of ability earlier, they did not think that he stood a chance of defeating this creature at all.

"I'm mainly responsible for both of you ending up in this situation. I shouldn't have brought you in here," Zhan Guang apologized with a wry smile. He knew that if he had not led them in, Lin Huang and Buried Heaven would certainly not have entered the ancient palace recklessly, and they would not have fallen into Zhan Zhuo's trap.

"Right now, we should be thinking more of how to deal with the impending threat." Buried Heaven glanced at Zhan Guang. Although he did not think they had very much chance of winning at all, he still had no intention of giving up just like that.

In the Virtual Eyes, the figures of three monsters began to coalesce.

"If I'm not wrong, these few monsters should have the same nature as the raptors; they're attracted by our auras. Therefore, even if they're more powerful than we are, they won't be that much more powerful. This ought to be a rule limitation when arriving from the virtual realm," Lin Huang ventured a guess.

The reason for his speculation was that he sensed the strength of the three monsters' auras, which was similar to their own auras.

However, Lin Huang had been hiding his aura all along, so Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang could not sense it. That was why they had erred in supposing that his ability was much weaker than the most powerful monster of the three. In reality, if Lin Huang were to fully unmask his aura, it would not be very much weaker than that of the monster.

"So the most powerful one was attracted by your aura?" Zhan Guang came to a sudden realization.

"I think so." Lin Huang nodded.

"Are you confident enough to fight the strongest monster?" Buried Heaven turned his head to ask Lin Huang.

"If I don't use my trump card, maybe about fifty percent confident," Lin Huang admitted after thinking about it.

Buried Heaven really wanted to follow up by asking, "What if you used your trump card?" Seeing Lin Huang's calm expression, however, he felt there was not much point to the question.

Within the Virtual Eyes, the forms of the three monsters rapidly materialized.

One was a giant ape monster, one was a black-armored cavalry soldier, and one looked almost entirely like a human.

The one whose aura was so powerful it gave Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang the shudders was the humanoid fellow.

His appearance was that of a handsome young man who looked to be in his early 20s. His hair was pulled up in a man bun, and he was clad in white.

His build was slim, and his fingers were long and slender.

If he were on Earth, this man would definitely be a top celebrity.

Be it appearance or charisma, he made a definite impression. He was certainly the sort of person one would be unable to forget after merely meeting them once.

The handsome man's gaze immediately fixed on Lin Huang. He did not even give Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang so much as a glance.

The man smirked slightly after that. With one stride, he passed through the Virtual Eye and appeared not too far from Lin Huang.

"You're human?" The man in white asked Lin Huang directly.

His tone was calm, without a trace of killing intent at all.

Lin Huang was stunned when he heard that. He had previously determined that the enemies the three of them were about to face ought to be entities similar to raptors. However, this fellow in front of him did not look like a raptor no matter what. Not only that, he was even engaging in small talk with Lin Huang.

"That's right." However, Lin Huang quickly regained his composure and asked immediately, "You're human too?"

Upon hearing that question, the expression in the man's eyes altered slightly. "Human… I was considered one in the past."

"How about now?" Lin Huang followed up by asking.

"Now, I'm a Void," the man in white answered with a smile, as if he felt this was nothing to be ashamed of.

Li Huang became quite curious upon suddenly hearing the term 'Void'. "Are all living beings in the virtual realm called Voids?"

"Your understanding is not wrong." The man in white nodded.

"You said you were human before—so how did you become a Void?" Lin Huang asked curiously.

The smile on the man in white's face became rather mysterious upon hearing that question. "Do you really want to know? I don't mind letting you experience it."

"There's no need for that," Lin Huang declined at once, "Can you explain what the virtual realm is like?"

"There's no color in the virtual realm. Everything is black and white." The man in white did not elaborate further. "Black and white, and barren.

"It's not like your material realm—rich and colorful and vibrant…" The man in white clearly displayed a look of yearning. "It's so wonderful!"

"Do you want to stay in the material realm?" Lin Huang inquired.

"More precisely, I want to return to it." The man in white eyed Lin Huang and corrected him, "All Voids wish to return to the material realm!"

"Return…" This term caught Lin Huang's attention. "Do you mean to say all of the Voids used to be living beings in the material realm?"

The man in white smiled when he heard Lin Huang's question. "Some things are secrets that only Voids know. Are you sure you want to hear them?"

Lin Huang smiled awkwardly and without mirth when he heard the man's reply.

During their conversation, the two monsters from the other two Virtual Eyes rapidly emerged as well.

Seeing that, Lin Huang finally set aside his curiosity and got down to the subject matter.

"How were you able to enter the material realm this time without someone consolidating their Dao seal during unification?"

"Someone opened the passage for us and offered the three of you to us as sacrifices for free."

Lin Huang could not help frowning slightly when he heard the man in white's answer.

At that moment, the two other monsters passed through the Virtual Eyes almost simultaneously. Their eyes locked onto Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang, respectively.

Chapter 1632: Dark Sword

Both the monsters fully unleashed their auras as soon as they stepped out of the Virtual Eyes, targeting Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang respectively.

Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang's nerves were also were taut. Both could clearly sense that the two monsters in front of them were no weaker in terms of ability.

Right as both parties were on the verge of beginning a massive battle, the man in white suddenly turned his head to look at his two 'partners'.

A black battle sword suddenly appeared in his hand, and he swung out with it immediately.

A circle of faint black fog seemed to spread through the air, piercing straight through the bodies of the two Voids.

An instant later, both Voids were sliced in two. Immediately after that, their bisected bodies burst apart on the spot.

Lin Huang, Buried Heaven, and Zhan Guang were stunned to see him attack.

Lin Huang raised his brows. He could see that the man in white's Sword Dao attainment was higher than his own. This fellow must have consolidated a Sword seal and become a Lord.

After their initial shock, Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang felt goosebumps rising on their skin.

The two monsters as powerful as themselves had been easily disposed of by the man in white. Not only that, he had killed both of them instantly with just one slash. This meant that the man in white possessed the fearsome ability to kill them both in one attack as well.

"I don't like being interrupted in a fight." The man in white calmly slid his sword back into its scabbard, as if what he had just done was something not worth mentioning.

These words made Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang tense up.

The man in white seemed to guess their thoughts. He smirked lightly. "Don't worry, I have no interest in the two of you. However, if this fellow loses, after I kill him, I don't mind taking both of you as well so you can be his escorts."

Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang were bereft of speech when they heard this.

The two of them were overlord-rank personages in the God Territory. They had never expected to be reduced to someone else's escorts once they arrived here. However, after witnessing the man in white's display of ability, they did not dare to refute his words. After all, he was a terrifying entity who could kill both of them immediately.

Lin Huang, on the other hand, did not seem to be shocked by the man in white's ability at all.

"I have another question." Lin Huang gestured to the spot where the two Voids had been killed. Their corpse remains had vanished completely. "Do Voids die after they're killed? Or do they return to the virtual realm?"

The man in white smiled when he heard Lin Huang's question. "Voids can only be expelled from the material realm. They can't be killed."

"Then after a person undergoing unification kills a raptor, what's the 'true spirit' that gets left behind?"

"That's the price to pay for accepting a Dao plundering contract," the man in white paused, then elaborated more in detail, "Under normal circumstances, Voids must pay a price to enter the material realm. To plunder a unification Dao seal, they must sign a Dao plundering contract. The minute the plundering fails, they'll be stripped of a portion of their Origin Energy. It's rather appropriate that you call it 'true spirit'.

"This is what's known as Heavenly Dao balance. When there's a catastrophe, there will be good fortune also. Every gain has its price.

"Just like how I'm answering your questions and helping all of you expel those two Voids—I'm actually paying a price first.

"Although on the surface it seems as if it cost nothing for me to come to the material realm this time, I know that if I kill all of you without paying something, there'll be a bigger price for me to pay later."

Lin Huang was somewhat speechless after hearing what the man in white had to say. Naturally, he was aware of the 'gain some, lose some' theory. However, the man in white seemed to wholeheartedly regard it as an absolute law by which things worked.

All along, Lin Huang had been curious why the man in white was so easy to talk to and why he answered almost everything Lin Huang asked. It turned out that the other party had drawn up this set of peculiar rules that governed his behavior.

"In that case, what if I kill you instead?" Lin Huang asked mockingly, "Wouldn't you have paid that price in vain then?"

"If that's the case, I'd be even happier." The man in white smiled. "You would expel me back to the virtual realm so I wouldn't gain anything this time. In that case, I'd definitely be able to gain even more at some point in the future."

Lin Huang was speechless when he heard the man in white's perfect circular logic.

"Do you have any more questions? If not, let's begin as soon as possible. After all, the time I have here is limited." The man in white's tone remained amiable; he did not display any trace of enmity at all toward Lin Huang.

"One last question." Lin Huang thought about it and felt he had asked almost everything necessary. If he asked any further about the virtual realm's secrets, the man probably would not answer him either. "How do I address you?"

"You mean my name?" The man in white did not answer the question right away. Instead, he lifted his head to look at the ceiling of the ancient palace as if he were trying to recall something. "I don't remember anymore…

"Names have no meaning in the virtual realm. We simply give ourselves a codename.

"My codename is—Dark Sword."

Lin Huang looked at the black sword that the man in white held. He guessed that this black sword must be the source of his codename.

"Alright, I have no more questions." An inky-black, narrow-bladed sword coalesced in Lin Huang's hand as soon as he finished speaking.

"An excellent sword!" Dark Sword could not help complimenting Lin Huang when he saw the God Weapon in Lin Huang's hand.

"Yours isn't too shabby either." Lin Huang could tell that Dark Sword's blade was a Dao Weapon also.

Almost at the same time that Lin Huang finished speaking, both their figures vanished immediately on the spot.

Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang could only catch two afterimages, even after boosting their vision to its limit.

Their Divine Telekinesis was able to capture the movement trajectories of the two figures, but their speed had clearly far exceeded the speed of Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang's reactions.

The two figures clashed immediately.

Two black swords—one narrow and long, the other broad and thick—unleashed Divine Power full force once they clashed together.

At the moment of impact between both parties' Divine Power, Odyl began to spread.

It was like two waves rippling together, causing mutual interference.

Violent winds sprang up endlessly from all four directions.

Lin Huang had yet to consolidate a Dao seal, but he had a complete Sword seal within him.

This Sword seal was what the Sword Scripture from before had transformed into.

In the past, Lin Huang could not activate the Odylic Force within it.

However, as his God's soul's strength elevated to lord-level, he realized that he could borrow the use of the Odylic Force within the Sword seal.

At the level of his previous battles, though, he had been able to resolve things easily without resorting to the use of Odyl.

Now that he was facing a strong enemy like Dark Sword, he could no longer conceal his strength.

He could clearly sense that if he continued to do so, he might end up being killed by his opponent.

Buried Heaven was utterly shocked when he saw Lin Huang using Odyl.

He knew that Lin Huang was only heavenly god-level and had not undergone unification yet.

Theoretically speaking, one could not have a Dao seal within them without undergoing unification, which meant that it was impossible to spawn Odylic Force. However, Lin Huang was now using Odylic Force in front of Buried Heaven's very eyes.

Zhan Guang did not know any of this. Since witnessing Lin Huang's attack, he had thought all along that Lin Huang was a Lord, just like him. He thought Lin Huang was merely feigning heavenly god-level combat strength.

However, Lin Huang was the only one who knew that he was only borrowing the use of Odylic Force. Not only that, due to the limitations of his physical strength, he could not sustain this borrowed usage for very long. After all, the hardiness of his physical body was merely near lord-level right now—it was still not at lord-level yet.

In this battle, he had to kill his opponent as quickly as possible! The longer things dragged on, the worse it would be for him.

Chapter 1633: Have You Seen Enough Yet?!

Inside the massive palace, the two figures clashed ceaselessly.

Black and red electric arcs intersected continuously. Every time they collided, they generated terrifying Divine Power aftermath.

Even two Lords like Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang could barely watch the battle at close quarters in the face of such intense Divine Power aftermath. They were forced to retreat over ten kilometers away.

After a mere two to three minutes of fighting, Lin Huang and Dark Sword had clashed hundreds upon thousands of times over.

These hundreds upon thousands of encounters gave them insight into each other's abilities.

In terms of Sword Dao attainment, Dark Sword was more powerful.

However, Lin Huang could borrow the use of more sequence powers than Dark Sword.

These pros and cons balanced out the abilities of both combatants to the same level.

However, Lin Huang knew very well that Dark Sword surpassed him in terms of Sword Dao skills.

After all, he was a lord-level powerhouse who had consolidated a true Sword seal.

Lin Huang did not feel pressured by that.

To him, battling an opponent who was also a Sword Dao powerhouse like himself was the perfect opportunity to study and test everything he had learned.

On his part, Dark Sword was roughly able to determine Lin Huang's level.

Based on Sword Dao alone, Lin Huang was no match for him. However, Lin Huang's overall ability was by no means inferior to his own.

Despite the hundreds and thousands of encounters, he had not been able to gain the upper hand at all.

After a moment of thought, he began to change his style of fighting.

He used his sword and forced Lin Huang to retreat. However, this time, he did not engage in a direct confrontation with Lin Huang. Instead, he thrust from a distance with the point of his sword.

An instant later, countless crystal blades swiftly began to form in front of him.

This assault no longer utilized pure Sword Dao alone. Instead, it was powered mainly by the Odylic Forces of both Ice Element and Sword Dao.

Lin Huang knew right then that the warm-up had ended.

He only had one Sword seal within him, as well as merely level-1 Odyl.

If he were to counter Dark Sword purely by using Sword Dao, that would be biting off more than he could chew.

He shook his sleeves, and over ten thousand telekinetic flying daggers shot out like blood-red lightning bolts, colliding with the white crystal blades.

The intensity of his Divine Power was already at peak lower-rank lord-level. With the addition of Sword Dao Odyl and over ten thousand compounded levels of sequence power, he shattered the crystal sword gleams easily.

Dark Sword had initially thought he could suppress Lin Huang with that attack. He had never expected that Lin Huang's attack would catch him by surprise.

Seeing that blood-red lightning bolts were besieging him from every direction, Dark Sword did not dare to hold back anymore.

He attacked with water, fire, wind, and lightning Odylic Forces all at once. Compounded with Sword Dao Odylic Force, they formed swathes of Sword Energy swirling with Dao tattoos.

The aura of each swathe was so powerful that Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang shuddered as they watched from the sidelines.

They could almost imagine that if they were the ones on the battlefield, they might have died countless times already.

In the void, over ten thousand swathes of terrifying Sword Energy formed in just the blink of an eye.

However, this number seemed to be the limit of what Dark Sword could consolidate. After all, this trump card was an extreme drain on his Divine Power.

The swathes of Sword Energy shot forth at an even more terrifying speed than before. They were also multiple times more powerful.

As they collided with Lin Huang's telekinetic flying daggers, the daggers ricocheted off them.

Lin Huang could not help but raise his brows when he saw what was happening.

Dark Sword's current attack was compounded with level-5 Odylic Force. In comparison, Lin Huang's telekinetic flying daggers were enveloped in level-1 Odylic Force; they could not give him any sort of advantage.

Watching the swathes of Sword Energy surging toward him after causing his telekinetic flying daggers to ricochet, Lin Huang did not panic at all.

More telekinetic flying daggers shot out from his sleeves. Each of them was compounded with Sword Dao Odylic Force and over ten thousand levels of sequence power.

Within the blink of an eye, the telekinetic flying daggers in the void had multiplied to over one million in number and continued to increase. They did not seem as if they would stop anytime soon.

Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang were somewhat stunned as they watched what was happening.

The sky was filled with blood-red electric arcs that almost blotted out the heavens.

"How many telekinetic flying threads can this fellow divide his Divine Telekinesis into?!"

"That's not the only issue either—his telekinetic Dao Weaponry can split into far too many flying daggers!"

As Lin Huang's opponent, Dark Sword experienced a similar shock.

He could tell that Lin Huang's telekinetic weapon had evolved from a God Weapon. He was not surprised at all by the number of flying daggers, but he was indeed shocked by the number of telekinetic threads Lin Huang was able to divide his Divine Telekinesis into.

In general, lord-level powerhouses could certainly divide their Divine Telekinesis into over a million units.

However, to be able to achieve what Lin Huang was doing was bizarre. Not only could he divide his Divine Telekinesis into such a vast number of telekinetic threads, but he could manipulate each thread like fingers.

Apart from the three people present, there was also someone else secretly watching the battle, who was utterly astounded as well.

After leaving his God Territory, Zhan Zhuo had actually been covertly watching the battle happening inside his God Territory.

When Dark Sword displayed his true ability, he thought that Lin Huang would be defeated.

He had never expected that Lin Huang's ability would be on par with Dark Sword.

This round of battle completely turned everything he had imagined upside down—even more than before. Dark Sword had already compounded his attack with level-5 Odylic Force.

However, using merely level-1 Odylic Force, Lin Huang had found his own way to forcefully suppress Dark Sword's lethal attack by countering with sheer numbers of flying daggers.

Lin Huang had certainly used that rationale. Since he only possessed level-1 Odylic Force, which was not enough to defeat Dark Sword, he would overpower him by sheer numbers.

If he could not drain Dark Sword's Sword Energy in one clash, then he would clash with him ten times, a hundred times, even a thousand times!

He wanted to whittle down the layers of Sword Energy one by one!

That was what he was doing by using the telekinetic flying daggers to surround the swathes of Sword Energy and besiege them.

Very soon, the Odyl on the Sword Energy was stripped away one layer at a time and eventually destroyed altogether.

In contrast, Lin Huang's flying daggers had not decreased at all. Instead, they had now accumulated to over ten million in number.

One needed to be aware that these flying daggers were a bona fide Dao Weapon. Even if the outer layers of Odylic Force and sequence power were destroyed, the Dao Weapon itself would not be damaged.

Watching himself surrounded by over ten million flying daggers, Dark Sword knew that he had lost the battle.

The attack earlier was already his lethal move; it had drained ninety percent of the Divine Power within him.

Lin Huang had successfully countered Dark Sword's assault; the Void no longer had the capacity to fight.

Dark Sword did not bother to try and mount a defense. Instead, he slid his sword back into its scabbard and looked at Lin Huang with a smile.

"I've lost this battle. I feel we'll probably encounter each other again, though. I hope you'll have become even more powerful when we next meet!"

"If we do have a chance to meet again, I also hope that I'll be able to defeat you with my sword!" Lin Huang nodded slightly.

The minute he finished speaking, all ten million or more telekinetic flying daggers shot forth at almost the same time. They turned into an endless blood-red lightning storm that utterly swallowed up Dark Sword's figure.

A moment later, the last Virtual Eye in the sky gradually closed, then vanished from sight.

Lin Huang lifted his head and looked at the sky. "Zhan Zhuo, have you seen enough yet?"

Almost simultaneously, Lin Huang attacked again. The ten million or more telekinetic flying daggers hurtled toward the heavens.

In an instant, the entire world seemed to be deluged with lightning raining down from the sky.

In just the time it took for a few breaths, Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang saw that the ceiling of the massive palace had split open immediately.

Chapter 1634: Holding Zhan Zhuo Captive

Lin Huang, Buried Heaven, and Zhan Guang were preparing to fly through the crack in the ceiling, but suddenly the view in front of them began shaking violently. Zhan Zhuo had directly teleported them out.

Clearly, he was worried that Lin Huang would really destroy his Kingdom, so he teleported all of them out with no hesitation at all.

The three of them had only just managed to find stable footing when they immediately felt an intensely powerful suction force pulling at them.

Instantly, they could not stop themselves from shooting backward toward the door of the massive palace.

Zhan Zhuo was evidently manipulating the ancient palace into ejecting them.

Lin Huang made a prompt decision. His telekinetic flying daggers turned into a blood-red stream of light that surged toward Zhan Zhuo in an attack.

He knew that if they were really ejected out of the ancient palace, it would be hard for them to act against Zhan Zhuo again.

A Dao Weapon ancient palace's defenses like these were not something Lin Huang would be able to breach on his own.

Not only that, there was usually a teleportation function.

As soon as the three of them left the dimension that the ancient palace was in, Zhan Zhuo would certainly activate the ancient palace and flee immediately. It would be extremely difficult to find him again.

Zhan Zhuo did not dare hold back any of his abilities after seeing Lin Huang's ten million or more telekinetic flying daggers coming at him.

The Dao Weaponry in his hand formed countless saber gleams that charged toward the telekinetic flying daggers.

Each saber gleam was compounded with level-3 Odylic Force, as well as over five thousand levels of sequence power.

Although they were not as numerous as the telekinetic flying daggers, they sent Lin Huang's telekinetic flying daggers—which were almost completely drained of Divine Power—ricocheting away with ease.

Lin Huang's telekinetic flying daggers this round were the same ones he had used to battle Dark Shadow earlier. Even the Divine Power on them had basically been completely stripped away, let alone any Odylic Force.

Now that he was encountering an attack from Zhan Zhuo, who was at his peak, it was inevitable that Lin Huang seemed somewhat tired.

Seeing that the three of them were about to be forcibly driven to the door of the palace, Lin Huang smirked without a trace of panic. His fingers moved slightly after that.

The next second, Zhan Zhuo's movements were suddenly halted.

Right after this, his figure flew in Lin Huang's direction at a speed more than several times faster. However, his movements were peculiar no matter how one looked at them.

He seemed to be tied up by something and could not move a muscle. Not only that, it was very evident that he was hurtling toward Lin Huang entirely not of his own volition. It looked more like something was pulling him over.

At first, Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang were stunned, but subsequently, they realized that Lin Huang had done this using telekinetic threads.

Although his telekinetic flying daggers had ricocheted away, the telekinetic threads had secretly entangled themselves around Zhan Zhuo's body one by one without him realizing it at all.

At the very last critical moment, Lin Huang was finally able to close the net on his opponent.

Even if Zhan Zhuo had regrets, it was too late now.

Against his will, his body was pulled along by Lin Huang's telekinetic threads as he too was driven out of the ancient palace by its force of repulsion.

He looked at the swiftly-closing great door of the ancient palace as well as his feet at the bottom of the palace steps, then at the three people who were watching him like a hawk.

Zhan Zhuo felt a little like crying, but he could not muster up the tears.

He could only blame the ancient palace for being too intelligent and immediately carrying out the ejection order he had given. By the time he was able to react and wished to cancel and amend his order, Lin Huang had already dragged him out of the massive palace.

"It's a little late now for you to think of escaping." As Lin Huang spoke, the narrow blade in his hand was already against Zhan Zhuo's neck. The razor-sharp sword sliced a faint, bloody wound across his neck.

Zhan Zhuo could clearly sense the pain and the faint trace of coldness emanating from his neck.

"Who is your partner who attacked Death Sickle's headquarters?" Buried Heaven asked immediately, seeing that Zhan Zhuo was now being held captive.

Zhan Zhuo glared at Buried Heaven with no small amount of disdain. "Do you think I'm going to tell you?"

"I'll slaughter you if you don't!" The battle sword in Lin Huang's hand pushed down two centimeters deeper, cutting into the flesh of Zhan Zhuo's neck. Blood began to flow from the wound.

Zhan Zhuo could even clearly sense the warm blood slowly trickling from his neck to his collarbone. It continued to drip down.

At this point, Zhan Guang finally spoke as well.

"You should be very aware how our Combat God Temple interrogates traitors in our midst."

Zhan Zhuo was evidently swayed from his stubbornness by what Zhan Guang had said.

"I don't know who he is, only that he's not from the God Territory. There aren't that many Raiders in the great world. For safety, we don't know each others' real identities. The only thing we know is each other's codenames. That fellow's codename is Babble. I only know that his abilities should be higher than mine."

"If you don't know each other's identity, then how do you get in contact?" Lin Huang asked with a slight frown.

"All our missions are assigned by a superior, and he assigns our collaborators as well," Zhan Zhuo continued after he finished, "For this mission, both of us worked separately. We actually had no contact with each other at all. Our superior set a time for us and told us to go into action at the same time."

"So you can only contact your superior?" Lin Huang asked again.

"He can contact me, but I can't contact him." Zhan Zhuo shook his head.

"What if something major happens and you need to contact him?"

"Generally, we try to resolve any problems ourselves. However, if it's something really major, Spy would know, and they'd contact a superior. That's Spy's specific duty; it's not part of our job scope."

"Is Spy someone's codename? Or is it the job title of a group of people?" Lin Huang pursued the matter further.

"I'm not too sure about this. I think both are possible," Zhan Zhuo replied after thinking for a moment.

"Can you contact Spy?"

"I can't, only he can contact me," Zhan Zhuo finished speaking, then added, "I think we should skip any discussion of him. I've had a vague feeling all along that he's more dangerous than my superior. Spy knows everything. He might be watching everything that we're doing now."

Lin Huang narrowed his eyes slightly at this point. He vaguely thought of someone.

"Tell me about the inner organization of the Raiders, such as the members' ranking, their combat strength, their job scopes…"

"The members' ranking system is very simple. It's grade-1 to grade-5, from lowest to highest. It's mainly related to their combat strength.

"Lower-rank Lords are basically grade-1, middle-rank Lords would be grade-2, upper-rank Lords would be grade-3, and ultimate-rank Lords would be grade-4. Above that would be grade-5 for individuals who are above the level of Lords.

"From what I've heard, grade-5 is the highest rank. As to whether they have any higher rankings than that, this I'm not sure about. After all, there's a lot of information that I can't see with my grade-1 authorization."

"So your superior is grade-2, as well as that Spy entity?"

"I'm not sure about Spy, but my superior is at least grade-2. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible for him to be in command of all matters in the entire great world," Zhan Zhuo said with absolute certainty.

"How many members are there in our great world?" Lin Huang asked again.

"I don't know the exact number. There are four people with different code names whom I've worked with. So, including myself, my superior, and Spy, there are at least seven of us. However, my guess is that there won't be more than ten," Zhan Zhuo hazarded a guess.

Chapter 1635: Killing Zhan Zhuo

Lin Huang tried his best to milk Zhan Zhuo for any information regarding the Raiders. Zhan Zhuo seemed to have given up as well and answered as best as he could.

However, Lin Huang soon realized that what Zhan Zhuo told him did not get to the core of the Raiders. Clearly, he was restricted by authorization and only had access to superficial information.

He only knew the codenames of the four people he had collaborated with. As for the rest, he did not know anything more.

"Tell me about the mission you were given this time. Also, why did you attack Buried Heaven and Death Sickle?" Seeing that he was not able to gain any more information about the Raiders, Lin Huang switched topics and began asking about the details of this recent mission.

"This mission was actually a one-off affair to test the waters. Attempting to kill Buried Heaven and destroying Death Sickle was just something incidental along the way.

"This whole thing came about because previously, someone had assassinated powerhouses consecutively on the Heavenly God Leaderboard. We suspected the individual in question was a traveler." Zhan Zhuo glanced at Lin Huang at this point. Clearly, he already knew that the one responsible for the killings was Lin Huang, the one standing before him now.

"In the process of investigating this traveler's identity, we came across Death Sickle and inadvertently discovered that Buried Heaven was about to perform unification soon. We felt that it was an opportunity to kill several birds with one stone.

"For one, if we got rid of Buried Heaven and nipped things in the bud, it would be the equivalent of destroying Death Sickle's chances of elevating to a grade-7 organization. Once Death Sickle elevated to grade-7, there would be a significant increase of difficulty in many of the missions targeting them.

"For another, we discovered that you were the one who killed the powerhouses on the Heavenly God Leaderboard previously. Furthermore, you're close to Buried Heaven. If he died, you would lose your backing, which would make it easier for us to move against you.

"Thirdly, we wanted to weaken Death Sickle and decrease their popularity. This would benefit us in our covert scheme to take over Death Sickle in the future."

"For you to accurately obtain Buried Heaven's unification coordinates, it ought to have been one of the Blood Sickle members from Death Sickle who leaked the information, right? Who exactly was your informant?!" Lin Huang continued to pursue the matter.

"This, I don't know. However, I suspect that the coordinates being leaked has something to do with Babble. He might very well have used some sort of technique on one of the Blood Sickle members. I'm not sure exactly what he did."

"So you found out about my identity through the Blood Sickle authorization, including the fact that I accepted Death Sickle's missions anonymously to kill those fellows on the Heavenly God Leaderboard." Lin Huang had actually long since suspected that his identity had already been exposed. However, he had not expected that Zhan Zhuo would verify this.

"Yes. It was only after discovering your identity that we began to suspect you might be a traveler. However, it was merely an unconfirmed suspicion.

"Our initial plan was to kill Buried Heaven first and move against you after that."

"Didn't you intend to confirm my identity as a traveler first, then directly attack me?" Lin Huang was rather confused.

"There 's no need for any confirmation." Xhan Zhuo shook his head. "If you were truly a traveler and we disposed of you right away, that would be equivalent to eradicating any future problems. If you weren't a traveler, we'd just be killing a Heavenly God by mistake. As far as we're concerned, we'd rather kill the wrong person than let the chance slip by!"

"You really treat lives like nothing at all." Lin Huang could not help sneering when he heard that.

"Why did you murder Old Sun then?" Lin Huang raised a new point of doubt.

"I'm not sure exactly what mission Babble was entrusted with. Sun Zhan was no threat to us at all. I think Babble might have killed him because he was alone and an easy target. Naturally, we can't rule out the possibility that Sun Zhan was the spy that Babble set up. If so, he was killed to silence him."

Buried Heaven was simmering with rage at this point.

Since they had both been combat cultivators, he and Sun Zhan had gotten along very well all this time and had often sparred with each other. It could even be said that out of the seven Blood Sickles, Sun Zhan had been the one closest to him.

In reality, Sun Zhan's death was what had upset Buried Heaven the most, even more so than being covertly attacked.

"Based on what you've said, your main target this time was actually me. So how far did your investigations go, and what did you find out?" Lin Huang glanced at Zhan Guang; he did not mind that the man was standing on the sidelines and listening to what was being said.

"We know everything that a Blood Sickle member of Death Sickle would know. We know that you have two identities in Death Sickle—one is Xiu Mu, and the other is Xie Lin. We also know that you're actually a human. Your real name is Lin Huang, and you come from an unknown gravel world.

"We suspected that you were most probably a traveler because the rate of your combat strength elevation is just too astounding. Furthermore, the abilities you've displayed are also very unusual. However, all along, there hasn't been enough evidence to prove this.

"Even when you severed my hand during Buried Heaven's unification, at the time, I merely thought that you had a trump card left to you by an Almighty. I didn't think you were using your true ability.

"It wasn't until I tricked you into admitting it in the palace earlier that I was able to officially confirm that you're a traveler."

"So the others don't know the latest news?" Lin Huang raised his brows at this point.

Zhan Zhuo heard the underlying killing intent concealed in Lin Huang's words. "Honestly, it doesn't matter whether we verify your identity or not. When we found your real identity information on Death Sickle, you were already put on the Raiders' list of individuals who were marked for death.

"It doesn't matter if you're a reincarnated being, a traveler, the chosen one, the reincarnation of an Almighty, or something else entirely. It won't change the fact that you're already on the death list."

"Since I'm your target and you've already discovered my identity, why didn't you attack me directly?" Lin Huang voiced out the biggest point of confusion he had up to this point.

"We didn't know your coordinates. Someone with Blood Sickle authorization wiped out your mailing addresses completely. Even your sender information was deleted as well. We couldn't find out who the senders were.

"That's why we changed our target to Buried Heaven instead. We thought we'd kill him first, then wait for you to show yourself."

"I was the one who deleted your mailing information and sender information," Buried Heaven could not help speaking up at this point, "Not long after I elevated to ninth-rank heavenly god-level, a few of the Blood Sickle members gave me Death Sickle's Blood Sickle-level authorization access. Very few of the Blood Sickle members knew about this.

"I've been continuously deleting your mailing address and sender information because one of the Blood Sickle members is rather biased against humans. He complained about your hidden identity during meetings more than once. I was worried that he'd stir up trouble for you," Buried Heaven explained.

"No wonder I had to fill in my address and contact number every time I accepted missions. I thought Death Sickle's forum deleted them automatically for confidentiality purposes. I figured everyone had to do the same…" This was something Lin Huang had not expected.

Buried Heaven's actions had certainly protected Lin Huang and the Sword Alliance, but it had brought disaster upon himself as well as Death Sickle.

Lin Huang also realized that Death Sickle had indeed taken the fall for him.

After Lin Huang had asked Zhan Zhuo almost everything that he wanted to know, Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang took turns to interrogate him.

Zhan Zhuo was also very much aware of the situation he was in and answered everything that he could.

He cooperated with them also because he wanted a chance to stay alive.

After Zhan Guang finished his interrogation, he looked at Lin Huang.

"Young Lin, will you let us handle Zhan Zhuo? He belongs to the Combat God Temple, after all. We can compensate you accordingly."

"It's not that I don't want to hand him over to you alive." Lin Huang looked at Zhan Guang, his expression very serious. "But if you bring him back to the Combat God Temple, you'll only bring disaster upon yourselves.

"The Raiders would never allow any of their members to be captured alive.

"You heard it yourself earlier. There are at least seven Raiders in this great world we're in right now. Each of them possesses abilities that are on par with Zhan Zhuo; in fact, they're even more powerful. Not only that, there's at least one middle-rank Lord."

Zhan Guang's lips moved, but in the end, he did not raise any objections.

Indeed, he had not thoroughly thought things through earlier. He felt that since Zhan Zhuo was a member of the Combat God Temple, it only made sense that the Combat God Temple should handle the matter.

Lin Huang's analysis made him break out in a cold sweat.

The trouble Zhan Zhuo would bring down upon their heads would far exceed what the Combat God Temple could handle.

Zhan Guang was not sure if there were any middle-rank Lords left in this great world. However, he knew that there were none in the Combat God Temple.

All the Raiders had to do was send a middle-rank Lord; they could easily annihilate the entire Combat God Temple.

Protect the traitor Zhan Zhuo, or protect the Combat God Temple—Zhan Guang rapidly made his decision.

Seeing that Zhan Guang was not saying anything anymore, Lin Huang smirked and looked at Zhan Zhuo.

"You can't kill me…"

Zhan Zhuo had not even finished speaking before a blood-red sword gleam sliced across his neck.

An instant later, one generation of the Combat God Temple's Lords had his head severed.

A grayish-black stream of light silently escaped from between Zhan Zhuo's brows and directly penetrated into Lin Huang's body.

However, Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang did not notice this at all.

"I won't leave you his corpse either." Lin Huang's tone did not sound like he was going to discuss this with Zhan Guang. He put Zhan Zhuo's corpse and its head into his storage space. "If someone from the Raiders comes to look for you, tell them that I killed Zhan Zhuo, and I took his body away."

After seeing to the body, Lin Huang did not bother with any niceties. He looked at Zhan Zhuo's ancient palace and headed straight for it.

Zhan Zhuo was dead. Naturally, this ancient palace had no owner now.

However, Zhan Guang had no intention of fighting over this. For one, he was certainly no match for Lin Huang. For another, it was Lin Huang who had killed Zhan Zhuo, so it was only fitting that he collected the spoils.

After subduing the ancient palace, Lin Huang did a sweep with Divine Telekinesis and made sure that nothing had been left behind. Only then did he bid farewell to Buried Heaven and Zhan Guang.

Chapter 1636: My Suggestion: Just Run Away!

Death Sickle's headquarters, inside Buried Heaven's office.

Buried Heaven blocked the room off from the outside world as soon as he got there.

"What exactly are these Raiders, travelers, and reincarnated beings that you and Zhan Zhuo were talking about earlier?" Although Buried Heaven had heard Zhan Zhuo speaking about many secrets earlier, he did not really understand what exactly these entities known as Raiders, travelers, and reincarnated beings were.

"Right now, I can't explain any of this to you in detail. Moreover, the more you know, the more problems you may bring down upon yourself." Lin Huang had no intention of elaborating much further. "I can only tell you that the Raiders are an evil organization. Any and all outstanding genius powerhouses are their targets. This group of people will do anything to become more powerful. I even know of Raiders who are willing to wait for tens of thousands of years to be able to gradually get close to their target, disguising themselves as their victim's best friend just to plunder a treasure they possessed."

Buried Heaven felt a chill run down his back when he heard this. After a moment of silence, he could not help asking a question.

"Do you really intend to fight these fellows on your own? If it's like you said—that the other Raiders possess abilities on par with Zhan Zhuo or are perhaps even more powerful than him—I don't think you'll be able to go up against them at your current level of ability."

"My current abilities aren't powerful enough to go up against them, that's true. However, my abilities will elevate. Not only that, I'm not alone." In reality, Lin Huang had already roughly put together a counter-strategy.

"Why didn't you get the Combat God Temple fully involved?" Buried Heaven asked again, "As long as you turned Zhan Zhuo over to Zhan Guang, the Raiders' first target would definitely be the Combat God Temple. The Combat God Temple would have had to think of a way to deal with the Raiders, no matter what, when the time came.

"Furthermore, the Combat God Temple is a veteran grade-7 organization in the God Territory. Given their reputation and the right price, it would be no trouble at all to get Lords from the other grade-7 organizations to help. They might even be able to contend with one or two Raiders."

"If I did turn Zhan Zhuo over to the Combat God Temple alive, the end result would more likely be the Combat God Temple coming to an agreement with the Raiders. They'd give Zhan Zhuo back instead of fighting them." Lin Huang shook his head at that. "A middle-rank Lord is just too powerful a threat. The Combat God Temple wouldn't make an enemy of a middle-rank Lord just for one Zhan Zhuo."

"That's true. The great world's resources aren't sufficient to support a middle-rank Lord's cultivation. Most of the Lords in the major organizations head to the universe after consolidating a level-7 or level-8 Dao seal, what more those middle-rank Lords who consolidate level-10 Dao seals." Buried Heaven nodded slightly, frowning.

"I'll find my own solution to this matter of the Raiders. If I really can't handle them, I can always hide," Lin Huang continued after that, "You and Death Sickle shouldn't involve yourselves with this anymore."

Buried Heaven looked a little displeased, but he knew what Lin Huang meant.

Lin Huang was a lone ranger. If he were truly unable to fight the Raiders, he could still go on the run. However, Death Sickle was an organization with many members. If they were really targeted by Raiders, they would not be able to escape.

"In the next few days, you need to quickly announce the news of your elevation to lord-level and make Death Sickle a grade-7 organization as soon as possible. Once Death Sickle becomes a grade-7 organization, they'll be in the limelight, at least for the immediate future. Under the circumstances, the Raiders won't risk becoming a public enemy of the God Territory by openly attacking Death Sickle.

"As for Old Sun, don't continue with your investigations. Let me handle it. I'll definitely avenge him for you.

"Also, there has to be a spy who leaked the coordinates for your unification. Not only that, it must be one of the seven Blood Sickle members. There might even be more than one spy.

"Whether Old Sun was killed by the spy or not, the remaining six of you need to be on your guard," Lin Huang issued a reminder.

"I know." Buried Heaven was still frowning.

Lin Huang only left after he had chatted for a while with Buried Heaven regarding matters in Death Sickle.

Upon his return to the Pfister Star in the Devil Hunter Star Zone, Lin Huang had Hong Zhuang unlock Zhan Zhuo's storage ring at the first available opportunity.

He then put Zhan Zhuo's ancient palace up for bid on Royal's auction site. The requirement for trading was still half-step Lords' God Territories regardless of type. As for the auction period, it would only be listed for 24 hours.

The Raiders might hunt him down at any time. This timeframe was the longest he could wait.

After he settled these matters, he went to Sword1 and had him organize the Sword Alliance's members so they could begin evacuating all of the Pfister Star's residents.

Lin Huang had already told Buried Heaven not to resist and to just tell the Raiders where he was if they went to Death Sickle and demanded to know his whereabouts.

It was only a matter of time before the Raiders would find this place. As soon as the war began, anyone below lord-level would basically die.

Initially, Sword1 wanted to ask for more details. However, seeing that Lin Huang was unwilling to explain further, he refrained in the end. He had a vague feeling that this had to be related to the Raiders. Sword1, who had all along been supremely confident in his own abilities, was aware of how terrifying the Raiders were. He also knew that he could not be of much help until he elevated to become a Lord.

After returning to his courtyard, Lin Huang sat down on a stone bench in the pavilion. He turned on his communicator and looked for Virtuoso's name on the message page.

After staring at Virtuoso's name and pondering for a little while, he composed a message and sent it.

"I've been targeted by Raiders."

A moment later, a sudden video call request came in from Virtuoso.

As soon as Lin Huang connected the call, Virtuoso's masked figure was projected into the pavilion.

"What happened?! How did you manage to offend the Raiders out of the blue?"

"I killed one of their members. They're likely to catch up with me soon," Lin Huang said with a chuckle.

"Are the Raiders in this world so weak?" Virtuoso was rather confused. "From what I know, they usually won't recruit members below lord-level."

"I killed a Lord," Lin Huang explained. He did not really mind revealing a little bit of his ability in front of Virtuoso. This was because, in a few days, he would be elevating his abilities again.

Virtuoso was clearly stunned for a second. They asked immediately, "What level is your combat strength now?!"

"I'm currently at eighth-rank." Lin Huang did not hide the fact.

"So fast?!" Virtuoso exclaimed involuntarily, "A Goldfinger that can elevate your combat strength at lightning speed… I'd like to have one too!"

Virtuoso was obviously under the mistaken impression that the abilities of Lin Huang's Goldfinger focused primarily on combat strength elevation.

"To be able to kill a Lord at eighth-rank—you're quite something," Virtuoso complimented.

"Don't just keep flattering me; help me think of a solution," Lin Huang said, smiling, "If I can't resolve this current threat, it's very likely I'll be a cold corpse in a few days."

"I think you can probably get those few fellows from the Club to help," Virtuoso suggested after some thought.

"Out of those three people in the Club, are any of them middle-rank Lords?" Lin Huang asked immediately.

He was not actually afraid of most of the Raiders' members. The ones he was worried about were that grade-2 member and the one named Spy, who was suspected to be grade-2 as well.

"This I'm not too sure about, but my guess is no. Middle-rank Lords generally go to the universe instead of staying here." Virtuoso shrugged, then looked at Lin Huang. "Are you sure there's a middle-rank Lord among this world's Raiders?"

"There's definitely one for sure, and there's another who might be." Lin Huang did not hide this from Virtuoso.

Virtuoso fell silent for a moment after hearing that, cupping their chin in their hand. Only after a long moment did they lift their head. "If you're really not able to handle them, you'd better run. Head to the universe— with your current abilities, you'll more or less be able to protect yourself anyway."

"…"

Lin Huang was rendered speechless upon hearing this suggestion.

Chapter 1637: The Gate of All Realms

After Lin Huang ended his call with Virtuoso, Virtuoso very quickly sent over three other Club members' numbers.

Lin Huang saved the three numbers and composed a message which he then sent to the three of them.

"Greetings, respected seniors. I'm the Club's new member, Xiu Mu. I killed a Raider by the codename of Mr. Gate, so I've been targeted by them. If you happen to be interested, I can be the bait, and we can hunt the remaining Raiders together."

Less than ten seconds after the message was sent, one of them replied.

"How much do you know about the Raiders?"

This individual's codename at the Club was Epic Player.

According to the information Virtuoso had provided, this individual was like Virtuoso—he was also a clone left by a reincarnated being. In the universe, his Primordium was an Almighty who was higher than lord-level.

Lin Huang thought about it for a while and decided to reveal some information in the end.

"There are at least seven Raiders in this great world at the moment. The one with the most powerful ability is a middle-rank Lord, as well as an individual with the codename Spy, who is suspected of being a middle-rank Lord as well. The rest are lower-rank Lords."

He was not worried about whether or not Epic Player was a Raider spy because this information was more or less meaningless to the Raiders.

On the other hand, revealing the information about middle-rank Lords would allow him to estimate what exactly Epic Player's abilities were.

If his abilities were not powerful enough to fight a middle-rank Lord, he would not reply after receiving that piece of news.

"So there are middle-rank Lords. Sounds interesting, count me in!

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My codename is Epic Player, a reincarnated being, lower-rank Lord. Although I'm a lower-rank Lord, I'm very interested in hunting middle-rank Lords."

Epic Player replied with two messages in a row.

Lin Huang smiled slightly after reading the message. At least he had found a comrade in battle.

Although he was just a lower-rank Lord, judging by his replies, his abilities ought to be powerful.

"Of course—welcome! To prevent information from being leaked, I'll keep my coordinates a secret for the time being. I'm estimating that they'll find me in two or three days—five at most. When the time comes, I'll send my coordinates immediately. Please come as soon as possible."

He did not directly send his coordinates to guard against the possibility of this individual being a Raider spy as well.

Furthermore, he wanted to seize the opportunity to elevate his abilities again in the next few days before the Raiders showed up.

After Epic Player, another individual sent a message not too long later.

"That's not a bad proposal at all—what are your coordinates?"

The person who sent the message had the codename Steel Fist.

However, after reading the message, Lin Huang had some suspicions about whether or not this individual was a spy.

They had agreed right away to hunt the Raiders without asking a single question and were asking for his coordinates as well.

"I'm keeping my coordinates a secret for the time being. I'll send them to you two days later." Lin Huang thought about it and decided to reply to the message. "I've confirmed that there's a middle-rank Lord among the Raiders, and there's another who's suspected of being a middle-rank Lord. Are you sure you want to come?"

"By this great world's rating, the Raiders won't too powerful even if they have a middle-rank Lord as a guardian. He definitely won't have a Dao seal above level-20. Even if we're no match for him, I have sufficient means to survive. You, on the other hand, are a rookie. Don't underestimate other Raiders just because you've killed one. You'll die very quickly if you have such a mindset."

"Thank you for your reminder, senior. I'll take note." When Lin Huang saw this reply, he was not angry at all.

Although the other's words were hard to swallow, what they said was spot on. Lin Huang could even tell by this that the other was most probably not a Raider spy.

Upon reading the other's first message again, he felt that it was actually reasonable.

Steel Fist had replied in such a straightforward manner because he knew the limits of the highest combat strength level for the Raiders in the great world. Any other information was extraneous—they did not need to ask about it.

Lin Huang was in an excellent mood after obtaining two battle comrades.

He waited for a while but did not see a reply from the third individual. He felt this was nothing out of the ordinary.

It was completely understandable for someone to be unwilling to take part in something related to the Raiders. This individual might also be in closed-door cultivation, in a ruin, or in a secret zone where they were unable to receive news from the outside world. This individual might also be a spy for the Raiders and could be currently reporting to the other Raiders about Lin Huang asking for help. There were many possibilities.

After turning off his communicator, Lin Huang quickly set aside his delight.

His partners from the Club were external forces. It was hard to say exactly how much help they would be.

Lin Huang was very much aware that his ability was the only thing he could rely on.

If he could fight off a middle-rank Lord using his own abilities, he would not have to worry at all about the Raiders finding him.

After turning off the communication page, Lin Huang got up and went through the garden. He then headed into the living room.

After closing the door of the villa, he sat down on the sofa right away, then closed his eyes and checked within his body.

After he killed Zhan Zhuo, a grayish-black stream of light had entered his body.

He had known immediately that it was Zhan Zhuo's Goldfinger.

As a Goldfinger could only lodge in a traveler's body, there were only three things that could happen to it once the traveler died.

One was that it directly escaped, one was that it lodged itself in the closest traveler's body, and the last was that it might be forcibly refined by another traveler to become a source of nourishment for other Goldfingers.

Zhan Zhuo's Goldfinger seemed to have sensed that there were many Goldfingers coexisting in Lin Huang's body. From this, it was aware that Lin Huang was not the type who was fond of refining other Goldfingers to serve as nutrients, so it chose to surrender without hesitation.

This proved that not all travelers had a close rapport with their Goldfinger.

Lin Huang sank his consciousness into his body and soon saw the extra Goldfinger inside—a grayish-black metal door.

He communicated with his consciousness and soon received a brief piece of feedback.

"Gate of All Realms…"

This Goldfinger was called the Gate of All Realms. Its function was just like its name—it could open passages to different realms.

The most special among these realms was the virtual realm.

Previously, Zhan Zhuo had actually displayed this ability. He had managed to open three passages to the virtual realm at the same time to release the Voids.

However, what piqued Lin Huang's interest was not this function but another one.

The Gate of All Realms could construct a virtual body for its host to enter the virtual realm and hunt.

Not only that, this virtual body currently had three lives per day.

In other words, Lin Huang would have three chances to explore the virtual realm every day.

Based on what Dark Sword had said, Voids could not be killed in the material realm. They would merely return to the virtual realm after death. However, Lin Huang managed to learn something else from the Gate of All Realms.

Voids could be killed in the virtual realm. Not only that, as soon as they were killed, all of their Origin Energy would be left behind and could be absorbed by virtual bodies.

The Origin Energy absorbed by a virtual body would be reflected in the actual body that resided in the material realm.

Lin Huang was extraordinarily excited to see this information.

He knew that he had found another way to increase his ability!

Chapter 1638: Entering the Virtual Realm for the First Time

Lin Huang tried to communicate with the Gate of All Realms.

The Gate of All Realms did not seem to have a very high intelligence; it could only transmit some simple thoughts.

Nevertheless, Lin Huang managed to gain some information from it.

After Mr. Gate obtained the Gate of All Realms, he had used it almost solely as a dimensional portal. Naturally, using it in such a manner was also very convenient.

The Gate of All Realms could entirely disregard distance in space and transport the host to any place they had traveled to before.

When Mr. Gate killed a raptor during his unification, the Gate of All Realms had gained the Origin Energy left by the raptor. Only then had it been able to connect a passageway to the virtual realm.

After this, Mr. Gate had been recruited by the Raiders and had also been given two Goldfingers in succession.

The Gate of All Realms was able to open three passageways into the virtual realm only after it had absorbed the two Goldfingers.

Previously, it could only consolidate a virtual body once a day—this had now been increased to three times a day.

Once the Gate of All Realms had connected a passageway to the virtual realm, Mr. Gate had used a virtual body to enter the virtual realm many times at first. However, he was killed almost every time he encountered any Voids. After that, he completely abandoned any thoughts about killing Voids and used the Gate of All Realms in the opposite manner—to summon Voids.

According to the information provided by the Gate of All Realms, the virtual realm was a very unique place.

What caught Lin Huang's attention most was the time rule within it.

Under normal circumstances, the flow of time in the virtual realm was the same as that of the material realm.

However, if one entered the virtual realm using a virtual body, no matter how long they stayed in the virtual realm—whether it was one day, one year, ten years, or a million years—time would not change when one returned to the material realm.

It was as if time in the material realm froze when the virtual body entered the virtual realm.

Once he had ascertained this, a thought instantly flashed through Lin Huang's mind. 'I can cultivate in there!'

After all, any benefits obtained by his virtual body had would be reflected in his actual body.

Therefore, theoretically, the virtual realm was undoubtedly a utopia for cultivation.

However, after a more detailed study of the information that the Gate of All Realms provided, Lin Huang rapidly became rather vexed.

He could enter the virtual realm with a virtual body, but he could not bring items from the material realm into the virtual realm.

Earlier, he had thought that if he cultivated in this place, he would be able to rapidly refine his half-step Lords' God Territories.

However, now he discovered that he could not bring those half-step Lords' God Territories into the virtual realm all.

He even considered hiding the items in his God Territory so he could retrieve them when he got to the virtual realm, or else he could hide himself in his God Territory. However, he soon abandoned this idea as well.

A God Territory consolidated in the material realm was an inherent integration of time and space. There were many celestial bodies, all kinds of living beings, and other material substances in it. In the virtual realm, all of them would be completely masked off, and one would not be able to sense them at all.

After a moment of fruitless thinking, Lin Huang had no other option but to ask Xiao Hei for help.

"Are there any sorts of dimensional cards that would allow me to bring half-step Lord God Territory Shell Remnants or other items into the virtual realm?"

"Bringing them in is useless, you can't retrieve them for use."

Xiao Hei's response stunned Lin Huang.

He immediately realized that it was not enough even if he could bring items in. He had to find a way to be able to use them.

After all, the virtual realm rejected material substances. Even if he were to use some special dimensional technique to bring items in, by the rules of the virtual realm, he would not be able to retrieve them either.

He thought for a moment and asked again, "Then is there any way to create an independent space in the virtual realm that's isolated from the influence of the virtual realm's rules, allowing me to bring in items from the material realm for cultivation?"

"Although the Gate of All Realms has shared information on the virtual realm with us, I must still go and experience it myself to determine whether or not I can create such a card."

"Can my virtual body bring all of you in?" Naturally, Lin Huang meant the Goldfingers within him when he said "all of you".

"Based on the information provided by the Gate of All Realms, Goldfingers are probably not restricted."

Lin Huang nodded as soon as he heard that. "Then let's go in and check things out."

He communicated with the Gate of All Realms again as soon as he finished speaking.

A moment later, with Lin Huang's consent, his consciousness was drawn out of his body by the Gate of All Realms. Subsequently, a new "body" was rapidly formed.

To Lin Huang, this virtual body was practically no different from his physical body. However, it was a figure that had no substance at all. It could not be seen or touched; even Lin Huang's peak lower-rank lord-level Divine Telekinesis could only be sensed as the vaguest of traces.

However, Lin Huang could clearly sense that his power was still there. He could still use his Divine Power, as well as all kinds of Rule Bending Powers and sequence powers. He could also clearly sense the presence of the Goldfingers within him.

Right as Lin Huang was still adapting to his new body, the Gate of All Realms opened a gate that looked like the Virtual Eye.

Seeing that the Virtual Eye-like gate was rapidly forming in front of him, Lin Huang asked with some concern, "The Voids won't be released, will they?"

However, he soon received feedback from the Gate of All Realms' consciousness.

The gate this time was a one-way gate. One could only enter from the material realm into the virtual realm, but nothing could exit the virtual realm.

Lin Huang was relieved when he heard that.

When the Virtual Eye had fully consolidated, the Gate of All Realms transmitted a trace of consciousness.

Lin Huang understood right away. In a flash, he controlled his virtual body to step into the Virtual Eye.

After stepping into the Virtual Eye, he did not feel anything special. An instant later, he passed through the Virtual Eye and arrived in the legendary virtual realm.

This was a black and white world; there were no other colors.

For a moment, Lin Huang felt as if he had become colorblind. However, it only took him a moment to adapt to this new environment; he then began looking around.

The world had become black and white, but nothing seemed to have changed in his surroundings at all.

He was still in his living room as before.

The furniture and decorations in the house had not changed at all.

Lin Huang got up and opened the door. The arrangement of the courtyard was entirely the same as in the material realm. All the plants were there. The only difference was that they were now black and white.

In a flash, Lin Huang appeared right away in the air above the courtyard.

Very soon, he saw the Sword Alliance's entire headquarters. It was no different from the material realm at all.

Apart from the colors having become black and white, perhaps the only difference was that there were entirely no signs of life.

The entire station was quiet.

After looking down at the Sword Alliance's headquarters for a while, Lin Huang swiftly flew higher and released his Divine Telekinesis to scan the entire Pfister Star.

The result of the scan showed very obviously that there were no living beings on the entire planet.

However, Lin Huang did not want to give up. He sent his Divine Telekinesis out, spreading it further away.

One lightyear, two lightyears… Ten lightyears… A hundred lightyears… One thousand lightyears…

Very soon, he had scanned the entire star zone with Divine Telekinesis, but to no avail still.

The planets in the material realm with myriads of humans living on them were nowhere to be found—there were no traces of them here at all.

Just when Lin Huang was preparing to retract his Divine Telekinesis, the faraway area where the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss was located suddenly transmitted an overpowering surge of Divine Telekinesis in Lin Huang's direction.

Chapter 1639: The Apocalypse Dragon Python

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"There's a Void?!"

Lin Huang lifted his eyes immediately to look in the direction of the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss. At the same time, he used Divine Telekinesis to make a sweeping scan. Very soon, he saw the Void's full appearance.

It was a gigantic python with horns on its head similar to that of a dragon. Half of its body occupied a star. Although the star was ablaze, the massive python remained completely unharmed. The upper half of its body was raised high and was more than seven to eight times longer than the star's diameter.

The black bat wings on its back were only slightly unfurled and were already more than several times larger than the surface area of the star.

The eight crimson eyes on its head spewed lava-like sparks. Each of its eyeballs was far bigger than the other surrounding stars.

It was, without a doubt, a colossus.

"Is this the legendary Apocalypse Dragon Python?!" Lin Huang could not help but raise his brows.

Although the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss only allowed powerhouses below heavenly god-level to enter and hunt, in the earliest times, it was actually the main battlefield of a fight between a Dragon Tribe Lord and an Abyssal Lord.

Back then, the Abyssal Lord was an Apocalypse Dragon Python that had been killed here by the Dragon Tribe Lord.

The information that Lin Huang had read about this fight in the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss was by no means detailed, and much of the information was unclear. However, he managed to guess at a glance that this creature ought to be the Apocalypse Dragon Python that had been killed.

Upon seeing the Apocalypse Dragon Python, Lin Huang immediately realized why there was not a single Void in the entire star zone.

This Apocalypse Dragon Python had most likely eaten all the Voids, not just in the Devil Hunter Star Zone, but probably in the several other star zones near the Battlefield of the Dragon Abyss as well.

While Lin Huang was scrutinizing the Apocalypse Dragon Python, it was weighing him up as well.

It found it rather peculiar that this human had appeared without warning. However, its thoughts were soon occupied by its appetite.

The aura coming from this human in front of it was delicious—much more so than all the Voids it had consumed before.

From the time it sensed the aura emanating from Lin Huang, it had been drooling involuntarily.

Naturally, Lin Huang became aware of why the other was drooling and could not help raising his brows. "You think I'm as big a prize as the elixir of immortality?!"

At that moment, the Apocalypse Dragon Python suddenly flapped its wings.

Its gigantic figure leaped forward and swooped toward the Devil Hunter Star Zone where Lin Huang was.

Lin Huang smirked and shook his sleeves. Countless God Weapon flying daggers shot out furiously, forming a giant dragon in the starry dome of the heavens, which then charged toward the Apocalypse Dragon Python.

That was one of the advantages Lin Huang had, unlike Zhan Zhuo—his God Weapons could be brought into the virtual realm. This was because God Weapons were different from ordinary equipment in that they became entirely part of the body after they were refined. They would be considered bones or organs by the virtual realm, so they would not be restricted.

The Apocalypse Dragon Python was furious when it saw the dragon beast that suddenly appeared in the void. Although it had long since lost any memories from when it was alive, it would still become enraged for no reason whenever it saw dragon beasts now.

In reality, Lin Huang had done this on purpose to irk it.

Although the size of this dragon beast formed from over a million God Weapon flying daggers could not compare to the Apocalypse Dragon Python at all—it was not even as big as one of the Apocalypse Dragon Python's eyes—Lin Huang was very confident about his attack.

In the starry sky, endless black rays radiated simultaneously from the Apocalypse Dragon Python's eight eyes, as if eight massive shockwaves were attacking the blood-red dragon beast made from the God Weapon flying daggers.

The dragon beast scattered into countless lightning arcs immediately and spread in all directions, easily dodging the other's attack. It then re-formed, charging toward the Apocalypse Dragon Python.

By the time the Apocalypse Dragon Python wanted to react, it was a little too late.

Powered by the Dao seal and compounded with over twelve thousand levels of sequence power, the blood-red dragon beast went through one of the Apocalypse Dragon Python's eight eyes immediately and exited through another eye.

Within the blink of an eye, it had destroyed two of the Apocalypse Dragon Python's eyes.

On his part, Lin Huang did not dodge the attack that the God Weapon had evaded.

He hovered above the Pfister Star and raised eight Mirrors at the same time. Each Mirror had a surface bigger than the Pfister Star. They immediately met the incoming eight black rays shooting out of the Apocalypse Dragon Python's eyes.

Practically the instant Lin Huang raised the Mirrors, eight black shockwaves hit them almost simultaneously. With not even a pause of 0.0001 seconds, the black shockwaves were deflected back straight away.

The eight shockwaves changed direction without stopping, aiming straight for the Apocalypse Dragon Python.

Before the Apocalypse Dragon Python could recover from the pain of losing two eyeballs, the eight black shockwaves were already approaching—and were coming straight at its face.

Amid its shock and consternation, the Apocalypse Dragon Python hurriedly attempted to dodge, but it was already too late.

Although it managed to evade slightly, four of its remaining six eyes were destroyed.

In an encounter that lasted barely the time it took for a breath, the Apocalypse Dragon Python had lost six of its eight eyes.

Very likely, it still had not managed to figure out what exactly had just happened.

'This fellow has powerful defenses. Not only that, the area around its head seems to utilize a special defense technique.' Lin Huang felt it was a pity that he had failed to kill the creature in his earlier attack.

His purpose in having the God Weapon flying daggers evade the other's attack and then re-form was so he could use the Apocalypse Dragon Python's eyes as the breaching point to destroy its head directly.

He had never expected that after the God Weapon flying daggers penetrated its eye, there would be another shielding layer protecting its head. Lin Huang had no choice but to retreat and settle for the next best option—manipulating the God Weapon flying daggers to pierce through its second eyeball.

The deflected attack seemed to have hit it directly in the face and destroyed four of its eyeballs. In all honesty, Lin Huang had not expected that to happen.

He thought the creature would be able to react in time and shield its eyes since they were such vital points.

Perhaps it had been too long since it had encountered a powerful opponent, so its actual combat abilities had weakened. Perhaps it had been momentarily careless, or whatever other reason, allowing the attack to achieve unexpected results.

Although Lin Huang had gained the upper hand in this encounter, he did not dare to underestimate the creature in the least. After all, it was a bona fide Lord, and its physical strength might already be near middle-rank lord-level.

Eyes were indeed crucial to ordinary people.

However, to lord-level powerhouses, eyes did not have a significant effect.

This was because lord-level powerhouses rarely relied solely on their vision to capture their opponents' movements in battle. They depended on Divine Telekinesis most of the time.

Lin Huang destroying his opponent's six eyes at the beginning of the battle did not have any substantial effects on the Apocalypse Dragon Python's abilities. At most, it had only taken away one of its attack methods, but it had also made the creature more cautious now.

After this, Lin Huang controlled the God Weapon flying daggers, intending to try and destroy the Apocalypse Dragon Python's remaining two eyes. However, it was clearly more alert now and did not give him so much as a chance for that.

'This fellow has such thick skin. I'm afraid this battle is going to consume a considerable amount of time.' Lin Huang tried attacking the Apocalypse Dragon Python's other body parts. After a moment, he could not help frowning slightly.

Chapter 1640: Lin Huang's Killing Move

After merely one clash, Lin Huang already had some gener insight into the ability of the Apocalypse Dragon Python that he was facing.

This was a Lord with five Dao seals that had mastered a total of some ten thousand god sequence chains.

Overall, its ability was similar to Dark Sword, whom he had encountered previously.

However, Dark Sword was a sword cultivator, after all, and more proficient in attacks; his techniques were also more varied.

In comparison, the Apocalypse Dragon Python had a more powerful physical body and stronger defenses.

For Lin Huang, the Apocalypse Dragon Python was more difficult to deal with compared to Dark Sword.

Its physical body was almost perfectly integrated with its Dao seals, and the surface of its scales was completely covered by Dao seal layers.

For Lin Huang, who only had a level-1 Sword seal, it would be very difficult for him to breach the creature's defenses.

Whenever the blood-red dragon beast formed from the God Weapon flying daggers struck the body of the Apocalypse Dragon Python, there would be the ringing sound of metal striking against metal. Sometimes, there would even be sparks. Even if that happened, however, the daggers only left faint scratches on the creature's scales at most.

"This definitely won't do if I go on exhausting myself. Given the current strength of my attacks, it's able to defend itself without expending that much Divine Power at all." In his mind, Lin Huang was rapidly thinking through all sorts of countermeasures. "I have to increase my attack power!"

While Lin Huang was still considering combat tactics, the Apocalypse Dragon Python had swiftly regrouped from its earlier injuries.

Losing six of its eyes did not make it fear Lin Huang. Instead, the injury had aroused its ferocity.

As far as the Apocalypse Dragon Python was concerned, Lin Huang was just a Lord with one Dao seal who had managed to injure it earlier through sheer luck.

It lowered its head, its two remaining crimson eyes staring fixedly at Lin Huang.

However, this time, it did not dare to release any more shockwaves. Instead, it opened its enormous mouth and spewed out endless black flames.

The flames were like a flowing galaxy. Within the blink of an eye, they had spread over a distance of several dozen lightyears, surging toward Lin Huang. Even a small part of the Devil Hunter Star Zone was swallowed up.

Although it was not particularly intelligent, the Apocalypse Dragon Python had clearly learned its lesson from earlier. It did not plan on giving Lin Huang a chance to deflect the attack—it used a ranged attack right away.

Lin Huang smirked slightly. He had no intention at all of fighting the tsunami-like inferno that was surging toward him.

In a flash, he vanished on the spot.

When he reappeared, he was already outside the area that the black flames covered.

As for the Pfister Star, he would not feel psychologically burdened at all if such a barren planet was destroyed in the material realm, much less in this virtual realm.

After dodging the Apocalypse Dragon Python's black flame attack, Lin Huang began to perform hand seals rapidly.

In the starry sky, the million or more God Weapon flying daggers swiftly began changing shape. In an instant, they transformed into over a million swords. The dragon beast form dispersed completely as well, rapidly forming a massive sword formation in the air.

This was the killing move that Bloody had left for Lin Huang the last time they met.

In total, there were twelve sets of ultimate sword formations. Bloody had derived these ultimate killing formations using her own spirit strength and computational skills.

Based on what Bloody had mentioned at the time, if Lin Huang were able to use them, it should not be difficult for him to kill a half-step Lord.

The abilities Lin Huang displayed currently were at least a hundred times more powerful than before as well.

It was also his first time using this type of sword formation in actual combat. He could clearly sense that as the countless battle swords returned to their places in the sword formation and resonated with each other, the formation's power was also continuously increasing.

In less than the time it took for a breath, the formation's power had shot up to its peak!

"It's almost the equivalent of compounding two additional Sword seal levels…" Lin Huang's eyes lit up.

The power of his compounded Sword seal far exceeded the Apocalypse Dragon Python's level-5 Dao seal.

This was because his level-1 Sword seal contained the power of over twelve thousand god sequence chains. By compounding another two levels, this gave it the equivalent power of thirty-six thousand god sequence chains.

The Apocalypse Dragon Python's compounded level-5 Dao seal, however, had only amassed the power of some ten thousand god sequence chains.

Although Lin Huang did not have as many Dao seals as the creature, he could completely overwhelm it in terms of the volume of sequence power.

Once the sword formation was complete, the Apocalypse Dragon Python clearly sensed the threat radiating from it.

Its massive snake tail lashed out, intending to smash the newly-consolidated sword formation to bits.

In the time it took for a breath, the enormous snake tail had traversed a distance of several dozen lightyears.

At the same time, the huge sword formation began spinning furiously as Lin Huang controlled it with his mind.

The million or more battle swords in the sky transformed into a single giant sword. It slashed toward the snake tail at an even faster speed.

Boom!

In an instant, both attacks collided in the starry heavens.

The boom even pierced through the limits of the vacuum of space, transmitting in all directions. It spread toward the distance at a speed that was hundreds of times faster than the speed of light.

At the same time, what the collision produced—energy waves, overwhelming Odylic waves, all sorts of sequence powers and Rule Bending Powers, as well as Divine Power that had dispelled—was sweeping in all directions.

Suddenly, all the planets in the entire Devil Hunter Star Zone exploded one after another and were then completely reduced to dust.

Even stars and black holes were no exception. They were crushed to powder by the escaping energies caused by the two combatants.

This, then, was the Holy Power of lord-level powerhouses.

They could destroy the entire galaxy in the time it took to turn one hand over!

At that moment, one of the main culprits in this attack—Lin Huang—remained where he stood, unmoving. He watched the Apocalypse Dragon Python across from him with calm, clear eyes.

The tail that the Apocalypse Dragon Python was so proud of now sported a massive wound so deep the bone could be seen.

It was very evident who the winner of this encounter was.

The corners of Lin Huang's mouth quirked up slightly when he saw the wound. It was at least one thousand kilometers long and was still bleeding.

He had finally breached the creature's defenses!

Although it was a far cry from directly severing its tail, the fact that he had broken through its defenses and had been able to cause such a massive wound was already good news.

Lin Huang finally felt completely relieved when he saw the Apocalypse Dragon Python's wound.

Only now was he sure that he had a chance of winning.

"Roar!"

The Apocalypse Dragon Python released a terrifying roar at Lin Huang—whether from anger, pain, or whatever other reason was unknown.

Endless black flames accompanied the roar.

This time, the Apocalypse Dragon Python spewed considerably more black flame than previously. If it had been just a river bursting its dams before, it was now truly a surging tsunami.

It flung its head and spurted flames in every direction. It clearly wanted to seal off all possible escape routes for Lin Huang.

However, in face of the Apocalypse Dragon Python's behavior, Lin Huang merely shook his head and smiled.

This was nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum after losing a game.

It would not affect the final outcome of the game at all.

Lin Huang did not even bother to evade this time. As he moved his fingers slightly, Mirror consolidated in front of him immediately. It then turned into a sphere over two meters in diameter, entirely enveloping his body with no neglected areas in his defenses at all.

At the same time, he used his mind again. In the distance, the sword formation made from the God Weapon flying daggers transformed into a giant, blood-red sword once more and slashed at the Apocalypse Dragon Python.

This time, the target of its attack was the creature's vital parts!