Hard-Fought Battle with the Golden Core

"Now, it's time to 'settle the score'."

Lam Minh's calm voice rang out, but to Black Shadow and his subordinates, it was more terrifying than the roar of a demon.

However, Black Shadow was a Golden Core expert, the commander of an assassin unit. His initial fear was quickly replaced by the frenzy of a cornered beast. He knew there was no retreat today.

"All of you, on my command!" he roared. "He is alone! Even if he is a Nascent Soul, today we will drag him down with us! Go!"

The ten remaining Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, spurred by their commander's madness, also roared, regaining a bit of courage. They charged towards Lam Minh in unison.

"A bunch of ants," Lam Minh laughed coldly, but he did not underestimate them.

He plunged into the wolf pack. The Thuan Thien sword in his hand danced in marvelous arcs, each move aimed at the enemy's weak points. The power of a perfected Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator was unleashed to its limit.

A chaotic battle erupted. Lam Minh, though very strong, found it no easy task to face ten Peak Foundation Establishment assassins at once. They coordinated seamlessly, forming a net of blades and swords that surrounded him.

But Lam Minh was no ordinary cultivator. His combat experience far surpassed theirs. He moved within the tight space, sometimes using refined swordsmanship to neutralize attacks, other times using the domineering Dragon Fist to break their formation.

SWOOSH!

After a period of intense fighting, he found an opening and beheaded one of them with a single strike.

But at the same time, another dagger grazed his shoulder, leaving a deep wound.

This was the first time he had been injured in this hunt.

Black Shadow observed from a distance, not rushing to act. He narrowed his eyes. "That's not right... this aura... it's really only at the Peak Foundation Establishment level. Not Nascent Soul!"

This discovery made him both happy and angry. Happy because the enemy was not as strong as he had imagined. Angry because he had been tricked into a desperate flight by a mere Foundation Establishment brat.

"He is alone! Kill him for me!" he roared, then also charged into the fray.

The participation of a Golden Core cultivator completely changed the situation.

Black Shadow didn't use flashy skills. He just used his fists. Each of his punches carried the power of a Golden Core, capable of destroying an entire city block. The air around his fist seemed to compress, creating booming sounds.

Lam Minh immediately felt the pressure multiply. He had to deal with the encirclement of the Foundation Establishment creatures while also dodging Black Shadow's destructive punches.

BAM!

He had just used his sword to parry the attacks of three creatures when he couldn't completely dodge Black Shadow's punch. Although it only grazed him, the powerful force still sent him flying, crashing hard against a cliff wall.

"Ugh!"

He coughed up a mouthful of blood. It felt like several of his ribs were broken.

"Haha! So that's all you've got!" Black Shadow laughed loudly, his confidence returning. "I thought you were some kind of god. Turns out you're just a talented little human brat."

He charged forward, intending to finish Lam Minh off.

But Lam Minh, despite being severely injured, revealed a strange smile.

"Finally... I have a chance."

He knew that with his current strength, he couldn't possibly win. But he didn't need to win. He just needed... to "die."

He didn't dodge Black Shadow's next punch. On the contrary, he charged straight into it.

"GO TO HELL!" Black Shadow roared, unleashing a full-power punch.

BOOM!!!

A terrifying explosion rang out. Lam Minh's entire body was hit by the Golden Core's punch, turning into a bloody mist, and vanishing into the air.

"Finally done," Black Shadow sighed, retracting his hand. His remaining subordinates also cheered.

But their joy didn't last long.

10... 9... 8...

From within the bloody mist, a figure slowly materialized again. Intact. Without a single scratch.

[Host has died. Annihilated by the attack of an Early-stage Golden Core cultivator. Received 40,000 Immortality Points.]

[[INVULNERABILITY] STATE ACTIVATED. TIME REMAINING: 29:59]

"What... what is this?"

Black Shadow and his subordinates' jaws dropped, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"Surprise?" Lam Minh stood there, stark naked, a ghostly smile on his face. "Your punch... was quite weak. Just enough to tickle me."

He could feel the endless energy coursing through his body. 30 minutes of an immortal, invincible state.

"Now then," he said, the Thuan Thien sword reappearing in his hand. "It's my turn."

Absolute terror gripped Black Shadow. He didn't understand what was happening. What kind of magic was this? Why wasn't he dead?

He turned, his instincts screaming at him to run.

"Where are you going?"

Lam Minh appeared right in front of him. His speed now far surpassed anything Black Shadow could imagine.

He swung his sword.

It wasn't a complex sword technique. Just a simple slash.

But in these 30 minutes, every one of his attacks was enhanced by an endless source of energy.

Black Shadow frantically raised his arm to block.

SWOOSH!

His entire arm, along with the Golden Core energy armor, was cleanly severed like a piece of tofu.

"Aaaaaah!!!" he screamed in pain.

Lam Minh gave him no chance. He attacked continuously. Slashing, punching, kicking. Every blow forced Black Shadow to struggle to defend, covering him in injuries.

The remaining Foundation Establishment creatures, seeing their commander in danger, frantically charged at Lam Minh.

"Get lost!" Lam Minh roared. He just waved his hand. A powerful gust of force swept out, sending all the creatures flying, crashing against the cliff walls, their bodies mangled beyond recognition.

Only Black Shadow remained, severely injured and missing an arm.

Lam Minh slowly approached, the tip of his sword aimed at his throat.

"Speak," he asked coldly. "The people you captured for the altar, where did they come from?"

This was the question he was most interested in.

Black Shadow looked at him, his eyes filled with both fear and hatred. He laughed maniacally. "Haha... you think I'll tell you? You'll never know... The Sacred Cult... will rule all..."

With that, his body suddenly lit up with a blazing red light.

Lam Minh was startled and immediately retreated.

BOOM!!!

Black Shadow's body exploded, creating a giant fireball.

Lam Minh stood from a distance, watching the explosion, frowning.

"Self-destruction? No... something's not right. This was remotely detonated."

He looked down at Black Shadow's ashes, thinking about his final words.

"The Sacred Cult? What is that?"

...

After cleaning up the remnants of the "Night Shadow" unit, Lam Minh didn't leave right away. Black Shadow's final words and that strange self-detonation still haunted him. What was the "Sacred Cult"? Why were the victims in the altar human?

He decided to stay in the area and investigate further. He had a feeling that he had accidentally stumbled upon a secret even bigger than the war with the Madakaros.

He spent the next few days wandering the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. He no longer actively hunted, but switched to the role of an observer, an explorer. He used his spiritual sense to scan every area, searching for any trace of humans or anything unusual.

One afternoon, while walking along a dry stream bed, he discovered a footprint.

It wasn't the footprint of a Madakaros, nor of a wild beast. It was a human military-issue boot print.

"A patrol?" he frowned. As far as he knew, this area was very far from the normal patrol routes of the ASEAN army.

He followed the footprint. The further he went, the more tracks he discovered. The footprints of multiple people, and also signs of a struggle, a short battle. There were a few scattered bullet casings and a dried bloodstain on a rock.

His intuition told him something bad had happened.

He sped up, following the trail. The trail led him to a denser area of the forest, then abruptly disappeared in front of a mossy cliff face.

Lam Minh stood before the cliff, scanning it with his spiritual sense. He could feel that behind this cliff, there was an empty space. Another secret base.

But the aura inside was extremely strange. It wasn't the aura of a Madakaros, nor was it entirely human. It was something mixed, a fusion of the two species.

"Interesting," he murmured.

He didn't smash through the rock. He found a discreet spot, hid, and observed. He wanted to see who was inside.

He didn't have to wait long.

A short while later, a section of the cliff slowly opened, revealing a metal door. From within, a group of four figures walked out.

When he saw them, even someone as calm as Lam Minh was stunned.

They had human forms. They wore black combat suits with no insignia. But they were not entirely human.

The one in the lead, a tall man, had four arms. Two normal arms, and two smaller, secondary arms growing from below his ribs, looking extremely bizarre.

The second one, a woman, had a pair of black bat-like wings growing from her back. Though folded, they still looked very demonic.

The remaining two looked more normal, but the aura radiating from them was also incredibly strange.

And the most frightening thing was, the cultivation level of all four of them was at Peak Foundation Establishment. But their aura was far more tyrannical and ferocious than the "Night Shadows" he had faced.

"What the hell are they?" Lam Minh thought.

After coming out, the group of four quickly spread out and began to patrol the surrounding area. They moved with extreme coordination and professionalism, clearly well-trained.

Lam Minh decided to test their strength.

He didn't show himself. He used an old method. He picked up a rock, enhanced it with spiritual energy, and threw it towards a nearby bush, creating a noise.

Instantly, all four of them reacted. But their reaction surprised Lam Minh.

They didn't show any panic or try to investigate. The four-armed man let out a roar, and his two secondary arms suddenly elongated, whipping into the bush like two steel whips, crushing everything inside. The winged woman shot up high, her hawk-like eyes surveying the entire area from the air.

The coordination of their attack and reconnaissance happened in the blink of an eye, extremely efficient.

"This will be tough," Lam Minh noted. These beings were clearly stronger and much harder to deal with than the "Night Shadows." Their combat power at the same realm seemed far superior.

He decided to "greet" them directly.

He stepped out from his hiding place.

His appearance was immediately detected.

"Intruder!" the woman in the air shouted.

The four strange beings immediately surrounded him, forming an airtight circle. The look in their eyes was not curiosity, but the coldness of beings who only knew how to kill.

"Who are you?" the four-armed man asked, his voice as hoarse as metal scraping against metal.

"Just a passerby," Lam Minh replied, his hand already on the hilt of his Thuan Thien sword. "And you, are you human or demon?"

"We are the future of this world!" the four-armed man roared. "The chosen of the Saint! And you, a filthy pure-blood human, must be cleansed!"

With that, he gave Lam Minh no chance to say more. All four of them attacked at once.

Lam Minh's most brutal battle to date had officially begun.