Chapter 75 Pursuit, Hunt (Part 1)

Several days had passed since leaving Ye Bing's home. During this time, Lin Xing had been journeying south, taking in the continent's sights along the way.

As he walked, Lin Xing frowned. These guys are such a pain. They had been tailing him day after day, yet they were under the delusion he hadn't spotted them.

In fact, three days after leaving Ye Bing, Lin Xing had realized he was being watched. Since he was already quite far from Ye Bing's home by then, he was confident the Divine Wind Sect wouldn't harass her family. After all, he was their primary target.

Still, Lin Xing couldn't fully relax. He captured one of the trackers for questioning and learned they had discovered him on the second day after he left Ye Bing's place. He felt a twinge of relief—he was glad he had departed a day earlier. Otherwise, who knows what kind of mess that would've caused.

The scout who fell into Lin Xing's hands naturally met a bad end. Lin Xing wasn't kind-hearted enough to spare an enemy. He knew the old adage well: "Mercy toward an enemy is cruelty to oneself." Without hesitation, he finished off the scout and continued on his journey.

As for the persistent flies trailing behind him, Lin Xing found them annoying, but now wasn't the time to deal with them. These were just small fry. Lin Xing aimed to lure out the bigger fish.

Based on Lin Xing's estimation, he hadn't just destroyed one of the Divine Wind Sect's branch halls; more importantly, he had ruined their painstakingly gathered collection of children abducted from various places. The sect had gone to great lengths to kidnap these children. The reason they were here was that in other regions, the Divine Wind Sect had become a public enemy, with everyone out to get them. People were on high alert, making it difficult for them to operate.

These abducted individuals were obtained at significant risk. Even an organization as powerful as the Divine Wind Sect didn't dare wipe out villages so openly on a regular basis. If they stirred up public anger, while the sect might not be completely eradicated, they would certainly face severe crackdowns from the nations across the continent—an outcome they wished to avoid.

Yet Lin Xing had single-handedly disrupted their entire series of plans. How could the Divine Wind Sect not be furious? In Lin Xing's view, they must now be seething with hatred for him and would undoubtedly send assassins to hunt him down.

However, Lin Xing wasn't scared in the slightest. He made no effort to shake off his pursuers each day, allowing them to follow closely behind.

In fact, Lin Xing was actually hoping that experts from the Divine Wind Sect would come after him. Firstly, it would allow him to improve his cultivation through combat; secondly, he could thin out their ranks. Aside from those at the God Level, when it came to Saint Level opponents, Lin Xing might not have absolute confidence in victory, but escaping was certainly within his capabilities.

"Have they arrived?" Lin Xing sensed something and glanced to his right.

At that moment, Lin Xing was trekking down a mountain trail. The forest was thick and lush, ideal for ambushes. But for experts like Lin Xing, ambushes were generally useless unless the ambushers were more powerful or possessed exceptional concealment techniques.

"Come out," Lin Xing barked.

*Clap, clap.* A spatter of applause rang out, and over a dozen figures emerged from a bend on the right. Leading them were four individuals: a youth with a sinister air, a young man with fiery red hair, a man with inverted triangular eyes, and an old man completely shrouded in a black robe.

"Cackle..." A grating, broken-gong-like laugh erupted from the old man in the black robe. "Young Master Lin is indeed impressive. You detected us even while we were concealed. But no matter how skilled you are today, you won't escape our grasp!" A glint flashed in the old man's eyes, and Lin Xing felt a wave of cold air rush toward him, as if the surrounding temperature had dropped several degrees.

What kind of cultivation method was this old man practicing?

Hearing that raspy voice and feeling the chilling aura, Lin Xing felt extremely uncomfortable. He snorted coldly and sneered, "Just the few of you?"

Among them, only the old man and the man with inverted triangular eyes possessed strength at the late-stage Great Sword Master level. The red-haired youth and the sinister-looking young man were merely at the early-stage Great Sword Master level. Lin Xing thought to himself that the Divine Wind Sect must think highly of him to send two Great Sword Masters after him at once. However, he didn't take these individuals seriously at all.

"Hmph!" Lin Xing's disdainful tone thoroughly enraged them. With a cold snort, one of them said, "Then let's settle this with our skills! Attack!"

The four of them simultaneously leaped into the air, landing around Lin Xing, effectively surrounding him. However, it was clear that Lin Xing paid no mind to their encirclement.

"Come at me!" Lin Xing retrieved his weapon from his spatial ring. It was a large blade, about one and a half meters long, well-suited for slashing and chopping. He had specially commissioned it recently. Lin Xing had realized that while he was strong, he couldn't yet block weapons with his bare hands. His style wasn't flashy; it consisted mainly of slashing and hacking. So, a few days prior, he had this blade forged.

"Prepare to die!" the red-haired youth shouted coldly, thrusting his greatsword directly at Lin Xing's chest. Simultaneously, the other three also sprang into action.

"Hmph!" Lin Xing sidestepped, evading the redhead's thrust. At the same time, he swung his large blade in a straight slash toward the redhead!

His thrust missing, the redhead immediately retreated a step, raised his sword, and aimed its tip to meet Lin Xing's descending blade.

*Clang!* The redhead was sent staggering back by the impact. Just as Lin Xing was about to press the attack, the others closed in from behind. Lin Xing snorted coldly, drifting to the right while using his blade to deflect a slash from the sinister-looking youth.

Taking a step back, Lin Xing forcefully pushed off the ground with his right foot, propelling himself like an arrow toward the sinister youth. From their brief exchange, Lin Xing sensed this youth was the weakest of the four. He decided to eliminate him first.

Gripping his blade with his right hand, Lin Xing delivered a powerful slash aimed at the sinister youth, who had just landed.

The sinister youth, having just touched down, was startled. He hadn't expected Lin Xing's speed to be so great. In a panic, he gripped his sword with both hands and swung to meet Lin Xing's attack.

*Clang!* The sinister youth was sent flying once more. Lin Xing only paused for an instant before leaping forward, closing the distance. His left fist, already charged with Zhen Qi, shot out with lightning speed, aiming squarely for the sinister youth's heart!

Before the sinister youth could even react, Lin Xing's swift and fierce punch struck him squarely. He was sent flying, landing silently on the ground. The impact had shattered his internal organs and severed his life force the moment it connected.

In an instant, Lin Xing had killed one.

The remaining three members of the Divine Wind Sect watched with a shudder, their estimation of Lin Xing's strength deepening. Their expressions grew more solemn. Exchanging a glance, the three of them activated their movement techniques and charged at Lin Xing together.