The woods was dangerous, since poisonous insects and fierce beasts were everywhere.
However, the surroundings around one thatched cottage were quite tranquil as if the ferocious animals lurking in the forest nosed some dangerous breath out and didn’t dare to invade this area.
The tranquility lasted for as long as seven days.
This day, the thick dark gray leaves on a ghost-palm tree near the cottage, as sharp claws, swayed in the wind.
A crystal-clear drop of dew dropped from the treetop. The moment it was about to hit the ground, it shivered gently and turned into a mist immediately. The mist spread over silently, gradually outlining a thin figure.
The whole process kept silent without making any noises.
The thin figure stood under the ghost-palm tree and quietly watched the cottage 33 meters away from him.
Attired in black, the figure was as thin as a vertical saber, and only his devilishly cold blue eyes revealed.
His name was Shriying, who came from the Water Barbarian Branch.
There were four Water Barbarians who were sent to execute the assassination of Lin Xun in the Demon-cloud Ridge. Two of them were killed by Hu Long while one was killed by Song Ran.
The last one left was Shriying.
With the highest combat effectiveness among the four, Shriying was adept at sneaking and stalking. He had tagged along Lin Xun a dozen days ago.
However, he didn’t dare to launch an attack immediately because some Gang-spirit-realm practitioners of Ziyao Empire appeared in the Demon-cloud Ridge.
As he followed Lin Xun along the road, he sought for opportunities to kill Lin Xun all the way. He knew clearly that if he failed the mission this time, the Amrita Saint Pearl would be gone forever.
Therefore, Shriying never slackened off, even though his target was only a teenager at the ninth level of the Martial Realm.
But to Shriying’s surprise, Lin Xun acted out of character seven days ago and built a thatched cottage in the remote corner of the forest. Since then, he didn’t step out of the cottage.
Shriying couldn’t help but wonder what Lin’s purpose was.
Shriying couldn’t see Lin Xun through, so he didn’t dare to take bold actions. He had been observing Lin Xun on the sly, trying to grasp Lin’s real objective.
However, Shriying had waited for seven days, but Lin Xun had never walked out of his cottage, which made Shriying’s patience run out completely.
Shriying decided to assassinate Lin Xun this day. If he found something wrong, he would quickly retreat!
At the moment, there seemed to be circles of ripple-like airflow around Shriying who stood there. The airflow that perfectly mixed with the surrounding mist and air made Shriying difficult to be spotted by naked eyes.
Without any hesitation, Shriying abandoned those distracting thoughts in his mind after he was resolute to make a move. Like a ghost, he swiftly rushed toward the cottage in an odd form.
Seen in the distance, he was like a mist floating toward the cottage with the wind, without making any noise.
Before reaching the cottage, he attentively sensed its internal environment, but only found stillness inside.
Shriying couldn’t help feeling strange. Had Lin Xun already left the cottage, undetected?
But as a cold light flashed across his eyes, he decided to launch an attack in the end.
He couldn’t wait anymore. A result had to be yielded today!
Boom!
The door of the cottage was smashed open, leaving the wood chips everywhere. During this progress, he had already rushed in like lightning.
Almost at the same time, a long narrow saber appeared in his hand, and Shriying’s strength that had been stored up for a long time was released, with unstoppable momentum, shrouding the entire cottage.
Shriying used his full force to launch this attack, so he was quite confident that even a practitioner in Gang Spirit Realm couldn’t resist such a strike!
To Shriying’s surprise, the cottage was empty, and there was no sign of his target!
The cottage was narrow and windowless, and some sundries that deserved no attention were scattered on the ground.
Had the target already escaped?
At the thought of this, Shriying suddenly heard a weird hum which sounded as if a fine needle scratched away on a piece of paper.
Shriying felt shocked by this. Thanks to his consciousness he had gained by years of battles, he instantly rushed out of the cottage.
His reaction was indeed swift. However, the instant he broke into the cottage, a strange change took place in the smashed door.
There was a compass-like dark gray object with a similar color to the wooden door. As soon as it hit the ground, on the ground surface shined dense bizarre spiritual tattoo patterns.
Hum~
Almost at the same time when the above scene happened, a layer of strange spiritual tattoos shined on the four walls and even the roof of the cottage.
It seemed that everything was normal, but as Shriying rushed out of the cottage, he was blocked by a kind of invisible force, which made a horrendous humming noise.
Boom~
Shriying’s face changed immediately. He operated all his strength, attempting to break through the barrier. However, just right at the moment, flames poured down from the roof like a fire rain or molten lava, releasing terrible momentum.
Shriying gave full play to his level of fighting at the moment. He waved his sleeves, and then the tide-like blue light surged out, engulfing the fire rain.
He quickly moved here and there inside the cottage, trying to look for a sally port to escape. However, what depressed him was that the cottage was as solid as an iron bastion that he couldn’t crack no matter what he did!
It was a spiritual formation!
He recognized it immediately. The dense patterns appearing on the walls formed a spiritual formation that only the human spiritual tattooists could set up.
It was a trap!
Shriying finally realized that he had fallen into a trap.
In such an ordinary thatched cottage, a powerful spiritual formation had already been inscribed by his target on the sly.
It was beyond his expectation that how his target, a teenager at the Martial Spirit Realm, could set up a spiritual formation like a spiritual tattooist.
Was his target not just a trainee of the Bloodthirsty Camp but also a young spiritual tattooist?
No time was left for him to think it through. Rounds of attacks, including the rainbow-like fire rain; icy arrows pouring down like waterfalls; fierce brambles rushing out of the ground…were launched at him in the cottage.
Soon, his figure was inundated with various attacks...
…
The ground surface over 33 meters away from the cottage suddenly broke up, and Lin Xun emerged from it. Then, he fixed his eyes on the cottage first.
This moment was what he had waited for when he built the cottage seven days ago!
Since he entered the Demon-cloud Ridge, he had obtained abundant trophies by killing enemies. Consequentially, he had collected plenty of spiritual materials and minerals.
He had originally planned to exchange them for money. But when he perceived the hidden danger, he had to change his plan.
He well knew his present combat effectiveness. If he launched a raid, he might render a powerful Barbarian Soldier badly injured, but it was difficult for him to kill one.
If he couldn’t kill the enemy, it meant that he would be killed by the enemy, which was a result he didn’t want to see.
Such a circumstance reminded him of spiritual tattoos - one of his tricks he was the most expert in.
He hadn’t refined any spiritual formations before, because his power of soul perception and cultivation couldn’t support him to refine a spiritual formation at that time.
After all, generally speaking, those who could refine spiritual formations were all spiritual tattooists at the Gang Spirit Realm or a higher level!
Neither had Lin Xun reached the Gang Spirit Realm, nor had he refined spiritual formations before.
However, he was driven to the wall this time, so he had to strain every nerve to chance his arm!
Therefore, he utilized all the spiritual materials and minerals he had collected to make an inscribing pen and spiritual ink for himself. He was dedicated to refining the spiritual formation.
He was quite familiar with the spiritual formation. When he closed his eyes, he could instantly think of hundreds of various structures of spiritual formations.
What he lacked was a process of refining one by himself.
Although he was ready to go all out for this operation, he knew there was little hope for success, so he even prepared himself for failure.
To his mush surprise, he did it at the first time of refining a spiritual formation just like he successfully refined the Flaming Spirit Saber at the first time. The difference was that this time he made a spiritual formation that he had never tried to refine before!
Lin Xun felt it was unbelievable.
Anyway, he did it. He refined a small Purgatory Spiritual Formation of Five Elements in the cottage.
The spiritual formation containing the power of the five natural elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) was a fundamental one that each seasoned spiritual tattooist could refine.
It wasn’t unique, but it was a practical “trap” in the battle.
Shriying was trapped in the cottage and couldn’t get away from it, which proved the strong power of this spiritual formation.
As time went on, the exhilaration in Lin’s heart gradually faded away, and a trace of seriousness emerged on his face.
The attacks still went on inside the cottage, but seemingly couldn’t kill his enemy within a short time, which convinced Lin Xun that his enemy this time was much more powerful than the ordinary Barbarian Soldiers.
Lin Xun knew clearly that even extremely powerful first-level Barbarian Soldiers would absolutely die in the small Purgatory Spiritual Formation of Five Elements!
However, he didn’t evacuate. He watched the cottage silently, but deep down, he, with calm eyes, seemed to be thinking of something.
Bang!
Suddenly, the cottage exploded, and a blast soared into the sky, shaking the clouds and wind, which was extraordinarily formidable.
Shriying came out with disheveled hair and broken clothes, cutting a sorry figure.
His blue eyes looked still cold, and the Qi he released was more terrifying, making him look like an ancient beast in a completely furious condition.
“At the Martial Spirit Realm, you can refine a small Purgatory Spiritual Formation of Five Elements, which is so amazing. Is a teenage spiritual tattooist like you very rare in your Ziyao Empire?”
Shriying stepped out, with his Qi being targeted at Lin Xun and the killing intent surging around his whole body.