Chapter 10: The Northern Silent Mountains
1102 Words
The Northern Gloomy Mountains were a dangerous place where beasts roamed freely, shrouded in unknown dangers and opportunities alike.
Warriors from Tianlan City and neighboring towns often formed teams to hunt these beasts and search for rare herbs within these mountains. However, almost every return trip ended in injuries, with some never returning at all.
After half a day's journey, Lin Mo arrived at the Northern Gloomy Mountains. Despite occasionally hearing chilling beast roars echoing through the mountains, he continued on without hesitation.
"Roar!"
Not long after entering the mountains, a wolf-like beast pounced towards him. It was a third-tier monster, with speed and strength to match. However, it posed no threat to Lin Mo. With a sweep of his long knife, he cleanly cut the beast in two.
Upon its death, a white light emerged from its forehead — its soul. Lin Mo quickly summoned his Dragon Soul Martial Spirit and devoured the beast's soul.
"A third-tier monster, not bad," Lin Mo thought satisfactorily as he continued deeper into the mountains.
The further he ventured, the more beasts he encountered, and the higher their levels became. Within just an hour, he had slain over a dozen third-tier monsters and even managed to defeat four fourth-tier monsters in fierce battles.
With the consumption of the last fourth-tier beast's soul by his Dragon Soul Martial Spirit, his Martial Spirit reached the fifth rank of the human-tier. This time, as the Martial Spirit ascended, Lin Mo keenly felt a strange energy emanating from it, invigorating his entire body with vitality.
"Is this nurturing my dragon body?" Lin Mo wondered. He recalled his father's words about him being the "Dragon of Prophecy," and his mind filled with images of soaring through the sky as a dragon.
As he pondered, sudden footsteps sounded from the forest behind him, and eight masked figures swiftly surrounded Lin Mo.
"Who are you?" Lin Mo's eyes narrowed as he gripped his long knife tightly, his voice deep.
Each of the eight men wielded long knives, exuding formidable auras, indicating their strength.
"We're the ones sending you to the afterlife," the leader, a tall middle-aged man, said indifferently, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo's grip tightened on his knife. It was clear they had come prepared to take his life.
"Kill him," the middle-aged man ordered coldly.
With swift movements, the other seven masked men brandished their knives and attacked Lin Mo.
Lin Mo could sense their martial cultivation levels as they attacked — all were experts at the Fourth Stage of Martial Dao. Moreover, their combat experience was evident from their techniques.
With a grave expression, Lin Mo immediately unleashed the Light Swallowing Step technique, swiftly dodging to the side of one of the black-clothed men.
Whoosh!
His long knife swept out in a burst of lightning.
Thunder Flash s***h!
The lightning flashed past, and the man's knife was instantly severed, the violent lightning grazing his neck.
He stared wide-eyed, then slowly collapsed.
With one man down, Lin Mo quickly retreated, evading the other assailants' fierce attacks.
"What?" The black-clothed men exclaimed in surprise, not expecting Lin Mo to be able to kill one of them with a single strike.
Although Chen Ziyang had informed them of Lin Mo's strength, they had not expected him to be this powerful.
"What a powerful martial technique," the leader, a middle-aged man, exclaimed, his pupils slightly constricted in surprise.
Swish!
In the next moment, he no longer hesitated, immediately drawing his long knife and charging towards Lin Mo.
Whoosh!
The middle-aged man infused his elemental energy into his blade, unleashing a martial technique enveloped in flames.
"The Chen Family's Fiery Blade? You're from the Chen Family!" Lin Mo immediately recognized the technique.
It was a famous martial technique of the Chen Family, a low-grade martial art.
"Hmph, knowing that won't change anything. You're already a dead man," the middle-aged man snorted.
Lin Mo naturally wouldn't sit idly by. He swiftly activated his Heavenly Dragon Elemental Energy.
Once again, Thunder Flash s***h erupted!
Clang!
The two attacks collided, resounding with a loud clang.
After the thunderous noise, Lin Mo's body was violently pushed back ten steps by the powerful force, his blood churning, and blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.
Seeing that Lin Mo hadn't been instantly killed by his strike, the middle-aged man was astonished.
"Martial Dao Fifth Stage!" Lin Mo had already deduced the man's strength.
"There, get him!" At that moment, seven more black-clothed men appeared from another direction, shouting loudly when they saw Lin Mo attempting to flee.
Seeing this, Lin Mo wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve, then bolted.
The black-clothed men behind him weren't slow, especially the two leaders.
After chasing for a short while, they caught up to Lin Mo, who was not far ahead.
In response, Lin Mo swung his long knife twice, using Thunder Flash s***h, then took advantage of the momentum to continue his escape.
Of course, with each collision, Lin Mo's internal energy surged, and blood continued to flow from his mouth.
If it weren't for his years of diligent cultivation and his stronger physical body, he would have passed out long ago from the impacts.
After running for about ten minutes, Lin Mo saw a mountain stream ahead.
Below was a turbulent river, with the riverbed about thirty meters below the flat ground above.
Upon reaching this point, Lin Mo didn't hesitate. He immediately leaped off the edge and into the river below.
"Damn it." Seeing Lin Mo jump down, the two black-clothed leaders exclaimed in anger.
After a brief discussion, they realized each other's identities.
"Go and block downstream immediately."
The leader of the Chen Family gave the order. Although the ravine was over thirty meters high, there was still a chance for Lin Mo to survive the fall.
Now that they had revealed their identities, allowing Lin Mo to return alive would spell trouble for them.
"If I remember correctly, this place below should be called the Ten Thousand Jiao River, right? It is rumored that a Purple Thunder Azure Dragon reigns supreme in it. If that kid falls down and doesn't die, he will surely be swallowed by the Azure Dragon," said the leader of the Fang Family.
"Who can say for sure? Anyway, let's guard here for a few days. Even if he manages to escape from this side, he won't be able to return," said the leader of the Chen Family.
"Well, let's do that. We absolutely cannot let Lin Mo return to the Li Family alive."
- Writer
