“I’m going to kill you!” the black-robed man roared like a madman.

Blood started to seep out from his seven orifices, and his body violently twitched from the sharp agonizing pain.

He had come to slaughter Lin Xun, so he had to take the youth down with him even if he were to die.

He was a Cyclic Derivation cultivator! Even if his Spirit had been severely damaged, he was still terrifying if he went berserk.

Boom!

Black light flooded the sky and caused the air to explode. The power of the great Dao it contained was like the wrath of heaven, filled with destructive energy that could wipe out the world.

Naturally, Lin Xun couldn’t just sit still and do nothing. He bolted into the distance with all his strength using the Hornless Ice Dragon Step. His body was ablaze with bright azure light and looked as ethereal as a beam of illusory light.

Shua!

Images of Lin Xun constantly flickered in the air as he sped away.

The Hornless Ice Dragon Step allowed him to navigate the ninth heaven, maneuver inside of inches of space, and hide between dust.

However, the Four Coiling Dragon Pillars had imprisoned him and made it impossible for him to escape.

The black-robed man’s attacks were on the verge of drowning him.

Even so, he managed to grasp a chance to squeeze through the slimmest gap and narrowly avoided the attacks.

If not, he would have died an instant death!

After all, that was the power of the Cyclic Derivation Stage, a higher cultivation stage than the Heaven Ascension Stage. A Spirit Sea cultivator couldn’t possibly withstand such destructive power.

Fortunately, the black-robed man’s Spirit started to collapse, and his attacks grew increasingly disorderly and confused, allowing Lin Xun an opportunity to barely escape the perilous situation.

“Little trash, get out here!” the black-robed man roared like a demon going on a rampage.

Frightening Dao power was released with his roar. Even if Lin Xun had escaped, he still felt a chill in his heart. It was as though he was dancing on the tip of a blade.

Too terrifying!

Even though he was said to possess heaven-defying strength for a Spirit Stage cultivator and could kill even Heaven Ascension cultivators, he still felt suffocating oppressive power in the face of a Cyclic Derivation expert.

The difference in strength between them was too tremendous, and the cultivation levels between them was too great. He felt that he would be no match against the black-robed man even if he wielded the Shattered Tragedy Spear!

Boom!

Lin Xun had no time to think about it any more as the black-robed man’s attacks became increasingly crazy and chaotic.

Several times, he was swept into a blast of strong wind while dodging the attacks. His muscles and bones almost shattered, and his blood and qi tumbled violently in his body. it was as if lightning had struck him.

That was undoubtedly the greatest crisis that Lin Xun had encountered ever since he had embarked on the cultivation path. Worst of all, he was imprisoned in an illusionary-like area and isolated from the outside world. He couldn’t charge out of it nor could anyone come in. All he could do was dodge with all his strength.

He seemed to be wandering on the path of death—He could lose his life with the slightest bit of carelessness!

“Lin Xun, do you know who I am? You can’t kill me, you will be condemned for killing a family member,” the black-robed man screamed wildly, his voice becoming hoarse and his black robe tearing apart, revealing his bloodied wrinkled face.

“Old bastard, you should close your eyes and reincarnate as soon as possible!” Lin Xun smirked.

“Ah—Ah—”

The black-robed man dropped to his knees and buried his head in his hands and unleashed an ear-piercing scream. He writhed in agony and twitched constantly. He couldn’t bear the pain anymore.

However, Lin Xun didn’t dare to let his guard down. He mobilized the Hornless Ice Dragon Step with all his strength.

A counterattack from a Cyclic Derivation expert before his death was no doubt terrifying. Lin Xun wouldn’t want the black-robed man to drag him to death with him.

Suddenly, the black-robed man raised his head and glowered at Lin Xun like a berserk beast. His bloodshot eyes were filled with endless hatred and unwillingness.

“I’m going to kill you unworthy descendant!” His voice echoed like a curse and resentment pervaded the air.

In the end, he fell with a thud to the ground. The violent and crazy aura dissipated from his body as he lay there still and silent.

Lin Xun stood guarded from afar.

Swoosh!

Not long after that, streaks of black light shot out from the black-robed man’s head. They were God-Devouring Insects!

To Lin Xun’s surprise, the insects raced towards him right away.

What a bunch of ungrateful beasts! Lin Xun cursed inwardly.

He didn’t try to dodge them, but instead drew a deep breath, discarding all distracting thoughts from his mind. He operated the Little Divine Meditation Art and visualized the Star Cycle.

After a moment, the God Devouring Insects that rushed into his mind-sea were subdued and fell still like they did the last time.

The only difference was that Lin Xun sensed that the sixteen God-Devouring Insects had grown significantly. Their bodies resembled illusory black spots of light, and an ice-cold aura emitted from them.

“Could it be that they can transform and grow themselves after devouring Spirit power?” Lin Xun said thoughtfully.

He carefully sealed the terrifying ancient insects. They deserved full credit for turning his situation around and could be very useful as trump cards in the future.

They are very terrifying and mysterious since they can destroy even a great cultivator of the Cyclic Derivation Stage.

Lin Xun ripped the black cloth off the black-robed man’s face and saw that it was an old man with silvery hair and beard.

However, his unkempt face was livid and contorted. Even at death, his face was still painted with hatred and unwillingness.

Whew—

Lin Xun breathed a sigh of relief, and he couldn’t help but kick the man in the face.

He still had an indescribable amount of anger and resentment he wanted to vent. He had almost lost his life, so how could he not harbor hatred?

His left arm was broken, his bones had snapped, and his flesh was mangled beyond recognition. All that was thanks to the black-robed man!

Buzz!

The four stone pillars within the illusionary world suddenly flickered, dimmed and blurred. The Four Coiling Dragon Pillars was losing its power without the black-robed man there to control it.

Following a deafening rumble, the illusion exploded and vanished in a shower of light. The four stone pillars turned into four bronze mirrors and clattered to the ground.

With a wave of his sleeve, Lin Xun put away the four bronze mirrors.

Each bronze mirror was only nine inches long yet weighed thousands of pounds!

Diagrams of ancient mythical beasts were engraved across their surfaces. There was an azure dragon roaming a starry river, raising its head and roaring. There was a vermilion bird dancing across the ninth heaven and spewing out seas of flames. There was a beast with a dragon head, a turtle body and a snake tail sitting upright in the sky and looking up to the universe. There was a white tiger treading on mountains of corpses and seas of blood and slaughtering gods and demons across the world.

The four diagrams represented the mighty power of the four divisions, and each one was surrounded by peculiar, mysterious runes of the ancient times.

The Four Coiling Dragon Pillars!

It was a group of secret treasures that had survived endless years. Many parts of it were rusty, mottled and time-worn.

“Not even a Life Death Stage King can break out of it in a short while. They are incredible treasures.”

Lin Xun put them away to investigate further when he had time. Perhaps, they can be used as self-defense treasure in the future.

He finally saw the outside world.

Fierce battles were still happening in the outside world. The old man driver had restrained one of the men in black.

On the other side, Lin Zhong was locked in a fierce battle with another man in black.

However, the two men in black trembled when they noticed the Four Coiling Dragon Pillars had disappeared and Lin Xun had come out alive.

“The mission has failed, leave!”

“Go!”

The two men in black vanished.

They realized that it would be difficult to kill Lin Xun today, so they decisively chose to retreat.

The old man driver and Lin Zhong didn’t give chase as they were worried about Lin Xun’s safety and feared it would be a lure.

“Young Master, I’m so glad you are alive!”

Lin Zhong landed on the ground, his voice trembling with emotion. He had gone all out in the fight and almost went crazy because he was worried about Lin Xun.

Imaginably, he was overjoyed to see Lin Xun still alive.

“I’m fine, Uncle Zhong, do you recognize this person?” Lin Xun pointed to the corpse on the ground.

Lin Zhong glanced at the body, and his expression dramatically changed and his eyes bulged wide open. “Why would it be him?!”

A bad feeling flooded Lin Xun’s heart. Lin Zhong’s reaction reminded him of the crazy words that the black-robed man had said before his death.

Shua!

Almost subconsciously, Lin Xun put away the body with a wave of his sleeve and then said solemnly, “Uncle Zhong, we shouldn’t linger here too long. We should go back first.”

Lin Zhong nodded heavily. His face was still dazed like he had just woken up from a dream. The black-robed man’s identity seemed to have shaken him to the core.

They darted away and disappeared into the misty rain.

……

On the same day that the conference ended, news about Lin Xun’s assassination attempt spread like wildfire and set off huge waves in the Forbidden City.

Many cultivators felt their hearts palpitating at the news. Lin Xun was a well-known young rune founder, but he had encountered a bloody attack on the day he released the Shattered Tragedy Spear. Who was the culprit?

Naturally, the three high clans, the Chi, Zuo and Qin Clans, were the main suspects because everyone knew that there was an unresolved grudge between them and Lin Xun.

However, no one could be certain because it involved too much. The power of a high clan was enough to make any cultivator feel frightened and dare not make speculations.

Regardless, the assassination attack on Lin Xun attracted the attention of all sects and clans and affected the mental state of everyone in the Forbidden City!