Free Web NovelChapter 25: 25. And here comes the Oriole!
The chase continued on.
Lin Xuan remained standing atop his flying sword, his gaze fixed firmly on Bong Haoran.
The distance between them continued to shrink.
At this point, it was only a matter of time before he caught up.
Yet instead of becoming more desperate, Bong Haoran’s eyes occasionally drifted toward the horizon.
Each time they did, a trace of excitement appeared within them.
Obviously, Lin Xuan also noticed it.
Up ahead was a cave, nestled between two cliffs at the base of a mountain.
From the outside, it appeared completely ordinary.
However, the moment Bong Haoran laid eyes on it, his entire demeanor had changed.
He even began to burn his life force just to increase his speed!
It was painfully obvious at this point, even a blind person would see it.
That cave was the destination.
That cave contained whatever trump card the old man had been relying upon.
Unfortunately for Bong Haoran, he wasn’t the only one capable of preparing contingencies.
Lin Xuan reached into his spatial ring and a long spear appeared in his hand.
Dark crimson patterns ran along its shaft.
The spearhead itself possessed a faint blood-red glow.
It was one of the Lin Family’s inherited treasures.
A relic passed down through generations.
Lin Xuan rarely used it.
Mainly because he disliked the weapon’s effects.
The spear absorbed the blood of anyone it struck.
It was a rather unpleasant ability, however, against a blood cultivator?
It felt strangely appropriate.
Spiritual energy surged into the spear and the relic immediately began trembling.
A sharp crimson light gathered at its tip.
At that moment, Bong Haoran seemed to sense something.
He instinctively looked back and the old man’s expression changed.
His pupils shrank. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"No!"
The cave was right there.
Just a little further.... just a few more breaths.
He could already feel the formation beneath the cave responding to his presence.
Victory was within reach!
Lin Xuan threw the spear and the weapon left his hand, obviously....
The old man’s eyes widened in disbelief as he attempted to dodge but the spear pierced directly through his chest.
Blood erupted outward.
Then, almost immediately, the blood began flowing backward.
The spear greedily devoured every drop and Bong Haoran’s body rapidly shriveled.
The old man stared at the cave.
The cave was right there.
Everything was only a few steps away.
If he had reached it...
If only.
A deep sense of unwillingness filled his heart.
Then darkness swallowed him and his corpse fell from the sky.
Boom.
A cloud of dust rose upon impact.
Shortly after, Lin Xuan landed nearby and for a moment, he simply stared at the body.
He really didn’t want to take the spear back but after convincing himself that was his only weapon, he walked forward and pulled the spear free. freewebnovel.cσ๓
The weapon hummed happily.
Almost as if it had enjoyed the meal.
Lin Xuan snorted.
"A fitting end."
He glanced at the shriveled corpse.
"Filthy vampire."
The joke made him chuckle slightly.
After storing the spear away, his attention shifted toward the cave.
The old man had been risking everything to reach it.
There was definitely something hidden inside.
Lin Xuan released his divine sense but noticed that the cave appeared ordinary.
However, that only made him more suspicious.
Blood cultivators were paranoid creatures.
The old fool had probably hidden enough surprises inside to kill several Golden Core cultivators.
"There’s no way I’m walking into that."
He raised a hand and wind gathered around him.
A moment later, countless blades of compressed air shot toward the mountain.
Boom!
Boom!
The entire mountain began collapsing as massive boulders crashed downward.
If there were traps inside, they could activate against the mountain instead.
Several moments later, the cave no longer existed.
Half the mountain had been flattened.
Deep cracks stretched across the landscape.
Hidden formations buried beneath the cave exploded one after another.
Spiritual energy erupted wildly before dissipating into the surroundings.
Lin Xuan nodded in satisfaction.
This is way much safer now.
As for any treasures hidden inside?
He couldn’t care less.
One had to be alive to enjoy his wealth, not die to get more wealth.
His gaze swept across the devastated mountain one final time.
If the old fool truly had hidden stashes here, they were either destroyed or gonna be buried forever.
Either outcome was acceptable.
With that thought, Lin Xuan turned and prepared to search through the ruins.
After all, even if he didn’t care much about treasure, free loot was still free loot.
Lin Xuan walked through the debris while spreading his divine sense.
A blood cultivator’s hideout was not something he intended to underestimate.
The old man had spent years preparing this place.
There was no telling what kind of unpleasant surprises might still be hidden beneath the rubble.
A few minutes later, his footsteps came to a halt as something had caught his attention.
Half-buried beneath a pile of shattered stone was a black wooden box.
The box itself wasn’t particularly remarkable.
What was remarkable were the talismans.
There were hundreds of them.
Yellow talismans completely covered the box from top to bottom.
They overlapped each other so densely that the original surface was barely visible.
"Damn."
He narrowed his eyes.
"That’s definitely something ominous."
A normal treasure chest wouldn’t need this many talismans.
In fact, most treasures didn’t need talismans at all.
Yet this thing looked as though someone had emptied an entire talisman shop onto it.
Lin Xuan felt a strange pressure just looking at it.
Do I have what it takes to open it?
The question surfaced in his mind.
A second later, he immediately answered it.
"No."
Without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and sprinted away.
Only after putting a considerable distance between himself and the box did he stop.
Then he reached into his spatial ring.
The blood-absorbing spear appeared in his hand.
Lin Xuan took a throwing stance.
There was no telling what was hidden inside that box.
What if it was a way for that old coot to come back to life?
There was no way he was gonna let that old fart a second chance at life.
He tightened his grip on the spear and spiritual energy flowed through the ancient relic.
The weapon immediately began humming.
Its crimson patterns glowed faintly.
Lin Xuan kept his eyes fixed on the box.
"If you’re a treasure, don’t be destroyed. If you’re a curse, please die."
The next moment, he hurled the spear.
The weapon shot through the air like a bolt of crimson lightning.
