Chapter 13. Illusions Everywhere

Chapter 13. Illusions Everywhere

Lin Nuo crouched slightly, as if preparing for a sprint.

In an instant, twenty copies of Lin Nuo dashed out from all directions.

This left the black-clad men dumbfounded.

What the heck, nineteen illusions? Which one is the real one?

“Wipe them all out!”

One of the black-clad men ordered, and the others complied, their magical powers unleashed, striking multiple Lin Nuos.

However, all of them missed.

Sword strikes.

“Ah!”

Caught off guard, one black-clad man fell.

“The real one is over there!”

The black-clad men locked onto their target and immediately charged forward.

The shadows converged, all illusions returning to the real body, spiritual energy gathering.

“Die!”

Lin Nuo slashed out a sword wave, hitting one man who fell dead on the spot.

Two men dropped dead, and the remaining black-clad men felt a sense of dread.

“Kill him, we must eliminate him quickly.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

Immediately, Lin Nuo skillfully dodged the attacks of the other two black-clad men and again split into nineteen shadows.

“Damn it, here we go again.”

The two black-clad men chased the illusions back and forth, unable to discern Lin Nuo’s true self.

Another sword strike, and yet another man fell into a pool of blood.

Only one black-clad man was left, desperately struggling, encircled by nineteen Lin Nuos.

“Damn it, if I’m going to die, I’ll take you all with me!”

The remaining black-clad man roared in fury, pushing out all his spiritual energy. His body glowed red hot, flames bursting forth.

Boom!

A violent explosion shook the ground, creating a massive crater as the Lin Nuos surrounding him turned to ash.

The flames rapidly expanded, dispersing the thick white mist.

The young man had vanished, as if he had perished in the explosion.

However…

“With my current body, a blast like that probably wouldn’t even harm me.”

Lin Nuo jumped down from a tree.

“The Demon Sect disciples are just this cowardly; if they can’t win, they self-destruct and die together.”

Self-explosion technique, an extreme magical method that burns all internal spiritual energy, disregarding everything to explode, the power of the resulting explosion is beyond measure.

But Lin Nuo had long anticipated this self-destructing stunt from the Demon Sect disciple. He left behind nineteen shadows to entertain himself while hiding his true body to watch the show.

However, the second-tier spiritual energy reserves were truly pathetic; after one battle, he had consumed more than half. He could only take a few spirit pills to recover slightly and would have to avoid splitting shadows for a while.

“What a pity, the bodies are blown to pieces, and there’s no gear to loot. By the way, Su Kexin.”

Lin Nuo quickly took out the spirit disc to check Su Kexin’s location.

“I only fought for a bit, and she ran so far? I remember you as the protagonist, not a professional deserter?”

Lin Nuo saw on the compass that Su Kexin was rapidly retreating, while Liu Shuqin remained nearby, probably urging her to hurry back. Since Lin Nuo ran off, she definitely wouldn’t just ignore it.

Great! Liu Shuqin not going with her is a perfect opportunity. Time to catch up!

But at his current speed, if he didn’t hurry, Su Kexin would likely return to safety before he could follow.

Right, he had just picked up a map! He could take a shortcut.

Lin Nuo quickly changed direction and rushed to pursue Su Kexin through the shortcut.

Hmm? I sense a faint trace of demon qi.

As a former world-destroying villain, he was incredibly sensitive to even the slightest hint of demon energy.

Definitely another Demon Sect person.

Lin Nuo quickly hid by some bushes.

Just then, a bald-headed man—no, a flat-top—walked out of the woods.

This honest-looking flat-top with squinty eyes was someone Lin Nuo recognized—Zhong Ping, who had greeted them before.

Zhong Ping scanned the area and continued on without a care.

Lin Nuo found it strange; Zhong Ping’s direction was precisely where the demon qi was coming from. What was he doing? Engaging with a Demon Sect disciple?

Curious, Lin Nuo turned to take a look and found several people lying in the grass, their outfits marked as disciples of the Yulin Sect.

He observed their condition and noticed they were already dead.

There were no visible wounds, as if they had died from internal injuries.

[This must be due to demon qi erosion.]

Lin Nuo thought, getting a clearer understanding.

Demon qi erosion is a form of dark magic where mere physical contact, like a pat on the shoulder or a handshake, can force demon qi into the opponent’s body, damaging their internal channels leading to death.

This dark magical ability can kill invisibly and implies a high level of demon magic proficiency.

Their magical artifacts and pills had been looted; this was clearly a high-level murder and heist incident.

What the heck, and I still haven’t even picked up any gear.

[It’s very likely him.]

Lin Nuo recalled that flat-top guy, his squinty eyes giving him a clue.

They say those with squinty eyes are monsters; manga and novels never lie to me!

Of course, their dispute had nothing to do with Lin Nuo. He just wanted to confirm, so he could avoid Zhong Ping in the future.

Onward he went.

Time was of the essence; Lin Nuo needed to hurry and take that shortcut to catch up with Su Kexin. In the current chaos, killing her would be too easy.

He heard loud noises approaching him, accompanied by intense fluctuations of spiritual energy.

“Help, help!”

Lin Nuo encountered a group of cultivators engaged in a fierce battle with several Demon Sect disciples. They were also fighting against a menacing black dragon, wounded and bloody, some on the ground, others being devoured, suffering significant casualties.

[There’s that Li Long again.]

Lin Nuo recognized it; it had previously devoured Liu Fei. Now it had made its way over here.

Forget it, not worth my time.

However, he couldn’t just ignore it; the cliffs surrounded him, and there was only one pathway that the Li Long was blocking.

A single dragon guarding the way would send thousands fleeing.

“Lin, Lin Nuo, Senior Brother!”

Suddenly, he heard a voice calling out. He turned to see a water fairy fighting with the Demon Sect disciples.

Isn’t that Zhao Yuedong, Junior Martial Sister of Zhou Jianhu?