Chapter 181: The Sinister Plan of Soul Fragments

Chapter 181: The Sinister Plan of Soul Fragments

Lin Nuo had gathered many soul fragments from various fierce beasts, and these fragments were different from the ones he collected before.

To be precise, they were mixed with some hidden tricks.

These soul fragments were suspicious.

“Well, look at this! You really know how to play, but it’s nothing more than the tricks the Master has already used.”

Lin Nuo muttered to himself. These soul fragments had been enchanted, and they were so cleverly hidden that you wouldn’t notice without a careful inspection.

Even if you did check, it would require specific methods—this was clearly a secret technique. As the saying goes, to defeat magic, you must use magic; and secret techniques to break secret techniques.

Lin Nuo had used such secret techniques back when he was an apprentice, having had the fortune to work as a janitor in the Refining Demon Sect’s library. Back then, he had encountered such secret techniques, but of course, he only had a vague impression since the disciples of the Refining Demon Sect weren’t proficient in them.

After Lin Nuo left the Refining Demon Sect and started solo work, as his abilities steadily improved, he came into contact with the Black Market. Using the coins he earned from various commissions, he purchased cultivation methods for secret techniques and studied them while refining demons.

Eventually, he mastered this type of secret technique. When he was not strong enough, he resorted to such underhanded tactics. The spirit beasts contained soul fragments, so he would cast spells on the spirit beasts, let the enemies kill them to obtain the soul fragments, and then boom! He would catch them off guard and take them down.

And now, to stumble upon it like this? What a stroke of luck!

This type of secret technique originated from an ancient tribe’s shaman. Later, due to certain events, some shamans left the tribe. Originally, it was a secret belonging to the tribe, not to be shared.

However, there are many betrayals in this world. Once people leave the tribe, they can’t be expected to keep secrets, leading to the spread of secret techniques that inevitably become lucrative opportunities.

Someone must have leaked it, and thus the existence of shaman techniques arose among the common folk, but because they were so treacherous, they were later banned.

Scarcity makes something valuable. Banned secret techniques would be highly priced in the Black Market, and some shamans began to be nurtured, gradually resembling members of dark organizations. Some even joined the Dark Alliance or various criminal groups, wreaking havoc in their regions.

Lin Nuo looked at those soul fragments like ticking time bombs, unsure of when they would explode.

First, stabilize it.

Lin Nuo summoned a long-harbored secret technique, bringing his fingers together and casting a spell at the soul fragments. Soon, the secrets contained within seemed to freeze, rendering any external shaman attempts to detonate them ineffective.

Better to keep them for now; they might come in handy later.

Lin Nuo roughly deduced the invaders’ intentions: they first launched a wave of fierce beast attacks, waited for the accumulation of soul fragments, and then cast spells from the outside to deliver a simultaneous bombing.

This approach was indeed quite sinister. Had he been unaware, he would have likely become one of the cannon fodder.

Right now, Ling Meng was on a killing spree. After learning some higher-level magical techniques from Lin Nuo, she was slaughtering without restraint. A large wave of fierce beasts had fallen, leaving a heap of corpses. Lin Nuo couldn’t even gather the soul fragments in time.

“Damn it, this woman is so brutal! Is this a magical technique? Did the Righteous Path Organization bring all the disciples of the Refining Demon Sect along?!”

Wolf Language gritted his teeth as he witnessed Ling Meng obliterate the wave of fierce beasts. He could feel the intense demon qi dispersing. Moreover, judging from her skills, it was clearly a mid-level magical technique, extremely powerful in group damage. In his experience, only mid- to high-ranking disciples of the Refining Demon Sect could wield such techniques.

The Righteous Path Organization even summoned their mid-ranked members. Could it be that the Refining Demon Sect had become their reinforcements?

This was serious, very serious.

According to the original plan, they aimed to push in further, getting more cultivators involved to acquire soul fragments before the shamans synchronized their attacks.

And now? Ling Meng was intercepting them, and another figure dressed in a gray cloak was gathering the soul fragments.

Who was that person? Always hiding, collecting the soul fragments.

That person seemed quite weak, with the strong engaging in battle and the weaker one responsible for gathering soul fragments.

Could the Righteous Path Organization cooperate like this?

If the secret technique were to explode, it would have to be those two.

Wolf Language sensed the impending disaster; this was clearly a losing business deal.

“Retreat, retreat!”

Wolf Language blew his whistle and turned to lead a large group of fierce beasts in retreat.

Ling Meng was enjoying herself. Although she was killing to her heart’s content, the consumption of spirit power and demon soul power was enormous. After the battle, she quickly fell into a state of exhaustion.

“Take two pills to recover.”

Lin Nuo handed Ling Meng two pills—one to replenish demon soul power and the other to restore spirit power.

“Thank you, Master.”

Ling Meng accepted the two pills and swallowed them, quickly starting to recover.

However, the recovery was still slow. A little rest would be about right.

Lin Nuo scanned the pile of corpses around them. Truthfully, extracting a soul fragment from each body consumed spirit power. He was just a third-tier novice, and his spirit power was limited—just the act of picking up something would exhaust most of it.

As for Ling Meng? She had just participated in a group battle and needed to recover, so it was better not to trouble her.

“Master, what about the soul fragments of these fierce beasts?”

“It’s fine; I’ll handle it. You take a break.”

Even though he said this, there were too many corpses and many mid-level spirit beasts, which would incur significant consumption.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard.

Lin Nuo turned towards the sound and spotted three men emerging from the woods.

Du Lun led the way, accompanied by two other cultivators.

Du Lun surveyed the corpses on the ground and smiled:

“Not bad, newcomer. You just arrived and already wiped out so many fierce beasts. However, I have to inform you that as a newcomer, there are some rules you need to understand. If you want to make a name for yourself in the Righteous Path Organization, you must contribute something. There’s no one else here, and with so many corpses and soul fragments, I suggest you don’t act. Leave them for us. Otherwise, you’ll suffer big losses.”

Du Lun cracked his knuckles, seemingly itching for a fight. The three of them easily outnumbered the two newcomers, and he figured if they resisted, he’d teach them a lesson.

Ling Meng was furious. After all, it was her who had taken down the fierce beasts. Why should she give the soul fragments to them?

“You…!”

“Don’t be impulsive.”

Lin Nuo stopped Ling Meng, then turned his gaze to Du Lun and the others with a smile,

“Alright, we’ll give these soul fragments to you. Consider it a little gift for our seniors.”

“Master, what are you doing!”

“Ah, you don’t understand. We need to show appreciation for the help from our seniors. Also, there will soon be another wave of fierce beasts attacking, and we need to prepare our defenses. Besides, we didn’t come here just for the soul fragments.”

Lin Nuo spoke calmly, while Ling Meng felt constrained and angry, having been bullied, and her Master was still yielding.

There was no way around it; she could only endure.

“You guys have quite the sense of timing! Alright, from now on, we’ll look after you.”

Du Lun led the other two to extract the soul fragments from the fierce beast corpses, while Lin Nuo and Ling Meng could only step aside and watch them collect the results of their efforts.

“Master, I don’t understand why we have to…”—Ling Meng was filled with indignation.

“Alright, that should be enough.”

“Ah? Enough for what?”

“To rob them.”