The Legend of the Netherworld

Chapter 161 Battle with the Shadow Monkey King

Lin Xiao's body was as hot as a furnace at this moment, his blood was boiling, and his whole body was emitting a burning breath, as if he was in purgatory.

The pain of the breakthrough came like a tide, but he had long been accustomed to this kind of severe pain. He silently recited the "Boundless Heart Sea Secret" in his heart to adjust his breathing and alleviate the physical torture brought by the breakthrough.

Every bit of pain became a stepping stone for him to reach a higher level, until the blood and qi in his body gradually stabilized and the pain of breakthrough slowly dissipated.

However, although he was fully committed to the breakthrough, Lin Xiao was unaware of the movements in the outside world at this time.

He was completely ignorant of the difficulties faced by Feng Shui Academy and the changes in Jinhai Temple. He had only one thought in his mind: to break through as quickly as possible, improve his strength, and prepare for revenge and protecting the future.

At the same time, Lin Qing and Liu Yi had already hurried to the inner storehouse of Jinhai Temple. Feeling the strong spiritual energy flowing in the air, the two of them paced back and forth outside the storehouse anxiously.

Lin Qing frowned and looked at Liu Yi, saying softly: "Looking at the fluctuations of the spiritual energy, Lin Xiao is still in the critical stage of breakthrough. I'm afraid he won't be able to come out of seclusion in the short term."

Liu Yi looked nervous, with worry flashing in his eyes. He asked softly, "Then what should we do?"

Lin Qing took a deep breath, his eyes determined. "How about this, Liu Yi, you and your wife wait here for Lin Xiao to come out of retreat. I'll go back to the Feng Shui Academy first to help Gongsun Minghui manage the academy's affairs. Once Lin Xiao's breakthrough is complete, you must stabilize him and bring him back to the academy for discussion. As for the matter of the Desolate Ancient Forest, don't let him go alone."

Liu nodded, his voice weak but firm: "Okay, be careful on the road."

Lin Qing's eyes flashed, and he immediately used his body skills to quickly rush towards the ancient forest. The situation at Feng Shui Academy was urgent, and he didn't dare to delay any longer.

As time passed, the spiritual energy generated by Lin Xiao's breakthrough gradually dissipated, and the aura gradually returned to calm. Liu Yi waited anxiously at the courtyard gate, his turbulent emotions difficult to calm.

She knew that this was the critical moment for Lin Xiao to break through, and she had to try her best to remain calm and not disturb him.

Gradually, the energy surging in Lin Xiao's body began to stabilize, and his originally scorching body temperature returned to normal. He slowly opened his eyes and felt the energy in his body rolling like waves. The strong power made him feel extremely full.

Then, without hesitation, he unleashed his "Illusionary Body Skill: Imitative Shadow" and instantly, two clones with the same strength as him appeared beside him.

The two clones were more solid than before, their energy powerful, their eyes piercing, as if they had merged with Lin Xiao's consciousness. Under Lin Xiao's command, the clones tacitly performed the "Sword Dance" and "Sword Qi Strike" techniques. The long swords were like rainbows, the sword energy was surging, and the momentum was majestic, like the true essence of kendo.

Lin Xiao smiled slightly, secretly admiring in his heart: "He is only at the Jiayin Fifth Realm now. If he breaks through to the Jiachen Realm, perhaps these clones will be no different from the original body. How terrifying."

At this moment, there was a noise outside the courtyard, and Liu Yi's voice rang out clearly: "Lin Xiao, did you succeed in breaking through?"

Lin Xiao was stunned, a wave of doubt in his heart, and then asked: "Why is it Liu Yi's voice? Why are you here?"

Hearing Lin Xiao's response, Liu Yi could no longer suppress his inner grief. He rushed into the room with tears in his eyes.

She clutched Lin Xiao's sleeves tightly with both hands, her voice choked with emotion. "Lin Xiao, Feng Shui Academy is finished! Last night, the Shadow Monkey King and the Tiger King launched a surprise attack on Feng Shui Academy, and all three elders died. They threatened to wait for you in the core layer of the Ancient Forest!"

Lin Xiao's heart suddenly tightened, as if something was pressing down on it.

His expression instantly turned serious. The joy of his breakthrough had long been drowned out by the news from the outside world. Anger and determination flashed in his eyes. He gripped Liu Yi's shoulders tightly and said in a deep and firm voice, "Ancient Forest, Shadow Monkey King, I will kill you!"

Lin Xiao felt a sudden sharp pain in his heart. He immediately thought of Yu Yuzheng's true purpose. His mind was in a mess and he could hardly accept it all.

But when he saw Liu Yi's painful expression, he suddenly realized that all this was true - he really was being used as a pawn.

Anger washed over him like a flood, and he whispered, "What a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain! What a perfect coordination! You're so good, Yu Yuzheng!"

Before he finished speaking, he flew out of the inner treasury like a gust of wind, his heart filled with rage for revenge.

Every step he took was filled with anger and revenge, and the only thought in his mind was to slaughter all the disciples of Jinhai Temple - to avenge the elders, to avenge himself, and to pay the price for his resentment of being betrayed.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the courtyard, he saw the disciples of Jinhai Temple kneeling down in unison, their expressions full of sincerity and fear, and they all looked towards the inner treasury.

Lin Xiao's steps suddenly stopped. His gaze was as cold as ice and snow, and the long sword in his hand trembled slightly, as if the god of death had descended upon him. The disciples felt the oppression and trembled all over, their faces pale.

"What do you mean? Are you playing psychological warfare with me?" Lin Xiao asked coldly, his voice as piercing as ice.

Among the disciples kneeling before him, the first in line was actually the eldest brother of Jinhai Temple—a young and immature youth. Upon seeing Lin Xiao come out, he hurriedly led the disciples behind him to kneel on the ground, kowtowed profusely, and said, "Master, we received the news from Miss Liu Yi this morning, and I guessed the reason for what happened. But please believe us, we were not involved in this. Everything was arranged by that bastard Yu Yuzheng on his own initiative!"

His voice trembled as he continued to explain, "A few days ago, Yu Yuzheng told us that he wanted to invite the guest elder who defeated the Ancient Tree Spirit Lord to be the head of our Jinhai Temple, and asked us to make good preparations to welcome him. We know nothing else!"

After hearing these words, Lin Xiao gripped the sword even tighter.

He remained calm, but deep down he was already burning with rage - these disciples obviously didn't know the truth behind it. Lin Xiao's mood eased a little, but the anger didn't completely dissipate.

He slowly walked towards the kneeling disciples, staring into their eyes, and couldn't help but recall the warm welcome and courtesy of the disciples at the gate of Jinhai Temple a few days ago.

There was no doubt on their faces at that time, and they certainly didn't look like they knew about it in advance.

He stopped in front of Jiang Xuanyi, bent down slightly, and helped him up, just as he had helped Jiang Xuanyi up a few days ago.

Lin Xiao sighed inwardly. He was not a cold-blooded person, nor did he want to kill innocent people - he knew in his heart that the culprit of all this was only Yu Yuzheng.

"You are not real sinners." Lin Xiao whispered. His tone was flat, but there was a coldness in his eyes that could not be ignored.

After he helped the disciple of Jinhai Temple up, he did not stay for long. He instantly performed the "Dragon Body Skill" and rushed out like the wind.

Lin Xiao had something unfinished in his mind, and he knew that he had to settle the blood debt that had not yet been paid.

When Lin Xiao flew away, Liu Yi dragged her weak body to stand at the gate of the courtyard, trying to stop him. However, seeing that Lin Xiao had already left, she knew that she could no longer dissuade him and could only sigh helplessly.

She hurriedly asked her wife to accompany her and prepared to return to Feng Shui Academy to inform Senior Brother Lin Qing and Senior Brother Minghui about Lin Xiao's situation.

……

In the blink of an eye, Lin Xiao arrived at the entrance of the ancient forest.

Unlike usual, this time, he did not change out of his Taoist robe from the Feng Shui Academy, nor did he have any concerns. Instead, like a god of war from hell, he held a cold sword in his hand, with the flames of revenge burning in his eyes, and walked straight towards the core area of ​​the ancient forest.

When the human cultivators around saw Lin Xiao's appearance, they all moved away. No one dared to stop or provoke this killing god.

At this moment, Lin Xiao is no longer the humble and low-key boy in Feng Shui Academy, but a lonely warrior with the fire of revenge burning in his body.

Soon, Lin Xiao easily dealt with the three cobalt guards in the outer, middle and core layers of the ancient forest.

He stood in front of the main entrance to the core layer, looking inside with a determined look. Without the slightest hesitation, he walked through the door and headed directly towards Forget-Your-Sorrow Valley.

In a secluded corner, Haotian Tianniu looked at Lin Xiao's back, a slight smile on his lips. A glint of anticipation flickered in his eyes, as if he was waiting for a good show to unfold, and he thought to himself, "It's finally here."

Lin Xiao moved forward, originally planning to eliminate the monkey monsters one by one along the way, but to his surprise, not only did no monkey monster appear in front of him along the entire road, there was not even a trace of a demon beast.

The depths of the ancient forest seemed to become unusually quiet, with only the sound of his footsteps echoing.

Lin Xiao walked steadily and arrived at the front of Wangyou Valley almost instantly.

The scene before him shocked him. A demon monkey was lazily leaning on the plaque in front of the valley, eating peaches leisurely, sometimes playing with the peach cores, and sometimes sipping the nectar in the wine gourd, as if the whole world had nothing to do with it.

However, Lin Xiao's eyes were fixed on the demon monkey on the plaque.

His intuition told him that the lazy monkey in front of him was the Shadow Monkey King whom he hated so much.

Every minute and every second, the anger and hatred accumulated in my heart are rising.

The Shadow Monkey King sensed Lin Xiao's presence and slowly raised his head, looking at him without seeming surprised. His voice was low and full of teasing, "You seem a little late. Did you make me wait a little long?"

As he spoke, the armor of the Shadow Monkey King emerged from the void. The body armor, shoulder armor, armpit guards, and front and back crotch armor gleamed with golden light. Like a majestic general, he instantly put on his entire body, and his aura suddenly became extremely oppressive.

It stood up with a playful smile on its face, and the mace in its hand quietly appeared, shining with a cold light.

At that moment, Lin Xiao felt that every nerve in his body was tense, as if the entire mountain range was shaking slightly under his momentum.

Lin Xiao took a deep breath and calmly looked at the Shadow Monkey King. The rage boiling within him made it almost impossible to suppress his murderous intent. His sword flashed, pointing at the Demon King, and he declared bluntly, "Today, you will undoubtedly die!"

Seeing that Lin Xiao did not answer, the Shadow Monkey King smiled contemptuously, then raised his mace and mocked: "The previous owner of the sword in your hand seems to have died here. Remember that blow, the mace smashed his head hard." After saying that, a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Go to hell!" Lin Xiao roared, swung his sword, and displayed the "Dragon Swimming Skill". His body was as swift as a dragon emerging from the sea, and he rushed straight towards the Shadow Monkey King.

"Hahaha!" The Shadow Monkey King's eyes narrowed, recognizing Lin Xiao's movements. He sneered, "I recognize this move. Was it that stinky Taoist priest who taught you this?"

Before he finished speaking, he had already swung the mace in his hand to meet the oncoming sword.

The weapons of the two collided violently, and a sharp explosion was heard in the air, sparks flew, and the violent energy fluctuations caused the surrounding cliffs to tremble slightly, as if they would collapse at any time.

Lin Xiao gripped his sword tightly, his steps agile, quickly changing positions as he engaged the Shadow Monkey King in a life-or-death duel. Swords flashed, staffs swung like dragons as the two exchanged blows, back and forth.

Each of Lin Xiao's attacks was full of oppression, and the Shadow Monkey King's mace came with a heavy sound of breaking through the air every time it struck Lin Xiao fiercely.

"Shadow Spirit Sword Stab!" Seeing that the Shadow Monkey King had a slight gap, Lin Xiao instantly unleashed the "Shadow Spirit Sword Stab", and the sword light shot towards the Demon King's vitals like a ghost.

However, the Shadow Monkey King reacted extremely quickly and immediately used the "Agile Stick Shadow Strike", swinging his mace to block the sword with lightning speed.

The two forces collided violently again, causing the earth to roar and dust to fly.

Seeing this situation, the Shadow Monkey King smiled, suddenly shouted, and cast the "Clone Phantom Array".

In an instant, several clones that looked exactly like him appeared from all directions. Each clone held a mace and swung the stick to attack Lin Xiao, forming a deadly encirclement.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao frowned slightly, but was not afraid at all. He quickly used the "Blue Sky Sword Rain Weaving", and the sword energy rained down on every clone around him.

The rain of swords and the shadows of sticks intertwined, erupting into endless energy fluctuations, shaking the surrounding rocks.

"Nothing more than that!" Lin Xiao sneered, a look of determination flashed in his eyes, and he quickly displayed the "Illusionary Body Skill: Imitating Phantom Moves", instantly transforming into three identical figures, waving long swords, and attacking the Shadow Monkey King's clones.

However, the Shadow Monkey King was not to be outdone. He smiled slightly and sighed in his heart: "If you can do it, then so can I."

It also used the "Illusionary Body Skills·Imitation of Moves" and "Twin Mirror Images·Reflection of Martial Arts Skills", and instantly split into two figures, which were perfect copies of Lin Xiao and the Shadow Monkey King, to meet the three flying Lin Xiaos.

The phantom and real figures of the two intertwined in the air, and the sound of swords and sticks clashing was endless, like a violent storm between heaven and earth. The surrounding cliffs shook, dust flew, and the valley was filled with endless murderous intent.

Lin Xiao's heart trembled. He didn't expect that the secret skills of Feng Shui Academy would also be learned by the Shadow Monkey King.

In an instant, he understood that this must have been taught by Elder Xuantian, and an extremely angry feeling surged in his heart, but he had no time to think deeply. He instantly put all his mind into the battle and fought with all his strength.