"Bang, bang…"

The rapidly spinning vortex finally exploded. The burst of the vortex echoed thunderously through the valley, and the terrifying surge of energy swept out like a hurricane. However, as this energy spread to a certain range, it suddenly and silently ceased, engulfing an area of hundreds of meters within the valley. The explosion of the vortex was like a torrential downpour.

"Pfft..."

With the explosion of the vortex, the skinny man felt a tremendous force pouring onto his body. His protective circle could no longer withstand the immense force and shattered loudly. The powerful force ruthlessly poured into his body from all directions with a spinning force, directly targeting his internal organs.

A muffled groan came from the skinny man's throat, and a mist of blood mixed with shattered internal organs spurted from his mouth. He was instantly blasted away, landing on the rocks at the riverbank, which then cracked and broke apart. The attacker's strike was beyond what a normal warrior should possess. This immense power destroyed even his internal organs, which was terrifying.

"You hid your true strength..." The skinny man stared at Li Lin, his eyes filled with unwillingness, and then he breathed his last. Until his death, he thought Li Lin had hidden his true strength, definitely not just a warrior.

Li Lin, pale-faced, approached the skinny man's corpse. Fortunately, as a spiritual being, he had keenly sensed the danger and had been on guard beforehand. Otherwise, he would have been the one dead.

At the same time, Li Lin couldn't help but marvel at the power of the basic-level Huang-tier martial technique, Furious Sea Roar. Although it was the strongest move he had executed, its power was undoubtedly terrifying. The skinny man was also a first-level martial artist, and although Li Lin had broken through again last night, he was only a seventh-level warrior.

Having killed the third leader of the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group, Li Lin knew that this was all related to his use of the terrain. If it were somewhere else, his execution of Furious Sea Roar wouldn't have been so powerful. But now, in this river, it significantly amplified the effect of water-based martial techniques.

Executing fire-based martial techniques on a volcano, wood-based martial techniques in a forest, and water-based martial techniques on water surfaces could all significantly amplify their power.

Additionally, the third leader of the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group had tried to ambush him, but Li Lin was well-prepared, catching him off guard. This advantage allowed him to kill with one move.

"Next time, I must always be careful." Li Lin muttered to himself, then took the space bag from the skinny man's body into his own hands.

"Whoosh, whoosh..."

A yellow light flashed several times in an instant and landed on Li Lin's shoulder. Aside from Little dragon, naturally, there wouldn't be anything else. Little dragon looked at Li Lin, its eyes filled with concern, seemingly wanting to ask something. The recent loud noise had also startled it while it was playing in the distance.

"It's okay, but we've been discovered. This place is no longer safe, we need to leave here immediately," Li Lin said to Little dragon. The practice of Furious Sea Roar was barely passable. Although it was not yet proficient, and his current strength couldn't bring out the full power of Furious Sea Roar, this was the best they could do for now.

After a quick clean-up, the man and the beast swiftly left the valley. This hidden valley was no longer a secret, and naturally, Li Lin would not stay any longer. The members of the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group were probably going to find this place soon.

About three hours after Li Lin left the valley, nearly twenty people hurried into the valley. They were the giant leader and members of the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group.

The scene in the valley, however, terrified all members of the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group.

On a huge rock, the third leader of the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group was sprawled out, his limbs separated, and his head chopped off. On the rock, a message written in fresh blood read: "Revenge begins. This is just the first one. Next is every one of you."

"Boss, the third brother was killed so horribly, damn it," the second leader raged, hating that they couldn’t immediately find and split the man and woman responsible.

"Search for them, they couldn't have gone far. We must find them," the giant leader roared, seeing this as a provocation against him.

"Roar..."

In a forest, a massive, azure-colored ape watched Li Lin. Its huge body was two meters tall, and its strong aura spread out.

"A Wood-type demonic beast, Bear Ape," Li Lin observed the giant ape. This was a Bear Ape demonic beast. Judging from its aura, it had reached the late stage of the second level. A demonic beast of this level, even a ninth-level warrior would find difficult to deal with.

The Bear Ape is a special breed among demonic beasts, half resembling a bear with immense attacking power and half resembling an ape with great speed. Its huge body, eyes larger than those of a cow, and thick fur covering its body indicated that although it was a Wood-type demonic beast, its defensive power was also very strong.

"Sss!"

The Bear Ape launched an attack swiftly, its huge body lunging forward, and its massive fist swung directly towards Li Lin.

"Bang!"

Li Lin quickly gathered his true energy and pushed out with a Mountain-Splitting Palm to defend. The Bear Ape's punch collided with Li Lin's palm, scattering the air currents in the space. With a loud "bang" explosion, Li Lin's body was staggered backward, his palm numb.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"...

Li Lin's body had not yet stabilized when, at that moment, four or five streaks of blue light appeared abruptly in front of him. Upon closer inspection, they were attacks resembling vines, conjured by the Bear Ape.

"Fire Shadow Finger."

Li Lin's expression darkened. He conjured the fire-based martial technique, Fire Shadow Finger. In an instant, five finger strikes with traces of flames burst out, blocking the several vine-like attacks.

"Crack, crack, crack, crack..."

The vines, also a concentration of wood attribute energy, dissipated into thin air upon colliding with Li Lin's attack. Li Lin was pushed back by a great force, internally remarking on the formidable strength of the Bear Ape.

Li Lin took the opportunity to move to one side. At the same time, the Bear Ape, astonishingly fast, leaped towards Li Lin like an arrow released from a bow. Its huge forelimbs swung another punch, now entirely covered with thick tree bark, looking quite peculiar.

This thick tree bark was a wood-type demonic beast talent of the Bear Ape, enhancing its defense and attack power significantly. Wood-type demonic beasts are especially tricky and difficult to deal with.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Li Lin was alarmed. This late second-stage demonic beast was indeed not easy to handle. If a large commotion was caused, it might attract many people.

"Sss..."

Just then, from Li Lin's sleeve, a streak of yellow light burst out like lightning, followed by a burst of intense golden flames.

Under the golden flames, the peculiar tree bark on the Bear Ape's forelimbs instantly turned to ash and disintegrated.

"Roar..."

A terrifying roar ensued. Little dragon immediately bit onto the Bear Ape's forelimb, its small head enlarging significantly. With its sharp fangs, it fiercely tore off a piece of flesh, eliciting a piercing roar. The Bear Ape's forelimb was now missing a chunk of flesh, with blood spurting out.

Feeling the aura emanating from Little dragon, the Bear Ape immediately showed an intention to retreat. An invisible aura from Little dragon made it greatly apprehensive.

Just then, the Bear Ape's vision blurred as Little dragon's body seemed to become illusory and drew closer. Before it could react, Little dragon was already on the Bear Ape's neck, biting down fiercely. The Bear Ape's thick fur could not stop Little dragon's sharp fangs.

The Bear Ape couldn't even make a sound before it collapsed to the ground. Its huge body fell with a thud, slightly shaking the ground. By the time it hit the ground, it was already a corpse.

"Sss, sss..."

Little dragon hovered around the Bear Ape's neck, proudly lifting its small head and looking at Li Lin as if boasting about how it had easily dealt with the Bear Ape in just a few moves.

"I told you not to interfere, but you just couldn't help yourself," Li Lin said helplessly, glaring at Little dragon. However, he was internally shocked. In the Misty Mountain Range, Little dragon's progress was terrifying. Perhaps because it had devoured many demonic beasts, Little dragon now found it easy to kill a second-stage demonic beast, not finding it challenging at all.

"Whoosh..."

Hearing that he was not praised but rather scolded, Little dragon looked at Li Lin with a sense of grievance. Then, huffily, it swiftly flew up and rushed into Lin'er's sleeve, coiling around Li Lin's arm.

Li Lin smiled faintly, skinned the Bear Ape and stored its fur in his storage ring. Both of his space bags had been taken away by Lan Ling, so now Li Lin had only the storage ring to use.

After tidying up, Li Lin continued forward. He guessed that by now, the people from the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group must have seen his handiwork. "Violent Wolf Mercenary Group, it's your turn now. Just wait," Li Lin thought, a chill flashing in his eyes.

Three days later, by a mountain stream, two men in black attire bent down to wash their faces, looking up at the scorching sun. The one on the left said, "This man and woman sure ran fast and disappeared again, making it hard for us to find them."

"Do you want to die? The third leader died at their hands. If we really encounter them, we'd be as good as dead," the other man said, glancing around, not wishing to encounter the man and woman.

"Is that so? However, it seems your luck is not very good." A blue figure suddenly appeared behind them, with two fiery finger strikes accompanied by a sharp whistling sound rushing towards them.

"It's you..." The two men's faces changed drastically, and they quickly retreated, having witnessed the fate of the third leader and not daring to confront him.

Li Lin, who had been lying in ambush for so long, launched a sudden attack. The two men, both second-level warriors, were unable to escape, and the finger strikes quickly reached them.

In a panic, the two men set up a blue and a red protective circle, one a water-type warrior and the other a fire-type warrior.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Their hastily erected protective circles couldn't withstand Li Lin's Fire Shadow Finger. In an instant, four strong and fiery strikes rushed forward, and the protective circles in front of the two men cracked and disintegrated, leaving four bloody holes in their chests.

"Continue..." Li Lin left several blood-written words on the ground, then left the streamside and strode away. This was just the beginning. Since he was training in the Misty Mountain Range, he might as well use the people from the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group for practice. Against the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group, Li Lin was only cautious about the two leaders. He believed he could handle the others.

A day later, next to a canyon, several fiery finger marks and a yellow light suddenly appeared behind three men in black attire.

Screams of "Ahh..." echoed.

Two of the men fell in response, while the remaining one's chest burst with blood, his face pale, not dying immediately.

"It's you, what do you want to do?" This man stared at the figure in the green robe that suddenly appeared before him, his face turning ashen.

"I just want to try out my Soul Searching technique," the figure in the green robe said coldly, forming a strange hand seal. Light swirled around his fingers as he bent them into a claw, which he then placed on the man's forehead.

The man tried to struggle but instantly became immobilized, his eyes turning white, his body convulsing uncontrollably.

"Ahh..." Moments later, the man screamed, his pupils dilated and foaming at the mouth. Only then did Li Lin withdraw his claw imprint, showing a slight bitter smile.

"This Soul Searching technique is quite difficult to practice." Looking at the body on the ground, Li Lin sighed, not because of the man's death, but because of his Soul Searching technique. According to the Heavenly Spirit Record, once fully mastered, the Soul Searching technique could easily probe someone's soul without taking their life. However, this kind of search could damage the person's soul, adversely affecting their future cultivation. It's no surprise that meddling in someone's soul without causing harm is difficult.

After cleaning up, Li Lin and Little dragon left again. From this man's mind, Li Lin learned that the treasure had indeed attracted many people. No wonder there had been so many people in the mountains recently, and the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group was searching everywhere for him and Lan Ling.

Having learned some detailed information about the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group, Li Lin felt more confident in dealing with them. This was also a form of training for himself. Although the Violent Wolf Mercenary Group had many members, he could defeat them one by one and deal with the two leaders later.

"Miss, it's dangerous here, let's go back quickly." As the sun set, bathing the forest in its afterglow, the area was peaceful, with occasional roars of wild beasts and demonic beasts in the distance.

"What's there to be afraid of? Apart from encountering two second-level demonic beasts in several days, there hasn’t been any danger. Let's continue; I heard the treasure is just ahead." In the forest, a beautiful young lady followed by a pretty maid appeared.

"Miss, if anything happens to you, I'll be in big trouble," the pretty maid said helplessly.

At night, in a secluded valley, Li Lin found a natural cave and sat cross-legged on a spirit jade bed. Recently, he practiced at night on the spirit jade bed, which doubled the efficiency of cultivating spiritual power. Now, being so far behind in spiritual power was making Li Lin anxious.

As he cultivated, a soft yellow light slowly enveloped Li Lin.

"Sigh..."

Moments later, Li Lin exhaled a long breath from his dantian qi sea, his aura becoming significantly stronger. The energy of the third-grade True Yang Pill had been completely refined, and his cultivation level was now at the mid-level of the seventh-level warrior, but the increase in true qi was not much.

"The higher the level, the more resources it requires." Li Lin thought to himself. Although he had refined this energy, it wasn't the best time to immediately take another pill for refinement. Just after refinement, his body needed time to absorb and adjust. Being too hasty could lead to instability in his foundation, which was a serious matter.

"Beast Control Technique." In his mind, Li Lin carefully studied everything in the Heavenly Spirit Record. Whenever he had time during this period, he continued to study it. The more he researched, the more amazed he became at the Heavenly Spirit Record. After seeing the Fiery Flame Hawk that Lan Ling had, Li Lin thought if he could control a bunch of demonic beasts, his strength would be incredible. The Beast Control Technique in the Heavenly Spirit Record was far superior to the techniques of the Myriad Beasts Sect.

Li Lin frowned slightly. Although the Beast Control Technique was powerful, it had very high requirements. If one were a martial artist, they could only control some low-level demonic beasts. The Beast Control Technique required immense soul power to execute.

Among martial artists and spiritualists, the spiritual power cultivated by spiritualists is extremely close to soul power, thus better nourishing the soul. Therefore, the soul power of spiritualists is much stronger than that of martial artists.

On the other hand, the true qi cultivated by martial artists is very closely related to the body. Therefore, in terms of physical strength, martial artists are much stronger than spiritualists. In close-range combat, martial artists often have a significant advantage.

What surprised Li Lin was that in the Heavenly Spirit Record, his master, the Saintly Hand Spiritual Lord, actually recorded some techniques of the Myriad Beasts Sect. The Beast Taming Seal of the Myriad Beasts Sect, although capable of controlling demonic beasts, consumed a lot of the user's energy, especially when cultivating a life-bound demonic beast, which required even more energy. However, this technique was extremely formidable.

The life-bound demonic beasts cultivated by the Myriad Beasts Sect could grow stronger as their masters broke through, because they needed to be fed with the master's blood.

Such life-bound demonic beasts often become like an extension of their masters, coordinating seamlessly and intuitively in combat. Encountering a disciple of the Myriad Beasts Sect with a life-bound demonic beast is certainly not an easy task.