Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)

A red flash swept across the sky like lightning, as a faint sound of thunder rang out. This red flash’s speed was extremely quick, it practically swept across the horizon in the blink of an eye before slowly landing on a peak deep within the mountains.

Lin Dong leapt off Little Flame’s tiger back and casually threw the unconscious Teng Lei to the ground and took a quick look behind him. This place was already some distance from Great Puppet City and he was extremely cautious during his retreat this time. In all likelihood, even with the Ghastly Puppet Cult’s power, they would find it difficult to give chase.

“I did not think that there would actually be a half-step-to Manifestation practitioner stationed within Great Puppet City. The Ghastly Puppet Cult’s strength is indeed not to be underestimated.” Lin Dong’s eyebrows light furrowed. This time, he was originally enough to destroy Great Puppet City’s Ghastly Puppet Cult branch division, but Cao Zhen’s appearance had obstructed Lin Dong’s plan. With his current strength, practically no one could contend against him among the Qi Creation stage, but when faced with practitioners at the half-step-to Manifestation like Cao Zhen, even Lin Dong would find it somewhat troublesome.

Like he had said previously, he was able to defeat a half-step-to Manifestation stage practitioner like Cao Zhen by borrowing the power of the Great Desolate Imprisoning Heavenly Finger, but had no way to kill the latter. No matter what, the difference between the two’s power was still there.

Of course, if he relied on Little Marten’s power, killing Cao Zhen would be another matter, but if he did so, it would expose Little Marten’s strength. Lin Dong was not willing to do something like revealing his trump cards in front of countless people.

“Fortunately, my goal this time has been achieved…” Lin Dong suddenly looked towards Teng Lei and spoke in an indifferent tone: “If you’ve awoken then open your eyes, if you have no use, then I will have no need to keep you alive.”

Upon hearing Lin Dong’s words, Teng Lei’s tightly shut eyes immediately opened. He wore an icy expression as he stared at the former and said in a stern voice: “Lin Dong, do you really want to completely offend our Ghastly Puppet Cult?”

“Didn’t things developed to this stage because of you all?” Lin Dong chuckled. Soon after, he stared at Teng Lei, an icy light in his eyes: “You wanted to leave me for dead in the ancient tablet space, yet you did not think that I would still escape. This debt should be paid right?”

“Who do you think you are, you dare to take revenge!” Teng Lei sneered and quickly slapped the ground with his palm as his figure hastily retreated.

“Roar!”

However, just as Teng Lei’s figure retreated, a furious roar suddenly rang out. Soon after, a blood colored python tail swept forth, quick as lightning as it smashed into Teng Lei’s body.

“Plop!”

After receiving this heavy blow, Teng Lei’s face turned red as he immediately vomited a mouthful of fresh blood and his body heavily knocked against a boulder.

“Do you really think that I dare not kill you?” Lin Dong’s eyes were apathetic. With a flick of his mind, a Mental Energy flame appeared and slowly hovered in front of Teng Lei, causing him to not dare to move even the slightest bit.

“What exactly do you want?” Teng Lei’s expression was layered with green and red. He could feel the killing intent gushing out from Lin Dong’s eyes and after several exchanges, he knew that Lin Dong was no compassionate soul. Thus, Teng Lei could only unwilling shout out in response.

“I want to know some information about your Ghastly Puppet Cult.” Lin Dong smiled a little and said.

“In your dreams! Moreover, I’m afraid the more you know, the more you’ll understand how foolish your actions are.” Teng Lei sneered.

“You know, there are some Secret Spirit Skills that are able to directly search a person’s memories. However, after using them, the victim’s mind will become unclear. I believe that you do not wish for me to use such methods right?” Lin Dong smiled.

“You!” Upon hearing this, Teng Lei’s expression immediately changed. He had naturally heard of these extremely vicious Secret Spirit Skills. They had extremely serious repercussions on their victims and a little slip could even directly cause one to become retarded.

“What do you want to know?” Expression fluctuating, Teng Lei finally gritted his teeth and said. Although he did not understand whether Lin Dong was scaring him or not, Teng Lei did not want to gamble with his life.

Upon seeing this, Lin Dong smiled. He naturally did not know any of these vicious Secret Spirit Skills, but using it to scare Teng Lei evidently showed good results.

“During the last opening of the Great Wastelands Ancient Tablet, your Ghastly Puppet Cult obtained something at the bottom of the Symbol Puppet Lair right?”

After hearing these words, Teng Lei’s pupils abruptly shrunk. Soon after, his head lowered a little as he sneered: “I don’t know.”

“*Sigh*.” Lin Dong softly sighed. His sleeve waved as the Mental Energy flame ruthlessly slammed into Teng Lei’s head. Waves of burning hot energy frantically diffused into the latter’s Niwan Palace, scorching the Mental Energy within.

“Ah!”

Having his Niwan Palace invaded by Mental Energy fire, Teng Lei mournfully cried out. This kind of pain was several times more intense than flesh wounds.

Lin Dong apathetically watched Teng Lei as he struggled on the ground, hands behind his back, allowing the latter to shriek miserably.

“Stop! I will tell you!” Under Lin Dong’s apathetic gaze, Teng Lei persevered for several minutes before his coarse voice urgently sounded out. He had no room for compromise, if he continued to be burned by the Mental Energy fire, his Niwan Palace would be completely burnt to cinders, and for him, having his Niwan Palace destroyed was undoubtedly worse than dying.

Two of Lin Dong’s long fingers curled as the Mental Energy flame flew back to his fingertip while he calmly gazed at the now deathly pale Teng Lei.

“The previous time the ancient tablet space opened, our Ghastly Puppet Cult did indeed obtain an extremely mysterious object from the Symbol Puppet Lair.” Teng Lei panted for air as his hoarse voice sounded out.

“Where is that object now?” Lin Dong played with the Mental Energy flame on his finger, ripples appearing in his eyes as he asked.

“In Ghastly Puppet City. My father has locked himself up ever since he obtained that object. Although I do not know exactly what it is, it should be no ordinary item.”

“Ghastly Puppet City…” Lin Dong’s eyebrows lightly furrowed. That was the Ghastly Puppet Cult’s headquarters and was rightly guarded. There were several times the amount of powerful practitioners stationed there compared to Great Puppet City. He might be able to go as he pleased in Great Puppet City, but he did not fancy his chances in Ghastly Puppet City…

“I’ve received news two days ago that my father will gather all the practitioners in the Ghastly Puppet Cult ten days later because he has discovered that there seems to be a seal on the mysterious object, and to truly refine it, the seal needs to be broken. The seal is extremely powerful and he has tried many times but it has all ended in failure. Hence, this time he intends to gather the power of the entire Ghastly Puppet Cult to forcibly break the seal.”

Upon hearing these words, Lin Dong’s expression suddenly turned serious. The Ghastly Puppet Cult leader was no ordinary character, he was actually able to sense the seal left behind on the Devouring Ancestral Symbol by the black eye elder…

“Lin Dong, though I do not know how powerful the seal left by the back eye elder is today, if it is truly broken by the Ghastly Puppet Cult leader and he refines the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, no one in the entire Great Yan Empire will be able to stop him.” Little Marten’s voice rang out in Lin Dong’s mind.

Lin Dong silently nodded his head. No matter what, he needed to obtain the Devouring Ancestral Symbol. Only by doing so would he be able to completely surpass Lin Langtian in the clan meeting a year later!

“How many Manifestation stage practitioners are there in the Ghastly Puppet Cult?” His eyes flickered as Lin Dong once again questioned.

“My father included, there are three Manifestation practitioners!” When he said these words, pride was evident in Teng Lei’s eyes. Even in the entire Great Yan Empire, this kind of power was rather strong.

“Three Manifestation stage practitioners.” This line-up was indeed very powerful, such that a serious look flashed across Lin Dong’s eyes. With his current strength, he was only able to match up to a half-step-to Manifestation practitioner, but if he met an initial Manifestation stage practitioner, his chances of victory would be extremely tiny. Of course, if Little Marten secretly aided him, he would be able to fight.

However, there was no one but a three Manifestation stage in the Ghastly Puppet Cult!

“As expected of one of the top tier factions in the Great Desolate Province…” Lin Dong pursed his lips. Looks like the Ghastly Puppet Cult was like a lion’s den. If he wanted to snatch away the Devouring Ancestral Symbol from them, the difficult would be high. However, no matter how hard it may be, it would still be unable to dispel Lin Dong’s thoughts of seizing the symbol.

“What do you plan on doing?” Little Marten also knew the difficulty of this matter and hence asked. Even if it recovered some strength, it was still only able to contend against an initial Manifestation stage practitioner. It was very clear that the Ghastly Puppet Cult’s power surpassed the boundaries it could deal with.

“Let’s first go to Ghastly Puppet City and wait for our chance!”

Lin Dong’s gaze flickered as he replied in his mind. It would definitely not be easy for the Ghastly Puppet Cult to break the seal on the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, and maybe there might even be some changes midway. If that times comes, it might be the best chance for him to make his move. As long as the Devouring Ancestral Symbol landed in his hands, Lin Dong would flee to a distant place and only appear again after he successfully refined the Devouring Ancestral Symbol. At that time, his strength would have likely risen greatly and he would no longer need to fear the Ghastly Puppet Cult!

“Okay.”

In response to this, Little Marten did not have any objections. From what it could see, as long as they could obtain the Devouring Ancestral Symbol, no matter how great a price they paid, it would be okay. Taking a little risk was nothing.

After discussing a little with Little Marten, Lin Dong made up his mind before casting his gaze towards Teng Lei. When the latter saw this, he immediately became nervous: “I’ve already told you all you wanted to know, what else do you want?”

Lin Dong smiled a little as he rubbed his chin before stretching out a hand, beaming as he said: “You’ve obtained a grade nine martial art in the Manifestation Martial Tablet, now it’s time to hand it over…”

Although Lin Dong now had a Manifestation martial art, its consumption rate was too high. If it did not come to a crucial moment, he would not easily use it. Though a grade nine martial art could not compare to a Manifestation martial art, it was still extremely not weak. If he could obtain one, his battle power would rise a little which would be great for a Lin Dong who planned on taking on the Ghastly Puppet Cult.

Of course, this was good for Lin Dong, but when Teng Lei heard these words, his expression instantly turned extremely ugly. The blackness of Lin Dong’s heart far surpassed Teng Lei’s expectations……