Chapter 142: Leng Ya's Despair Beyond Tears

No! If they were stronger than him, how could they have dragged things out until now without making a move? Shouldn't they have attacked long ago?

Could they be bluffing?

Yes, that must be it.

"I almost fell for your trick. Good thing I'm clever," Leng Ya thought to himself.

"You make the first move," Lin Yanghao said, waving his hand toward Leng Ya.

"What did you say?" Leng Ya froze upon hearing this, genuinely doubting his ears. Yet the reality was right before his eyes, forcing him to believe it.

Lin Yanghao had indeed just said those exact words.

"I said make the first move. Are you deaf?" Lin Yanghao said with extreme impatience.

He couldn't even be bothered to use the Divine Strike Art; dealing with this fellow surely didn't require it.

Although Lin Yanghao had dissipated the greater part of his spiritual energy yesterday, his strength hadn't completely stagnated, bringing him one step closer to the mid-Core Formation stage.

"Kid, are you out of your mind?" Leng Ya was speechless once more. Could he still be bluffing even now?

"Attack if you're told to, or else when young master here strikes, you won't even have a chance to fight back." As soon as Lin Yanghao finished speaking, Leng Ya flew into a rage, instantly pushing his power to the limit.

The full might of the Nascent Soul stage was displayed without reservation.

Indeed, he was preparing to kill Lin Yanghao with a single strike.

"Thousand-Jin Cauldron!" Following that, Leng Ya summoned his own magical artifact, the Thousand-Jin Cauldron.

This cauldron carried the might of an entire mountain, so being struck by it was no laughing matter.

"Boom--"

As the Thousand-Jin Cauldron plummeted, a heaven-shaking explosion resounded.

The cauldron possessed not only its inherent primordial power but was also augmented by the entirety of Leng Ya's cultivation.

That was why its might reached such terrifying proportions.

The ground around the impact zone had long since shattered, covered everywhere in deep fissures.

The surrounding trees were reduced to a mere handful of survivors.

"Hahaha, let's see you survive this!" Leng Ya let out a sinister laugh, turning his gaze toward Gu Shi.

Once Gu Shi was also eliminated, this affair would be brought to a perfect conclusion.

"Could the Lin boy really be dead?" Gu Shi felt deep anxiety stirring within his heart.

Given Lin Yanghao's strength, it should have been effortless for him to evade Leng Ya's Thousand-Jin Cauldron, which was why Gu Shi hadn't intervened.

The problem was, why hadn't Lin Yanghao dodged?

He had seen it clearly: Lin Yanghao was undoubtedly hit square by the cauldron.

At this thought, two teardrops actually welled up in the corners of Gu Shi's eyes.

"Haha, you old fool, it's your turn next. Any last words? If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for coming here!" Finishing his sentence, Leng Ya prepared to move against Gu Shi.

"You're celebrating far too soon. What is this piece of garbage? It's not even enough to scratch an itch for young master here." Lin Yanghao's words shocked Leng Ya half to death.

What was going on?!

Since when were Core Formation cultivators this formidable?! Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would fare poorly if struck by his Thousand-Jin Cauldron.

How could he possibly remain unscathed!

As it turned out, at the very critical juncture when the cauldron was descending, Lin Yanghao had imperceptibly used the Wandering Ghost Steps to slip away.

Not even Gu Shi had perceived the slightest trace of this, showing that Lin Yanghao had already mastered the Wandering Ghost Steps to perfection.

"Hahaha, Lin boy, you're not dead! You gave this old man a fright." Seeing that Lin Yanghao was unharmed, Gu Shi instantly swept away his previous gloom.

"Who do you take me for? How could I possibly die?" Saying this, Lin Yanghao gave Gu Shi a look that was half-smile, half-serious, and continued, "I saw someone shedding tears just a moment ago."

"Who shed tears? This old man just got some sand in his eye." Gu Shi suddenly remembered his tears and realized what a massive embarrassment this was.

He desperately wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Uh...

Not to mention, there actually were cracks in the ground right here...

Gu Shi was once again struck dumb with awkwardness.

"You just care too much about your pride," Lin Yanghao thought to himself, though he chose not to expose him out loud.

He figured he should at least leave the old man some dignity.

"Brat, consider yourself lucky to have escaped with your life. Take this!" Leng Ya launched another attack toward Lin Yanghao.

"He must have escaped the cauldron by sheer luck just now." Leng Ya still refused to believe that Lin Yanghao possessed the strength to contend with him.

"I let you make the first move earlier, but you turned out to be completely useless. I won't hold back anymore; prepare to meet your maker." Weary of playing games, Lin Yanghao decided to finish the fight swiftly and then interrogate him about who was pulling the strings behind the attempt on his life.

"Impudent child, how dare you spout such arrogant nonsense!" Leng Ya was boiling with rage, his face turning the color of a pig's liver.

Seeing him charge forward, Lin Yanghao hurriedly raised a protective barrier.

Thud~

A muffled sound echoed as Leng Ya's attack smashed heavily against the barrier, yet the shield remained completely unbroken.

Instead, Leng Ya was thrown backward several meters, his body slamming heavily onto the ground.

He trembled violently, coughing up mouthfuls of fresh blood.

"This... How is this possible..." Leng Ya muttered in a trembling voice, utterly unable to believe it.

"There is nothing impossible. Don't you understand yet? Your strength is inferior to mine." Lin Yanghao looked down at the fallen Leng Ya with a trace of mockery.

"You are not... a Core Formation cultivator..." Leng Ya gasped.

Even Gu Shi at this moment believed Lin Yanghao was no longer in the Core Formation stage, for everything happening was far too bizarre.

Even if Leng Ya was no match for Lin Yanghao, he shouldn't have been defeated this miserably, failing to withstand even a single move from Lin Yanghao?

No, rather, it was Lin Yanghao's protective barrier that had forcefully rebounded him.

Could even a defensive barrier be so terrifyingly powerful?

Then wouldn't his true personal strength far surpass the Nascent Soul stage?

Gu Shi found Lin Yanghao increasingly unfathomable.

"No, I am precisely a Core Formation cultivator."

"Impossible, impossible, I must be dreaming! I am a Nascent Soul cultivator, how could you possibly be this strong?" Leng Ya simply could not comprehend why he had lost; being defeated by a Core Formation cultivator dealt a devastating blow to his pride.

"Tell me, we have no grievances between us, why did you try to harm me?" Lin Yanghao didn't want to waste any more breath and cut straight to the point.

"Does one need a reason to kill you?"

"Answer honestly right now, or I'll hack you to pieces." The moment Lin Yanghao finished speaking, the Crimson Spirit Sword appeared in his hand, its blade resting right against Leng Ya's neck.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, don't do it!" Although he said that, his mind was racing to figure out a way to escape.

"If I let myself be at their mercy, I'll surely die. I must think of a way," Leng Ya thought to himself.

He knew he had come intent on taking Lin Yanghao's life; expecting mercy from him was sheer fantasy.