“What’s happening?”
The crowd cried out in shock.
Was it because of the Buddha statue? Had it caused the ground all around to explode?
Or had something else always been buried beneath this region?
Perhaps another opportunity had appeared?
“Let’s go see!”
Someone finally lost patience and shot forward. Once one moved, the rest followed like a chain reaction. Cultivators scattered in all directions.
The restriction on the Buddha statue had not yet fully vanished, and the three great forces still guarded it closely, making it impossible to seize anything there for now. With new disturbances appearing, everyone naturally flew towards the exploding areas.
“Leave half our people to hold position. The rest come with me. Report back quickly!”
An elder from the Sacred Heaven Sect gave the order.
At once, the eighth-level Martial Emperor led half their contingent and sped away, then split further to cover every direction.
The Ji family and Azure Dragon Sect did the same.
In their view, the Buddha statue represented the greatest opportunity. Although the restriction still needed time to fade completely, there was no guarantee it would not suddenly disappear. If no one stayed to guard it, other forces would swoop in and claim it.
None of them could bear to let the biggest prize slip through their fingers.
Lin Xiao followed the flow of people outward. The Buddha statue’s restriction clearly would not lift any time soon, and unlike the three great forces, he was not particularly fixated on that unknown statue.
He deliberately avoided the main groups from the three forces and flew more than a hundred li to a spot where the dust from an explosion had not yet settled. There he began to observe.
Seven people had already gathered at this freshly blasted crater, none of particularly high cultivation.
One of them pushed out a palm, using relatively weak force to clear the dust. The scene ahead came into view.
A pit several zhang deep and more than ten zhang across had opened in the ground. Inside lay a golden bronze coffin covered in patches of rust, clearly ancient beyond counting.
“Hm?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up, yet no one dared to be the first to open it.
They exchanged wary glances. Then a third-level Martial Emperor elder fixed his gaze on Lin Xiao and spoke. “You. Go open that coffin.”
Lin Xiao frowned. This old fellow really thought he could order around anyone who looked young.
Whoosh.
Invisible divine sense surged forth and pierced straight into the elder’s brow. The man’s spirit jolted, and reverence instantly filled his eyes.
He had been controlled.
Lin Xiao’s current soul power and spiritual strength were equivalent to mid-seventh-grade spiritual force. Controlling a mere third-level Martial Emperor was child’s play.
“Why don’t you go open it yourself?” Lin Xiao said calmly.
“Very well!”
The elder nodded and walked straight towards the coffin without hesitation.
“…” The other six were speechless.
Moments ago this elder had been throwing his weight around, ordering the youth to open the coffin. Now the youth had barely spoken and the old man was actually doing it himself?
Was he really that obedient?
Had he no pride at his age?
Still, if he was willing, none of them would stop him. They just needed someone to open it; who did it hardly mattered.
Of course, they readied themselves to strike the elder down at any moment.
The elder quickly reached the coffin, gripped the clasps, and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, pulled upward with force. Because of the extreme rust, the entire lid tore free and flew off. A cloud of corrosive white gas billowed out. The elder instantly shot backwards.
Everyone’s hearts leapt into their throats. Power circulated within their bodies, ready to act.
Once the white gas dispersed, they saw that the coffin contained neither corpse nor remnants of clothing. Instead, a single white pearl rested inside.
“A sarira!”
Lin Xiao’s eyes flashed. The pearl was identical to the sarira he had obtained before.
At that instant, Lin Xiao commanded the controlled elder to charge forward first. The other six immediately followed, some hurling attacks at the elder.
Everyone unleashed their power. Blasts erupted, and several people, including the elder, were sent flying.
Only three managed to keep charging straight towards the coffin.
Bang! Bang! Bang! More collisions rang out. Two of the three were knocked away. Only one steadied himself, seized the white pearl, and laughed triumphantly.
“This sarira is mine! Hahaha!”
He was a middle-aged man, also at the third-level Martial Emperor realm. Overjoyed, he stored the sarira in his ring and shot away.
At that exact moment, Lin Xiao moved, faster than anyone, closing in directly behind the man.
“Hmph!”
Sensing someone pursuing him so quickly, the middle-aged man knew instantly who it was. He sneered, turned, and threw a punch at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao extended his palm and caught the fist.
Bang! A soft thud. The man’s punch seemed utterly powerless. Lin Xiao gripped it tightly, then drove his other fist into the man’s chest.
“You!”
Shocked, the middle-aged man hurriedly raised an arm to block.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed. Lin Xiao’s fist shattered the blocking arm and punched straight through the man’s chest.
“This…” The five who had been about to give chase froze, faces full of disbelief.
That middle-aged man had been the strongest among them, yet his attack had been casually caught, and then a single punch had pierced clean through his body.
Just how terrifying was that youth?
At this moment, they realised they had encountered a true expert, someone whose talent and strength were clearly no less than the young geniuses of the three great forces.
The man whose chest had been pierced stared wide-eyed, face filled with disbelief. He died with everlasting regret.
Lin Xiao neatly took the man’s storage ring, swept a cold glance across the group, then flew off towards another explosion site.
The others did not dare pursue.
But the controlled elder suddenly went berserk and charged at them, roaring, “I’ll kill you all!”
His voice thundered, his power astonishing. He fought as though his life meant nothing, as if he had gone mad from losing the treasure.
The group was speechless. The treasure had been stolen by someone else, yet instead of chasing the thief, he blamed them and wanted to fight to the death?
What kind of brain came up with that logic?
They had no choice but to join forces and surround the elder.
In truth, Lin Xiao had ordered the man to fight until he died, both to silence him and to prevent any flaws in the control from being exposed.
A desperate melee would also draw more people over to fight for scraps and muddy the waters.
In no time at all, Lin Xiao reached another site where the ground had exploded.
This one was different again from the previous.
