As the little monk finished speaking, he flicked both hands toward Lin Haoming. The Mother and Son swords shot back at Lin like streaks of lightning.
Lin Haoming slapped his storage bag, and the Tortoise Shell Shield instantly appeared to block his front.
Clang! Clang!
Two massive impacts rocked the shield. Even though Lin was controlling it, the force sent him stumbling back several steps. Looking at the Mother-Son swords, he saw their spiritual light had dimmed significantly; the raw physical power behind the monk's throw had severely damaged the set.
Worse, two small cracks had appeared on his supposedly indestructible Tortoise Shell Shield. To leave marks on a high-grade defensive tool with a mere toss of a medium-grade weapon—that strength far exceeded what a typical Peak Qi Refining cultivator could produce.
Knowing Xie Ruolan was nearby, likely setting up a formation to prevent the monk from escaping with talismans or evasion arts, Lin Haoming's primary goal was to stall. After so many harvests, their cooperation had become instinctive.
"Benefactor, that turtle shell of yours is quite nice. If I crush it into powder, it would make excellent medicinal material. Why not donate it to me?" the monk teased.
Before his voice even trailed off, he blurred, appearing right in front of Lin.
Lin knew he was fast, but not this fast. Fortunately, he had already activated a Stone Armor Talisman. The monk's dual fists slammed into the stone layer covering Lin's body.
The impact sent Lin flying backward. The stone armor didn't shatter completely, but it was webbed with cracks, incapable of taking a second hit. Lin felt his blood and qi churning violently. It was the first time he felt a truly lethal threat from someone who—based on the spiritual fluctuations—was only at the 8th level of Qi Refining.
He didn't hold back anymore. He summoned the Five Elements Swords, letting them circle him to prevent a follow-up strike.
"Hmm? The Five Elements Swords? You're a demonic disciple; how do you have the swords of the Five Elements Ancestor's lineage from Heavenly Sword Mountain?" the monk asked, surprised.
Lin didn't bother explaining. Feeling stifled by the monk's dominance, he pointed at the swords. The five colored lights flared as they transformed into streaks of radiance, slashing toward the monk.
Since these were high-grade tools, the monk didn't dare catch them with his bare hands this time. He pulled a string of prayer beads from his neck. With a flash of yellow light, the beads expanded several times in size. He swung them like a whip.
Ting! Ting! Ting!
The Five Elements Swords were repeatedly batted away. Lin realized the prayer beads were also a high-grade magic tool.
Controlling all five swords at the 9th level of Qi Refining was still exhausting. Lin focused his power on three of them while using the other two as feints. He noticed that while the monk was on the defensive, he wasn't consuming much spiritual power; he was relying almost entirely on his terrifying physical body.
Lin popped two high-grade Qi Recovery Pills to slow his mana depletion. He then performed a hand seal, causing two of the swords to merge into a single, massive eight-foot blade.
"Hah!" Lin roared as the giant sword hacked down.
The monk, seeing the fusion, shouted as well. His body grew a foot taller, his muscles bulging until he looked like a miniature iron tower. He wrapped the prayer beads around his fist like a brass knuckle and punched the descending blade directly.
BOOM!
The giant sword, which carried the power of a Peak Qi Refining strike, was punched away, splitting back into two separate blades in mid-air.
The monk grinned, his handsome face looking excited. "Comfortable! You're much more fun than the last guy. Since you forced me to use my Vajra Body, I'll recite a few extra lines of sutra for your soul. Don't join a demon sect in your next life."
The monk was playing with him. Lin realized the fun was over and the monk was about to go for the kill. Looking at the iron-tower-like figure charging him, Lin felt he had no chance of winning alone. I've stalled him this long, why hasn't Xie Ruolan moved?
The monk swatted away the remaining swords and lunged. Lin, face pale with terror, threw out a Golden Halberd Talisman and turned to flee.
The monk flicked his wrist, shattering the golden halberd with his beads. He caught up to Lin in an instant. "Running now? Too late!"
Suddenly, the terror on Lin Haoming's face vanished, replaced by a thin smile. The monk's heart skipped a beat—he instinctively felt something was wrong.