The Legend of the Netherworld

Chapter 176 Fishing Begins

Deep in the forest of the plain area, a cultivator at the seventh level of Jiayin was walking leisurely, like a traveler who came to collect folk songs.

His aura was out of tune with the surrounding environment - this place was constantly filled with life and death battles, but he seemed to be out of the world, not caring about this war-torn world at all.

Lin Xiao, as the bait in this "fishing operation", already had a plan in mind.

He pretended to be relaxed and walked to a small river beside the forest. He strolled leisurely along the river path, enjoying the birdsong and flowers on the shore.

However, suddenly, the sound of footsteps broke the silence around him. Lin Xiao raised his brows slightly and immediately realized that someone was approaching from behind.

The footsteps were quick and hurried, and the sound of stepping on dead leaves seemed to echo in the forest, only two meters away from him.

Apparently, the first fish has been hooked.

Lin Xiao's heart moved, he smiled slightly, and continued to walk forward, seemingly unaware of the danger behind him, his steps still calm and unhurried.

"call out!"

A sound of breaking through the air suddenly rang out, followed by a lightning-like axe shadow that smashed towards Lin Xiao.

He quickly dodged sideways, avoiding the attack with his swift movements, then rolled backwards, creating distance between himself and the attacker.

At the same time, the long sword in Lin Xiao's hand instantly condensed, and his aura became murderous.

The attacker was tall, muscular, with a dark beard, a fat head and big ears, looking like a vulgar person in real life.

At this moment, he looked at Lin Xiao with disdain, a sneer on his lips: "I didn't expect that you, who are at the Jiayin Seventh Realm, would have such skills. I'm afraid it's your misfortune to meet me today."

"Really?" Lin Xiao raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and counterattacked lightly, "I think your strength is not enough."

He did not rush to escape, but instead deliberately provoked the other party, hoping to make the other party let down their guard and fall into his trap.

A trace of anger flashed in the bearded man's eyes, and he roared, "You're looking for death!"

Before he finished speaking, he swung his two axes, making a deafening roar. The axes were like a tiger descending from the mountain, chopping towards Lin Xiao with the force of thunder.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao used the "Bagua Sword Formation" without hesitation.

A sword formation quickly unfolded in front of him, but he only used 50% of his strength, obviously wanting to make the acting more realistic.

"bump!"

A huge crashing sound resounded throughout the area, and the collision between the sword formation and the double axes instantly erupted in a strong energy fluctuation.

The sword formation shattered in an instant, and Lin Xiao was knocked back several meters by the huge impact force. He staggered to steady his body, his face changing slightly. It was obvious that this attack made him feel a lot of pressure.

"Not good!" Lin Xiao's heart trembled, knowing that he had performed perfectly.

He waved his hand quickly, and a golden wheel flew out like a gust of wind. Then he used his body skills to retreat quickly.

The bearded man looked at the golden wheel coming towards him and smiled contemptuously. He simply swung the two axes in his hands and knocked the golden wheel away.

Then he roared, "Want to run? No way!"

After saying that, he stepped forward and chased after him, as fast as a tiger pouncing on its prey, unstoppable.

In the dense forest, Lin Xiao and the bearded man engaged in a fierce chase.

There were several dangerous situations. Just as the bearded man's double axes were about to hit Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao cleverly turned and quickly avoided every fatal attack.

He stepped back and shot out a dagger swiftly, forcing the bearded man to quickly dodge sideways, and the two sides once again distanced themselves from each other.

This kind of chase is nothing new in the forest. After all, no monk can kill the other in one blow.

Lin Xiao understood that as long as he could lure the enemy to the planned location, he would have the opportunity to counterattack.

Finally, after a quick walk, Lin Xiao arrived at the empty abandoned riverbed.

He stopped and turned to face the approaching bearded man. His face was stern and confident, without a trace of panic.

Seeing this, the bearded man immediately became alert and looked around.

Suddenly noticing Lin Xiao's calmness and the empty space around him, he felt a little uneasy - his years of experience in the martial arts world told him that there was an ambush here!

"Good boy, so you were planning to lure me into a trap!" A hint of anger flashed in the bearded man's eyes, and then he started to run away. "Grandpa, goodbye!"

He suddenly turned around and threw out his two axes to block Lin Xiao's pursuit, while he planned to evacuate quickly.

"He wants to run away!" Lin Xiao's eyes lit up, he immediately realized the enemy's intention, and hurriedly reminded Qi Yebai in the dark.

"The Art of Eternal Tribulations!" Qi Yebai's voice rang in Lin Xiao's ears, followed by the sudden roar of thunder and lightning.

Qi Yebai had already formed seals and cast spells in the dark, and lightning poured down like a rainstorm, instantly enveloping the bearded man in a minefield.

Boom——

A huge thunder resounded through the sky, and then lightning poured down like a tide, frequently bombarding the bearded man's body.

At first, he relied on his hard body to resist desperately, trying to use his tenacious will to withstand the waves of lightning attacks like a storm.

With a hoarse roar, his arms broke like fragile dead branches under the bombardment of thunder and lightning, and he collapsed to the ground in an instant.

"You can't afford to play tricks on me, so you play dirty!" The bearded man shouted in pain, his voice full of resentment and unwillingness.

However, the thunder and lightning did not stop, and the continuous bombardment made it impossible for his words to convey more anger.

Every bolt of lightning charred his body, and finally, he was completely torn apart by the lightning into a pile of charred corpses.

It was quite easy for Qi Yebai, who was at the Dingsi second level, to deal with a Jiachen first level person, especially since he had arranged the formation in advance.

As the minefield gradually dissipated, Qi Yebai and Lin Xiao walked to the charred corpse and began to search for the remaining items.

Lin Xiao looked at the wreckage on the ground with interest, squatted down and began to search.

After a while, Qi Yebai found some items from the corpse - a bottle of poison, a few pieces of broken fairy jade, and some dry food.

As he sorted them out, he said to Lin Xiao, "That's all. It seems he has run out of pills."

"Is that all?" Lin Xiao raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming a little disappointed. He then started to search the corpse himself, but apart from the items mentioned by Qi Yebai, he did not find anything new.

"Alright, there's nothing good left." Lin Xiao sighed softly, "Put these away and continue setting up the formation. I'll go and lure some more people over."

He thought to himself, "Although these spoils aren't much, killing a Jiachen First Realm cultivator so easily is still a considerable gain. As for killing a Jiachen First Realm cultivator alone, it would cost a lot."

Qi Yebai nodded in agreement and began to set up the next formation.

Lin Xiao quickly left, preparing to lure other cultivators into the trap again.

...

Time flew by, until evening, when Lin Xiao took action again and successfully attracted three contestants - two Dingsi first-level cultivators and one Jiachen second-level cultivator.

Although the cultivator in the Jiachen Second Realm was more difficult to deal with than the previous opponent, he was still killed with the cooperation of Lin Xiao and Qi Yebai.

This time, the spoils were much richer than before—ten immortal jades, three bottles of poison, four medicinal pills (two Qi-boosting pills and two blood-nourishing pills), and some dry food. Every single item was incredibly valuable.

As the sky gradually darkened, Qi Yebai finally used his secret technique to hollow out a giant tree and dug out a hole inside the trunk that was large enough to accommodate five people.

Then, he cleverly made a door out of tree bark. The door fit perfectly with the tree hole, and from a distance, there was almost no flaw to be seen.

If you don't get close, no one will discover this hidden secret.

The two men entered the tree hole, gently closed the tree door, and after eating some dry food in the dim light, they began today's "loot division meeting."

This time the division of the spoils was very simple, because all the gains were in even numbers: two bottles of poison, two pills, and an equal share of fairy jade.

As for dry food, apparently no one cared about these scattered items, so they were not distributed.

Qi Yebai and Lin Xiao were present during the body search and did not hide anything from each other. All the spoils were obvious and there was no dispute at all.

After the "loot-sharing meeting" ended.

Lin Xiao was curious and couldn't help but ask, "Qi Yebai, why did you come to participate in this brave trial? You don't look like one of those old men and women who don't have much time left."

Qi Yebai put down the items in his hand, his face serious, his eyes revealing a hint of determination: "In order to improve my strength, in order to make those who once looked down on me look at me with new eyes in the future. Tianshu Academy is the place where I can improve myself the fastest. If I can't enter Tianshu Academy, what's the difference between that and death?"

Lin Xiao couldn't help but be a little surprised when he heard Qi Yebai's straightforward words.

"What about you?" Qi Yebai asked back, as if expecting Lin Xiao's answer.

Lin Xiao didn't hesitate at all and answered frankly, "My reason is similar to yours. I also want to improve my strength. But I also have a promise - I promised a girl that I would practice with her at Tianshu Academy."

"Girl!" Qi Yebai pondered for a moment, repeating the word softly. His gaze unconsciously fell on Lin Xiao, as if trying to find more clues. "Are you from a noble family, or a branch of a family?"

Lin Xiao was stunned, then asked doubtfully: "But why do you ask that?"

"Tianshu Academy only recruits children of wealthy and noble families every year, or those who are recommended by prestigious and reputable people have the opportunity to enter Tianshu Academy. There are only five places reserved for ordinary clans and sects. Only the five people who participate in this brave trial and survive can enter Tianshu Academy." Qi Yebai explained.

It turned out that he thought I was a branch of a wealthy family through the girl I just mentioned, and that the wealthy girl relied on her family's prestige to enter Tianshu Academy. Then, I, a branch of the family, fell in love with the girl and was willing to be with her at all costs, just to enter the same academy with her... Lin Xiao guessed what he was thinking in his heart and couldn't help but complain about the bloody plot.

He pondered for a moment, then explained calmly, "I'm not what you think. She and I both come from an ordinary sect—the Feng Shui Academy. Our academy unexpectedly received a place at the Tianshu Academy, and I promised her that I would enter the Tianshu Academy with her."

After hearing this, Qi Yebai frowned slightly, seeming a little disappointed, but he still expressed his sincere admiration: "I see, your Feng Shui Academy is really amazing, you can actually get a place in Tianshu Academy!"

"This...it's a long story, I can't elaborate." Lin Xiao waved his hand gently, then asked, "What about you? Where are you from?"

Qi Yebai's eyes flickered slightly when he heard this, but he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gently waved his hand and closed his eyes: "It's getting late, let's not talk anymore."

He seemed to have entered a state of meditation, and his body gradually relaxed.

Seeing that he was unwilling to talk more, Lin Xiao did not ask any more questions. After all, everyone has secrets that they don't want to touch upon.

However, Lin Xiao couldn't help but wonder: Why didn't he ask me how, as a cultivator in the Jiayin Seventh Realm, I could survive until the second day of this trial? I had already prepared several excuses for this question, but Qi Yebai was obviously not interested in asking.

So, Lin Xiao also closed his eyes silently and began to practice "The Art of the Boundless Sea of ​​Heart".

During the practice, he gradually let go of distracting thoughts, calmed his mind, restored his energy, and accumulated strength for the next action.

-

At the same time, Lin Jiao was on a mountain peak in the paradise. The surrounding mountains were shrouded in clouds and mist, like a fairyland.

She closed her eyes and meditated, quietly absorbing the rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth around her, preparing to break through from the first level of Ding Si to the second level of Ding Si.

Her expression was focused, as if she had merged with the world, allowing the spiritual energy to flow into her body, driving her cultivation to steadily improve.

……

In the early morning, the sun shines on the earth, and the sounds of birdsong and wind are intertwined.

Lin Xiao and Qi Yebai were not in a hurry to act. Their tree hole was hidden very secretly. Since no one had discovered them for the time being, the two remained silent and waited for the opportunity.

The fighting last night became more intense, and the endless conflicts and fights filled the air with a tense atmosphere.

Those who can survive to the third day must be tough guys. It was dark, so Lin Xiao and Qi Yebai were not in a hurry to attack.

After eating some simple dry food, the two quietly left the tree hole and carefully hid it again.

Today is the day when the "fishing operation" begins.

Just like yesterday, Lin Xiao acted as bait, walking leisurely in the forest, his steps calm and natural, as if he was on a peaceful journey.

There was silence all around, with only the occasional bird calls, making one feel as if they were in a paradise.

Lin Xiao even walked to a clear pond, stopped, and planned to taste the sweetness of the water.

However, just as he lowered his head, ripples suddenly appeared on the water, and then a lifelike water dragon rose from the water.

Behind him, a huge tiger appeared, with cold eyes and a fierce aura.

"Oh no, two people in the Ding Si Second Realm!" Lin Xiao's heart trembled, his eyes tightened slightly, and he whispered to himself.

He knew that these two enemies had not come easily. If he could lure them to the riverbed and cooperate with Qi Yebai, it would be much easier to deal with them.