"How is this possible!?"
Seeing this sudden, unimaginable scene, Jin Qianbao's pupils couldn't help but contract sharply.
However, before he could react, the large hand covered in reddish-black scales, like a sky-covering demonic claw, had already grabbed towards him.
Before the large hand arrived, flames carrying terrifying high temperatures had already swept over.
He reacted extremely quickly, and instantly, a layer of bright yellow energy shield appeared on his body surface, protecting himself within it, isolating the unbearable scorching high temperature.
At the same time, he tapped his toes on the ground and retreated backward at an extremely fast speed.
He didn't understand why his full-strength attack just now, which he clearly landed solidly on the vital points, not only didn't harm the opponent but instead made them so violent and crazy. Although according to his intelligence, he had long known that the opponent had a secret technique to change their body shape and enhance various aspects of their qualities, it wasn't until he faced the opponent in person that he truly experienced this terrifying pressure of being targeted by an ancient fierce beast.
His figure instantly swept backward several zhang away, avoiding the large hand that was grabbing towards his head.
Although his heart was shaking, he quickly calmed down.
"No matter what's going on with you, even if you've activated the ancestral Bloodline, you'll just be able to jump around for a little longer."
Looking at the massive figure walking towards him, Jin Qianbao let out a cold snort, and the powerful aura belonging to the Divine Form Realm completely erupted.
In his opinion, although the situation was a bit unexpected, it didn't matter. After all, he was just a Bones Transformation Martial Artist. Even with the ancestral Bloodline, it would just take a little more time.
As the protective true energy surged out madly. He no longer suppressed it, and his already muscular body swelled up another circle. Thick layers of keratin appeared on his body, black scales emerged on his cheeks, and his hands and feet expanded and elongated, forming beast-like limbs with scales and claws.
With a cold smile on his face, the ground exploded the next moment, and his body shot towards Lin Sheng like a cannonball.
On his hands and claws, ghastly white nails grew out, flashing with sharp cold light. He grabbed forward, and a sky full of claw shadows immediately enveloped Lin Sheng.
"I heard that the ancestral Bloodline has strong vitality. After holding back for so long, playing with you is fine too..."
Jin Qianbao laughed ferociously, and fierce true energy was already attached to his sharp claws.
Looking at the massive figure in front of him, significantly larger than himself, a wonderful scene of flesh and blood flying seemed to have already appeared before his eyes.
Clang, clang, clang—
The next sound echoing through the sky full of claw shadows was a series of clangs of metal.
A large amount of sparks surged, and Jin Qianbao's eyes widened, revealing a look of disbelief on his face.
He saw his continuous attacks falling, but the opponent simply raised a large hand and blocked them all.
His proud attacks landed on the palm covered with reddish scales, but what emerged was a large amount of sparks.
"Impossible—"
His eyes widened, and he immediately pushed the energy within his body frantically.
Snap!
Suddenly, the reddish large hand pierced through the claw shadows, directly ignoring his attacks, and grabbed his arm.
Jin Qianbao was greatly alarmed and used all his strength to try to break free from the large hand's restraint. However, the large hand holding his arm was as unyielding as if it were cast from fine iron.
Rip...
As a sound of tearing flesh that made one's teeth ache rang out, blood splattered.
Jin Qianbao's face turned pale, and one arm was actually torn off directly.
"How could this be!!?"
A tide of intense pain surged in madly, but Jin Qianbao couldn't care less at this moment.
"Who exactly are you!?"
Taking advantage of this gap, he immediately retreated, staring intently at Lin Sheng, and cried out in horror.
He had no intention of staying at all. As he spoke, his body shot into the bamboo forest at an extremely fast speed.
"You truly disappoint me. As fellow Divine Transformation Realm practitioners, you are far worse than Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjiang..."
Lin Sheng held up the severed arm in his hand and shook his head slightly. Looking at the still slightly trembling severed arm, he exerted a little force, and the severed arm immediately burst open.
"You..."
Hearing this, the furiously fleeing Jin Qianbao's body stiffened. At this moment, he already understood something in his heart, and a look of fear and shock appeared on his face.
"It's you... you killed Zhou City Lord and them..."
Instantly, he fled madly. At this moment, he was utterly terrified, his heart already filled with regret.
Recalling the unusual behavior of Lan Man and others when he deliberately inquired about Zhou Xingwen and the other person earlier.
And the organization's extremely generous treatment of Lin Sheng before his eyes.
"So there really weren't any other Blazing Star Envoys present. This child caused everything."
"I must report this matter to Commander Lu and the Special Envoy!!"
This thought flashed through his mind, and he fled even more desperately.
Rumble—
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet vibrated violently and rolled, causing his fleeing movement to halt. He was almost swallowed by the ground, but fortunately, he reacted extremely quickly, tapping his toes on the ground, and his body leaped directly into the air, true energy surging, allowing him to float.
However, just as he let out a sigh of relief, a muffled, suppressed, violent roar came from behind him, causing his entire body to freeze and his consciousness to blur, his heart filled with fear.
He immediately bit down on his teeth, and his consciousness quickly recovered.
However, the moment he recovered, the hairs on his body stood on end, and he felt a bone-chilling coldness surge throughout his entire body.
Jin Qianbao instantly pushed his protective true energy to the extreme. At the same time, a large hand had reached out from behind him, grabbing towards his head.
That large hand was almost half the size of his body, carrying a terrifying sense of savagery.
He subconsciously raised his only remaining arm to protect his face, only to hear a muffled bang.
The large hand landed squarely on his body, and Jin Qianbao's body was sent flying backward in mid-air, smashing countless green bamboos. Amidst the flying fragments, he landed heavily on the ground. The terrifying impact force caused deep cracks to appear on the ground, spreading out several dozen zhang away.
Within a radius of ten zhang, the green bamboos and crushed stones were instantly turned into powder. A large amount of dust filled the air and shot out, as if a mass of gray thick fog had risen in the bamboo forest.
However, as heavy footsteps sounded from outside the thick fog, large areas of dust were blown away, revealing the large pit beneath the dust.
In the deep pit, a strong smell of blood drifted.
A broken, unrecognizable figure lay on the ground, their protective true energy gone. Their clothes were already torn, and the hard keratin that had been attached to their body surface was almost completely shattered, with only a little remaining on the lower body.
At this moment, Jin Qianbao's appearance was utterly miserable.
His sturdy and strong physique was sprawled on the ground like a puddle of mud.
Both arms were gone, and even one side of his body was burst open, revealing the minced flesh and internal organs within. Even a third of his head was gone, and sticky blood and pulp mixed with the dirt, making for an indescribably tragic sight.
"As a God-Form martial artist, you've been hidden in Dark Star for so long. Are you someone from the Imperial Court?"
Lin Sheng took large strides and walked in front of him.
But after seeing Jin Qianbao's appearance at this moment, his brows furrowed slightly.
He grabbed him from the ground in one go, only to find that the other party had already lost all signs of life.
"Trash!"
Seeing this scene, a look of violence appeared on Lin Sheng's face. The scales on his reddish-black large hand bulged, and with a bang, he directly crushed the ruined body.
He originally thought that as a God-Form martial artist, even if his strength couldn't compare to Zhou Xingwen or He Lanjiang, he wouldn't be too bad. Furthermore, he was worried that the opponent might run away or have some tricks, so he didn't hold back, only wanting to cripple him and then question him. He didn't expect the opponent to be so fragile.
It seems this guy must have just broken through to Divine Transformation Realm not long ago. Lin Sheng let out a breath, and his massive body quickly returned to normal.
Although Jin Qianbao was a God-Form martial artist, he was definitely the weakest Divine Transformation Realm practitioner Lin Sheng had ever seen.
Ignoring these matters, his figure flashed, and he had already arrived by the stream in the bamboo forest.
He found Huang Quan who was already lying on the ground, constantly twisting.
He immediately went forward to help him up and simultaneously used the Three Corpse Soul Severing Palm to remove the toxins from his body.
Without the toxin's paralysis, Huang Quan had basically recovered his ability to move. Although there was still some residual energy within his body, it wouldn't take long to completely remove it.
He wasn't in a hurry to do so, but instead looked at Lin Sheng anxiously.
"Lin Sheng, are you alright? Where is that traitor Jin Qianbao!?"
When he was restrained just now, he was both shocked and anxious, worried that Lin Sheng had fallen into the opponent's trap. Fortunately, it seemed the worst-case scenario hadn't happened, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Dead, I killed him."
Lin Sheng said slowly.
"D-dead!?"
Hearing this, Huang Quan was stunned.
"If I'm not mistaken, that traitor's strength seemed to be..."
"Yes, he was indeed a God-Form martial artist." Lin Sheng nodded and continued, "Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjiang were also killed by me."
"Oh." Huang Quan nodded, but soon, as if just realizing, his eyes widened, and he stared intently at Lin Sheng.
"Zhou Xingwen and the others... you killed them!?"
"That's right." Lin Sheng nodded.
He still trusted Huang Quan quite a bit, so there was naturally no need to hide anything.
"So that's it. I knew something felt off... No wonder Shen Jun has never taken disciples before. How could he have reacted this time? So that's the reason."
Huang Quan looked at Lin Sheng with a somewhat complex expression, suddenly realizing.
He finally understood why Lin Sheng was directly promoted to Blazing Star Envoy.
Killing two God-Form martial artists while in the Bone Transformation Realm, and having just entered Bones Transformation at that, was something he had never seen or even heard of before.
"I didn't expect this guy Jin Qianbao to be a traitor. He's been in the organization for so many years, and he even saved my life back then..."
He suddenly thought of Jin Qianbao, and a hint of desolation appeared on his face.
It was not difficult to see that his relationship with Jin Qianbao was quite good.
"Since he's a spy for the Imperial Court, his sudden move this time probably means he doesn't plan to hide anymore." Lin Sheng suddenly said.
This Jin Qianbao was considered a middle-level figure in Dark Star, and especially in Tiannan Prefecture, he could even be considered high-level. There must be a reason for him suddenly making a move and no longer hiding.
Lin Sheng's words immediately made Huang Quan's expression change, thinking of the letter he had seen earlier.
"Not good, there's a big change at the new base..."
Huang Quan's expression became somewhat grim.
"Also, regarding Lan Man and the others ahead, if Jin Qianbao is a traitor, then the plan to encircle and kill this time has probably already been leaked..."
Hearing this, Lin Sheng's expression also changed slightly.
Since he killed Zhou Xingwen and He Lanjiang, there hadn't been much movement from the Imperial Court. During this time, he had basically been immersed in cultivation, and external matters were naturally handled by Lan Man and Qi Ning.
Now it seems that the Imperial Court, or rather, the Special Envoy of Tianhong Pavilion, had no intention of letting the matter go, but had been waiting, waiting for Qi Ning and others to deliver themselves.
Thinking of this, Lin Sheng clenched his hands and his gaze fell on Huang Quan.
"Where is the new base?"
"It's in Yan County. I'll take you there."
Huang Quan understood this point clearly now. He immediately got up and led the way out of the bamboo forest.
However, the energy within his body had not yet been removed, and he could only exert less than thirty percent of his strength. His speed was far less than before.
Lin Sheng simply grabbed him in his hand. Following the direction he pointed, his figure turned into a blur and quickly disappeared into the bamboo forest.
...
Gancao Town, five hundred li west of Yan County County Town.
As the largest town among the several towns under Yan County's jurisdiction, Gancao Town had a large population, numbering over a hundred thousand. Because of its location on the border of the County Town and its connection to two other counties, it was usually bustling with traffic, and many merchant caravans passed through.
But outside the town at this moment, a team of over a dozen riders was approaching rapidly.
The soldiers stationed outside the town saw this scene and were about to shout a reprimand.
Then, a silver badge flew into their hands. The moment they saw the badge clearly, the soldiers' expressions changed, and they immediately made way.
The dozen or so riders plunged directly into the town, paying no mind to the pedestrians and vendors on the street.
Some who couldn't dodge in time were directly knocked flying, looking miserable. Soon, on the bustling long street, everyone avoided them like snakes and scorpions, hiding on the sides, watching the departing cavalry in fear.
The dozen or so riders were extremely fast and soon arrived in front of a somewhat dilapidated residence in a corner of the town.
In front of the dilapidated residence, two burly men were sweeping the fallen leaves. Seeing this scene, their expressions changed. Just as they were about to shout, a strong wind struck, a cold light flashed, and the two were already decapitated.
The dozen or so riders leaped down and entered the residence.
Each person was dressed in dark clothes, with a Silver Badge at their waist. They were indeed over a dozen Silver Badge Constables. Each of them exuded a powerful aura, and surprisingly, they were all masters at the Late Stage of Bones Transformation.
"The Lord's intention is to capture them alive and bring them back if possible. Do you all understand what to do?"
The leading constable's expression was cold and stern. Looking at the figures rushing out from the residence, he spoke indifferently.
"Understood."
The dozen or so people behind him immediately responded.
"Imperial Court's lackeys, not good, we've been exposed."
In the residence, figures clashed. Seeing these uninvited guests, they were all shocked and cried out in alarm.
Many of these people also had powerful auras, exuding the might of Bones Transformation martial artists. Clearly, their strength was not weak.
"Follow me and block them. Let the others evacuate first."
The strongest among the group, an old-looking Hidden Star Envoy at the Late Stage of Bones Transformation, let out a low shout and was the first to charge into the courtyard.
However, not long after charging out, his face turned red, his movement paused, and he opened his mouth to spit out a mouthful of blood.
The few Hidden Star Envoys following behind him also had flushed faces, blood flowing from the corners of their mouths, and their auras rapidly weakened.
"Not good, it's Heart-Eating Powder! There's a traitor!?"
The old Hidden Star Envoy barely managed to control his body and land on the ground, his expression extremely grim.
Bang, bang...
At this moment, two muffled groans came from among the few Hidden Star Envoys behind him. A strong middle-aged man quickly made a move, sending the two Hidden Star Envoys beside him flying backward.
"Hua Long... you are the traitor!!"