You… How is this possible?! Who are you?!!
Outside the fortress, within the Giant Wood Formation.
Steve stared in disbelief at the massive figure in his line of sight, and the puddle of bloody paste on the ground that bore no resemblance to a human form.
He had originally come to watch a good show, having confirmed that no Grandmaster-level experts from the Crimson Feather Army had appeared this time.
But in the blink of an eye, Gongsun Changhai had died tragically before him.
And he was killed by a single palm strike from a young man who had just entered the Divine Form Realm.
He felt as if he were dreaming, but the scent of blood permeating the air constantly reminded him of how real it was.
Bang!
Before he could think further, he saw the massive, god-like figure in his line of sight vanish from its original spot in an instant. At the same time, Steve felt the hairs on his entire body stand on end.
Without hesitation, tree vines emerged from his back, and he scurried backward at high speed like a giant spider.
Although his strength was above Gongsun Changhai's, he knew in his heart that he had absolutely no chance of winning against the massive figure that could kill the other party with a single palm strike.
So at this moment, he had only one thought: to run.
As long as he could escape and notify his superiors, someone would naturally come to handle it.
However, imagination is often beautiful, but reality is frequently unsatisfactory.
Although his reaction was extremely fast, Lin Sheng's speed was clearly beyond his imagination. Before he had taken a few steps, a deadly threat already came from behind him.
“Thousand Wood Barrier!”
Steve's expression changed, and he immediately let out a low growl. A large number of thick tree vines grew from his back, forming a heavy shield to block behind him.
At the same time, a crimson-black hand had already smashed down from the sky.
Bang!
With a muffled bang, Steve's body flew backward like a broken sack, landing near the edge of the Formation.
“Hmm?”
Lin Sheng's golden eyes, however, showed a hint of surprise. The moment his palm touched the opponent, he felt that more than half of the force in his hand was diverted and dissipated in a strange way.
It was like punching cotton.
“Three Essences?”
Instantly, Lin Sheng thought of the skill Realm he had encountered at the Seven Forms Sect.
That feeling just now was quite similar to this skill Realm, and it seemed even more Advanced.
“Interesting.”
Lin Sheng grinned, looking at Steve, who was barely able to control his body a hundred meters away, a look of excitement on his face.
If he was as fragile as that Gongsun Changhai, it would be too boring.
With that thought, he bent his knees slightly, and as the ground beneath his feet collapsed, his body shot forward again like a cannonball.
At this moment, Steve had just stabilized himself, feeling a surge of Qi and blood in his internal organs, and a slight sweetness at the back of his throat.
His heart was greatly shaken. He knew that the Spiritual Light method he had learned was inherently biased towards defense and resisting enemies.
He was extremely skilled at dealing with such strength-type opponents.
Yet, even so, he had just dissipated more than 70% of the opponent's strength, and the Myriad Wood Barrier he had condensed still collapsed under the overwhelming pressure, even causing him internal injuries.
“How much strength does this monster possess?”
Looking at the massive figure rushing towards him again, his eyes were filled with terror.
He quickly formed a strange hand seal with both hands.
“Myriad Tree Splendor!”
As a large number of tree vines emerged from behind him, in the next instant, human faces filled with malevolence drilled out from the vines, staring intently at Lin Sheng and letting out sharp roars.
The ground beneath Lin Sheng's feet cracked open, and countless thick tree vines emerged from it, sweeping upwards at an extremely fast speed, firmly binding Lin Sheng.
At the same time, the surrounding giant wood Formation also began to change. Giant trees, as thick as a man's embrace, crashed down towards Lin Sheng as if the sky were falling.
In just an instant, Lin Sheng's massive figure was submerged by countless giant tree vines.
What appeared before their eyes was like a vast sea of trees, and no trace of Lin Sheng could be seen anymore.
“General!!”
On the other side of the edge, Meng Lie's heart skipped a beat when he saw this scene, and he cried out in alarm.
He wanted to go forward, but a few scattered vines seemed to notice his presence and had already begun to entangle him, keeping him busy.
“Hoo…”
Steve, at this moment, let out a long sigh of relief.
“Fortunately, there was Your Highness's Ghost Vine, otherwise, this time, I really would have capsized in the gutter.”
Looking at the continuously surging ghost-faced vines in his line of sight, a cruel smile appeared on his face.
These ghost-faced vines were not ordinary. They possessed extremely strong devouring abilities. Even Yao Beasts known for their defense could not withstand their bites.
In less than an hour, not even a skeleton would remain.
“It's just a pity to waste this Ghost Vine.”
Thinking that he had paid a considerable price to acquire this trump card, only to use it here, he couldn't help but feel a little pained.
“Damn kid, I'm going to kill every single one of you.”
Muttering a curse, his gaze fell on Meng Lie, and he immediately prepared to act.
Tree vines emerged from the ground, surging towards Meng Lie.
Meng Lie, who was already overwhelmed by a few vines, did not notice this at all.
Just as several tree vines were about to pierce through his chest, a ball of crimson-gold flames suddenly appeared, engulfing these tree vines.
Under the scorching flames, these tree vines twisted violently but quickly turned into charred remains.
And it was at this moment, in the sea of vines at the center of the Formation, large swathes of crimson-gold flames rose, burning all the vines to ashes.
A thick, scaled hand pierced through the giant wood, and then a massive figure, engulfed in flames, slowly walked out.
The human-faced vines were still wrapped around his strong body, but under the scorching flames, the human faces were filled with heart-wrenching pain.
They continuously let out sharp, unpleasant wails.
Lin Sheng's palm gripped the vines wrapped around his body. With a slight squeeze, the human-faced vines instantly burst apart.
In just a blink of an eye, only the last of the dense human-faced vines remained, clutched in his hand.
“Such a method is quite rare.”
A hint of curiosity appeared in his golden eyes, but in the next moment, he crushed the last human-faced vine.
“It's just a pity, it's completely useless.”
At this moment, countless giant wood vines around him had already been burned to ashes by the crimson-gold flames.
He took heavy strides towards Steve. With each step, the flames rising from his body grew more intense.
Even from a distance, the terrifying high temperature had already cast a crimson glow on Steve's pale face.
“How could this be?!”
Seeing this scene, Steve's pupils contracted sharply.
The battle, which he had thought was already a sure victory, unexpectedly turned out like this.
He subconsciously retreated a few steps, while at the same time, his hands quickly formed seals again, using the power of the Formation to draw out more giant trees, smashing them towards Lin Sheng, wanting to trap him again.
However, this time, before the giant trees could fall, they were pierced through by black mist giant pythons, turning into illusory bubbles and disappearing.
“Is that all you have?”
Lin Sheng, engulfed in flames, with countless black mist giant pythons circling around him, shook his head slightly, looking at Steve's terrified face.
“How boring…”
As soon as his voice fell, Lin Sheng's figure had already vanished from its original spot.
Seeing that his methods had no effect, Steve's expression changed drastically, while at the same time, he felt a deadly threat rapidly approaching.
This time, the opponent's speed was much faster than before, giving him no chance to react. The large hand, like a sky-covering demon's palm, rapidly grew larger in his line of sight.
At the brink of death, he could no longer care about anything else. Countless thick vines emerged from his back, gathering before him, once again forming a heavy shield.
Bang—
Amidst the earth-shattering explosion, the crimson-black hand collided with the tree vine heavy shield.
The tree vines continuously twisted and deformed, dissipating the terrifying force outwards.
However, the crimson-black hand's momentum did not decrease, still charging forward relentlessly.
Crack, crack, crack…
Amidst the unbearable crisp cracking sounds, the terrifying power, as deep as an abyss and as vast as a sea, finally completely exceeded the giant shield's bearing capacity. A large number of tree vines began to shatter from the top.
“No… No… The Chief won't let go…”
Steve, seeing this scene, his eyes widened to the extreme, and terror filled his entire pale face. He spoke incoherently and frantically.
Unfortunately, before he could finish his words, with a crisp snap, the tree vine heavy shield completely shattered, and the crimson-black hand smashed down. Steve, like Gongsun Changhai, was reduced to a puddle of flesh.
Lin Sheng retracted his palm, looking at the puddle of flesh before him, and couldn't help but frown slightly.
Because he hadn't killed the opponent last time, he had increased his strength again this time, but it was clear that this time the force was too great.
Before he could retract his strength, he had already smashed him into a puddle of flesh.
“It seems I still need to pay attention to my strength.”
Lin Sheng shook his head slightly and sighed. His strength had increased significantly during this period, and coupled with overestimating the opponent, this situation occurred.
His gaze swept over the puddle of flesh. Aside from some fragments, there was nothing substantial.
Even if there was, it would have already been shattered by the Giant Strength.
“What a pity.”
He muttered, and his body began to shrink rapidly, returning to normal in a matter of breaths.
However, his clothes had been torn, revealing his muscular upper body. Only his lower body, which he had deliberately worn loose, remained relatively intact.
“General… General, are you alright?”
Only after Lin Sheng returned to normal did Meng Lie quietly ask, he did not get too close.
The truth was, Lin Sheng's appearance just now was too terrifying and horrifying, beyond his imagination.
Two Grandmaster experts had died right before him, and their deaths were quite gruesome.
And all of this was done by Lin Sheng before him.
Meng Lie felt a bit absurd.
After all, if he remembered correctly, Lin Sheng before him seemed to have just entered the Divine Form Realm a few days ago.
“Newly entered Divine Form Realm, slaying Grandmasters, and two Grandmasters at that?”
Meng Lie felt as if he were dreaming.
He also recalled that in Lin Sheng's scattered words before, it seemed to subtly reveal that this was not the first time he had killed a Grandmaster Martial Artist.
Meng Lie was completely stunned.
Divine Form Realm slaying Grandmasters, no, to be precise, it should be Bones Transformation.
In his hundred years of life, he had never even heard of such a situation, let alone witnessed it.
“Since this operation was an ambush by the enemy, then Xie Kui and others should also be in some trouble. Let's go deal with it now.”
Lin Sheng did not pay attention to Meng Lie's reaction.
Although he had not originally intended to expose his strength, who knew he would encounter Gongsun Changhai and others? But even if it was exposed, it was exposed.
His current strength had once again increased significantly.
The only ones who could pose a threat to him were experts like Three Realms Grandmaster, and looking at the entire world, the number of experts at this level was probably only a handful, not many more than that.
Moreover, he might not even be afraid of a Three Realms Grandmaster. Once the fifth imprint was fully integrated into his body, his strength would still increase significantly.
By then, it was likely that even an ordinary Three Realms Grandmaster would not be his opponent.
To be precise, with his current strength, aside from the unfathomable Supreme Grandmaster level, there was nothing that could make him fear.
So, if it was exposed, then so be it.
At Lin Sheng's instruction, Meng Lie immediately turned back to the island to support the others.
Lin Sheng glanced at the fortress, too lazy to search himself, so he simply unleashed his senses and killed the Divine Form Realm-level high-ranking pirates one by one.
With his addition, the Crimson Feather Army, which had been at a disadvantage due to the ambush, instantly reversed the situation.
In just half an hour, the pirates on the island were either dead or surrendered.
Inside the fortress.
Lin Sheng sat on the main seat.
Meng Lie and Xie Kui stepped in, bowed, and spoke.
“Reporting to the General, this time's extermination of the Obsidian Stone Pirates yielded a great deal, and the total amount of wealth far exceeded the original expectation. This is the ledger, please review it, General.”
Xie Kui respectfully presented the ledger in his hand.
Lin Sheng glanced at the financial situation recorded on it and couldn't help but feel surprised.
The amount of military supplies captured was even greater than what was in the Crimson Feather Army's warehouse, if not more.
They were even more elite. In addition, there were large quantities of various standard weapons and ships from Siro Country.
It should be known that the Crimson Feather Army, cultivated by the imperial family with vast resources, was in terms of military equipment, completely on par with the most elite units in the military department.
It was likely that a considerable portion of these captured military supplies came from the Crimson Feather Army itself.
The two people below obviously also guessed this.
Meng Lie stepped forward and said.
“General, my subordinates have verified that 50% of the troops on the island are indeed military equipment allocated by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue.”
“In addition, it has been confirmed from the few surviving bandits that this island was secretly occupied by Gongsun Changhai and others long before the Obsidian Stone Pirates, and has been secretly operated for many years, and has connections with a certain underground force in Siro Country.”
“Besides that, we also captured a member of the Gongsun family, Gongsun Changyue, who is Gongsun Changhai's cousin.”
“Then bring him back as well.”
Hearing this, Lin Sheng nodded faintly.
It had to be admitted that the Gongsun family's audacity was truly somewhat great.
After all, the Gongsun family was different from forces like the Sea King Sect and the Tianluo Sect; it was truly tied to the imperial family.
Without the imperial family, the Gongsun family would probably not be where it is today.
He didn't expect that at this critical juncture, their secret schemes would be so numerous.
However, his mission for this trip was over, and the rest should be left to His Majesty Jing Emperor to resolve.