Chapter 291: Chapter 239: How Come It’s Different From What I Imagined

’How is this possible? It’s only been a few days. How did this guy get so much stronger?’ It was hard for Tie Qiu Heng to accept that his enemy had grown so much stronger, but it didn’t shake his determination to get revenge on Lin Li.

"My two brothers, I’ll need your help. Help me take this guy down, quickly."

Tie Qiu Heng knew he couldn’t take down Lin Li on his own, so he immediately asked Liu Ke and Wang Tao for help.

"Alright, we’ll help you." Liu Ke and Wang Tao nodded, then took two objects wrapped in black cloth from their backs.

Once the black cloth was unwrapped, two weapons came into view.

Liu Ke held a scimitar, and Wang Tao a short axe.

"Kill! Let’s get him together and finish him off!" Liu Ke said, scimitar in hand, and was the first to charge toward Lin Li.

Seeing this, Tie Qiu Heng and Wang Tao also followed.

The battle was joined in an instant.

Spiritual Energy waves radiated from the three men—two were at the Second Order Middle Stage, and one was at the Second Order Initial Stage.

Lin Li watched as the three burly men, ferocious as tigers, charged him, their bodies radiating Spiritual Energy waves in an attempt to suppress him.

He didn’t panic. Instead, he watched them with calm composure, ready to deliver a devastating blow at any moment.

Suddenly, a Spiritual Light flared in the right eye of Liu Ke, who was at the front. Then, a pale golden beam shot out from his eye, heading straight for Lin Li’s chest.

’What is that? A laser?!!!’

The thought flashed through Lin Li’s mind as he saw the pale golden beam shoot from Liu Ke’s right eye.

He instinctively tried to dodge, but the distance was too short. His reflexes were fast, but the pale golden beam was not slow either, and he couldn’t evade it in time.

In the end, the pale golden beam from Liu Ke’s eye struck Lin Li’s body.

When Liu Ke and his companions saw Lin Li get hit by the pale golden beam, expressions of victory immediately appeared on their faces, as if the battle was over and everything was settled.

Liu Ke’s Superpower could put people to sleep. Anyone with a lower cultivation level than him, if hit by his Superpower, would soon be overwhelmed by drowsiness and pass out.

As for Cultivators at his level, while they wouldn’t fall asleep immediately, the Superpower’s influence would still cause drowsiness to well up, sapping the strength from their limbs.

In the minds of Tie Qiu Heng and his two companions, Lin Li was a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator. So, upon seeing him hit by the pale golden beam from Liu Ke, they naturally assumed he would be affected by the Superpower and unable to unleash his full strength.

With his strength severely compromised and being ganged up on by three people, there could be no other outcome but death.

CLANG.

A Spiritual Longsword, glowing with a pale golden Spiritual Light, blocked the scimitar that the charging Liu Ke swung down in a slash.

The reverberation from the metal impact spread outwards. One could faintly see sparks fly from the point where the two weapons collided.

BANG.

Fist met palm.

Liu Ke stumbled back six or seven steps and shook his numb palm. He stared at Lin Li, who was holding the Spiritual Longsword, his eyes widening in disbelief as he exclaimed, "You even awakened a Storage Space Superpower? You’re a Dual Superpower Cultivator!!!"

One moment, his hands were empty; the next, a weapon had appeared in his grasp out of thin air.

For that to happen, there were only two possibilities: either he was carrying a Storage Spiritual Artifact, or he had awakened a Storage Space Superpower. There was no third option.

And since everyone could see that Lin Li wasn’t wearing any such artifacts, the possibility of a Storage Spiritual Artifact was naturally ruled out.

Tie Qiu Heng, who was filled with hatred for Lin Li, never expected his enemy to be a Cultivator who had awakened two Superpowers.

For a moment, he was overcome with jealousy.

’So young, yet already a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator, stronger than me, and with two awakened Superpowers on top of that.’

’It was easy to imagine that if he was allowed to keep growing, his future would be limitless.’

’I have to destroy him. I can’t let him keep getting stronger.’

Sharing the same thought as Tie Qiu Heng, Liu Ke and Wang Tao joined forces once more and charged at Lin Li in unison.

But they had just taken a single step when they stopped dead in their tracks, perfectly in sync.

A Spiritual Energy wave, far more powerful than all three of theirs combined, erupted from Lin Li.

Perceiving this powerful Spiritual Energy wave, the three men—Liu Ke included—froze. Their eyes widened, their mouths fell open, and they stared at Lin Li, shocked beyond belief.

’Second Order High Rank. That’s the Spiritual Energy wave of a Second Order High Rank Cultivator.’

’How can this be? Wasn’t this guy a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator?’

After sensing the Second Order High Rank Spiritual Energy wave radiating from Lin Li, Liu Ke and Wang Tao whipped their heads around to look at Tie Qiu Heng, who was standing motionless, staring blankly, completely dumbfounded.

"Didn’t you say he was a Second Order Middle Stage Cultivator? So why is he now emitting the Spiritual Energy wave of a Second Order High Rank?

You motherfucker, are you trying to get us killed?!" Liu Ke and Wang Tao demanded, their faces twisted in fury.

Faced with the furious Liu Ke and Wang Tao, Tie Qiu Heng’s expression remained dazed. He could only be heard muttering to himself.

"The last time we fought, he was at the Second Order Middle Stage! He... he deliberately hid his strength. He was a Second Order High Rank Cultivator all along. He wasn’t using his full power last time."

’This is bad, we have to retreat. Tonight’s plan to board the ship can’t be carried out anymore.’

The instant he realized Lin Li was a Second Order High Rank Cultivator, the thought of retreating surfaced in Liu Ke’s mind.

’But how can we possibly retreat now? He’ll never let us get away unharmed.’

’An ordinary Second Order High Rank Cultivator taking on three Second Order Middle Stage opponents at once was standard practice.’

’But this enemy was a Second Order High Rank Cultivator who had awakened two Superpowers, putting him among the elites of his rank.’

’Dealing with a combination like theirs—two at the Second Order Middle Stage and one at the Second Order Initial Stage—would be effortless for someone like him. He could defeat them easily.’

"So he’s a Second Order High Rank Cultivator. No wonder he didn’t have any negative reaction to Liu Ke’s sleep-inducing Superpower," Wang Tao muttered to himself, watching the unfazed Lin Li.

"Retreat! We can’t fight him any longer..." Liu Ke yelled. The other two heard him and were about to turn and run, but they were stopped in their tracks, frozen by what happened next.

Just as Liu Ke shouted for his companions to flee, they saw the Spiritual Longsword in Lin Li’s hand vanish. In its place, a small, orange-red Fireball appeared in his right palm.

Then, the small Fireball instantly changed shape, covering his hand like a glove. He then shot toward Liu Ke, his speed so great that he appeared before him in the blink of an eye.

’Damn it! How is he so fast?’

Faced with the enemy who had closed the distance in an instant, Liu Ke saw a fist wreathed in flames swinging toward him.

He hurriedly raised his arms, crossing them in front of his body to protect his vital areas.

The next moment, the flaming fist slammed into Liu Ke’s right arm.

In that instant, Liu Ke felt as if he had been hit head-on by a cargo-laden panel van speeding down the highway.

An excruciating pain shot through his right arm. The Spiritual Artifact scimitar he was holding clattered to the ground as his body was sent flying backward uncontrollably.

CRASH...!!!

Liu Ke was sent flying more than ten meters before he slammed into a roadside tree, bounced off, and fell onto the stone-paved road.

The lush, leafy roadside tree shook violently from the force of Liu Ke’s impact, and countless leaves rained down from its branches.

Fortunately, the tree he hit was not a newly planted sapling; these trees had been growing for many years and their trunks were quite thick and sturdy.

Otherwise, an impact that forceful from Liu Ke would probably have snapped it in two on the spot.

...

PS: Thank you to "Krius" for the 100-point reward and "dh大海" for the 500-point reward.