Chapter 1154 Certain Death
The city gates were now guarded by cultivators from various orthodoxies and only cultivators from these same orthodoxies could freely enter and leave.
On the other hand, other cultivators had to line up in front of the city gates and pay a fee to enter the city.
The rule was jointly set by several powerful factions. Anyone who dared to disobey would be going against these powerful factions!
This caused many of the more common folk cultivators to feel a sense of unfairness.
However, there was no way around it. After all, they had to leave the city to seek out opportunities, and leaving meant having to return.
In the face of such overbearing rules, they could only pinch their noses and suck it up.
In front of the city gates, a full-bearded man bellowed, "Line up properly, hurry up!"
He was an old half-step King expert from the Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain named Lu Heng.
Cultivators like him naturally didn’t enter the Supreme Realm to progress their cultivation. Instead, he served the purpose of helping the sect extort cultivation resources from others.
A gray-robed man lazily sat on the city walls above the gate. Although he looked very young, he exuded a terrifying King stage pressure.
He was a newly-born King expert!
His name was Wu Yuanzhen and he was from the Golden Crow Lineage. He was originally a supreme path expert who was forced to ascend three months ago because he couldn't control his cultivation.
To many people’s surprise, he successfully stepped into the Life Death stage and became a young King expert.
Near Wu Yuanzhen, a woman in green garments scanned the crowd below with a gaze that was as sharp as a blade. Anyone who felt her gaze stiffened and felt an incomparable sensation of suffocation.
The green-clothed woman was also a King expert. She was named Miao Cen, was from the Mysterious Metropolis Sect, and was the junior sister of Fairy Miao Hua who had died at Lin Xun’s hands.
Presently, Miao Cen was a real King expert and possessed a different status from before.
In addition to Wu Yuanzhen and Miao Cen, there were also two men stationed respectively on opposite sides of the city gate.
On the left was a yellow-jacket youngster who was hugging a sword as he leaned against the wall. His expression was cold and indifferent.
His name was Shang Chong, and he was from the Sea Soul Clan.
On the right was a stern-looking man with a tall and muscular figure. His head was currently lowered, fully focused on polishing his blade.
His name was Wang Yuntong and he was from the Moon Worshipper Sect of one of the Hidden Holy Lands. He was originally a supreme path expert and the senior brother of Lie Yunhai, who had died at Lin Xun’s hands.
Both Shang Chong of the Sea Soul Clan and Wang Yuntong of the Moon Worshipper Sect had also advanced to the King stage!
With these four young King experts stationed at the city gates, the cultivators in line could only tremble in fear at such an overwhelming force.
Let alone disobedience, even the thought of resistance didn’t exist within them!
Lin Xun was also in the queue and had already noticed the presence of Wu Yuanzhen, Miao Cen, Shang Chong, and Wang Yuntong earlier.
He was likewise aware of a certain wanted poster hanging above the city gates.
Lin Xun could immediately tell that the figure in the wanted picture was none other than himself!
The wanted notice had clearly been placed there for a long time, and the bounty was three king-grade herbs.
Lin Xun merely glanced at it before withdrawing his gaze.
However, uncontrollable murderous intent surged in his heart.
Evidently, the factions he had once dealt with were no longer able to restrain themselves and were now frantically searching for his whereabouts.
The reason why they were so emboldened was because they now had strong King experts to rely on!
"Enter the city first!"
Lin Xun took a deep breath and suppressed his killing intent.
Burning Immortal Ancient City was covered in natural restriction power that could suppress King experts, making it impossible for them to enter the city.
Why else would the young King experts such as Wu Yuanzhen, Miao Cen, Wang Yuntong, and Shang Chong resign themselves to the undignified job of being stationed here?
"Take out your storage treasure!"
Lin Xun's turn soon arrived. The full-bearded man, Lu Heng, impatiently said, ''Remember, if you dare to hide anything, this place will be your grave!"
With that, he took out a bronze treasure mirror and started sweeping it over Lin Xun to scan him.
It was a special artifact that could unveil any treasures on a cultivator.
Of course, some heaven-defying treasures were naturally impossible to detect such as Lin Xun's Nameless Pagoda and the Omega Door in his mind-sea.
Lu Heng soon put away the bronze treasure mirror.
Meanwhile, Lin Xun also cooperated by taking out the storage ring that he had prepared in advance.
Lu Heng did a brief inspection, but only found a few ordinary aeth materials which caused him to curse, ''What horrible luck, it’s another poor bastard. Hurry up and scram!"
Lin Xun raised his eyebrows, glanced at Lu Heng, and inwardly sentenced the other party to death.
However, this wasn’t the time to bicker. He restrained his emotions and headed straight toward the city gates.
However, a shout suddenly rang out at this moment.
"Wait!"
A figure appeared in front of Lin Xun with a whoosh.
It was a black-robed youth with scarlet-red eyes who exuded a bloody aura.
He seemed excited as if he had found his prey as he let out a shrill hiss, ''Demon God Lin! Quick! This guy is Demon God Lin!"
The youth’s sudden screaming shocked the nearby crowd, causing their hearts to tremble. The four King experts stationed at different locations were also alerted and cast their gazes over.
Upon hearing the contents of the black-robed youth's excited shouting, the atmosphere immediately changed.
Scum of the Black Nightmare Sky Dog Clan!
Meanwhile, Lin Xun’s heart seethed with hatred as he finally guessed the identity of the black-robed youth. How could he possibly tolerate being caught just as he was about to enter the city?
Before the other party’s shout could fully sound out, Lin Xun brazenly struck.
Boom!
The black-robed youth was still caught up in his glee and excitement and could never have anticipated that his neck would be grabbed and twisted in a flash, killing him on the spot.
Lin Xun didn’t skip a beat and rushed towards the city gates while channeling his full power into the Hornless Ice Dragon Step!
"Trying to leave? Absolutely not!"
It had to be acknowledged that the King experts were frighteningly quick to react. When Lin Xun made his move, a figure was already descending from the sky.
It was Wu Yuanzhen of the Golden Crow Lineage. Incomparably dazzling golden light radiated from him as he rushed forward at an inconceivable speed, making it seem as if he was teleporting.
While rushing forward, he reached out his hand and grabbed at Lin Xun from a distance away.
Rumble!
A giant golden hand entwined with blindingly bright King Dao Power coalesced in the air, shattering the surrounding space to pieces.
The remaining cultivators nearby were of zero concern to Wu Yuanzhen. As a result, several innocent cultivators failed to escape in time and were blown up by the dreadful approaching power, creating a rain of blood.
Bang!
Without looking back, Lin Xun executed a full-power Bixi Collision, causing a Bixi phantasm to emerge.
However, the phantasm was unable to put up even the slightest resistance and was instantly smashed to bits by the giant golden hand. The golden hand continued on without any drop in momentum and viciously grabbed at Lin Xun’s back.
Right before he was about to be grabbed, he suddenly glowed brightly and sped forward, narrowly avoiding the hand.
Rumble!
The golden hand slammed into the ground, causing it to shake as alarming cracks spread amidst the rising cloud of dust.
Currently, Lin Xun was less than a hundred feet away from the city gate.
It was a distance that he could usually cross in an instant.
At this moment, however, that hundred feet felt like a tightrope over the valley of death.
Swish!
Black sword qi swept into the air and shot straight toward Lin Xun.
It was from the Mysterious Metropolis Sect's Miao Cen. Moreover, she had beaten Wu Yuanzhen to the punch by making her move the moment Lin Xun narrowly avoided Wu Yuanzhen’s golden hand.
The sword qi was formidable without equal and filled with the dreadful might of a King expert.
It was impossible to defend against without also retreating!
At the same time, Shang Chong of the Sea Soul Clan and Wang Yuntong of the Moon Worshipper Sect also arrived to surround Lin Xun from the rear.
This series of movements was completed in a flash.
The four young King experts displayed their wealth of combat experience and swiftly sealed off this particular area near the city gates.
In contrast, most of the other cultivators haven’t even returned to their senses due to how quickly these events had unfurled.
It was an extremely dangerous situation that spelled certain death!
Any one of these four King experts was more than capable of suppressing all experts below the King stage. Even the supreme heaven prides were powerless against them.
It was because the King stage stood above the five great cultivation stages!
If it was the outside world, Lin Xun could use the Nameless Pagoda, the Dao Immeasurable Bottle, or bring out the Grand Universe Ark to escape.
However, this was the Supreme Realm that restricted Saint Power. Trying to use a Saint Artifact would only quicken his death!
Time seemed to slow down.
The four experts’ expressions were cold, indifferent, and assured of their victory. After all, they had been waiting for this very chance to appear!
Since the chance had arrived, they naturally would not idly watch Lin Xun slip away.
Moreover, they were very confident. As King experts, they were nothing like before. Although they might have been afraid of Lin Xun in the past, he was now a mere bug in their eyes that could be crushed any time they pleased!
At this critical moment where his life was hanging by a thread, Lin Xun made a decision that surpassed everyone's expectations.
Instead of retreating, he sped up to meet the approaching black sword qi!
Shhk!
The sword qi pierced his chest, leaving a string of red in its wake.
Meanwhile, Lin Xun continued to press forward.
Miao Cen, who was blocking him from the front, was caught off guard. Her response, however, wasn’t delayed in the slightest, and she immediately attempted to swing her sword again.
Before she could move, a sharp, stabbing pain attacked her primordial spirit as if it was being hacked by a sharp blade, causing her to feel a wave of dizziness.
Meanwhile, Lin Xun seized the opening and desperately threw himself through the city gates!
Boom!
The attacks of four King experts bombarded the area in front of the city gates, creating a scene of devastation akin to natural disasters such as tsunamis and landslides. A thick haze rose amidst rippling light as terrifying shockwaves unfurled.
If Lin Xun was even a split second slower, he would have met his end right there and then!
Everything had happened far too quickly. It had been a desperate race against time where death loomed at each microsecond. Any other supreme path expert would have unlikely been able to overcome such a predicament in such a manner.
Even Lin Xun was drenched in cold sweat at this moment.