Chapter 370: Chapter 71: The Shield of Tao

“Lin Daoyou, be careful…”

“Something is not quite right here.”

Zhang Jian reminded him at that moment.

Lin Jing, of course, also noticed it and carefully approached the formation with full concentration.

Different from what was displayed on the Secret Treasure Formation Plate, what the two of them saw with their own eyes was just a bare stone wall—nothing else.

Lin Jing and Zhang Jian arrived at the unusual spot indicated by the Secret Treasure Formation Plate.

Then, after exchanging a glance, Lin Jing stretched out his hand and grabbed a rock from the ground.

Next, he infused the rock with spiritual power and threw it directly at the area that looked like a stone wall.

After the rock was imbued with spiritual power, it became extremely powerful and fast.

The moment it came in contact with the stone wall, there was no collision; instead, it “whooshed” and disappeared into it.

As expected.

This was indeed a hidden formation.

It must be said that the Secret Treasure Formation Plate in Zhang Jian’s hand was indeed very useful.

This location was clearly a cave that had been concealed, and Lin Jing had scanned it several times with his divine sense without discovering it.

It seems that the level of this hidden formation is also not low.

Just then,

a white figure burst out from within the quiet formation.

This white figure, with his cultivation fully unleashed, charged at Lin Jing as soon as he emerged.

Wasn’t this the white-robed cultivator?

At this time, even the bloodstains on his body had not yet dissipated.

It seems that the white-robed cultivator knew he could no longer hide,

so he chose to spring a surprise attack on Lin Jing in hopes of gaining the upper hand.

However,

since Lin Jing had discovered the anomaly, he naturally raised his guard, preparing for a sudden strike from him.

After all, the white-robed cultivator had the cultivation of the mid-Golden Core stage; if Lin Jing was struck by his counterattack, at the very least, he would be heavily injured.

As the white-robed cultivator charged, Lin Jing also began to move.

With a thought, Lin Jing was immediately enveloped in a layer of golden radiance.

This golden light, a result of cultivating the Overlord Divine Physique, would reduce the power of any spell that landed on Lin Jing.

After the golden light shrouded him, Lin Jing charged directly at the white-robed cultivator.

The white-robed cultivator had also made considerable preparations, knowing that Lin Jing was a body refinement cultivator.

Therefore, he conjured a black shield magical treasure in front of him, which even had formation patterns twinkling with flowing light on it.

Moreover, the Magical Treasure Flying Sword in his hand was flashing with lightning, slashing towards Lin Jing.

Lin Jing, as he charged, gathered the five-colored flowing light and also launched it at the white-robed cultivator.

The fierce battle between the two broke out at that moment.

With a loud “boom,” Lin Jing’s fist smashed onto the shield.

The material of this shield was unknown, and it was of no low grade.

Lin Jing’s fist pounded down, and the formation patterns on the shield rippled out, dissipating all his force, while the shield itself showed no reaction.

This shield was actually so powerful…

After a fruitless strike, Lin Jing was repelled a good distance away.

Because the white-robed cultivator’s emergence was too unexpected,

not only Lin Jing, but also Zhang Jian, who had not fully retreated, were both sent flying a great distance by the aftermath of the sudden battle.

When this wave of attack subsided, Zhang Jian looked towards Lin Jing with a strange expression in his eyes and quickly withdrew further.

However, although Lin Jing had been knocked flying back,

his attack had not stopped, and the five-colored flowing light was already nearing the white-robed cultivator.

Yet, upon seeing the five-colored flowing light,

the white-robed cultivator simply manipulated his shield to block it.

The five-colored flowing light collided with the shield,

but it had no effect at all and just dispersed.

It seems that this shield was indeed not simple.

Seeing that his attack was blocked, the white-robed cultivator immediately rejoiced and planned to continue his assault on Lin Jing.

By now, his lightning-infused Flying Sword had already reached Lin Jing,

and as the sword swung down, it aimed to slash at Lin Jing.

However, Lin Jing reacted promptly and grasped the Flying Sword in his hand.

No matter how hard the Flying Sword struggled, it could not break free.

But the white-robed cultivator, upon seeing this, did not panic at all.

He curled the corners of his mouth, and his eyes, filled with pity, turned towards Lin Jing.

“Explode!”

Following the white-robed cultivator’s loud shout, the Flying Sword actually burst open.

Instantly transforming into a terrifying ball of lightning, it enveloped Lin Jing.

Seeing this, the white-robed cultivator burst into laughter:

“Hahahaha…”

“This self-destructing force of the Thunder-Slaying Sword’s lightning is not something just anyone can withstand.”

“What does it matter if you’re a body refinement cultivator?”

“You’re just a bit tougher, but can you withstand this lightning?”

“Indeed, destiny leaves no one without a path…”

“If it weren’t for your pursuit, I wouldn’t have been able to find this place and acquire this shield magical treasure specifically designed to counter you.”

“It seems all of this is fate’s will, the heavens want you dead, and today you shall certainly perish…”

Having said that, the white-robed cultivator also looked towards Zhang Jian, who had already hidden to one side, with a sinister gaze:

“And you too…”

“After I kill him, I’ll deal with you.”

……

The power of the thunder lasted for quite a few breaths.

After the thunder dissipated, the white-robed cultivator looked towards Lin Jing, who stood in the center.

Lin Jing appeared somewhat disheveled at the moment, with countless wounds all over his body.

Moreover, thin arcs of lightning were emanating from the wounds on Lin Jing’s body.

Apart from the wounds, some of the flesh on Lin Jing’s body had also turned charred black from the bombardment of the thunderous power.

Although Lin Jing looked somewhat miserable, he seemed to have avoided any serious harm.

Even the injuries on his body were only skin deep, without truly damaging his muscles or bones.

Seeing this, the white-robed cultivator pointed at Lin Jing, almost unable to speak.

“You… you…”

“How… how is it possible that you’re… you’re unharmed?”

“Impossible, the self-destructive power of the Thunder-Slaying Sword is supposed to be equivalent to a strike from a Nascent Soul Cultivator, isn’t it?”

“How could you possibly be unharmed?”

The white-robed cultivator wore a face of disbelief.

However, Lin Jing knew what was going on.

He himself was cultivating the Overlord Divine Physique, which was inherently resistant to spell attacks.

Furthermore, this spell attack was of thunderous power.

You should know that when Lin Jing faced his Heavenly Tribulation, he withstood it with his body alone.

After surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, he had absorbed a bit of the tribulation lightning’s power into his body, granting him additional resistance to thunderous attacks.

Lastly, the self-destruction of the Thunder-Slaying Sword, while said to be equivalent to a strike from a Nascent Soul Cultivator, was actually slightly less powerful.

And for that reason,

although Lin Jing looked disheveled now, he was actually not in any serious trouble.

Next, it was Lin Jing’s turn to make a move…

This time, Lin Jing immediately focused his Divine Sense and surged towards the sea of consciousness of the white-robed cultivator.

The white-robed cultivator was momentarily dazed, and seizing this opportunity, Lin Jing charged forward.

Because Lin Jing’s Divine Sense, although stronger than that of the white-robed cultivator, was only marginally so.

Caught off guard by Lin Jing’s sudden attack, the white-robed cultivator only faltered for a moment before quickly recovering.

As he regained his bearings, he hurriedly manipulated the black shield to block in front of himself.

At the same time, he kept moving backwards.

Moreover, the white-robed cultivator summoned another grim-green magical treasure, which upon its release, formed a deep green fog before him.

This fog, upon contact with the surrounding rocks and trees, immediately emitted a sizzling and cracking sound.

The rocks and trees were rapidly corroding as well.

Clearly, this deep green fog was lethally corrosive to everything it touched.

Faced with this unknown poisonous fog, Lin Jing did not recklessly plunge in.

Rather, he bypassed the poisonous fog and continued to rush towards the white-robed cultivator.

Seeing this, the white-robed cultivator quickly retreated,

and gathered a large swath of poison fog again.

This time, Lin Jing suddenly burst forth at high speed, circling around the poisonous fog and instantly closing in on the white-robed cultivator.

His Divine Sense attack and the multicolored radiance struck simultaneously, aimed at the white-robed cultivator.

However, this time the white-robed cultivator was prepared; Lin Jing’s Divine Sense attack was forcibly withstood by him, and the multicolored radiance was blocked by the black shield.

Meanwhile, the white-robed cultivator retreated rapidly, while Lin Jing relentlessly pursued.

The two slowly moved farther away, leaving only Zhang Jian alone in that area.

Although he felt he could not contribute much to the fight, after a brief pondering, Zhang Jian still decided to follow and watch.

…

…

And so,

the battle between Lin Jing and the white-robed cultivator continued for several hours.

It was not until the white-robed cultivator’s spiritual power was exhausted, and he could no longer manipulate the black shield, that Lin Jing found an opportunity and landed a direct punch on the white-robed cultivator.

At the same time, the multicolored radiance erupted from within the white-robed cultivator’s body, and amidst immense terror, he fell.

After slaying the white-robed cultivator, Lin Jing sat down on the ground with a thud.

The fight had been truly exhausting.

The black shield’s effectiveness was inexplicable; it seemed impenetrable by Lin Jing’s close-quarters attacks as well as the multicolored radiance.

However, recalling the white-robed cultivator’s claim that the shield was a Magical Treasure of Daoist grade, Lin Jing felt relieved.

Then, Lin Jing reached out, summoning the black shield that had fallen to the ground after the white-robed cultivator’s death, into his hands.

Picking up the shield, Lin Jing began to inspect it.

The shield was entirely black, and what type of metal it was made from was unknown, but Lin Jing was well aware of its hardness.

Moreover, the shield was engraved with innumerable formation patterns which, when activated by channeling spiritual power into it, would envelop the entire shield.

The multicolored light array released by Lin Jing had been blocked by those formation patterns.

As Lin Jing was observing the shield,

Zhang Jian walked over at that moment.

At this moment, Zhang Jian looked at Lin Jing as if he were a creature from another world.

Zhang Jian then spoke up:

“Are you really just at the first level of the Golden Core? Aren’t you hiding your cultivation?”

Lin Jing smiled and then said:

“Don’t you have a Pupil Skill you practice? Just take a look and you’ll know.”

Zhang Jian smiled helplessly and said:

“I suspect I’ve been cultivating a counterfeit Pupil Skill.”