Lin Lei walked through the ever-shifting fortress, his heart pounding with anxiety. "This damned place keeps changing — there's no way to find an exit. And on top of that, there are enemies ambushing and assassinating people inside!" He clearly remembered the demonic corpse he had seen earlier.
Seeing that corpse, Lin Lei understood that this fortress wasn't merely designed to trap people.
Someone was ambushing, assassinating!
In truth, Lin Lei should have realized this long ago — he simply hadn't dared to think about it. "Ambushes? Assassinations? Bei Bei and I are probably a bit safer. I have a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact, and Bei Bei has the precious treasure Lord Beirut bestowed upon him — we should be able to protect ourselves. But Dilia...唉, I shouldn't have been in such a rush. I should have waited until Dilia reached the Highgod level before setting out." Deep regret churned in Lin Lei's heart.
"If Dilia were assassinated by someone..."
Just the thought made his heart clench with dread.
In reality, Dilia cultivated the Laws of Wind and had already grasped six types of profound mysteries. She also possessed a "Death God Puppet." While her ability to protect herself wasn't on par with Lin Lei's or Bei Bei's, she still had some assurance of survival.
But Lin Lei himself simply couldn't rest easy.
"Whoever created such a bizarre fortress is no ordinary enemy. Dilia, no matter how capable, hasn't reached the Highgod level yet." Lin Lei moved through the fortress with utmost caution and tremendous speed, hoping he might encounter Dilia within its walls.
But then—
"Hmm?"
As Lin Lei passed an intersection, he suddenly caught sight of a figure hovering in midair some distance away.
"That black-horned old man?" Lin Lei recognized him at a glance. The black-horned elder had obviously spotted Lin Lei as well and looked over.
But at that very moment, a gentle breeze gathered in midair and coalesced into a green-robed elder. The old man wore a faint smile on his face, sparing only a glance at Lin Lei before dismissing him entirely in his mind: "A Midgod actually wandered in here."
To the green-robed elder, killing a Midgod was something he could do in an instant. With his status, he couldn't be bothered to pay any attention.
"Who are you?" The black-horned elder stared at the green-robed elder who had appeared so suddenly in midair, his expression changing drastically.
The green-robed elder regarded the black-horned elder before him with an air of indifference. "You've got some nerve. Stealing the Boi Family's enormous fortune with your brother was one thing — I didn't expect that after all these years, the two of you would dare to come back. What, you want to return to the Bluesky Continent?"
The black-horned elder's expression shifted several times before he broke into a carefree laugh. "Back when my brother and I escaped from the Bluesky Continent, we were certain no one had discovered us. This time, we hired so many demons purely as a precaution. I didn't expect you'd still come!"
The green-robed elder let out a contemptuous snort.
"You want the Boi Family's fortune? Hah..."
The black-horned elder suddenly threw his head back and laughed uproariously, then fixed his gaze on the green-robed elder. "Keep dreaming! My brother and I wouldn't have dared come back without making every possible preparation. Even if you kill us both, you'll never get the Boi Family's fortune! Never!"
The green-robed elder's face darkened instantly.
He had followed his disciple Enigo from the Bluesky Continent, across the Starlight Misty Sea, all the way to the Violet Rose Continent — all for the Boi Family's fortune.
"Hmph. Kill you and we'll see." The green-robed elder waved his hand, and a long sword like a silver thread appeared. It was a flexible blade — only this one was even thinner and more delicate than Lin Lei's "Purple Blood Soft Sword."
"Prepare to die." The green-robed elder, mindful of his own standing, told his opponent his intentions before striking.
The black-horned elder had recognized the other's cultivation level the moment he saw this "Wind Fortress."
Though he too was a Highgod, the gap between them was simply too vast.
"Want to kill me? I'll make you pay for it!" The black-horned elder steeled himself for death and roared as a heavy black sword materialized in his hand. The space around the black blade immediately began to distort, and dark radiance blazed outward in all directions.
Lin Lei watched as the two Highgods prepared to clash, and a chill ran through him. "I need to get out of here fast. If I get caught up in this, I'm finished!" Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately began to flee down the opposite fork of the passage.
Even as he fled—
BOOM!
A single exchange between the two Highgods sent the black-horned elder's entire body hurtling backward — directly toward the direction Lin Lei was fleeing.
"Huh?" Lin Lei looked up in astonishment as the body came flying toward him.
But the black-horned elder flipped in midair and straightened immediately. One of his divine clones had already been killed moments ago.
"Is this the end?" The black-horned elder could fully perceive the immense disparity in their power. He had already lost one divine clone — the one before him now was his last. "Patriarch, this old servant has not failed your trust. But from now on, I can no longer serve the young master."
BOOM!
The black-horned elder's long blade descended like the splitting of heaven and earth, transforming into a dark shadow of a saber. The space around it warped so completely that only the hazy blade shadow remained.
"Hahahaha~ You lost one divine clone — let's see how many more you have!" The green-robed elder's maniacal laughter echoed through the passage. Then Lin Lei saw nothing but exquisite silver threads flickering through the air — just a few beautiful streaks of silver light — yet the entire space around them fractured into several incredibly fine cracks.
Lin Lei was shocked.
"Cracks? Rips appearing in the space of the Netherworld?" He could scarcely believe what he was seeing.
PFFT!
The black-horned elder managed to block only a single silver streak. After that, his entire body was carved apart by the remaining lines of silver light, sliced into several segments that plummeted from midair. Most notably, his left hand — bearing a spatial ring — came tumbling down.
At that moment—
"A spatial ring?" Lin Lei's mind stirred. He could simply collect that spatial ring right now.
"Should I take it?"
That black-horned elder's spatial ring almost certainly contained an astonishing fortune — Lin Lei was utterly certain of it. As one of the employers who could afford to hire six-star demons and other powerful figures, the wealth this man possessed had to be staggering. But... could he actually take it?
Lin Lei glanced at the green-robed elder in the distance and, without a moment's hesitation, immediately began to flee.
"I might have the nerve to take it, but would I live long enough to spend it?"