Section Eighty-Seven: Deadly Trap

Lin Jiang looked at Kong Youlin and waited quietly for him to reveal the answer.

Kong Youlin gave a faint smile. “I hear that Brother Lin has not only been working tirelessly to revive the Southern Cross Legion’s mechanical arts, but also has great interest in the fusion of martial souls and mechanisms. The item in my possession will surely intrigue you.”

Lin Jiang smiled. “Brother Kong need not keep me guessing.”

Kong Youlin produced a black pearl. “This ancient soul pearl came into my hands by chance. Inside it is a fragment of a fearsome ancient soul general. Though it is not a complete ancient soul general, such a powerful ancient soul pearl is rare indeed. I have heard that Brother Lin has been searching for a pearl like this. I wonder whether it might be of help.”

Lin Jiang’s eyes suddenly flared with heat as he stared fixedly at the soul pearl in Kong Youlin’s hand.

Without even looking closely, he could still clearly feel the terrifyingly savage aura emanating from the ancient soul general fragment within it.

What a ferocious presence!

Heat surged through Lin Jiang’s heart. Kong Youlin was right; he had been searching all along for a savage soul general. He had studied the fusion of martial souls and mechanisms for many years, and only recently had he finally made a breakthrough. Yet for success to be possible, he needed a savage soul general. He had never imagined that Kong Youlin would be so well informed as to even have learned of this. Lin Jiang was secretly awed by Kong Youlin’s means, but at the same time he could not restrain himself from reaching for the soul pearl.

Suddenly, a bronze tiger claw appeared from nowhere and, before anyone could react, snatched the pearl away.

Kong Youlin froze for a moment, then became greatly intrigued. “Has Brother Lin’s mechanism art already achieved such a tremendous breakthrough? This mechanical tiger is quite intelligent!”

Mechanical beasts could be seen everywhere in the Lin residence—wolf-shaped, tiger-shaped, spider-shaped, and more. Kong Youlin never imagined the pearl had been stolen; he only assumed Lin Jiang had created an exceptionally formidable mechanical beast, and so he made that remark.

Lin Jiang, too, was stunned.

The bronze tiger before him looked vaguely familiar, yet also strangely unfamiliar. Lin Jiang was obsessed with mechanical beasts and had made all kinds of them. Seeing this bronze tiger, both familiar and not familiar, he was left dazed for a moment.

He was not even sure whether he had made a mechanical tiger like this before.

Still, in terms of style, it did indeed resemble the Southern Cross Legion style he favored...

The bronze tiger’s next move left everyone equally dumbfounded.

The tiger opened its mouth, tossed the soul pearl directly inside, and then turned away, blending back into the mechanical beasts.

Everyone stared in blank incomprehension.

Kong Youlin managed a strained smile. “Such a nimble mechanical beast... I have truly never seen the like.”

Lin Jiang suddenly came to himself, his expression changing drastically. “After it! That’s an impostor!”

“But Father, that was clearly a mechanical beast...” Lin Wei said, confused.

Kong Youlin’s face stiffened, then changed dramatically. He shot into the air at once, lunging toward the mechanical tiger.

Wuu-wuu-wuu!

All the mechanical beasts roaming through the courtyard simultaneously lit their eyes with an eerie green glow and turned toward Kong Youlin in the air. They had not been treating him as an enemy before because he had been with Lin Jiang, but the moment he suddenly took to the sky and showed aggressive intent, a chain reaction was triggered.

Puff puff puff!

Several mechanical wolves kicked off the ground and pounced at Kong Youlin overhead. Swoosh swoosh swoosh! Bronze arrows on the backs of the archer spiders rained upward toward him. The mechanical wolves leaping into the air fired out fine metal nets to ensnare him. And the mechanical tigers opened their mouths wide,轰轰轰, unleashing thick beams of light toward Kong Youlin.

Kong Youlin had never expected to be met with such a terrifying assault.

His face went deathly pale, but as a seventh-tier expert, he did not await death. With a fierce cry, he forced his true power to the limit, and a snow-white suit of armor appeared over his body.

The bronze-ranked suit of the Swan Constellation, Song of the Swan!

Snow-white feathers fell in a flutter like drifting snow. Elegant and exquisite, the white armor was like a work of art. The shoulder guards spread like wings, the helmet resembled two swans bowing their necks together, and the feathered cuirass carried intricate openwork designs. Layer upon layer, the cloak was white as feathers, and at its edges it seemed to burn with white flame; each spark that fell transformed into a snow-white feather.

Suspended in the air, Kong Youlin’s aura surged to its peak. He looked like a prince stepped out of myth, graceful and unhurried.

“Break!”

Kong Youlin spoke the command aloud. The Song of the Swan on his body suddenly blazed with brilliant white light, and the snow-white cloak on his back exploded with a roar!

Countless feathers swept outward like a hurricane.

Crack!

The metal nets and bronze arrows smashed into the feather storm and were instantly shredded to pieces.

When the feather hurricane collided with the light beams spat from the mechanical tiger’s mouth, searing flames shot into the heavens. The Lin family’s mechanical tiger’s most famous killing technique was Tiger Roar, which converted the true power within star stones into scorching flame.

Wuu-wuu-wuu!

The roars of mechanical beasts rose one after another from every corner of the Lin estate. Agile silhouettes of beasts streamed toward this place like a flood.

Lin Jiang woke as if from a dream and was just about to halt the mechanical beasts’ attack when his body suddenly went rigid.

A moment later, he stared blankly at the tiger claw protruding from his chest.

“The Southern... Legion... Sabertooth Tiger...”

Tang Tian felt no hesitation or attachment at all. He withdrew without a second thought and once more melted into the mechanical beasts. He had heard every word of the conversation between Kong Youlin and Lin Jiang, and he detested Lin Jiang to the core. Hearing that Lin Jiang had even been secretly investigating him and plotting to seize the bronze mechanical ostrich, he did not hold back in the slightest.

Lin Wei stared blankly as Lin Jiang fell into a pool of blood, terror shaking him like chaff. If that attack had been aimed at him just now...

Kong Youlin staggered out of the massive fireball in utter disarray. Hearing the surging roars of the mechanical beasts, he immediately understood that he had kicked a hornet’s nest, and his face turned ghostly white.

Damn it!

He had already realized his mistake: this was the Lin family’s territory, and he should never have struck first. The other side had hidden itself among the mechanical beasts, but his own reckless action had instantly provoked a full assault.

There was only one person who could stop this now.

Lin Jiang!

“Brother Lin! Quickly call off the attack!”

Kong Youlin’s palm was enveloped in a soft white glow as countless afterimages flickered in the sky. This was a seventh-tier martial skill, Light Scatter Hands. His fingers were nimble beyond compare, flicking, tapping, sweeping, and striking. One white palm seal after another flew through the air like drifting feathers. Though they seemed light and powerless, the moment those bronze arrows touched them, they shattered to dust.

Hm? What is Lin Jiang doing?

Kong Youlin was anxious. Then, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Lin Jiang lying in the blood-soaked ground below, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

Damn it!

His face went white, then whiter still. He knew then that trouble had truly arrived. The enemy’s cunning far exceeded his expectations; only those utterly ruthless and vicious could carry out such a perfectly calculated strike.

When had he ever provoked such a person?

Or had this formidable enemy been drawn here by the Lin family, and he had merely stumbled into the middle of it?

Kong Youlin’s expression shifted rapidly, but at that moment all the mechanical beasts’ eyes changed from green to red.

The Lin family’s mechanical beasts were not mass-produced goods for sale. Every one of them had been personally crafted by Lin Jiang himself. And the highest authority among these mechanical beasts belonged to Lin Jiang. Once Lin Jiang died, every one of them immediately entered a do-or-die berserk state.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Flames began to spill from the joints of the mechanical beasts, quickly engulfing their entire bodies.

Their red eyes were soul-piercing, and the bronze surfaces of these beasts began to melt little by little.

A mechanical beast wrapped in flames roared and suddenly powered its limbs, lunging toward Kong Youlin in the air. All Kong Youlin saw was a blaze hurtling at him with astonishing speed, reaching him in the blink of an eye. A wave of scorching heat struck his face.

The mechanical beast in the flames, with its pair of dark red eyes, sent a chill through him.

Grinding his teeth, he changed his palm into a fist. The white glow on his hand suddenly intensified, and a beam of white fist light burst forth from his fist.

A classic seventh-tier technique of the Radiant Martial Society: Radiant Fist!

The fist light left his hand and blazed like the sun.

Boom!

The mechanical beast exploded directly before him, dissolving into a mass of fire. He breathed out in relief—then, one shriek after another rose all around him, surging like a tide. One flaming silhouette after another sprang into the air.

Fireballs lifted from the ground, tracing brilliant red trails as they surged from all directions toward Kong Youlin in the sky.

All the blood drained from Kong Youlin’s face.

Watching the magnificent scene unfolding above, Tang Tian and Bing both remained silent.

“What a pity,” Tang Tian murmured.

“What is there to pity? He has no way out.” Bing was somewhat puzzled. In his heart, Tang Tian’s performance this time deserved the highest praise. He had fully exploited his own strengths, fully exploited his intelligence. Just as Bing had judged earlier, Tang Tian’s battle IQ was astonishing.

Tang Tian had controlled the sabertooth tiger to crouch on all fours, disguising it as a mechanical beast, then suddenly slipped in beside Kong Youlin and Lin Jiang to seize the soul pearl, entirely beyond expectation.

And when Kong Youlin triggered the mechanical beasts’ furious counterattack, Tang Tian again pinpointed the decisive point at once and killed Lin Jiang in a single stroke, plunging Kong Youlin into a certain death trap.

Bing did not think much of the mechanical beasts’ individual strength, but there were simply too many of them, and now they had entered a self-destructive state. No matter how strong Kong Youlin was, he could not possibly escape.

Bing understood mechanical beasts very well, and he also understood how terrifying such a vast number of them could be when carrying out a suicide attack.

What amazed him was Tang Tian. This fellow was simply born for battle. In combat, Tang Tian became like a completely different person—cold, cunning, brave, and ruthless, beyond reproach.

So when he heard Tang Tian say it was a pity, he found it strange.

Tang Tian looked at his own fist, his mood somewhat low, and said in a hushed voice, “What I regret is that I couldn’t defeat him with my own fist.”

“For some reason, I keep hating more and more the feeling of being weaker than others. It’s an awful feeling, detestable, revolting.”

“Bing, I am going to become the strongest man there is!”

Tang Tian did not hide the arrogance and wild pride on his face, nor the seriousness in his eyes.