Chapter 614: Increasingly Obvious Advantage
That slash deserved to be recognized as a sword attack of immortals, perhaps even stronger than that. Patriarch Xue Pao thought it was a profound immortal’s Sword Intent.
That would be petrifying.
He knew that immortals were divided into three realms. ‘Half immortals’ weren’t worth mentioning as they were only average, but ‘profound immortals’ were much stronger. Even if he managed to free his body, Patriarch Xue Pao would never want to challenge a profound immortal.
If he was so unfortunate that he stumbled across one, he would try his best to steer clear of their way.
This was the reason beyond Patriarch Xue Pao’s hesitation earlier. After giving it more thought, he figured that Curator couldn’t possibly be a profound immortal.
If Curator was indeed, a profound immortal, forget the three of them, even if a few more people were to join their ranks, they would all serve as plot fodder. What’s more, if he truly was a profound immortal, he would have attracted the immortal devouring beast the instant his immortal aura was released.
Back then, countless profound immortals were hunted down by the immortal devouring beast, so when it came to formidable foes, that creature was definitely at the top of the list.
Everything should be fine if Curator wasn’t a profound immortal.
Based on his rich experience, although the situation seemed complex, they still stood a chance against Curator. They just didn’t have an overwhelming advantage anymore.
Both sides were at a stand-off. As the intimidation from Lin Jin’s earlier attack had yet to pa.s.s, neither side took action; they were both observing the situation. Since Curator had two pairs of helping hands, both Patriarch Xue Pao and Corpse Taoist knew it was time for them to reevaluate their strategy.
Then, Corpse Taoist recognized Tiger Taoist. His heart sank into his stomach as guilt welled up.
Tiger Taoist had reverted to his original form, a three hundred feet tall tiger beast. Yet, this form was still partially human. It was a half-human half-beast state that Tiger Taoist specifically cultivated to maximize his combat ability.
Tiger Taoist glared straight at Corpse Taoist with hatred in his eyes.
“Old Fourth, you may have switched to another body but I recognize your aura. Back then, we six brothers used to help each other out and I also treated you well. Is this how you repay me?”
The resentment was audible in Tiger Taoist’s voice.
Lin Jin could understand his fury. The Six Beast Taoists were all students of Daojun, and they were so close that one could call them brothers. However, following Daojun’s demise, one of them started wreaking havoc. The most despicable one among the six of them was none other than Corpse Taoist.
Among the Six Beast Taoists, Dragon Taoist was the first disciple, followed by Tiger Taoist, Crane Taoist, and then Corpse Taoist.
No one foresaw that Corpse Taoist would ambush Dragon Taoist and Tiger Taoist right after Daojun’s death. One of them lost his life and had his pet beast stolen while the other was gravely injured from the attack. Subsequently, he had to take refuge in Arid Continent for centuries to recuperate.
Tiger Taoist would never forget the torture he experienced over the past few hundred years. It was unsurprising that his fury was invoked when he met Corpse Taoist again.
“Second Brother, you’re still alive. Now that’s surprising,” mocked Corpse Taoist with a frown. Still, he took on a battle stance.
Other people may be unaware of what Tiger Taoist was capable of, but as a fellow apprentice of the same master, Corpse Taoist knew what was coming for him.
Although Dragon Taoist had been Daojun’s first disciple, when it came to comprehension, cultivation, and combat skills, Tiger Taoist was still the strongest of them all. In fact, Tiger Taoist was once Daojun’s favorite disciple. The strong bond that they share was probably explained by the fact that Tiger Taoist was taken in by Daojun when he was a tiger cub.
For this reason, Corpse Taoist had always been envious of Tiger Taoist. It wasn’t long before that envy evolved into hate.
That was his reason for using special arts to ambush Tiger Taoist so he could refine Tiger Taoist into a zombie. Yet, even with complete preparation, the ambush still failed.
Tiger Taoist sustained injuries, but he managed to escape. While Corpse Taoist had searched everywhere for him, he never found Tiger Taoist’s traces. He never thought they would meet again today under such circ.u.mstances.
Then, Corpse Taoist had a frightening thought.
Just who was Curator and how did he manage to find Tiger Taoist? Since when did they band together?
Corpse Taoist was aware of Tiger Taoist’s injury, as he was the cause of it. Even if Tiger Taoist didn’t die back then, the zombie toxins would have corroded his body, and then his soul. With enough time, he would eventually turn into a zombie.
On the contrary, Tiger Taoist seemed to be full of energy right; he was not the least bit sickly.
Tiger Taoist shouldn’t have been able to treat his wound, so he must have received a.s.sistance from someone else.
From who?
The answer couldn’t have been obvious enough. In Corpse Taoist’s opinion, besides Curator, no one else in this world was capable of such a phenomenal feat.
“Curator, I’ll never forgive you!” hissed Corpse Taoist through gritted teeth. Yet, he had no means of fighting Curator now because Tiger Taoist would surely target him first.
“Old Fourth, for the sake of old times, I’ll give you a quick end.” Having said that, Tiger Taoist saluted Lin Jin. “Curator, I hope you won’t stop me from resolving my conflict with Corpse Taoist.”
Aware of the grudge between Tiger Taoist and Corpse Taoist, Lin Jin naturally wouldn’t stop him. He simply nodded and reminded him to be careful.
Although Tiger Taoist had made a full recovery and his strength improved considerably since then, he was still slightly lacking compared to Corpse Taoist. It was mainly because the latter’s zombie dragon was too strong.
However, thanks to Clear Wind’s attack, the zombie dragon was no longer as strong as it was initially.
Taking into account Tiger Taoist’s boldness, the odds were in his favor.
There was no need to hold him back.
Moreover, Lin Jin still had to deal with Patriarch Xue Pao.
Just then, the hundred subterranean ants who were fortunate enough to survive crawled out of the deep pits to gather behind their queen. While the queen lost a limb at the beginning of the battle, it wasn’t that serious of an injury. Her capacity to fight was still near maximum.
The wind howled above them and Jin Chi descended. With a scratch of his golden claw, a few ants were lifted and thrown up a thousand feet into the air.
Falling from that height would easily turn them into mush.
“Curator, leave this blood man and the insects to me. You can rest and oversee see us instead,” said Jin Chi.
This Rank 6 monster had a domineering aura. The strength he could muster was insurmountable, so his confidence wasn’t based on nothing.
Jin Chi planned to take on two enemies, Lord Xue’s clone and the ant queen.
After a thought, Lin Jin said, “Leave the insects to me and please help me stall Lord Xue’s clone for the time being. Don’t let him cause too much trouble.”
As he knew the situation best, Lin Jin knew that if he let Jin Chi take on two enemies, even with Jin Chi’s strength and capabilities, he might have a hard time defeating them both.
More importantly, Lord Xue’s clone was powerful enough to be on par with Jin Chi.
Hence, Lin Jin wanted him to stall Lord Xue’s clone for now. After he gets rid of the ant queen, they would have an advantage with three against two.
As Curator had rescued his son, Jin Chi would never go against Curator’s wishes. He instantly pounced at Lord Xue’s clone and the two powerful individuals began tearing each other apart.
The ant queen wanted to help but Lin Jin blocked her off.
“Subterranean ants are scarce even among rare breeds. They are not known to be malevolent creatures so why are you helping the villains and endorsing evil?”