Chapter 138 Gaining Enlightenment

Tell the Sect Master: "Sect Master, quickly grab onto it!"

Then, he gripped Qingyun tightly with all his might, planting his feet firmly into the ground as if rooted.

However, Lin Hao only had one pair of hands and two feet; he simply had no time to save the other members of the Qingfeng Sect.

He could only watch helplessly as one by one, the disciples of the Qingfeng Sect failed to hold on, got sucked up into the cloud disk hovering in the sky, and vanished completely.

At this moment, Zheng Xi wore a crazed expression and shouted frantically, "Die! Hahaha! All of you, go to hell!"

A profound sense of anger filled Lin Hao's eyes, and hatred surged in his heart. Never before had he felt so utterly helpless.

Qingyun and the Sect Master shared the same look of grief.

The three of them were still stubbornly holding on.

Seeing that only the three of them remained, Zheng Xi wore a malicious expression and roared once more: "Absorb!"

Suddenly, the suction force of the cloud disk intensified, and the gale-force winds grew monstrously strong.

Cracks slowly began to appear on Lin Hao's Golden Bell罩 (Golden Bell Shield).

Hearing the continuous cracking sounds, Lin Hao's eyes flashed with deep solemnity and worry. He gazed up at the cloud disk above, completely at a loss as to what to do next.

However, Lin Hao was entirely preoccupied with how to break the current predicament; he failed to notice any unusual expression on Qingyun's face beside him.

At that exact moment, with a final crack, Lin Hao's Golden Bell Shield shattered. Following closely, before Lin Hao could even react,

With a soft thump, something shoved him hard, propelling Lin Hao's entire body straight out of the cloud disk's control.

When Lin Hao spun around, his pupils dilated and he screamed at the top of his lungs: "Senior Brother Qingyun!"

He saw both Qingyun and the Sect Master being sucked directly inside.

In his final moments, Qingyun looked at Lin Hao with an expression of entrustment, wearing a gentle smile filled with trust.

In a fraction of a second, together with the Sect Master, he was swallowed whole.

With that, after everyone from the Qingfeng Sect beneath the cloud disk—except for Lin Hao—had been sucked away,

The cloud disk slowly shrank and returned to Zheng Xi's hand.

The sky began to brighten.

With bloodshot eyes and a blank expression, Lin Hao stood frozen on the spot, staring straight at the cloud disk in Zheng Xi's hand.

Dark vortexes began to spin within his gaze.

Seeing this, Zheng Xi mistakenly thought that Lin Hao had been stunned and terrified into stupidity by his might. He let out an arrogant laugh, looked at Lin Hao, and taunted, "Don't you think you're so capable? You couldn't even save the members of your own sect—what kind of ability is that? You're nothing but trash!"

Listening to his words, Lin Hao's mind replayed every moment he had spent in the Qingfeng Sect—the joyful times and the angry ones,

Along with the final expressions of Qingyun and the Sect Master, and all the kindness Qingyun had shown him in the past.

Zheng Xi's mocking words still echoed in his ears.

Gradually, his entire demeanor began to transform, and a terrifying aura radiated from his entire body.

Yet Zheng Xi remained entirely oblivious, taking step after step toward Lin Hao, utterly convinced in his arrogance that Lin Hao must have been frightened out of his wits by him.

When Zheng Xi finally reached Lin Hao, he slowly began to sense that the other's expression was abnormal, and the aura emanating from his body was entirely wrong.

His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately wanted to turn around to retreat and put some distance between them. But right at that moment, Lin Hao raised his head.

Zheng Xi caught sight of the deep vortexes swirling within Lin Hao's eyes and his blood-red tear ducts.

He froze for a split second, paralyzed without movement, while Lin Hao moved in an instant.

"Ah!" With a roar that shook the air, he lunged straight toward Zheng Xi, gripping the Swallowing Cloud Sword in his hand.

*Whoosh!* The sword thrust straight through Zheng Xi's body.

Yet, in reality, it was not Lin Hao's physical body that had passed through.

Everyone present witnessed an illusory figure of Lin Hao pass straight through Zheng Xi's body.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao's true physical body remained standing right where he was.

A look of horror flashed across everyone's eyes.

At that moment, Lin Hao felt as though he had entered an indescribable realm.

It felt as if his soul had left his physical body; his mind was in utter chaos, the spiritual energy within his body was unstable, and his inner demons were faintly stirring to cause havoc.

This sensation had begun the moment Qingyun and the others were sucked into the cloud disk.

When Zheng Xi approached him, it happened to coincide with the moment Lin Hao could no longer contain himself and directly erupted.

Lin Hao himself had no idea why his physical body remained rooted in place while his entire soul had exited his shell.

Then, amidst the terrified expressions of the crowd, came the sound of a heavy thud as someone collapsed to the ground.

Zheng Xi fell to the earth with a look of absolute disbelief, his entire body severed cleanly into two halves.

He was thoroughly, irrevocably dead.

A brief, heavy silence fell over the crowd.

Then, breaking the quiet, came a chorus of loud gasps and murmurs.

Although everyone from the Qingfeng Sect had been wiped out, the onlookers merely stared blankly at Lin Hao, none of them daring to make a rash move.

Turning back to Lin Hao, his mind was still replaying those past scenes; he had killed Zheng Xi without even consciously realizing it.

Everyone remained frozen in place, mirroring Lin Hao's stunned state.

Lin Hao maintained a single posture: holding the Swallowing Cloud Sword, standing rigidly frozen in place.

However, this was merely what the external observers saw. In truth, Lin Hao's inner experience felt as though he were ascending to yet another realm.

Spiritual energy rushed madly through his entire body, and his mind felt exceptionally clear, as if a blocked channel had suddenly been unblocked.

This sensation compelled Lin Hao to close his eyes in sheer bliss.

After about a dozen minutes or so, Lin Hao finally opened his eyes, coming back to his senses in a daze.

Next, looking at the Swallowing Cloud Sword in his hand, he hurriedly withdrew it, only to suddenly notice the unusual, heavy atmosphere surrounding him—everyone was deathly quiet.

It was no longer the chaotic scene of battle from moments before.

Everyone present had surrounded Lin Hao, yet they kept a considerable distance away.

When Lin Hao turned his head again, he also noticed that Zheng Xi had already fallen to the ground, severed into two halves.

He looked with bewilderment at the sword in his hand,

Then glanced at the blood staining the blade, and finally looked around his surroundings.

He noticed that anyone whose gaze met his instinctively took several steps backward.

Terror still lingered in their eyes, as if Lin Hao were some terrifying arch-demon.

Reflecting upon it, Lin Hao remembered how furious he had been earlier, especially watching Zheng Xi suck all the Qingfeng Sect members into that cloud disk; Lin Hao had wished he could tear Zheng Xi to shreds.

Then, consumed by raging fury, Lin Hao had suddenly plunged into a dreamlike realm where neither his emotions nor his cultivation were under his own control.

Lin Hao still remembered charging straight toward Zheng Xi, while his physical body somehow remained rooted in place—a phenomenon he still found baffling.

Immediately following that, Lin Hao received a notification message from the system.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for advancing to the Deity Transformation Realm, breaking through the Soul Separation Realm! Furthermore, congratulations to the host for independently comprehending the First Layer of Deity Transformation: Soul Separation. Rewarding the host with 500 points. May the host continue to strive for greater heights."

As the prompt faded, Lin Hao received the system's reward of 500 points.

Combining this with the system's explanation, Lin Hao gained a sudden burst of insight, followed by an overwhelming surge of joy.

He had actually broken through at this juncture—breaking through so effortlessly was something Lin Hao had never anticipated.

Especially that empty, boundless realm from just moments before; Lin Hao found the sensation exquisitely wonderful.

So this was the Deity Transformation Realm. Lifting the Swallowing Cloud Sword once more, he gave it a gentle swing.

*Swish!* A dazzling, blinding golden light flashed across the air.

A deep fissure instantly appeared on the ground.

Witnessing this, astonishment flickered in Lin Hao's eyes, quickly giving way to profound elation.

His strength had truly increased by leaps and bounds. He suddenly felt as though he possessed endless spiritual energy, and looking at the people before him, it felt as though he only needed to harbor a single thought for all of them to simply vanish.

Just at that moment, with a crisp "ding" sound, an object dropped to the ground, landing right beside his foot.

Lin Hao focused his gaze and saw that it was none other than the cloud disk Zheng Xi had wielded in the air earlier.

It had remained clutched tightly in Zheng Xi's hand even after death; the man hadn't let go of the cloud disk even when cleaved in two by Lin Hao.

And now, just as Lin Hao regained his senses, it had happened to roll right to his feet.

Catching sight of this cloud disk, a tempest suddenly churned within Lin Hao's eyes, and a gloomy, oppressive aura emanated from his body.

Now that Lin Hao was a formidable expert of the Deity Transformation Realm, the release of this oppressive aura made everyone within a radius of several miles feel as though they could barely breathe.

Looking at Lin Hao, they felt a terror stemming from the depths of their souls; no one dared to step forward rashly ever again.

Yet Lin Hao remained completely oblivious to this. With a dark, gloomy expression, he lowered his body, picked up the cloud disk, and stared at it with smoldering hatred.

He recalled his utter helplessness from back then.

Only then did a fierce, piercing light shoot from his eyes, locking onto the Red Lotus Sect's Elder Hong.

*Gasp!* Pierced by Lin Hao's glare, Elder Hong's heart skipped a beat in panic. It felt as though she were already a dead person; unable to catch her breath, she retreated several steps before using her sleeve to half-cover her face.

Immediately afterward, she forced a stiff, awkward smile toward Lin Hao and stammered, "Lin Hao, you..."

Lin Hao did not afford her the chance to finish. With a mere wave of his sleeve and a sharp *whoosh*, the female elder of the Red Lotus Sect was sent flying through the air.

*Bang!* She crashed heavily into the ground.

Her impact blasted a massive crater into the earth.

Seeing this, like a stone dropped into a pool of stagnant water, everyone let out a startled, terrified shriek: "Ah!"

The members of the Red Lotus Sect immediately rushed forward to lift Elder Hong up.

However, one had to bear in mind the sheer weight of Lin Hao's strike, especially now that he had advanced to the Deity Transformation Realm.

That blow carried the might of a half-divine being, and Lin Hao had channeled all of his pent-up fury into it. Elder Hong's meridians were completely shattered.

Vomiting fresh blood, her entire body stained crimson, her originally bright red robes appeared even more dazzling and bizarre.

Witnessing this scene, a cold smirk curled the corner of Lin Hao's mouth. He turned slowly in a circle, sweeping his gaze across everyone present.

Anyone caught in Lin Hao's line of sight instinctively backed away in terror by several paces.

Lin Hao clenched the cloud disk so tightly in his hand that he almost crushed it to pieces.

Then, Lin Hao fixed his gaze on a particular spot in the distance.

Step by step, he began walking toward it.

The person targeted by Lin Hao felt every pore on his body stand on end. He lost even the courage to back away, feeling as though he had been locked onto by the Grim Reaper himself.

An infinite wave of chill and terror surged from the very depths of his heart.

His speech became slurred as he retreated, stammering, "Lin, Lin Hao, what do you want?!"