However…
Facing Lin Song’s vicious strike, Lin Chen simply stood there without moving an inch.
Only at the instant the claw’s force was about to reach his throat did he casually raise his right hand.
He moved later, yet arrived first.
His palm precisely clamped onto Lin Song’s wrist, tightening like an iron vise.
Crack!
The crisp sound of bone breaking echoed sharply through the silent room.
“Ah!!!”
Lin Song’s savage grin instantly turned into a miserable scream.
He felt as if his wrist had been crushed by a mountain, the bones shattering piece by piece.
His eyes filled with shock and disbelief as he desperately mobilized all the spiritual energy of his 4th stage Spirit Realm, trying to break free.
But Lin Chen’s hand did not move in the slightest, as if Lin Song’s struggle was nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree.
“4th stage Spirit Realm?” Lin Chen’s mocking smile grew colder, “Is this what you rely on to act so arrogantly?”
Before he even finished speaking, the force in Lin Chen’s grip suddenly surged.
Pfft!
Lin Song felt an unstoppable power rush through his meridians into his body. His internal organs seemed to shift violently as he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His entire body was sent flying like a broken kite, crashing heavily against the wall before sliding limply to the ground.
He lay there like a dead dog, unable to lift even a finger. Only his chest heaved violently, his eyes filled with absolute disbelief.
“N-no… impossible… you… a cripple… how can you be this strong…”
Lin Song forced out broken words, his entire understanding of reality collapsing.
How could someone who had lost his spiritual root possess such overwhelming strength?
Lin Chen stepped forward slowly, looking down at him from above. His eyes showed no emotion, only cold indifference.
“So… who is the cripple now?”
No matter how he thought about it, Lin Song could not understand how he, at the 4th stage Spirit Realm, could not even withstand a single move from Lin Chen.
How was that possible?
Lin Chen bent down before him, his gaze like that of a demon from hell as he asked, “The Great Elder, Lin Xu, sent you?”
Lin Song neither denied nor confirmed it. Instead, he sneered, “Do you think you can defeat the Great Elder?”
There was mockery in his tone.
Lin Chen understood immediately and continued, “Tell me your purpose for coming here.”
Lin Song’s lips curled as blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He grinned viciously and said, “What’s the harm in telling you? The Great Elder ordered me to sever the tendons in your hands and feet, to turn you into a complete cripple!”
Lin Chen raised an eyebrow, his expression turning calm instead, “That is indeed his style.”
Lin Xu had always been like this.
If Lin Chen lost the life-and-death battle, Lin Xu would likely incite the clan elders to defect on the spot and seize control of the Lin Family.
At that point, both father and son would only have one fate.
Death.
“And now you’re afraid?” Lin Song thought Lin Chen was frightened, his grin widening, “Release me now, and I’ll beg the Great Elder to leave your corpse intact!”
Lin Chen smiled faintly, but his gaze suddenly turned icy, “Lin Song, do you know why I asked you so many questions?”
“Why?”
Lin Song froze.
At that moment, he sensed something in Lin Chen’s eyes.
Killing intent.
“Because I was looking for a reason to kill you.”
A faint smile appeared on Lin Chen’s lips, yet he looked like a demon judging the dead.
If he had not possessed the Chaos Devouring Heaven Art and the Chaos Pearl, if he had not successfully condensed his spiritual seed, he would still be a cripple.
Then, if Lin Song had severed his tendons, his fate would have been sealed.
Death.
A miserable death.
Lin Song’s actions were no different from taking his life.
“Kill me?” Lin Song’s pupils shrank violently as he roared, “No! Lin Chen! You can’t kill me! The Great Elder won’t let you go!”
“In your next life, remember not to be someone else’s dog.”
Lin Chen’s voice was calm, but his palm was already pressing down on Lin Song’s head.
Chaos Devouring Heaven Art.
Devour!
“Ahhh!!!”
Lin Song let out a shrill scream. Pain ten, a hundred times greater than his shattered wrist swept through his entire body in an instant.
He felt the spiritual energy he had cultivated for years surging out uncontrollably toward Lin Chen’s palm, like a flood breaking through a dam.
What terrified him even more was that his 1st-grade spiritual root was being forcibly extracted bit by bit.
This feeling of having his very foundation torn away made him scream like a beast, his body convulsing violently.
After two breaths…
Lin Song’s screams abruptly stopped.
Lin Chen slowly withdrew his hand, then casually flicked out a wisp of spiritual flame, burning Lin Song’s shriveled corpse into ashes that scattered into the air.
All traces of Lin Song were erased, leaving nothing behind.
At the same time, two completely different streams of energy surged into Lin Chen’s body like bursting torrents.
The first was the pure spiritual energy of Lin Song’s 4th stage Spirit Realm.
It rushed wildly through Lin Chen’s meridians, surging toward his dantian.
Buzz!
Lin Chen’s aura suddenly rose.
His cultivation, which had just stabilized at the 4th stage Spirit Realm, began to climb rapidly under this external force.
Peak of the 4th stage Spirit Realm.
A powerful sense of strength filled his entire body, far faster and more direct than his own cultivation.
The second stream of energy was Lin Song’s 1st-grade spiritual root.
Though faint, it carried a unique origin power.
The moment it entered his body, the spiritual seed within his dantian trembled violently.
It greedily absorbed the energy of the spiritual root.
At the instant the root was fully devoured…
A sudden change occurred.
The pale gray spiritual seed, which had been quietly floating all this time, trembled slightly at its base.
Then, from it, a single, nearly transparent root, as thin as a strand of hair, began to grow.
It was incredibly small, almost impossible to detect without careful internal observation.
Yet it undeniably existed.
It swayed gently, as if rooting itself in the void, or searching for something, emanating an even stronger desire to devour.
It worked.
Lin Chen’s heart was instantly flooded with overwhelming excitement and joy.
This was not just about the increase in cultivation.
It was because he had personally confirmed the most heaven-defying aspect of the Chaos Devouring Heaven Art.
Devouring spiritual roots to nourish himself.
The spiritual seed he had forged with his own hands could truly evolve and grow by devouring everything, especially other spiritual roots.
This tiny root was the clearest proof.
It meant that his spiritual seed was not a dead thing, but a living existence with infinite possibilities.
“Haha… hahaha…”
Lin Chen could not help but laugh softly, his voice filled with long-suppressed release and boundless ambition for the future.