Zombie Bodyguard

Chapter 1909 - 1906: Binding Spirit Array

"Haha, Brother Zhicheng pinned him down in one move, and he still bragged about getting through the maze. I say he just got lucky." Those few companions laughed smugly.

"What a letdown, I thought Brother Zhicheng would show off a bit. Didn’t expect the fight to end in a single move." Another companion said with a bored tone.

Zhang Zhicheng slipped his hand into his pocket and pinched the Heavenly Thunder Talisman, thinking to himself that the fight should be over.

But just as that thought flashed by, a string of crisp "bang bang bang" sounds exploded in the square. Everyone saw Lin Tian lift his foot, and the Flower Vine snapped apart nonstop.

"Your Flower Vine is way too weak!" Lin Tian roared. Only Zhang Ruyan understood this line, because she had tied Lin Tian up with her Flower Vine before, and hers was way more vicious. Hearing him shout like that, her long, delicate brows twitched slightly.

With a loud "boom," Lin Tian stomped down again. The massive force shattered the bluestone under his foot into powder, the shockwave blasting out with rolling dust, and the ground itself seemed to tremble along.

"An earthquake..." Someone among the disciples even cried out.

"Earthquake my ass, that’s Lin Tian doing it..." another disciple retorted, though his face showed the same shock.

"Such brutal strength, what kind of cultivation technique is that?" The elders widened their eyes.

"In the Ancient Martial World, when it comes to raw strength, the one who stands out is that girl from the Ning Family. Judging by that stomp just now, Lin Tian’s strength might even be above hers." Another old man analyzed with a very serious expression.

That one stomp threw the whole square into chaos. Zhang Zhicheng felt the ground sway under his feet and almost lost his balance. Then a shockwave and a cloud of dust slammed over him, right in his face, making his eyes sting so much he could barely open them.

In that instant when his eyes narrowed, a dark figure burst through the smoke like a Demon God descending. That "Demon God" was, of course, Lin Tian. After shattering the Flower Vine, he hid his figure in the dust and suddenly launched an attack.

Lin Tian’s palm slammed down like Taishan collapsing, carrying a surging aura as it smacked onto Zhang Zhicheng’s head. With a pop, Zhang Zhicheng’s head exploded completely, and screams erupted all around the field, both male and female.

Even though these young disciples were all Demon Exorcists, many of them hadn’t even formally finished their training. They’d never seen something this brutal.

The hit landed, but Lin Tian didn’t feel happy, because as "Zhang Zhicheng’s" head shattered, his entire body faded away as well, and in the end a yellow talisman drifted down, landing on the ground—a human-shaped talisman paper.

"Body Externalization Skill." Lin Tian frowned slightly, recognizing this Daoist skill.

Back during his fated battle with Zhang Lingyu, that Beautiful Sky Master had used what was back then her strongest Daoist art, the Purple Cloud Illusion, and had conjured over a dozen externalized bodies.

Each clone was indistinguishable from the real person, could chant incantations and use Daoist arts, and Lin Tian had even groped one of the clones. The feel of the skin was exactly the same as hers.

Only when that clone shattered did he realize it was a clone. But just now, when he hit Zhang Zhicheng’s clone, he had already seen through it before it broke.

Whether in number or quality, Zhang Zhicheng was far inferior to Zhang Lingyu. That’s why Zhang Zhicheng could never become the Heavenly Master’s Successor.

When the dust settled, the two in the arena were still standing at a distance from each other. The disciples, seeing that Zhang Zhicheng wasn’t dead, all let out a breath of relief. They only disliked Zhang Zhicheng; they hadn’t really wanted him dead, since they were still from the same sect.

However, everyone also noticed that although Zhang Zhicheng had dodged that strike, his forehead was beaded with sweat. Clearly, that clash had scared him badly.

Zhang Zhicheng casually wiped his forehead, forcing himself to sound calm as he said, "That was just an appetizer. Now I’ll show you what real spirit-binding is..."

He swiped his hand and flicked it, sending four palm-sized cards flying out. These cards were semi-transparent and looked a bit like the Purple Cloud Illusion Talismans Zhang Lingyu used, but while the Purple Cloud Illusion’s runes were purple, Zhang Zhicheng’s cards were green.

The cards didn’t attack Lin Tian. Instead, they flew toward the four sides of the square and dropped to the ground, sinking into the bluestone and vanishing. Immediately after, within the area covered by the cards, green light flashed, interweaving with the moonlight and covering almost half the square. It was quite a spectacle.

What the hell is he playing at? Lin Tian frowned.

"Master, be careful. This king feels the same kind of energy as that Flower Vine, and on top of that, there’s some strange power being transmitted out of nowhere. It might be that big Barrier they were talking about." The Sword Spirit suddenly warned in his mind.

Lin Tian looked up at the sky. Aside from the bright moonlight, he couldn’t see any sign of the Zhang Family’s so-called great Barrier, but the Sword Spirit was extremely sensitive to energy. Since it said there was a big Barrier boosting him, it was probably right.

He had just lifted his foot when he felt something sticky grab him, and he couldn’t pull it up.

What’s this? Lin Tian saw countless mini Flower Vines growing out of the ground—tiny vines thinner than chopsticks, but so many of them it made one’s scalp crawl. They squirmed and grew like worms, twining around his feet and climbing upward along his legs.

He didn’t know if they were treating Lin Tian as a flower rack or as fertilizer.

Good thing I don’t have trypophobia, otherwise I wouldn’t even need to fight—just seeing these things would make me pass out. Lin Tian was utterly disgusted by the mini Flower Vines. By comparison, Zhang Ruyan’s thick, hulking Flower Vines actually seemed cute, though hers were much more lethal.

"Hehe, once you fall into the Binding Spirit Array, it’s like a regular person falling into a swamp. Lin Tian’s in trouble again this time." An old man chuckled and said to the Great Elder, "Great Elder, looks like Zhicheng’s improved quite a bit recently. That setback he took last time did him some good after all."

"He’s still far from there." The Great Elder, hearing the praise, still put on a deeply dissatisfied look. Whether he was faking it or secretly pleased inside was anyone’s guess.

"The Great Elder is really strict with him." The old man nodded repeatedly.

"Hmph, he’s just borrowing power from the big Barrier. If it were me, I could do that too." A female disciple curled her lip and muttered under her breath.

"The process doesn’t matter; the result is what counts. As long as he can beat Lin Tian, Zhang Zhicheng’s standing in the elders’ eyes will jump a few levels. He might even threaten Lingyu’s position in the future. To put it bluntly, Zhang Zhicheng is using Lin Tian to farm prestige. It’s a pity Lin Tian’s being used." Another female disciple shook her head and sighed.

"We don’t even know who’s farming who yet. Look at Lin Tian; he’s not nervous at all." That female disciple clearly had a lot of faith in Lin Tian.

Of course Lin Tian wasn’t nervous, because he had plenty of ways to break the Binding Spirit Array. The power of fire completely countered this wood-element Daoist art, and if worst came to worst, he could just use the Heavenly Tribulation Sword to slice it open.

But he didn’t want to reveal either of those in front of the Zhang Family. So Lin Tian chose a more straightforward, more violent approach. There’s a saying: violence can’t solve every problem, but it can solve the people who cause the problem.

Lin Tian let the mini Flower Vines keep growing and twining around him and didn’t bother with them. Instead, he looked toward the Great Elder outside the arena and asked, "Great Elder, if I break something, I don’t have to pay for it, right?"