The Legend of the Netherworld

The burly man no longer took the initiative to attack Lin Xiao. He slowly took a step with his right foot, turned his body sideways to Lin Xiao, half-clenched his fists, lowered his shoulders and assumed a steady fighting posture.

A tense atmosphere seemed to thicken in the air; even the surrounding trees seemed unusually quiet, as if they were holding their breath in anticipation of the impending battle. Lin Xiao thought to himself, "Looks like I need to be careful."

The two men confronted each other for a while. Lin Xiao was thinking of a countermeasure in his mind. He quickly used the Dragon Swimming Around the Seas technique and combined it with the spirit sword to stab the burly man.

Seeing this, the burly man dodged nimbly like a beast and appeared beside Lin Xiao in an instant, swinging a fierce punch that hit Lin Xiao's head.

Lin Xiao felt a strong wind pressure coming towards him. As he dodged sideways, the aftermath of his fist was so strong that it caused the trees in the distance to fall down with a loud "bang".

But the burly man didn't give up. He immediately launched another backward kick, the powerful blade of his leg slicing through the air, creating a whirlwind. Lin Xiao didn't hesitate and dodged quickly, secretly congratulating himself for his timely reaction.

At this moment, Lin Xiao was ready to strike, using the Sword Spirit Slash. The collision of the sword and fist made a crisp "clang" sound, and both sides were shaken away. Lin Xiao was slightly shocked, realizing that the burly man's strength was not simple.

"Come on!" the burly man roared, using his Fist Wind Slash, sending a strong gust of fist wind towards Lin Xiao, as if tearing the air apart.

Lin Xiao raised his sword to block, and heard the sound of "clang clang". The sword blade was twisted and deformed by the pressure. He then took advantage of the situation to bounce the fist wind back. The burly man was caught off guard and quickly jumped up to avoid the counterattack.

At this moment, the burly man's eyes flashed with anger, and he attacked again without mercy, landing straight on the ground and delivering a flying kick.

Lin Xiao sensed a dangerous aura and immediately used his Dragon Swimming Across the Seas technique to dodge. At this moment, the battle between the two sides had evolved into a fierce tug-of-war, with fists and swords flying back and forth.

After a fierce fight, Lin Xiao decided to use a surprise attack and used the Tiger Roaring Palm to force the burly man back.

Seeing this, the burly man quickly dodged and tried to dodge. At this moment, Lin Xiao once again used his phantom body skills and quickly appeared behind the burly man, trying to take the opportunity to attack.

However, the burly man reacted extremely quickly. As he turned around, he used his grappling hand to attack Lin Xiao's neck. Seeing this, Lin Xiao had no time to react and hurriedly put his sword to his neck.

Unexpectedly, the burly man grabbed the hilt of the sword, pulled Lin Xiao's sword out of his hand, and attempted to throw him over his shoulder.

Lin Xiao felt a huge force pulling him up, and thought to himself that something was wrong. Just as he was about to be thrown out, he injected all the strength in his body into the sword, and the blade suddenly became as hot as fire.

The burly man panicked and quickly let go. Lin Xiao took advantage of the situation and stabbed down with his sword. The tip of the sword was extremely accurate, piercing the burly man's ear until it penetrated his shoulder, and blood splattered out, staining the ground red.

The burly man roared in pain, anger and despair intertwined on his face.

Lin Xiao did not give him a chance to breathe. He turned 360 degrees in the air and landed steadily. The burly man quickly stood firm and drew his sword with his hand. Lin Xiao would not miss this opportunity.

He used phantom body skills to come in front of the burly man before he could stand firmly, and used a shoulder push, and the burly man fell to the ground directly. Lin Xiao used the soul-locking grappling technique to lock the burly man's left hand with his right hand, his left foot with his right foot, and his limbs behind his back, with his chest touching the ground.

Seeing himself being captured, the burly man realized that he was powerless to save the situation. His anger gradually gave way to despair, and in the end, he could only say bitterly, "Come on, give me a sword and kill me."

Lin Xiao took a short rest, ate some dry food, and replenished his energy.

Afterwards, he planned to search the bodies of the thin man and the dagger man to see if he could find anything. On the thin man's body, he found five or six pieces of dazzling fairy jade, a mysterious map, and a shimmering treasure, the immortal vine.

At this moment, the burly man in the distance suddenly shouted: "Come on, kill me!" His voice was full of despair and anger, as if challenging Lin Xiao's courage.

Lin Xiao ignored him and lowered his head to study the map carefully, thinking to himself: "Isn't this just a case of trying to cover up one's own faults?"

He walked towards the body of the dagger man without any care, picked up a shining dagger, and raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "Your weapon is good, I'll take it."

Continuing his search, he unexpectedly found two pieces of immortal jade, a technique called "Mind Like a Knife," several old mountain ginseng plants and ground-emerging golden lotuses, and finally, some silver. "Not bad, you have quite a lot on you," Lin Xiao muttered to himself, feeling a little excited about his trophy.

Lin Xiao walked up to the burly man, squatted down, gently lifted his chin with the tip of his sword, and looked at him coldly and ruthlessly: "Why did you attack me? What's the matter with this map?" The burly man said nothing and turned away.

Lin Xiao's patience was wearing thin, his eyes gleaming with anger. "Alright, you want to die for good?" He thrust his sword into the burly man's head and said in a deep voice, "I won't let you die easily. Ever heard of the terracotta warriors? They chop off your entire body, leaving only your head. I'll gouge out and chop off the ears, nose, tongue, and eyes. Then, every day, I'll pump energy into your head to keep you breathing. Only when I'm killed can you be free."

These words made the burly man's face turn pale instantly, and a trace of fear flashed in his eyes. Lin Xiao continued to pressure: "If you tell me, I will spare your life, because you can't beat me and are not a threat to me. How about it?" However, the burly man remained silent, as if gambling with his life.

"Yes, he's a real man," Lin Xiao said. He suddenly reached out and cut off one of the burly man's ears. Blood gushed out, and the burly man screamed in pain, realizing that Lin Xiao wasn't kidding. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" he finally spoke, his voice filled with despair.

"You've already done this? You've even lost an ear." Lin Xiao looked smug as he pressed on, "Why did you attack me? And what about this map?"

The burly man swallowed and said hurriedly, "We attacked you because we saw that you were hiding chemical weapons. We thought you must have treasures on you. And you are in the Jiazi Sixth Realm. We specialize in robbing the weak in the outskirts of the Ancient Forest."

"Then what is this map?" Lin Xiao asked.

The burly man hesitated for a moment, and Lin Xiao immediately brought the sword close to his cheek and threatened, "Hurry up and tell me!"

"We got this when we robbed a cultivator at the Jiayin Second Realm. He had just experienced a battle and his strength had not yet recovered. We ambushed him and captured him. He said that the treasure in this map refers to the greatest opportunity in the Ancient Forest." The burly man hurriedly explained, with a desire to survive in his voice.

Lin Xiao spread the map on the ground, pointed his sword at a spot and asked, "Where is this?"

"I don't know either. We've been researching for a while, and all we know is that we need to enter the core layer." The burly man's eyes showed unease. Lin Xiao thought to himself that this map might be hiding a huge secret.

"What is the immortal vine on this thin guy for, and how to use it?" Lin Xiao asked.

"As long as you carry it with you, it will automatically provide a bonus to the host. For example, when a thin person uses the vine secret technique, it will reduce the loss of energy, and the vines summoned will be thicker." The burly man spoke faster and seemed particularly nervous.

"So that's how it is." Lin Xiao was shocked, knowing that this vine might be of great help to him in the future. At this moment, the burly man said in a hurried tone: "You said you would let me go."

However, Lin Xiao's eyes were as cold as ice. The sword in his hand flashed with a cold light, and he ruthlessly cut off the burly man's head with one blow.