268 Thousand Blades, Lost City

At an unknown location in the forest, Lin Ran discovered a strange stone pillar.

It was a little inaccurate to call it a strange “place” because it was still filled with stone pillars. However, compared to other places in the forest, the stone pillars here were clearly much shorter and smoother.

There were about a few hundred stone pillars that occupied an area of about a thousand feet. Unlike the other stone pillars, which were dozens or even hundreds of feet tall, the stone pillars here were generally about 30 feet tall. Moreover, its thickness was very uniform, as if it had been man-made.

The strangest thing was that not far ahead on Lin Ran’s right, on the periphery of this strange place, there were two stone pillars leaning towards each other, forming a triangular door with the ground, looking like a gate.

Lin Ran walked towards the “gate” without hesitation.

Looking in through the triangular gate, Lin Ran even had a strange feeling, as if the stone pillars here were arranged according to a certain pattern.

“Could this be some kind of array formation of the Great Yong Dynasty?”

Lin Ran muttered and walked into the “gate”. He wandered around the low stone pillars aimlessly. The more he walked, the more he felt that the positions of these stone pillars matched a certain pattern, but he couldn’t figure it out for the time being.

After walking for nearly fifteen minutes, Lin Ran arrived at the center of the stone pillars. It looked no different from anywhere else, but he had a strong feeling that there was definitely a treasure here!

The system’s judgment of the [Special Location] was that there was a divine sword. The probability of finding a “divine sword” in the Great Yong Dynasty was not high, but there might be something like a “divine saber” here.

Lin Ran was about to look carefully when his expression suddenly changed slightly. He suddenly turned to look in a certain direction!

On a stone pillar about a thousand steps away stood a pitch-black figure. Although he was too far away to see his face clearly, Lin Ran recognized that word intent immediately.

“Liu Hongshan!”

Lin Ran roared angrily. The scenes in Mount Sword flashed through his mind. Under intense emotional fluctuations, he finally couldn’t suppress the violent killing intent in his heart.

Boom—

A violent killing intent spread out, and sand and rocks instantly flew everywhere around Lin Ran!

Clang!

With the sound of a sharp blade being unsheathed, Lin Ran held a heavy sword that was taller than him in his hand.

The weight made Lin Ran’s shoulders sink, but this was the best tool he could use.

His strength did not increase? It did not matter!

He didn’t understand “Cloud Breaking Slash”? It didn’t matter!

A demonic red light flashed across Lin Ran’s eyes. At this moment, all the questions were thrown to the back of his mind. The only thought in his mind was to use all kinds of methods to turn Liu Hongshan into ashes!

The ground under his feet exploded. Lin Ran rushed out like an arrow leaving the bow and charged straight at Liu Hongshan!

The distance of a thousand steps was closed in an instant. Lin Ran roared and raised his heavy sword. However, just as he was about to slash down, a breeze suddenly blew past his face. The anger instantly dissipated without a trace, and even the strength in his body seemed to have been sucked out.

The huge feeling of weakness only lasted for a moment, but it happened at the most critical moment.

By the time Lin Ran returned to his usual state, his momentum was gone. He could only put down his heavy sword and land on the stone pillar helplessly.

Ten steps away, Liu Hongshan looked at Lin Ran with his hands behind his back and said with a faint smile, “It’s been so long since we last met. I’m afraid it’s not the way to treat a guest, right?”

“Cut the crap!”

Lin Ran gritted his teeth and stared at Liu Hongshan. He asked coldly, “What happened just now? Did you do it?”

“Look at what you’re saying. I’m helping you.”

Liu Hongshan shrugged innocently. “If I had let you slash down just now, your mind would have been completely corrupted by the killing intent and you would have become a man-killing demon.”

Lin Ran narrowed his eyes slightly. “Do you think I’ll believe you?”

“No.”

Liu Hongshan smiled and tilted his head to look at Lin Ran with interest. “But so what if you don’t believe me? I’ve already used the Taotie’s Evil Technique to absorb all the killing intent. You still don’t know, right? Those things are excellent nourishment for me.”

Lin Ran looked at Liu Hongshan and didn’t say anything, but his mood gradually became heavy.

He originally thought that with that violent killing intent, he would at least have a chance of winning against Liu Hongshan. He did not expect Liu Hongshan to resolve it so easily and benefited from it.

However, on second thought, Lin Ran felt that Liu Hongshan might be bluffing.

It had to be noted that the killing intent was different from a martial artist’s internal energy or the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Even Xiao Huai, who was born from killing intent, could not absorb it. How could Liu Hongshan do it?

However, no matter what, Lin Ran did not feel that irritable anymore. He still had anger and hatred for Liu Hongshan, but the killing intent that did not belong to him seemed to have really disappeared.

Just as Lin Ran was wondering what was going on, Liu Hongshan suddenly asked, “From the looks of it, you must have been to Sword Grave. How is it? Is Xiao Huai awake? How much has Huo Qiyun improved?”

“It’s none of your business.”

Lin Ran replied coldly. He held the heavy sword with both hands behind his back and stared at Liu Hongshan with a sharp gaze. “When we were exchanging death duels, I said that after leaving that place, we have to find a place where no one is around to fight. There’s no time like the present.”

As he spoke, the aura of the sixth level of the Half-Saint Realm slowly spread out.

However, looking at the murderous Lin Ran, Liu Hongshan waved his hand. “I’m sorry, I still have something to do, so our duel might have to be postponed.”

“You’re not here to fight?”

Lin Ran was stunned. “Then why are you here?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?”

Liu Hongshan asked in amusement, “If I’m not wrong, the Heavenly Saint Dynasty is already in troubled times. Why didn’t you stay in the palace to assist Emperor Sheng Yuan? Why did you come to our country?”

“I—”

Lin Ran was about to speak when he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

He had been in the Great Yong Dynasty for nearly two hours. If Liu Hongshan did not want him to come, why didn’t he appear earlier? Why did he show up this time?