Chapter 2369 - 2370: Turned Black

Chapter 2369: Chapter 2370: Turned Black

"What’s wrong, Xiaobai?"

Lin Chen asked Xiaobai as he crouched down, unconsciously rubbing Xiaobai’s forehead.

But the moment he stretched out his hand, he couldn’t help freezing for a second.

The palm that had been pressed on Xiaobai’s head snapped back; he turned his hand over, then carefully examined it.

Lin Chen’s palm now looked as if it were made from night itself—under the bright moonlight, not a trace of skin color could be seen, only endless pitch black.

How could a sight like this not leave Lin Chen stunned!

He hurriedly stood up, and wherever his gaze reached, he looked himself over from head to toe.

But on Lin Chen’s body now, where was there even the slightest bit of skin left? It was completely shrouded in black, and even his Spiritual Energy had turned utterly black!

"What the hell!"

Lin Chen shot to his feet, startling Xiaobai at his side so much that the beast jumped. It had never seen Lin Chen like this, nor had it ever witnessed such a violent surge in his mood.

That made Xiaobai stare at Lin Chen with some worry, softly whimpering at him.

Which was only natural. Looking at the state of his own body, Lin Chen scratched his head helplessly. What was he supposed to do with this? He definitely didn’t want to be walking around jet black like this from now on.

Even in broad daylight, it would be hard to see him clearly.

"Right, let’s go find those ritualists. They should have a way."

Lin Chen punched his own palm, a plan suddenly forming in his heart.

At the moment this was the only option left. He didn’t know much about the Magic Sect’s affairs, and in a situation like this, he could only go ask those ritualists.

And that "king" the strange artifact mentioned just before it vanished—what on earth did that mean? He needed an answer to that as well.

Right now, the only ones who might know were those ritualists, or Lu Kang, who was still tangled up with Liu Qinghan.

"Let’s go!"

With a sharp shout, Lin Chen moved in a flash. As he did, Xiaobai beside him also burst into motion. Man and beast together sped toward the place where Zheng He was.

As he ran, Lin Chen quickly felt something was off. Wind seemed to spring beneath his feet—his speed was faster than before. With a soft "huh," he realized he had already crossed over half the distance.

Up ahead, Zheng He was entangled with several burly men. Against one alone he wasn’t afraid at all, could even take the upper hand, but now there were four of them. Each stood in a different spot, attacking Zheng He with either fists or kicks.

Within the fists and feet of these men was contained a black aura that tightly wrapped their knuckles, like iron sand. When they struck Zheng He, they brought with them a faint, aching pain.

That made Zheng He extremely anxious. Quite some time had already passed, and he knew full well how terrifying that strange artifact was. He could hardly imagine what kind of impact such a vicious artifact’s attacks would have when they landed on Lin Chen.

And just as his anxiety peaked, a muffled banging sound suddenly echoed from the distance.

Doubt flickered in Zheng He’s heart. In the brief gap after he parried another attack, he glanced sideways—and saw a familiar figure, Xiaobai trotting alongside.

"Brat, you..."

The first thing on Zheng He’s face was delight, but the moment he got a clear look at Lin Chen, that delight froze.

Lin Chen before him was pitch black all over, his face included. At his brow a smooth, round bead was rotating—it looked like a pupil, but carried an even more sinister air.

The sight stunned Zheng He. As he stared, one of the burly men took the chance to slam a blow into him. His torso dented slightly under the impact; he grunted and staggered half a step back.

"You bastard!"

Zheng He cursed furiously. Then he lowered his body, half crouching toward the ground. It looked like he was dodging, but in truth, his right hand was gripping his saber so tightly his knuckles were white.

His body spun like a top, and at the same time the long blade in his hand swung with him.

The single saber’s arc wasn’t especially sharp, but the force behind it was more than enough. As he spun, the broad blade hacked up from the burly men’s feet, then, as Zheng He slowly rose, sliced toward their bodies.

The four burly men frowned slightly and backed away a few steps.

After this brief exchange, they too understood that this Zheng He was not easy to provoke. His attacks were ferocious; they might not be enough to actually wreck their bodies, but the pain, they could definitely feel.

"Where are those ritualists? Where are they, where are they?"

Lin Chen walked forward, his expression anxious. He turned his head this way and that, obviously looking for something.

"They’re behind those guys. Forcing your way through won’t be easy."

After driving the burly men back, Zheng He finally had a moment to catch his breath. He leapt out of the fray, landing beside Lin Chen, gasping for air.

He shook his slightly sore arms, as if that last move had drained too much strength, leaving him with a wave of fatigue.

"More importantly, how did you end up like this?"

Looking at Lin Chen, Zheng He didn’t know whether he should laugh or not. His lips pressed together, then parted slightly again, his expression twisted in conflict.

If not for the aura he could clearly sense, he would have practically failed to recognize Lin Chen at all.

"Who knows! I want to know what kind of messed-up situation this is too. I can only ask those ritualists."

Lin Chen let out a bitter laugh, then turned his gaze toward the place surrounded by the burly men. He steeled himself and began striding in that direction.

"These things aren’t easy to deal with. Don’t force it."

Zheng He frowned and warned him. He’d been fighting these things for quite a while now and still hadn’t managed to injure or drive them off. That alone showed how troublesome these body-tempering cultivators were.

They seemed different from ordinary cultivators—common sense didn’t apply to them.

They didn’t look like anything special, but their physiques alone were enough to be a massive headache.

"To hell with that. Looking like you do now, even if you can’t beat them, you still have to fight!"

Now that Lin Chen had ended up in this state, all the frustration and anger bottled up inside him had nowhere to go. The burly men in front of him were clearly the perfect punching bags, and he didn’t care about anything else.

All he wanted was to fight his way through, find those damned ritualists, and get a clear explanation of what was happening in his body to make it turn out like this!

As Lin Chen stepped forward, the burly men seemed to sense that he wasn’t easy to mess with. In that instant, they seemed to pick up on a dangerous aura coming off him. They exchanged glances, shock flickering in each of their eyes.