Chapter 2531 Changed Yao Changying
Sixty percent of the Spatial Rifts had been closed and Lin Mu was about to close another one when he felt a spike in energy.
His pupils constricted as he got a feeling of alarm.
"Blink!" He quickly disappeared from his position and appeared ten meters away.
~BOOM~
The place he had been before was struck by a large tentacle made out of pure Withering Dao Energy!
If it had struck him, he would have been injured even with the Longgui Bulwark Armour protecting it.
'The Withering Dao Energy contained within it is even greater than the first Yin Nascent Soul Maggot I fought.' Lin Mu compared.
He had been struck by it too and despite the Longgui Bulwark Armor it had managed to enter his body. If not for his companions help, he might not have managed to survive it. And while he was a bit stronger now, he didn't think he'd be able to take too many of them.
If he got hit by one, he would most certainly get hit with another later. These will stack and he won't get the time to purge the Withering Dao Energy.
'I should take precautions.' Lin Mu quickly swallowed the pills and put on the talismans they had prepared to this exact situation.
At the same time, he quickly discovered where the large Withering Dao energy tentacle had come from.
"Yao Changying!" Lin Mu spotted the woman who had changed quite a bit.
From the last time he had seen her, the heiress of the Flourishing Flower Sword Sect and the Niece of the Holy Topaz Emperor had become more matured.
If before she bore the demeanor of a distant princess she now bore the aloof coldness and divinity of a Fierce Empress.
Wearing form fitting black and dark green robes that highlighted her curves and created a deep ravine on her chest, she exuded a charm that would make most men loll their tongues. Her long fingernails that were painted black were like a seductress claws, tempting to pull out one's soul.
Finally, on her head rested a spiked black crown with her hair flowing out between each spike. The crown looked menacing, but combined with her appearance it only enhanced her charm.
With an appearance like this, even if she didn't tempt people with power, there would be more than enough submitting just from her beauty.
'It's only been twenty five years and yet the change seems like a thousand years.' Lin Mu couldn't help but think.
~HISS~
Lin Mu could see the red hot claws turning darker and cooling down before crumbling into craggy rocks.
'She's definitely several times stronger than before.' Lin Mu frowned. He tried sensing Yao Changying's cultivation base but realized that he couldn't do so at all. 'Shit, her body is surrounded in Withering Dao Energy too.' Lin Mu's immoral sense almost got injured when it got closed.
"That won't work, you pest." Yao Changying said, "I am not longer what you can deal with." The woman raised her hand causing a large mountain to form in the air.
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes as he saw this, finding it a bit familiar.
'Wasn't this the signature skill of the Flourishing Flower Sword Sect?' Lin Mu saw the similarities.
But now the woman was using it without a sword and Lin Mu saw almost no Sword intent in it either. 'Wait a second... now that I think of it.' Lin Mu could feel almost no semblance of a sword practitioner from Yao Changying anymore. 'Even if she isn't using sword, she shouldn't be like this.' He thought to himself.
Even if someone wasn't a pure sword cultivator, they would still have an aura of sword with them that was imbued into them after long years of used. And Yao Changying was a high level Sword Practitioner that had developed her Sword Intent to the High Rank.
Someone like her would always have it on her body even if she wasn't using Sword Skills. A fellow user of Sword Intent would know this at just a glance. And yet, Lin Mu was unable to sense even a smidgen of it from her body.
"Are you Yao Changying, or are you the Withered Soul Daoist?" Lin Mu asked out loud, making the woman miss a beat.
She froze just for a second which was more than enough for Lin Mu to get out of the range of the falling mountain.
"You... How do you know that!?" Yao Changying was surprised. 'Even if they had found out about the Soul Fragment and the old records, no way they would know about your name.' She said in her mind.
"He shouldn't have known it... Even in the Celestial Realm it isn't a name they would remember. Not after all this time." The Withered Soul Daoist said feeling surprised as well.
"I know a lot more than that." Lin Mu said as he left a trail of clouds, avoiding another attack from the tentacle. 'Those can move without her needing to act... does she only need to activate them once?' he thought as he continued to analyze the woman's skills.
"Shut up!" Yao Changying shouted in two voices, as she created more tentacles that rushed, trying to cut off Lin Mu's path.
~CLANG~CLANG~CLAGN~
Lin Mu swung out with his two swords, cutting them apart while also using Magma Fury to block those that he couldn't cut in time. This time the claws extended out of his back, stopping the attacks coming from his blind spots.
"I know who you are and what you wish to do." Lin Mu said, trying to disturb her state of mind. "Those Soul Fragments, they all belong to the Withered Soul Daoist within you don't they? A Fallen celestial yearning to become a 'True Celestial'?" he revealed openly making the woman freeze once more in shock.
"Great Slaughter Pine! Great Ocean Rake!" taking the chance he quickly used two of his strong sword skills, intending to destroy all the tentacles at once.