Chapter 4821: If You Block Me, I Will Slaughter You
The Hall Spirit did not answer directly.
His vague reply forced Lin Moyu to think it through for himself.
Falling on Lin Moyu's ears, the answer was actually already clear: it meant "yes."
In truth, this choice was not a true "either or."
There was only one real option.
Only by giving up any retreat would there be a chance to advance.
If he left himself a way back, the outcome was already fixed.
Yet even if he chose to charge forward without retreat, the chance of success was still very small.
The forty two who came before had already proven that.
"The questions I asked, many others must have asked as well.
"After getting this answer, some of them must have backed down."
"As for me…"
Lin Moyu had already arrived at his decision.
The Hall Spirit smiled kindly.
"Have you decided, young friend?"
Lin Moyu said, "I have.
"This junior chooses the first option and leaves no way back."
The Hall Spirit's smile did not change, but his eyes did.
In the depths of his gaze, a trace of sharpness appeared, and even a hint of killing intent.
Lin Moyu's brow furrowed slightly.
"He wants to kill me."
The Hall Spirit hid it well, but Lin Moyu's soul was too keen, and that slightest wisp of killing intent was caught precisely.
Clearly, the Hall Spirit had not wanted him to choose the first option.
He had wanted Lin Moyu to choose the second.
Because with the second option, Lin Moyu would either die or become a God Servant, with no other possibility.
Thinking back to the first round of the "trial," the Hall Spirit had repeatedly pressed him there as well, clearly hoping he would choose wrongly.
Afterward, the Hall Spirit had put on a show of "acting by the rules," yet in fact that was not the full truth.
He was indeed the Hall Spirit, the artifact spirit of the God Servant Hall, and thus bound to the rules set by his master, but he might still possess certain privileges such as subtly guiding people in a certain direction.
Lin Moyu did not dwell too long on this.
He did not want the Hall Spirit to sense any reaction, so he immediately said, "Although this junior has no wish to die, this junior's Dao heart insists that I must advance without retreat."
The Hall Spirit's eyes flickered, though his smile remained unchanged.
"You are sure?"
Lin Moyu replied with absolute certainty, "I am sure.
"This junior chooses the first option no retreat."
To be safe, Lin Moyu repeated his choice.
As long as his answer was clear and firm enough, the Hall Spirit would not be able to alter it.
The Hall Spirit's smile slowly faded, replaced by a solemn look.
"In that case, may fortune be with you, young friend."
Though his words wished Lin Moyu luck, Lin Moyu could hear a note of anger.
He was still concealing his true thoughts, unwilling or perhaps afraid to violate the rules.
Lin Moyu acted as if he had noticed nothing at all.
"Many thanks, Senior Hall Spirit."
The Hall Spirit raised his hand and lightly tapped.
A beam of starlight fell and condensed into a square box.
"Take it.
"From here on, success or failure will depend on yourself."
As he spoke, he waved his hand.
The God Servant Hall vanished in an instant, the divine mountain beneath his feet disappearing along with it.
Lin Moyu now stood in the void, with the Annihilation Power of the Life Forbidden Zone surging in from all directions.
If not for the box floating before him, all that had happened earlier might really have seemed like a dream.
Lin Moyu took the box and turned to leave at once.
He did not open it immediately but first flew far away from that place.
He could not be sure that the God Servant Hall had truly left; it might simply be concealed.
He very likely was still under surveillance.
The other party's level was too high, and he had to be extremely cautious.
After flying for a very long time and getting far away, Lin Moyu sent out the two runes of Yin and Yang void and reality from his fingertips.
The runes intertwined to form a great array, which enveloped him completely.
The grand array blocked the Annihilation Power and isolated the inside from the outside.
Here, treasures could not be used.
Even the Calamity Scepter was in deep slumber, and the Living Beings' Chessboard and the Purple Gold Thunder Pagoda were similarly suppressed.
Only himself could be relied upon.
One grand array was not enough.
More and more runes flew out, forming arrays that nested within each other, each array containing its own space, all stacked together in a dense, overlapping mesh.
There were so many grand arrays that the whole space inside became unstable and somewhat chaotic.
That chaos was exactly what Lin Moyu wanted.
The more chaotic it was, the safer he would be, and the harder it would be for others to watch him.
Lotus blossoms bloomed from the array under his feet.
He sat down cross legged and closed his eyes.
Only then did he begin to carefully sort through his experiences in the God Servant Hall.
"The Hall Spirit is the artifact spirit of the God Servant Hall.
"An artifact spirit, by all rights, should never betray its master; the chance is almost zero.
"Yet this Hall Spirit clearly harbors disloyal intentions.
"Even so, as the Hall Spirit, he must still follow the rules the master set.
"He may have some privileges but cannot outright defy them.
"So he cannot act openly and can only resort to underhanded tricks.
"The master of the God Servant Hall has been absent for a long time.
"That primary throne has been empty for who knows how many eras, and even those seats for the God Servants have never been touched.
"The God Servants in the hall have never gone in to sit.
"Though they are God Servants, they do not take their seats meaning that without the master present, they have no right to sit.
"These seats have existed for countless years, so ancient that no marks of use can be seen.
"This also proves that even the Hall Spirit has no right to touch them.
"The Hall Spirit's authority is limited, so all he can do is guide.
"But no matter what he does, he is still only the Hall Spirit.
"Even if he harbors disloyalty, why insist on guiding others in this way?
"Turning people into God Servants does not benefit him at all.
"Those God Servants have little real connection with him."
"For anyone, doing anything requires some kind of benefit.
"The Hall Spirit gains nothing, yet still insists on doing this.
"That means somebody else must be reaping the benefit."
Thinking this far, Lin Moyu felt that he had caught onto something.
If turning people into God Servants did not benefit the Hall Spirit, it might benefit someone else.
This implied that behind the Hall Spirit, there was still another party.
Moreover, the Hall Spirit clearly did not want anyone to succeed, which meant that someone succeeding would be disadvantageous to him.
Whoever lurked behind the Hall Spirit was unlikely to be the master.
The "supreme master" he had spoken of had long since departed.
Whoever this figure behind the scenes was, one thing was clear: they were extremely powerful.
But for some reason, they could not act directly, and neither could the Hall Spirit.
They could not attack Lin Moyu outright, but that did not stop them from doing things like increasing the difficulty.
"Whoever you are, if you try to stop me, I will slaughter you."
After straightening out his thoughts, Lin Moyu finally opened the box.
This box had been left by the master of the God Servant Hall.
The Hall Spirit could not go against that once Lin Moyu chose, he had to hand it over.
When the box opened, an unusual aura washed over him.
Inside were two items: a square, seven colored jade and something about the size of a fist, resembling a seed.
The instant the box opened, a stream of information poured into his soul.
…
In the void, a colossal eye faintly appeared, staring at Lin Moyu's arrays.
"This one is very cautious.
"Could he have sensed something?"
"He should not have.
"For countless ages, cycle after cycle of Great Annihilation, so many Primal Chaos apex powerhouses have come and gone, and none of them noticed anything.
"He is merely one more among them.
"Call it 'caution' if you will, but it can just as well be called 'timidity.'
"Even if he made the correct choice, he still will not be able to take this step.
"Since you insist on seeking death, then go and die.
"A few more cycles, and this Hall Spirit will be free."
The huge eye slowly vanished.
The Hall Spirit had hidden himself well, yet Lin Moyu had still sensed something.
These arrays sealed off the outside and, at the same time, served as Lin Moyu's eyes.
In his heart, Lin Moyu whispered, "There really is a problem."