Walker Of The Worlds

Chapter 3926: Strong Prisoners

Within only a few breaths, nearly everyone had gathered near the center of the clearing. The transformation happened with astonishing speed. This clearly wasn’t the first time the settlement had faced danger.

One older hunter stepped beside the man who first noticed Lin Mu. "What is it?"

The hunter continued sniffing the air. "I don’t know yet."

"Is it a beast?" another person asked.

The hunter slowly shook his head. "No."

He inhaled again. "It smells human."

Confused expressions immediately spread across the gathered prisoners.

"You can smell a human?" A younger man frowned.

The hunter nodded confidently. "It’s definitely human."

Several people exchanged uneasy glances.

Another woman spoke.

"They aren’t masking their scent?" Her confusion sounded genuine. "How can someone wander through the forest without masking themselves? The beasts would find them immediately. And the insects would swarm them before they reached the river."

Another elderly hunter quietly added, "Even the plants react to scent. You’d never survive long."

The first hunter became increasingly irritated.

Whoever hid among those bushes clearly ignored every basic rule required to survive this forest. He reached beside the fire and picked up his weapon. It consisted of a long wooden shaft nearly three meters in length.

The spearhead had been fashioned from carefully sharpened black stone secured with braided sinew and hardened resin. It was rather primitive but still deadly in the right hands with the right kind of training.

"We’ll know what it is..." He gripped the spear firmly. "...when I kill it."

Without waiting for anyone to stop him, the hunter planted one foot firmly against the ground as his muscles tightened.

Then he hurled the spear.

WHOOSH!

The weapon exploded forward and its speed far exceeded what an ordinary mortal should have achieved. Years of surviving within this unforgiving forest had forged extraordinary physical strength.

The spear tore through the air with a shrill whistle as branches snapped apart and leaves scattered in every direction. Within two breaths it reached the dense bushes concealing Lin Mu.

THUD!

A heavy impact echoed through the clearing and every prisoner stared toward the vegetation.

A few moments later, the hunter’s confident expression slowly began changing as something felt wrong.

’That sound...’ The hunter analyzed.

It hadn’t resembled flesh being pierced, nor wood splitting, instead it sounded as though the spear had struck something impossibly solid. The bushes rustled as large leaves parted and heavy footsteps approached.

A broad figure gradually emerged from the shadows.

The surrounding prisoners instinctively took several steps backward as the stranger towered above every person present. His broad shoulders nearly matched the width of some tree trunks.

Even beneath the loose clothing covering his body, powerful muscles remained clearly visible. His calm expression contrasted sharply with the tension filling the settlement. Most importantly, his right hand casually held the very spear that should have pierced his chest moments earlier.

The sharpened stone tip had shattered and the thick wooden shaft bore several deep cracks. It looked less like a weapon and more like a broken stick. The hunter who threw it slowly widened his eyes.

He had felt the full force behind that throw and even large spirit beasts respected that spear. Yet this man had caught it barehanded. That too without suffering the slightest injury. Lin Mu looked across the gathered prisoners.

His gaze calmly passed over every face before finally settling upon the hunter.

Then, with complete composure, he tossed the broken spear onto the ground.

It landed between them with a dull thump.

"I think..." Lin Mu spoke in an even tone. "...it would be better if we talked first."

The clearing became utterly silent and every pair of eyes remained fixed upon Lin Mu. Nobody spoke or dared to move, for the broken spear lying upon the ground served as a constant reminder that the stranger standing before them possessed strength beyond what they had initially expected.

The hunter who had thrown the weapon slowly clenched and unclenched his empty hand. That spear had accompanied him for over thirty years and he had hunted countless beasts with it.

It might look like a crude spear, but it was acutally made from immortal grade materials. The stone was an unrefined piece of Black Immortal Iron Ore while the shaft was made from strong Blood Bark Tree Wood.

Even several First Tribulation Spirit Beasts had died beneath that very stone tip. Now the sharpened head had shattered into fragments. The thick shaft carried deep cracks running almost halfway through its length.

The hunter understood immediately.

The damage had not come from Lin Mu squeezing the spear after catching it. It had broken the very instant it struck the stranger’s skin. Realizing this his expression gradually became more serious.

Around him, the other hunters silently adjusted their grips on their weapons.

Some held axes fashioned from black stone while others carried clubs reinforced with beast bones. A few also wielded crude bows carved from flexible branches. But despite the armed state, none of them rushed forward.

Years spent surviving inside the subterranean forest had taught them restraint.

Charging recklessly toward an unknown opponent rarely ended well. The older hunters quietly observed Lin Mu from head to toe. And his height alone immediately distinguished him from ordinary people.

They had encountered body cultivators before.

Over the years, several prisoners specializing in body cultivation had entered the Mad Demon Depths. Those individuals always possessed physiques far surpassing ordinary cultivators.

The stranger standing before them clearly belonged to that category or perhaps even beyond it.

One elderly hunter quietly whispered to the man beside him. "He’s a body cultivator."

The other man slowly nodded. "I’ve only seen a handful this large."

Their eyes naturally drifted toward Lin Mu’s wrists.

Heavy shackles remained firmly locked around them and his ankles bore identical restraints. There could be no mistake, he truly was a prisoner. Yet even after having his cultivation sealed his body still possessed enough strength to casually destroy a spear with bare skin.