Chapter Ninety-Three: Father Imprisoned

Chen Zhong’s deep spiritual power surged forth, enveloping the two of them. He formed a spell with his hands, and a bright white light appeared out of nowhere. An intense pull swept over them, drawing the three into its embrace. Their vision blurred, and when clarity returned, they found themselves once again standing in the valley where they had first entered the seal.

No sooner had they arrived than the faint, lingering scent of blood reached their noses. Looking ahead, they saw bodies strewn haphazardly across the ground. From their appearance, these people had died long ago, and it seemed the surrounding spirit beasts had gnawed at the remains, making it nearly impossible to discern their identities from their faces alone.

Yet, from the scraps of clothing, it was evident they belonged to two different sects.

Wind and Snow Pavilion and the Flowing Cloud Sect! The three exchanged brief, knowing looks, quickly deducing the general course of events, though none spoke of it. They acted as if they had not seen the corpses, moving in silent accord toward the exit.

Traveling at their speed, it took them only two days to reach the foot of Nine Flat Mountain. Along the way, they occasionally encountered some reckless spirit beasts, but these creatures, facing the eager Chen Zhong, didn’t even manage their customary entrance roar before being dispatched in an instant.

Naturally, the bodies of these spirit beasts fell to Lin Xiaobao’s benefit, filling his storage bag to the brim—a sight that filled Si Mengling with envy.

Chen Zhong was in a hurry, yet he felt it inappropriate to say more to Lin Xiaobao. However, as soon as they reached the base of Nine Flat Mountain, he bid Lin Xiaobao farewell: “Brother Lin, meeting you on this journey has been a blessing for both me and my wife. Once she passes her tribulation, I shall seek you out again, and we will drink our fill together!”

“Green hills endure, clear waters remain. Brother, until we meet again!” Lin Xiaobao replied, mimicking the gestures of martial heroes from his past life and clasping his fists toward Chen Zhong.

“Well said! Green hills endure, clear waters remain!” Chen Zhong laughed heartily, already a hundred yards away, his voice echoing, “Brother, until we meet again!”

At that moment, Si Mengling heard Chen Zhong’s voice in her ear, transmitted by spiritual means: “Sister-in-law, Brother Lin is no ordinary man. You must seize this opportunity!”

Si Mengling had intended to explain further, but Chen Zhong had vanished. She could only turn to Lin Xiaobao and say, “You’ve seen the state of relations between Flowing Cloud Sect and Wind and Snow Pavilion in the valley. Go back and tell that person: from now on, there is only Si Mengling of Flowing Cloud Sect, not his daughter. If we meet again in the future, I will show no mercy!”

With these words, she glanced at Lin Xiaobao and, with a few swift leaps, disappeared without a trace.

Lin Xiaobao did not pursue her. He felt the matter should be left for Lin Tian to decide. Now that he was something of a minor magnate, even if he couldn’t acquire the spirit beast core from Wind and Snow Pavilion, he could trade some of the resources obtained from the ancient seal for a comparable one, heal Lin Tian’s injuries, then reveal the truth. Afterward, he could begin his own wanderings.

Ever since entering this world, Lin Xiaobao had hoped that, once he mastered his arts, he would one day roam the land with sword in hand. Now, it seemed that day had come. This thought stirred him, and after choosing his direction, he sped toward Wind and Snow Pavilion.

Having reached the third tier of the Spiritual Path, Lin Xiaobao’s speed was much faster than before. In just a few days, he arrived at the foot of Wind and Snow Pavilion’s mountain.

Just as he was about to ascend, a familiar figure rushed toward him. “Brother Xiaobao, something terrible has happened! Wind and Snow Pavilion is in trouble, and Master…”

“What happened?” Lin Xiaobao immediately noticed that Wang Dashan had advanced to the first tier of the Spiritual Path. Still, his breathing made it clear he was injured, filling Lin Xiaobao with a sense of foreboding.

“Let’s leave here first!” Wang Dashan seemed anxious, leading Lin Xiaobao swiftly to the left. “There’s a cave behind the dense forest ahead. We’ll talk there!”

The two sped through the forest, and seeing that Wang Dashan did not take him into Wind and Snow Pavilion, Lin Xiaobao’s unease grew stronger.

Both now possessed spiritual cultivation, and though they concealed their auras, their speed was unmatched. In less than a quarter of an hour, they entered the cave Wang Dashan had mentioned.

Lin Xiaobao immediately took out dozens of grade-two spirit jades, setting up a concealment array at the entrance to isolate the cave from the outside world, before asking, “What exactly happened?”

Wang Dashan, anxious, spoke incoherently, but Lin Xiaobao managed to piece together the information he needed.

It turned out that after Lin Xiaobao entered the ancient seal, Hua Xiaotian and Ao Wuchen, being closer, arrived first. Moments after their teams entered the valley, the experts of Flowing Cloud Sect arrived.

To the Flowing Cloud Sect, it seemed the people from Wind and Snow Pavilion had already entered the ancient seal, and the teams led by Hua Xiaotian and Ao Wuchen were guardians left behind.

After a fruitless dispute, they fought outright. Flowing Cloud Sect seemed to be constrained by something, so the disciples they sent were not much stronger than the two teams. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.

Afterward, Hua Xiaotian and Ao Wuchen returned to Wind and Snow Pavilion, spending nearly half a year recuperating. Having failed to find the ancient seal, the inheritance of the pavilion master reverted once more to the tradition of sword duels.

The Hua family’s Snow Technique proved formidable. Though both men were highly cultivated, Hua Xiaotian, with his immense spiritual power, narrowly won. Normally, this would have ended the contest for pavilion master.

Yet, the elders supporting Ao Wuchen were unwilling to accept defeat. They instigated an internal coup, plunging the pavilion into chaos. At the height of the struggle, the third elder’s uncle, Elder Lingyun, emerged with his perfected Dao Heart, sweeping away the pavilion master and the elders loyal to Lin Tian. The turmoil was quelled, and Ao Wuchen ascended as the new pavilion master.

The other grand elders in the sanctuary responded with unusual calm—none intervened, including Hua Zhengchun’s father, the previous pavilion master Hua Tian’ao, who seemed oblivious to the change in leadership.

After quelling the unrest, Elder Lingyun returned to the sanctuary to resume his cultivation, leaving the aftermath to the new pavilion master. Of course, Ao Wuchen, though now master, was merely a puppet; true decisions lay with the other elders.

On Elder Lingyun’s orders, they spared the Hua family, merely imprisoning them. The elders who aided the Hua family were not so fortunate—all were purged.

As for Elder Lin Tian, thanks to Lin Xiaobao’s outstanding achievements over the past two years, his life was temporarily spared. The elders assumed Lin Xiaobao’s rapid progress was due to some extraordinary technique Lin Tian had given him. Now, with Lin Tian imprisoned, they were interrogating him for the method.

Having grasped the situation, Lin Xiaobao furrowed his brow, pondering how he might rescue Lin Tian.

Though Lin Tian was only his adoptive father, everything Lin Tian had done for him had earned Lin Xiaobao’s recognition and respect. At this moment, he could not simply ignore Lin Tian’s plight.

“Master asked me to give you this spirit stone and told you to crush it on the night of the full moon,” Wang Dashan said, handing over a low-grade spirit stone.

Lin Xiaobao took it, feeling the powerful spiritual energy within, and immediately understood that Lin Tian had employed the Spirit Division Technique on the stone.

The Spirit Division Technique uses a spirit stone as a medium, infusing one’s spiritual energy to allow communication across great distances, though it greatly depletes the caster’s spiritual strength.

Fortunately, today happened to be the fifteenth, the night of the full moon. Lin Xiaobao gave Wang Dashan some medicinal powder to aid his recovery and waited for nightfall, all the while contemplating his future path.