Night, like an enormous curtain of black velvet, silently shrouded the entire Lin Family estate. The clamor and restlessness of daytime had all faded away, leaving only a silence so profound it seemed capable of swallowing every trace of light and sound. The occasional distant chirp of insects only made the night's depth and tranquility more pronounced.
In the dilapidated little courtyard, Lin Chen had long since dressed himself. He had changed into a set of black, close-fitting martial clothes dug out from the bottom of a chest—the darkest and most inconspicuous set he owned. He had bought them three years ago, before his "fall." They were now slightly loose on him, but that was enough to conceal the somewhat straighter frame brought about by his improved cultivation.
He stood in the courtyard like an immovable boulder for a moment, adjusting his breathing. Every inhalation was long and faint, every exhalation nearly inaudible. This was a rudimentary breath-concealing method he had found in a collection of miscellaneous notes. Though crude, paired with his current exquisite control over his own strength, it was enough to suppress fluctuations in his aura to the lowest possible level.
Within his Dantian Sea of Qi, the Myriad Dao Furnace floated silently, radiating a dim black glow like the eyes of some fierce beast lurking in the darkness—cold and dangerous. After an afternoon of adapting and consolidating, his control over the strength of the Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer had grown increasingly proficient. The raw unfamiliarity following his explosive increase in power had vanished, replaced by a sense of command as natural as moving his own arms, able to release and restrain his power at will.
"The time is about right." Lin Chen lifted his eyes to the sky. It was now midnight, when people slept most deeply and their vigilance was at its lowest.
He hesitated no longer. His figure became a wisp of smoke, silently blending into the shadows beneath the eaves. Without making the slightest sound, he moved like the nimblest civet cat, clearing his household's low courtyard wall in a few leaps before vanishing into the vast night.
The layout of the Lin Family estate had long since been etched deeply into his mind. Though he had suffered cold neglect over the past three years, he had not truly wasted his time. Besides attempting cultivation, he had wandered silently through every corner of the Lin Family grounds countless times in the dead of night, familiarizing himself with every path, every rockery, every patch of shadow. That familiarity now became his finest cover.
He avoided the guards who occasionally patrolled the main roads, choosing only remote, dark paths. He moved swiftly, yet landed without a sound. His body darted and flickered nimbly among rockeries, groves, and corridor pillars like a ghost in the night. The cultivation of the Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer granted him speed and agility far beyond ordinary people, along with sharper five senses. He could clearly hear the faint friction of armor from guards patrolling in the distance, smell the lingering scents in different areas of the air, and even roughly distinguish the outlines of objects in the darkness.
"Leopard Garden..." Lin Chen silently repeated the name, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.
According to his memories, Leopard Garden, where Lin Bao resided, was located in a relatively eastern section of the Lin Family estate. The surroundings were tranquil, and the grounds extensive. Aside from the residences of the family head and several core elders, it was one of the most luxurious courtyards. This alone showed just how much Great Elder Lin Zhenhong doted on his grandson.
The closer he came to Leopard Garden, the slower Lin Chen moved, and the more cautious his actions became. He could sense that the defenses in this area were clearly tighter than elsewhere. Though it was deep in the night, several indistinct auras still lay hidden in the darkness. There were evidently concealed sentries.
"Hmph, they're guarding it quite closely." Lin Chen sneered inwardly. Still, most of those guards had auras around the Body Tempering Realm Triple or Fourth Layer. With his current strength and aura-concealing methods, avoiding them would not be too difficult as long as he remained careful.
Like a gecko, he moved soundlessly along the wall of a garden, using the dense vegetation as cover as he slowly approached Leopard Garden's outer wall.
At last, the outline of a brightly lit and sprawling courtyard appeared in his sight.
The tall walls were built from massive bluish-gray stones. Sharp iron spikes that glimmered with a faint chill had even been embedded along the top to prevent outsiders from climbing over. The courtyard gate was a vermilion double door, with two bright lanterns hanging before it and illuminating the entrance as brightly as day. Beside the gate stood two burly guards with fierce auras, vigilantly scanning their surroundings like door gods.
Within the walls, he could vaguely make out pavilions and towers, rockeries and flowing water, even a small training ground. Compared to Lin Chen's ruined little courtyard, its extravagance was as different as heaven and earth.
"A nest of gold and silver indeed." Lin Chen's gaze turned icy, and his desire to turn this place upside down grew even stronger.
He did not rashly approach the gate. Instead, he stopped in an ancient tree with luxuriant branches about thirty zhang from the outer wall. The location was well hidden, yet offered a broad view that allowed him to take in most of Leopard Garden at a glance.
He held his breath, perfectly blending his aura into the surrounding night and trees, then began to observe carefully.
The two guards at the entrance both possessed auras around the Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer. They appeared fairly alert and exchanged a few words from time to time, but their gazes never left the gate area.
Along the courtyard wall, there seemed to be a hidden sentry every so often. Though they were concealed in shadow, Lin Chen could still roughly determine their positions and strength through his keen senses. Most were at the Body Tempering Realm Triple Layer.
Inside the courtyard, the lights were bright, but few figures moved about, making the place seem rather quiet. This confirmed the claim that Lin Bao was likely recuperating behind closed doors.
"The defensive force is stronger than I expected, but... it isn't without flaws." Lin Chen analyzed calmly. The guards at the gate were the strongest, but their attention was focused on the entrance. Though there were quite a few hidden sentries along the walls, gaps lay between their positions, and their strength was relatively weaker. If he infiltrated carefully and avoided their line of sight, it was not impossible.
How could he determine Lin Bao's exact location, as well as where he stored his resources? He could not simply charge in like a headless fly and search at random, could he?
Just as Lin Chen pondered this, a suppressed cough laden with pain drifted faintly from a lit tower deep within Leopard Garden.
"Cough, cough... Damn it! That Qi Condensing Pill... its medicinal power was too fierce... cough, cough..."
Though weak, that voice was one Lin Chen knew all too well—it was Lin Bao!
Immediately afterward, a fawning voice sounded. "Brother Leopard, how are you feeling? Shall I fetch a physician to take a look at you?" Lin Chen found this voice somewhat familiar as well. It seemed to belong to one of Lin Bao's lackeys.
"Get lost! What physician?! I can nurse this minor injury myself! If outsiders learn that I failed to break through to the fifth layer and even injured my meridians, wouldn't that make me a laughingstock?!" Lin Bao cursed irritably. "Especially that trash Lin Chen! If he finds out... cough, cough... I'll skin him alive!"
"Yes, yes, Brother Leopard is right!" the lackey hurriedly agreed. "That trash Lin Chen won't be hopping around for many more days! Once the Family Test is over, the Great Elder will definitely make him wish he were dead! When the time comes, I'll be the first to vent Brother Leopard's anger!"
"Hmph! At least you know what's good for you!" Lin Bao seemed to feel a little better. "Go! Pour me a cup of water! Then check on my few stalks of Crimson Sun Grass. Those are treasures I plan to use for healing and stabilizing my realm. Nothing can go wrong with them!"
"Yes! I'll go at once!"
The tower door opened, and a monkey-thin young man walked out holding an empty cup. He headed toward a small kitchen in another direction.
Lin Chen heard and saw all of it clearly, and stormy waves instantly surged in his heart!
So he really was injured! And from the sound of it, not lightly! Even the Qi Condensing Pill he had used to break through had gone wrong!
Crimson Sun Grass? It was a fairly precious second-grade spirit herb containing pure yang energy. It had exceptional effects in healing injuries, helping Body Tempering Realm martial artists stabilize their realms, and raising cultivation! Lin Bao actually had several stalks?
This was like someone delivering a pillow just when he was sleepy!
Lin Chen's breathing could not help growing more hurried. His original target had merely been the spirit stones and pills Lin Bao might have collected. He had never expected such an unexpected harvest! The value of the Crimson Sun Grass was likely greater than everything he had anticipated combined!
If he could get his hands on those stalks of Crimson Sun Grass and refine and absorb them with the Myriad Dao Furnace... his cultivation would certainly soar again! Perhaps even striking for the Body Tempering Realm Fifth Layer would not be impossible!
The enormous temptation made Lin Chen's heart pound wildly!
But he also knew that the more this was the case, the more he needed to remain calm!
Though Lin Bao was injured, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. His cultivation at the Body Tempering Realm Fourth Layer Peak was there for all to see. If he were pushed too far, a trapped beast would still fight desperately, making him extremely dangerous. Moreover, anything Lin Bao called a "treasure" would certainly be guarded even more tightly.
Lin Chen forced himself to calm down and turned his gaze back toward the lit tower, then toward the direction in which the monkey-thin youth had gone. That was very likely where the Crimson Sun Grass was being grown!
He needed further confirmation!
Relying only on his hearing from so far away left the information somewhat vague. Besides, he had no idea whether there were other defensive measures or traps within the courtyard.
Could he... get a little closer? Perhaps... take a peek inside?
A bold thought rose within Lin Chen's heart.
He looked toward Leopard Garden's tall, sturdy wall. Climbing over was certainly impossible. The iron spikes atop the wall and the hidden sentries posed enormous threats.
Then... could he go underground? Or... pass directly through the wall?
Pass through a wall? For him now, that was no different from a fool's dream.
But... the Myriad Dao Furnace was said to refine all things!
Since it could refine medicine dregs, flesh and blood, and information from cultivation techniques, then perhaps... it could also refine these seemingly solid stones?
Even if it only refined away an infinitesimal portion, creating a hole as small as a needlepoint so that he could peer inside? Or perhaps it could refine away some of the impurities within the wall, making it slightly "softer" and easier for him to use certain special stealth techniques?
The moment this thought appeared, Lin Chen felt his heart race again!
It was possible! Perhaps it truly was possible!
Though he had never attempted to refine "useless" matter like stone or dirt, nor did he know what the results would be, what harm was there in trying?
He silently slid down from the ancient tree. Like a shadow blending into the night, he once again moved along the garden wall and crept toward a relatively secluded corner of Leopard Garden's outer wall, far from the hidden sentries' sight.
Before long, he arrived at a corner of the wall. Weeds grew thickly there, and the light was at its dimmest.
He carefully extended his palm and gently pressed it against the cold, rough bluish-gray stone wall.
With a thought, he connected to the Myriad Dao Furnace within his Dantian Sea of Qi!
"Refine!"
This time, his mind was intensely focused. Rather than seeking to devour a large area, he attempted to condense the furnace's power into an extremely tiny point!
Buzz...
The furnace trembled faintly. An exceedingly subtle yet extraordinarily concentrated invisible force, like the sharpest drill, slowly penetrated the hard stone wall!
There was no earthshaking sound, nor any violent fluctuation of energy.
Lin Chen only felt that the tiny patch of stone beneath his palm seemed to be undergoing a strange, extraordinarily slow decomposition!
Some of its impurities, its tiniest particles, seemed to be directly "erased" by the furnace's power!
This process was extremely slow, and the mental energy it consumed far exceeded what was required to refine medicine dregs and flesh and blood!
But... it truly worked!
After roughly the time it took for an incense stick to burn, fine beads of sweat had appeared on Lin Chen's forehead, and his face had grown somewhat pale. Yet beneath his palm, a tiny hole the size of a needlepoint—nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye—had appeared in the stone wall!
The hole pierced straight through the wall, which was half a chi thick!
Lin Chen was overjoyed! He hurriedly brought his eye to the hole and peered into the courtyard!
Though his field of vision was extremely narrow, like looking at a leopard through a tube, it was enough to let him see part of the scene inside!
He adjusted his angle and quickly surveyed the area around the tower, as well as the direction in which the monkey-thin youth had departed.
Around the tower, aside from a few rooms for servants responsible for cleaning that still glowed with faint lamplight, there were no other guards.
The direction in which the monkey-thin youth had gone seemed to lead to a small herb garden! A fence surrounded the garden, within which grew exotic flowers and herbs Lin Chen did not recognize, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance. Among them were several plants that were crimson from stem to leaf, their foliage resembling burning flames and especially striking in the night—that had to be the Crimson Sun Grass!
There also seemed to be a small tool shed beside the herb garden.
"Location confirmed! Target confirmed!" Lin Chen felt settled at once!
At the same time, however, he discovered a new problem.
Though the herb garden was small, it seemed that some kind of warning formation had been arranged around it?
He could faintly sense that beneath the ground around the herb garden lay buried jade stones or metal pieces emitting weak energy fluctuations. Energy seemed to flow faintly between them, forming a simple defensive system. If a person or animal entered, it would likely trigger an alarm!
"So it wasn't that simple after all." Lin Chen frowned slightly. Although the warning formation did not appear sophisticated, with his present strength and understanding of formations, silently breaking it was almost impossible.
What could he do? Forcing his way in was certainly not an option.
Did he have to give up on the Crimson Sun Grass?
Lin Chen's gaze flickered as he looked again at the stone wall through which he had drilled that tiny hole.
Since the furnace could refine stone... then perhaps... it could also refine the materials of such a simple formation?
For instance, could he directly refine away a small portion of the jade stones or metal pieces buried underground, disrupting the formation's energy circuit?
This idea was even bolder than refining stone! Even more insane!
Formations involved the circulation of energy and the application of laws. They were far more complex than simple matter! Could the Myriad Dao Furnace truly do it?
Lin Chen took a deep breath, determination flashing through his eyes.
If he did not try, how would he know?!
He pressed his palm against the wall once more. This time, instead of drilling upward, his consciousness extended downward as he tried to sense and contact the formation materials buried beneath the edge of the herb garden!
At the same time, he activated the Myriad Dao Furnace and released that invisible, subtle refining power, carefully allowing it to seep toward the "formation foundations" emitting energy fluctuations!
This process was a hundred times more difficult than refining stone! The mental energy it consumed increased by geometric multiples!
Lin Chen felt as though countless steel needles were stabbing into his head, causing excruciating pain! The true qi in his Dantian Sea of Qi was also being rapidly depleted!
Yet he clenched his teeth and held on stubbornly!
He could clearly "see" the furnace's power struggle through the soil like mercury spilling across the ground, slowly touching a shallowly buried jade stone that emitted a faint white glow!
"Refine!"
Sizzle...
It was as though something had been silently annihilated!
The energy fluctuation emitted by that jade stone instantly became chaotic, then... dimmed!
It worked!!!
Lin Chen was ecstatic!
The Myriad Dao Furnace could actually destroy formations!
Though it was only the simplest warning formation, though he had only damaged one insignificant node, this undoubtedly opened an entirely new door for him!
The Myriad Dao Furnace's abilities were even more unfathomable than he had imagined!
With this discovery, Lin Chen no longer had any misgivings!
He did not continue damaging the other formation foundations—that would create too much disturbance and make discovery too likely. It was enough that he knew he had the ability to silently disable this warning formation at a critical moment!
His objective accomplished, Lin Chen did not linger.
He carefully withdrew his hand. After confirming once more that no one was nearby, he turned into a wisp of bluish smoke and silently returned the way he had come.
By the time he returned to his ruined little courtyard, the eastern sky had already taken on a faint fish-belly white.
Though he had not directly obtained any resources during the night's reconnaissance and experimentation, the gains had far exceeded Lin Chen's expectations!
Not only had he confirmed that Lin Bao was injured and that Crimson Sun Grass existed, he had also initially uncovered the astonishing ability of the Myriad Dao Furnace to refine non-energy matter and even destroy simple formations!
This filled him with unprecedented confidence in the coming "hunt"!
A more meticulous and bolder plan swiftly took shape in his mind!
"Lin Bao... Crimson Sun Grass... Qi Condensing Pill..." Cold light and burning greed flashed in Lin Chen's eyes. "All of these will become stepping stones for my rise!"
The darkness receded, and dawn drew near.
A carefully planned hunt was about to begin!
This time, the identities of hunter and prey might undergo a world-shattering reversal!
Before you continue