The Beginning and The End

Time rewound three hours.

Lu Qingshan's gaze sharpened as he looked at Mu Shan's status panel.

He noticed a small detail.

In the NPC name field, the demon hunter named Mu Shan was displayed as Ma Shan.

It wasn't strange for someone to use a false name.

When you're out in the world, who doesn't have a few aliases for protection?

The problem lay with the surname.

Mu Shan's real surname was Ma.

Coincidentally, the Ma Family was the Lin Family's long-standing rival in Yuanshan City.

A coincidence?

Lu Qingshan didn't quite believe it.

His experience in the game Nine Heavens had taught him one thing: any event that seemed like a coincidence was a trap set by the game developers for the players!

To verify his suspicion, Lu Qingshan used his Heavenly Eye Technique to scan all the remaining demon hunters.

Curiously, except for the demon hunter named Liu Ai, all the other demon hunters were at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

However, during Lin He's routine inquiry earlier, the highest cultivation level reported by anyone was only the sixth level of Qi Refining.

—Including Lu Qingshan himself; he had also concealed his true cultivation from Lin He.

Among these cultivators who had misrepresented their cultivation, the Gu Cultivator who called himself Wu Xinyuan but was actually Ma Yuan stood out the most.

Tenth level of Qi Refining.

Why would a tenth-level Qi Refining cultivator be interested in a mission that only offered a mere thirty First-grade Spirit Stones?

With his suspicions aroused, Lu Qingshan observed them slightly and easily noticed that the private exchanges and actions of these cultivators who had misrepresented their cultivation levels all conveyed one piece of information.

They already knew each other before this, and Ma Yuan was even subtly leading them.

The situation was crystal clear.

Lu Qingshan's eyes flickered.

Half an hour ago.

When Lin He was preparing to scout the terrain and find a suitable place to set up camp, Lu Qingshan casually walked over to him.

Lin He caught sight of Lu Qingshan from the corner of his eye and asked politely, "Is there something you need, fellow cultivator?"

"Manager Lin, I have a question. Has the Lin Family offended anyone recently?" Lu Qingshan asked with a smile, but his words were astonishing.

Lin He sensed the deeper meaning in Lu Qingshan's words and was inwardly startled. "Why do you ask, fellow cultivator?"

Lu Qingshan chuckled and said, "It's not a big deal, but I just feel that with a reward of thirty First-grade Spirit Stones, it doesn't seem realistic to hire such high-cultivation demon hunters."

Lin He frowned.

Qi Refining cultivators had not yet mastered the ability of [Spiritual Sense Projection]. Therefore, unless they practiced special techniques, they could not determine the cultivation level of other cultivators.

"You mean?"

Lu Qingshan nodded. "I know a detection spell that can roughly sense the spiritual energy fluctuations of a cultivator, thereby determining their cultivation level. I tried it on the demon hunters out of curiosity, and I found that they were all quite advanced. The spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from that Wu Xinyuan were even significantly greater than yours, Manager Lin."

Lin He's expression changed.

Lu Qingshan had hinted at it so clearly. If he still couldn't grasp the seriousness of the situation, he would have lived all these years in vain.

Lin He cupped his hands slightly towards Lu Qingshan. "Thank you for the reminder, fellow cultivator."

Lu Qingshan glanced at Ma Shan and Ma Yuan, who were acting suspiciously nearby, and said nonchalantly, "You're too kind, Manager Lin."

Lu Qingshan turned and left.

Lin He pondered for a moment, appearing as if nothing had happened. He walked to the carriage and whispered something to the person inside.

To outsiders, it seemed normal, perhaps reporting something to the Lin Family's young lady.

Then, the Lin Family's young lady inside the carriage handed out a Storage Bag.

Lin He took the Storage Bag, took out several Formation Flags, and instructed the Lin Family cultivators to set them up.

It was just a low-grade warning formation.

Ma Yuan, who had been watching Lin He, slightly shifted his attention away upon seeing this.

Lin He, who was supposed to have no power to resist, was now holding a Formation Flag, controlling the fire snakes, and continuously wreaking havoc on his Dark Sting Golden Bee Gu.

Several red lights shot up into the sky from all directions.

This was the First-grade formation, the Fire Snake Formation, which had been set up in advance.

Ma Yuan couldn't believe it.

He hadn't noticed at all when Lin He had set up the Fire Snake Formation.

Suddenly, Ma Yuan seemed to recall something, his whole body shuddered, and he realized, "The formation flags you had your subordinate cultivators set up earlier weren't the so-called warning formations at all, but the formation flags for this formation!"

Lin He nodded, "You guessed correctly. Your Ma Family has truly deep schemes. If Fellow Daoist Lu hadn't warned me beforehand and made me prepared, I would have fallen into your trap by now."

Thinking of this, a chill ran through Lin He's heart.

The Ma Family had long coveted the Lin Family's Azure Stone mine. His Lin Family was naturally well aware of this.

Although the Ma Family's overall strength far surpassed the Lin Family's, they both had only one Foundation Establishment cultivator. Thus, the Ma Family didn't dare to act rashly.

After all, with both sides being Foundation Establishment cultivators, the outcome of a fight was truly unpredictable. If both were heavily injured, allowing other families to profit, it would be a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.

Add to that the deterrence from the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City.

Therefore, the Ma Family had been suppressing their restless ambitions all these years.

But now, with the Lin Family Patriarch's lifespan nearing its end, if they could sever the connection between the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City and the Lin Family of Yuanshan City, wouldn't this Azure Stone mine be as good as theirs?

The Lin Family of Zhenjiang City possessed dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators and several Golden Core cultivators, making them an absolute behemoth to the Ma Family.

If the Lin Family of Yuanshan City truly held onto that strong support tightly, even with a hundred times the courage, Ma Yuan would not dare to harbor any improper thoughts.

Unfortunately, the Lin Family of Yuanshan City wasn't even considered a branch of the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City.

Their Patriarch, Lin Qitian, was originally the son of a Foundation Establishment elder from the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City.

Because Lin Qitian had made some mistakes and violated family rules, he was expelled from the family.

After drifting to Yuanshan City, Lin Qitian, through years of management, had managed to branch out and establish a considerable foundation, at least for Yuanshan City.

With a small foundation established, Lin Qitian's first thought was to be readmitted into the clan. Thus, he brought the Azure Stone as a stepping stone and returned to Zhenjiang City, contacting the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City.

The Lin Family of Zhenjiang City was wealthy and powerful. While they wouldn't look down on Azure Stone, they certainly wouldn't swallow their pride and readmit Lin Qitian just for a mere Azure Stone.

However, under the persuasion of his elder father, although they ultimately did not acknowledge Lin Qitian's identity, they grudgingly tacitly accepted the tribute from the Lin Family of Yuanshan City.

Every three years, Lin Qitian would present a large batch of Azure Stone to the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City, and in return, the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City would provide the Lin Family of Yuanshan City with some hard-to-obtain pills and Spirit Artifacts as resource support.

That was all.

The Patriarch's elder father had passed away many years ago, and there was no one left in the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City who could speak for them.

If this tribute were to be disrupted this time, the tenuous connection that the Lin Family of Yuanshan City maintained with the Lin Family of Zhenjiang City through the Azure Stone would likely be severed.

Thinking of this, a trace of fear and a trace of relief flashed through Lin He's mind.

Fortunately, this Lu Qingshan had discovered the abnormality of these demon hunters; otherwise, they would have likely fallen this time.