Chapter 38

In just three minutes, nothing but shattered bones and scraps of clothing remained on the ground. Ling Yan had vanished from this world completely.

The three Dire Wolves, their mouths smeared with blood, lay down contentedly to rest.

Yet at that moment, Lin Xuan's ghostlike figure silently appeared. He moved without a sound, not even leaking a trace of his aura.

Swoosh!

Only when the blood-red battle saber tore through the air with a wind-breaking whistle did the three Dire Wolves react. They immediately rose to their feet, their fur standing on end as they prepared to fight.

Splurt!

Unfortunately, with a sharp sound, one Dire Wolf's head instantly rolled to the ground.

"Awoo..."

Seeing this, the other two Dire Wolves let out furious howls. Their four paws pounded the ground as they charged fiercely at Lin Xuan.

Blood Battle Three Forms!

Yet Lin Xuan gave a low shout, and the blood-red battle saber in his hand unleashed a swath of crimson saber light.

The two Dire Wolves' eyes widened abruptly, fear flashing within them.

The crimson saber light engulfed them in an instant. In but a moment, two headless wolf corpses crashed to the ground.

In the time of a few breaths, he had instantly slain three late-stage Body Tempering Dire Wolves. With absolute suppression in cultivation, minor mastery of movement techniques, and major mastery of saber techniques, Lin Xuan's combat strength was plain to see.

He had not even used Blood Rage. Otherwise, his burst of power would have been even more astonishing.

"Not bad!"

Putting away his battle saber, Lin Xuan was immensely satisfied with his current combat strength.

Invincible in Body Tempering, capable of slaying those in Blood Refining!

At this stage, as long as he broke through to the Blood Refining Realm, he would definitely be able to contend for a spot in the secret realm.

As his consciousness sank into the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, Lin Xuan raised his brows slightly.

"The stolen time has actually gone from five years to three. Blood qi is no longer so plentiful for me at this stage. Once I reach the Blood Refining Realm, I'm afraid late-stage Body Tempering targets won't provide any cultivation time at all."

Lin Xuan's thoughts entered the Soul Suppressing Pagoda. He now had twenty-five years of cultivation time remaining, as well as one mass of blood qi.

Without further nonsense, Lin Xuan began cultivating directly.

After spending a year, the blood qi was completely exhausted. Lin Xuan's realm had not improved much; it was far inferior to the blood qi from Ling Yan and the Earth-Rending Bear.

Of course, there was nothing he could do about that. Though helpless, Lin Xuan did not leave the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, instead continuing to devote time to cultivating Concealed Breath Stride.

Setting aside five years, he invested all nineteen remaining years into Concealed Breath Stride.

Myriad Ages in an Instant—nineteen years were no more than the span of a thought.

In Lin Xuan's perception, throughout those nineteen years, he had frantically honed Concealed Breath Stride every single day.

As time passed, his understanding of Concealed Breath Stride grew ever deeper.

Unfortunately, after nineteen years, Concealed Breath Stride still had not reached major mastery.

After leaving the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, Lin Xuan furrowed his brows deeply.

"A Mystic-Rank Low-Grade Martial Skill is simply too profound. I've already invested more than fifty years, yet I'm still some distance from major mastery."

"Perhaps I'll need to invest over sixty years before I can truly reach major mastery."

"This Useless Body of Ten Thousand Years is truly useless. Without the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, in a hundred-year lifespan, I'd probably cultivate until death without even gaining the strength to kill a single Dire Wolf."

Lin Xuan was helpless, but there was nothing he could do.

After a long while, Lin Xuan gathered his tangled thoughts, left the clearing, took hold of the Gale Wind Horse, and departed from Yan Hui Mountain.

On the way back to the Holy Land, Lin Xuan did not encounter any demonic beasts, leaving him with no opportunity to harvest more.

By evening, Lin Xuan finally entered the Divine Firmament Holy Land.

He did not return to his resting quarters. Instead, he sought out the Head Steward and told him the excuse he had prepared long ago.

"What? Senior Sister Ling Yan was killed by an Earth-Rending Bear? Then how did you escape and return?"

The Head Steward looked at Lin Xuan, surprise in his eyes.

"Senior Sister Ling Yan told me to wait two li away. I waited for a long time, and when Senior Sister did not return, I couldn't help going to take a look. But all I found was blood all over the ground and Senior Sister's sword."

Lin Xuan took out Ling Yan's longsword and handed it to the Head Steward.

The Head Steward accepted the sword and shook his head slightly. "What a pity. Senior Sister Ling Yan possessed heaven-given talent, yet she still died at the hands of a demonic beast."