Evil spirits and monsters ran rampant throughout the world, and every safe place was worth its weight in gold.
The Lin family's ancestors had come to Gao Liu City forty years ago and settled in the Outer Three Wards.
In the alleyways, three generations lived under one roof in a single small house.
The twelve wards of the southern district of the Outer City had nearly nine thousand people in Lin Jiang Ward alone.
And that was counting only the city's residents, not the merchants who came from elsewhere.
"This city is far more densely populated than I expected."
In this strange world, danger was everywhere outside the city, while the city itself was overcrowded. It was only natural.
What was more, Gao Liu City was also far more expansive than he had imagined.
He had grown up in Gao Liu City all his life. He knew only that it was vast, but had never had any specific understanding of its size.
At least, before awakening the memories of his previous life, even when he lived in Lin Jiang Ward and occasionally went out, he had never ventured beyond the Outer Three Wards.
He had not even traversed the entire southern district of the Outer City.
At that moment, Lin Yan held a map of the southern region that he had just retrieved from the Outer Southern Department's branch office.
The southern region contained twelve wards. There were often stretches of distance between them, with mountains and rivers, fertile fields and melon sheds, medicinal herbs and tea trees, and so on in between.
It was said that when Gao Liu City was first built, survival had been the only concern. The homes had been packed too closely together, creating numerous drawbacks.
Later, when the Outer City was expanded, changes were made in every respect.
For example, if the young masters and ladies of the Inner City wished to tour the mountains and rivers, fish, or hunt, they no longer needed to risk leaving the city. They could do so within the "Outer City region."
Of course, this had little to do with the common people at the bottom.
The Lin family had struggled for three generations. Until three years ago, they had still been crammed into that small house in the alleyways.
Only after Second Brother married, with financial help from his wife's family, had he built a house on the very edge of Lin Jiang Ward.
It was merely a three-room tiled house, but it had already made the neighbors in the alley green with envy.
After today, Lin Yan would also be moving out of this old house in the alley.
The Heaven Supervision Department had established an office in Lin Jiang Ward and arranged suitable lodgings there.
He had planned to return and tidy things up, but after pushing open the door, he found a bundle of lotus leaves sitting on the stove.
"..."
Lin Yan could not help laughing. In a low voice, he said, "After going around in circles, half a roast chicken has found its way back here."
In this era, even in the city, roast chicken was quite expensive for ordinary people.
Thus, when Second Brother had fled for his life the previous night, he had not forgotten to pick up that half roast chicken. It showed how much it meant to him.
But after encountering "Chen Yuannü" in the alley yesterday, he had probably decided that he was going to be a guest at his third brother's future father-in-law's house. He could not arrive empty-handed, yet he had still steeled himself to bring along that half roast chicken.
Etiquette and rules—the embryonic form of civilization—had gradually taken shape in this chaotic era... More precisely, they had been slowly recovering.
Thinking this, he lifted the lotus leaves and tore into the chicken in great bites.
After sitting overnight, the texture was somewhat worse, but he still devoured every last morsel.
He then entered the house and carefully tidied everything.
He boiled a pot of water and took a hot bath.
It was noon, and the water was rather hot, almost scalding.
"This arm of mine was severed and reattached, but only on the surface."
In the bathtub, Lin Yan slowly raised his arm and thought, "The flesh and skin have joined first, while the tendons and bones are a little slower. The marrow and blood are circulating. It will take at least half a month before it fully returns to normal."
He then slowly closed his eyes again and sensed his current cultivation.
Name: Lin Yan. Cultivation Method: Five Elements Inner Breath Art. Cultivation: Essence Refining Realm (1/3650)+ Divine Ability 1: Devour Baleful Intent! Divine Ability 2: Demon Suppression! Techniques: Thunder Blade, First Layer (100/100)+ Paper Cut into Horse (30/100)+ Disguise Technique (67/100)+ Breath Concealment Technique (31/100)+ Killing Intent: 31 wisps.
After breaking through to the Essence Refining Realm, the entry-level Breath Concealment Technique was no longer enough to completely hide his aura.
Thus, he had spent ten wisps of Killing Intent to bring the Breath Concealment Technique to the "proficient" level.
That was also why Commander Han had failed to see through his true cultivation.
"I have no cultivation method at present, so I can only rely on Killing Intent to raise my cultivation."
Lin Yan thought grimly, "I need to find an Essence Refining Realm cultivation method as soon as possible!"
The Heaven Supervision Department possessed Essence Refining Realm cultivation methods, but obtaining one presented him with two troublesome problems.
First, he had to reveal a cultivation level at least at the peak of Inner Fortification.
Second, he had to accumulate at least three thousand Merit Points.
It had to be known that after assisting the Night Patrol Envoy with cases for over a year, he had only barely accumulated more than nine hundred Merit Points.
Moreover, in just two short years, he had gone from a first-stage martial artist, broken through three stages in succession, and advanced to the Essence Refining Realm. It was simply earth-shaking.
And there was more than one Essence Refining Realm expert in Gao Liu City!
Lin Yan was even more wary of them.
More precisely, he was wary of this entire world.
This world had endured a long age of darkness. The morality, etiquette, and rules of humanity had only just been rebuilt atop shattered ruins.
Perhaps there were people like Commander Han who would devote themselves to nurturing him.
But more forces might consider killing this unparalleled genius before he could mature, lest he shake their own positions!
They might even cut him into piece after piece to investigate how his cultivation could be so earth-shaking!
"Be steady in all things. Never expose myself."
Thinking this, Lin Yan exhaled. "As for a cultivation method, I still have to acquire one through my own efforts."
After bathing, his body was quite warm, and his skin was scalded faintly red.
He put on his clothes and walked outside.
The blazing midday sun was dazzling.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his palm to shield his forehead.
But at that very moment, his entire body stiffened as though struck by lightning.
Under the sunlight, an oval mark faintly emerged in his warm palm.
Upon the mark were eighteen lines, nine deep and nine shallow.
The dark lines were ink-black, while the light ones were crimson.
"..."
At that moment, the blazing sun hung high in the heavens.
It was noon, when yang energy was at its peak.
In an instant, Lin Yan felt as though he had fallen into an ice cavern. A chill rose from his spine, pierced into his skull, and spread throughout his entire body.
The moment before, he had just finished a hot bath and still felt heat radiating from him, his skin scalded red... Yet now, the chill throughout his body seemed to overwhelm even the temperature of the blazing sun.
"Divine Ability! Demon Suppression!"
Lin Yan's gaze suddenly turned icy.
His Demon Quelling Divine Ability was enough to amplify Fierce and Malevolent Energy a hundredfold or even a thousandfold!
Yet the "Abnormal Ovum Pattern" in his palm remained unchanged.
His heart sank slightly. He slowly lowered his palm, held it before his eyes, and examined it carefully.
But once his palm left the range illuminated by the blazing sun, he saw the Abnormal Ovum Pattern slowly fade away.
Looking at his palm, which had now returned to normal, Lin Yan's unease refused to dissipate.
"What exactly is this thing?"
"I clearly destroyed it with a single slash, so why is it still imprinted in my palm?"
"Now, under the midday sun, not only has it failed to hide, it has revealed itself instead?"
"Under the Demon Quelling Divine Ability, the might of Killing Intent has surged, and monsters and evil spirits flee before it. Yet even that is useless against it?"
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