Purple Haze Profound Strength!

Innate Realm...

Four hundred and forty years of Demon Lifespan...

Shen Lin stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at his attribute panel.

Shen Lin

Martial Arts Mastered: Blood Battle Saber Technique (Perfection), Gale Sword Technique (Perfection), Qingqiu Body Tempering Art (Perfection), Shadow-Breaking Step (Perfection)

Cultivation Arts Mastered: None

Remaining Lifespan: One year

Demon Lifespan: Seven hundred and thirty-seven years

In just one night, he had gained a total of seven hundred and thirty-seven years of Demon Lifespan.

"Phew, that was close. If he'd really broken through to the Innate Realm, we truly would've been hard-pressed to survive."

Purple Crystal let out a long sigh of relief, interrupting Shen Lin's daze.

Gathering his thoughts, Shen Lin looked at Purple Crystal. "You found the item, right?"

Purple Crystal nodded, understanding what Shen Lin meant.

Time to settle the bill!

But at this moment, she was no longer as bold and forthright as before. Instead, she fidgeted awkwardly, wanting to speak but stopping herself.

Seeing this, Shen Lin frowned and said in a low voice, "Are you playing me?"

Purple Crystal hurriedly shook her head and said bitterly, "Something unexpected happened. I'll need a large number of Meridian-Opening Pills later..."

Back when something had happened to her family, she had been too young and had not yet had the chance to come into contact with this ancestral cultivation art.

She had only heard her father say that their family's secret cultivation art was infinitely profound, and was in no way inferior to the ancestral arts of the great families in the imperial capital.

That was why she had thrown herself into searching for this cultivation art all these years.

Just now, after obtaining the cultivation art hidden within the Thousand Pines Painting, she had not had time to study its mysteries carefully, but she had still seen the requirements at the very beginning.

To cultivate this art, one first had to open all twelve meridians.

Originally, Purple Crystal had not planned to open every meridian. She had intended to open roughly ten meridians before attempting to break through to the Innate Realm.

But now, in order to cultivate this art, she had no choice but to change her plans.

As a result, the number of Meridian-Opening Pills she needed had skyrocketed.

Although she could use the resources in her hands to exchange for some Meridian-Opening Pills, that would take far too much time. She could not afford to wait.

Therefore, even the three pills she had previously promised Shen Lin seemed incredibly precious.

"How about this? I'll give you the corresponding resources, then tell you a channel. You can exchange for the Meridian-Opening Pills yourself. Would that work?"

Purple Crystal asked cautiously.

She had already sensed wisps of killing intent in the way Shen Lin was staring at her.

Shen Lin's expression did not change. He said in a low voice, "The method you mentioned will take quite a bit of time, won't it?"

"About one or two months..."

Hearing this, Shen Lin decisively shook his head and sighed. "No!"

Purple Crystal fell silent. She truly could not think of any other way.

The atmosphere grew tense, and Purple Crystal felt a heavy pressure bearing down on her.

If it really came to that...

She could only give it to him.

After all, she had witnessed Shen Lin's combat strength just now. With her current power, even if she used every means at her disposal, she probably could not escape from him alive.

Just as she was about to relent, Shen Lin suddenly spoke. "Or... let me take a look at that Thousand Pines Painting, and we'll call it even. How about it?"

Looking at Shen Lin's half-smiling expression, Purple Crystal's heart rose into her throat.

This fellow...

She instinctively wanted to refuse. After all, it contained her family's ancestral cultivation art. Back then, so many powerful figures in the imperial capital had tried to obtain it, yet her father had refused. How could she possibly just hand it to Shen Lin?

But just as she was about to refuse, she suddenly froze.

The Yuan Family was already gone...

Purple Crystal took a deep breath. The tension in her face suddenly eased, and she smiled. "All right!"

"All right?"

Shen Lin froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting her to agree so readily.

"Mm. Here you go!"

Purple Crystal handed over the Thousand Pines Painting without the slightest hesitation.

Shen Lin accepted it with a strange look on his face and instinctively glanced at it.

But with that one glance, his expression changed slightly, and his entire mind sank into it.

Purple Crystal glanced at Sun Zhi, who was constantly writhing and groaning. She paid him no attention at all, simply walking over to sit on the steps and waiting for Shen Lin to finish looking.

After a long while, the sky began to brighten. A loud cockcrow brought Shen Lin back to his senses.

Congratulations, you have learned the cultivation art "Purple Haze Profound Strength." Would you like to spend lifespan to perform deductions?

"Purple Haze Profound Strength"—this was a cultivation art.

Unlike the martial arts Shen Lin had learned before, this cultivation art had no techniques at all. It was instead a method of internal cultivation.

This was the first cultivation art he had ever learned, and Shen Lin felt somewhat exhilarated. In the end, however, he still chose not to begin deducing it immediately.

That was because the prerequisite for cultivating this art was opening all twelve meridians, while Shen Lin was still short of two.

Moreover, internal cultivation arts used the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as a guide to transform one's true essence. Before reaching the Innate Realm, one fundamentally could not cultivate them.

Exhaling, Shen Lin raised his head and looked at Purple Crystal. "You were actually willing to give me such a profound cultivation art?"

This was not some common art like the Blood Battle Saber Technique or Gale Sword Technique. Shen Lin even wondered whether the Demon Suppression Division in the provincial capital could find a cultivation art of this level at all.

Purple Crystal smiled brightly and shook her head. "You and I have no direct conflict of interest. In the future, we'll only deepen our cooperation, not become enemies. Since that's the case, making you stronger won't do me any harm."

Shen Lin gave a bitter laugh. "Why do I feel that learning this cultivation art will bring me a great deal of trouble in the future?"

Such a marvelous cultivation art, and she had simply given it to him.

Moreover, she had not even asked him not to pass it on. She seemed completely unafraid that he would spread this cultivation art far and wide.

"Exactly!" Purple Crystal narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Let me make this clear first: you can cultivate this art yourself, or pass it on to others. I have no taboos about that."

"Then what would happen if I really did that?"

"Nothing major." Purple Crystal gave a mischievous grin. "Your only problem would be that my family's enemies would search the entire world for you, wanting to wipe out the roots."

Shen Lin sighed helplessly.

His family's enemies—given his current strength, he probably could not resist them at all.

It seemed that not only could this cultivation art not be passed on, he also had to avoid using it in public as much as possible.

"Shen... brother..."

A hoarse call interrupted Shen Lin's thoughts. He turned his head and saw that Sun Zhi's face was deathly pale, his cracked lips trembling faintly, his eyes filled with pleading as he looked at Shen Lin.

"I almost forgot about you."

Shen Lin slapped his forehead, walked over to Sun Zhi, and examined his injuries. He smiled and said, "Captain Sun fought a life-or-death battle on this trip and killed three meridian-opening demons. Your battle spoils are truly impressive. You must hang in there. Otherwise, I'll have to rewrite this story so that you and those dog demons perish together. What a hassle."

Purple Crystal smiled. "The Wu Family patriarch died at the hands of demons, while Captain Sun discovered the clues and decisively struck. That would make for a wonderful story that everyone would praise."