Liao Person Spirit Essence, the Hall Master's Generous Reward

Lin Xuankong saw that she actually called his luck unbelievably good, and could not help growing even more curious. "So what exactly is this Black Crystal?"

Li Xiaolan's expression had gradually returned to calm. Seeing the curiosity on his face, the corners of her lips curled up. "Oh dear, I came all this way, and I'm a little thirsty!"

Lin Xuankong secretly circulated his qi and blood, suppressing the urge to spank this mischievous girl, then tucked the Black Crystal into his robes.

"I'm a little sleepy. How about you tell me another day?"

With that, he leisurely headed toward the inner room.

Li Xiaolan immediately felt a little annoyed. She shot Lin Xuankong a glare. "Fine, I'll tell you!

"Do you know why Amulet Equipment is so expensive?"

Lin Xuankong's heart stirred. "Could it be that it isn't because the Liao People Tribe's Forehead Scales are rare, but because of this Black Crystal?"

Li Xiaolan nodded.

"The Marsh Python Liao People are not especially numerous, and the forehead scales of the python Liao people can indeed be called precious and rare.

"However, for powerful Martial Cultivators, they are materials acquired merely by killing low-level Liao people. They are not extraordinarily difficult to obtain, and some can even be bought with silver!

"But the most essential material for crafting Amulet Equipment—the Liao Person Spirit Essence in your hand—is extremely, extremely rare!

"Perhaps only one among dozens or even hundreds of Liao Chieftains will occasionally form a Liao Person Spirit Essence after death. Every one capable of forming a spirit essence is an elite chieftain among the Liao people, and one exceptionally attuned to Demonic Energy!"

Lin Xuankong's eyes lit up. "So it's Liao Person Spirit Essence. If the chance of forming one is this low, then my luck tonight really was unbelievably good! Still, the first Liao Chieftain I killed was indeed the strongest among the four. That must have been part of the reason too!"

Li Xiaolan broke into a bright smile. "It was far more than merely good luck!

"If the Yin Talisman Sect had not dispatched several Great Steward-level experts to attack the demons and given them such a headache, those demons like the marsh pythons and ghost lizards probably would not have sent their Liao subordinates to assault the Yin Talisman Sect's many towns everywhere, playing this trick of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao!

"Under normal circumstances, the Liao People Tribe always gathered in groups of hundreds or even thousands. How could they be killed so easily?"

Lin Xuankong said delightedly, "The most essential and rarest material for Amulet Equipment actually fell into my hands! If I gather another hundred or so Forehead Scales, couldn't I ask someone to make me an Amulet Gauntlet too?"

But Li Xiaolan showed an expression of exasperation at his failure to meet expectations. "What Amulet Gauntlet? What a wasteful old man!"

"You aren't the master of the Yin Talisman Sect or the Black Tiger Gang, commanding thousands or tens of thousands of subordinates. You obtained a Liao Person Spirit Essence this time, but can you get one next time?

"A Liao Person Spirit Essence is incomparably precious, on par with a Demonic Pearl. How could you use it to make an Amulet Gauntlet? Of course, you should save up eight hundred Forehead Scales and craft an Amulet Battle Armor. Then, with a stir of qi and blood, your entire body will be covered in Forehead Scales, impervious to Demonic Energy, and your power in battle will surge more than tenfold!"

Lin Xuankong paused. "Eight hundred Forehead Scales, an Amulet Battle Armor!"

During tonight's battle, the Amulet Gauntlet had allowed him to rapidly disperse Demonic Energy and helped him display overwhelming might, sweeping through the Marsh Python Liao People.

Naturally, he could imagine how terrifying the increased power would be if his entire body were covered in Forehead Scales with every gesture he made.

If he ran at full speed and crashed into a small mountain, he could probably smash straight through it and leave behind a tunnel!

If he sat down on the ground with all his strength, he could probably make a meteor crater! He would completely transform into a humanoid divine dragon!

Most importantly, he would be completely immune to Demonic Energy. Even against demons possessing strange demonic abilities, his combat strength would increase severalfold!

"Keep it safe! From now on, aside from cultivation, your most important task is to save money and collect Forehead Scales. Once you have gathered the materials and made the armor, remember to let your Wife Master try it on!" Li Xiaolan said with a smile.

She glanced at the sky outside. "Mm, my stroll is over. I'm heading back to Great Marsh Prefecture!"

Before her words had even faded, her figure flashed. She had already turned into an afterimage outside the window and vanished!

A smile could not help appearing on Lin Xuankong's lips. What stroll? The Young Lady had probably come because she was worried about him. Her little mouth was quite stubborn—she dared to do it but would not admit it!

He entered the inner room and lay comfortably on the bed. He carefully examined the Liao Person Spirit Essence, worth as much as a Demonic Pearl, for a while. After indulging in fantasies for some time, he slowly closed his eyes.

Yet just after closing them, he seemed to suddenly think of something. Then, with delight on his face, he sat up.

He recalled the afterimage left behind when the Young Lady had departed, his eyes flickering continuously.

Previously, whenever the Young Lady left in front of him, he could not even catch the motion of her departure.

But when she left just now, he could already see her afterimage as she moved at high speed. It seemed that as his strength grew, he had gradually narrowed the distance between himself and the Young Lady by a tiny amount! That was truly something worth celebrating!

"Is Steward Lin awake?"

Early in the morning, Han Lu's voice sounded outside the door.

Lin Xuankong opened his eyes from cultivation and walked to the door. "Steward Han, you came so early. Is something the matter?"

Leaning on his cane, Han Lu smiled. "Of course something is the matter. It's a great matter!"

Lin Xuankong had already made a guess, so he smiled. "Come in and speak."

But Han Lu could not wait any longer and said from the doorway:

"After returning to town last night, I immediately sent an Eagle Messenger back to the hall with news of our great victory. Early this morning, a reply came back!

"The message said that after the Hall Master learned of this, he was extremely pleased. He repeatedly praised it as the most unexpected great victory since the recent war with the Liao People Tribe began. His original expectation had been for us to hold back or drive off the Liao People Tribe. Who could have expected that we would annihilate them completely?

"The Hall Master immediately decided to send news of this great victory to every city, town, and barracks to bolster morale, and he more than doubled the rewards previously set.

"Steward Lin's original reward from the Hall Master was one Turtle Agaric Miracle Pill and forty portions of Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup. To commend your great achievement, he specially raised your Turtle Agaric Miracle Pill reward to three pills and increased the medicinal ingredients for Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup to one hundred portions!

"The other disciples had originally each been awarded six portions of medicinal ingredients, and that has also been raised to twelve portions!"

Three Turtle Agaric Miracle Pills and one hundred portions of ingredients for Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup! Although Lin Xuankong had guessed something beforehand, he had never expected the reward to be so lavish.

The Turtle Agaric Miracle Pills especially—each pill was equivalent to more than thirty portions of Nine Revolutions Qi Nourishing Soup, and could forcibly increase his lifespan by over three years. Three pills, three times three was what again?

For a moment, his heart was filled with joy.

"Now Steward Lin's great name can truly be said to be known by everyone in the sect!

"Fierce General Lin Xuankong, with Second Layer cultivation, swept through more than a hundred Liao people. Such a record will surely leave every fellow disciple who hears the news utterly astonished!" Steward Han said with a smile.

His reputation was secondary. The key was the medicinal ingredients! Lin Xuankong nodded slightly.

Steward Han took out a document from his robes and continued, "There is one more matter. By special order of the Hall Master, because the war with the Liao People Tribe will continue, for the next half month, Steward Lin and I will jointly guard Xunyang Town. We must ensure the complete safety of this grain-producing town. This is your second task, Steward Lin!"

Upon hearing this, the joy in Lin Xuankong's heart grew even stronger.

A second task?

Did that not mean that after completing the fifteen-day task of guarding Xunyang Town, he would need only one more task before he could begin cultivating Yin Talisman Lightning!

Thinking of the lightning as thick as a little finger that had coiled around Han Lu's longsword during last night's battle, and thinking of the feeling during the test that he had a chance to light every mark, he could not help secretly thinking:

His constitution was absolutely compatible with Yin Talisman Lightning. Combined with the [Old and Vigorous] Destiny, if he could begin cultivating Yin Talisman Lightning too, he would surely gain the strange art of lightning! Spirit Crane Finger combined with Dragon Wandering Amulet Hand, then wrapped in terrifying lightning... a humanoid lightning divine dragon?

With fire burning in his heart, he accepted the document and quickly read through it.

Seeing that its contents were indeed exactly as Han Lu had said, the anticipation in his heart increased by another threefold. He only wished time would fly by at once and immediately become fifteen days later so he could accept his third task!

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed.

During this time, Han Lu continuously received news: among the twenty-nine towns in the Yin Talisman Sect's Outer City, several other towns were repeatedly attacked by the Liao People Tribe. In lighter cases, there were casualties; in severe cases, the city defenses were breached and large numbers of townsfolk were carried away!

The major grain-producing town of Xunxi Town, right beside Xunyang Town, had been guarded by a full hundred elite disciples, yet it was still breached by a surprise assault from more than one hundred fifty Marsh Python Liao People.

However, Manager Jiang and the Great Stewards of the Yin Talisman Sect continued their campaign against the demons outside and had never returned to provide aid, seemingly determined to kill the demon leaders!

As for Xunyang Town, after completely annihilating more than a hundred Marsh Python Liao People, it had not seen any Liao People Tribe come to invade.

Naturally, Han Lu remained extremely vigilant. Every day, he sent disciples dozens of miles out to patrol. After all, Xunxi Town, only a hundred miles away, had already become ruins. He had no choice but to be nervous. Who knew whether the Marsh Python Liao People Tribe was trying to numb Xunyang Town's vigilance before holding back some vicious killing move!

Lin Xuankong, meanwhile, felt somewhat regretful that the "Silver Ingot" had still not delivered itself to his door.

But his focus was on cultivation, so he was not overly troubled.

After all, as long as his strength rose, even if he had no further chance to hunt Marsh Python Liao People, he could earn silver by other means and then buy some Marsh Python Forehead Scales!

Moreover, he had estimated it himself.

With his strength at the Second Layer, nearing the Late Stage, even if he wore the full set of nearly two-thousand-pound Amulet Battle Armor, he could still unleash terrifying combat power. But he definitely could not bring out the armor's full potential. Only when his strength became even greater could the power of the Dragon Wandering Amulet Battle Armor be displayed to the fullest!

That morning,

Lin Xuankong sat beside the table. He glanced at the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber on the tabletop, still carrying a bloody smell, then lowered his head to look at the wound cut open on his right arm.

Over the past few days of cultivation, he could feel his qi and blood growing increasingly condensed. He was nearly at the threshold of another transformation. Delighted, he had used the Hundred Refinements Steel Saber and dragged it across his right arm with all his strength. Under the protection of his qi and blood, it had only cut a shallow wound, but it had still broken the skin and drawn blood!

A trace of anticipation appeared in his eyes as he secretly thought, Yesterday, I could already feel that my qi and blood were about to transform again. I wonder if it can happen today?

If he could transform to the Late Stage today, he would try cutting himself a few more times—his thigh, neck, face, waist, give them all a slice or two, perhaps even a stab!

Thinking of the Bearded Cultivator's scene of intimidating dozens of experts,

Thinking of the Young Lady's relaxed expression as she told him to use a Hundred Refinements Steel Saber to cut her neck,

Thinking of how the Second Layer Late Stage was within reach,

The anticipation in his heart grew increasingly obvious.

If he could reach the Second Layer Late Stage, then even if he encountered an expert at the Third Layer Early Stage, he could withstand dozens or even hundreds of the opponent's attacks head-on. After all, Second Layer Martial Cultivators specialized in defense, and at the Second Layer Late Stage, their bodies were like vajra!

Then, against a Martial Cultivator at the same realm as that Bearded Cultivator, even without using the Sky-Shading Locust Swarm, the Twin Vine Demonic Pearl, or the Man Luo Demonic Pearl, he could fight with ease and never have to worry again!

With that thought, he settled his mind, contemplated all sorts of insights, and began cultivating carefully.

After completing two cycles of the Pine Crane Mind Method and three rounds of Spirit Crane Finger, he assumed the Green Pine Stance once more. By now, his Green Pine Stance had changed considerably from before.