Success and Unexpected Events

"What...?!" The young man's whole body stiffened, a sense of absurdity rising in his heart.

This time, in order to escape pursuit, they had laid out three layers of schemes.

The carriage was the first layer, meant to draw away those less-than-clever cultivators while also confusing their enemies.

His second uncle walking out of the courtyard alone was the second layer, meant to lure away those old foxes with dark, scheming minds.

Despite the first two layers having drawn away the cultivators lurking in the shadows, they still did not relax their guard. As a precaution, the young man had not even left through the courtyard. Instead, he directly used an exceedingly precious, modified Earth Escape Talisman to flee underground.

Such a three-layered scheme might not have been flawless, but it should certainly have been enough to fool Qi Refining Stage Cultivators. Yet he had still been followed?!

Could it be a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator with a Thousand Mile Soul Lock technique? No, impossible. If it were a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator, there would be no need to follow us at all—they could simply barge into the courtyard and seize everything by force... Since that's the case, who exactly possesses such an ability?!

In the span of a spark flashing off flint, countless thoughts raced through the young cultivator's mind, but his movements were not slow in the slightest.

With a tap of his toes, his entire body spun one hundred and eighty degrees, turning to face behind him.

At the same time, he swept a hand across his Storage Bag. A Golden Light Talisman, Water Shield Talisman, and Wind Shield Talisman activated in an instant, while he also raised a Defense Spirit Artifact before himself.

In the instant that voice had sounded, the young cultivator had already set up defenses around his whole body.

Yet to his astonishment, there was not a single person before his eyes!

"N-no one? No, that's not right!" The young cultivator seemed to have realized something, and his expression changed instantly.

The voice was a trap!

He was in the open while the other party was in the dark. If they wanted to launch a sneak attack, they would have made a move long ago.

But he had remained cautious all along, using his Defense Spirit Artifact to protect his whole body, leaving the other party no opportunity to strike. So, they had used a sound to create one.

The other party had used the Illusion Sound Technique to create that noise, causing him to misjudge their position and turn around, exposing his back. That way, the other party could...

The young cultivator had only just figured everything out, but sadly, it was already too late.

A dazzling blue beam streaked with gold appeared behind him in but a moment, then whistled past, shattering several layers of spiritual shields in succession and cleaving him cleanly in half at the waist!

The attack had come too swiftly and too fiercely for the young cultivator to react at all!

"No!" The young cultivator let out a despairing cry. He wanted to fight, wanted to resist, but the upper half of his body slowly slipped down from the wound and fell to the ground with a spray of blood.

"No, no, no! Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me for Mutual Destruction!" He struggled to reach into his robes and take out something, but his body suddenly froze before drooping limply.

For at some unknown moment, a great hand formed of true qi had appeared from thin air and directly crushed his head apart!

Afterward, a white bottle was thrown out from In the Darkness and shattered above him. Strange liquid poured down, directly corroding the corpse into a pile of bubbling corpse-fluid!

The entire sequence flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water. The young cultivator had not merely failed to resist—he had not even caught a glimpse of his enemy before turning into a puddle of unknown liquid!

The evening wind blew softly. The entire field was empty of people, and the Storage Bag the young cultivator had regarded as treasure had vanished as well.

Not long afterward, Lin Chen's figure silently emerged in an open space outside the Marketplace.

That battle just now had been an ambush designed by Lin Chen.

To be honest, their three layers of methods had indeed been formidable, but Lin Chen had prepared for so long. How could he be so easily fooled?

The spirit insect he had acquired at great cost, one with keen sensing for jade marrow, had long since told him that the Hundred Year Jade Marrow was not on either the departing carriage or the person who had walked out of the courtyard.

And when the aura of the jade marrow disappeared, he instantly guessed that the other party was Highly Likely to have escaped underground, so he immediately used his means to track them.

As for the Earth Escape Talisman's ability to conceal Spiritual Energy Fluctuation, it was simply a joke to Lin Chen.

In order to observe spiritual energy and study souls, he had improved who knew how many methods of observation. How could those talisman masters on the market, with only that tiny bit of skill, possibly deceive him?

Thus, from beginning to end, the other party had never escaped Lin Chen's pursuit.

Once they were far from the Marketplace, he seized the right moment and directly laid an ambush, taking the Hundred Year Jade Marrow into his hands.

Throughout the entire process, he had not even shown his face, directly putting the other party to death from the shadows!

In the darkness, Lin Chen swiftly opened the seized Storage Bag, then retreated several meters and released a puppet to inspect the items within.

Finally, with the spirit insect's help, Lin Chen found what he wanted—the Hundred Year Jade Marrow.

Upon seeing this item, Lin Chen immediately controlled the puppet to put it away. He Had Not Yet Had Time To inspect the other items, though they looked quite plentiful. Quite a few of them even bore the character Chen.

Looks like the wealth of an entire clan. No wonder it's so abundant. This thought flashed through Lin Chen's mind.

But he had no further thoughts about it. After all, in this world ruled by the Law of the Jungle, discussing whether one's actions were righteous was rather laughable.

Even If he had truly harmed innocents and felt guilty in his heart, he could simply ascend to the pinnacle of Great Luo in the future, reverse the River of Time, and grant them an opportunity to Become Immortal in one world as compensation.

How could he, at this moment, become timid and hesitant, unable to move forward, merely because of a fleeting softness of heart?

Return to the sect immediately and break through my Cultivation Level, to avoid any unforeseen complications! Once the item was in hand, Lin Chen promptly made his decision In Heart.

Though he was also quite tempted by the Spirit Blood Foundation Establishment Method, which might provide him with more directions for research, he still knew what he should take and what he should not.

Unfortunately, the more one hoped something would not happen, the more likely it was to occur.

"Hmm?!" Just as he was preparing to leave, his body suddenly froze. As though he had sensed something, he sharply turned his head.

From the forest not far away came an intense sound of fighting.

Then, an enormous fireball slowly rose into the air before abruptly exploding, its brilliance and commotion like dazzling fireworks in the night!

"Trouble!" Lin Chen's face darkened.

He had been heading toward the Azure Cloud Sect, never expecting to run straight into them.

And judging from the power of that strike just now, it was clearly at the Foundation Establishment Realm level, yet there had been no corresponding spirit pressure. Evidently, someone had used a method left behind by a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator.

From this, it was clear just how fierce the battle over there was!

Of course, even more troublesome was that the strike had been too powerful and caused too great a commotion. It would certainly draw quite a few nearby cultivators here.

By then, if someone possessed some special method and sensed the Hundred Year Jade Marrow on his body, it would surely bring about many unknown variables!

Without hesitation, Lin Chen set off to put distance between himself and the nearby battlefield. However, before he had gone very far, he was forced to halt his footsteps.

Because several cultivators directly blocked his path!

"May I ask where Fellow Daoist is rushing off to?" Among them, a somewhat familiar Grey-robed Cultivator stared at Lin Chen with vicious greed in his eyes. At his side was a spirit mouse with yellow-and-white fur and lively eyes.

It was the Grey-robed Cultivator who had fought him over the Marrow Cleansing Method at the underground auction, while the one perched on his shoulder was a treasure-seeking mouse with keen senses for Heaven and Earth Spiritual Items!

Lin Chen's expression darkened. With that mouse present, the other party had clearly discovered the Hundred Year Jade Marrow on his body and developed covetous intentions.

Let alone the old grudge they had formed at the auction!

You don't know whether you're dead or alive! A trace of killing intent rose in Lin Chen's heart.

He had originally intended to spare him, yet the man's desire to seek death was so intense. Since that's the case, Lin Chen did not mind sending him on his way!

"Finally caught this guy!" Just as Lin Chen was preparing to make a move, the few people before him suddenly revealed delighted expressions.

Hmm?

Lin Chen froze slightly at the sight, then seemed to realize something.

Glancing back from the corner of his eye, he saw a streak of spiritual light appear not far behind him, at the place where the fireball had risen. It then shot straight toward them, with several cultivators relentlessly pursuing it from behind.

After going to such lengths, their target probably isn't me, but the cultivator who bought the Foundation Establishment Secret Method. Yet he just happened to be coming this way. Damn it—this makes things troublesome... Wait, perhaps this is an opportunity!

Lin Chen's gaze sharpened. Then his figure flashed as he charged straight at the cultivator carrying the treasure-seeking mouse!