Fish That Slipped Through the Net

In the Small Mirror, He Yiliang remained silent.

The more he did so, the more Lin Chen grew suspicious.

"Hmph!" Lin Chen continued to conceal his aura, trailing Hao Youcai from a distance.

That fellow twisted and turned ahead, switching through over a dozen locations, with no clear destination in sight.

Utterly cunning.

Based on this alone, Lin Chen was certain the man was hiding something.

Hao Youcai was even more cautious than Lin Chen had imagined, circling around the outer sect for a full two hours before finally stopping to scan his surroundings in every direction.

"I see you. What do you mean by following me this long?" Hao Youcai called out loudly toward Lin Chen's direction.

Anyone else might have thought they'd been discovered.

But Lin Chen remained steady as an old dog, hiding his aura without moving a hair.

"Fellow Daoist, why hide and skulk? Come out and speak plainly."

Hao Youcai was still bluffing.

Another quarter of an hour passed before the man finally let down his guard and sped off toward the southeast.

Lin Chen frowned slightly. The southeast was exactly where Heavy Mountain Path lay.

"This guy isn't a fish that slipped the net, is he?"

Lin Chen followed closely, locking onto the man's figure with his Spiritual Sense.

"Did the previous plan fail? Did Master and the others not hook the big fish behind the scenes?"

His mind churned with doubts.

For him, this was far from good news.

On the surface, the previous plan was meant to root out the sect's internal poison.

But at its core, it all came back to Lin Chen.

If a lingering threat remained, it would be a massive danger.

Lin Chen understood the risk well, sticking close behind without daring to slack off.

A moment later, Hao Youcai ahead reached an empty spot and directly took to Sword Flight.

Lin Chen dared not fly at high altitude, so he could only weave through the forest, following from afar.

Half an hour later, Hao Youcai arrived above Heavy Mountain Path and plunged straight down.

By the time Lin Chen caught up to the spot, the man's trail had vanished.

"What a slippery bastard!"

Lin Chen searched the area for a long while but found nothing.

He figured there must be a formation barrier here, so he marked the spot and turned back the way he came.

Returning to the outer sect, he found Hao Youcai's cave dwelling and easily entered the underground passage.

The barrier there was merely for show, offering no resistance at all.

Lin Chen quickly entered the treasure vault.

He didn't bother inspecting anything, sweeping it all clean.

Then he retraced his steps and emerged from underground.

"Little Junior Brother!"

No sooner had he popped his head out than he heard Qi Ruming's shout.

He whipped around, his eyes lighting up with surprise. "Third Senior Brother, what are you doing here?"

He knew Qi Ruming's habits well—he never came down the mountain without a reason.

"Looking for you, of course!" Qi Ruming said with a look of grievance. "Master and the others are back. They're calling you home!"

Lin Chen blinked in confusion. He didn't understand why Third Senior Brother and the others hadn't used voice transmission but had come in person instead.

As if reading his thoughts, Qi Ruming sighed. "I got scolded again, so I came out to clear my head."

Lin Chen didn't know how to comfort him.

"Little Junior Brother, you don't know this, but a huge crowd of disciples showed up at the foot of our mountain. For such a trivial matter, Master chewed me out. It's not like I invited them—why yell at me?" Qi Ruming grumbled on.

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow.

Could those people be here for him?

Otherwise, why would Master be looking for him?

Had something gone wrong with the Storybook operation?

Lin Chen hadn't found another way to make money yet—the Storybook absolutely couldn't fall apart.

Without the storybooks, there would be no spirit stones.

Without spirit stones, he couldn't quickly raise his cultivation—that would be trouble.

Thinking this, anxiety crept into his heart. "Third Senior Brother, since Master has ordered it, let's hurry back!"

"Fine." Qi Ruming nodded.

On the way, he suddenly said, "Little Junior Brother, I'm craving fish."

"I'll arrange it as soon as we're back. I'll make sure Third Senior Brother eats to his heart's content."

Hahaha...

Mentioning food instantly lifted Qi Ruming's mood.

The two soon returned to Sect Leader Peak, where the gathered disciples had already dispersed.

Lin Chen walked straight to the Sect Leader Hall and saw Zhao Qingshan and the others present.

Besides their master and disciples, there were actually over a dozen elders.

Each wore a grave expression, as if discussing something serious.

"Could it be that my storybook business got reported, and the sect is about to deal with me?"

Lin Chen's heart trembled with unease.

One foot already inside the hall, he could only steel himself and step forward.

"Master!"

Arriving before the hall, he clasped his fists in salute.

"Fourth, you've returned just in time. Come to my side." Zhao Qingshan, as if asserting his authority, called Lin Chen over.

All the elders below stared at Lin Chen, their expressions varied.

"The greatest contributor to this successful encirclement operation is Lin Chen. He was the first to discover the Crimson Flame Demon Lord and the one who proposed the encirclement plan."

Zhao Qingshan took Lin Chen's hand and slowly rose. "Though there was a minor flaw in the end, it doesn't diminish Lin Chen's merit. Tell me, what reward should he receive?"

The elders exchanged glances upon hearing this. The Grand Elder of the Scripture Depository spoke first.

"Sect Leader, Lin Chen's contribution is too great for ordinary rewards to match. Our Scripture Depository is willing to offer one elite disciple slot, a set of Spirit-rank high-grade techniques and dao arts, plus one Mystic Rank Secret Realm slot and a reward of one hundred thousand spirit stones."

Hearing this, the other elders caught on.

This wasn't about giving rewards—it was clearly poaching.

Suddenly, they all scrambled to speak.

"Our Alchemy Hall is also willing to offer one disciple slot, one hundred thousand spirit stones, plus one hundred top-grade Qi Condensation Pills and three Return Origin Pills."

At the Alchemy Hall's declaration, the other elders drew sharp breaths.

This reward was far too extravagant!

Spirit stones and disciple status, everyone could offer, but these pills—they truly couldn't produce them!

"Our Artifact Refining Hall is willing to offer a disciple slot, plus two hundred thousand spirit stones and a set of top-grade Spirit Artifacts..."

The Artifact Refining Hall's terms were even more shocking.

Those were top-grade Spirit Artifacts, far beyond what magic tools could compare to.

A single top-grade magic tool was worth several thousand spirit stones.

A single low-grade Spirit Artifact cost over one hundred thousand.

A top-grade Spirit Artifact was at least five hundred thousand spirit stones, let alone a full set.

After hearing these three elders speak, the others fell silent.

They truly couldn't offer better treatment than this.

For a new disciple, the rewards these three had mentioned were already the peak.

Lin Chen stood there, swallowing hard. He felt Green Mountain Sect still had some potential.

Beside him, Zhao Qingshan's eyelids twitched. These shameless old bastards were trying to exploit his loopholes again.

Utterly infuriating!

Seeing the Sect Leader about to erupt, Lin Chen quickly said, "Master, I just discovered that Outer Sect Elder Hao Youcai..."

He directly laid out his findings.

Of course, he said nothing about confiscating the underground treasury.

After hearing his account, everyone's attention shifted as expected.

"Let's go. Take us there immediately." The Sect Leader grabbed Lin Chen and flew off first.

These people were far faster than Lin Chen.

They soon reached the area Lin Chen had marked.

After only a brief search, they found traces of the formation barrier.

"Sect Leader, this is exactly the enemy stronghold we've been searching for. Unexpectedly, Lin Chen discovered it."

"This discovery came just in time. All the stragglers should be here; we can wipe them out in one fell swoop."

"Sect Leader, give the order. Eradicating this outpost means pulling out the nail the Raksha Sect left behind. This is a great deed benefiting both the sect and the people."

Zhao Qingshan looked at Lin Chen with a gratified expression. "Bufan, look after your junior brother. Everyone else, follow me in—kill the enemy agents."

With a thunderous roar, the enemy stronghold's defenses shattered on the spot.

Lin Chen was shielded behind Ming Bufan. He saw that inside the stronghold were several dozen people.

Among them was Hao Youcai.

Knowing they couldn't escape, they all grabbed their weapons and charged out.

"Kill!"

The battle erupted.

In an instant, heavenly thunder and earthly fire, frost and flying swords... exploded across the space.

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching by the author's name—maybe it was just renamed!