Is Lin Cong Dead?

After putting away the Spirit Talismans.

He Song turned and left the Stall Area, returning home.

However.

Just as He Song returned home and practiced his spells while remaining vigilant, faint footsteps suddenly reached his ears.

The footsteps came from outside, immediately putting He Song on guard.

For a moment, He Song held his breath and focused, pushing a cultivator's five senses to their limits as he tried to discern where exactly the footsteps were coming from.

At the same time, two Thick Earth Talismans quietly appeared in his hand.

Should anything happen, He Song could ensure that he would activate the Spirit Talismans to protect himself at the first sign of trouble.

Only after doing all this did He Song's mind settle somewhat.

Soon after, he heard those faint footsteps circle the outside of the house next door several times, lingering at several spots for a long while before gradually fading away.

Only when there was no more movement outside.

Did He Song's expression finally ease.

The two Thick Earth Talismans he had been holding were slipped back into his sleeve.

"Why does this sound so much like someone casing the place?"

With the alert lifted, the route those footsteps had taken immediately flashed through He Song's mind, and his gaze turned toward Lin Cong's house next door.

Lin Cong lived next door to He Song.

Lin Cong had returned last night grievously wounded, and today someone had come to case the house where he lived.

It was hard for He Song not to read more into it.

Last night, he had heard pained groans and violent coughing coming from Lin Cong's room next door.

It was not until the latter half of the night that the sounds from Lin Cong's room gradually weakened, and now, there was not even the slightest sound.

He could hear it.

Naturally, Lin Cong's other neighbor could hear it too.

With the houses lined up side by side, each house had two neighbors, and they could hear each other clearly.

If that was the case.

He Song's gaze toward the neighboring house became somewhat deep and shadowed.

It seemed that the person who had come to case the place was Lin Cong's other neighbor.

Could Lin Cong... have already died of his severe injuries in that room?

Otherwise, how could one explain why no sound had come from his room for so long?

A flicker of eagerness flashed through He Song's eyes, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

Whether Lin Cong was dead or alive.

His belongings were not for He Song to take.

If Lin Cong was not dead and He Song rashly barged in, then with Lin Cong's burly frame and Qi Refining Layer 3 cultivation, crushing him to death would likely be no harder than crushing a chicken.

Breaking into someone else's residence and being killed by its owner would be nothing but reaping what one had sown; even the Enforcement Squad would have nothing to say.

Even if Lin Cong was dead, and He Song obtained Lin Cong's belongings.

Lin Cong's other neighbor had already set his sights on them.

If He Song got there first, he would likely be watched from then on by a cultivator whose depth he did not know.

They were merely the belongings of a Qi Refining Layer 3 cultivator.

They were not worth risking offense against another cultivator of unknown strength.

Thought after thought flashed through his mind. After considering it, He Song ultimately closed his eyes again and continued practicing the three basic spells he had just learned.

Conceal Breath Art.

Spiritual Eye Technique.

Sound Transmission Technique.

These three basic spells were not particularly difficult to practice.

Although they required more time than the Spirit Rain Technique and Spirit Arrow Technique, it was not much more.

He Song had spent ten days practicing the Spirit Rain Technique before he could cast it normally without diminishing its power.

The Spirit Arrow Technique had been the same.

After trying the Conceal Breath Art, Spiritual Eye Technique, and Sound Transmission Technique, however, He Song felt that each of them would require half a month before he could cast them normally without diminishing their power.

Half a month was only five days more than the ten days required by the Spirit Rain Technique and Spirit Arrow Technique.

It seemed that these three basic spells were not overly difficult to practice.

The first basic spell He Song practiced was the Conceal Breath Art.

For no other reason.

Only because the Conceal Breath Art could conceal his aura and keep others from detecting him.

He Song cast a thoughtful glance next door, then quickly immersed himself in practicing the Conceal Breath Art.

Time flowed on.

Days flew like arrows.

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.

Over that half month, aside from practicing the Conceal Breath Art, He Song also found time to visit the two seniors he had recently met in the Immortal Market.

Meng Guan of the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, and Wei Fan of Lingjian Pavilion.

The two were fellow disciples and had long known each other.

As members of the Immortal Market, although He Song's cultivation was somewhat low, he was still a Spirit Plant Farmer and thus had some value as an acquaintance.

Moreover, his character had earned Wei Fan's approval.

Since both sides were willing to make friends, He Song's dealings with them went smoothly.

After several visits, He Song's relationship with the two gradually grew closer.

At the very least, so long as no interests were involved, it was effortless for He Song to glean information from them.

On this day.

He Song sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in his home, the aura around him flickering in and out of existence.

But in the next instant, He Song's aura vanished without a trace. His entire body became like an unyielding stone, revealing not the slightest breath of life.

"The Conceal Breath Art is complete!" He Song opened his eyes, and a flash of joy crossed his face.

Once the Conceal Breath Art was mastered, all He Song needed was a thought to draw in every trace of his aura.

So long as he was not seen with the naked eye, He Song would be like an unyielding stone, making others wholly unable to sense even a wisp of his presence.

After concealing his aura.

He Song rose from the meditation cushion, brewed himself a pot of tea, and happily took several sips.

After visiting Wei Fan and Meng Guan over the past few days, He Song's skill at making tea had also improved.

Wei Fan had even gifted him a tea set and some tea leaves, allowing him to brew tea alone at home and enjoy it.

However, just as He Song savored the tea sip by sip, faint footsteps reached his ears once more.

At once, He Song froze. His entire body stood motionless in the room like an unyielding stone, while only wisps of tea fragrance drifted beneath his nose. His ears silently followed the movements of those footsteps.

Half a month had passed, and Lin Cong's other neighbor really knew how to hold steady.

Even by today, He Song had not heard the other person set foot inside Lin Cong's room even once.

Whenever the footsteps came, they merely circled outside Lin Cong's house, stood for a long time at several places, and then quietly departed.

Every time, it was the same.

The caution was simply extreme.

Even He Song, seeing such caution from the other party, raised his own standards for always seeking stability even higher.

What was caution? This was what true caution looked like!

For the sake of a little gain, he was willing to case the place for half a month.

But this time seemed different.

Perhaps because he could not sense He Song's aura and believed He Song was not home, the person casing the place was clearly much bolder this time.

The footsteps circling the house were no longer as soft as before.

Listening to the changed footsteps by his ear, He Song fell into thought.

Could it be that he hadn't acted before because he sensed that I was still home? Now that I've learned the Conceal Breath Art and hidden my aura, he can't sense me, so he's preparing to make his move?