Lin Hai's figure silently returned to the Xiao Clan's courtyard, as if he had merely stepped out for a stroll.
Yao Chen was hovering in midair, guiding Xiao Yixian as she controlled the faint wisp of poison flame at her fingertip, its color an eerie, shadowy hue. On the other side, Xiao Yan was sweating profusely as he practiced his Dou Technique.
When Yao Chen saw Lin Hai return, he immediately floated over, his expression respectful.
Lin Hai skipped the small talk. With a flip of his hand, four jade boxes, each radiating rich energy fluctuations and the fragrance of medicine, appeared on the stone table.
The moment the boxes were opened, the rare medicinal ingredients neatly arranged inside gave off beams of light. Their immense energy made the natural energy in the entire courtyard stir more actively.
"These are... the ingredients for Supreme Pills! And... four sets!" Yao Chen's soul form shuddered violently.
"Mm. I traded for them in Sky Medicine City." Lin Hai's tone was casual, as if he had merely bought four bundles of cabbage. "Get yourself ready as soon as possible and refine them into pills."
"Yes! Rest assured, my lord! This old man will do everything in his power!"
"This old man needs a day to quietly adjust his condition and bring his soul to its absolute peak before he can begin refining," Yao Chen said.
"Very well." Lin Hai nodded.
Yao Chen said no more. He immediately turned into a streak of light and slipped back into the black ring to make his preparations.
Yao Chen went into seclusion, but Lin Hai did not rest.
He found a quiet room and took out a batch of spirit jade he had collected along the way while ransacking the Magical Beast Mountain Range and Hengduan Mountain Range. The jade was smooth and warm to the touch, capable of carrying soul power.
A wisp of pale golden flame curled around his fingertips. It was not a Heavenly Flame, but a flame of spiritual energy, condensed to a high degree using his Peak Spirit Saint cultivation. It leapt and danced, its heat enough to vaporize steel in an instant, yet Lin Hai controlled it perfectly within a tiny space.
In his hands, the spirit jade was easily melted and shaped into palm-sized jade pendants, each pristine white and flawless.
Then, with his fingers together like a knife, he used his powerful soul force as a carving tool, tracing incomparably intricate spatial runes and Soul Imprint runes inside the pendants.
The process posed no difficulty for him, and he worked at astonishing speed.
In less than half a day, he had finished crafting dozens of exquisitely made communication jade pendants, each containing strange energy fluctuations.
The pendants could resonate with one another through the sliver of a shared Soul Imprint at their core. As long as they remained on this continent, their users could send one-way messages no matter how far apart they were, or communicate both ways when within a certain range. They were more than enough to meet the Haiye organization's initial communication needs.
Just as he finished the last batch of pendants, Lin Hai's thoughts stirred. He sensed a familiar, bone-chilling aura rapidly approaching Wutan City, with more than a dozen others following behind it, each at the peak of the Great Spirit Master level.
A moment later, Xiao Clan guards hurried over to report that Haibodong, the Miteer Clan's Grand Elder, had come to see him.
Lin Hai simply sent word for him to enter.
Soon, Haibodong strode into the courtyard with fifteen guards dressed in Miteer Clan uniforms, each looking sharp and capable.
Though the guards were only at the peak of the Great Spirit Master level, their eyes were keen and their movements disciplined. They were clearly elite fighters carefully trained by the clan.
"My lord!" Haibodong bowed as soon as he saw Lin Hai, his manner even more respectful than before.
The fifteen guards behind him did not know what was going on, but seeing the Grand Elder act this way, they hurriedly dropped to one knee as well, not daring to raise their heads.
"Rise." Lin Hai's gaze swept over the fifteen men, and he seemed reasonably satisfied. "Is this everyone?"
"My lord, these are only the first group: core members who are absolutely loyal and skilled in tracking and intelligence analysis. If needed, we can recruit more from the clan and the Imperial Family." Haibodong quickly replied, handing over a high-grade Storage Ring at the same time. "My lord, these are all the relevant medicinal ingredients I could gather. Most of the Miteer Clan's reserves are inside, and Elder Jia from the Imperial Family has sent some as well."
Lin Hai took the Storage Ring and scanned it with his soul force. Medicinal ingredients were piled up like a mountain inside, with a wide variety and a considerable quantity—enough for Yao Chen to refine several batches of pills.
"Mm." Lin Hai put away the Storage Ring, then handed the dozens of newly crafted communication jade pendants to Haibodong. "These are communication jade pendants. From now on, the organization's members will use them to communicate over long distances."
Haibodong took the pendants. They felt warm in his hand, and he could sense the strange spatial power within them, along with a sliver of soul pressure that made his heart tremble. He was even more awestruck by Lin Hai's unfathomable methods. He could even casually mass-produce such precious, single-use alchemical items.
"Take them to the Miteer Auction House in Wutan City to settle in, learn how to use the pendants, and set up the organization's basic framework," Lin Hai instructed. "Once the pills are finished, I'll come find you."
"Yes! I will obey!" Haibodong accepted the order without hesitation.
He turned and ordered the fifteen elite guards, "Everyone, follow me!"
The group had arrived quickly and left just as fast, departing the Xiao Clan and heading for the Miteer Auction House in the city.
The courtyard fell silent once more.
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