Lin Tianheng

Upon reaching the deck, Yang Ning's gaze sharpened. He saw a Gilded Dragon Flag three hundred meters high and four hundred meters long stretched across the bow, embroidered with hundreds of golden dragons in every color fighting over a luminous pearl.

It was this flag that had blocked the ship.

The hundred-meter-tall flagpole lay across the sky, its shaft nearly five meters thick, looking like a heavenly chasm that blotted out the sun and sky.

Standing atop the flagpole were three young people—one man and two women.

The man had narrow eyes and brows, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. His handsome features carried a trace of harshness.

He wore a moon-white robe, his hair hanging loose beneath a purple-gold headband. The look was truly terrible, yet paired with his handsome face, it still gave him an air of carefree unruliness.

He had an arm around each girl's waist. The girl on the left wore green, while the one on the right wore purple. They looked exactly alike, but their temperaments stood in stark contrast—the one in green was lively, while the one in purple was cold and aloof.

"Inner Disciple Lord Lin Tianheng? He's so handsome!"

"Those two women must be Thousand Illusions Sect disciples Wang Luo and Wang Yi? I heard they willingly gave themselves to Lord Tianheng in order to break through to the Qi Refining Realm."

"This is way too good. I wish I could take his place."

"Watch your words. Lord Tianheng is a Golden Core True Person. Do you think he can't hear you?"

"Since it's Lord Lin Tianheng, then the great flag beneath his feet must be the Dao Artifact Myriad Dragon Flag, right?"

Before Yang Ning could ask, passersby had already spilled every detail about the three people above. Yang Ning immediately felt much more at ease.

Since they were Taiheng Sect disciples, they should not be enemies, right?

The huge flag beneath his feet was called the Myriad Dragon Flag? He seemed to have read about it before.

"The Myriad Dragon Flag was the sacred relic of the Myriad Dragon Cult of the Western Region. It could summon ten thousand dragons and establish a Myriad Dragon Array, combining offense, defense, and sealing into one. Later, the Myriad Dragon Cult was destroyed, and the Myriad Dragon Flag vanished without a trace," Deep Blue said.

"Good stuff." Yang Ning studied the enormous flag before him with curiosity. This was the first Dao Artifact he had seen since arriving in this world.

To be honest, he had not even seen a treasure artifact, one grade below a Dao Artifact. He had only seen Spirit Artifacts in the refining chamber.

The Spirit Artifacts in the refining chamber had already made him unable to put them down. How powerful, then, was a Dao Artifact?

As his thoughts turned, Lin Tianheng atop the flag spoke. "Who is in charge of this ship? Come out and see me!"

"Ascension Academy Elder Wei Daocheng greets Lord Tianheng!" At some point, Wei Daocheng had already appeared before Lin Tianheng. "May I ask why you have stopped an Ascension Academy ship?"

"I have something for you to help with!" Lin Tianheng said coldly. "Lower the ship now!"

"What?" Wei Daocheng froze, then hurriedly shook his head. "That cannot be done. There are still four days left. It would violate the rules, and there are still people who have not even begun the Breathing Technique!"

"Twenty-six days, and they still haven't begun the Breathing Technique—what immortals are they cultivating?" Lin Tianheng said. "Besides, four more days or four fewer days will make no difference. Do you think that giving them another four days will let them awaken Innate Divine Abilities? Lower it!"

"But..." Wei Daocheng shook his head, his face bitter. "This violates the rules!"

"I am an Inner Disciple, while you are merely an External Affairs Elder. Obeying me is the greatest rule!" Lin Tianheng's voice remained calm, carrying an unhurried, composed authority.

"Being able to serve an Inner Disciple before even entering the sect is an honor for these Immortal Seedlings, isn't it?" Wang Luo smiled beside Lin Tianheng. "Or are you planning to defy an order?"

Wei Daocheng had nothing to say. He could only shake his head and order the ship to begin descending.

Listening to their exchange, Yang Ning caught onto something and quickly asked Deep Blue, "What are Innate Divine Abilities?"

"They are divine abilities that living beings are born with. They possess high mastery, low consumption, few restrictions, and the ability to advance on their own. When Body Refinement Realm cultivators advance into the Qi Refining Realm, they have a chance of receiving heaven and earth's blessing and obtaining Innate Divine Abilities," Deep Blue answered.

"What do these four days have to do with Innate Divine Abilities?" Yang Ning asked again.

"When humans first come into contact with cultivation and spiritual qi enters the body, they form a Primordial Chaos Embryo. This embryo can absorb the Primordial Chaos Qi between heaven and earth. This qi is born of the innate and nurtured by the Great Dao; it is the foremost spiritual qi in the world. It normally merges with the body, but when one breaks through to the Qi Refining Stage, it can be stirred by the laws of heaven and earth and transform into Innate Divine Abilities!" Deep Blue said. "The best period for absorbing Primordial Chaos Qi is the thirty days when one first begins cultivation!"

"So that means this bastard is making me absorb four fewer days of Primordial Chaos Qi?" Yang Ning had not held much ill will toward Lin Tianheng for blocking the ship, but once he realized it concerned his own cultivation, disgust rose within him. Then he thought of how he might originally have developed an Innate Divine Ability, only for it to possibly be ruined by this man, and he even felt like killing someone.

One had to know that in those gangster-style cultivation worlds, a single Spirit Stone was enough to get someone killed. What he was losing now, however, might be abilities like Innate Five-Colored Divine Light or True Sun Fire!

"Yes," Deep Blue replied. "But according to the Vast Universe Records, even after absorbing Primordial Chaos Qi, the chance of developing an Innate Divine Ability is still less than one in ten thousand!"

"What's wrong with one in ten thousand? What if I'm just short of these four days?" Yang Ning's expression remained calm, and no anger seemed to rise in his heart, yet he was truly furious. He had encountered too many idiotic clients and bosses in the past, so he had long learned to control his temper well.

Moreover, someone at the peak of the Body Refinement Realm could sharpen their five senses enough to detect movement dozens of kilometers away, let alone Lin Tianheng, who was in the Qi Refining Realm. If Yang Ning revealed even the slightest killing intent, he would be discovered!

"Breathe in, breathe out!" After circulating the Breathing Technique several times, Yang Ning felt much better.

But whenever he looked at Lin Tianheng, his stomach filled with rage again.

Fortunately, Zhao Bu was nearby, and Yang Ning quickly shifted his gaze.

What he did not know was that Lin Tianheng stood above them all, seeing every reaction as clearly as fire reflected in water. He simply did not care.

Too many people hated him. There were no fewer than a hundred thousand between the inner and outer sects. A mere Immortal Seedling, something not even qualified to be an Outer Disciple, was no different from an ant in his eyes—not even worth remembering.

Even Wei Daocheng, at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, was nothing but a dog in his eyes.

"Lord, may I ask why you stopped us?" Wei Daocheng asked. "The person with the highest cultivation on this ship is me. I fear we will be unable to help you with anything!"

"How could you be unable to help?" Lin Tianheng sneered. "I was pursuing Tuo Buchuan of the Myriad Saint Demonic Cult here. He was something I could have killed with a wave of my hand, but he cultivated a Breath Concealment Secret Art. He burrowed into Qin Mountain like a pangolin, and now I cannot find him. Since you happen to be nearby, I want you to seal off the mountain and search it inch by inch!"

"Tuo Buchuan?" Wei Daocheng froze, then hastily shook his head. "I know Tuo Buchuan as well. Isn't he an expert at the Qi Refining Fourth Level, in the Mana Realm? He also possesses the treasure artifact World-Ending Sky Spear. Even I am no match for him. How could these Immortal Seedlings dare search for him?"

"World-Ending Sky Spear?" Wang Yi chuckled, then removed a black hairpin from her head. "Isn't it right here?"

Wei Daocheng looked closely. The hairpin was no more than three inches long, but its design was unique. It truly was a miniature spear.

Lin Tianheng said, "Tuo Buchuan has already been seriously injured by me, and I have placed a curse inscription on him. He cannot use mana at all. I will give each of them a talisman. Once they find him, crushing the talisman will allow me to arrive immediately!"

"But..." Wei Daocheng hurriedly said, "even if he has lost his mana, his body is not something these Immortal Seedlings can withstand!"

"No matter. If my talisman detects the host's death, it will also send a signal!" Lin Tianheng casually tossed down a stack of talisman papers. "Stop talking nonsense. Begin!"

"This..." Wei Daocheng was completely despairing. Was this not plainly sending the Immortal Seedlings to their deaths?

But Wei Daocheng knew very well that, given the Taiheng Sect's ways, no matter how important Immortal Seedlings were, they could not compare to a Golden Core Stage Inner Disciple.

After all, Immortal Seedlings appeared every year, while the entire sect had barely a hundred Golden Core Stage Inner Disciples!

Even if he took the matter all the way to the sect master, it would be useless.

He could only hope that those who died would not be the few Immortal Seedlings with talent.

Their conversation had not even been concealed. Every Immortal Seedling on the deck heard it. They had initially felt there was some hope when they saw Wei Daocheng fighting for them, but once the talismans were distributed, they immediately knew there was no hope left at all.

"Lord Lin Tianheng, my older brother is Outer Disciple Zhao Yang. Do you happen to know him?" Zhao Bu suddenly shouted. "Could I..."

"Zhao Yang? Never heard of him. What kind of stray cat or mangy dog's name are you bringing out to bother me with?" Lin Tianheng casually pointed.

Zhao Bu flew dozens of meters as though he had been struck by a mud-hauling truck, then slammed heavily into the mast before sliding to the ground.

He never got up again.

Deep Blue: Impact force: 56,400 N!

Equivalent to being hit by a sedan traveling at 200 km/h.

Even though Zhao Bu practiced martial arts, he could not withstand that blow.

Yang Ning had not expected that Zhao Bu, whom he had been racking his brains to resist just days ago, would be casually killed before him like this. Zhao Yang, who had once seemed like a great mountain, was nothing more than a toy before a true powerhouse, not afforded even a sliver of respect.

"The strong devour the weak!" Yang Ning had long known this world's law, but only when this scene stood before him in cold reality did he truly understand this world.

He had to grow stronger. He absolutely had to grow stronger!

Even if it was only to seize control of his own fate!

As for hatred, as for the Innate Divine Ability that had vanished.

Before he possessed strength, everything had to be buried in his heart—and had to remain buried there!