Success

Half an hour later, Lu Lin found the Goatee Steward outside a mine tunnel, where he was overseeing the menial laborers at work.

"You... broke through to the third level of Body Tempering?"

The Goatee Steward looked Lu Lin up and down, his eyes going round, astonishment written all over his face.

That was right. The first thing Lu Lin did after finding him was take the initiative to "reveal" the "fact" that he had already broken through to the third level of Body Tempering.

His original plan had been to let it show gradually over the next few months, but the sudden, bizarre mission had thrown everything into chaos, forcing him to act ahead of time.

Upon reaching the third level of Body Tempering, according to the rules, he could obtain the subsequent "muscle-and-sinew training" stage of the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art.

What he mainly needed was the first killing move of the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art—Demonic Ape Palm.

Savage Elephant Charge emphasized eruption. Its instantaneous explosive power was extremely strong, but it took too long to gather force, and after the attack, he would briefly lose strength, easily exposing an opening.

Demonic Ape Palm, though not as explosive as Savage Elephant Charge, had flexible attacks that flowed on without end. In a head-on fight, it was undoubtedly the more suitable choice.

At this point, only two months had passed since his last "breakthrough" to the second level of Body Tempering.

Breaking through an entire level in two months—this speed could be called swift and fierce. Though it was eye-catching, it was still within an acceptable range, not enough for him to be treated as a monster.

"Reporting to Steward, this subordinate was lucky and only broke through not long ago." Lu Lin lowered his eyes and answered with an "honest and simple" look.

"Tell me, how did you cultivate?" Goatee narrowed his eyes.

"I... I don't know either..." Lu Lin scratched his head, feigning confusion. "It's just that after I mastered the Thirty-Six Forms and stepped into the first level of Body Tempering, the cultivation afterward... seemed to become simple all at once. Practicing felt especially smooth, and as I kept practicing... somehow, I broke through."

"You broke through just by practicing?!" The corner of the Goatee Steward's mouth twitched, and his heart felt terribly sour.

He was certain that Lu Lin was a typical case of "having opened the aperture."

After a long period of accumulation and settling in the early stage, his potential had finally entered an explosive period once he crossed the threshold, advancing a thousand li in a single day.

Thinking back to when he had broken through years ago, when he had spent several times longer than this even with a sufficient supply of Blood Qi Pills, a sour, uncomfortable feeling immediately surged into his heart.

"Hmph, so what if his talent is high? In the end, he's still the sect's cannon fodder. Whether he can survive this mission is still unknown. Even if he gets lucky and lives, without an immortal master as backing, he can forget about ever climbing into a steward's position..." Thinking of this, the Goatee Steward's mood immediately improved quite a bit.

Behind every steward stood at least one immortal master of the Demonic Sect. That was the true source of support.

"All right, I've registered it in the records and will report it immediately." The Goatee Steward suppressed his stray thoughts, scribbled a few strokes into a booklet, and his tone returned to flat calm. "According to sect rules, upon stepping into the third level of Body Tempering, you may be granted the 'muscle-and-sinew training' method for the fourth to sixth levels of the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art. Go back and wait. Once the cultivation method is issued, someone will deliver it to you."

"Many thanks, Steward!" Lu Lin cupped his hands in salute and respectfully withdrew.

That night, the moonlight was cool as water, and all sounds were hushed.

Once snores rose from every corner of the communal sleeping platform, and after confirming that everyone had fallen into deep sleep, Lu Lin left the residence without a sound like a ghost and sped down the mountain.

After roughly four or five li, a dense forest appeared before his eyes.

By the cold moonlight, dozens of small yet exquisite courtyards could be faintly seen scattered among the trees.

This place was the residence of the various stewards.

Lu Lin's figure was as nimble as a spirit ape as he silently slipped into the forest.

"This is it..." A moment later, he stopped before a courtyard whose doorplate was carved with "Thirty-Six."

He had once vaguely heard someone mention that the courtyard where the Goatee Steward lived was precisely Number Thirty-Six.

He held his breath and focused, tilting his ear to listen. The courtyard was completely quiet; clearly, no one was inside.

Lu Lin no longer hesitated. With a light leap, he vaulted over the courtyard wall, landed without a sound, then shifted again and silently dropped onto the roof.

Based on the structure of the house, he quickly judged the general location of the bedroom, then crawled forward like a spirit cat without making the slightest noise.

After reaching the estimated spot, he carefully lifted a roof tile, revealing a tiny gap, and fixed his gaze downward.

Inside the bedroom, there was not a single person.

"Not here?" Lu Lin's brows furrowed slightly. "It's so late. Where did this fellow run off to? But that works out. I'll go down and search, see where he's hidden the spirit stones and silver he embezzled and skimmed."

Just as he was about to flip down, his ear suddenly twitched. He immediately lowered his body and pressed himself flat against the roof.

In the distance, a figure was using the cover of night to rush quickly toward the courtyard.

Under the moonlight, the newcomer was clearly the Goatee Steward!

He also carried a rather large bundle on his back. As he walked, he kept vigilantly looking around, and only after confirming that no one was following him did he leap into the courtyard.

He walked to the door, cautiously swept his gaze around once more, and only then pushed it open and slipped inside.

After closing the door, he went straight to an inconspicuous wooden cabinet in the bedroom, reached out, and pressed the wall beside the cabinet in a rhythmic pattern.

There came an extremely faint click of a mechanism, and that wooden cabinet actually slid silently to the side, revealing a hidden compartment embedded in the wall, about one meter tall and half a meter deep!

Inside the hidden compartment were two wooden chests.

The Goatee Steward took off the bundle from his back and opened it. Inside were actually more than a dozen Inferior Spirit Stones with warm, lustrous sheens.

He carefully placed these spirit stones into one of the chests, a satisfied look appearing on his face. Then he pressed the mechanism again, and the wooden cabinet slowly returned to its original position, fitting seamlessly without leaving any trace.

Only after doing all this did he let out a long breath, blow out the lamp, and get into bed to rest.

"As expected, he hid quite a few good things!" On the rooftop, Lu Lin took all of this in, secretly delighted. "But... how should I get my hands on them?"

The man was sleeping below; making a move now would be extremely risky.

Lu Lin patiently observed for a while. Seeing the man's breathing gradually grow even and long, as if he had already fallen into a deep sleep, he still knew this was not a good opportunity to strike. He could only suppress his impulse and retreat without a sound, as though he had never appeared at all.

Early the next morning.

Lu Lin deliberately paid attention and, after confirming that Goatee Steward was already on the martial arts field teaching the new odd-job servants martial arts, quietly slipped into that stretch of forest again.

However, after observing from a distance for only a short while, he chose to leave once more.

Because during the day, quite a few people actually came and went in this area, and patrols even passed by from time to time.

If he forced his way in now, then once he was discovered, when Goatee's valuables were stolen in the future, he would inevitably be the first to bear the brunt and come under suspicion.

For the sake of caution, he could only wait until night again.

That night, Lu Lin set out even earlier. As soon as everyone had fallen asleep, he immediately moved out and once again arrived on the roof of Goatee Steward's room.

He carefully lifted a roof tile and looked down, but his heart abruptly sank.

On the bed inside the bedroom, Goatee Steward was plainly there, already asleep!

"He actually came back so early today!" Lu Lin's expression looked ugly.

Time was tight. Tomorrow was the day the mission group would assemble; he could not delay any longer.

He had to take the risk!

A trace of determination flashed through Lu Lin's eyes.

He quickly took out a black cloth and covered his head and face, leaving only a pair of calm eyes exposed. Then, he carefully removed a roof tile, gathered enough force, and abruptly flicked the tile toward the courtyard wall!

Crack!

The tile struck the stone wall, letting out a crisp sound.

"Who?!"

Inside the bedroom, Goatee Steward was jolted awake. His eyes snapped open, and he reacted extremely quickly, flipping out of bed. In an instant, the saber hanging by the head of the bed was already in his hand.

He gave a low shout and listened alertly with his head tilted.

No one answered outside the door.

He quickly lit a lantern, holding the saber in one hand and the lamp in the other, and carefully opened the door, leaning half his body out to look around.

The night was hazy, and the courtyard was empty, without a soul in sight.

He frowned, then mustered his courage and walked out the door to the center of the courtyard. After that, he leaped up onto the enclosing wall and carefully looked outside from his higher vantage point.

At the exact instant Goatee Steward jumped onto the wall and his attention was completely drawn outside!

Lu Lin, on the roof, moved.

Like a cheetah poised to pounce, his figure was light yet incomparably swift as he flipped down from the roof and landed without a sound. Immediately after, he cleverly used a beam beneath the eaves to swing himself forward, his silhouette sliding like a ghost through the open doorway and straight into the bedroom!

The entire process happened in a flash of lightning and flint, without a sound or a trace!

After entering the bedroom, Lu Lin did not hesitate in the slightest. Relying on last night's memory, he accurately found the wall beside the wooden cabinet and pressed hard on the hidden mechanism there!

The mechanism gave a faint click, and the wooden cabinet once again slid silently to the side, revealing the secret compartment within the wall and the two wooden boxes.

Lu Lin immediately opened the first box. Inside, thick layers of Inferior Spirit Stones had been neatly stacked; at a rough glance, there were actually several hundred of them.

A sharp light burst from Lu Lin's eyes. With a rapid thought, the Inferior Spirit Stones inside the box instantly vanished without a trace, all of them taken into the inner space of the Martial Dao Melting Furnace.

Immediately afterward, he opened the second box.

There were far fewer items here, but they stirred the heart even more.

There were only twelve spirit stones, but every single one was pure and flawless, with radiance hidden within; astonishingly, they were all Low-grade Spirit Stones! Besides them, there was a thick stack of silver banknotes, as well as a dagger about one foot long, glinting with cold light.

"Old bastard, so you really did secretly stash Low-grade Spirit Stones! And there are actually twelve of them! You usually withheld my rewards, so today, I'll take back the principal with interest!"

Lu Lin did not hesitate at all. With another wave of his hand, he put all the Low-grade Spirit Stones, silver banknotes, and the dagger from the box into his possession!

After succeeding, he immediately turned around, intending to leave this place of trouble.

However, right at this moment—

Goatee Steward, having found nothing outside, was filled with doubt as he jumped down from the wall and turned back toward the bedroom.

He had only just reached the doorway when, the moment he lifted his eyes, he happened to see the masked uninvited guest inside the room, as well as behind that person... the wall's secret compartment, already wide open!