Chu Lingxi often came by as well, sometimes to seek guidance on the Pill Dao, sometimes simply to keep him quiet company in the courtyard. Whenever the girl looked at Lin Fan, her pure gaze was like the leisurely mountain breeze and drifting cloud shadows beyond the peaks.
Yet Lin Fan never dared let his guard down.
Ever since the battle against Blackstone Valley's invasion not long ago, the Demonic Path Headquarters mentioned by the Black Robe Envoy, with its Astral Force cultivator stationed there, had lingered in his mind.
He never forgot the danger lurking in the shadows. Every day, he tirelessly worked to improve his cultivation, countless streams of Inner Qi surging and circulating through his body as he steadily advanced toward late Astral Force.
Lin Fan understood that only by becoming strong enough himself could he protect his family in the little courtyard and protect the Azure Elixir Sect. Only then could he successfully fend off the next crisis when it came.
Day after day, time flowed slowly by. Refining pills, teaching, meditating-the cycle repeated. Clouds unfurled across the mountains, and gentle breezes passed. Amid what others saw as peaceful days, Lin Fan's cultivation steadily grew, little by little.
More than a month slowly passed.
Capital City, Prince Gao's Manor.
Over the course of that month, the Capital City's powerful princes, aristocratic families, and hereditary nobles had engaged in countless open clashes and covert struggles, court maneuvers, and contests of influence over the mining rights to the enormous gold mine on the Zhao Kingdom's border.
In the end, relying on his deep foundations, covert forces, and ruthless methods, Prince Gao emerged victorious from the fierce competition among the princes and forcibly secured a substantial share of the border gold mine's extraction rights.
With control over a considerable