Breakthrough, Part 1

"Nineteen hundred points. Just right." Lin Xin calculated his current Contribution Points; it was just enough to buy that formation, with some left over.

He decisively chose to accept the task, and immediately a short message was transmitted within the Jade Talisman.

'Please gather at Five Blossom Mountain in Huang Yi Plain within thirty days after the task announcement closes.'

"Within thirty days? Still early." Lin Xin looked at the remaining time before the task announcement closed; there were still more than forty days.

After he accepted the task, the number of people displayed above immediately increased by one. Originally, it was a call for four people, but now there were already three, with one still missing.

He put away the Jade Talisman, finished his water, and rested cross-legged for a while. When it was noon, the sky of the Dragon Snake Realm faintly glowed with gold.

Only then did he slowly get up, leave his room, rise into the air, and fly directly towards the Deep Fire Palace.

He quickly landed in front of the Deep Fire Palace's gate. The gate was wide open, and several exquisitely dressed, beautiful young girls were waiting at the entrance, all wearing green dresses and Platinum hairpins.

Lin Xin glanced at the group, sensing the not-low fluctuations of magical power on their bodies, and immediately frowned slightly.

However, these people looked straight ahead, not even glancing at him, well-trained.

He strode into the palace. Inside the main hall, the Dragon Snake Realm Lord was talking in a low voice with a green-robed female cultivator with a noble and dignified air.

Hearing the movement, the two immediately turned to look at him.

"Then let's leave it at that." The Noble Woman immediately stopped talking, nodded lightly to the Dragon Snake, and turned to leave.

As Lin Xin approached her, he felt a terrifying chill like ten thousand years of profound ice pouring into every pore of his body. He was still more than ten meters away from the woman, but he already felt half of his body numb and losing sensation.

His heart was immediately horrified, knowing that she was a terrifying existence at the same level as his Master.

Lin Xin quickly lowered his head and stood to the side, respectfully waiting for her to leave.

The woman passed by, glanced at him, and nodded slightly to him. Then, without waiting for his response, she suddenly turned into a blue shadow and disappeared outside the palace gate.

The several young girls waiting outside rolled on the ground, transforming into white-feathered giant birds, behind which emerged an exquisite and gorgeous white-gold carriage, allowing the Noble Woman to board.

The carriage rose into the air and, pulled by several giant birds, flew into the distance.

Lin Xin watched the other party leave.

Only then did he turn his gaze to the Dragon Snake Realm Lord.

"Master..."

"How is it? It seems the Illusory Yin Palace Master has a good impression of you." The Dragon Snake stroked his chin and smiled triumphantly. "Maybe a trip to the Illusory Yin Palace could bring back two Dao Companions."

"Master is joking. This Illusory Yin Palace Master is...?" Lin Xin seemed to have heard the name before.

"The Illusory Yin Palace is one of the eight great Seal lands, sealing the existence of the Ancient Evil God King. Just like your old home, Qiu Shi, is also a Seal land, but the Evil Gods sealed there are mostly only at the sixth rank. After so many years of sealing, they have weakened to a very low level, and the power that escapes is at most at the fifth rank."

The Dragon Snake rarely explained these things to Lin Xin. He happened to be in the mood today, so he explained in detail.

"Dealing with Evil Gods in any way is of no value to us cultivators. Killing them is too laborious, and breaking them down requires a huge cost, and what you get is a pile of unusable miscellaneous materials.

One of the characteristics of Evil Gods is that they are not bound by any contracts, and their Evil Qi pollution is extremely strong, making them difficult to kill.

So, to this day, no one has touched the Evil God Seal of Qiu Shi, not because they can't do it, but because no one is willing to pay such a high price to completely resolve all the Evil Gods sealed there.

Not to mention the Illusory Yin Palace, which hides an even more terrifying and powerful Evil God King."

Dragon Snake sighed.

"Then Master, have you ever heard of an Evil God named Xi Ya?"

Lin Xin simulated the first time he met Xi Ya, recalling the first syllables of his name.

"Hmm..."

Dragon Snake frowned.

"Xi Ya? It sounds familiar."

Lin Xin narrowed his eyes, a glimmer of hope rising in his heart.

Compared to the strange and dangerous Xi Ya, he trusted the Dragon Snake Realm Lord more. So, he carefully described Xi Ya's appearance in detail.

As the description became more detailed, the Dragon Snake Realm Lord's expression gradually became serious.

After Lin Xin finished speaking, he stroked his beard with one hand and gently tapped the armrest of his chair with the other, not replying directly.

Lin Xin waited quietly, knowing from the Dragon Snake Realm Lord's expression that this Xi Ya was likely extraordinary.

After about an incense stick's worth of time, Dragon Snake slowly came back to his senses.

"If I'm not mistaken, and your memory is correct, then the Xi Ya you're talking about should be the Formless Deceiver, a rather famous special Evil God from ancient times."

"Formless Deceiver?" Lin Xin immediately focused his attention, listening to Dragon Snake's explanation. This was crucial to understanding Xi Ya.

"A very troublesome fellow. I only heard of him back then. He was at least a powerful existence at the peak of the Sixth Order. So he was sealed in Qiu Shi all along... No wonder..."

Dragon Snake seemed to understand something, his face becoming even more solemn.

"Truly, the storm is coming. But even if he has schemes, my Azure Lake Mountain will not fear him.

Lie Shan, you're planning to go out this time, right? Be careful on the road. If you have any news about Xi Ya, tell me immediately."

"Disciple understands."

Lin Xin replied respectfully.

He wasn't surprised that Dragon Snake knew he was planning to leave. This Master of his had lived for far too long, long enough to compare with that Shan Lu in the Netherworld.

It was only natural that he knew some techniques related to calculation and karma.

"This disciple has also come to request Master to remove the aftereffects left on me by the Heavenly Demon Warlord."

"That, ah, can't be removed," Dragon Snake smiled. "But don't worry. If it were a one-on-one situation, the curse released by the Heavenly Demon Warlord might not be removable. But for this kind of mass-distributed curse, you only need to refrain from killing a single Void Demon Spirit within fifteen years, and it will automatically dissipate."

"Within fifteen years?" Lin Xin felt relieved.

"Not bad."

Dragon Snake was also a careless fellow. Only now, hearing his disciple mention that he still had aftereffects, did his eyes light up with a red glow, carefully examining Lin Xin.

"Hmm... Your injuries have just healed. Besides the aftereffects, there's nothing... Huh? You've broken through?"

He was slightly shocked, his expression somewhat astonished.

Whoosh!

The Dragon Snake Realm Lord vanished from his seat and appeared next to Lin Xin, grabbing his wrist.

A powerful yet gentle force field instantly enveloped Lin Xin.

After examining him, the Dragon Snake Realm Lord's face lit up with joy.

"Good, good, good!!! Hahahaha!"

He threw his head back and laughed.

"As expected of my Dragon Snake's disciple, to break through so quickly even with fifth-level pure blood! Hehehehe!!"

"I originally thought it would take you at least a century to break through this barrier, but I didn't expect it to be so fast! Worthy of being a disciple of my Dragon Snake Realm! Hahahaha!!"

After his wild laughter, he flipped his hand, and a golden, round Elixir appeared in his palm.

This Elixir was peculiar, with fine fluff growing on its surface, and a ring of pink runes slowly rotating around it, emitting a faint buzzing sound.

"This is a Huang Origin Elixir that I recently refined. You've just broken through, and you only lack the Azure Origin Cauldron to condense Supreme Purity Qi. This Huang Origin Elixir can save you at least fifty years of cultivation. The only side effect is a slight pain after taking it."

The Dragon Snake Realm Lord said, stuffing the Elixir into Lin Xin's hand.

"I have quite a few Huang Origin Elixirs that I refined. If you want to take them, you can come to Deep Fire Palace at any time. You can take another one every fifty years."

He patted Lin Xin's shoulder.

"Also, Dao Soldier seeds. When you return, it will be time to choose a place to consecrate the gods. You can choose any Dao Soldier from the Deep Fire Palace's collection and take it with you."

"Thank you, Master." Lin Xin was immediately overjoyed. He knew how precious the Dao Soldier seeds stored behind the Deep Fire Palace were. They were the rarest types of Dao Soldier seeds, from all levels. If he were to buy them outside, he wouldn't even think about it without hundreds of thousands of Contribution Points.

And the Huang Origin Elixir, such an Elixir that could enhance the cultivation of fifth-level cultivators, Lin Xin had never even heard of the Pill Formula, let alone seen it.

The fifth level was already the level of Human Immortals. In the mortal realm, they were Immortal Sacred Bodies, and the vast majority of materials and herbs had no effect on them.

Only a very small number could have an impact, but they were very limited.

As for Elixirs that could increase the cultivation of Human Immortals, the rare materials needed for refining were something that fifth-level cultivators wouldn't even dare to imagine.

"Alright, go, go prepare yours."

Having given the Elixir and received the good news of his disciple's breakthrough, the Dragon Snake Realm Lord was in a great mood. In just over a decade, the disciple he snatched from the Azure Mountain Realm had broken through to a new realm.

"No! This good news must be immediately made known to that Azure Mountain Old Man. Hmm... it should be leaked unintentionally..."

The more the Dragon Snake Realm Lord thought about it, the more comfortable he felt. He could already imagine the silly look on the Azure Mountain Old Man's face, his nose twisted in anger.

Lin Xin reluctantly took his leave.

He left the empty Deep Fire Palace.

Carrying the Huang Origin Elixir, he returned directly to the Cave Dwelling where he had been cultivating in seclusion. There were still a few dozen days left, so he could see how effective this Elixir was.

*********************

Somewhere in the void.

A figure in a black robe was floating in the void.

The hem of his robe was like a large piece of torn cloth, hanging down for three or four meters, completely covering his legs.

The figure lowered its head, its face unseen, only a head of short hair writhing like fresh blood.

"One hundred and sixty hidden agents, ninety-four of them have been dealt with. Six King Pillars, your plan doesn't seem to be going too smoothly."

The figure muttered to itself. Although there was clearly nothing around him, when he spoke, it was as if someone was right beside him.

"So what?"

An old, deep voice replied.

"Those lunatics from Azure Lake Mountain discovered it and instantly uprooted more than sixty of our agents. What about your plan? Didn't it fail too? You broke through the void defense line and even used hidden agents planted many years ago, but weren't you still repelled by Azure Lake Mountain?"

"That was just an accident," the figure said calmly.

"Accident or not, it's not up to you to decide." The Six King Pillars sneered. "If it were us, we would definitely be able to break the deadlock in one fell swoop."

"You inside, me outside, it was a predetermined arrangement. I even summoned the Heavenly Demon Warlord for the second day, but I didn't expect..."

The figure sighed helplessly. "These Demon Spirits are too stupid, wasting such a strong strength and power." (To be continued ~^~)