Breakthrough I

"1,900 points. Just right." Lin Xin calculated his current Contribution Points. It was enough to buy that formation, with some left over.

He decisively accepted the mission, and a short message immediately came from the jade talisman.

'After the mission posting closes, gather at Yellow Intent Plain Five Petal Mountain within thirty days.'

"Within thirty days? There's still plenty of time." Lin Xin checked the remaining time before the mission closed. There were still more than forty days left.

After he accepted the mission, the number displayed above immediately increased by one. Four people had originally been requested; now there were already three, with one still missing.

Putting away the jade talisman, Lin Xin finished his water and sat cross-legged to rest. By noon, a faint golden sheen spread across the sky of the Dragon Snake Realm.

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

He soon landed before Deep Fire Palace's main gate. The gates stood open, and several beautiful young women dressed exquisitely were waiting outside. All wore green skirts and white-gold hairpins.

Lin Xin swept his gaze over them and sensed the considerable fluctuations of spiritual power emanating from their bodies. His brows immediately furrowed slightly.

Yet these women stared straight ahead, not even glancing at him. They were clearly well trained.

He strode into the palace. Inside the main hall, the Dragon Snake Realm Lord was speaking quietly with a green-robed female cultivator whose bearing was noble and imposing.

Hearing the movement, both of them turned to look at him.

"Then it shall be so." The Noble Woman immediately fell silent, gave Dragon Snake a faint nod, and turned to leave.

The moment Lin Xin approached her, he felt a terrifying chill like ten-thousand-year black ice pouring into every pore of his body. He was still more than ten meters away from the woman, yet half his body had already gone numb and senseless.

He was instantly horrified, realizing that she was a terrifying existence on the same level as his master.

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

As the woman passed him, she glanced at him and nodded faintly. Then, before he could respond, she abruptly transformed into a blue shadow and vanished beyond the palace gates.

The several young women waiting outside all rolled onto the ground, transforming into enormous white-feathered birds. Behind them appeared an exquisite, luxurious white-gold carriage for the Noble Woman to board.

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

Lin Xin watched her depart.

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

"Master..."

"How was that? It seems the Illusory Yin Palace Master has quite a good impression of you." Dragon Snake stroked his chin and grinned smugly. "Perhaps you'll even bring back two Dao Companions after a trip to Illusory Yin Palace."

"Master, you jest. This Illusory Yin Palace Master is...?" Lin Xin seemed to have heard that name before.

"Illusory Yin Palace is one of the eight great sealing grounds, where the Ancient Evil God King is sealed. It is like Autumn Stone in your homeland, which is also a sealing ground. But most of the evil gods sealed there are only Tier Six. After so many years of sealing, they have weakened to a very low level. The power they leak out is, at most, at the Tier Five level."

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

"Things like evil gods have no value to us cultivators no matter how they are handled. Killing them takes far too much effort; dismantling them costs an even greater price, and all you get is a pile of useless scraps.

"One of the traits of evil gods is that they are bound by no contracts. Their Evil Qi contamination is extremely powerful, and they are difficult to kill.

"That is why no one has touched the evil god seal at Autumn Stone to this day. It is not because it cannot be done, but because no one is willing to pay such a huge price to completely resolve every evil god sealed there.

"And Illusory Yin Palace goes without saying. An even more terrifying and powerful Evil God King is hidden there."

Dragon Snake sighed.

"Then, Master, have you heard of an evil god named Xiya?"

Lin Xin imitated the first syllables he had heard before Xiya's name when he first met him.

"Hmm..."

Dragon Snake frowned.

"Xiya? It sounds familiar."

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

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

As his description grew increasingly specific, the Dragon Snake Realm Lord's expression gradually became solemn.

When Lin Xin finished, Dragon Snake gripped his beard with one hand and lightly tapped the armrest with the other, not replying at once.

Lin Xin waited quietly. Seeing the Dragon Snake Realm Lord's expression, he knew that this Xiya was likely no trivial matter.

After roughly the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Dragon Snake slowly came back to himself.

"If I am not mistaken, and your memory is correct, then the Xiya you described should be the Formless Deceiver, a rather famous special evil god from ancient times."

"The Formless Deceiver?" Lin Xin immediately concentrated, listening for Dragon Snake's next words. This was crucial to understanding Xiya.

"He is an extremely troublesome fellow. Back then, I had only heard of him. He was at least a powerful existence at the peak of Tier Six. So he had been sealed in Autumn Stone all along... No wonder..."

Dragon Snake seemed to have figured something out, and his face grew even more grave.

"The mountain rain is about to come, and the wind fills the tower. But even if it has some scheme, Azure Lake Mountain has nothing to fear.

"Lie Shan, you are leaving this time, correct? Be careful on the road. If you learn anything about Xiya, tell me at once."

"This disciple understands."

Lin Xin answered respectfully.

He was not surprised that Dragon Snake knew he intended to leave. This master of his had lived for far too long—long enough to compare with that Shan Lu of the Netherworld.

It was only natural that he knew techniques such as divination and karmic calculation.

"This disciple has also come to ask Master to remove the lingering effects left on me by the Heavenly Demon Warlord."

"That? It cannot be removed." Dragon Snake smiled. "But there is no need to worry. If it were a one-on-one curse released by the Heavenly Demon Warlord, it might indeed be impossible to remove. But for this kind of large-scale net-casting group curse, you need only refrain from killing a single Void Demon Spirit for fifteen years, and it will automatically be lifted."

"Within fifteen years?" Lin Xin's heart relaxed.

"Correct."

Dragon Snake was also a careless sort. Only now, upon hearing his disciple mention the lingering effects, did red light flare in his eyes as he carefully examined Lin Xin.

"Hmm... Your injuries have only just healed. Aside from the lingering effects, there is nothing else... Hm? You broke through?"

He gave a slight start, and his expression immediately turned astonished.

Whoosh!

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

A powerful yet gentle force field instantly enveloped Lin Xin's entire body.

After examining him, Dragon Snake's face immediately lit up with delight.

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

He threw back his head and laughed wildly.

"As expected of Dragon Snake's disciple! You actually broke through Tier Five pure blood so quickly! Hehehehe!!"

"Originally, I thought it would take you at least a hundred years to break through this bottleneck. I never expected it to happen so quickly! Truly worthy of being a disciple of my Dragon Snake Realm! Hahahaha!!"

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

This pill was strange as well. Fine fuzz actually grew across its surface, while a ring of pink runes slowly revolved around it, emitting a faint buzzing sound.

"This is a Huang Origin Elixir I refined not long ago. You have just broken through, and all you lack is for the Azure Origin Cauldron to condense Supreme Purity Qi. This Huang Origin Elixir can save you at least fifty years of cultivation. Its only side effect is a little pain after taking it."

As Dragon Snake spoke, he stuffed the pill into Lin Xin's hand.

"This master still has quite a few Huang Origin Elixirs. If you wish to take one, come to Deep Fire Palace anytime. You may take another every fifty years."

He patted Lin Xin on the shoulder.

"And the Dao soldier seeds—when you return, it will also be time to choose the Sacrifice to the Gods Land. You may pick one Dao soldier from Deep Fire Palace's collection and take it with you."

"Many thanks, Master." Lin Xin was immediately delighted. He knew how precious the Dao soldier seeds stored behind Deep Fire Palace were. They were the rarest varieties among Dao soldiers, with seeds from every tier. If he wanted to buy them elsewhere, he would need hundreds of thousands of Contribution Points at the very least.

There was also the Huang Origin Elixir. As for a pill capable of increasing the cultivation of even a Tier Five cultivator, Lin Xin had never even heard of one, let alone its pill formula.

Tier Five cultivators were already among the ranks of human immortals. In the mortal world, they were immortal, sacred bodies. The overwhelming majority of materials and medicinal herbs had no effect on them at all.

Only an extremely small portion could affect them, and even then, the effects were very limited.

As for pills that could increase a human immortal's cultivation, the rare materials needed to refine them were things even Tier Five cultivators would not dare dream of.

"All right, go on. Make your preparations."

Having given away the pill and received the good news of his disciple's breakthrough, Dragon Snake was in high spirits. It had only been a dozen or so years, yet the disciple he had snatched from the Azure Mountain Realm had already broken through to a new realm.

"No! I must immediately let that Azure Mountain Old Man know this good news. Hmm... I should make it seem as though it slipped out inadvertently..."

The more Dragon Snake thought about it, the more delighted he became. He could already picture Azure Mountain Old Man's foolish face, his nose twisted with fury.

Lin Xin withdrew helplessly.

He left the empty, desolate Deep Fire Palace.

Carrying the Huang Origin Elixir, he returned directly to the cave dwelling where he had previously cultivated in seclusion. There were still several dozen days left—just enough time to see how effective this pill was.

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

Somewhere in the void.

A figure clad entirely in black robes floated in the void.

The hem of his robe hung down like a huge scrap of torn cloth, extending a full three or four meters and completely concealing his legs.

The figure lowered his head, his face unseen. Only a head of short hair writhing like fresh blood could be seen.

"Of one hundred and sixty hidden pieces, ninety-four have been dealt with. Six King Pillars, it seems your plan has not gone too smoothly."

The figure spoke quietly to himself. There was clearly nothing around him, yet he spoke as though someone stood beside him.

"So what?"

An aged, deep voice replied.

"Those lunatics from Azure Lake Mountain discovered them and uprooted more than sixty of our locations in one stroke. And your plan? Did it not fail as well? You breached the void defense line and even activated hidden pieces planted years ago, yet Azure Lake Mountain still drove you back."

"That was merely an accident," the figure said indifferently.

"Whether it was an accident is not for you to decide." The Six King Pillars sneered. "If it had been us, we would certainly have broken the deadlock in one decisive stroke."

"You inside, me outside—this arrangement was decided long ago. I even summoned the Heavenly Demon Warlord on the second day, yet I never expected..."

The figure sighed helplessly. "These demon spirits are too foolish. Such powerful strength and influence, squandered in vain."