Infant Holding True Person put away the black ring, nodded to Lin Xin, maintained the bearing of a Foundation Establishment Realm expert, and slowly descended to the ground.
"True Person, please wait a moment. I still have one final step to finish here," Lin Xin said loudly.
"Please proceed, Manor Lord." Infant Holding True Person no longer dared underestimate Lin Xin and instead treated him as an equal.
The two waited inside the furnace for a while before Lin Xin put away the sword sheath. The Red Flower Sword returned to its sheath and hung at his waist.
He had forcibly used the Red Flower Sword to summon Yin Manto just now, leaving the blade somewhat less than perfect. However, with some patient grinding over time, it could be fully restored.
"Manor Lord Lin, regarding the calamity that befell your manor this time, I suspect someone deliberately incited the Rogue Cultivators, and there was an insider spreading the news as well. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to gather so much force in such a short time." After some thought, Infant Holding True Person still told Lin Xin what he knew, as a gesture of sincerity.
"I knew there would be an insider. As for inciting the Rogue Cultivators... perhaps they were more interested in forcing someone out..." A deep look flashed through Lin Xin's eyes.
"When we first entered, we had no intention of killing anyone. Yet someone among the Rogue Cultivators deliberately stirred things up and struck first, drawing blood, which intensified the conflict between both sides. That was why there were countless casualties," Infant Holding True Person said in a low voice.
"It seems some people simply couldn't sit still any longer." Lin Xin spoke flatly. "Thank you for informing me, True Person."
"You need not be so polite, Manor Lord. My Magic Sword will still need your help!" Infant Holding True Person chuckled. That was also the main purpose of his visit. Still, he retained some doubts about Lin Xin's attainments in formations.
"That is easily handled." Lin Xin smiled as well. "True Person will soon be able to rest easy."
The two left the furnace and pushed open the iron doors, only to freeze at the same time.
The white training ground was a complete mess.
All around lay corpses in every direction, some cultivators, some from the manor, densely packed together.
Dugu Lin stood amid the corpses. The vertical mark between her brows faintly glimmered with silver light. Seeming to hear the sound, she turned back and smiled at Lin Xin.
"Don't forget my condition."
Lin Xin swept his gaze across the grounds and abruptly spotted a conspicuous gigantic figure half-kneeling on the ground not far away. It was the White Tiger Demon King. He knelt on one knee, both hands viciously embedded in the earth. Flesh and blood had splattered everywhere around him, red and white in a gruesome smear.
There was a huge sword hole in the Demon King's chest, slowly seeping threads of black blood.
"Of course not..." Lin Xin said, his voice somewhat dry.
The entire manor was silent at this moment, with scarcely a sound to be heard.
This was Lin Xin's first time witnessing Dugu Lin's strength. The Following Cloud Mind Sword truly deserved to be called the sect's most mysterious and formidable sword art. Looking at Dugu Lin, Lin Xin vaguely felt that she might become the strongest leading figure of the sword sect for the next hundred years.
"That's good." The silver light between Dugu Lin's brows receded. She turned, leaped lightly, and transparent sword blades appeared beneath her feet, carrying her as she shot away. In the blink of an eye, she became a tiny speck in the sky, then swiftly vanished into the clouds.
Lin Xin stood on the corpse-strewn training ground. Beside him, Infant Holding True Person's forehead was covered in cold sweat as well. The White Tiger Demon King had actually been killed just like that. A Foundation Establishment demon king had not even been able to flee.
"Truly..." This was the first time Infant Holding True Person had personally witnessed the terror of a sect genius, and he felt incomparably fortunate that he had not truly fallen out with the Pine Forest Sword Sect.
"Senior Sister Dugu truly deserves to be the number one genius of our sword sect. Even Senior Brother He Tianhe likely cannot compare..." Lin Xin sighed.
"He Tianhe... has also reached Foundation Establishment... But I heard he has been trapped in some ruin outside these past few years and has been unable to return."
A familiar voice at his side answered Lin Xin's sigh.
There were faint traces of blood on Huang Shan's upper body as he approached slowly with his sword in hand.
"They are both Spirit Gathering Body geniuses with boundless futures. You and I may never be able to measure up in this lifetime."
"Perhaps..." Though Lin Xin knew it was highly unlikely that he could match the terrifying potential of a Spirit Gathering Body, he was still unwilling to accept it. Suppressing those thoughts, he flicked his finger and shot two pills toward Huang Shan.
Huang Shan did not stand on ceremony. He knew they were Lin Xin's privately stored, most precious Heart Saving Pills. These pills were something Gongsun Li had later developed in secret by combining the various Pill Formulas collected by the manor. The ingredients were extraordinarily precious; one particular medicinal ingredient had only been found once even now. Thus, every dose used meant one less remaining.
After taking the medicine, Huang Shan's spiritual energy became active again in mere moments.
Lin Xin introduced Infant Holding True Person and Huang Shan to one another, then began gathering the manor's remaining disciples and personnel.
One corpse after another was carried into the furnace to be cremated. The belongings of the cultivators and Rogue Cultivators were collected, especially those of the White Tiger Demon King. Lin Xin inspected them and found a small storage pouch. Such a pouch could fold space and hold many things.
There were also more than ten pieces of spirit jade commonly used in black-market transactions, an unexpected gain.
There was also a copy of the White Tiger Cloud Mist Record, seemingly the cultivation art practiced by the White Tiger Demon King. It was a jade slip that could only be read with spiritual intent.
Lin Xin examined it and found it recorded a cultivation art fundamentally meant for humans. It merely bore the name White Tiger and seemed to be a cultivation method of the Demonic Path.
It emphasized cultivating the flesh and attaining a dharma body called the White Tiger Golden Body, reaching a level where both strength and defense became unimaginably terrifying. At the same time, one could absorb metal qi and devour metal. Even one's breath through nose and mouth could exhale metal qi, transforming it into weapons to assassinate enemies. It was exceedingly terrifying.
"It can be used for reference..." Lin Xin put away the cultivation art and inspected the other items. The remaining matter was the White Tiger Demon King's body.
His body had already cultivated the White Tiger Golden Body to its third layer, reaching the point where blades and spears could not penetrate it and ordinary water and fire could not harm it. His strength and defense had also far surpassed what ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators could contend against. His flesh alone was therefore excellent material for a magical treasure.
"This Demon King can be refined into material and fused into metalware. It will surely carry a trace of the White Tiger's baleful metal qi, greatly multiplying the power of magical artifacts. Just like my Turtle Serpent Ring, I fused the refined souls of two demons into it before it could reach completion. Whenever we reach a stalemate, I can activate the turtle and serpent souls to enhance its power without consuming spiritual energy. One merely needs to take care to replenish them," Infant Holding True Person suggested.
"That is indeed a good method." Lin Xin decisively accepted the suggestion.
During the manor's cleanup, he also began handling the corpse.
He invited the True Person to observe and, while refining and melting the White Tiger Demon King's body, displayed some of his skill in formations.
He melted the Demon King's true body into a yellowish-white sphere the size of a football, then laid down a Spirit Gathering Array and nourished it with an Earth Thickening Array before storing it in the armory for upkeep.
"This White Tiger metal qi and tiger Baleful Intent can nourish the armory, gradually allowing all the weapons inside to acquire a trace of tiger Baleful Intent. Though faint, it will still make them a notch stronger than other ordinary high-grade weapons." Lin Xin explained, "Moreover, the Demon King's resentment is extremely powerful, making it perfect for further strengthening the blades."
"The White Tiger Golden Fiend Array... Manor Lord, you truly are formidable. This turns the Demon King's harm into benefit instead." Infant Holding True Person said, a hint of cold sweat on his brow. Even in death, the Demon King was not spared from being exploited...
After dealing with the aftermath, several days later...
Lin Xin sat high in the seat of honor, with Infant Holding True Person beside him. Lin Xinyuan and the others had their seats pushed back as well.
Also present were the manor's Attendants, all looking dejected. The expressions of the several Innate Realm Attendants were grim, and two of them were missing, clearly having fallen during the battle.
"I have already ordered that the funerary affairs for Wu Wang's two Attendants be properly handled. Sigh..." Thinking of how the painstaking foundation he had accumulated for so long had been so heavily damaged by those Rogue Cultivators, Lin Xin felt sorrow in his heart.
The deaths of two Innate Realm Attendants only made the manor worse off. It had already been badly weakened because those above had collected its revenues, and this attack plunged the manor's strained finances into even greater poverty.
"Manor Lord, these are merely temporary difficulties. Our manor possesses abundant farmland and mines. I believe we will soon recover our strength," Lin Xinyuan said solemnly. She had a wound on her body as well, though it was on her back and hidden beneath bandages.
"Now Human Heart is unsettled, and we have lost far too many capable hands. I fear our manor will be unable to mobilize enough strength to suppress the mines in various regions for the time being..." Huang Puyang said, his face pale. He had taken a sword through the chest and nearly gone along with the dead. After recovering somewhat, he had immediately come to attend the meeting.
"So..."
Bang!
The doors to the meeting hall were suddenly kicked open.
A group of people strode in arrogantly.
The leader was none other than Situ Hao, who had always come to collect the annual fees. This sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked fellow brought two experts whose bodies radiated keen, imposing auras and headed straight into the hall.
"Bold Lin Xin! You dare shelter a fugitive! You even concealed it from the sect and secretly kept a third-grade magical artifact! Had I not learned of the situation by chance, you truly would have hidden it from me!"
Situ Hao's voice was stern, yet greed faintly showed in his eyes.
Only then did the manor guards who had tried to stop the three rush in behind them, but it was already too late. They could only look anxiously toward Lin Xin.
Signaling the other guards to withdraw, Lin Xin had now become utterly speechless toward this sect where the Sword Hall reigned supreme. If not for Senior Brother Ji Lu and his wife helping him, and for his being able to find Dugu Lin to lend a hand, he feared he would now have ended up like Huang Shan, saddled with fabricated charges and forced to flee the sect.
"Lord Situ Hao, you arrived so suddenly that I was unable to welcome you from afar. I hope you will forgive the offense..." Though impatient at heart, Lin Xin still had to observe proper courtesy.
How could they have arrived at such a convenient time? If there were no hidden schemes at work, who could have grasped the manor's every movement so precisely? Perhaps the uproar stirred up by those Rogue Cultivators had also been arranged by these people.
For a moment, even his heart turned desolate. Such a vast sword sect possessed not even the slightest tolerance for others. No wonder cultivators outside called it an evil sect. It claimed to be righteous, yet in truth relied solely on its control over Yangquan to rule the sect. Such a sect had extremely poor cohesion among its disciples. If there had once been a shred of fairness and justice, now there was almost no hope left to see.
"May I ask Lord Situ Hao's purpose in coming? Please state it plainly." His heart chilled, and Lin Xin could no longer be bothered to waste words with him. He spoke directly.
Situ Hao gave a sinister chuckle.
"These two are the legendary..."
"Enough nonsense. Move aside!"
Unexpectedly, one of the men behind him pushed him away with one hand.
Before you continue