A Safe Retreat

"If I had a little more time and borrowed from some friends, I could probably scrape together another few hundred Spirit Stones. Then I'd be sure to win the Soul-Nourishing Jade. What a shame..."

The man sighed inwardly. A trace of unwillingness flashed through his eyes, but he could only slump back in his chair.

With someone powerful presiding over this place, he dared not make a move.

He could only hope that whoever won the Soul-Nourishing Jade was neither cautious nor particularly strong. If they slipped up outside and exposed their identity, he might still have a chance.

Hong Yuan waited through three calls. When no one raised the bid, she smiled. "One thousand five hundred Spirit Stones. Sold."

As Hong Yuan's gavel fell, Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

Truthfully, the price was far lower than he had expected. Since the jade nourished the soul, he had thought it would fetch around two thousand Spirit Stones.

Looks like I guessed too high. Fewer people need the Soul-Nourishing Jade than I thought.

If that man in the black hood hadn't refused to give up, I could've won it for twelve hundred Spirit Stones.

Lin Chen mulled it over silently.

Soon after he won the Soul-Nourishing Jade, a black-clad attendant brought the brocade box before him.

Lin Chen examined the jade and confirmed that it matched the description, then took the full payment from his storage pouch and handed it over.

The Soul-Nourishing Jade felt smooth and warm in his hand, yet held a cool, soothing quality within it. Simply holding it calmed his mind.

Good stuff.

If he had owned something like this in his previous life, tucking it beneath his pillow would surely have given him pleasant dreams every night.

He had achieved his goal for this trip. Though he had been fairly confident beforehand, nothing was certain until the jade was in his pouch. Only now did the weight on his mind finally lift.

The auction continued, and more and more treasures from the Lesser Origin Sect appeared among the later lots.

A Profound Origin Pill, which could help a Spirit Martial Realm warrior advance through a minor realm, sold for the hefty price of over five thousand Spirit Stones.

The Heavy Water True Scripture, a high Spirit Grade cultivation technique worthy of becoming a clan's treasured legacy, drew fierce competition from every faction. It ultimately sold for over ten thousand Spirit Stones.

The final highlight was even the legendary Profound Breakthrough Pill. It could increase a Tenth Level of the Spirit Martial Realm warrior's odds of breaking through to the Profound Martial Realm by more than twenty percent.

The bidding for that reached an astronomical price. A faction would have to empty years of accumulated wealth just to take a seat at the table.

But Lin Chen paid none of it any attention.

After winning the Soul-Nourishing Jade, he quietly left without taking part in the later bidding.

Plenty of others did the same.

They had won something early in the auction and left at once, hoping to avoid trouble.

The sky darkened, and night fell.

The auction held in the wake of the Lesser Origin Sect's destruction finally came to an end.

That very night, two corpses appeared in a dark alley in the south of the city. Both victims wore masks, and their storage pouches had been stripped clean. Each had died instantly from a wound that pierced the throat.

Several days later, word spread that the warrior who had won the Flowing Cloud Step movement technique had been ambushed outside the city. Though he escaped with serious injuries, the manual had been taken.

The city guards stepped up their patrols, but there was little they could do about the robberies and killings carried out in the shadows.

Too many warriors from elsewhere had poured into the city lately. With fish and dragons jumbled together, there was no way to investigate them all.

Fortunately, the city did have a city lord.

As the ruler of a city personally appointed by the Great Qian Dynasty, the city lord had to be at least in the Profound Martial Realm.

Thus, whatever the various factions did, they did it in secret. None dared act openly and provoke the lord presiding over the city lord's residence into making a move.

Lin Chen, meanwhile, had checked out of his previous lodging on the day the auction ended and rented a premium room at the Windward Inn in the city center.

The inn was fairly upscale, and its monthly rent had to be paid in advance. More importantly, it belonged to the city lord's third son. No one dared make a move there.

Since he could keep grinding away in Miasma Forest, Lin Chen was in no hurry. He stayed at the inn to study the Sword Diagram and the Thunderlight Sword Technique.

He also spent the Spirit Stones left over from the auction on seven or eight medicinal pills at the Four Seas Merchant Guild. He planned to refine them gradually to raise his cultivation, which would reduce the experience needed for his next breakthrough.

Day after day passed.

With the Soul-Nourishing Jade's help, Lin Chen saw an immediate improvement in his study of the Sword Diagram.

Previously, studying it even once had exhausted his mind, and he had needed seven days to recover.

Now, with the jade on him, his mind stayed clearer as he studied. Afterward, his depleted mental energy recovered fully in just three days!

Lin Chen made a rough calculation. At this rate, he would need only five or six years to grasp Sword Intent.

If he invested all the experience he gained from grinding into it as well, he would grasp Sword Intent even sooner!

Breaking through to the Spirit Martial Realm at eighteen was enough to make me a genius in Kaiyang City.

But a swordsman who grasps Sword Intent while still in the Spirit Martial Realm wouldn't be a nobody even across an entire province!

Lin Chen murmured to himself.

Just like that, three months passed.

As time went on, those who meant to leave left, and those who were fated to die died. The turmoil in Yanbian City gradually subsided.

The guards seized the chance to restore public order, and the city settled down once more.

Across the lands governed by the dynasty, the law made its presence felt again, restraining and governing the many warriors.

In a premium room at the Windward Inn, Lin Chen sat cross-legged with the Greenedge Sword resting across his thighs.

After an unknown length of time, Lin Chen's eyes suddenly opened.

Deep within his dark pupils, an exceedingly faint wisp of Sword Qi seemed to flash and vanish.

"Whew. The more I study the Sword Diagram, the more I understand the Sword Dao. But at the same time... the more I feel how vast it is, and how small I am."

Lin Chen spoke softly.

That sword strike descending from the heavens seemed to fall from the nine skies, tearing through thick clouds. It could destroy mountains and sever rivers.

Was it truly only at the level of Sword Intent? Or was it something beyond?

"A warrior gathers the mighty power of heaven and earth into one body. That's how someone can wield such power, reaching from earth to heaven."

"This is the martial path I've been looking forward to!"

Resolve shone in Lin Chen's eyes.

He still had a long way to go. Compared with whoever had created the Sword Diagram, he was a mayfly gazing up at the boundless sky.

But he had already set foot on that path.

After a long while, Lin Chen shook off the lingering effects of studying the Sword Diagram. He rose and pushed open the window that had long been shut.

Sunlight streamed in, and a cool breeze brushed his face.

Below, the street bustled with carriages and flowed with crowds.

"Looks like it's time to leave."

Lin Chen packed his things, went downstairs to settle the remainder of his bill, and left the inn. He followed the crowd out of the city.

On the journey back, he encountered no more ill-intentioned warriors. Several days later, Lin Chen returned safely to the Herb Garden.