Illusion: Mirror Dao Seed

"Hand it over, and I'll give you a quick death."

The murderous intent in the newcomer's voice grew heavier and heavier.

Even from four or five meters away, Lin Shisan could feel his chilling intent to kill.

"You're..."

Lin Shisan was about to draw on his dantian to resist, but abandoned the idea.

The newcomer was a long-faced young man dressed in black, with a black sash.

There was also a Five-Pointed Star on his left shoulder.

The standard uniform of the Outer Disciplinary Team.

Chen Yang had specifically warned him that day.

If he encountered the Law Enforcement Team, he had to kneel and bow in full obeisance, lest he be hacked into pieces.

The Law Enforcement Team, especially members bearing a Five-Pointed Star, ranked above Outer Sect Disciples and had even more explosive tempers.

More importantly, even the weakest Law Enforcement Team member was at the seventh level of Body Tempering, far beyond anything he could contend with now.

"This humble boy, Lin Shisan, pays his respects to the immortal."

Lin Shisan immediately dropped to his knees and bowed respectfully.

"Hand it over, and I'll give you a quick death."

The long-faced Law Enforcement Team member repeated the same bone-chilling words.

But Lin Shisan clearly felt an even stronger intent to kill.

The man's spiritual sense, at the seventh level of Body Tempering, bore down without restraint, locking Lin Shisan firmly in place.

"Hand what over?"

Lin Shisan was utterly bewildered.

What thing?

He had only just arrived at the Azure Cloud Lineage.

Altogether, he had only been here two or three days.

He could count everyone he had dealt with on one hand.

How had he provoked a Law Enforcement Team member out of nowhere, and what was the man demanding?

Protection money?

Did even a Servant Disciple of the Azure Cloud Lineage have to pay protection money?

And a Law Enforcement Team member came to collect it in person?

Surely not?

After arriving at the Azure Cloud Lineage, he had met the grand elder, been assigned to Chen Yang, and then gone to the Pill Room.

He had received his task, come to this Black Maple Bamboo Forest, been forced by the woman in white to find her cat, and buried Niu Shan after his gruesome death.

Something?

Could Niu Shan, who had been bitten to death by the Little Tabby Cat, have stolen something from the sect and dragged him into it?

No matter how he thought it over, that was the only possibility he could come up with.

Thud...

Like a drifting leaf, Lin Shisan was sent flying by a kick from the long-faced Law Enforcement Team member.

He crashed into a black maple bamboo stalk with a heavy thump.

Pfft...

He opened his mouth and spat out a great mouthful of blood.

His chest caved in, his breastbone nearly broken.

The true qi in his dantian surged backward and ran wild.

How could Lin Shisan, who had only just reached the Second Body Tempering Realm, withstand a vicious strike from someone at the seventh level?

Whoosh...

Before he could recover from the agony, the spiked heel of a black leather boot stamped onto the left side of Lin Shisan's face.

It nearly ground his head into the dirt.

"Imm... immortal lord..."

Ignoring the pain of his collapsed chest, Lin Shisan stammered.

He said, "Immortal lord, you must at least tell this humble boy what you want!"

To be kicked to death like this would be far too bitter an end.

Even if he died, he had to know why.

Clang...

He might have been better off keeping quiet. The moment Lin Shisan spoke, an Azure Peak Sword appeared against his neck.

Its sharp Sword Qi had already cut bloody marks into his skin.

"Imm... immortal lord, I really don't know what you want."

"I only arrived at the Azure Cloud Lineage three days ago. I have nothing. I... I only have my father's memorial tablet... and that battered cauldron..."

Lin Shisan shouted with all his might.

Silence fell.

Even the wind around them went still.

Only Lin Shisan's ragged breathing remained.

And the sound of the long-faced Law Enforcement Team member cutting through the air, his murderous intent chilling.

Fortunately, the fine steel sword in his hand did not advance another fraction.

After one final glance at Lin Shisan, the man turned and strode away through the air, leaving behind a grim, murderous warning.

"If you've lied to me, I'll take your miserable life."

"Whew..."

Lin Shisan let out a deep breath.

The smell of his blood still lingered in the air.

Though he had escaped with his life, he had suffered this beating for nothing.

He had no idea what had caused it.

Only after roughly half an incense stick's time did Lin Shisan struggle up from the ground.

The pain in his caved-in chest cut to the bone, and the true qi in his dantian was still crashing about.

Its violent surges left him dizzy, his vision swimming.

He opened his mouth and spat out several more mouthfuls of blood.

"Shisan... Shisan, what happened to you?"

Just as he was about to regulate his true qi, Chen Yang, the Servant Steward, came running from nearby.

Lin Shisan nearly cursed him out.

Chen Yang had absolutely done this on purpose.

His timing was far too precise.

In his dazed state earlier, Lin Shisan had spotted Chen Yang hiding behind a black maple bamboo stalk.

"Nothing. Just an undeserved calamity."

In the end, Lin Shisan swallowed his anger.

Perhaps Chen Yang had been afraid of bringing trouble upon himself, too.

After all, a Law Enforcement Team member at the seventh level of Body Tempering was someone even a steward like Chen Yang could not afford to offend.

"Boss Chen, what brings you here to see me so early?"

"As long as you're all right."

Chen Yang looked at Lin Shisan, several times seeming about to speak before stopping himself.

"You've heard about Niu Shan, haven't you? His Locator Ring can't be found, so I came to ask whether you picked it up."

A Locator Ring?

Lin Shisan's heart gave a jolt.

Sure enough, a kind heart got struck by lightning.

All he had done was kindly bury Niu Shan, and now he had buried himself in trouble.

Even a missing Locator Ring had brought someone looking for him.

"No."

After thinking it over, Lin Shisan answered honestly.

When he buried Niu Shan, he truly had not thought about the Locator Ring, nor had he seen it.

Besides, couldn't a Locator Ring be used to locate someone?

How could they fail to find it?

"You haven't seen it?"

Chen Yang's dark eyes darted about.

He could not hide his disappointment, though his tone remained fairly friendly.

"I'm only asking."

"If you pick it up, you must hand it over to me. Otherwise, it's the same as theft. It belongs to the sect. You can't keep it for yourself."

There was an unmistakable warning in those words.

"If I find the Locator Ring, I'll definitely hand it over to you, Boss Chen. I won't keep it."

Lin Shisan respectfully gave his promise.

After another look at Lin Shisan, Chen Yang took a step away,

Then stepped back again.

"This is Niu Shan's materials list. He's dead now, and his ring can't be found. You'll have to take responsibility for one fifth of his materials."

Without allowing Lin Shisan to speak, Chen Yang tossed him a materials list.

It specified the exact dimensions of the thunderwood and its precise locations.

Sure enough, no one visited the temple without a reason. He had come with an agenda.

"Fuck."

Watching Chen Yang disappear into the distance, Lin Shisan finally let out a curse.

He had been beaten into this state, yet instead of reducing his workload, they had assigned him another fifth of Niu Shan's work.

They simply did not treat him as a human being.

But after thinking it over, there really was nothing he could do.

Compared with Niu Shan, he was much luckier.

Nothing Chen Yang said showed any concern for Niu Shan. All he cared about was the missing Locator Ring.

His only option was to grow stronger.

Only by raising his cultivation as quickly as possible could he gain a foothold in this man-eating Tai Chi Hall.

After another two hours of regulating his breathing, Lin Shisan brought the backward-surging true qi in his dantian under control again.

At last, his internal injuries were contained.

But for the external injury of his caved-in chest, he had no effective remedy for the moment.

In the end, he could only endure it himself and place his hopes in the Little Black Cauldron.

After wolfing down his porridge and steamed buns, Lin Shisan also ate the two apples and one peach left over from that day.

Then he began cultivating, using it to ease the pain in his chest.

Before he knew it, daylight had fully broken.

After this night, his cultivation seemed to have improved again.

But the injury to his caved-in chest remained.

"It really is an Immortal Artifact. It can even speed up the healing of external injuries."

After examining his wound, Lin Shisan was astonished.

Not only had it stopped bleeding, it even seemed to be starting to scab over.

"Wait, my Dao Seed..."

Scratching his head, Lin Shisan finally remembered.

The previous night, the instant the Little Black Cauldron shone with seven-colored radiance, something indistinct had appeared in his dantian.

But when he examined it carefully, his dantian was empty. Never mind a Dao Seed-he had not even seen what one looked like.

He had drawn water with a bamboo basket, and all his joy had come to nothing.

"If I had enough spirit fruit, could I awaken my Dao Seed?"

"If my cultivation advanced another step, would it be easier to awaken my Dao Seed?"

For a moment, Lin Shisan's thoughts returned to the question of his Dao Seed.

Or rather, he had never given up on awakening his Dao Seed, just as he had never given up on his dream of cultivating immortality.