He had originally only come to find somewhere to sit, broaden his horizons, and think things over.
But something the host above said happened to reach his ears, immediately suggesting a possibility to Lin Ke.
A cauldron!
Li Le wanted to use Zong Ya as a cauldron!
Even if she was not a cauldron, something must have happened that made him discover she possessed a particular quality.
Li Le had his eye on Zong Ya's body!
And not in the way Lin Ke and Zong Ya had previously thought!
That also explained why Li Le wanted to marry Zong Ya.
But why had the Nascent Soul elder backing Li Le not stepped forward?
If she really was a fine cauldron, wouldn't the matter be nailed down the moment that Nascent Soul elder intervened?
The likeliest explanation was that he didn't want to draw attention!
Li Le's father, True Person Yuan Yong, feared word getting out or someone noticing something amiss, which was why he had never interfered.
That way, to those at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul level, this was merely a matter of love and hate among the younger generation.
It was no different from adults watching five- or six-year-olds play house.
This proved that Zong Ya's constitution was special enough to tempt even Nascent Soul cultivators, or beings beyond that level. That was why Li Le's father dared not draw attention to it.
"...Nine hundred and sixty-nine thousand spirit stones, going once, going twice, going three times-sold!"
Hearing that figure of nearly a million spirit stones, Lin Ke could not help marveling.
Then he immediately left.
Find Zong Ya!
He would tell Zong Ya his suspicions, ask exactly how she felt, then look through the relevant records.
And he could not have anyone else do this. He and Zong Ya had to handle it themselves, or they would be in trouble if word leaked out.
"Damn it, I really need to buy a Mystic Vein Book."
He did not even know how to find Zong Ya now. With a Mystic Vein Book, he could simply ask her.
Lin Ke made up his mind. Once he earned some money, he would buy a Mystic Vein Book first!
"Where on earth is Senior Sister?"
Lin Ke stood on the ground and looked around.
After the Sect Grand Tournament ended, Zong Ya had left with several senior sisters, while Lin Ke had only left after speaking with Rain Spider True Person. As a result, they had not run into each other.
It seemed he could only go find Rain Spider True Person... Lin Ke felt helpless.
He did know where Rain Spider True Person was.
So he rose into the air and flew upward.
He did not even realize how urgently he felt at that moment.
"The square is here. The office should be up above!"
The square where he had fought was right in the center, surrounded by a great many storefronts.
Whether they were storefronts on the ground or buildings floating in the sky, not all of them belonged to the Golden Wing Sect. In fact, most had been established by outside sects.
For many factions, the Golden Wing Sect's Year Festival could be considered a grand gathering.
They could come to the Golden Wing Sect to buy all sorts of things, and also sell their own goods there.
The Golden Wing Sect welcomed this as well.
But who managed all these storefronts?
Naturally, one of the Golden Wing Sect's elders.
To make it easier to control the Origin Artifact overhead that held sway over a thousand-li radius, and to display their status, these elders had placed their offices at the very top.
Lin Ke flew straight up, identified himself, and was then led by a disciple guarding the entrance to Rain Spider True Person.
"Your older sister?"
Rain Spider True Person sat upright on a meditation cushion, reading a paper book. Hearing Lin Ke's question, she raised an eyebrow. "The matches for you Dao Foundation Stage inner disciples will begin in a few hours. Why the rush?"
A few more hours?
Hearing that, Lin Ke also realized he had been somewhat too impatient.
But then he abruptly came to his senses again.
No, was this a sudden premonition?!
In his previous life, there had been a belief that the body would react when someone closest to you was in trouble.
Or sometimes, you instinctively felt something was wrong, but that instinct came from your subconscious, from your response to your surroundings.
For example, a detective might catch sight of certain details in a case without truly noticing or paying attention to them. Their subconscious would then feel something was wrong, leaving them with the persistent feeling that they had overlooked something.
The sixth sense, the subconscious, and so on all meant something similar.
Someone who felt irritable at work, unable to settle into anything they did, might have overlooked something.
But their subconscious had already pieced those overlooked things together, assembling that neglected information into an outcome it did not want to see, and so made them restless.
That was a sudden premonition.
And it was even more true in this cultivation world.
Some cultivators would experience sudden premonitions when confronted with matters that directly concerned them.
Just like the Mysterious Tree Seed Lin Ke had obtained earlier-that had come from a sudden premonition in his Niwan Palace.
Lin Ke had suddenly felt the urge to visit an auction house, then been struck by the clam woman's usefulness as a cauldron, and finally rushed here. Only after Rain Spider True Person pointed it out did he realize just how impatient he had been.
That suggested one possibility.
Zong Ya was in danger!
I remember the original owner's spirituality wasn't particularly strong... Lin Ke felt somewhat puzzled.
Spirituality, root nature, and comprehension were the talents tested when new disciples entered a sect.
Root nature determined how much spiritual energy one could absorb while cultivating. As Lin Ke understood it, it was similar to the "spiritual roots" in novels from his previous life.
Comprehension was also easy to understand.
But spirituality, in Lin Ke's understanding, was something profoundly mysterious.
Perception, innate nature, curiosity, sudden premonitions.
All things possessed spirit.
It was like how they would sometimes praise a cat or dog for being particularly intuitive, or say that a child possessed a special spark.
According to the original owner's admission test, his root nature had been fairly good. Otherwise, he would not have entered the inner sect directly.
His spirituality, however, had been ordinary.
Now that he had experienced a sudden premonition about this matter, some change had probably occurred because of his transmigration.
Had the fusion of two souls, for example, strengthened his spirituality?
"True Person, I seem to have had a sudden premonition. I feel that my senior sister is in danger." At that thought, Lin Ke took a deep breath and clasped his hands. "Please help, True Person!"
A sudden premonition? Hearing that, Rain Spider True Person slowly rose and gave him a deep look. Then a miniature Rain Spider True Person emerged from the top of her head.
A nascent soul!
In the next instant, tremendous mental power swept out from the nascent soul, spreading through heaven and earth.
Some nearby Nascent Soul cultivators sensed that this mental power belonged to Rain Spider True Person. Though curious, none of them obstructed her.
Neither Lin Ke nor Zong Ya had a Mystic Vein Book, so the only way to make contact was to have Rain Spider True Person search with her mental power.
Such immense mental power... Lin Ke could not help being awed by Rain Spider True Person's mental power.
He could not grasp its entirety, but he could sense its immensity.
Only...
It didn't seem all that powerful?
Though he sensed how immense this mental power was, Lin Ke did not feel the actual gulf between an ant and a mighty dragon.
A Nascent Soul cultivator could crush a Golden Core cultivator even more easily than a Golden Core cultivator could crush a Dao Foundation cultivator.
But judging by mental power, Lin Ke did not feel such an overwhelming disparity in strength.
He knew this was not because Rain Spider True Person's mental power was too weak, but because the mental power he had gained by opening his Niwan Palace was too strong.
"Found her."
Before long, Rain Spider True Person gave a cold snort. "That Li Le certainly has some nerve, daring to commit violence right under my nose."
Just as I thought!
Hearing those words, Lin Ke's heart tightened.
The next moment, Rain Spider True Person grabbed Lin Ke by the shoulder and flew out.
In less than a few minutes, they reached the area beyond the sect's Year Festival grounds.
The Year Festival was being held in a place enclosed by more than a dozen great mountains. Rain Spider True Person took him straight over them, even beckoning to summon the Origin Artifact from the nearest mountain.
Before them, however, stood a young man with an indifferent expression.
Behind the young man stood a smiling Li Le and a furious Zong Ya.
"Rain Spider True Person, what brings you here?" the young man asked flatly.
Rain Spider True Person sneered. "True Person Yuan Yong, are you going to indulge your son in opposing me?"
Before you continue