Key to the Path of the Strong

Lin Shen stared at Bai Shenfei for a long while without speaking. He did not quite believe what she had said.

If Gourd Mountain truly contained something like that, why would Bai Shenfei give him the opportunity? Just because he was the younger brother of Bai Shenfei's senior?

Even taking a step back, if Bai Shenfei really was Lin Xiangdong's little fangirl as he claimed, she still could not possibly give up such an opportunity simply because of one request from Lin Xiangdong, could she?

What was more, reality differed greatly from what Lin Xiangdong had said. Bai Shenfei was absolutely not the little fangirl Lin Xiangdong had described.

"You don't believe me?" Bai Shenfei read the strange look in Lin Shen's eyes.

"Whether I believe you or not isn't important." After a pause, Lin Shen said sincerely, "A long time ago, my siblings and I made an agreement. They would bear the glory of the Lin Family, while I would only be responsible for continuing the Lin Family bloodline. Compared to becoming the strongest man beneath the stars, I would rather see the Lin Family bloodline carried on—especially under the current circumstances."

"Too late." Bai Shenfei listened quietly until he had finished, then suddenly sighed.

"What's too late?" Lin Shen was slightly taken aback, unable to understand what she meant by that abrupt remark.

"If you had said that before I went to the Qi and Wang families, you could still have remained in the base. But now, it's too late," Bai Shenfei said helplessly.

"Why?" Lin Shen still did not understand her meaning.

"I have already made an arrangement with the Qi and Wang families to take them to Gourd Mountain," Bai Shenfei said.

"What does you taking them to Gourd Mountain have to do with me?" Lin Shen frowned.

"If you had not participated in the Recruitment Assembly and displayed such formidable ability, then naturally it would have had nothing to do with you. But now it is different. With the elite forces of the Qi and Wang families all dispatched, do you think they would leave you behind in the base?" Bai Shenfei said.

Lin Shen's expression changed slightly. Just as the Lin Family guarded against the Qi and Wang families, those two families were equally wary of the Lin Family.

With the elites of the other two families all mobilized, they could not possibly leave the fake Lin Xiangdong in the base. Even if they had to force him along, they would definitely take him to Gourd Mountain with them.

Right now, Lin Shen had no way to explain that he was not Lin Xiangdong. Even if he could make them believe it, he still could not explain how he had subdued the Superspeed Gunslinger in a single strike. It would only make the Qi and Wang families even more wary, and they might even join hands to control the Lin Family first.

If he looked at it in a darker light, it was very possible that the Qi and Wang families had long known he was not Lin Xiangdong. Perhaps even his impersonation of Lin Xiangdong had been a scheme laid by the Qi and Wang families.

It was nothing more than an excuse to capture Lin Shen and forcibly take him to Gourd Mountain.

After all, Gourd Mountain had originally been discovered by the Lin Family. Second Master, Third Master, and Fourth Master of the Lin Family had all gone to Gourd Mountain. If the Lin Family tried to scheme against them, they could also use Lin Shen as a hostage.

They simply had not expected Lin Shen to possess such terrifying ability. That made it even more impossible for them to leave him in the base.

"Senior Sister Bai, if Fourth Brother truly asked you to escort me into Gourd Mountain, why did you tell the Qi and Wang families about Gourd Mountain?" Lin Shen stared at Bai Shenfei and asked.

"This was also Senior Brother Lin's arrangement." Bai Shenfei did not seem inclined to explain in detail.

Lin Shen stared at Bai Shenfei for a long time. With her face obscured by mosaic censoring, he could not see her expression or her eyes at all.

After a while, Lin Shen sighed. "It seems I have no choice but to go this time. Senior Sister Bai, I only have one final question. Since Gourd Mountain holds such an opportunity, something that can make a person the strongest beneath the stars, why don't you take it for yourself?"

"You remembered it wrong. What I said was the strongest man beneath the stars, not the strongest one beneath the stars. Even if you obtain that thing, it is only a possibility. There is still a great difference between someone who might become rich and someone who was already rich," Bai Shenfei said in a calm tone, yet there was an unquestionable forcefulness in her voice.

Bai Shenfei's meaning was obvious. Even if Lin Shen obtained the thing in Gourd Mountain, he would only have the chance to become the strongest man. Bai Shenfei herself was stronger than the strongest man; she was the strongest beneath the stars.

"Senior Sister Bai really is confident. If I understand correctly, you already possess that thing, don't you?" Lin Shen said.

"If one lacks confidence, there is no need to embark upon this path of evolution." Bai Shenfei said lightly, "Do you intend to go to Gourd Mountain as Lin Xiangdong, or as Lin Shen?"

"The Qi and Wang families don't know that Fourth Brother went to Gourd Mountain?" Lin Shen looked at Bai Shenfei in disbelief.

Bai Shenfei had not told the Qi and Wang families that both Third Brother and Fourth Brother had gone to Gourd Mountain. How could they possibly dispatch all their elites to follow Bai Shenfei there?

"I only know that Senior Brother Lin and your Third Brother went to Gourd Mountain, and that is what I told them. I do not know anything else." Bai Shenfei seemed to have more to her words.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Shen understood the deeper meaning behind them.

The Qi and Wang families already knew Lin Xiangdong had gone to Gourd Mountain, but they did not know whether Lin Xiangdong had returned. Therefore, in theory, they could not be certain whether the person who attended the Recruitment Assembly was Lin Xiangdong—unless they had known from the very beginning that Lin Shen was impersonating Lin Xiangdong.

"Then I'll go as Fourth Brother. I'll have to ask Senior Sister Bai to help cover for me," Lin Shen said after considering it.

Bai Shenfei laughed upon hearing that. "You want to test Lao Ye?"

"You worry too much, Senior Sister Bai." Lin Shen neither admitted nor denied it.

"This is your family's business. I am only responsible for escorting you into Gourd Mountain." Bai Shenfei said nothing more.

"Then I'll have to trouble Senior Sister Bai. In front of others, I can only call you Junior Sister," Lin Shen said.

"It is only a form of address. It does not matter. Make your preparations. I have already arranged with the Qi and Wang families to depart for Gourd Mountain early the day after tomorrow." With that, Bai Shenfei rose and left.

I wonder who it was that immediately turned hostile after hearing the name Little Fei Fei. Lin Shen grumbled inwardly, but he said aloud, "What exactly is inside Gourd Mountain? How did it make the Qi and Wang families trust you so readily?"

"They do not trust me. Even without me, as long as they learned of the news, they would still go. They merely fear that I would go first, so they have no choice but to cooperate with me. As for what lies within Gourd Mountain, we will only know once we see it. The thing at every Gene Mutation Point is different. What can be confirmed is that it is the Key to the Path of the Strong. With it, you will have the chance to become a true strong person." After saying that, Bai Shenfei walked out of the room, flashed away, and vanished like a ghost.

"The day after tomorrow? I hope it's in time." Lin Shen glanced at the Incubation Pod. The three Gene Mutation Eggs whose sparks had been drawn away were still showing no signs of movement.

After pondering for a while, Lin Shen went to the study and took out paper and pen to write a letter.

Dear Elder Sister:

For the twenty-one years since I was born, though I was never able to bask at our parents' knees, I never once felt a sense of absence or unease. You gave me every most beautiful fantasy I could have had of a mother and an elder sister, to the point that even I felt I had been spoiled beyond measure.

Heaven has treated me far too well. It must have poured out the goodwill of ten lifetimes for me to be born as your younger brother in this life.

I imagine Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother must have had the same thought. Being your younger brothers was the thing we were proudest of in this life.

But as your younger brother, there is one thing I am very, very dissatisfied with.

You gave the best of everything to us, yet left nothing for yourself. You have remained alone to this day in order to care for the few of us. Are you trying to make us into younger-brother-devouring parasites condemned by thousands?

Sister, you are too good, and too selfish. You are so selfish that you will not even give us a chance to give something back. Your younger brothers have grown up. They also want to taste the joy of giving for the people they love.

My three older brothers can still use me as a test subject, but who am I supposed to use as a test subject?

Fourth Brother told me that there was once an outstanding man who wished to walk hand in hand beside you. Yet in the end, because you could not let go of us, you and he were separated by the ends of the earth.

That is where you were wrong, Sister. Do you think your younger brothers are so useless that we cannot even take care of ourselves?

If there is another life, I hope I will not become your younger brother again, because I am no longer worthy of receiving more of the goodness you give.

If there is another life, I hope I can become your older brother. I will return all the affection you gave me tenfold.

Sister, by the time you read this letter, I should already have gone on ahead.

Do not panic, and do not be sad. Give me some time to pull a few strings down there, so that we can become brother and sister in our next life.

Promise me that you will live the rest of your days for yourself. Do not let me owe you even more, or I will not be able to repay it even in the next life.

That man—if you still like him, go find him. Do not spare your younger brother's feelings. Sleep with him.

Sister, I will wait for you in the next life—your most beloved younger brother, Lin Shen.

Lin Shen placed the finished letter into an envelope and put it inside an iron biscuit tin. In the past, Eldest Sister would always put the things Lin Shen liked into that iron box.

If Lin Shen did not return this time, Eldest Sister should be able to find the letter after she returned to the base.

If he could return, he would destroy the letter at once, leaving not even a scrap behind.

Deep down, Lin Shen was not truly that resistant to venturing into Gourd Mountain. It was only because of the agreement made back then that he had been unwilling to leave the base and take risks.

Yet there was still a certain impulse within him. To say he was not tempted by the things inside Gourd Mountain would be nothing but self-deception.

After putting the iron box back in its old place, Lin Shen was lost in thought when he suddenly heard a strange crack from within the Incubation Pod.