Lin Xiye held the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror, both expectant and apprehensive.
Unfortunately, even after a long while, the ten Spirit Stone fragments still showed no obvious change.
Lin Xiye was somewhat disappointed.
It seemed that spending worldly gold, silver, and treasure could not upgrade Spirit Stones.
"Looks like I still have to make a trip to the cultivation market..."
Lin Xiye put away the Spirit Stone fragments and shook his head helplessly.
For Lin Xiye, using the Spirit Stone fragments to cultivate directly... was not worth it.
Ten Spirit Stone fragments were enough to exchange for thirty Body Tempering Pills! Although the effect of an ordinary low-grade Body Tempering Pill was certainly inferior to that of a Spirit Stone fragment.
But once it was enhanced and upgraded by the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror, the effect of swallowing one Body Tempering Pill far exceeded that of absorbing a Spirit Stone fragment.
More importantly, ordinary low-grade Body Tempering Pills could be upgraded and enhanced simply by spending worldly gold, silver, and treasure.
If he became strong enough in the future, Lin Xiye could even buy low-grade pills, use the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror to upgrade and enhance them, then turn around and resell them...
That would be a tiny investment for a ten-thousandfold return!!
Of course, to do that, he had to be extremely cautious and possess enough strength to back it up!
After putting away the various cultivation resources in the secret chamber, Lin Xiye took the leaf of the hundred-year-old Spirit Tempering Grass and five Spirit Stone fragments... and was preparing to head to the cultivation market.
Outside Qiao Town, an old man wearing a cloak approached slowly, his long hair streaked with gray.
Though the old man was small and thin, looking almost too frail to withstand the wind, the vast Qi and Blood emanating from his body rolled outward like a boundless ocean, bearing down on everything around him.
This old man was the Zhao Household's second elder. As a Bone Refining Realm expert, he was not arrogant and overbearing like the Zhao Household's third elder. Instead, he maintained a low profile and remained composed at all times.
He stood with his hands behind his back and gazed at Qiao Town. Rather than barging straight in, he casually seized an armored guard at the gate and questioned him in a voice brimming with killing intent,
"I ask, you answer!"
"If you dare hide anything... die!!"
"Do you understand?"
As the Zhao Household's second elder spoke, the armored guard had already gone pale with fright. He hurriedly nodded and stammered his assent.
Seeing this, the Zhao Household's second elder wasted no words and spoke again. "Did a Zhao Household party arrive in Qiao Town not long ago?"
"Yes, Immortal Master... Please spare my life, Immortal Master. I'm just an ordinary mortal. I only work for the Lin Household to scrape together a living..."
Faced with the Zhao Household second elder's questions, the guard dared hide nothing. Though he was only an ordinary gate guard, he was no fool.
Not long ago, Lin Xiye had cut a bloody swath through their ranks single-handedly, slaughtering the entire Zhao Household envoy party and even killing one of its Immortal Masters.
It was no surprise that a Zhao Household cultivator had come calling.
The guard could already tell that the old man before him was a cultivator, and most likely from the Zhao Household.
After all, he had practiced martial arts since childhood. Though he was no top-tier martial artist, he knew how to fight. Even when facing the finest worldly martial artists, he would not have been utterly unable to resist.
But in the hands of this old man, who looked as though he had one foot in the grave... he could not even struggle.
The old man's imposing presence alone made his blood freeze and left his entire body feeling bound.
This was the gulf between immortal and mortal.
Even cultivators of the Four Body Tempering Realms, the lowest of the low, remained an insurmountable terror in the eyes of mortals.
The Zhao Household's second elder frowned deeply as he looked at the trembling guard.
The Zhao Household party had reached Qiao Town... but at this very moment, there was clearly no trace of them in the town.
Moreover, the flags on Qiao Town's stone walls had not been replaced with those of the Zhao Household.
All of this... already revealed the problem.
Though the Zhao Household's second elder already had an answer in his heart, he still clung to a sliver of hope and continued questioning him.
"What happened afterward? Where did the Zhao Household party go?"
"D-dead... The Lin Household's patriarch slaughtered them all..."
The guard's neck was caught in the Zhao Household second elder's grip, and his voice came in broken gasps, growing weaker and weaker...
"The Lin Household of Qiao Town has some nerve!"
At those words, the Zhao Household second elder's face turned utterly grim. With a casual swing of his hand, he slammed the guard hard into the ground.
Boom!!
With a tremendous crash, the guard's body exploded into a cloud of bloody mist the instant it struck the ground, crushed by the might of Early-stage Bone Refining.
The surrounding earth trembled slightly, and a massive crater formed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
At the sight, some of the armored guards stationed in Qiao Town and the ordinary residents instantly descended into chaos.
Endless panic spread. Only two or three guard captains managed to remain somewhat calm and hurried to the Lin Household grounds to report the news.
Yet after killing one guard, the Zhao Household's second elder made no further move. He stared at Qiao Town, killing intent pouring from his body, but never dared actually set foot inside.
He knew full well that anyone who could easily kill the Zhao Household's third elder, a cultivator at Blood-Refining Realm Perfection, and wipe out a full two hundred of the Zhao Household's elite armored guards... meant that the Lin Household patriarch's strength was unquestionably above the Blood Refining Realm.
Before fully ascertaining the Lin Household's foundation, he might well fall into danger if he recklessly barged into Qiao Town.
Unlike the Zhao Household's third elder, the second elder did not have great aptitude. He had relied on caution to cultivate step by step to his current realm.
After careful consideration, the Zhao Household's second elder suppressed the anger in his heart, then decisively turned and left Qiao Town.
An elder of the household had been killed, and the Lineage's prestige had suffered. These were certainly serious matters! But compared with the safety of his own life... everything else could wait.
The Zhao Household's second elder never put himself in danger.
In the world of cultivation, if one lacked both strength and aptitude, then to live long and go further, one had to abandon recklessness and act with the utmost caution.
At this thought, the Zhao Household's second elder sped up again. His figure shot like a meteor through mountains and valleys, and in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, he had vanished completely from sight.
Meanwhile, the commotion just now had alarmed the many elders and armored guards of the Lin Household...
When Lin Changge personally came out of Qiao Town and saw the massive, bloodstained crater, he was immediately filled with worry and dread...
The Zhao Household's retaliation had finally come.
"You may all stand down."
"That Zhao Household cultivator has already left. There's no need to worry..."
Just as Lin Changge was anxiously considering what to do, Lin Xiye's aged voice suddenly rang out between heaven and earth.
Lin Xiye had already sensed the Zhao Household's second elder when he approached Qiao Town and attacked the guard.
Lin Xiye had even taken out the Three Talents Formation Flags, ready to keep the Zhao Household's second elder from leaving. Unfortunately, the second elder had simply slipped away, giving Lin Xiye no chance to strike!!
Cautious, restrained, and rational... that was what most cultivators were like.
"Patriarch."
"Patriarch..."
The instant they heard Lin Xiye's voice, the many Lin Household elders and armored guards hurriedly turned and bowed respectfully.