Old Freak Tang's Invitation

In an abandoned Daoist temple south of town, where even the altar table had half collapsed, the night wind passed through broken window lattices, making a ghostly, sobbing howl.

Lin He stood like an iron tower in the center of the hall, his broad black robe concealing both him and Su Qiuran on his back. He did not dare sit. This wreck of a place was covered in dust, and sitting down in front of an old monster at the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer meant handing over the initiative.

Tang Lie, however, was utterly casual, dropping onto a dusty meditation cushion. From somewhere, he produced a filthy wine gourd and rubbed his withered fingers beneath its base.

Whoosh- A crimson flame sprang into existence, licking the bottom of the gourd. In less than three seconds, the rich fragrance of wine, mixed with the smell of inferior spirit medicine, filled the dilapidated temple.

Warming wine with spiritual power-this seemingly casual trick actually demonstrated a staggering degree of control over spiritual power. Lin He swallowed beneath his black robe and silently cursed, This old geezer is flexing his muscles.

"I've spent sixty years getting by around Green Mountain. What storms and waves haven't I seen?" Tang Lie pulled out the stopper, took a great swig, and comfortably breathed out a mouthful of wine fumes. "Those people outside talk about the three great Lineages all day long, but in my eyes, they aren't worth a fart."

His cloudy lone eye suddenly fixed on Lin He. "Boy, I don't care who's behind you, or what sort of path you follow. I only want results."

As he spoke, Tang Lie turned his wrist, and a dull gray stone the size of a fist appeared in his palm.

A recording stone? Lin He's heart stirred. This thing had been standard fare in the webnovels of his previous life. He had never expected to see one in the flesh.

Tang Lie infused it with a strand of spiritual power, and a faint glow immediately lit up its surface. Then a slightly blurry projection unfolded in midair.

The image showed a massive broken stone slab, its surface covered in intricate dark-gold patterns. Lin He stared hard at those patterns, his breathing beneath the black robe nearly losing its rhythm.

Exactly the same as the patterns that appeared on the broken sword and Ingot's shell!

However, the patterns shown by the recording stone were more complete. Vaguely, they seemed to piece together an extremely ancient, incomplete character.

"I stumbled upon this slab deep in Green Mountain ten years ago." Tang Lie's voice echoed through the empty temple, carrying a trace of unwillingness. "I studied it for ten whole years and scoured the ancient texts, but I couldn't figure out a damn thing. All I know is that it's connected to that 'big fellow' at the bottom of Golden Lake."

The big fellow at the bottom of Golden Lake?

Lin He's heart pounded wildly. Su Qiuran's fingers suddenly tightened against his lower back as well, pinching him hard enough to make him suck in a sharp breath.

Tang Lie did not notice anything unusual about Lin He. He continued on his own, a streak of madness in his eye. "All you outsiders know is that a golden meteorite fell from the sky and blasted out Golden Lake. Bullshit! That wasn't a meteorite at all!"

The old monster abruptly leaned closer and lowered his voice, as though divulging an earth-shattering secret. "Back then, a fisherman casting his nets by the lake at night saw it from afar. When that thing fell into the pit, a gigantic phantom with a dragon's head and a fish's body clearly appeared in the void! It was the skeleton of a gigantic golden beast!"

Lin He felt his mind buzz. A dragon's head and a fish's body? A golden skeleton? A meteorite falling from the sky?

There was so much information that he almost failed to take it all in.

"If people know there's treasure at the bottom of the lake, why hasn't anyone dredged it up in all these centuries?" Keeping his voice low, Lin He posed the most crucial question.

Tang Lie sneered, his laughter tinged with mockery. "Dredge it up? You think no one's tried? Over these centuries, who knows how many cultivators who thought themselves extraordinary have dived into Golden Lake seeking treasure? And the result? They went in and never came back!"

He gave two dry coughs and continued, "Deep at the bottom of the lake, there's a strange 'field.' Anyone carrying Spiritual Qi who goes down there has their spiritual power drained dry in an instant, while their internal organs feel as though they're being crushed beneath an immensely heavy boulder. Never mind the Qi Refinement Realm-even a great cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm would meet certain death down there. It's a death zone that completely shuts out Spiritual Qi!"

At this, Lin He nearly failed to keep his expression under control. He fought to control his facial muscles and keep himself from laughing aloud.

A field that shuts out Spiritual Qi? A death zone for cultivators?

But apparently... I'm a pure mortal without even the tiniest scrap of a Spirit Root, and I'm following a body cultivation path that relies entirely on the Essence of the Sun to power through! Draining spiritual power? Crushing me under an immensely heavy boulder? Just a couple of days ago, I spent more than half a double-hour underwater. Aside from catching a few Golden-Backed Blue Claw Crabs, I didn't feel so much as a hair's worth of pressure!

So this mysterious mechanism at the bottom of Golden Lake has absolutely no effect on me?

What death zone? This is practically a private vault Heaven tailor-made for me!

Outwardly, however, he remained as steady as an old dog, his hoarse voice utterly level. "Elder Tang, are you saying that this inscription is the key to unlocking the secret at the bottom of the lake?"

"Clever." Tang Lie put away the recording stone. "I already told you my terms for the Spirit Assault Pill. Decipher it, and the pill is yours."

Lin He fell silent. Beneath the black robe, Su Qiuran's fingers traced rapidly across his back, finally tapping hard twice.

It meant: raise the stakes.

Lin He took a deep breath and looked straight into Tang Lie's eye. "Give me three months to study the inscription. If I decipher it, I want three things in addition to the Spirit Assault Pill."

Tang Lie narrowed his eye, murderous intent flickering in and out. "Boy, what do you want?"

"First, a Qi Harmonizing Pill to replenish the Qi and Blood in this injured body of mine. Second, a mid-grade Spirit Stone. Studying inscriptions costs mental effort and money, so I need some compensation. Third..." Lin He paused. "I want a detailed map of safe routes deep into Green Mountain, drawn personally by you, Elder Tang."

Silence.

The ruined temple was deathly quiet, save for the wind passing through the window lattices.

A full ten seconds passed before Tang Lie suddenly erupted into deafening laughter. "Hahahaha! Good! Good lad! Bold enough, greedy enough! I like doing business with people who are clever and greedy!"

"Deal!" Tang Lie abruptly rose. The terrifying spiritual pressure of the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer burst out, then instantly withdrew. "I, Tang Lie, swear a Dao Oath today. If you decipher the inscription, I will fulfill every one of your conditions. Should I break this oath, may Heaven strike me down and Earth destroy me!"

A Dao Oath in the cultivation world was no mortal game of make-believe. It was the real thing, capable of triggering heart demons.

After swearing the oath, Tang Lie casually flicked out a yellow paper talisman, which drifted lightly into Lin He's hand.

"A voice transmission talisman. When you have news, burn it. I can sense it anywhere within a hundred li." With that, Tang Lie flickered, becoming a gray shadow that vanished into the deep night.

Deathly silence settled over the temple once more.

Lin He let out a long breath of stale air and realized his back was soaked through. Not daring to linger, he hurried along a secluded path toward Golden Lake Village through the night.

Only once he was walking along a desolate field ridge flanked by flooded paddies, and had confirmed that no one was around, did Lin He lift the hood of his black robe to get some air.

"Wifey, those pinches of yours nearly burst my kidneys," Lin He complained.

Lying against his back, Su Qiuran said, "That old fox Tang Lie concealed the most important part."

"Oh?" Lin He raised an eyebrow.

"When he used the recording stone to test you, he said he found it deep in Green Mountain ten years ago. But he never said exactly where. The outskirts of the Mass Grave? Or the formation's central node? And why was the slab later blasted apart when the Li Household broke the formation?" Su Qiuran snorted coldly. "He definitely has other clues he hasn't coughed up."

Lin He nodded. "I noticed. That old monster's promise of a Spirit Assault Pill is just something to listen to, nothing more. When it actually comes time to hand over the goods, it'll most likely turn into murder and robbery. Anyone who trusts a devil rogue cultivator's Dao Oath is a fucking idiot."

"Then are we still going to help him decipher it?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" Lin He grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth that looked somewhat sinister in the moonlight. "For all his calculations, he missed our greatest trump card. That 'field' that shuts out Spiritual Qi has no effect on me whatsoever."

Lin He shifted Su Qiuran's thighs higher on his back, his steps growing steadier. "Next, let's set ourselves a small goal: during the day, you keep drawing talismans to sell. At night... I'll take Ingot down into the lake and strip that 'gigantic golden beast' of every last thing it has!"