"Rest for a day. We leave tomorrow."
After dismissing Su Lianxin, Lin Xuan eagerly began cultivating Heavenly Demon Shadow.
As for the Heaven-Gathering Mystic Pill, Lin Xuan did not intend to use it now.
Instead, he planned to use it when breaking through to the King Realm.
The spiritual power required to break through to the King Realm was terrifying. The last time Lin Xuan had attempted it, he had nearly exhausted all his wealth. Although he had yet to begin his next attempt, he still needed to prepare the necessary pills in advance.
This attempt to reach the King Realm would be different from the last.
Last time, he had merely attempted to comprehend one Great Dao to break through to the King Realm.
This time, however, there were a full twenty-two Great Daos!
The spiritual power required would be terrifying. Even if it was not twenty-two times what he had needed before, it would be at least five or six times as much. Lin Xuan had to make ample preparations.
If his breakthrough failed because he lacked spiritual power, Lin Xuan would have nowhere even to cry.
While Lin Xuan was comprehending Heavenly Demon Shadow, Wang Yan, who was out in the city, ran into several familiar faces at a restaurant.
"Hong'er?"
Following Wang Yan's gaze, five or six people could be seen seated around a round table in a corner of the restaurant's main hall. One of them was a woman in a dark red dress. Though her looks were not particularly beautiful, she had an excellent figure, as was evident from the glances the surrounding diners kept casting her way.
Hearing someone call her name, the woman in red immediately looked up and saw Wang Yan.
"Brother Yan?"
Her voice held surprise and delight. Clearly, she had not expected to encounter Wang Yan here.
The people beside the woman in red also noticed Wang Yan, but rather than delight, their expressions showed frowns.
"I wondered who it was. So it's you, Wang Yan. Are you heading to the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm too?" A middle-aged man beside the woman in red, who bore some resemblance to her, spoke slowly. His voice was not exactly cold, but it was hardly warm either.
Wang Yan nodded.
Wang Yan came from a small city called Cloud Tide City on the fringes of the Tangqing Kingdom.
Though the city was small, it had no shortage of factions. Cloud Tide City had eight great Lineages, and the Wang Household to which Wang Yan belonged was one of them. The Li Household to which the woman in red belonged was another.
The middle-aged man beside her who resembled her was Hong'er's father, Li Yuan, the head of the Li Household.
The difference, however, was that Wang Yan's Wang Household ranked seventh among the eight great Lineages, while the Li Household ranked second.
Hong'er's full name was Li Hong. She and Wang Yan had been childhood sweethearts, loved each other, and had long since privately pledged themselves to each other. However, Li Yuan and the Li Household had always been somewhat opposed to their relationship.
Their opposition was only natural. The Li Household ranked second among Cloud Tide City's eight great Lineages. Whether in family businesses or powerful cultivators, its overall strength far exceeded the Wang Household's. As the daughter of the Li Household's head, Li Hong would certainly be marrying beneath her if she married Wang Yan. Everyone in the Li Household, including Li Yuan, agreed that Wang Yan was not worthy of Li Hong.
By comparison, Young Master Yang Song of the city lord's estate was the ideal match for his daughter in Li Yuan's eyes. Not only was he the city lord's eldest son, but he had also shown extraordinary talent from childhood. Among the younger generation throughout Cloud Tide City, none could surpass him.
Most importantly, he was also very fond of Li Yuan's daughter.
In Li Yuan's eyes, Wang Yan fell far more than a single notch short of the city lord's eldest son, Yang Song.
Only because Li Hong had stubbornly insisted that she would marry no one but Wang Yan had Li Yuan reluctantly agreed to their relationship.
Even when he learned a year ago that Wang Yan had joined the Azure Yang Sword Sect and taken a Tribulation Realm Seventh Layer cultivator as his master, Li Yuan had not changed his mind.
Instead, he regretted it even more.
There was no other reason: not long ago, the city lord's eldest son had been accepted as a Direct Disciple by the Mystic Ultimate Sect's sixth elder because of his exceptional talent...
Like the Azure Yang Sword Sect, the Mystic Ultimate Sect was one of the Tangqing Empire's ten great sects, and it ranked above the Azure Yang Sword Sect.
The Mystic Ultimate Sect's sixth elder was a genuine King Realm expert.
After learning this news, Li Yuan could not have regretted it more.
Had he not softened back then, the Li Household might already have latched onto the city lord's estate's thigh.
Accepted as a Direct Disciple by a King Realm expert, Yang Song had limitless prospects. Filled with regret, Li Yuan found Wang Yan increasingly displeasing to the eye.
"Uncle Li, have you run into some trouble?"
Wang Yan had already noticed that the Li Household's group was sitting together without eating even though the dishes had gone cold. They were not speaking either, and all looked distracted.
"It's all because that man went too far!"
At this, Li Hong's anger boiled over.
As it turned out, the journey from Linyue City to the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm's entrance passed through several dangerous areas. For low-level cultivators, crossing them was extremely risky. Only King Realm experts possessed some ability to protect themselves.
The enormous number of cultivators wishing to visit the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm had led some King Realm experts to spot a business opportunity. By paying a certain number of Spirit Stones, one could obtain a King Realm expert's escort to the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm.
The Li Household's group had also agreed on a price with a King Realm expert's Direct Disciple, except...
Just as they were about to depart, the other party had raised the price!
What had originally cost only fifty thousand Spirit Stones now cost a hundred thousand!
Even fifty thousand Spirit Stones was no small sum to the Li Household, let alone a hundred thousand.
Though the Li Household ranked second among Cloud Tide City's eight great Lineages, Cloud Tide City was merely a small city with a population of around two hundred thousand. Li Yuan, the Li Household's strongest cultivator, was only at the Eighth Level of Heavenly Profound, not even in the Tribulation Realm. Fifty thousand Spirit Stones was already everything they had brought with them. How could they scrape together another fifty thousand?
Furious that the agreed price had been changed on a whim, Li Yuan immediately demanded a refund so they could find someone else.
But the Direct Disciple merely sneered and said one thing.
"You have only two choices. One, pay another fifty thousand Spirit Stones. Two, get lost!"
The implication was that a refund was impossible. Once the Spirit Stones were in his pocket, why would he return them?
Yet Li Yuan could only swallow his anger without daring to speak. A King Realm expert was not someone ants like them could afford to offend. They had to swallow this silent loss, willing or not.
With fifty thousand Spirit Stones thrown into the water, they now had only a few thousand between them. How could they find another King Realm expert to escort them?
Without a King Realm expert's escort, their handful of Heavenly Profound and Earth Mysterious cultivators would probably die in Demon Beasts' jaws before making it halfway.
"That's going too far! A dignified King Realm expert actually indulged his disciple in such a breach of trust." After hearing the story, Wang Yan was naturally furious as well.
How could Wang Yan not be angry when the person he loved had suffered such unfair treatment?
"Where are they now? I'll ask my master to demand an explanation for you!"
"Brother Yan, don't."
Li Hong hurriedly stood and caught hold of Wang Yan.
"He's a King Realm expert. We can't afford to offend him. Besides, they've already left for the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm. They're no longer in the city."
"Lad, did you say your master is in the city too? Is your sect's group here as well?" Li Yuan's eyes, however, immediately lit up at Wang Yan's mention of his master, and he asked.
"The sect's group isn't here. My master, senior sister, and I didn't travel with the main group." Wang Yan shook his head.
A trace of disappointment passed through Li Yuan's eyes.
If he remembered correctly, Wang Yan's Peak Master was only at the Tribulation Realm Seventh Layer.
Of course, Li Yuan also knew that, with things as they stood, they had no other options. Having a Tribulation Realm Seventh Layer cultivator with them was better than having none.
He immediately said, "Lad, could you discuss it with your master and see if he could take us along?"
Wang Yan nodded. He had just been about to suggest it himself, and he thought his master probably would not refuse.
He immediately sent Lin Xuan a message to ask, and received the reply, "Yes."
To Lin Xuan, taking a few more people was no trouble. In the Linyue City Lord's storage ring, Lin Xuan had also found a large flying boat, no smaller than the one Qingwei Peak had possessed.
After obtaining his master's permission, Wang Yan said, "Master agreed. We leave early tomorrow morning."
"Good! Good!"
"Brother Yan, thank you..."
"Hong'er, is there any need to say that between us?"
"Oh, Uncle Li, did my father and the others come too?"
Suddenly thinking of something, Wang Yan asked.
"They did, but they left for the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm before us." At this point, Li Yuan gave Wang Yan a meaningful look. "Didn't your father tell you what happened at home?"
Wang Yan froze, his face blank. "What happened at home?"
"Your grandfather returned from a trip gravely injured and unconscious. No one knows what happened. To treat his injuries, your father has already sold several of your Lineage's businesses, but it's still only a cup of water against a burning cartload of firewood. The Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm opening early gave your father hope."
A trace of worry flashed through Wang Yan's eyes. "How did my father and the others go?"
"They teamed up with several adventuring groups."
Not everyone had enough Spirit Stones to hire a King Realm expert's protection. People like Li Yuan and his companions, who offered fifty thousand Spirit Stones to join a King Realm expert's group, were ultimately a minority.
Those who lacked that many Spirit Stones but still wanted to visit the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm began huddling together for warmth. It was better than venturing through the Moon-Reflecting Mountain Range in a tiny group, and gave them a slightly greater chance of arriving safely.
After hearing this, Wang Yan grew even more worried, but he did not know what to do.
The Moon-Reflecting Mountain Range was too vast. Finding his father and the others would be like fishing a needle out of the sea. He could only pin his hopes on running into them during the coming journey to the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm.
"Brother Yan, let's go for a walk."
Noticing that something was off with Wang Yan's mood, Li Hong hurriedly spoke.
It had already been a year since the two had last met.
Wang Yan nodded.
"Don't go too far. Linyue City is rather unsettled these days. Rumor has it that the Linyue City Lord died inside the Dusk Moon Auction House in the city. The whole city is a pot of boiling chaos." Since the two had not seen each other for so long, Li Yuan did not stop them and merely offered a warning.
Linyue City was indeed rather unsettled now. With the city lord dead, undercurrents surged among the various factions, and public order in the city had deteriorated visibly.
At first, Li Yuan and the others had found it hard to believe that the city lord had been slain within the city. But as more and more people confirmed it, they had no choice but to believe. Many even claimed to have witnessed it themselves: the person who killed the Linyue City Lord was an unparalleled sword cultivator who had slain him with a single strike.
This news once again made Li Yuan and the others feel their own insignificance. If even a King Realm expert could fall just like that, what of Heavenly Profound and Earth Profound Realm cultivators like them?
At the same time, they were intensely curious. Just how powerful was that unparalleled sword cultivator? He had slain the Linyue City Lord, a King Realm Third Layer cultivator, just like that!
It was simply too terrifying.
Early the following morning, the Li Household's group arrived at the city gate and waited with Wang Yan for his master.
Quite a few people had already gathered at the gate, all cultivators about to depart for the Heaven-Burning Mystic Realm.
Their expressions were all solemn, for the coming journey was fraught with peril. Whether they could reach the mystic realm's entrance alive depended on fate.
Humm-
As a sound of something cutting through the air rang across the sky, a massive flying boat like a castle in the air came roaring over, drawing countless envious gazes from within the city.
The Li Household's group beside Wang Yan was no exception.
Anyone who possessed such a flying boat was either a King Realm expert or someone with an extraordinary background.
"Why does that flying boat look so familiar?"
"Isn't that... the city lord's flying boat?"
Many natives of Linyue City soon recognized it. Was that enormous flying boat not the Linyue City Lord's?
But the Linyue City Lord was dead, so the owner of this flying boat...
"It's the unparalleled sword cultivator who killed the city lord!"
Countless eyes filled with shock and awe.
"What a pity we couldn't see him in person and witness his bearing."
Whoosh-
They had thought the flying boat would fly straight past the city gate, but unexpectedly, it suddenly stopped upon reaching it.
The sight left everyone stunned.
Just as everyone was wondering what was happening, an exquisitely beautiful young woman appeared on the flying boat's deck. Dressed in white, her face frosty, she swept her gaze over those below before finally fixing it on a young man.
That young man was Wang Yan.
"Senior brother, it's time to set off."
That address of "junior brother" made everyone turn their eyes toward Wang Yan in unison, including Li Yuan and the others beside him.