Today, the Lin Estate Came Out Ahead

Lin Tian jolted violently and tightened his grip on his sword.

The envoy gently patted Lin Tian on the shoulder.

"Don't be nervous. I won't kill you."

The envoy spoke with a soft chuckle, studying Lin Tian all the while.

Lin Tian noticed that although the man had touched him,

his hands remained spotless, as though a thin shield of Spiritual Qi surrounded his entire body.

Very powerful!

Lin Tian grew wary, but soon relaxed again.

Here, there was one thing Lin Luo and the others had to admit.

He, Lin Tian, was the one on the envoy's side.

He had slaughtered freely here, yet no one truly dared to kill him.

"It seems the Holy Maiden inadvertently chose a prodigy of the sword."

An inscrutable smile remained on the envoy's face.

Everyone in the courtyard watched this scene nervously.

Lin Luo's gaze was icy as he glared fiercely at Lin Tian.

"You intend to stop me?"

Lin Tian glanced at the envoy, his voice cold.

"Hahaha."

The envoy laughed instead and said,

"I don't have the time to watch you kill your clansmen with my own eyes."

Lin Tian's gaze darkened.

The only reason he had dared to slaughter freely in the Lin estate was that he counted on no one there daring to do anything to him today.

So what if Lin Luo had a Mystic Core?

He still dared not harm a single hair on Lin Tian's head.

But that did not mean the envoy would agree to let him keep killing.

"Could you give me a little more time? I want to bury my maid, who has already died."

Lin Tian spoke again. This was the original owner's last lingering obsession.

Though the original owner had already faded away, this obsession remained entrenched in his heart.

It brought a trace of sorrow into the heart of Lin Tian, who cared little for the warmth and coldness of human relations.

The Joyous Immortal Sect envoy named Li Musheng gave Lin Tian an indifferent glance.

"I already told you, I don't have that much time to play with you."

With that, he waved one hand. Lin Tian felt his entire body grow weightless, and he appeared high among the clouds.

Lin Tian and the envoy vanished from everyone's sight.

Lin Luo and the clan elders gazed after Lin Tian, their expressions complicated.

"To think... to think Lin Tian could be so vile."

"If we'd known, we should have killed him long ago."

"He won't come back, will he?"

"Hmph, going to the Joyous Immortal Sect is a road to certain death. Do you think he can return?"

They had spent many years in the Lin estate. Though they were no more than lowly ants in the outside world,

within the Lin estate, they could once again be truly important figures.

To them, Lin Tian was someone whose very extermination would be a waste of time.

They had heard before of lowly youths who concealed great talent within their breasts.

After enduring all the warmth and coldness of human relations, they would one day reveal their brilliance.

But those ambitious youths of legend existed only in legends.

They had never expected such a person to appear in their own clan today.

He had hidden his abilities for over a decade, lowly as an ant.

Yet today, he had slaughtered in all directions.

Even a clan elder of extremely high standing had been lured to his death by him.

What terrifying talent was this?

With such forbearance and cold blood, had he not caught the Joyous Immortal Sect's attention,

he might have slaughtered the entire Lin estate in the future.

The mere thought of it chilled their hearts.

"To think my dead younger brother actually fathered such a fine son."

Lin Luo, head of the Lin family, narrowed his eyes and murmured as he looked toward the horizon.

No one knew what he was thinking.

"Why worry, Patriarch? Lin Tian will never return from this trip."

Seeing Lin Luo's complicated expression, a clan elder sneered.

"Father, I'll be leaving for the Sword Capital in a few days. Once I return to the academy, I'll certainly work even harder."

Lin Ming, the Lin family's legitimate son, came to the patriarch's side and spoke.

His gaze turned toward Lin Qingqian, whose head Lin Tian had severed with a casual strand of Sword Qi.

He remembered mocking Lin Tian while playing a board game with Lin Qingqian that very morning.

Thinking back on it now, he felt his belly fill with pent-up fury.

He had always looked down on Lin Tian.

He had looked down on Lin Tian's status and talent alike.

Yet the strength Lin Tian had displayed today left him afraid in hindsight.

His own strength was not much different from Lin Qingqian's.

Perhaps killing him would also take Lin Tian only a single strand of Sword Qi.

Though he did not want to admit it,

Lin Ming, who had been regarded as the Lin family's greatest prodigy for over a decade, was filled with resentment.

Lin Luo glanced at his son, the complexity gradually fading from his expression.

He smiled faintly and patted Lin Ming on the shoulder.

"Leave in a few more days. Our Lin estate exchanged Lin Tian for a hundred Body Opening Pills and quite a few spirit herbs. Tomorrow, I'll have the servants prepare medicinal liquid to temper your body."

As Lin Luo spoke, not only Lin Ming but the other clan elders beside him also had a gleam in their eyes.

Glancing at the two corpses in the courtyard, Lin Luo chuckled softly and said,

"Tomorrow, our Lin estate will hold a banquet and lavishly reward the clan's younger generation!"

Everyone smiled after Lin Luo finished speaking.

Though Lin Tian had killed many,

compared with what they had received in exchange for Lin Tian alone, those losses were hardly worth mentioning.

Today, the Lin estate had come out ahead.

Meanwhile,

several miles away in the blink of an eye,

the envoy stood in midair with his hands behind his back.

Beside him, Lin Tian looked down at the ground.

The scenery below changed rapidly. They seemed to have already left Heavenly Sword City.

His eyes were cold, and wisps of killing intent arose in his heart.

Whether it was Lin Yu or the envoy beside him,

neither would give Lin Tian even a little time to bury Xiaolian.

They all deserved to die.

They all deserved to die.

Endless coldness rose in Lin Tian's heart.

Lin Tian suppressed that fleeting surge of savage hostility deep within his heart.

His expression grew calm again.

This journey to the Joyous Immortal Sect would only be more dangerous.

The road ahead was fraught with uncertainty.

Lin Tian thought this, feeling somewhat hesitant.

"Let's get acquainted. My name is Li Musheng, a disciple of the Joyous Immortal Sect."

The envoy's voice reached him.

"You seek to prove your Dao through slaughter. It's rather a pity for you to become the Holy Maiden's cultivation cauldron."

His voice was low as he extended one hand, and a pill appeared in it.

Lin Tian's gaze remained indifferent as he caught the fragrance wafting from the pill.

A very dangerous fragrance.

"This is a Moon God Pill. Take it, and I'll give you a different life."

Li Musheng's voice rang out, level yet full of temptation.

Lin Tian gripped the Heavenly Sword tightly, his heart sinking sharply.

"Can I refuse?"

Lin Tian spoke with a trace of coldness.

"No."

Li Musheng chuckled softly and flicked his fingers. The pill flew straight into Lin Tian's mouth.

After swallowing the pill, Lin Tian felt as though a pool of clear water had spread within his body.

"This Moon God Pill is a Mother Pill I refined. You must take a Sub-Pill every month, or pill poison will form in your body. Someone at the Body Opening Realm Ninth Layer can last two months at most."

Lin Tian said nothing.

He merely watched the scenery flashing past below and sank into thought.

"Your heart is troubled. Your sword sensed its master's confusion."

"Your sword reached a conclusion."

"The Heavenly Sword comprehended the Sword Heart Body Refining Method, hoping you could become stronger."

"Notice: the Sword Heart Body Refining Art is a mid-grade heaven-tier body-refining cultivation method. It can use the sword heart to expel all poisons within the body."

Hum!

Lin Tian's body trembled slightly as a humming sound reverberated through his mind.

Memories washed through his brain like a torrent.

It was an entirely new body-refining art.

"Sword Heart Body Refining Art"!

The Heavenly Sword could actually create cultivation methods?

Lin Tian's body stiffened, his heart filled with astonishment.

Had it created this because it sensed his helplessness?

A heaven-tier cultivation method was something the Lin family could never even come into contact with.

Involuntarily, Lin Tian tightened his grip on the sword.

"You're very displeased?"

Seemingly sensing the change in Lin Tian, Li Musheng asked.

"Yes."

Lin Tian replied. There was no need to lie at a time like this.

Li Musheng fell silent briefly, then continued,

"This is how the world is. Many people can only accept their fate from the moment they are born."

"You endured for over a decade and possess extraordinary swordsmanship. So what?"

"If you come with me to the Joyous Immortal Sect, you'll still die in the end."

"Your fate is already set. This tribulation awaits you. You cannot escape it or resist it."

His voice patiently coaxed him.

Lin Tian did not argue, merely treating it as a mosquito buzzing beside his ear.

They traveled through the sky, seemingly at great speed.

Before their eyes,

the flat ground slowly rose and fell, its changing elevations forming graceful ripples.

Interwoven rivers flowed toward the horizon.

The mortal world was so beautiful.

Yet it concealed so much darkness.

At last, at dusk,

Li Musheng brought Lin Tian to a human town.

They stood at the end of a weed-choked street in the town.

The shops on both sides were badly dilapidated.

The street was empty.

A stench of decay mingled with the smell of blood assailed them.

Lin Tian frowned as he looked toward the center of the street.

A beggar in ragged clothes had been slumped there like a corpse.

When he saw Li Musheng arrive,

the beggar suddenly opened his eyes and ran toward them.

Whoosh, whoosh!

A wind began to rise.

The entire town suddenly grew clamorous.

The sounds of doors and windows being smashed open, running footsteps, and howling.

All kinds of sounds intertwined, surging toward Li Musheng.

A great crowd came rushing from every direction.

"Senior Brother, you've come!"

"Hall Master!"

"Master!"

Nearly several hundred people rushed before Li Musheng and knelt down.

Lin Tian noticed that the crowd included both men and women.

Some wore luxurious robes, while others were covered from head to toe in filth.

Some were handsome or beautiful, while others were hideous beyond compare.

Every one of them had a powerful presence.

Their eyes held a trace of pleading as they looked at Li Musheng.

Many had black poison blotches on their faces.

With a soft chuckle, Li Musheng took a small bottle from inside his robe.

Once Li Musheng brought out the bottle, their breathing quickened.

They were like beasts that had starved for months catching sight of prey.

"Hahaha."

Laughing, Li Musheng patted Lin Tian on the shoulder and introduced them:

"These are the most disgusting people in the world."

"Don't regard them as human."

Lin Tian said nothing and merely watched them.

Despite Li Musheng speaking of them this way, every one of them still wore a shameless smile.

"These are the Moon God Pill's Sub-Pills. There are fifty in here."

As Li Musheng spoke, he offered the small bottle to Lin Tian.

"I'll leave this bottle to you. Whoever catches your fancy, give them a Sub-Pill."

Lin Tian frowned and shook his head.

"I refuse."

Li Musheng chuckled softly and said nothing more, tossing the bottle toward the crowd.

It landed squarely in the hands of the beggar from the very beginning.

"Sub-Pills!"

A brilliant gleam instantly burst from the beggar's eyes as he clutched the pill bottle.

He instantly fled toward the rear.

His previously depleted body erupted with terrifying strength in an instant.

Waves of air rippled outward, and he vanished in a flash.

"After him!"

The hundreds of people swept away in a mighty throng, disappearing from before Lin Tian.

The cultivation unleashed by many of them was all the more staggering.

Lin Tian was deeply shaken, unable to fathom just what level of cultivation Li Musheng possessed.

It seemed there were no ordinary residents left in this small town.

The entire town held several hundred martial artists.

They all seemed to be controlled by Li Musheng through the Moon God Pill.

Just what did Li Musheng want to do?

"Young man, what's your name?"

At that moment, a seductive voice rang out.

Lin Tian looked over. There was still a woman in the town who had not left.

She wore a vermilion lotus-patterned chest wrap.

A floor-trailing hundred-flower skirt was tied about her waist, her hair swept into windblown coils and misty temples, with a pearl-flower hairpin nestled in it.

Her eyes brimmed with desire as she looked at Lin Tian, her red lips curling upward as though she were moaning.

"She was once my Dao companion."

Li Musheng explained, then looked at the woman.

"If you don't go now, there won't be any Sub-Pills left for you. Those male lovers of yours all need you to fight for Sub-Pills."

As Li Musheng spoke, disdain surfaced on the woman's face.

She left with a seductive sway.

"She's taken a fancy to you and wants to dual cultivate with you."

Li Musheng spoke quietly, without sorrow or joy.

Lin Tian lowered his eyelids, only to see Li Musheng beside him drawing in midair.

Threads of radiance spilled from between Li Musheng's fingers, forming strange runes.

Then the runes sank into the air.

At that moment, horror filled Lin Tian's heart.

For a split second, he saw a barrier of light enveloping the entire town.

It seemed to offer protection, but it would be more accurate to call the barrier an enormous cage.

No wonder those people had come before Li Musheng earlier,

yet had not dared come too close.

It turned out that a barrier of light formed from runes stood between them and Li Musheng.

They could not get out.