"Master might have returned to Changchun Sect alone, fearing to implicate us..."

"That’s why he falsely claimed to be in seclusion..." Lin Chen slowly spoke.

The faces of several senior and junior brothers changed drastically upon hearing this.

Lin Chen then comforted them:

"Don’t panic, no matter what... Master has only been gone for two days."

"Although we don’t know where Master is now... he will definitely return to Changchun Sect."

"You all stay in Medicine Mountain, I’ll go and bring Master back!" After speaking, Lin Chen prepared to summon a magical artifact.

"No way!" At this moment, Miko grabbed Lin Chen.

"This is such a big deal! How can we let you go alone..."

"I’ll go with you!"

Following Miko’s words, Third Senior Brother and Little Junior Brother also chimed in:

"That’s right, Senior Brother, we’ll go with you to bring Master back!"

Looking at the group chattering, Lin Chen suddenly felt a headache.

The issue is not about having more people!

This mission to find Han Jihai must be completed quickly.

It’s best to find Han Jihai before reaching Changchun Sect.

Besides, facing the Demon Sect, a few Golden Core cultivators are no different than seeking death.

Miko and others going along will only be a burden to Lin Chen.

"Stop arguing!"

At this moment, Lin Chen softly reprimanded them, revealing a bit of the pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The previously noisy room instantly quieted down.

"Lin, Junior Brother Lin, you..."

Senior Sister and Third Senior Brother looked at Lin Chen in shock.

"You... Nascent Soul True Man?"

Looking at the stunned few, Lin Chen smiled bitterly and said:

"Not yet... just passed the Magic Power Barrier, considered Half-Step Nascent Soul."

Lin Chen decided to conceal part of his cultivation...

Even so, this information shocked Miko and the others.

"This... in such a short time? You’re about to reach Nascent Soul?"

"Less than forty years old and Half-Step Nascent Soul... Lin Chen, won’t you be able to break through to Nascent Soul Stage before fifty?"

Miko was most surprised.

When Lin Chen first joined Changchun Sect, he had yet to step into cultivation.

At that time, Miko was already a cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Now, more than twenty years have passed, Miko’s cultivation is not considered slow.

But barely reached mid-Golden Core stage.

Yet Lin Chen... has already touched the threshold of Nascent Soul first!

"Junior Brother, you’re too ruthless! You’ve hidden so deeply!" Jing Xiao’Er didn’t know what to say.

Lin Chen, wasting no time, said:

"Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, Little Junior Brother... no one knows the situation in Yanlai Realm now!"

"Changchun Sect and Demon Sect might be at war!"

"I am a Half-Step Nascent Soul cultivator, confident in bringing Master back... but if you all come along, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take care of everyone."

"At that time, if Master is brought back, what should be done if you encounter danger?"

Lin Chen weighed the pros and cons and finally said:

"Therefore, you stay in Medicine Mountain and wait for me to bring Master back, alright?"

After speaking, Lin Chen looked closely at Senior Sister.

Seeing this, Miko could only nod and decide, "Alright, we’ll wait for you."

Lin Chen nodded, wasted no time, and left Medicine Mountain directly.

After flying hundreds of miles, Lin Chen stopped and transmitted to Jiang Liqian again.

"Junior Sister Jiang, I’m going out on business, I ask you to take care of a few senior and junior brothers in Medicine Mountain."

Soon, Jiang Liqian responded, "What is Brother Lin going out for?"

Lin Chen did not answer but said, "I entrust my senior brothers and sisters to Junior Sister Jiang to take care of..."

Lin Chen worried that Miko and the others might sneak off to Changchun Sect, so he advised.

After obtaining Jiang Liqian’s promise, Lin Chen summoned the Purple Jade Gourd and flew straight north.

...

A few days later, at the Yanlai Country border.

Lin Chen searched along the border for a long time but still did not sense Master’s tracks.

"Could it be... Master has not yet had time to return to Changchun Sect?"

Lin Chen nodded slightly, thinking this was highly probable.

With Han Jihai’s Golden Core stage cultivation, a journey of two hundred thousand miles would take at least half a month.

Yet Lin Chen took less than a week to return to Yanlai Realm.

Even with this speed, Lin Chen still stopped and searched through several times.

If he rushed all the way to Changchun Sect, it would be even faster.

"Judging from this time, Master will at least take another week to reach Yanlai Realm..."

"During this time, I can investigate the situation in Yanlai Realm."

With this thought, Lin Chen’s form changed.

Soon, Lin Chen transformed into Zhou Wu’s appearance, heading towards Yanlai City.

...

One two-hour later, Yanlai City.

Lin Chen walked the streets of Yanlai City, looking at this familiar yet strange city, his heart trembled.

"Yanlai City... why has it become like this?"

On the spacious streets, pedestrians were sparse, and even the occasional ones passing by were mostly in a hurry.

Every household had windows and doors tightly closed, with people peeking from cracks.

On the road, animal organs, rotten vegetables, and even animal feces were seen all around...

The whole Yanlai City, this once prosperous capital of Yanlai Country, had already become a slum.

Lin Chen passed through the area where mortals gathered and reached the marketplace where cultivators stayed.

However, this marketplace that once housed thousands of cultivators was now deserted.

On the entire marketplace street, over ninety percent of the shops had closed, and only one or two shops remained open with owners hurriedly packing up, appearing to want to escape.

"More people are leaving than coming..."

Lin Chen murmured.

While he was pondering, suddenly the ground shook.

Thud, thud, thud!

From afar, a cloud of dust rose as dozens of fierce horses stormed in, galloping wildly down the street.

Soon, Lin Chen heard cries for mercy by his ears.

"Officer, spare me... spare me! I don’t have a single Spirit Stone left..."

An elderly and frail Qi Refining Cultivator kept bowing and begging for mercy, confusion filling his murky eyes.

In front of him was a girl with pigtails, looking about five or six years old.

Cautiously clutching the old man’s leg, her eyes were filled with terror.

"Stop the damn nonsense!"

A burly cultivator in armor angrily responded upon seeing this.

Dismounting his horse, he kicked the old man to the ground.

"Grandpa, grandpa..." the little girl cried out loudly.

The brawny cultivator grew impatient at the sight, cursing:

"Little brat, keep crying and I’ll send you to the Blood Field!"

Hearing the words "Blood Field," the girl immediately pursed her lips, wanting to cry but afraid to do so.

Meanwhile, the old man pleaded with a face full of supplication:

"Sir, kind sir... please have mercy on us, my grandfather and granddaughter..."

"My son and daughter-in-law, they both went to the Blood Field and died there..."

Lin Chen stood dozens of yards away, watching this scene clearly, with only silence in his eyes.

He recognized the attire on that brawny cultivator.

It was from a cultivator army developed by Yanlai Country.

But what exactly was this Blood Field?

Having left for only five short years, the Yanlai Realm had undergone tremendous changes.

"Could it be... Jade Belt City has already fallen, and the Demon Sect has advanced to Yanlai City?"

Lin Chen frowned deeply.

As Jiang Liqian said, the Demon Sect launched an attack on the Yanlai Realm.

But this had happened only about half a month ago...

Considering the cultivators’ foundations in the Yanlai Realm, along with the Changchun Sect.

They shouldn’t fall in less than half a month, right?

Yet the reality before Lin Chen showed that the Yanlai Realm... had changed drastically!

The five senses of a cultivator are extremely sharp.

Especially for a Nascent Soul Cultivator, if they focus, they can clearly discern the source of every sound within hundreds of yards. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Officer, spare my life! I only have this one grandson at home..."

"You old bastard!"

Another commotion came from another alley.

Lin Chen heard the sound of a mortal old man falling to the ground, his breath quickly fading away.

"Wah, Dad, Ahua was taken away... my Ahua..."

Lin Chen then heard a young girl, half-grown, squatting at her doorstep, crying.

The Ahua she spoke of was a hen.

The cultivator army was even seizing mortal livestock...

All around, there were sounds of looting and destruction.

Those who ran slower were caught on the spot.

If they encountered mortal resistance, beatings were minor...

More than that, some had rope tied around their necks, being dragged to death by fierce horses.

Lin Chen stood at the center of the crossroads in the alley.

No one noticed him.

But within just a few moments, Lin Chen witnessed at least ten tragedies.

Families torn apart, wives separated from husbands, the elderly mourning the young...

Having just returned from the peaceful Wenda City, Lin Chen was unaccustomed to all this.

He looked around, with only one thought in his heart.

"Is this place... hell?"

And among all the sounds, only two words were mentioned the most.

Blood Field.

"So, what exactly is this so-called Blood Field...?"

"Why has Yanlai City turned into such a state?"

"What about the Changchun Sect now?"

Lin Chen had no time to think.

Because he saw that burly Qi Refining Cultivator raising a horsewhip at that pigtailed girl.

If that whip struck the girl of five or six, even if she didn’t die, it would likely cripple her for life.

"Nannan..."

The old man in the Qi Refining Stage showed a look of despair, desperately trying to mobilize the last shred of True Essence in him.

Wanting to stop all this from happening.

But he was too old.

So old that Lin Chen could hardly feel any life force in him, so old that he couldn’t even muster a bit of Magical Power.

At this moment, he was being trampled underfoot by a cultivator wearing official robes, continuously kicked.

Blood bubbles constantly emerged from the old man’s eyes and mouth.

But that official robed cultivator still wore a sinister grin.

"Haha, you useless old thing! You’re too old to be of any use... stop wasting resources!"

In the old man’s eyes of despair, that whip got closer and closer to the pigtailed girl’s head.

Lin Chen had no doubt that this whip could directly knock off the girl’s head.

However...

Just as the whip was about to fall, a pair of hands tightly gripped it.

The official robed cultivator didn’t hear the anticipated scream, his smile dampened.

Seeing the tall figure blocking him, confusion and anger filled his eyes.

"You, who are you!"

"Dare you obstruct the Yanlai Royal Family’s business?"

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, "Can you represent the Yanlai Royal Family?"

The official-robed cultivator thought Lin Chen was afraid, wearing a sinister smile.

"If you know what’s good for you, get lost right now!"

"Wait, I see you have cultivation... hahaha, seize him! I want him sent to the Blood Field!"

In an instant, dozens of official-robed cultivators surrounded Lin Chen.