Chapter 399: Chapter 112: Lin Chen’s Mortal Heart

"Oh?"

Lin Chen smiled and looked at the black-clothed guardian in front of him.

At this moment, the guardian had his back to Emperor Yan, his expression unseen by him.

But Lin Chen could see clearly.

The guardian’s eyes were filled with fear and avoidance when he looked at Lin Chen.

"Half-step Nascent Soul, your cultivation is also not easy... Why join the Demon Path?"

Lin Chen asked softly.

Upon hearing this voice, the guardian shivered.

Hastily transmitting his voice:

"No, I dare not... Senior, I was also forced. I was originally a Golden Core Loose Cultivator from Cyan Stone Town..."

The guardian’s pleading voice kept coming.

It’s nothing more than such wicked deeds not being his true nature.

He was forced into helplessness...

To this, Lin Chen naturally sniffed at it.

Emperor Yan was a Golden Core Cultivator; earlier he couldn’t see the depth of Lin Chen, only knowing Lin Chen was stronger than him.

But the guardian saw it more clearly.

He was half-step Nascent Soul but could not achieve what Lin Chen had just done.

He knew that the person before him was truly a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

To kill him might be but a thought away.

Lin Chen glanced at the guardian indifferently.

Magical Power mottled, True Essence weak.

Three Nascent Soul Gates, only passed the Magic Power Barrier.

Even the Divine Soul Barrier not yet crossed, unable to emerge Nascent Soul.

Such a half-step Nascent Soul, killing him indeed required little effort from Lin Chen.

But Lin Chen did not rush to act; instead, he looked at Emperor Yan again.

"So, for merely thirty-six Blood Pills, you abandoned the ten thousand under your rule?"

Emperor Yan evidently didn’t know what happened yet; he glanced at the guardian, then thought of the current might of the Demon Sect.

It was just the right chance to show loyalty.

So he gritted his teeth and said:

"Hmph, mere mortals, are they not ants?"

"Becoming nourishment for cultivators like us is their honor!"

After hearing this, Lin Chen’s eyes showed no more trace of pity.

With a flick of his finger, a strand of True Essence pierced Emperor Yan’s forehead.

The Magical Robe on Emperor Yan flashed with guardian brilliance, instantly broken by Lin Chen.

In the next second, Emperor Yan died.

A ruler of a nation, a Golden Core Cultivator living hundreds of years.

Erased in the blink of an eye, leaving cultivators in the great hall in peril.

"Taoist Friend Yan..."

"Father..."

Lin Chen looked at the cultivators in the hall.

He came here not for explanations.

It was just to kill.

If he heard and saw nothing, Lin Chen might ignore it.

But now, being in the situation, witnessing it all.

How could he disregard it?

Mortals are not livestock, nor bugs to be crushed at will.

He came from among mortals.

Having achieved cultivation now, yet cannot forget the path he came from, that is his original intention.

Lin Chen raised his eyes and looked at the other cultivators before him.

True Essence turned into threads, slaughtering all Golden Core Cultivators of the Yanlai Royal Family.

The guardian witnessed it all, shivering again, yet dared not protest.

Patriarch Meng observed the guardian’s expression, hurriedly pleaded:

"Senior, spare me!"

"I was the Patriarch of a Cultivation Family in Yanlai City, always friendly, making many friends... It really was the coercion of Emperor Yan..."

Lin Chen looked at the pleading Patriarch Meng.

He was not unfamiliar with him.

Over many years in the past, he had cooperated with Patriarch Meng.

But over twenty years had passed in a blink, mortals changed, and cultivators changed too.

In the past, the Cai Family betrayed the Righteous Alliance, leading to their extermination.

Now it seems the Meng Family was on that path too.

Lin Chen spoke calmly and asked:

"The Patriarch of Xiao Family, did you lure and harm him?"

Upon hearing the question, Patriarch Meng was stunned, his eyes showed astonishment.

The next second, he only felt his vision flip, seeing his headless lower body.

Patriarch Meng, dead.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Chen killed more than ten Golden Core Cultivators in the hall.

Leaving only the guardian.

"Senior, spare me!"

"I am half-step Nascent Soul, willing to follow you, be at your service!"

The guardian knew, with his ability, escaping from Lin Chen was impossible.

So he could only plead vehemently.

"I am willing to enter a Soul Contract with you, serve you for life..."

Lin Chen did not reply, merely took out the Demon-slaying Blade.

Killing a half-step Nascent Soul, it’s easier with a magical treasure.

The guardian’s eyes were filled with despair, but he also summoned his magical treasure, wanting to struggle desperately.

"Ah!"

The Black Blade flashed by...

...

Moments later, Lin Chen walked out of the Yanlai City Imperial Palace.

He looked up towards the distant horizon, a Spiritual Boat flying toward the southwest.

Meanwhile, many Demon Sect agents, the royal family, and Meng Family cultivators prepared to block in Yanlai City.

With a wave, Lin Chen summoned a Sword Box.

Thirty-six Flying Swords unsheathed, slicing through the sky over Yanlai City.

Moments later, when the Spiritual Boat had moved far away, Lin Chen stopped and looked at the Royal Plaza before him.

Lin Chen raised his hand, surging Nascent Soul True Essence bombarded toward the array.

As spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the array, the enormous formation was destroyed accordingly.

The red light vanished without a trace, and within the array, all surviving cultivators unanimously lifted their heads.

They saw the sky.

In their eyes, there still flickered a look of confusion.

Within the array, there was no sky, only the crimson brightness that forced them into endless battles.

But now, as the red curtain fades, they saw the real world.

Lin Chen saw from these cultivators’ expressions astonishment, relief, realization...

He thought for a moment, then transmitted a voice:

"You are free."

This voice wrapped in True Essence, entered the ears of all the cultivators.

In their eyes, simultaneously flashed a bewildered look.

Half a month of daily slaughter, countless cultivators and mortals’ deaths seemed to have left them numb.

"You are free... Run, escape from this city, escape from the Yanlai Realm."

After Lin Chen finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of light and turned to leave.

It was long after Lin Chen had left that these cultivators seemed to finally react.

The nightmare of this half-month had ended.

They desperately fled this plaza, running towards their homes, towards the city outskirts.

...

Lin Chen left Yanlai City.

He came to Guangyuan Town.

The once-thriving Guangyuan Auction had long been relocated.

Lin Chen took a stroll around the town, only to see a few old, weak, sick, and disabled.

This marketplace town that once gathered thousands of cultivators also perished as a result.

The major shops had long closed, occasionally showing signs of towns being looted, left with mortals exhausted from fleeing.

Cultivators, who can travel a thousand miles a day, escape with their lives.

But what about mortals? They have nowhere to escape...

Not to mention the scattered Tribulation Cultivators everywhere, the Demon Sect army that might be encountered at any time.

Even just a thousand miles away, ordinary mortals would take half a month to traverse.

Facing the elements, encountering beasts and plagues, it’s another dead end.

From Yanlai City to Guangyuan Town, just a few thousand short miles.

Lin Chen saw countless city’s destruction, grown accustomed to corpses scattered everywhere...

In the past, on the thousands of miles between Yanlai City and Guangyuan Town, there were countless villages and mortal citizens.

Tribulation Cultivators were occasionally encountered, thieves were even less common.

But now, banditry could be seen everywhere, refugees migrating south and west.

In the wilderness, alongside official roads, dead bodies abandoned from starvation could be found everywhere.

"The Demon Sect, after all, hasn’t attacked Guangyuan Town directly. It’s merely spreading rumors, how did it come to this?"

Lin Chen silently thought to himself.

"This, is what is called an Immortal?"

"Cultivators and mortals... how are they different from demons?"

"Cultivators wield power, thus can regard mortals as straw and ants... and decide their lives at will?"

"And mortals, even though they want to resist, have no power to resist at all..."

As he walked this path, Lin Chen encountered many things and pondered many questions.

If cultivators, if Immortals were merely aloof, not stained by mortal dust.

That would be the best thing for mortals...

Because mortals wouldn’t be harmed, they wouldn’t be disturbed by cultivators breaking their order.

Yet the current situation, it leaves mortals as mere nourishment for cultivators, even becoming resources to provide for them...

The Cultivation Realm, over countless millennia, has always been this way.

Mortals respect Immortals, Immortals see mortals as ants.

But has this always been right?

Lin Chen is not from Qing State, although now he is a top-tier cultivator in Qing State.

But he has a Mortal Heart, he is willing to stand up for the mortal citizens of Qing State.

"So then? Mortals wanting to change this current situation, they can only seek cultivation..."

"But those with cultivation talent, merely one in ten or two; among those one or two, those who achieve success in their path are fewer than one in a hundred..."

"Even among thousands of mortals, one Foundation Establishment Cultivator might emerge... But what they achieve in the end is merely another evil dragon."

At this moment, Lin Chen’s heart was in turmoil; for the first time, he questioned the path he was cultivating.

The power itself is not wrong; is it the people who are wrong?

"So... Can it be that the world’s mortals could all wield power?"

"Could all the citizens of Qing State have the power to resist cultivators?"

"If so... what is there to fear from the Demon Sect?"

At this moment, Lin Chen planted a seed in his heart.

A thought began to take root in his mind.

"Now, it may not be the time yet... But that day will eventually come."

Lin Chen did not linger long, then flew all the way towards the southeast.

... 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

At the foot of Changchun Mountain, in the marketplace.

Lin Chen entered a shop.

The shopkeeper was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator Lin Chen had never seen before, with white hair and beard.

"Taoist friend, do you want to buy some pills?"

Upon seeing Lin Chen, the shopkeeper approached diligently and asked.

"Taoist friend looks unfamiliar, are you newly arrived here at Changchun Mountain fleeing from hardship?"

"Taoist friend came just in time, our shop’s pills are recently on sale, all sold at forty percent off..."

Lin Chen glanced around the shop, didn’t rush to buy but asked:

"Taoist friend, I see most shops in this marketplace are closed."

"I’ve heard the Demon Sect has already invaded the Yanlai Realm... Why doesn’t Taoist friend flee?"

Upon hearing Lin Chen’s words, the shopkeeper smiled while dusting the shop and replied:

"Flee? Where could one flee to?"

"Heh... That Nether Realm’s power is vast, their territory spans tens of thousands of miles."

"Even if one escaped the Yanlai Realm... Heading west, tens of thousands of miles, where countless scattered Tribulation Cultivators await..."

"Not to mention Foundation Establishment Cultivators, even those of Golden Core mastery might not survive the journey..."

Lin Chen listened, then became silent.

Indeed!

The road west extends for tens of thousands of miles, reaching the Human Path City.

Even Golden Core Cultivators have a hard time completing the journey, let alone Foundation Establishment Cultivators...

Let alone mortals?