Chapter 449: Chapter 14: The Death of True Man Linglong (Part 2)

Upon hearing this, True Man Linglong was taken aback.

He hadn’t expected Lin Chen to be so agreeable.

But then he thought, after all, this was Qing State.

His Nether Realm was indeed the largest power...

Thus, True Man Linglong’s words carried more confidence and self-assurance.

"Half the goods? That works... I’ll quickly send someone to inventory them, and we’ll have the Spirit Stones ready by then..."

After True Man Linglong left, Lin Chen’s eyes showed dissatisfaction.

Over the past decade, the Fufeng Clan had developed rapidly.

The goods brought this time were the largest batch in a millennium.

Total value was near eighty million Spirit Stones.

Even half of it amounted to forty million Spirit Stones.

"Ha, True Man Linglong really has no shame... But buying my goods won’t be that easy!"

Lin Chen had already made plans.

...

Three days later, True Man Linglong took away half of the Fufeng Clan’s goods.

In the process, he haggled repeatedly, only paying thirty million Spirit Stones.

Fufeng Xingchen and his brother could only accept the loss, swallowing their grievances.

"Alas, senior, it seems business in Qing State won’t be easy!"

"The Demon Sect’s influence is great, and every trade in the future might get fleeced..."

Fufeng Xing seemed a bit troubled.

Lin Chen remained calm, simply saying:

"There’s still half of the goods, let’s deliver them batch by batch to the major factions that pre-ordered..."

"I remember those factions are all in the Three Cities of Wendao and Wenda City?"

"At the time, I’ll accompany you in person..."

...

Quickly, half a month passed.

During this half-month, Lin Chen appeared to be constantly busy with Fufeng Clan’s business, running among top factions in Qing State.

But secretly, Lin Chen recovered thirty Martial Arts Puppets that hadn’t been retrieved for twelve years.

For a full twelve years, although Lin Chen, far away in Ying State, couldn’t receive information from the Martial Arts Puppets.

Nevertheless, the Martial Arts Puppets continued working, persistently gathering intelligence for Lin Chen.

Over more than ten years, the collected intelligence amounted to much, but it was fragmented and required a dedicated team for analysis.

Lin Chen brought this information, gathered by the puppets, back to the High Martial World, where a research team from Great Xia analyzed it.

In this way, Lin Chen didn’t need to gather intelligence himself and learned of the changes in Qing State over the past twelve years.

In over ten years, Qing State primarily experienced three major events, all related to the Nether Realm.

Firstly, twelve years ago in the battle at Changchun Sect, Blood Pupil Old Demon perished.

The Lord of the Nether Realm was Zheng Tianhe, suspected to have support from the Spirit Realm, his power multiplied compared to over a decade ago.

He’s rumored to surpass the former Blood Pupil Old Demon, comparable to Half-step Divinity Transformation.

"Half-step Divinity Transformation... but this is just the surface strength, the specifics remain unknown?"

Lin Chen shook his head, it wasn’t the time to confront the Demon Path directly yet.

Secondly, Zheng Tianhe, after becoming the leader of the Demon Path, accelerated the invasion of Qing State.

In merely a decade, Qing State’s Eastern Domain, Southern Domain, and half of the Northern Domain were incorporated into the Nether Realm’s territory.

Factions that surrendered, numbering no less than thirty Nascent Soul Powers.

The number of Nascent Soul Cultivators within the Nether Realm now might exceed fifty.

In areas governed by the Nether Realm, Tribulation Cultivators ramble, frequent blood sacrifices and city massacres occur.

In merely over ten years, the mortal population of Qing State’s Eastern and Southern Domains decreased by nearly a third.

Thirdly, Human Path City fell, occupied by the Nether Realm!

From the former Three Cities of Wendao, only Tunnel City and Celestial Dao City remain.

All major factions within Human Path City were defeated and retreated from the city.

Now, Human Path City has become the stronghold of Demon Cultivators.

Even with the fall of Human Path City, the Wenda Sect still remained inactive...

As if the loss of a city had no impact on the Wenda Sect.

"Half a year ago, the Nether Realm arrayed ten thousand cultivators, pressuring Tunnel City..."

Lin Chen took a deep breath, brows clenched.

"At this rate, there might be another major war within a year!"

The Nether Realm daring a direct action against the Wenda Sect, claiming a city from its grip.

This was something Lin Chen hadn’t foreseen.

What surprised him even more was the Wenda Sect not intervening to stop it.

Only the Demon-Suppressing Temple fought tirelessly, losing several "Arhats."

Each "Demon-Suppressing Arhat" was a Nascent Soul Cultivator, resulting in heavy casualties for the Demon-Suppressing Temple’s foundation.

"Heh, but is this really the trend of the world?"

"My return this time is precisely to reverse your trend!"

Lin Chen murmured.

"Qing State has suffered under Demon Cultivators for long... I suppose mortals yearn for power..."

Lin Chen showed a meaningful expression.

If Martial Path emerged in Qing State, its impact might be more astounding than on the Meteor Islands.

Lin Chen only needed to patiently await the right opportunity.

"But before that, the debt owed by True Man Linglong should be settled in advance..."

Lin Chen had already devised a plan.

...

Half a month later, Eastern Domain of Qing State.

In the wilderness, True Man Linglong was on a journey, having received orders to head to Nine Yue City to serve as a Garrison Commander.

To prevent a revolt from Qing State’s righteous forces in the Eastern Domain.

But what he didn’t know was that five hundred miles behind him, a figure had been trailing him all along.

"A whole month, finally this old thing is alone..."

Lin Chen’s mouth edged up.

The batch of goods he gave to True Man Linglong was not clean.

Within it was something that could track aura, allowing Lin Chen to discover True Man Linglong’s location.

"If I remember correctly, there’s no significant population within several thousand miles, it’s an opportune moment to slay True Man Linglong..."

So Lin Chen no longer held back, quickly pursuing True Man Linglong.

At this moment, True Man Linglong was completely unaware of the impending danger, leisurely on his journey.

His mind even whimsically joyful.

True Man Linglong wasn’t a pure Demon Cultivator; he was a self-serving Loose Cultivator.

When being a Tribulation Cultivator earned Spirit Stones, he spent centuries in the role.

After breaking through to Nascent Soul, he whitewashed himself, spending several decades as a Guest Minister of Guangyuan Commerce Association.

In these decades, he joined the Nether Realm, becoming the General of the Eastern Expedition.

Profiting greatly from the position, in just over ten years, he advanced to Late Nascent Soul Stage.

"If I carry on for another century, perhaps I’ll have a chance at a breakthrough to Divinity Transformation?"

True Man Linglong mused gleefully.

But just then, an incredibly fearsome aura rapidly approached him.

Ten miles, five miles, thirty feet!

True Man Linglong’s eyes widened abruptly, instinctively deploying his Protective True Essence.

"Who are you?"

"The one who will kill you!"

Lin Chen spared no mercy.

Candle Dragon’s power, fifteen times Vibrating Blade!

One strike shattered True Man Linglong’s Protective True Essence, vanquishing his flesh body.

A golden Nascent Soul emerged from the corpse.

"Ha, still trying to escape?"

Lin Chen directly discharged True Essence, destroying True Man Linglong’s Nascent Soul.

Thus, the dignified Nascent Soul True Man, the Nether Realm’s General of the Eastern Expedition, was dead.

"This is just the first..."

Looking at True Man Linglong’s corpse, Lin Chen felt calm.

He erased traces of the body and broke the Restriction on True Man Linglong’s Storage Ring.

Erasing the remaining aura and tracking items, he took the leftover Magical Treasure resources and fled.

Escaping to an underground safe house, an hour later Lin Chen was miles away.

Another day later, Lin Chen reappeared in Tunnel City.

He restored his appearance, changing from Xu Shi’s disguise to Fufeng Yong’s likeness.

In just a day and a night, Lin Chen sprinted tens of thousands of miles.

No one would have assumed that Lin Chen, far away in Tunnel City, could kill True Man Linglong tens of thousands of miles away.

"That old thing, being the General of the Eastern Expedition really yielded substantial profits..."

Lin Chen muttered.

Apart from reclaiming the batch of resources from the Fufeng Commerce Association.

True Man Linglong’s wealth on him wasn’t less than twenty million Spirit Stones.

Slaying True Man Linglong netted a total of fifty to sixty million Spirit Stones.

This batch of cultivation resources naturally wouldn’t be returned to the Fufeng Clan.

That would be too easy to expose, leaving it for the High Martial World could substantially bolster foundation.

"True Man Linglong, just a minor character..."

Lin Chen murmured, he looked toward the direction of Wenda City. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"After twelve years apart, I wonder how my mentor and the others are?"