Lin Zheyu looked at the corpse on the ground and speculated inwardly, Trash at this level of strength dares to assassinate me? Aside from the forces of that unknown demon god, I should not have offended anyone else. Could this fellow be an enemy of the Wuji Sect or my master?

He crouched down and searched the body for a while, but found no identifying items. From the man, he only obtained two bottles of spirit liquid, some silver, and several bottles of medicinal pills.

"Two bottles of spirit liquid, eh? Not bad. These Force Transformation realm martial artists are quite wealthy, carrying precious items like spirit liquid on them at all times," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

Lin Zheyu felt neither fear nor aversion toward these Force Transformation realm assassins. On the contrary, he welcomed more of them. Anyone stronger would be somewhat impolite. Sending a Grandmaster realm expert to deal with a Marrow Refining realm junior like him would be excessive.

After seeing Jiang Jun's dharma artifacts, Lin Zheyu had no desire to encounter Grandmaster realm experts. According to his senior brother, once one advanced to the Grandmaster realm, one had to register at the Directorate of Celestial Observation and become a member, and would receive their own dharma artifacts. Against a Grandmaster without dharma artifacts, Lin Zheyu still had hope of victory, or at worst, escape. But if the opponent possessed dharma artifacts, he would stand no chance at all.

After tossing the corpse into the river, Lin Zheyu turned and walked toward Wuling City. Four days had passed since his last limit breakthrough. It was time to harvest another wave of Origin Force.

With my current recovery ability, after breaking my limit and eating freely, I can return to peak condition in less than three days. Unfortunately, my spirit does not recover so easily. Otherwise, I could shorten the interval between limit breakthroughs.

His physique had been reforged by golden blood qi, tempered by the Furnace Tempering Body Technique, and further refined under the Primordial Wuji True Technique. Both the strength of his physique and his recovery ability had reached astonishing levels. Unfortunately, although his spirit and spiritual soul had grown much stronger, their recovery remained as slow as before.

Lin Zheyu even felt that four days merely allowed his spirit and spiritual soul to barely return to peak condition. That was only because the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art, the Tortoise Breath True Technique, and other life-preserving techniques were working together. Otherwise, such a powerful spirit and spiritual soul would require even more time to recover.

Lin Zheyu did not hurry back to the sect. Instead, he went to the courtyard he had rented and began cultivating the Furnace Tempering Body Technique. Although this technique had exhausted its latent potential and offered minimal improvement to his physique, its consumption of blood qi far surpassed other techniques. While cultivating it, he could also deplete his physical strength and spirit and spiritual soul at the same time, achieving two goals at once.

Vast blood qi energy began circulating, and Lin Zheyu could hear rumbling sounds within his body. A faint golden blood qi spread from him, condensing into a golden blood qi dragon around his form.

Time passed slowly. After more than two hours, Lin Zheyu stopped cultivating. Under the frenzied circulation of the Furnace Tempering Body Technique, blood qi energy five times that of an ordinary person had been completely exhausted, and both his physical strength and spirit had been significantly drained.

I need to hurry back to the sect and continue training. If I delay any longer, my strength will recover again. As my physique grows stronger, each limit breakthrough becomes harder. I need to find a more suitable cultivation environment, Lin Zheyu pondered inwardly.

The Waterfall Deep Pool behind the sect was not deep enough and did not provide sufficient pressure. A deeper location would be better, but no such place existed within Wuling City and would require venturing into the mountains. Lin Zheyu felt he might be targeted by the forces of that unknown demon god. Breaking his limit deep in the mountains would be extremely dangerous. The best solution would be to seek methods from the immortal cultivator path. The techniques of immortal cultivators were profoundly mysterious. There might have been formations that increased gravity or pressure specifically for cultivation. Unfortunately, he currently had no access to people of that level.

"Martial Uncle!"

"Greetings, Martial Uncle!"

At the Waterfall Deep Pool behind the mountain, many inner sect disciples were still cultivating late into the night. Lin Zheyu smiled and nodded at them, removed his clothes, and leaped into the deep pool.

"Martial Uncle is truly hardworking. No wonder he is so powerful," someone said with a sigh.

"He's more talented than we are and even harderworking. How are we supposed to live?"

"Damn it, I will not rest. I will cultivate a bit longer."

Disciples who had been about to rest gritted their teeth and began another round of cultivation.

***

In the blink of an eye, another five days passed. Lin Zheyu remained steady as ever. During missions, he spent most of the day roasting and eating meat, and at night, he hunted only near the City Guard defensive line, never straying too far.

In the campfire, sap within the damp wood burst into flames. While roasting meat, Lin Zheyu played with the Hidden Dragon Tokens in his hand.

[Heaven Rewards the Diligent]

[Name: Lin Zheyu]

[Origin Force: 5]

[Skills: Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art (Second Stage: 0%), Primordial Wuji True Technique (Third Stage: 0%)]

The four life-preserving techniques I picked up have all reached Perfection. Forty-two types of true intent are close to my limit. If I continue cultivating, it will exceed what my current spirit and spiritual soul can suppress. Under the influence of so many different true intents, my spirit may develop problems.

Lin Zheyu examined the data in his consciousness and considered his next plan.

It was no longer suitable to continue cultivating techniques. His current spirit strength was not fit to condense more true intents.

More than likely, nobody has ever had as many true intents as I, and there likely never will be anyone. But integrating so many true intents into my true strength will not be easy. 5 units of Origin Force are far from enough. I will first accumulate Origin Force to 100 units. Then, I will use demon puppet hunting as an excuse to enter the mountains and create a crisis for myself....

He planned to crush the Hidden Dragon Tokens in his hand and use the Origin Force to break through to the Force Transformation realm in one go. Then he would hide in the mountains for a while before returning, fabricating a story about being forced to break through due to a life-threatening crisis.

"The reasoning may not be perfect, but it will pass..." Lin Zheyu said to himself.

In the absence of a better excuse, this was his only option. Lin Zheyu did not wish to abandon his identity in the Wuji Sect, as it was currently his only known path to access the world of immortal cultivators.

***

In Wuling City, at the Deng Family's estate. Deng Yuanzhi frowned, his expression dark.

"Report!" After a short while, Liang Cheng hurried in.

Before he could speak, Deng Yuanzhi immediately asked, "Is there still no news of Shujie?"

"Reporting to you, Sir. There... is news. This morning, someone found a corpse downstream of the Chuanbei River. After confirmation by the county office, it was identified as a member of our Deng Family. That corpse was... Lord Deng Shujie," Liang Cheng said in a flustered tone.

Bang!

Upon hearing this, Deng Yuanzhi slammed his palm down and shattered the table.

"Has the cause of death been determined?" Deng Yuanzhi took a deep breath and asked in a heavy voice.

"He was killed by a single slash from the front. The opponent was extremely strong. Lord Deng Shujie showed no signs of resistance and was slain in one strike. It is speculated that the person possessed at least Grandmaster-realm strength," Liang Cheng said quickly.

"Grandmaster? How could that be? Most Grandmaster-realm experts have already been transferred away by the Directorate of Celestial Observation. How could there still be so many Grandmasters around? Could it be an unaffiliated cultivator? Or did Shujie have bad luck and run into a hidden expert from the Nine Nether Sect or the barbarian tribes?"

Deng Yuanzhi's brows knitted tightly. His mood was extremely foul. He had only intended for Deng Shujie to teach Huang Baizhong's prized disciple a lesson to vent some anger. He had never expected such an outcome.

"What has that Lin Zheyu been doing recently?" Deng Yuanzhi asked with a frown.

"The same as before. Roasting ferocious beast meat during the day, and only patrolling near the City Guard defensive line at night," Liang Cheng replied.

"Damn it. Is he seriously such a coward, so greedy for life and afraid of death? With such a temperament, how could he possibly condense the Dominance true intent and rank twenty-fourth on the Hidden Dragon List?" Deng Yuanzhi could not help but curse.

In his view, if that brat had not been so timid, Deng Shujie would have succeeded and returned long ago. There would not have been the later encounter with a Grandmaster realm expert and his untimely death.

"Lin Zheyu... Huang Baizhong... You master and disciple truly deserve to die!"

Deng Yuanzhi ground his teeth, murderous intent bursting from his eyes. His expression shifted between dark and pale. After a long silence, he stood up.

"I am going out. When Wenjue returns, have him come to the study to see me tonight," Deng Yuanzhi instructed.

"Yes, sir."