In the cave, Lin Hao sat cross-legged, motionless as a mountain.

This Elemental Realm Secret Skill had extremely high requirements for the control of True Essence. It demanded not only the ability to refine one’s Yuan into silken threads but also to sustain the process for extended periods.

Quality and quantity—neither could be lacking.

Before obtaining the Secret Skill, Lin Hao had reached the Elemental Realm Fifth Layer relying solely on a Blood Coagulation Realm Cultivation Technique. His True Essence surged within him.

’To be honest, while I never said it aloud, I felt a heroic pride, as if I could command the world.’

His confidence had swelled dramatically, especially after breaking all sorts of records in the starting area of the Divinity Realm.

But now, having obtained this Elemental Realm Secret Skill, Lin Hao realized the True Essence within him was far too scarce.

This was evident from the fleeting appearance of that single Primordial Body.

Haaa...

Lin Hao’s eyes snapped open as he let out a turbid breath.

Only now did Lin Hao realize he had been relying far too much on the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill.

The Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill was indeed an imperial-grade technique, but it was a Cultivation Technique of the Blood Coagulation Realm, meant for tempering the physical body.

While it had greatly benefited his True Essence, that benefit had diminished after he stepped into the Elemental Realm.

This Elemental Realm Secret Skill, however, was different. It focused solely on True Essence, aiming to maximize its potential.

Lin Hao rose and carefully surveyed the cave. Once he confirmed it was safe, he sat back down in the shadows.

Then, Lin Hao closed his eyes once more.

This time, Lin Hao did not attempt to manifest a Primordial Body. Instead, he began using this Secret Skill to consolidate his Elemental Realm cultivation.

’If I don’t do this,’ Lin Hao thought, ’if I just blindly chase higher realms, then even if I reach the Peak of the Elemental Realm, manifesting a single Primordial Body will be my absolute limit.’

’And the highest state described by the Secret Skill—three Primordial Bodies—would remain a beautiful but unattainable illusion.’

The amount of True Essence required for three Primordial Bodies was terrifying to contemplate.

Lin Hao had inherited Chu Tiandu’s memories. He thought about it for a moment and came to a conclusion:

Even someone like Chu Tiandu, had he obtained this Secret Skill at the Peak of the Elemental Realm, could have manifested one Primordial Body at most. He simply wouldn’t have possessed the vast reserves of True Essence needed for three!

At this point, Lin Hao finally believed that Old Daoist Ning was truly only at the Peak of the Elemental Realm.

It was obvious. Although Old Daoist Ning didn’t have the Secret Skill, he knew it required immense True Essence to support it. That was why he had spent over a hundred years in the Elemental Realm.

Lin Hao was almost certain that even with the Secret Skill, if he continued on his current path, he might be able to manifest one Primordial Body upon reaching the peak, but he would still be no match for Old Daoist Ning.

His True Essence had reached a terrifying level after more than a century of cultivation. A Primordial Body needed True Essence to command it. Without enough, even if the Primordial Body had comparable combat strength, it wouldn’t last long.

Lin Hao couldn’t help but feel relieved that he hadn’t focused solely on advancing his realm.

Shaking off these stray thoughts, Lin Hao focused his mind on the Secret Skill.

Although the Secret Skill was only several hundred characters long, each one contained profound truths.

When Lin Hao manifested the Primordial Body earlier, he had only grasped the general overview of the Secret Skill. Now, he needed to digest every single character.

At that moment, something strange happened.

Lin Hao discovered that the Secret Skill appearing in his mind was divided into nine sections.

Furthermore, each section of text contained ninety-nine characters.

’This is...?’

Lin Hao froze for a moment, then immediately understood. Each section of text represented one of the layers of the Elemental Realm!

By cultivating according to these nine sections, once his cultivation reached the Peak of the Elemental Realm, he would naturally have the ability to manifest three Primordial Bodies!

Overjoyed, Lin Hao began to focus his cultivation on the first section of text.

He activated the Godslaying Celestial Slash Skill. The Tai Chi Array Map in his Dantian spun, producing True Essence. Lin Hao immediately halted the technique’s operation and, following the instructions from the first section of text, began refining this newly generated True Essence throughout his body.

Within Lin Hao’s Dantian, his True Essence dispersed. Like individual silken threads, it was drawn out little by little.

These threads flowed into Lin Hao’s meridians, his bones and tendons, and even the very membranes of his skin.

Several hours passed before the True Essence in Lin Hao’s Dantian was completely drained.

Then, Lin Hao activated the imperial technique again and repeated the process.

It was a monumental task, but Lin Hao worked tirelessly, completely absorbed.

One day, two days, three days...

Before he knew it, half a month had passed.

In the cave, Lin Hao sat motionless as a statue, his surroundings covered in cobwebs.

Lin Hao remained still.

Around him, the cobwebs grew more numerous and dense.

Another half a month went by. The unmoving Lin Hao’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

Without any visible movement from Lin Hao, the dense cobwebs around him shuddered and then burst away.

"Elemental Realm Second Layer. Very good."

Lin Hao said to himself with a smile.

His cultivation had dropped from the Elemental Realm Fifth Layer to the Second Layer, yet Lin Hao was smiling. It wasn’t because he had gone stupid from cultivating.

At this moment, Lin Hao could clearly feel that even at the Elemental Realm Second Layer, the True Essence within him was far more profound and dense than it had been at the Fifth Layer.

Although his cultivation level had dropped, the quality of his True Essence had improved significantly.

"Search carefully! If we don’t find Lin Hao, we’ll all be in for it!" At that moment, Lin Hao heard a voice from outside.

"Senior Brother, it’s been a month. He must be long gone."

"No. This area is sealed. The Sect Leader says he’s definitely still within the Sanqing Sect’s territory, and the Sect Leader is never wrong! Besides, he was injured. He must be hiding somewhere to recover."

"Senior Brother, did Lin Hao really steal a Secret Skill from the sect?"

"Of course! Why else would the Sect Leader mobilize all the Sect Disciples? Even he has been searching day and night. Stop asking questions and just search."

"We’ve already searched this area three times this past month."

"If you don’t want to search, you can go tell the Sect Leader that yourself."

"No, no, no! I was just talking."

...

As the voices faded, Lin Hao couldn’t help but admire Old Daoist Ning’s shamelessness and persistence.

’He’s been searching for me day and night for a month. That old Daoist is probably about to go mad. Well then, I’ll just let him search for a few more months!’ Lin Hao grumbled to himself.

True to his thought, Lin Hao immediately sat down cross-legged in the corner and resumed his cultivation.

Each cultivation session for this Elemental Realm technique involved Refining Yuan into silken threads, and the fluctuations of True Essence were contained entirely within his body. Thus, Lin Hao wasn’t worried about being discovered.

He finished the first two sections of the Elemental Realm Secret Skill in two months. Lin Hao wasn’t satisfied with this pace, but there was nothing to be done. There were no shortcuts to cultivating this Secret Skill.

Moreover, Lin Hao knew his progress would only get slower the further he went.

Sure enough, when he was awakened by voices from outside another month later, Lin Hao found he had only just completed the third section of the Secret Skill.

After only a moment, Lin Hao closed his eyes again.

’Time is too precious.’

Outside, every disciple of the Sanqing Sect had been mobilized for the sole purpose of finding him.

And here Lin Hao was, diligently cultivating the very Secret Skill he had obtained from the Sanqing Sect.

’I wonder if Old Daoist Ning has gone mad with rage by now.’

But that wasn’t Lin Hao’s concern. His mind was entirely focused on the Secret Skill.

’Only by mastering this Secret Skill will I have a chance to escape the Sanqing Sect.’

This time, however, things did not go so smoothly.

When Lin Hao awoke again, it wasn’t to the sound of voices, but to the sensation of choking.

He opened his eyes to the sight of thick, rolling smoke.

Lin Hao held his breath and listened intently.

He had to confirm whether someone had discovered his hiding spot and was trying to smoke him out.

However, aside from the CRACKLE of burning flames, Lin Hao couldn’t detect the sound of anyone breathing.

He crept to the mouth of the cave, body low to the ground. When he looked out, he froze.

Outside, flames reached for the sky, transforming the landscape into a sea of crimson.

’Someone is setting the mountain on fire!’

He didn’t need to guess who was responsible.

Lin Hao never imagined that, for his sake, Old Daoist Ning would dare to set the mountain ablaze!

The dense forest he was hiding in wasn’t part of the Celestial Break Mountain Range, but it was connected. If the fire spread to the mountain range, it would almost certainly trigger a stampede.

A Devil Beast stampede!

The Celestial Break Mountain Range was a haven for Devil Beasts. No one knew exactly how many lived there.

If the Devil Beasts were to stampede, it would bring devastation to the entire Southern Border Prefecture.

A powerful killing intent surged within Lin Hao. For his own selfish desires, that old scoundrel would disregard the lives of countless others.

Clenching his fists, Lin Hao decided to show himself.

In truth, this fire posed no threat to Lin Hao. His body could withstand the Flowing Light Divine Flame; even if this inferno incinerated the entire Celestial Break Mountain Range, he would emerge unscathed.

Not only that, but he could even use the chaos to escape. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

But Lin Hao would never do such a thing.

He could not bring himself to sacrifice thousands upon thousands of lives for his own sake.

Lin Hao let out a long cry, the sound echoing through the wild.

Then, he shot up from the ground like a great roc.

Martial experts from the Sanqing Sect were alerted by Lin Hao’s cry. In an instant, two elders struck out simultaneously, reaching for him.

The massive hands of True Essence they manifested were only a hundred meters in size.

Since he had revealed himself, Lin Hao had no intention of resisting. He allowed them to capture him.

Before long, the two elders had brought Lin Hao to the enormous plaza of the Sanqing Sect’s inner sect.

Old Daoist Ning stood in the plaza. Seeing Lin Hao, a strange light flickered in his eyes.

"Old scoundrel, put out the fire!" Raging flames burned in Lin Hao’s eyes as well.

With a smile, Old Daoist Ning glanced around and said, "Did you not hear Young Master Lin? Go and put out the fire."

Immediately, several figures moved to obey.

Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t stop himself from saying, "You’re truly deranged!"

Old Daoist Ning’s smile never faded. "You were too difficult to find," he said. "This old Daoist was forced to resort to such a crude measure. However, you are mistaken about one thing. Even if you hadn’t revealed yourself, the fire would never have spread to the Celestial Break Mountain Range."

Lin Hao’s expression faltered.

He realized he’d been played by the old scoundrel.

The major sects of the Southern Border Prefecture were all built along the Celestial Break Mountain Range. Burning it down would not only cause widespread devastation but would also offend every sect in the prefecture. Old Daoist Ning wasn’t foolish enough to do that.

Lin Hao took a deep breath. ’I’m still not calm enough.’

"You truly are a cunning old fox. And a bold one, at that. Even the Jinglian Saint Institute is wary of me. So, what’s your trump card? You can tell me now, can’t you?"

Having been lured out by Old Daoist Ning’s ploy, Lin Hao took a deep breath and instantly calmed himself.

With his first words, Lin Hao cut straight to the heart of the matter.