There was endless speculation about why Huangpu Yue had suddenly chosen to partner with the Ling Clan. The most common theory was that the young miss of the Huangpu Clan had fallen for the increasingly powerful Ling Xiao. Such an idea was perfectly understandable. Although the Ling Family was a new noble house, their potential for growth was limitless, not to mention they now had a reclusive clan backing them. Ling Xiao himself was handsome, and his power was advancing by leaps and bounds, so it was only natural for him to be popular with the ladies. Furthermore, the Huangpu Clan’s ambiguous stance on the matter, and Huangpu Yue’s continued silence, led most people to accept this version of events.

But in reality, the truth is often far from what people guess. This time was no exception.

The Huangpu Clan, one of the Lanyue Empire’s premier manufacturers of Enchanted Weapons, had obtained a secret formula for refining weapons! This formula couldn’t increase the success rate of creating Enchanted Weapons, but... it could raise a weapon’s quality by one to two tiers!

The Huangpu Clan had been manufacturing weapons for hundreds of years. Although their craftsmanship was constantly improving, a sudden leap of one to two tiers was something that would normally be impossible without several more centuries of development!

They had originally held a huge advantage only in the market for expensive Enchanted Weapons, but now they had also become the Lanyue Empire’s finest manufacturer of conventional weapons. Bar none.

The military’s weapons procurement contracts allowed the Huangpu Clan to once again reap massive profits. What no one knew was that sixty percent of those profits belonged to Ling Xiao.

Huangpu Yue herself, just like Ye Zi and Yisha, was also given a long-term supply of Beauty Pills. And what woman doesn’t care about her looks? Thus, the Huangpu Clan had allied with the Ling Family—or to be more precise, with Ling Xiao himself!

As for their previous collaborations with the Wulan Clan, they were maintained for various reasons. However, the Wulan Clan received none of the new, refined weapons produced by the Huangpu Clan. The Huangpu Clan had already begun to gradually distance itself from them.

The mysterious reclusive sects and clans once again made a dazzling appearance on the world stage. The major families and great nobles were all scrambling over each other, hoping to find a reclusive sect to serve as their backer. The Ling Family’s rise made them green with envy!

In truth, the reclusive sects and clans themselves were just as perplexed.

They couldn’t figure out which faction was backing the Ling Family either! It seemed to be a reclusive sect specializing in medicinal arts and Elixirs, and such sects were not uncommon among their ranks. But one that could so casually unblock a Celestial Vein? Even they didn’t know of any faction with that kind of power!

The more powerful among the reclusive sects and clans were far more cautious than a minor sect like the Wind Bell Sect. They weren’t naive enough to think that kidnapping Ling Xiao would grant them all his secrets. On the contrary, if they truly angered the power behind the Ling Family, they would face dire consequences.

After all, among the reclusive sects and clans were some extremely low-profile yet astonishingly powerful families!

Besides, no one would be foolish enough to easily offend someone capable of refining a miraculous elixir like the Beauty Pill. More often than not, the rewards of cooperation far outweighed those of plunder and robbery!

Therefore, many reclusive clans and sects sent representatives to Penzes City, hoping for an audience with Ling Xiao. Even if they couldn’t learn about the power behind him, showing a little goodwill couldn’t hurt.

Unfortunately for them, no matter who they were, none managed to see Ling Xiao. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. The reply everyone received was the same: "My Lord has gone out to cultivate. His date of return is unknown!"

However, Ye Zi, acting on Ling Xiao’s behalf, conveyed his goodwill to the guests from the mysterious reclusive sects and clans, promising that he would personally receive these honored visitors upon his return.

...

At that very moment, Ling Xiao had taken clown deep into the heart of Penzes Swamp, where he trained every day.

clown had now entered its adult stage, its ferocious nature becoming more and more apparent. Only in Ling Xiao’s presence did it still act like a naughty child, constantly getting into mischief.

For instance, it would fight Ling Xiao for pieces of roasted meat, deliberately stir up gales with its wings to blow his tent askew, or stage mock ambushes to startle him.

At that moment, clown was circling in the sky, its pair of razor-sharp eyes fixed on a giant crocodile in the swamp below.

The giant crocodile was over ten meters long and as thick as a water barrel. Its body, covered in mottled, grayish-brown scales that looked incredibly tough, was immensely powerful. Sharp fangs jutted from its jaws, and its small eyes were locked onto the snow-white Flying Magical Beast in the sky. ’If I could just snatch that thing out of the sky for dinner,’ it thought, ’it would be absolutely delicious!’

The sheer size of Penzes Swamp was unimaginable. It contained countless lakes and even mountain ranges—though none were particularly tall—and its primeval forests had existed for tens of thousands of years. It was highly likely that the powerful Beast Race resided deep within.

Of course, the most common terrain was the marshland itself. Bubbling mires stretched in every direction, and no one knew what kind of Magical Beast might suddenly burst forth from the murky depths.

Ling Xiao had been here for over a month, during which he had faced grave danger two or three times. His last encounter, with a giant water anaconda at the Tier Five Peak, had nearly cost him his life.

Magical Beasts were different from humans. A water anaconda at the Tier Five Peak was as powerful as a Sword Sect master, and it had a massive territorial advantage. With the terrain and timing on its side, it had launched a ferocious assault on the intruder, Ling Xiao.

However, Ling Xiao, seeking to temper his abilities, didn’t use his devastating "Fleeting Light, Skimming Shadow" sword strike. In truth, even if he had, it might not have been enough to finish off a Magical Beast with such immense vitality in a single blow.

Combat was the fastest way to cultivate.

So, Ling Xiao chose to use his sword techniques in a protracted battle with the anaconda. The Sword Qi he generated provoked the beast’s ferocity, causing it to begin recklessly unleashing elemental attacks. The powerful Water Element assaults overwhelmed Ling Xiao. With his Spiritual Power depleted, he would have been skinned alive, if not killed, had clown not arrived just in time to carry him away.

The battle had been incredibly fruitful for Ling Xiao.

Many would wonder why Ling Xiao chose this place to cultivate, instinctively assuming that every inch of a place like Penzes Swamp was fraught with peril: ferocious Magical Beasts, lethal miasma, pervasive venomous insects, shockingly toxic plants... and the bogs themselves, which could swallow a person without a trace in an instant. For that reason, no one would believe that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in such a place was several times denser than in populated areas.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was not something only Cultivators could absorb. In fact, every person living in this world passively absorbed it every day. This was the main reason why the average lifespan on the Canglan Continent was relatively long and most people were in good health.

Consequently, in densely populated areas, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was sparse.

Although the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in this world was several times richer than in the Cultivation Realm, Ling Xiao had no intention of passing up a place where the Spiritual Qi was even more abundant.

Ling Xiao had discovered this fact back on the Vendia Great Snow Mountain. Unfortunately, his meridians had been blocked at the time, preventing him from cultivating. Otherwise, he might have settled there to train.

For now, Ling Xiao was having his people deliberately create the illusion that he had a powerful backer. But an illusion was just an illusion. The day would come when people realized the Ling Family’s strength stemmed solely from Ling Xiao’s personal secrets. When that time came, the Ling Family, Ling Xiao, and everyone connected to him would be in grave danger.

The reclusive clans and sects that discovered the Ling Family had no real backer would absolutely not pass up the opportunity to wring those secrets from Ling Xiao.

Therefore, Ling Xiao was currently in a race against time. Before those people figured out the truth, he had to possess... enough power to make them afraid!

Many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could only be found by Ling Xiao himself. You could say it was because he didn’t trust others, or... you could say that some things, only he was capable of finding.

clown let out a high-pitched cry and suddenly dove, its sharp beak slightly open. The fine, hooked tip aimed straight for the giant crocodile’s eye!

The giant crocodile opened its massive maw—over a meter wide!

Viscous saliva dripped from its sharp fangs, and a foul stench spread far and wide.

Over a hundred meters away, Ling Xiao sat on a massive tree at the swamp’s edge. His Spiritual Power completed a full cycle within his body, and he slowly opened his eyes. A sharp glint flashed through them before vanishing as he watched clown dive toward the giant crocodile.

It covered the hundred-meter drop in an instant!

BOOM!

A massive plume of water erupted, its spray catching the sunlight to form a beautiful, crystalline rainbow.

The giant crocodile’s body had launched high out of the water, hurtling fiercely toward clown! At the same time, it spat a massive orb of water from its gaping maw.

The orb crackled with countless sparks of electricity, emitting a sizzling sound. It was a dual-element Magical Beast of water and lightning!

’How cunning!’

Ling Xiao marveled. ’It even faked a physical attack to mislead its opponent!’

Meanwhile, clown’s body shot through the air as if it had been forcefully kicked, tumbling five or six times to evade the crackling water orb.

The water orb shot whistling into the sky with incredible force until it vanished from sight. A long moment passed before it plummeted straight back down.

The crocodile’s massive body crashed back into the water with a thunderous roar, sending a splash so high that it reached Ling Xiao’s perch. A moment later, the water orb plunged back into the swamp, and a flash of electricity shot across the chaotic surface. Dozens of fish floated to the top, belly-up.

The giant crocodile, however, was completely unharmed. It surfaced, its pair of cold eyes locked on clown in the sky.

In the first exchange, neither side had gained an advantage.

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