Chapter 9: Fame at the Lin Manor

"What? How could Chu Fengmian suddenly appear behind Lin Mo?"

"Wasn't Chu Fengmian just being beaten back by Lin Mo? Am I seeing things?"

Voices of astonishment kept echoing.

The disciples outside the courtyard found it hard to believe what they were seeing, their eyes wide open, trying to figure out what was happening.

Just a moment ago, everyone saw Chu Fengmian being pursued by Lin Mo, but in an instant, Chu Fengmian appeared behind Lin Mo and defeated him with a single punch.

No one could understand what had happened, even though they saw it with their own eyes.

It was as if there were two Chu Fengmians just now.

Only Chu Fengmian himself knew what had happened.

Illusion.

The Chu Fengmian who was being beaten back by Lin Mo was actually an illusion created by Chu Fengmian using the Shadow Illusion Technique. This illusion was half-real and half-illusory, possessing all of Chu Fengmian's strength but could only last for three seconds.

When the illusion and Lin Mo exchanged blows, the power contained within made Lin Mo believe it was the real Chu Fengmian, leading him to pursue it without noticing that the real Chu Fengmian had secretly moved behind him. A single punch was enough to defeat Lin Mo completely.

The Shadow Illusion Technique is one of the strongest techniques on the Wu Sheng Continent. When mastered, the illusions it creates can last for several days.

With Chu Fengmian's current strength, he could only maintain the illusion for about three seconds, but it was enough to defeat Lin Mo with one blow.

"Where are the pills you've accumulated?"

Chu Fengmian walked to the fallen Lin Mo and stepped on his chest.

Lin Mo, whose spirit veins were already shattered, spat out a lot of blood under this step.

"I... don't... know."

Lin Mo said in a broken voice.

"You won't tell?"

A hint of killing intent appeared in Chu Fengmian's eyes. He lifted his foot again and stepped on Lin Mo's chest. This time, he channeled spiritual energy, and Lin Mo felt as if his internal organs were about to be crushed.

He was almost at death's door.

"It's... under the bed in the room."

This time, Lin Mo dared not hide anything. He could see that Chu Fengmian was now completely different from before, ruthless and cruel. If he didn't speak, he might really die under Chu Fengmian's foot.

Shattered spirit veins could be treated, but death was irreversible.

"Get out."

Chu Fengmian glanced at Lin Mo and kicked him out of the courtyard.

"From now on, this courtyard belongs to me."

With these cold words, the disciples of the Lin Manor who were watching from outside the courtyard hurriedly retreated.

This battle made Chu Fengmian's name resound throughout the outer manor of the Lin Manor. Defeating Lin Mo and Lin Ye, Chu Fengmian's strength now stood at the top of the outer manor.

The only one stronger than them was the deputy manager of the outer manor, Lin Yang.

The strongest in the outer manor was Li Xing, a peak Seventh Stage Bone Tempering Realm warrior.

The Li family was the most powerful clan in the outer manor of the Lin Manor. Important positions within the Lin Manor were held by members of the Lin family, while the outer manor was composed of clans dependent on the Lin family.

The Li family was one of the major clans in the outer manor, and Li Xing was their top genius, having reached the Seventh Stage Bone Tempering Realm at a young age.

Even in the inner manor of the Lin Manor, he would be considered a high-ranking figure.

It was precisely because of this that he became the deputy manager of the outer manor. If it weren't for the fact that the chief manager was Chu Fengmian, Li Xing would definitely be the chief manager. Therefore, Li Xing harbored deep hatred towards Chu Fengmian.

"If I defeat Lin Ye and Lin Mo and take their courtyard, Li Xing will likely come after me soon."

Chu Fengmian sat in the room, thinking to himself.

Lin Ye and Lin Mo were Li Xing's subordinates, and in the outer manor, Li Xing was a dominant figure. Much of Chu Fengmian's situation in the outer manor was due to Li Xing's targeting him.

"Meet force with force, and water with earth. As long as I am strong enough, I will not fear even Li Xing."

Sitting on the bed, Chu Fengmian felt no panic at all.

Li Xing, the deputy manager of the outer manor, was someone Chu Fengmian would eventually have to defeat.

The only thing he needed to do now was to improve his strength.

In front of Chu Fengmian were over thirty vials of various sizes, all filled with pills.

Apart from those on the stone table, which were his salary, most of them were the savings of Lin Mo and Lin Ye.

Lin Mo and Lin Ye were notorious bullies in the outer manor, and many of the disciples' salaries were deducted by them.

In these vials, there were five hundred Bone Tempering Pills and twenty Body Forging Pills, the latter of which had a slight blue-green hue.

Ten of the Body Forging Pills were from Chu Fengmian's monthly salary, and the other ten were the savings of Lin Mo and Lin Ye.

Twenty Body Forging Pills and five hundred Bone Tempering Pills were a significant fortune. Chu Fengmian had once accumulated for a long time to gather only thirty-five Bone Tempering Pills.

This time, he had made a substantial gain from Lin Mo and Lin Ye.

"These pills were probably accumulated by Lin Mo to break through to the Sixth Stage Bone Tempering Realm. Now they will be of use to me."

Chu Fengmian glanced at the pills without hesitation and immediately picked up a vial of Bone Tempering Pills, pouring them into his mouth.

In one breath, he swallowed ten Bone Tempering Pills.

If others saw this, they might think Chu Fengmian had gone mad. Refining pills should be done gradually, not hastily. Swallowing too many pills at once could lead to an inability to refine the spiritual energy, resulting in a fatal outcome.

However, in his previous life, Chu Fengmian had refined even Heaven-grade pills. These mere Yellow-grade pills would not be a problem, and he could have swallowed a hundred without issue if not for the fragility of his current body.

After swallowing the ten Bone Tempering Pills, the spiritual energy they released was easily condensed and absorbed by Chu Fengmian, with the impurities expelled from his body.

After refining a hundred Bone Tempering Pills, Chu Fengmian felt that the spiritual energy of the Bone Tempering Pills was no longer effective for his body.

Bone Tempering Pills were the lowest-grade Yellow-grade pills, effective only for Bone Tempering Realm cultivators below the Fifth Stage.

To advance further, he needed to consume higher-grade pills.

Chu Fengmian turned his attention to two different vials, picked one up, and poured a blue-green pill into his mouth.

Body Forging Pill, a Middle-grade Yellow-grade pill.

The spiritual energy of the Body Forging Pill was ten times stronger than that of the Bone Tempering Pill, making Chu Fengmian feel that his third spirit vein was about to break through.

Three spirit veins were the mark of a true cultivator with potential, capable of advancing beyond the Bone Tempering Realm to the Body Forging Realm.

The Bone Rebirth Technique that Chu Fengmian practiced stored most of the spiritual energy from the pills he refined in his spirit veins. When the spiritual energy was sufficient, the spirit veins would break and regenerate, forming new spirit veins.

Under the influence of the Body Forging Pill, Chu Fengmian felt his third spirit vein beginning to break.

Each time a spirit vein broke, it was an extremely dangerous process. If the spirit vein could not be reformed after breaking, the person would become a cripple.

In a sense, each of Chu Fengmian's cultivation sessions was a gamble.