Chapter 59

Amidst the vast undulating mountains,

Lin Xun rode through the vast expanse of heaven and earth, reflecting on the gains from his trip to the Qingyang tribe, his heart filled with a mix of emotions.

There was a sense of ease, but also a tinge of melancholy.

But all of this had become the past. Lin Xun had made up his mind; once everything was back on track, he would take Xia Zhi and leave.

Only by entering the cities of the Ziyao Empire could they have a broader sky! This was true for both Lin Xun and Xia Zhi.

Similarly, whether for his future cultivation path or to find the enemy who had excavated his origin spirit vein, he could not stay in Fiyun Village for the rest of his life.

"Earlier this morning, I heard that the Golden Flame Beast has been slain by 'Little Sword Lord' Xie Yutang, and the innate spirit crystal within the Golden Flame Beast's body was also obtained by Little Sword Lord."

"The innate spirit crystal, that is a priceless treasure. It is said to be the core treasure for refining the [Spirit Pattern Battle Armor], extremely rare."

"Spirit Pattern Battle Armor? What is that?"

"A powerful piece of equipment required for battle, only a Spirit Pattern Master can refine it. However, the materials needed for such an immensely powerful battle armor are extremely stringent, and the refining process is incredibly complex and difficult, making it very easy to fail. Even a Spirit Pattern Master needs sufficient fortune and opportunity to refine it."

"If that's the case, wouldn't the Spirit Pattern Battle Armor be incredibly powerful if successfully refined?"

"Of course, the Spirit Pattern Battle Armor has a power that can shake the heavens and earth, and even the gods and spirits cannot fathom it!"

Suddenly, a conversation caught Lin Xun's attention, making his heart stir.

The speakers were the two guards who accompanied Lin Xun to Fiyun Village. They came from Shiding Hall, one named Gao Guiyong and the other named Zhou Quan, both possessing the cultivation of the Fourth Level of True Martial Realm.

"Was the Golden Flame Beast killed by Little Sword Lord?" Lin Xun asked.

In the Qingyang tribe, he had also heard about the Golden Flame Beast, and had already deduced that the so-called Golden Flame Beast was the golden giant beast he had seen a few days ago.

"Exactly," Gao Guiyong quickly replied.

He was well aware of the significant relationship between Lin Xun and the shopkeeper Yan Zhen, so he naturally did not dare to be negligent towards Lin Xun.

On the other side, Zhou Quan also spoke up, "Although the Golden Flame Beast was slain, it could not save Liu Yukun."

Lin Xun's eyes imperceptibly narrowed, and he asked in surprise, "Liu Yukun?"

"Indeed, he is the eldest son of the Grand Governor of the Southwest Province of the Empire, Liu Wujun. According to the news, Liu Yukun and his group were all killed by the Golden Flame Beast, especially Liu Yukun, who was burned to a crisp, with a tragic end."

Zhou Quan sighed, "This matter will likely reach the ears of Grand Governor Liu Wujun in a few days, and it is unknown how many storms it will cause."

Only then did Lin Xun realize that the Liu Yukun who died at his hands had such a significant background, and he couldn't help but feel a bit strange, having accidentally killed the son of a Grand Governor...

However, Lin Xun was not worried. At least for now, no one knew that Liu Yukun had died at his hands.

Night soon fell, and Lin Xun's group found a cave to rest.

After eating their dry rations, Gao Guiyong and Zhou Quan took turns resting and guarding. This wild mountain was filled with fierce beasts, so someone had to keep watch.

Seeing this, Lin Xun also felt at ease and began to cultivate.

First, he circulated the [Embrace Origin Technique], guiding the spiritual energy within his body to circulate seventy-two times until the technique was complete. Without any delay, he calmed his mind and began to cultivate the [Little Nether God Technique].

By midnight, Lin Xun opened his eyes, scanned the surroundings, and confirmed there was no danger. He then focused his senses and entered the "Heavenly Secret Realm" for the fourth time to challenge the "Thousand Waves of the Sea" barrier.

In the end, Lin Xun failed again without any doubt.

Lin Xun had long been prepared for this. What he cared more about was the improvement in his physical strength.

Indeed, after careful perception, Lin Xun found that his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones had been further refined, and his strength had increased by a third compared to before.

All of this came from the "Spirit Pattern Battle Realm—Thousand Waves of the Sea." Although each attempt to break through failed, it greatly benefited the refinement of his physical body.

However, this time, Lin Xun discovered that his physical strength had reached a limit, like a bottleneck. To further improve, his entire body needed a comprehensive transformation.

"It seems I need to focus on cultivation,"

Lin Xun pondered. He did not know much about body refinement, but he could roughly judge that physical strength and cultivation should complement each other.

Cultivation breakthrough is an internal transformation, while physical strength breakthrough is an external transformation. Now that his physical strength had reached a bottleneck, he needed to break through from the inside out.

Currently, Lin Xun's spiritual energy cultivation had reached the peak of the Fourth Level of True Martial Realm, the "Opening the Apertures" stage, just one step away from perfection. At that time, he could break through to the Fifth Level of True Martial Realm, "Washing the Marrow."

However, Lin Xun was not worried about this. According to his calculations, within a month, with the help of "Blood Marrow Sand" and the "Four Seasons Precious Brew" accumulated in his body, he could smoothly advance to the Fifth Level of True Martial Realm.

At that time, the internal cultivation breakthrough would inevitably break the bottleneck in his physical strength, allowing his physical strength to reach a new level.

For now, Lin Xun did not need to worry about physical strength and cultivation. What truly made him frown was the cultivation of spirit patterns and the soul.

The cultivation of the soul had the [Little Nether God Technique]'s Star Circulation method, but the progress was somewhat slow, and he had not yet lit the second star in his sea of consciousness.

His current cultivation realm could only be considered to have just crossed the threshold of the "Star Circulation" stage, one of the three major stages of the [Little Nether God Technique].

The cultivation of spirit patterns, however, had been stagnant for months due to the lack of a large amount of spirit ink, leaving Lin Xun quite frustrated.

Fortunately, this time he had purchased many finished spirit inks in the Qingyang tribe, solving this problem.

All of the above were just the cultivation of physical strength, cultivation, soul, and spirit patterns. In addition, there was the cultivation of martial arts.

For example, the [Marching Fist] was still stuck at the "Precision" stage, just one step away from "Perfection," but it had not yet broken through.

Another example was the [Six-Character Blade Technique], which had only reached the "Subtlety" stage.

To fully master the power of each combat technique, one could not avoid the four stages: "Initial Insight," "Subtlety," "Precision," and "Perfection."

Lin Xun admitted that he had only mastered the [Marching Fist] and [Six-Character Blade Technique] but had not yet fully grasped them to the "Perfection" stage, which was somewhat embarrassing.

However, what Lin Xun did not know was that the [Marching Fist], although a basic technique, could be cultivated to the "Precision" stage by very few people, let alone the "Perfection" stage, which was an extremely rare existence.

Similarly, Lin Xun did not know the origin of the [Six-Character Blade Technique]. If Mr. Lu knew that Lin Xun had already reached the "Subtlety" stage, he would be deeply shocked.

In short, the reason Lin Xun thought this way was simply because he lacked knowledge and experience in martial arts.

After all, he grew up in the dark, sunless mine prison, and his life's focus was almost entirely on the cultivation of spirit patterns. Mr. Lu had never taught him martial arts, and even the [Marching Fist] and [Six-Character Blade Technique] were taught to refine Lin Xun's body and wrist flexibility, with the aim of better inscribing spirit patterns, not for combat.

When Lin Xun arrived at Fiyun Village, he encountered almost all ordinary people, who could not provide him with more knowledge about martial arts.

Therefore, he had a misunderstanding about his martial arts cultivation.

Once Lin Xun truly entered the Ziyao Empire and ventured into the vast world of cultivators and powerful factions, he would no longer have such misunderstandings.

This was due to the lack of experience and knowledge, which could not be taught or learned, but only gained through personal exploration and insight.

As the saying goes, "Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles," which is the same principle.

...

When Lin Xun opened his eyes, it was dawn. The morning mountain breeze rushed into the cave, bringing a refreshing coolness that invigorated the soul.

A night of cultivation left Lin Xun full of energy, feeling refreshed and invigorated. He got up and walked out of the cave, seeing that Gao Guiyong and Zhou Quan had already prepared their luggage and were sitting on the scaled horses, waiting.

Lin Xun did not hesitate, mounted the scaled horse, and began to travel.

However, the looks Gao Guiyong and Zhou Quan gave him were filled with a hint of confusion and even a touch of reverence.

This made Lin Xun pause, and he found an opportunity to ask, "Did something happen last night?"

Gao Guiyong shook his head, but Zhou Quan hesitated for a moment and said, "Young Master, when you were cultivating last night, your aura suddenly disappeared, and we couldn't sense your presence at all. We thought an enemy had come to cause trouble, but it turned out to be a false alarm."

Gao Guiyong added, "Indeed, it was a false alarm. Now it seems that the cultivation technique you practice is extremely unique, with the ability to conceal your aura."

His voice was filled with surprise and envy. A cultivation technique that could conceal one's aura was not something an ordinary person could possess!

Lin Xun immediately understood. At that time, he must have been in the "Heavenly Secret Realm" challenging the barrier, but he did not explain anything.

Zhou Quan's words made Lin Xun think. If he encountered an enemy he could not defeat in the future, he could find a hidden place to hide. As long as he entered the "Heavenly Secret Realm," the enemy would not be able to detect his aura.

However, this also had a drawback, as it would make Lin Xun lose his perception of the outside world. If discovered, he wouldn't even know how he died.

Therefore, this method should be used sparingly unless absolutely necessary.

As Lin Xun's group traveled, in a quiet room deep within the Shiding Hall of the Qingyang tribe, Shi Xuan put down his teacup and smiled, "As soon as I returned, I heard that Lin Xun single-handedly killed four subordinates of the Wu Family Trading Company, causing a great commotion. Is this true?"