Chapter 59

As the largest wealthy merchant family in Fengjian City, the Xiao family's mansion was very luxurious. Even at night, the main gate was still brightly lit.

Lin Tian hid in the darkness and quickly arrived outside the Xiao family's residence. Looking ahead, he saw two guards standing at the main gate, each holding a spear, vigilantly surveying the surroundings.

Ignoring these two, Lin Tian circled around to the side of the mansion. With a light leap, he instantly climbed the ten-foot-high wall and entered the interior of the Xiao family's residence. Compared to the outside, the interior was even brighter, with colorful lanterns placed every few steps.

"Enough luxury!"

Lin Tian sneered. The Xiao family's current prosperity was largely due to what they had taken from the Lin family.

There were also many servants and guards patrolling the interior of the Xiao family's residence at night. Lin Tian paid no attention to them and, following his memory, quickly arrived at an old house. This old house was not tall or luxurious, but it was very secure, especially the door that sealed it, which was covered with iron plates and had eight locks, with two guards standing outside, who looked more capable than those at the main gate.

Lin Tian hid in the darkness, took out a small paper packet containing a hypnotic powder. This powder was highly effective for martial artists below the sixth level of Body Tempering, causing them to faint with just a whiff. Lin Tian took out the hypnotic powder and, with a flick of his hand, the powder scattered in the air.

"Huh? What smell?"

"It's like flowers, flowers..."

With two thuds, the two guards in front of the old house fell to the ground.

The Xiao family was not a martial arts family, so the guards were not very strong and could not resist the hypnotic powder.

Lin Tian quickly approached the door of the old house, gripped an iron lock, and infused it with soul power to sense its structure. After about five breaths, he inserted a fine gold wire he had prepared in advance. With a click, the first iron lock was opened.

"The second one."

Lin Tian thought to himself. As a martial artist and a formation master, his soul power was incredibly strong, making the task of picking locks effortless.

Soon, all eight iron locks were opened, and Lin Tian pushed the door open and entered, carefully closing the iron door behind him.

From the outside, the old house looked only secure, not luxurious. However, inside, it was spacious, with piles of gold and silver treasures and jade and ancient porcelain scattered everywhere. Lin Tian coldly snorted, not caring about these things, and instead focused on a large golden chest at the far end of the old house.

This golden chest was surrounded by nine layers of iron cages, each fixed to a stone platform and locked. Lin Tian paid no attention to this and used the same method to open each of the nine iron cages, finally unlocking the last lock on the golden chest and taking out a thick roll of parchment.

Lin Family Jade.

Lin Family Paper.

Lin Family Jewelry.

Lin Tian scanned through the parchments. Each roll was a deed to one of the Lin family's properties, but the owner had been changed to Xiao Nan, the head of the Xiao family.

Lin Tian sneered, and soul power surged in his right hand, causing Xiao Nan's name to disappear and Lin Xi's name to appear in its place. As a formation master, changing some characters with soul power was as easy as eating or sleeping.

After putting away several deeds, Lin Tian continued to search for other property deeds.

Lin Family Timber.

Lin Family Restaurant.

Lin Family Horse Ranch.

As he searched, Lin Tian was somewhat startled. The Lin family had been truly wealthy, with an astonishing number of properties, totaling over a dozen. He changed all the deeds to Lin Xi's name and then put them into a prepared cloth bag.

Continuing his search, he found a few more rolls of parchment at the bottom of the wooden chest.

Xiao Family Real Estate.

Xiao Family Ranch.

Xiao Family Fishery.

Lin Tian's lips curled into a wicked smile as he changed the deeds of the Xiao family's properties and then put them into the cloth bag.

This process did not take much time. Afterward, Lin Tian closed the golden chest and locked the nine iron cages, then left and closed the eight locks on the iron door of the old house. He did not take any other items from the old house; he only took all the property deeds, which would no longer belong to the Xiao family.

After taking a few steps, Lin Tian waved his hand, and the antidote to the hypnotic powder was released.

"Ugh..."

Lin Tian had moved the two unconscious guards to lean against the wall of the old house. Now, they woke up, startled.

"How did we fall asleep!"

The two quickly scanned the surroundings and, after confirming everything was normal, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Not far away, Lin Tian smiled coldly and turned to leave. At this time, he had already activated the third Wind Pattern, as each Wind Pattern could only last for a short time. He needed to activate the next Wind Pattern before the previous one expired, or his figure would be exposed. With the Wind Pattern, his body became more agile, moving quickly toward the outside of the Xiao family's residence like a shadow.

"Father, what should we do?!"

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from not far away, making Lin Tian pause.

Looking ahead, he saw a room not far away, still lit. In the darkness, he could see two figures inside, one tall and the other slender. The voice from the room, which Lin Tian recognized as Xiao Yun's, was clearly heard.

"That Lin Tian, not only does he have a nine-star talent, but he is now ranked second in the outer court. Moreover... during the day, he spent nearly six hours in the two-fold gravity zone of the Martial Academy, even stunning the mentor! What should we do, Father? If this continues, he will become stronger and will definitely come after us!"

Xiao Yun's voice was somewhat panicked.

A cold snort came from inside the room: "What's the rush! He's just a lone individual. If he doesn't grow, he won't cause any trouble. Doesn't the Nine Yang Martial Academy have a Qingfeng Ridge? In the next few days, observe carefully and find some Martial Academy students who can be bought with money. Set up traps on Qingfeng Ridge in advance, then lure that brat there and eliminate him. Understand?"

"But Father, the students of the Nine Yang Martial Academy are very proud and generally won't..."

"Find five people, and give each one ten thousand spirit coins."

"Ten thousand?!"

Xiao Yun's voice was somewhat surprised.

Inside the room, Xiao Nan's voice came again: "I know a bit about a nine-star talent. As you said, this brat must not be left alive. If we don't eliminate him, he might become a threat to our family in the future."

"Ten thousand? This amount will surely find someone!"

Xiao Yun trembled.

"Yes, here, take this. This is a set of three Fusion Martial Patterns I bought from the Treasure Exchange Pavilion recently. They are sealed with powerful martial techniques, highly praised by the chief executive officer, Master Pushi, and can severely injure a sixth-level Body Tempering martial artist. Take them with you; they will be useful when the time comes."

"This..." Xiao Yun's voice was filled with surprise: "Thank you, Father. This time, I will definitely eliminate him completely!"

Outside the room, Lin Tian clearly heard everything, his eyes flashing with cold light.

"Ten thousand spirit coins each, quite a generous investment."

He sneered inwardly.

Ten thousand spirit coins were a huge sum, even some Divine Pulse Realm experts might be tempted.

"Heh!"

Lin Tian suddenly felt fortunate that he had come tonight; otherwise, he might have been lured into a trap.

Quietly retreating, he hid in the darkness and quickly left the Xiao family's residence.

Walking through the quiet streets, Lin Tian soon returned to his residence in the Martial Academy, carefully hiding the cloth bag containing the property deeds of the Lin and Xiao families. He then went to the top floor and began to draw a Spirit Gathering Pattern.

"Xiao scum, I wonder how long it will take you to find people. I'll give you a surprise when the time comes."

Lin Tian smiled wickedly.

He was already very familiar with drawing the Spirit Gathering Pattern. In just half an hour, he completed one and activated it, gathering spiritual energy from all directions to begin refining his internal organs. Intense pain immediately surged, but Lin Tian paid no attention, his eyes filled with determination and cold light.

"Buzz!"

A faint silver glow flickered, and starlight spiritual energy surged, enveloping Lin Tian.

The night passed quickly, and Lin Tian practiced all night. Despite the continuous burning pain from his internal organs, he paid no attention. By the end of the night, his cultivation had increased, and his vitality and spirit became stronger, with his heart beating more powerfully than before.

"Not bad."

Lin Tian thought to himself.

It was now early morning. Lin Tian washed up briefly and then went to the training ground where the Roaring Wave Heavy Array was located.

"Kid, you're up pretty early."

Luo Xiao greeted him with a smile.

Luo Xiao was temporarily responsible for the physical training of the new students in the outer court, so he was usually at the training ground.

"Not really, you're even earlier, Senior."

Lin Tian politely replied.

Luo Xiao chuckled and said, "Alright, alright, no need to flatter me. Are you going to practice in the array?"

"Yes."

Lin Tian nodded.

"Okay, wait a moment. There's no one in the array right now, so it hasn't been activated yet." Luo Xiao nodded and signaled to a nearby formation master. After three breaths, the array hummed to life. Looking at Lin Tian, Luo Xiao said, "Alright, it's ready. Go ahead."

The Roaring Wave Heavy Array required a lot of energy to operate, so it was usually shut down when no one was using it.

"Thank you, Senior!"

Lin Tian politely said and then entered the array.

On his second visit to the Roaring Wave Heavy Array, Lin Tian felt much better than the previous day. Although his movements were not as smooth as outside, they were far less difficult than before. As soon as he entered the array, he began to perform the Two Instruments Step, hoping to quickly reach the second level of the Two Instruments Step.

Once he reached the second level of the Two Instruments Step, not only would his speed increase, but he could also briefly move in the air. In simple terms, if he reached the second level of the Two Instruments Step, he could climb to the top of a stone wall in the Dark Forest Canyon without a running start or the Wind Sword Technique, relying solely on the Two Instruments Step.