Chapter 42

The giant axe transformed back into a talisman and returned to Lin Haoming's hand.

Looking at the talisman, Lin Haoming discovered that the power inside had decreased by a third from just that one strike.

Losing so much power in just one strike made Lin Haoming somewhat reluctant, but he also understood why some talismans were worth tens of thousands of spirit stones. This talisman, though powerful, was now only worth seven thousand.

However, if he calculated carefully, that one strike cost him over two thousand spirit stones, which was quite a significant expense.

Approaching Qian Yuanshu, Lin Haoming found that although Qian Yuanshu was dead, his body was still in a very solid state, especially the bones that were exposed, which looked like fine white jade, with a faint, soft glow.

In his previous life, Lin Haoming was a medical graduate specializing in surgery. After grabbing Qian Yuanshu's storage bag, he immediately squatted down to study it.

Soon, he discovered that Qian Yuanshu's condition was indeed unusual. After some thought, he directly wrapped up the corpse and put it into the storage bag, then flew back toward the imperial city.

On the way, Lin Haoming couldn't wait to open Qian Yuanshu's storage bag.

His divine sense scanned inside and found that Qian Yuanshu was indeed quite poor. Apart from a mediocre mid-grade flying sword, he only had one low-grade magical artifact, and the only pills were detoxification and qi recovery pills. There wasn't a single pill to enhance cultivation. The most pitiful part was that he only had a few low-grade spirit stones and one mid-grade spirit stone. There were no minerals or spirit herbs at all.

Seeing this, Lin Haoming knew he had lost money this time. The most valuable magical artifact was directly damaged by him, and the remaining items were worth at most three hundred spirit stones, if that.

Although there were no valuable items, he quickly took out two jade slips containing information from the storage bag.

He directly placed one on his forehead, and his eyes brightened, his lips involuntarily curling into a smile.

Since he hadn't gone far, Lin Haoming hadn't read much before returning to the imperial city.

Upon returning, Lin Haoming saw Li Shun Tian being surrounded by the same few people at the Yongfu Palace gate. The Yongfu Princess looked very confident.

Lin Haoming knew these people were like reeds in the wind, immediately jumping back when they saw him not match Qian Yuanshu.

Of course, these people were also seasoned, and they wouldn't take risks without seeing the true outcome. So when they saw Lin Haoming return, although they were surprised, they immediately smiled and said, "Senior Brother Lin, you're back!"

Lin Haoming, seeing their smiling faces, coldly snorted, "What? You thought I wouldn't come back?"

"Of course not, of course not!" The few people, hearing Lin Haoming's displeased tone, immediately bowed and nodded.

At this moment, the Yongfu Princess's face changed drastically, and she called out, "Where's my master?"

"Killed by me!" Lin Haoming patted his storage bag and directly threw out Qian Yuanshu's corpse.

Seeing Qian Yuanshu's body split in two, the outer disciples were all astonished beyond belief. They had only thought Lin Haoming might have driven Qian Yuanshu away, not that he would kill him outright.

The Yongfu Princess was also shocked and immediately threw out a low-grade flying sword, trying to escape.

But she was only at the fourth level of the Qi Condensation stage, and there was no way she could escape. Lin Haoming personally acted, and in just one move, he captured her.

After capturing the Yongfu Princess, Lin Haoming looked at the others and coldly said, "All of you, get lost! Go do what you need to do!"

Hearing Lin Haoming's words, everyone felt as if they had been pardoned and immediately disappeared.

Li Shun Tian also breathed a sigh of relief and walked over, saying, "Senior Brother Lin, you are truly powerful. Even a peak Qi Condensation inner disciple is no match for you!"

Lin Haoming knew that Li Shun Tian, seeing him kill a peak Qi Condensation inner disciple, was now genuinely convinced of his strength and would follow his orders without question.

"Follow me in!" Lin Haoming didn't have time to dwell on this and directly headed toward the Yongfu Palace.

Inside the Yongfu Palace, Lin Haoming found that a magical array had been set up. He immediately had Li Shun Tian open the array.

After the array was opened, nothing inside could be detected from the outside, which made Lin Haoming even more certain that the Yongfu Palace was not simple.

He threw the Yongfu Princess to the ground and asked calmly, "Speak. What were you and your so-called master doing here?"

The Yongfu Princess looked at Lin Haoming, then at Li Shun Tian, and surprisingly calmly asked, "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"No, but I can give you a chance to be reborn. Otherwise, I can make you completely disappear from this world!" Lin Haoming said without hiding his intentions.

"Fine, I agree!" The Yongfu Princess did not hesitate and immediately agreed.

Lin Haoming was somewhat surprised. This woman was so decisive. For some reason, Lin Haoming felt that the Yongfu Princess had a bit of Xie Ruolan's shadow.

But he didn't think much about it. The Yongfu Princess had already gotten up and walked into her bedroom.

The bedroom was not large and had no lavish decorations, everything was very simple and elegant.

The Yongfu Princess walked to the bed and pressed a mechanism. The bed lifted, revealing a passage below.

She walked down, and Lin Haoming and Li Shun Tian followed.

Soon they reached underground, and a stone door blocked their path, with a magical array set up on it.

The Yongfu Princess cast a spell at the stone door, and it immediately glowed and moved aside.

Entering the stone door, Lin Haoming and Li Shun Tian couldn't help but frown.

Behind the stone door was a stone room over thirty feet long and wide. Inside the room, there was nothing but a group of children, tied to wooden stakes.

These children were both boys and girls, the oldest being about fifteen or sixteen years old, the youngest about eight or nine. Each was currently unconscious.

"Are these children the palace's secret?" Li Shun Tian asked, somewhat surprised.

The Yongfu Princess didn't speak, but Lin Haoming nodded, "It seems so. Haven't you noticed? They all have spirit roots, which means they can cultivate immortal techniques!"

"You're right. These children are those I've helped gather over the years who have spirit roots. However, no matter how good their spirit roots are, after our cultivation, the highest level they have reached is the third level of the Qi Condensation stage!" The Yongfu Princess said at this point.

"What are they used for?" Li Shun Tian asked curiously.

"To practice my master's techniques!" The Yongfu Princess glanced at Lin Haoming.

From her glance, Lin Haoming knew this woman was very smart. She had already guessed that he had uncovered the truth.

"Shun Tian, go out!" Lin Haoming directly ordered.

Li Shun Tian, hearing this, knew that Lin Haoming wanted to ask the Yongfu Princess something alone. He also knew it was related to Qian Yuanshu's secret. Since Lin Haoming had asked him to leave, he didn't dare to stay. Lin Haoming's act of killing Qian Yuanshu had left a deep impression on him, and he didn't dare to disobey.

After Li Shun Tian left, Lin Haoming directly asked, "Speak. How did you do it?"

PS: This week, I have a recommendation, but I can't even get on the big list. I really admire those who can manipulate the rankings. To make you spend more, brothers and sisters, if you have votes, cast them; if you don't have votes, click; if you haven't collected, collect now!

[Page Break]

[Page Break]