Chapter 77

Seeing that Zhuang Huai had already protected the person, the two of them, although they wanted to obtain the top-grade spirit stone, hesitated and ultimately sighed in unison.

As the two sighed, Lin Haoming also felt the pressure disappear, finally recovering. He then realized that the other party had probably given up.

"Since the Blood Refinement Sect disciple has obtained the top-grade spirit stone, there's no need to count it. This time, the Blood Refinement Sect wins!" Wu Xin clasped his hands together and conceded directly.

Mrs. You glanced at Lin Haoming a few more times before coldly saying, "Little guy, you have good luck, but I hope you'll always have such good luck on your path to greatness!"

"Disciples of the Blood Refinement Sect have always had good fortune!" Seeing that Mrs. You was actually threatening a disciple, Zhuang Huai stepped in to protect him.

Mrs. You just coldly snorted and then left without another word, taking Hu Xiangzhen and the others with her.

Wu Xin then exchanged a few words with Fahong and Fayuan, glanced at Lin Haoming, and left with them without saying anything more.

Seeing that both sides had left, Zhuang Huai, who had been protecting Lin Haoming, also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where is the top-grade spirit stone?" Without the pressure, Zhuang Huai once again became the high and mighty ancestor, asking Lin Haoming.

Lin Haoming knew he couldn't keep it and had no intention of doing so, so he took it out directly.

Suddenly seeing the bright red, translucent spirit stone that emitted a faint red light, Zhuang Huai couldn't help but take a deep breath.

After a moment, he sighed helplessly, shook his head, and put the spirit stone into his storage bag. "You did well. What's your name?"

"Lin Haoming!" Lin Haoming answered honestly.

"Good, Lin Haoming, I remember. This time, you've done a great job, and I will report your contribution to the sect!" Zhuang Huai said calmly.

"Thank you, Ancestor!" Lin Haoming immediately bowed respectfully.

Zhuang Huai just nodded, and seeing that no one else was around, he decided to count the gains right there.

Lin Haoming had only taken out one top-grade spirit stone, but that was enough. The second place, Qiao Chun, had only obtained a little over ten thousand spirit stones, and the third place was Wang Chen, who had received the spirit stone from Lin Haoming.

Wang Chen was naturally overjoyed with this result. With three foundation-establishing pills in hand, Wang Chen was confident he could successfully establish his foundation.

When this result was announced, Lin Haoming also felt that he had received a small amount of merit from him.

However, while these gains made Lin Haoming happy, the one thing that marred it was that Wu Hongfei had not died in the chaos.

Not only did he not die, but the spirit stones he had on him were enough to place him sixth, meaning he would also receive two foundation-establishing pills.

This result made Lin Haoming feel uneasy. Although Wu Hongfei was seriously injured, his cultivation had already reached the peak of the Qi Condensation stage. Once he recovered, he could immediately attempt to establish his foundation.

Compared to him, Lin Haoming was only at the ninth level of the Qi Condensation stage. Although taking a foundation-establishing pill to attempt it was not impossible, doing so would directly reduce the probability of success. He might not have enough foundation-establishing pills, and even if he succeeded, his foundation would be unstable, requiring more time to stabilize at the foundation stage, which would be a loss.

Lin Haoming suddenly realized that his troubles would never end. He needed to contact Xie Ruolan to see if he could help.

Lin Haoming's idea was good, but Xie Ruolan was currently on the sixth level of the sect, and he had no way to contact him.

Moreover, he was not an inner sect disciple and could only stay in the market on the first level, waiting for the sect's rewards to be decided.

Good news often stays at home, but bad news travels a thousand miles.

In fact, not long after Lin Haoming returned to the sect, everyone knew that although he had good luck and obtained a top-grade spirit stone, earning three foundation-establishing pills from the sect, he had also offended Wu Hongfei and would not have an easy time in the future.

If it were just Wu Hongfei, Lin Haoming wouldn't be afraid. After all, Wu Hongfei was seriously injured and unlikely to establish his foundation within a year. The key was whether the ancestor who favored Wu Hongfei would try to trip him up.

Although Lin Haoming thought an ancestor wouldn't lower himself to deal with him, if Wu Hongfei sought revenge, no one would stop him, though it wouldn't be too overt.

Feeling helpless, Lin Haoming decided to stay in crowded places. Fortunately, when he gave the spirit stone to Wang Chen, he had hidden some mid-grade and high-grade spirit stones in the spatial pearl, so he wouldn't lack spirit stones. Moreover, he now had the spirit-gathering pearl, which had its fifth seal released.

Lin Haoming had already tested it and found that he could fill a mid-grade spirit stone in an hour. Using mid-grade spirit stones to create a spirit-gathering array was what he needed most for cultivation, so he didn't need to worry about spirit stones.

He still had sixty-six small merits. The sixth seal of the spirit-gathering pearl required one major merit, the fourth seal of the demon-gathering pearl required twenty-seven small merits, and the second seal of the spatial pearl required nine small merits.

Although the spatial pearl was only ten feet square, it could stack space, so it was enough for his use, and he didn't need to waste merits on it.

If the fourth seal of the demon-gathering pearl were released, the demon aura it provided wouldn't change much, only the capacity would increase, so it wasn't necessary. Lin Haoming decided to keep the sixty-six small merits for now.

In the days since his return, Lin Haoming mostly hid, claiming he was recovering from his injuries.

He learned about events through Bao Wenliang and Li Shunian.

One day, after practicing the "Divine Bone Technique" for a while, someone suddenly burst into his meditation room.

Seeing the person, Lin Haoming recognized it was Ling Shengjie. Although he was annoyed, he couldn't blame him and could only suppress his agitation, slowly adjusting his breathing.

"Senior Brother Ling, why have you come!" After calming down, Lin Haoming asked calmly.

"I heard that you've done a great job, so I came to congratulate you. Ancestor Zhuang has already instructed all the disciples who received the sect's rewards to go to the second level to claim them. I came to inform you and discuss something with you!" Ling Shengjie said slowly.

Hearing that he wanted to discuss something, Lin Haoming suddenly had a bad feeling.

He looked at him and asked, "Senior Brother Ling, what do you want to discuss?"

Ling Shengjie lazily sat in a chair, as if discussing a trivial matter, and said, "I heard you've made an enemy of Wu Hongfei. Wu Hongfei has recently said that he will take your life before establishing his foundation. Since you're under my protection, I warned him. Of course, Wu Hongfei isn't an easy opponent, and I need some help to deal with him. People won't help for nothing, so you should understand what to do, right?"