“Previously, Revival Friend Company had a fleet. Now, this fleet has ended up in our hands.”

As if a rusted blade was polished once more, this middle-aged man whose eyes erupted with spellbound radiance looked at Lin Xi, saying with a smile. “This fleet is currently headed towards Cassia Cedar Meadow. Wenren Cangyue’s best batch of military equipment are all inside this caravan.”

Lin Xi said with a frown. “That is one of Heavenfall Province’s paths connected to Mountain Sun Path. Could it be that you all can break through the military’s blockade and deliver all of it into Yunqin Empire?”

The middle-aged man laughed and said, “Breaking through the military’s blockade and delivering them into Yunqin Empire is impossible. Our plan is for this batch of military equipment to ultimately land in Heavenfall Province military’s hands.”

Lin Xi’s brows furrowed even tighter. “What kind of conspiracy is behind this?”

The middle-aged man looked at Lin Xi and said, “This is a question I do not need to answer. When some news arrive, you will naturally understand why.”

“Alright.” Lin Xi nodded. He looked at him and said, “I have one last question. How did you detect us? Was it in Wuren City or was it in this wasteland? Roughly how many halts of time ago?”

“You are actually asking about this matter in such detail… however, I can sympathize. As a Windstalker, being discovered while in stealth is something that deals quite the psychological blow.” The middle-aged man smiled and said, “I don’t know if Wuren City has any Green Luan Academy experts, so I naturally wouldn’t rashly enter. I was merely waiting for Lu Tianfu to deal with some matters, and then just happened to run into you all… Actually, what I want to know is how you two noticed there was something wrong with Lu Tianfu.”

“In that case, it was at most a few halts of time ago that you discovered us?” Lin Xi didn’t reply to this middle-aged man’s question, only quickly asking this.

The middle-aged man looked at Lin Xi in shock, but he still nodded. “Seeing your appearances clearly took me a bit of time, but it was at most just five or six halts of time ago.”

“Very good. This can allow us to have a chance of surviving, change your gift from heaven into a nightmare.” Lin Xi looked at this middle-aged man and said this seriously.

The middle-aged man’s breathing stopped, only now did he sense that something was a bit off. When his expression changed slightly, Lin Xi already quietly said the word ‘return’ in his head out of habit, pushing that ‘roulette’ in his head.

…

The torn grass returned to their original appearance.

Everything seemed like a dream, a dream only the dreamer knew about.

The middle-aged man whose temples were dyed with frost quietly sat on a rock with moss growing on it, completely blending in with the surrounding air, waiting for that distant carriage to arrive.

He had no idea that not long ago, he previously grasped the entire world under his hands.

He wasn’t the type who was egotistical or stupid. What Li Ku said was actually quite true, in this world, what was revered the most was still power. Regardless of whether it was imperial authority, military, Green Luan Academy, Purgatory Mountain… what they represented was power. The reason why there was chaos and why there were disputes, was only because there wasn’t someone who was strong to the point where they could come and go as they pleased, kill whoever they wanted.

Even though Green Luan Academy’s Vice Principal Xia was powerful, there was also Purgatory Mountain and Purgatory Mountain’s Patriarch.

If there was someone who possessed strength that could easily take down Vice Principal Xia and Purgatory Mountain Patriarch, eliminating the joint strength of these two individuals, then that person would naturally become the king of this entire world.

Principal Zhang was originally precisely this type of individual, which was why he could establish this entire world’s most massive empire with his hands alone.

Li Ku also wished to pursue pure power, but in the end, he was killed by Purgatory Mountain after it recruited Wenren Cangyue.

This Tangcang middle-aged man was already a Sacred Expert, someone who possessed the tremendous power of Big Black, perhaps already able to defeat most Sacred Experts in this world. However, he obviously didn’t have confidence in defeating several Sacred Experts, even if it was just the joint attacks of two Sacred Experts.

However, with Glorious King Destroy Restraints, Priest Hall’s Radiance, Sanskrit Temple’s Self Exorcism[1], as well as Big Black, this type of soul weapon, his Sacred Expert self who would exceed the basic concepts of normal cultivators would quickly overtake Gu Xinyin and Wenren Cangyue, these types of Sacred Experts. Then, he would most likely become this world’s most powerful cultivator.

In a situation without a choice, if he had to exchange them for Gao Yanan’s life, with Lin Xi’s nature, perhaps he really would hand these things over.

However, no one in this world truly understood what the Divine General talent was.

That was why he only grasped this world for an extremely short amount of time.

At this time, his mood only suddenly produced a bit of mysterious alarm. There seemed to be a bit of strange aura that belonged to cultivators in his perception, , some wind streams that stirred the ordinary heaven and earth energies.

It was as if there were cultivators who moved about in a distant place.

As such, this Tangcang officer who only dared make an appearance again because of Green Luan Academy’s disorder frowned. His arched body stood up from the grass again, the soul force released from his body starting to move aside the surrounding grass in an extremely gentle manner, silently starting to move through the underbrush.

…

“Who?”

At the same time, within a certain brush that was quite far from the moving carriage, Gao Yanan became nervous. She looked at Lin Xi and asked this with an extremely quiet voice.

The complexion of Lin Xi at her side was a bit pale, his forehead covered in a bit of sweat.

For that Tangcang middle-aged man who had Big Black on his back, everything that happened just now was like a quickly fading dream, but for Lin Xi, it truly happened. That type of pressure and weakness, as well as the knowledge of this powerful Sacred Expert, knowing that someone who could easily kill him and Gao Yanan was precisely in this place, there was no way this feeling wouldn’t make his body produce some instinctive reactions.

When they were moving stealthily, Gao Yanan had previously seen Lin Xi’s expression suddenly change many times before in South Tomb Province. She also understood extremely clearly that Lin Xi suddenly producing this type of reaction meant that extreme danger was currently approaching.

Lin Xi didn’t immediately respond to Gao Yanan’s question.

To a certain degree, this Tangcang Sacred Expert who had Big Black was even more terrifying than Tong Wei. The power and speed of Big Black could compensate for any inadequacies in archery skill. As long as they were noticed by the other party and locked onto, there would be no way they could escape.

Meanwhile, just now, he already used eight whole halts of time. He only had two halts of time to turn back at most.

He had to decide what to do to ensure his and Gao Yanan’s safety within an extremely short amount of time.

“There is a Sacred Expert level archer who might discover us. Follow me.”

Within a few breaths of time, Lin Xi made his decision. He quickly said this by Gao Yanan’s side, and then decisively and quickly moved along the path they took before, withdrawing.

Gao Yanan already experienced this type of scene several times, so she didn’t think anything more at all, just following Lin Xi in fleeing.

A wave of humid moisture rushed at their faces.

An expanse of a bright and clear lake appeared in front of Lin Xi and Gao Yanan.

There weren’t any forests around this lake. Even though the water region was vast, its limits could still be seen. There were many several human height reed clusters by the lakeside.

Several gushing springs could clearly be seen in the center of the lake, stirring up the surface of the lake until it produced gleaming reflexions, not that calm at all.

Growing on the surface of the lake were some duckweeds that blossomed with some small white flowers. One could vaguely make out chopstick length fine silver fishes swimming about by the shallow waters.

This lake was naturally not Heaven’s Lens Lake.

Xiyi’s people were used to calling this Bearing Ball Lake, while after Jadefall City was seized by Yunqin Empire, this lake’s name was extremely simple, called Horse Rest Lake. The meaning was that caravans that set out from Wuren City, when they arrived here, they could rest a bit to replenish some drinkable clear water.

“Enter the lake with me.”

Lin Xi and Gao Yanan had both passed by this lake when they came, but they only passed by around the lake. However now, they withdrew here. Lin Xi carefully observed the color of the lake surface, doing his best to adjust his breathing, looking at Gao Yanan while saying this.

Gao Yanan didn’t say anything, only nodding her head, immediately starting to adjust her breathing as well.

Lin Xi decided on how he was going to enter, but the instant he already prepared to jump, he seemed to have recalled something. He removed the leather water sack around his body, completing pouring the water inside into the wetland. Then, he used his soul force, sending in air, making this water purse enlarge again.

Gao Yanan didn’t know that Lin Xi did this because he suddenly recalled the story of Dragon King Zhang that day in East Port Town when he was escaping through the underwater well. Because of the things Dragon King Zhang told him about his escape, he remembered to bring some oxygen for him and Gao Yanan to use. However, she was extremely intelligent, when she saw this, she understood Lin Xi’s intent.

With her and Lin Xi’s current cultivation, if they purely held their breath, they could still only remain underwater for twenty something halts of time. This amount of time was still not enough, when they came back up, they might still be detected by that Sacred Expert. However, if they could exchange a few breaths of air, both her and Lin Xi could remain underwater for several times longer.

Someone like a Sacred Expert, unless they were extremely sure, they definitely wouldn’t waste fifty to sixty halts of time, ‘senselessly’ waiting in a single place.

The more powerful, the more respected the individual, the more precious time would oftentimes be.

…

Lin Xi and Gao Yanan quickly entered the water.

After entering the water, Lin Xi held the water sack filled with oxygen in one hand, while his other hand held Gao Yanan, doing his best to swim to the lake’s depths.

With heavy things like the longsword and giant bow on his back, preventing himself from floating to the surface was extremely easy. However, the mysterious pressure released by a Sacred Expert with Big Black still made Lin Xi’s heart release a type of continuously twitching feeling.

His current cultivation was still far from reaching Sacred Expert level, which was why there was completely no way for him to gauge to what extent a Sacred Expert’s perception reached exactly. The only thing he could do was do his best to hide a bit further from shore, to hide a bit deeper.

Within the lakewater that was becoming colder and colder, Lin Xi struggled to open his eyes. His sight that exceeded normal people allowed him to clearly see that the bottom of the lake was funnel shaped, the deepest part clearly the center of the lake. That area was several dozen meters in size, with several gushing springs that rushed upwards. Jadefall City’s original landform seemed to all be plains, even if there were hills, they were just hillocks. There was mud everywhere around the lake, not even a single stone visible. However, that area seemed to have reached some kind of underground rock cluster, under the erosion of the gushing spring, there were clearly some rugged rocks visible.

Lin Xi held Gao Yanan’s hand, continuously heading towards those deepest depths.

…

It was unknown just how much time passed.

A human figure appeared within the sparkling and clear lakeside’s reeds.

On his back was a giant black chest. It was precisely the worn-out Tangcang officer with the frost dyed temples.

He gave Wuren City’s direction a look, and then gave Horse Rest Lake a look. After thinking for a bit, with a reverse strike of his hand, the large black chest’s two iron fasteners were opened, the ‘Big Black’ inside the opened chest entering his chest.

A pitch-back sphere of light instantly wrapped around his entire body.

This worn-out Tangcang middle-aged man was extremely decisive, directly shooting an arrow into the lake surface that reflected glistening light.

1. Sankrit Temple method obtained by Gu Xinyin