The night was dark and heavy.

When Lu Ting arrived at the top of the hill, he found several figures waiting there.

The group was headed by a man riding a majestic and sinister scaled horse. He wore a scarlet-red cape and his gaze as cold as a blade. It was the Feiyun Village Guard Leader, Lian Rufeng.

Upon Lu Ting’s arrival, Lian Rufeng asked, “How did it go?”

“Big Brother, that rascal is trouble. I nearly lost to him due to my carelessness.” Lu Ting’s face was filled with guilt as he was unable to personally accept such an outcome.

Lian Rufeng and the others were shocked by these words. Lu Tong was a True Martial second layer expert. It was shocking to find out that he had failed to probe a mere thirteen-year-old boy.

Lu Ting quickly described the battle and everything else that had happened. In the end, he said, “Big Brother, you were right. I have a feeling that rascal is definitely a helper that old man Xiao Tianren found!”

Lian Rufeng fell silent. A long time later, he sneered, “From what you told us, Lin Xun is merely an Inner Strengthening small fry. That old fox Xiao Tianren is a fool if he has placed his hopes on Lin Xun.”

After a brief pause, Lian Rufeng waved his hand, “However, since we now know that the brat only has a little cultivation, it’s no longer worth paying him any attention.”

“Big Brother, how about we take this chance to kill that rascal to intimidate Xiao Tianren?” Lu Ting was clearly not willing to take things lying down. He was ashamed at his loss to Lin Xun and naturally did not wish to leave it at this.

“No hurry. We can let them live for the time being. Our most important task now is to fully integrate ourselves with the Qingyang Tribe and establish a foothold for ourselves there. When we achieve this, we’ll have a place to live even if we cut off all ties with Feiyun Village.”

Lian Rufeng took a deep breath as the flames of ambition burned in his eyes. “This matter is of utmost importance. With the Qingyang Tribe’s power and our abilities, we might even be able to set our sights on Donglin City!”

Donglin City!

It was the biggest city in the vicinity of the Great Three Thousand Mountains. Highly populated, well-connected, heavy traffic—all these factors made it an important trade hub along the Ziyao Empire’s southwest border.

It was said that anyone who could establish themselves in Donglin City would be officially recognized as a citizen of the Ziyao Empire. All in all, it was a far better place to live in than the dangerous godforsaken little mountain village.

The blood of the surrounding guards boiled in excitement as they imagined such a future.

“Lu Ting, you and Qian Qi shall stay behind. Qian Qi has reached the Organ Opening layer, and together, you will be able to easily subdue anyone in the village. Remember, keep a close eye on Xiao Tianren and immediately capture the old man the moment you feel something is amiss!” Lian Rufeng stared hard at Lu Ting and another muscular middle-aged man as he instructed. His tone was filled with unquestionable authority.

Lu Ting and Qian Qi looked at each other and nodded in acknowledgement.

Satisfied by their response, Lian Rufeng nodded. Soon after, he shouted, “Three months! Three months at the very most and all of Feiyun Village’s riches will become ours! With our newfound wealth and our status as members of the Qingyang Tribe, Donglin City’s gates will surely open for us brothers!

“Let’s ride!”

Lian Rufeng urged his scaled horse forward, leading the other guards as they swiftly disappeared into the distant mountains.

Meanwhile, Lu Ting and Qian Qi returned to Feiyun Village under the cover of the night.

……

Inside the thatched cottage, the window was open, allowing the cool night breeze to flow in.

Bright starlight poured down from above, sprinkling a layer of silver on the study desk while also bathing the yellowing book and dark gray rune brush in a mysterious glow.

Lin Xun gently caressed the book and brush as he mumbled, “Mister Lu said that these two treasures hide an astonishing secret. Discovering the secret will allow me to change my fate and fully recover from my inner injuries…”

A long time ago, Lin Xun was made aware that he was born with an unbelievably rare Origin Aeth Artery. It was called the Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer and was a top tier heavenly bloodline that anyone would be proud to have.

Such an innate talent would most definitely make its owner a natural one-in-a-million cultivation genius. As long as the owner worked hard, he would, without a doubt, become the pride of a generation and renowned throughout the world. Such a person would become a terrifying to the max existence who could look down on everyone else.

Unfortunately, Lin Xun’s Grand Abyss Heaven Devourer Origin Source Artery was dug out and stolen by someone at birth, which nearly caused him to lose his life in the process.

Although Mister Lu managed to save Lin Xun, the extraction of his Origin Aeth Artery had left irrecoverable injuries on his meridian channels and apertures.

This was the reason why his channels were currently weak and rough. As a result, his cultivation progress appeared ordinary, and he was still stuck at the second layer Inner Strengthening after many years.

According to Mister Lu, if Lin Xun was unable to recover from his inner injuries, he would forever be stuck at the True Martial stage, unable to ascend to higher realms of cultivation.

The only silver lining was the book and brush left by Mister Lu. They were akin to a tiny ray of hope in Lin Xun’s almost completely dark cultivation path.

It was common knowledge that all medicines, secret arts, inheritances...were unable to heal injuries left behind from the extraction of an individual’s Origin Aeth Artery.

However, Mister Lu had told Lin Xun that unravelling the secret hidden in the book and brush would allow him to change his fate and be reborn.

The book and brush silently rested on the study desk.

Lin Xun gradually put aside his thoughts. With a deep breath, he flipped open the yellowing book...

This was the first time he opened the ancient book after the prison mine had been destroyed.

What kind of earth-shaking secrets did it hold?

Lin Xun could not help but feel expectant. However, he was slightly taken aback when he saw the contents of the first page.

There were no words on the page, only a single rune diagram. It was the all-too-familiar green wood rune.

When Lin Xun was very young, he had begun to practise this very rune diagram under Mister Lu’s tutelage. He had long memorized its structure and essence, allowing him to easily construct it with a flip of the hand.

Flip~

Lin Xun pondered a little before flipping to the second page. There were no words here either, only another rune diagram. This time, it was the very familiar piercing gold rune.

Flip~ Flip~

Lin Xun continued flipping as if he was unable to accept this. However, he found that each page contained a single rune diagram. Every rune was far too familiar and he had practised them countless times since young. They were practically imprinted into his bones and he could draw them even with his eyes closed.

“Why is it like this? Could the secret that Mister Lu talked about be hidden within these basic rune diagrams?”

After flipping through half the book, Lin Xun still did not notice anything special. His brows subconsciously scrunched together as he fell into deep thought.

If these were rare and highly ranked runes, Lin Xun would have at least felt them somewhat special.

However, they were all the most fundamental and well-known rune diagrams, which made him very puzzled.

It was an ancient leather book filled with the aura of time and had been solemnly entrusted to him by Mister Lu during their life or death farewell. So why did it not contain any earth-shaking secrets, but instead several of the most basic and commonly-known rune diagrams?

Unable to accept this, Lin Xun continued to flip the pages. When he finally reached the last page, his hands abruptly froze as his eyes narrowed.

The final page was different!

Instead of a fundamental rune diagram, there was a mottled, incomplete and dim mess of strokes. It was a strange diagram that seemed nothing like a rune.

It resembled something that had been haphazardly drawn by a child with no semblance of a proper rune.

However, it suddenly drew Lin Xun’s attention. Could the secret mentioned by Mister Lu be hidden in this strange diagram?

Lin Xun began to carefully inspect the diagram, meticulously studying every complex, incomplete, dim and mottled inch of it.

Time flowed by without notice until Lin Xun’s vision turned a little fuzzy. However, he still did not discover anything noteworthy.

Lin Xun could not help but feel disappointed. He stared at the strange diagram and fell into thought.

An old book that was filled with fundamental rune diagrams. Only its last page contained a strange, messy and complex diagram. This was definitely not normal.

What’s the hidden meaning within?

Where should he start to unravel its secret?

Question after question surged in Lin Xun’s mind.

While Lin Xun was racking his brains in frustration, he suddenly noticed something from the corner of his eye. The last page had a different hue from the others and was faintly dark red.

He picked up the book and brought it up to the oil lamp to get a clearer view. On the thin page made from some unknown material, several previously unobserved things emerged.

Hand prints!

Extremely faint blood-colored hand prints!

It was as if someone had repeatedly pressed a bloody hand onto the page long ago. Due to the passage of time, the bloody hand prints had become faded and mottled.

Moreover, Lin Xun observed that these hand prints were of varying sizes and shades. Each print was clearly from a different person and era.

A bold thought quietly arose in Lin Xun’s head,

Could it be that this mysterious book was obtained by different cultivators over the years. They tried everything to discover its secrets but were unable to make any progress. In the end, they tried to use their essence to draw out the answer within.

At this thought, Lin Xun bit the tip of his finger and let a drop of essence blood fall onto the mysterious page.