"Get up."

Lin Xun glanced at Ji Leng, who was paralyzed with fear on the ground, before walking towards the door leading to the treasury.

It took quite some time before Ji leng finally returned to his senses and realized that he wasn’t going to die...at least for now.

He climbed to his feet, feeling grateful that he had survived despite being soaked in sweat.

Ji Leng watched Lin Xun disappear into the door and followed without hesitation.

He didn't dare to escape, or rather, he didn't dare to make another mistake!

However, he was still a little confused.

Why...did the terrifying young man let me off?

Daoist Croc’s treasury was located in an extremely small secret realm that measured only a few dozen feet in radius. Despite its size, it was still a secret realm.

The most attention-grabbing sight in the treasury was the piles of dao crystals which resembled small, brightly shining mountains. Roughly estimating, there were at least eighty million crystals!

Dao crystals were undoubtedly more valuable than spirit stones and spirit essences as they were used by experts at the Saint Stage and above for cultivation.

For supreme quasi-Emperors, however, dao crystals had little effect.

Despite this, the sight of eighty million dao crystals piled up into mountains was an eye-opening experience for Lin Xun. Although he had seen numerous rare treasures on his cultivation journey, this was the first time he had seen so many dao crystals in a single place.

With a wave of his sleeve, Lin Xun collected the many dao crystal hills.

"Why did Daoist Croc pile these dao crystals here instead of storing them in storage treasures?"

Ji Leng, who was respectfully standing nearby, quickly explained, "Elder, you might not know this but the Ancient Nebula Underworld is a chaotic land where misfortune can befall anyone. Daoist Croc worries about losing his wealth to his enemies if he carries his riches on him.

"If his wealth is left in the treasury instead, even if he dies, his adopted son or one of his close subordinates can inherit it so his enemies wouldn’t be able to benefit."

Lin Xun acknowledged the explanation with a soft grunt.

In addition to the tremendous amount of dao crystals, there were also many godly tonics and spirit materials stored in bronze chests.

While such treasures might be rare to Saint experts, they held little value to someone like Lin Xun.

He casually stored them away and continued to look around.

"Elder, over here."

Ji Leng walked to the center of the secret realm like a good lackey and lightly stomped the ground, causing wisps of light to emerge.

Next, a rusty bronze sword case appeared from the ground.

Lin Xun approached and observed that the bronze sword case was extremely old and gave off a timeless aura. Numerous dao rune patterns were engraved on its surface, such as the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, flowers, birds, insects, fishes, depictions of ancestral rituals, and the immutable laws of nature...

The sword case made Lin Xun feel a vastly profound and weighty sensation.

At closer inspection, he even began to sense an obscure, heart-palpitating aura from the dao runes on its surface.

Ji Leng explained from the side, "Daoist Croc found this sword case on the previous city lord who was killed last year. Anyone who sees it can tell just how extraordinary and astonishing it is. 𐍂Å𐌽O͍𝖇Ës̈

"Unfortunately, the sword case is empty."

"Empty?" Lin Xun was startled and reached forward to open the sword case.

Sure enough, it was completely empty.

He picked up the sword case. It felt cold and extremely heavy in his hands as if he was holding a sacred mountain. He tried to probe it with his spirit sense but could only feel that obscure, heart-palpitating aura.

A mysterious ancient symbol resembling a vertical pupil was carved onto the bottom of the case. The sight of it filled one with an uncomfortable and strange sensation.

Yezi, who had been resting in Lin Xun's hair, suddenly spoke, "Let me try."

Swish!

Yezi silently flew into the sword case. Soon after, his voice was heard, "Lin Xun, close the sword case."

Lin Xun immediately realized that Yezi must have discovered something!

He closed the sword case, intending to put it in the Dao Endless Pagoda. However, the sword case emanated a bizarre power that made it impossible to be stored inside.

Surprise flashed in Lin Xun’s eyes.

The Dao Endless Pagoda had suppressed several Emperor weapons over the years, and even the terrifying Sword Emperor Hunkong was currently trapped inside it.

This made it all the more clear to Lin Xun that this mysterious sword case was no ordinary item!

Lin Xun thought to himself, "We might be able to learn some of its secrets when Yezi comes out."

He continued searching the secret realm, nearly digging up the entire place, but ultimately didn’t discover any more treasures that could catch his eye.

Come to think of it, Daoist Croc was only a supreme Big Saint. It probably wasn’t easy for him to have accumulated eighty million dao crystals and so many divine materials.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Lin Xun walked to the secret realm’s exit.

Ji Leng hurriedly followed.

At the moment, he was no different from a loyal lackey.

……

The City Lord Residence.

The magnificent palace that once belonged to Daoist Croc was now occupied by Lin Xun.

Comfortably seated, he casually said, "From today, you’ll be the lord of this city."

Ji Leng was taken aback.

It already felt unreal to have somehow snatched his life back from the jaws of death. To have Lin Xun make him the lord of the Nightmare City now felt even more unbelievable than a dream.

Lin Xun ignored Ji Leng’s reaction and continued, "I'm waiting for someone and I don’t want any more trouble to happen before I leave. Do you understand?"

After being briefly dazed, Ji Leng finally dared to believe that all of this was real!

He immediately agreed without hesitation, "Fear not, Elder. I will do my best to atone for my crimes and not let down Elder’s kindness in sparing my life!"

People without value could never survive in the Ancient Nebula Underworld.

Ji Leng was a cunning and resourceful individual. If he was utilized well, he could be a capable talent, but if used poorly, he could also be a dangerous viper.

This was Ji Leng’s value and why he had been forgiven by Lin Xun.

Like he said, he had no plans to leave Nightmare City until Xi returned.

Of course, when the time came to leave, Lin Xun wasn’t going to linger a second longer.

Lin Xun suddenly said, "My name is Daoyuan."

Although it seemed weird to introduce one’s name at this juncture, Ji Leng was only momentarily stunned before he displayed a flattering smile akin to a blooming chrysanthemum and said, "So it's Elder Daoyuan. Dao as vast and boundless as the abyss. What an excellent name!"

Ji Leng was unaware that this was Lin Xun's Dharma name, and Lin Xun wouldn’t explain it either.

However, Lin Xun did know that starting tomorrow, every cultivator in Nightmare City would know the name Daoyuan.

When Xi arrived, she would definitely know who Daoyuan was!

……

Early the next morning.

The news of City Lord Daoist Croc’s demise spread throughout Nightmare City. However, it didn’t cause much of a commotion because the city lord frequently changed over the years.

In fact, Daoist Croc had only taken the position of city lord last year, so it wasn’t surprising that he was now killed by someone else.

However, other news caused much conversation.

For example, the new city lord, Ji Leng, was a ruthless character who had followed Daoist Croc for many years and was known for his resourcefulness.

In a single night, he deployed iron-blooded methods to firmly control Daoist Croc’s forces without incident.

Another example was Daoyuan, the formidable expert who killed Daoist Croc and now served Ji Leng.

This also made the cultivators in the city increasingly respectful and fearful of Ji Leng.

In their opinion, the fact that Ji Leng could recruit someone who killed Daoist Croc showed just how much more scary and formidable he was.

Of course, only Ji Leng himself knew the truth that he was merely a puppet.

In short, Nightmare City gained a new city lord and the name Daoyuan became known to everyone in the city.

Lin Xun naturally didn’t care about these matters and instead focused his time on cultivation.

The fact that Xi’s current situation was still unknown and she hadn’t returned until now made him realize how terrifying the purple-clothed lady, Yanxing, was.

With the taboo order power under control again and the arrival of the new Nameless Esteemed Emperor, Lin Xun knew that the enemy would immediately come for him the moment they discovered he was in the Ancient Nebula Underworld.

This was also why he tried to keep a low-profile after arriving in Nightmare City, and even deliberately concealed his aura.

However, his low-key attitude only made others view him as easy pickings. Not only was he initially regarded as an easy target, but he was also used by others as a tool, thus triggering a series of complications.

This made Lin Xun deeply aware of the Ancient Nebula Underworld’s chaotic and dangerous nature. If one wanted to establish oneself here, trouble and disaster would come knocking even if one didn’t offend anyone.

In the City Lord Residence, Lin Xun meditated as he thought to himself, "In terms of cultivation, I am still a long way from reaching the third realm of the Supreme Quasi-Emperor Stage. Although Xi isn’t present at the moment, I can still hone myself by sparring with Sword Emperor Hunkong.

"Besides this, I should focus on cultivating my dao clones. The more dao clones that have their own consciousness and cultivation, the more benefits I will reap..."

He was currently using his original body.

It was because only by improving the power of the original could his dao clones also undergo a transformation.

After all, his original body was the foundation of his cultivation.

Hmm?

Suddenly, the bronze sword case to his side vibrated slightly. Lin Xun immediately stopped cultivating and opened the sword case.

Whoosh!

Yezi rushed out, flowing with misty and dreamy sword qi. His intent was so bright that it illuminated the entire room.

Lin Xun immediately noticed that although it had only been a single day, Yezi’s aura was clearly stronger!

Although it wasn’t a big change, it was very much amazing!

Could it be because of the sword case?

Just as the thought popped up in Lin Xun's mind, Yezi said, "Lin Xun, this is no ordinary sword case."

There was a rare hint of joy in his voice.

When he wasn’t fighting, Yezi usually had a calm and tranquil personality. Hence, it was clear that he had encountered something incredible this time.

Without waiting for Lin Xun to speak, Yezi said, "There’s another world inside this sword case!"