Chapter 2363 Crested Jade Peak

The narrow alley was dark and dilapidated.

When Lin Xun stepped out with Chi Cangmei, he no longer concealed his aura.

Almost instantly, the sentries lurking in the dark noticed them

However, that was also the last scene they ever saw.

By the time Lin Xun and Chi Cangmei emerged from the alley, the path behind them was eerily silent.

Chi Cangmei’s heart sank. A chilling realization struck her. The hidden sentries nearby had met their end.

However, what truly terrified her was that, from start to finish, she hadn’t even noticed when or how Lin Xun made his move!

Only now did Chi Cangmei begin to grasp a terrifying truth. Lin Xun had finally returned to the lower world after all these years, but what level of cultivation had he reached?

Lin Xun’s voice rang out, cold and indifferent, “I need to extract some information from your spirit. Don’t resist.”

Chi Cangmei stiffened, caught off guard. Before she could react, she felt her spirit tremble, as if countless cold tendrils had reached into the depths of her mind.

A few moments later, Lin Xun withdrew his spirit sense. He now understood everything he needed to know.

For example, the strongholds of the Chi Clan, Hua Clan and Qi Clan, and the power that these three aristocratic clans currently wielded.

“You...do you really intend to make an enemy of the entire world?”

Chi Cangmei’s face turned deathly pale, a mix of fear and disbelief flickering in her eyes.

“The entire world?” Lin Xun raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Are those so-called Ancient Wasteland Domain factions enough to represent the entire lower world?”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

If Chi Cangmei wasn’t a captive now, she would have scoffed and ridiculed Lin Xun on the spot. To her, his words were madness. The factions of the Ancient Wasteland Domain had long stood at the pinnacle of this lower world. The power they wielded was enough to dominate the world. How could they not represent it?

It was clear that she didn’t believe that Lin Xun could stand against the major factions of the Ancient Wasteland Domain.

Lin Xun had no interest in explaining to her.

Dao light swirled around him, and in the next moment, his Green Wood Dao Body and Red Flame Dao Body emerged beside him.

“Go!”

Without hesitation, Lin Xun gave his command. The Green Wood Dao Body and the Red Flame Dao Body vanished instantly, splitting off in different directions.

From Chi Cangmei’s memories, Lin Xun had learned that the captured hostages were held in the Chi Clan, Hua Clan and Qi Clan.

Since this was a rescue mission, Lin Xun wanted to crush the enemy in the shortest time possible to prevent any unforeseen accidents.

Thus, Lin Xun sent the Green Wood Dao Body and Red Flame Dao Body to the Qi Clan and the Hua Clan respectively.

Then, he himself headed straight for the Chi Clan with Chi Cangmei!

The Forbidden City was still prosperous, bustling and lively. The streets were filled with endless streams of horses and carriages and bustling crowds.

Lin Xun appeared to be taking a leisurely stroll, but with each step, it felt as if the stars shifted and the space contracted beneath his feet. He covered miles in an instant, yet not a single soul in the sea of people noticed his presence.

His speed had reached a level that was beyond comprehension.

The most astonishing thing was that as Lin Xun moved forward, no power leaked out. His movements were silent, like a phantom of light, traveling at an inconceivable speed yet alarming no one.

To Chi Cangmei, everything around her became a blur, her vision and hearing failing to register anything.

Fortunately, it all ended in just half an incense stick of time.

When her vision finally stabilized, she let out a long sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest. However, when she looked up, her face went pale as if she had been struck by lightning.

Crested Jade Peak!

This had been the Chi Clan’s stronghold for generations.

Covering such an immense distance in just half an incense stick of time was something that Chi Cangmei could hardly fathom.

Even if a quasi-Emperor moved at full strength, it would still take them forty-five minutes to travel from that alley to Crested jade Peak!

“After today, this place will no longer exist.” Lin Xun uttered indifferently, putting his hands behind his back.

“Do you really want to make an enemy of my Chi Clan?” Even now, Chi Cangmei still couldn’t believe what was happening.

“No, your Chi Clan is not even qualified to be my enemy.” As Lin Xun said that, he marched forward. “Stand here and watch.”

Chi Cangmei wanted to struggle, but she couldn’t move at all.

Her expression was daze, as if her entire understanding of the world was being overturned. This was the Forbidden City, a place where aeth qi had flourished for fifty years. It was no longer what it used to be!!

Where did Lin Xun get the confidence to storm the Chi Clan’s territory alone?

What was most unbelievable was that he wasn’t even trying to conceal his presence. He simply strode onto Crested Jade Peak!

“You are asking for death!” A flicker of madness flashed through Chi Cangmei’s eyes.

......

“Hey, isn’t that the eldest daughter of the Chi Clan?”

In the distance, many cultivators noticed Lin Xun and Chi Cangmei.

Crested Jade Peak was the stronghold of Chi Clan, one of the prestigious high clans of the empire. Ever since the Chi Clan submitted to Spirit Treasure Holy Land, their influence and power had only grown stronger. In the Forbidden City, they were now a force of absolute authority.

Who wouldn’t recognize Chi Cangmei, the eldest daughter of the head of the Chi Clan?

“Who is that young man? His back looks...strangely familiar?”

An elder cultivator frowned, then his pupils suddenly contracted, and he exclaimed in disbelief, “Could it be him?”

“Who?”

The people around him looked over, their curiosity piqued.

“The Lord of Mind Cleansing Peak, Lin Xun.” The old man’s gaze was complicated and filled with disbelief and doubt. “Many years ago, when I was still a young man, I had the fortune of seeing the true face of this Lord of Mind Cleansing Peak, but he has been gone for a long time now...”

“Lin Xun?”

Some youngsters struggled to recall. Then, a few couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Ah, that guy. The one whose name once resounded throughout the capital. Unfortunately, the world has changed. Now that the aeth qi has revived, even if he returns, it won’t matter. He’ll struggle to find a foothold.” Someone laughed dismissively.

Lin Xun? To them, he was a relic of the past. Not worth mentioning anymore.

“Mind Cleansing Peak has long been destroyed. If that young man is really Lin Xun, does he even dare to seek revenge?” Someone smirked.

“Revenge? The moment he shows his face, he’s as good as dead. Everyone knows that it was because of Lin Xun that Qinglu Academy, the Rune Master Association, Golden Jade Hall and others fell. The one that those major factions of the Ancient Wasteland Domain want to eliminate the most is him!”

As they spoke, a sudden boom rang out.

Everyone looked up, only to witness a gruesome scene. At the foot of Crested Jade Peak, a Chi Clan expert who was guarding the mountain gate had burst apart like a balloon, blood spraying in all directions.

“In broad daylight, he...he dared to walk up to the Chi Clan’s gates and kill?”

The cultivators in the distance were dumbstruck.

Does he have a death wish?!

......

At this moment, at the entrance of Crested Jade Peak.

The Chi Clan descendants guarding the mountain gate instantly turned pale, their eyes widening in disbelief. This was the Forbidden City, the Chi Clan’s territory. Who would be so insane as to provoke them here.

“How dare you kill at our Chi Clan’s gate? You are seeking death!”

A Chi Clan expert charged forward furiously, his figure flashing like a bolt of lightning. With a sudden leap into the air, he lunged at Lin Xun, striking down with a fierce palm strike.

Boom!

Five blue rays of light shot forth from the man’s fingertips, sharp as piercing blades, slicing through the air with a shrill, ear-splitting whistle. Each ray stretched three feet long, flickering unsteadily. As they tore through the void, their power was both fierce and domineering.

“It’s Chi Yunpeng, the third deacon of the Chi Clan’s outer sect. His cultivation has reached the eighth Longevity Tribulation Stage, and he’s only half a step from breaking through into the ninth level. He has mastered the Chi Clan’s Blue Astral Grand Palm Seal to perfection. Even those of the same cultivation stage as him wouldn’t dare to face him head-on. That young man is in trouble!”

An elderly cultivator spoke in a low, knowing voice.

The crowd stirred. Their eyes flickered with astonishment.

Chi Yunpeng was a renowned master of the Longevity Tribulation Stage. Nowadays, every deacon of the Chi Clan’s outer sect was at least a King expert.

Just as everyone’s heart tightened, preparing to shake their heads in silent pity for Lin Xun, something happened.

The powerful palm seal silently dissipated into the void before it could even touch Lin Xun.

Chi Yunpeng’s expression twisted in sheer shock and disbelief, as if he was being crushed beneath a thousand mountains.

Boom!

His body exploded mid-air. Blood splattered across the sky, dyeing the area around the mountain gate a gruesome red.

“H—he?”

Everyone froze, their eyes wide with horror and disbelief.

A distinguished deacon of the Chi Clan’s outer sect had died just like that!

Furthermore, from start to finish, no one saw how it happened. What level of cultivation did it take to obliterate a powerful Longevity Tribulation expert so effortlessly?

A True Saint?

Or perhaps Big Saint? Saint-King?

“Impossible. Saints are now the core pillars of the major factions. And quasi-Emperors are as elusive as divine dragons, existing high above. If such a formidable figure had emerged in the Forbidden City, how come we have never heard of him?”

The cultivators murmured in disbelief. .

At that moment, the Chi Clan experts guarding the mountain gate had drastically changed expressions.

“Attack together!”

All of a sudden, figures surged in from all directions.

Dozens of Chi Clan experts launched a simultaneous attack. Their combined might resembled a devastating tsunami.

The watching cultivators were visibly shaken. This was the true foundation of the Chi Clan, an overlord-like clan. However, Lin Xun didn’t even react. He didn’t even acknowledge the incoming storm of attacks. He didn’t even lift a finger. He simply kept walking forward.

Screams tore through the air.

Dozens of figures exploded midair, like fireworks igniting in the night sky. Scarlet blood bloomed, hot and vivid, painting the heavens in a gruesome spectacle.

It fell deathly silent.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of cultivators, with the strongest at the ninth Longevity Tribulation Stage and the weakest at the Cyclic Derivation, all perished on the spot!

The distant onlookers’ minds went blank, and their hands and feet ice-cold.

What kind of terrifying cultivation would allow someone to achieve that?

What was even more bizarre to them was that Chi Cangmei had just stood there the entire time, motionless and showing no attempt to stop him!

Everything felt so strange and abnormal.

At this moment, Lin Xun stepped through the gate of Crested Jade Peak.

As the stronghold of the Chi Clan, the base of Crested Jade Peak was shrouded in strict restriction forces. Over the years, the Chi Clan had poured vast resources into setting up a Saint-level restriction array capable of suppressing and obliterating even Saint-Kings.

Yet Lin Xun casually walked right through it. There was not a ripple. Not a flicker of resistance. It was as if the array was mere decoration.

It was at this moment that Chi Cangme’s confidence crumbled completely, as if her sense of security had been shattered. Her gaze turned dim and lifeless.

She replayed everything from the moment she encountered Lin Xun to now, and only one thought remained in her mind:

He must have reached the Quasi-Emperor Stage!

In today’s world, a Quasi-Emperor was akin to a sovereign, absolutely qualified to stir up a storm in the Forbidden City!