Thousands of miles away, Lin Xun paused for a break, staying on the alert.

Along the way, he had encountered several dangers, including a five-colored poisonous scorpion lying dormant in the desert’s depths.

It was several feet long with a body seemingly cast from bronze and a hook-like tail. Its aura alone was frightening.

Fortunately, it was in deep slumber, allowing Lin Xun the chance to quickly avoid the area without any danger.

Lin Xun stopped and gazed into the distance. He was already on the edge of the desert. Ahead were dramatic mountain ranges and rolling hills stretching endlessly into the distance and towering into the sky.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes. Many figures were coming his way.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“Little brother, did you return from the depths of the desert? Did you see any shocking changes there?” asked a middle-aged man as he stepped forward.

But before the other party neared, Lin Xun brought out the No-Nonsense Bow in a flash and fired an arrow. With a swoosh, a hole was pierced into the middle-aged man’s chest, sending blood jetting everywhere like a waterfall.

The man’s eyes widened, seemingly a little surprised and a little furious as he lay in the pool of blood.

“Bastard! We were just asking for directions, how dare you kill?” the rest of the cultivators thundered with murderous intent, infuriated by Lin Xun’s action.

“If you want to kill me, just say it out loud. Why cover it up?” Lin Xun said with a smile, but his hands continued to move.

The No-Nonsense Bow quivered as a rain of arrows silently shot in all directions.

“How dare you?!”

“Let’s attack together!”

How would the other cultivators sit still and do nothing?

However, they had underestimated the terror of the No-Nonsense Bow. Within seconds, Lin Xun slaughtered several people.

They finally realized that their situation was bad and panic set in. They switched to threatening Lin Xun instead.

“Little bastard, who are you? How dare you attack our Flying Spirit Clan?”

“How dare you?! Do you know what you’re doing?”

“When the saint of our clan comes, you will die a tragic death!”

Swoosh!

Lin Xun’s expression remained calm as ever as though he couldn’t hear their threats. He didn’t want to waste any more time with them. He took the opportunity to speed into the mountains using the Hornless Ice Dragon Step.

Although furious and unwilling to accept defeat, they didn't have the guts to chase after the youth.

Lin Xun snorted in his heart. He had already noticed that something was wrong when the middle-aged man asked him a question and the rest of the members of the Flying Spirit Clan quietly leaned forward. There was no doubt that they wanted to surround him.

Most importantly, Lin Xun sensed the presence of other experts hiding in the vicinity of the area who were secretly watching him.

Therefore, he attacked without any hesitation.

The Deva Secret Realm was dangerous, but the experts of the various clans who had entered the secret realm were even more dangerous!

They would do anything for opportunities and blessings.

“I should make good use of the time to raise my cultivation level...”

A hint of worry rose in Lin Xun’s heart. His previous experiences made him deeply aware of his dangerous situation, so he felt a sense of urgency.

Witnessing Lin Xun’s departure, the cultivators watching in the dark were taken aback for a second. But they didn’t give chase. They now knew how terrifying the human race boy was after watching him heartlessly slaughter the Flying Spirit Clan experts!

Soon, Lin Xun disappeared into the mountains.

“Why does this area attract so many cultivators?” Lin Xun was puzzled. Along the way, he had sensed the auras of many different cultivators venturing deep into the desert.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that he found out the reason when he eavesdropped on the conversation among a group of weaker cultivators.

It turned out that everything was related to the destruction of the Five Elements Holy Island!

It shook the world, and terrifying visions appeared across the sky, attracting the attention of everyone. Many people believed that world-changing opportunities would emerge there.

Lin Xun’s expression turned strange when he learned about the reason. There were indeed opportunities and blessings there, but they had long disappeared with the sinking of the Five Elements Holy Island. He knew that he would gain nothing even if he had gone there.

“Haha, the desert is full of dangers. There are golden-winged Dapengs, giant snakes and terrifying five-colored poisonous scorpions. I hope you all can come back alive...” Lin Xun shook his head.

“Have you heard that the Herculean Demon Bull Clan, Spirit Treasure Holy Land and other tyrannical clans are eyeing the same place?” A cultivator’s words caught Lin Xun’s attention just as he was about to leave.

“I heard that the place is the dao altar of a legendary Deva and houses a supreme inheritance that has never been seen in the world.”

“Not everyone can get their hands into a place like that. From what I know, many cultivators of different clans have already given up and won’t get involved.”

An altar of a Deva?

Lin Xun exclaimed inwardly, casting his mind back to the diagram that Elder Gao Yang had given Zhao Jingxuan and the others. Could the diagram be connected to the dao altar of the deva?

If that was the case, it would be too amazing. It could make any cultivator go crazy! Even the top authority figures in the outside world would also take action.

Those cultivators continued to discuss and speculate, but there was no further valuable information that Lin Xun could glean from them, so he quickly left the area.

“I should train and quickly improve my strength!”

He headed into the depths of the mountain, searching for a place that was suitable and safe for closed-door cultivation.

Along the way, he was pleasantly surprised to discover many rare medicinal herbs, elixirs and special rune materials.

“Six-legged purple cicada, silver horned worms...” His eyes lit up. They were all rare treasures that were almost extinct in the Ziyao Empire.

Additionally, he discovered many rare minerals, such as cinnabar blood, treasure light stones and floating sun copper.

“Taiyi Treasure Vine!” Lin Xun’s eyes almost popped out when he noticed a vine glistening like pure water.

The vine was only seven inches in length and around the thickness of a thumb, and the surface was marked with wave-like veins. Taiyi Treasure Vines grew in the crevices of rocks and had an ordinary appearance so they weren’t particularly noticeable.

However, those with good eyes would know that they were rare treasures!

The vine contained Taiyi real water, which was not only useful in refining medicine and pills, but also played an important role in refining peerless treasures and weapons. In addition, they had an incredible magical effect on understanding and controlling water imago power!

Lin Xun was worried as to how he could improve and control the trace of water imago power that he had grasped, but the Taiyi Treasure Vine had given him great confidence.

He harvested the Taiyi Treasure Vine and hastened on his journey.

A few days later, he found a peaceful and quiet mountain range, opened up a cave-dwelling, set up rune formations, and went into closed-door cultivation.

Lin Xun had long planned to go into closed-door cultivation and tackle the Heaven Ascension Stage. Unfortunately, he had been distracted by all sorts of matters, so he had to delay his plan until now.

Now, after learning the terror of the Deva Secret Realm and the danger of his situation, he finally made his mind up to start tackling the next cultivation realm.

……

Lin Xun opened up a cave isolated from the world on the mountainside.

He sat cross-legged on the ground and took out the Nameless Pagoda.

“Toady, are you okay?”

Lin Xun looked into the first floor of the pagoda and saw Jin Duyi sitting there cross-legged, hair disheveled and body stained with blood.

Jin Duyi had been severely injured in his battle with Saintess Lin Lang for the golden scriptures, so Lin Xun had been very worried.

Although the three-legged toad guy was cunning, despicable, arrogant, and a showoff, he had helped Lin Xun massively, so Lin Xun couldn’t help but feel bad to see him in such a state.

“I am…I am fine…”

When Jin Duyi opened his eyes, his face was deathly pale and his brilliantly golden eyes were dull and lifeless.

Lin Xun felt more bad. “Toady, I’m sorry. I will let you go when you’ve recovered.”

Jin Duyi sighed, his voice weak, “If you want to compensate me, then why don’t you give me the stem of the Treasure Lantern King Ginseng? Perhaps it is the only thing that can repair my severely damaged cultivation...”

He suddenly coughed violently like he was on his last breath.

“About that…”

Lin Xun stuttered.

Logically speaking, he wouldn’t mind giving Toady the Treasure Lantern King Ginseng after he had helped him with such a big favor,

But when he heard Toady directly ask him for it, he felt that something was wrong.

Seeing Lin Xun’s hesitation, Jin Duyi seemed a little anxious. He coughed even louder and more violently while uttering weakly, “Ahh, if I can’t get the Treasure Lantern King Ginseng, I guess the Qilin grass will do...I…I…”

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and tottered from side to side, looking increasingly weaker.

Lin Xun grew more and more suspicious. “Toady, why don’t I give you both precious medicines? I don’t mind as long as you can recover.”

“Really?” Jin Duyi’s eyes lit up, but he quickly declined, “No—No need, just the ginseng is enough. Um, of course, if I also have the Qilin grass, I can recover to my top state…”

He coughed again, “Of course, I also know that I am asking for a lot...”

PA!

A ray of Wonder Gold Dao Light struck down like a whip, lashing his body. Jin Duyi screamed and leapt three feet into the air, baring his teeth and claws.

“Damn you, what are you doing?! Do you not see that I am dying?” he roared.

“Oh, you’re almost dead yet you still have the strength to jump up and scold me?” Lin Xun smiled coldly.

“I…”

Jin Duyi’s expression stiffened, and he immediately collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitching. “It’s over, I’m going to die, that must have been my last burst of energy before my death...” he muttered, blood dripping down the sides of his mouth.

“Last burst of energy?”

As Lin Xun muttered, another ray of wonder golden dao light descended, flickering in front of Jin Duyi. “How about I try it again?”

Jin Duyi looked at the ray of wonder gold dao light inches away, and his expression changed dramatically. His body no longer twitched, and he stopped coughing up blood.

“Damn it, it’s so hard to get some benefits from you…you are such a cunning guy…” he murmured pitifully.