When the Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Meets the Unbeatable Protagonist | Chapter 38

Lin Ji looked at the sword standing upright in disbelief, realizing that it didn’t emit even a hint of strange aura. How could the magic energy bottle be shaking? He thought that the sword seemed to have an alluring power that made people want to possess it, but it couldn’t truly have any magical power.

However, since he took out the magic energy bottle, there had been no abnormalities; the magic energy inside hadn’t vibrated again. It was as if everything that just happened was merely his illusion, a mirage.

Lin Ji observed for a long time, and the two items showed no further movement. He turned away from the sword and looked at other ancient swords. These floating swords seemed to willingly want to be taken by him, allowing him to choose.

He recalled his past life, where he didn’t feel anything unusual after obtaining this sword; it was very easy to use. Although he didn’t know which great power had left it behind, after a hundred years, the sword body still looked as good as new, extremely sharp and bright.

Every sword cultivator had to nurture their sword, and the materials used to forge this sword were too rare, consuming a lot of spirit stones. But back then, he treated his life sword like a brother, doing everything he could to obtain spiritual treasures for refining and nurturing.

Thinking back, some of the materials he found for nurturing swords were rather obscure, to the point of being a bit sinister. Later, when Long Aotian rose to prominence, he faced ridicule from various sects, and his mentors’ denials and criticisms left him feeling oppressed. During his cultivation, his own spiritual power fluctuated dangerously a few times, causing the Jueying Sword to tremble along with him.

Eventually, he fell into darkness, and naturally, the Jueying Sword became the sword of a demon. Lin Ji never intended to blame his downfall on a sword, even now. The situation in his past life was too complicated; he didn’t want to trace it back anymore.

In his past life, he had no choice but to walk the path of a demon cultivator, and he bore the consequences. That didn’t mean he had to live a life of being hunted down to the point of self-destruction in this life. He wasn’t without spiritual talent; his dream had always been to walk the righteous path and reach the peak. He had changed sects and started over, naturally wanting to avoid any risks he could.

The light sword of the sword forging lord had been borrowed by him for three years. Even though he hadn’t temporarily obtained his life sword, it didn’t affect him. Now, as he ventured into the sword tomb again and saw the sword he had used in his past life, Lin Ji’s emotions didn’t fluctuate much.

He didn’t know if what he had just seen was an illusion; he only knew that a lucky mindset was not to be entertained, even if this sword still hadn’t shown any abnormalities. People around him could be replaced; since this sword had hidden dangers, why not change it?

Lin Ji recalled what Lu Xiaobai had said when he handed him the magic energy bottle; he was still waiting for him outside. Lin Ji looked around for a while, and more swords began to float, making it hard to choose.

His gaze settled on another sword. The sword body was a bluish-gray, possibly just dug out from a dirt slope, and it looked a bit ancient and worn. The scabbard was also very ordinary, without any fancy patterns or craftsmanship.

It looked unremarkable, but as he approached, Lin Ji surprisingly found that this sword still had a hint of spiritual energy emanating from it. He thought for a moment and grasped the sword, noticing the name engraved on the scabbard: Qingfeng.

The name was acceptable. Lin Ji drew the sword and found that after so many years, the sword body and scabbard had no conventional resistance, allowing him to pull it out easily, indicating that the material was also quite good. The sword was light, but not weightless; it felt just right in his hand.

When choosing a sword, Lin Ji looked for a connection and his own intentions. Since he was choosing anew, he directly picked a sword that was completely opposite in characteristics to the one from his past life. Even if this one didn’t perform as well as the last, he wouldn’t regret it.

“Alright, it’s you.” After making his choice, the other ancient swords had no choice but to fly back to the earth tomb, waiting for the next person to come. If there was no suitable master, they would rather be buried in silence forever.

However, the sword that Lin Ji had almost chosen, which had been gazed at for a long time, still floated in mid-air, trembling incessantly. Lin Ji said expressionlessly, “You can go back now.”

After saying that, he turned to leave. The sword left behind unexpectedly unsheathed itself and flew towards Lin Ji. He turned back and raised the scabbard to block it for a moment. It seemed that his vision in his past life was indeed good; he had obtained the most spiritual sword in the sword tomb.

But it was too spiritual. When not chosen, it actually became enraged like a living being and attacked him. Lin Ji sneered, “I won’t take a sword that tries to stab me.”

The name Jueying was given by him; whoever he chose would be Jueying. After all, it was just a sword. Lin Ji used his spiritual power to forcibly seal it back.

He found the entrance of the quicksand cave and climbed out. Lu Xiaobai was hiding just right on the other side, keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Seeing Lin Ji reappear, Lu Xiaobai hurried over to help pull him out and then patted his clothes, asking, “How was it?”

Lin Ji looked at him, “What do you think?” It seemed to have gone quite smoothly. Lu Xiaobai lowered his head for a moment; the sword Lin Ji took wasn’t the one he remembered.

Lin Ji pulled him away from the quicksand area and briefly recounted what happened: “Two swords were competing to be chosen by me, and I didn’t want the other one because it was hard to control.”

“……” Lu Xiaobai was surprised, “Is there such a thing? Why didn’t you just take both?”

If all magical artifacts automatically recognized their master, any cultivator would choose to take them all, and swords were no exception.

“In the past, cultivators could only choose one sword here, as other swords often didn’t want to serve a single master. What if that sword was willing? Switching between them wouldn’t affect anything.”

Lin Ji replied, “…… So according to your reasoning, I actually lost out. There were more than a dozen swords that actively revealed themselves; I should have taken them all.”

“Still, it’s better to forget it; I can’t afford to raise them.” Lin Ji said softly, his tone seeming to carry a hint of regret.

Lu Xiaobai, after being stunned for a moment, laughed out loud. A Ji now could even tease him in conversation.

The two left the sword tomb, exploring and feeling the new sword they had obtained. Lin Ji’s main goal had been achieved, and next, he needed to find a relatively secluded place with abundant spiritual energy for Lu Xiaobai to cleanse his spiritual root.

“When we came here before, I observed the terrain and have a general idea of where I want to go,” Lu Xiaobai said.

“Where is it?” Lin Ji asked.

“But that route doesn’t seem very peaceful,” Lu Xiaobai replied.

“Doesn’t matter.” Preserving strength was for important moments. As long as they ensured they could retreat safely afterward, they just needed to exit the ruins.

“Just right for me to try out the new sword I got.” The sword was meant to be used, and Lin Ji didn’t plan to stash it away with the magical artifacts Lu Xiaobai had picked up; it was safest to carry it with him.

“Alright, I’m just letting you know,” Lu Xiaobai said.

The two continued with their tactics unchanged, avoiding encounters with cultivators and watching the chaos when encountering monsters, only stepping in to clean up afterward.

As they were discovered more often, one would wield a sword while the other used talismans, actively engaging in battle, making their way smoothly.

Lu Xiaobai had his sights set on a cliff, located at the intersection of yin and yang. At noon, cultivators above could easily absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.

Although it was a cliff, when the two flew their swords to check, they found that the area behind the cliff was very flat and wide, with a clear view. If someone suddenly appeared, there would be no place to hide, and they would definitely be seen.

The guardians could simply wait at the bottom of the cliff, ensuring that nothing else could go up.

In the ruins, this place was relatively safe, though it looked a bit towering and terrifying.

“Then you can cultivate here; noon is approaching, so don’t delay.” Lin Ji watched Lu Xiaobai jump off the sword without hesitation, walking forward with his hands behind his back, his pace very quick.

Until he moved away from the cliff edge to the open mountaintop, he turned back, “I understand.”

Lin Ji raised an eyebrow, feeling something was off.

Lu Xiaobai said, “You should also be careful down there; it’s hard work for you.”

“…… No need.” Lin Ji tilted his head, “The mountaintop is fine, but I don’t know if there are monsters or human cultivators hiding in the mountain. If you encounter danger, call me directly; don’t be brave.”

Lu Xiaobai retorted, “The bottom of the cliff is the dangerous part… A Ji, I’ll come find you when I’m done.” And he never was one to be reckless.

Lin Ji scoffed, “How will you get down? Walk? Or should I come up to get you?”

Lu Xiaobai was left speechless.

How could he look down on him like that! Maybe this time he could fly the sword for a long time! He thought the ruins were a bit dangerous, so he didn’t let the Yan Yu Beast follow; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been choked by Lin Ji.

After exchanging a few words, Lin Ji flew his sword back down to the bottom of the cliff, while Lu Xiaobai sat cross-legged at the mountaintop, taking the second-tier marrow cleansing pill he had prepared long ago.

Remembering that the spiritual herbs for the marrow cleansing pill were collected by Lin Ji in the secret realm, and now it was Lin Ji guarding him at the bottom of the cliff, Lu Xiaobai felt a warmth in his heart.

Alright, it was time to get serious about business.

Lu Xiaobai cleared his mind of distractions and summoned his spiritual assistant behind him: “Gather the spiritual energy from all around and then infuse it into my body as quickly as possible.”

Otherwise, with his qualifications, even in a place rich in spiritual energy, he wouldn’t be able to absorb much.

The marrow cleansing process had three stages, and this time he needed to at least turn his mixed spiritual root into an ordinary spiritual root to break through the Foundation Establishment stage.

Elder Shuhua excitedly said, “What you said is no challenge for me; infusing spiritual power is simple, but it must be done step by step. Otherwise, with your mortal body, how can you withstand it?”

Lu Xiaobai replied succinctly, “No need for nonsense.”

Since he returned, he had been practicing hard for this day. If he couldn’t withstand this bit of spiritual energy, then he might as well give up on this useless body.

He didn’t know how many days the marrow cleansing would take, and the subsequent absorption of spiritual energy for Foundation Establishment would definitely attract other things in the ruins that were eyeing them. A Ji had already silently agreed to fend them off, so how could he delay too long?

At the bottom of the cliff, Lin Ji instinctively looked for a safe place to hide. After sitting down, he suddenly realized: had he been assimilated by Lu Xiaobai?

Well, preserving strength was the priority. Lin Ji leaned against a large rock, gazing up at the cliff, lost in thought.

In this life, Lu Xiaobai’s path to reverse his qualifications was a bit tortuous, but fortunately, he never forgot to become stronger.

Lin Ji still hoped that his opponent from his past life would regain his former strength. When that time came, he would definitely have a fair fight to settle the unresolved outcome from his past life.

Now, Lu Xiaobai wasn’t bad either; it was just that he felt different from his past life, as if something was missing.

According to his master, once the marrow cleansing pill began to take effect, the entire process of refining the spiritual root would be like smashing and reshaping the root bones and spiritual veins, a pain unlike any other.

Lu Xiaobai had never mentioned the feelings of refining his spiritual root, but it certainly wouldn’t be comfortable.

Refining the spiritual root only required basic spiritual power to maintain, and in the early stages, it didn’t attract anyone’s attention.

Occasionally, a few monsters would pass by, but Lin Ji easily dealt with them, the process being effortless.

Day after day, Lin Ji waited at the bottom of the cliff for two days. From being overly vigilant at first to feeling increasingly bored later.

In the ruins, it was best to fast; he was afraid that eating would attract other things. This led him to have nothing else to do but close his eyes and rest.

How could it take so long? Was the refining of the spiritual root not going smoothly? But the Soul Chasing Arrow beside him remained calm, giving no warning.

Lin Ji was so bored that he kept flipping through his sword and randomly drawing on the ground with a stick.

Suddenly, he thought of something and quickly took out a drawing from his storage jade pendant, unfolding it to look at the intricately drawn summoning array.

This was Lu Xiaobai’s specialty; when they entered the ruins together, Lin Ji had originally wanted Lu Xiaobai to draw it. After all, it was related to his master’s detoxification, and there was no need to compete over a moment of pride.

But the other party was so busy taking care of himself, and he had nothing to do. Although he primarily practiced swordsmanship, Lin Ji also understood other paths.

He planned to try it himself first; if it didn’t work, he would let Lu Xiaobai do it.

Lin Ji followed the steps to draw the array, arranging the positions, and worked hard for half a day.

Finally, he finished drawing, took out the incense table and other items he had prepared in advance, and began to offer incense, burn paper, and recite a bunch of incantations.

Since he was summoning heroic spirits, he naturally had to be respectful and sincere. After thinking for a moment, Lin Ji also placed the food and fruits he had prepared in his pocket on the table.

After completing the steps, Lin Ji bowed and said, “Predecessors in the ruins, I am a disciple of the Peifeng Sect. If the heroic spirits still exist, may I have the honor to meet you?”

No matter which great power it was, it would be fine if they suddenly appeared.

However, after reciting it three times, there was no change around him, making his actions seem strange, as if he had a problem with his brain.

Whether there were remnants of great powers in the ruins was uncertain; Lin Ji also couldn’t tell if it was due to his missteps or if there were simply no heroic spirits here.

If he couldn’t use the Soul Summoning Bell, he would summon once in the morning, noon, and evening until Lu Xiaobai succeeded.

After calling out on the first day, when he planned to call again the next day, there was finally a change at the top of the cliff. A beam of spiritual light rose, indicating that the refining had succeeded.

However, this spiritual light was still a bit mixed and not pure enough, making it hard to discern its attributes.

Lin Ji let out a heavy sigh of relief, only to discover that Lu Xiaobai had begun to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.

He was absorbing it quite dramatically. The spiritual energy from the surrounding spiritual veins was converging towards the top of the cliff.

The strange part could be asked later; now he was finally not idle. Lin Ji drew his sword and waited.

Soon, the first batch of monsters arrived. They hadn’t even seen the situation clearly before they fled quickly, only to be ruthlessly slain by Lin Ji.

Then came the second and third batches, all much stronger than the monsters in the secret realm.

Lin Ji had taken a Qi Replenishing Pill in advance, and his physical strength was just right. He also played tactics; he would only draw his sword against those who couldn’t be killed by talismans or magical artifacts.

At the top of the cliff, Lu Xiaobai had entered a meditative state, absorbing spiritual energy while extending his consciousness to sense the situation in the ruins.

He could hear the sounds of battle from the bottom of the cliff and see Lin Ji fighting for him.

He could also hear Elder Shuhua chattering in his ear, opening both sets of techniques and floating in mid-air: “While you’re at Foundation Establishment, why not practice the Emotionless Path’s heart technique together! I don’t like the Affection Path, but if you want to choose, that’s fine too!”

“Grandpa, don’t miss this opportunity!”

Lu Xiaobai was too lazy to respond. Did he have time for that? He needed to finish his Foundation Establishment quickly and go help A Ji!

Suddenly, Lu Xiaobai’s eyes snapped open: “Why is my consciousness sensing that A Ji is in trouble?”

Elder Shuhua was even more anxious: “Don’t get distracted!”

Lu Xiaobai quickly closed his eyes again and extended his consciousness:

No, based on A Ji’s cultivation level, there shouldn’t be many monsters or people that could quickly pose a threat to him.

But at this moment, Lin Ji was indeed being forced back a few steps, looking at the righteous cultivator who had suddenly appeared.

This person immediately exterminated the surrounding monsters and coldly scoffed, “Finally, it’s quiet.”

“Lin Ji.” The newcomer accurately called out his name.

Lin Ji stared at the other party: “How do you know my identity?”

“The first in the secret realm trial, indeed, seeing is believing. Your talent and ability are truly remarkable; I only hope you don’t perish here.”

Lin Ji sneered, “So, you are a certain immortal from a sect that observed the secret realm trial back then. May I ask which sect you belong to?”

The person looked unfamiliar; there were so many sect leaders watching the secret realm back then, and it was normal not to recognize many of them.

The newcomer smiled, “It doesn’t matter; you’re a junior, so it’s not too much to call me Ruo Wei Jun.”

Lin Ji retorted sarcastically, “Is it unimportant, or are you afraid to say?”

Ruo Wei Jun’s expression turned cold again: “I don’t wish to kill you. As long as you give me your most precious magical artifact, I will spare your life.”

Such calm disdain also had its reasons; after all, compared to Lin Ji, Ruo Wei Jun was a senior and a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Lin Ji raised his sword: “Do you think I’m stupid? You’re just relying on being in the ruins, where others can’t see your hypocritical evil, casually asking fellow cultivators for magical artifacts. If you don’t kill me, how will you cover up your crimes?”

Ruo Wei Jun, having been exposed, didn’t get angry but directly changed his tone: “So, give me your magical artifact, and I can make your death quick.”

Sure enough, after leaving Lu Xiaobai, he began to have bad luck.

Lin Ji sneered, “But I don’t have any magical artifacts on me.”

He casually threw out something that Lu Xiaobai had picked up, “If you want it, take it.”

Ruo Wei Jun’s expression changed slightly: “Don’t provoke me on purpose.”

Lin Ji looked at his sword; could it be that he had his eyes on the sword he had just obtained?

The difference in their realms was vast, and Lin Ji didn’t want to fight to the death. The main thing was that Lu Xiaobai was above and couldn’t be disturbed; he was contemplating whether to inform him of the sword tomb’s location.

But unexpectedly, Ruo Wei Jun lost patience and reached out: “Who wants these broken things?”

“The North Sea Mermaid Pearl, give it to me.”

“……”

Lin Ji’s voice suddenly became sharp: “How do you know?!”

Ruo Wei Jun casually tossed out his spiritual power, and several people hiding in the dark were violently thrown out.

“Your relative; he told me.”

Besides his third uncle, there were also seven or eight others, seemingly his subordinates.

Lin Ji suddenly realized, laughing: “So it was you who hid him that day?”

“What day are you talking about? This lord doesn’t know. Let him tell you himself.”

Ruo Wei Jun said that he had been wandering outside the ruins for many days, not daring to enter. He saw someone sneaking after Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai, and he followed them to the outskirts of the ruins.

Out of curiosity, he captured the person and extracted such crucial information.

The temptation of the North Sea Mermaid Pearl was no less than that of the magical artifacts in the ruins. Unfortunately, they had already entered, so Ruo Wei Jun had no choice but to enter the ruins as well.

Whether he could obtain the magical artifacts or not, at least he had the North Sea Mermaid Pearl as a backup, so he didn’t consider this trip a waste.

Lin Ji pointed at his third uncle, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile: “You’re following me?”

His third uncle, as a mortal, had been terrified after being captured and was now being threatened by his own nephew, causing him to retreat in fear, but he was somewhat mad: “So what!”

“Why do you still live? How dare you return to the old house? If I can’t kill you, how can I relieve the hatred in my heart!”

“Why don’t you ask your father why he brought back the pearl? Why did he cause trouble and bring disaster to my whole family! My wife, my children are all dead; why should his son still be alive?”

“You actually became a person of the immortal sect and learned a good set of immortal techniques?”

As for how he could follow Lin Ji and Lu Xiaobai without being discovered, it was because Lin Yu, after his family was destroyed, had also become fearful, spending money to gather a bunch of loose cultivators as his guards.

At the same time, he had developed the same habit as his elder brother, liking to collect the world’s treasures. Ever since he learned that there was such a thing as cultivating immortality, he had become obsessed with collecting magical artifacts.

His brother left him an incredibly rich inheritance; with money, it was said that even a ghost could be pushed to grind, and he had greedy cultivators working for him, helping him search for treasures.

With the support of magical artifacts and cultivators, he avoided being tracked by Lin Ji and instead tracked him.

“But how can you survive and take away everything I have now?”

After listening to Lin Yu’s rambling, which sounded like a madman, Lin Ji’s eyes turned red.

In his memory, his third uncle was clearly a graceful and refined young man, skilled in the outside world but very gentle towards family.

Was it the destruction of the family that twisted him, or was he always like this?

His third uncle shrank his neck for a long time, realizing that Lin Ji seemed unable to bring himself to kill him, and he crawled away in a panic.

“Look, such a troublemaker, causing your family to be destroyed and everyone to turn against you, it’s better to give him to me.” Ruo Wei Jun continued to incite.

Lin Ji closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down: “Just now, someone claiming to be the true self has already died under my sword; I don’t know how long this so-called lord can live.”

Seeing that his soft and hard tactics were ineffective, Ruo Wei Jun finally became enraged and directly struck out with a palm.

Lin Ji suddenly summoned his magical artifact, shouting, “If you want to fight me to the death, then come!”

Ruo Wei Jun was shocked: “The Eight Trigrams Universe Seal! Those hypocritical people actually dared to give you this as a reward?”

It seemed he wasn’t a senior from a major sect; he might just be a small sect immortal who couldn’t offer treasures and hadn’t participated in the elder group’s confidential events.

What the immortal sect’s secret treasures were, only the person who was granted them and the relevant elder group knew.

Ruo Wei Jun wanted to retreat, but it was too late. Lin Ji unleashed several sword energies, carving out a separate domain and pulling him into another space.

Although the function of the Eight Trigrams Seal was extremely clever, the higher the realm, the less binding power it had over the opponent. A Golden Core cultivator could fall back to Foundation Establishment, but a Nascent Soul wouldn’t directly drop a whole realm.

Fortunately, Ruo Wei Jun had only cultivated to the early stage of Nascent Soul, barely being pulled back to the Golden Core realm through the domain.

He was horrified to find himself falling back to the mid-stage of Golden Core, but Lin Ji was only at the early stage of Golden Core, which made him regain confidence.

“Ultimately, I still have the upper hand!”

“Is that so?” Lin Ji’s voice was cold and grim as he took the initiative to attack: “To me, there’s no difference!”

Filled with anger, Lin Ji launched his attacks quickly without leaving any gaps, even when injured, he didn’t stop: “I’ve pulled you back to the Golden Core realm; what are you still being arrogant about?”

“What’s so great about you! If you want to die, I’ll fulfill your wish!”

The destruction of his family and the Mermaid Pearl were Lin Ji’s eternal pain, and today he was being targeted by both relatives and enemies!

Ruo Wei Jun was no different from another Qi Ling Sect leader; they were both taking advantage of the chaos, hypocritical scum!

They should be the evil cultivators! The unforgivable, damned beasts!

Another ruler who misjudged his combat power appeared; the more Ruo Wei Jun fought, the more terrified he became, and the more wounds he sustained from the swords, until he was screaming: “Let me go! I don’t want your Mermaid Pearl anymore!”

But he couldn’t escape; he was already in a state of panic, having to use all his tricks to dodge.

Lin Ji’s anger reached its peak, yet he still retained his rationality, perhaps because he had already gotten used to it.

His emotions had sunk to the bottom, and instead, he felt no anxiety at all, calm as a dead man, but his strikes became increasingly ruthless.

“……”

The Soul Chasing Arrow and the probing consciousness both returned the same message: Lin Ji was in trouble.

Although Lu Xiaobai didn’t know the specific danger he faced, he felt anxious and had lost the heart to meditate.

Elder Shuhua quickly stopped him: “Your spiritual root has just been refined; your dantian is unstable. If you forcefully interrupt it, it’s very likely to ruin everything!”

“Moreover, you can only absorb spiritual energy today, at this time, to achieve the best effect; your Foundation Establishment must be solid and stable, and absolutely cannot be interrupted!”

Foundation Establishment for cultivators was like building a house; if the foundation wasn’t laid well, all future realms would be unstable, and a careless mistake could lead to demonic deviation.

Lu Xiaobai looked at the elder, speaking slowly: “But he is in danger to protect me; he might be surrounded by enemies; I can’t ignore him.”

Elder Shuhua simply couldn’t understand: “Did you join the immortal sect just to make friends? You don’t even care about your own future?”

“Moreover, with your current cultivation, what can you do to help him? I’d be grateful if you don’t hold Lin Ji back!”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to use techniques that exceed your physical limits; how many times can you use them?”

Suddenly, Lu Xiaobai felt a jolt throughout his body; he sensed a force around him, as if it wanted to pull his consciousness out.

“Could it be that A Ji set up the summoning array… that’s great!”

Summoning was a respectful term; in layman’s terms, it could also be called summoning souls.

Living people couldn’t easily let their consciousness leave their bodies; Lu Xiaobai hadn’t yet detached from his mortal form and had always been bound. Only by cultivating to the Golden Core stage could one let their consciousness roam, but unfortunately, the time was short, and the number of times was limited.

But if he was summoned… after all, he was no longer considered a person of this world.

His consciousness wouldn’t be bound at all and could restore its strongest form. With his strength in this small world—he was a god.

Lu Xiaobai said, “Elder Shuhua, perhaps I don’t need to choose; I have a way to have both.”

But once he answered the call, he might no longer be able to hide from A Ji.

Lu Xiaobai lowered his gaze.

At the same time, Ruo Wei Jun was finally released from the domain, spitting out a mouthful of old blood.

He was covered in injuries, barely standing, no longer the calm and arrogant person he had been at the start, his clothes tattered and in a pitiful state.

Lin Ji also had many injuries, his hair disheveled, breathing heavily, yet still smiling as he pressed, “Still want to fight?”

Ruo Wei Jun quickly waved his hand: “No, no more fighting!”

If they continued, it would be either death or injury; if Ruo Wei Jun had the will to fight to the death, he wouldn’t have been lingering outside the ruins, afraid to enter.

Even if his Nascent Soul realm returned, he didn’t want to fight; the person opposite was fighting as if they were risking their lives!

Ruo Wei Jun staggered, wanting to leave, but Lin Ji suddenly warned sharply: “Don’t move!”

It was too late. Ruo Wei Jun stepped on the array’s focal point, and the surrounding array activated, trapping both Lin Ji and him inside.

“Truly useless; a Nascent Soul can’t even defeat a Golden Core.”

Lin Yu, under the protection of the surrounding people, stepped forward, looking disdainfully at Ruo Wei Jun before shifting his gaze to Lin Ji’s face, clapping in appreciation: “As expected of my Lin family.”

“Lin family members are destined to achieve great things.”

Lin Ji let out a deep breath, feeling somewhat tired: “Third uncle, why do you insist on taking my life? Do you also want the Mermaid Pearl?”

Ruo Wei Jun’s eyes widened: “You’re using me?”

Lin Yu sighed, hands in his pockets: “You were the one who captured me first.”

He then looked at Lin Ji: “Yes, A Ji, hand it over.”

“Over the years, you and your mother have hidden the Mermaid Pearl too deeply; this secret even I wasn’t allowed to know.”

“If it weren’t for the fact that I accidentally overheard my elder brother and sister-in-law talking when I was young, I would have thought it was all my illusion. Fortunately, I never believe I would have an illusion.”

Lin Ji asked, “What do you want the Mermaid Pearl for?”

Lin Yu replied, “Are you asking about the past or the present? In the past, I hoped to obtain this item to present to the current emperor, to secure a high position for my son. Later, when my son died, I thought I could keep it for myself.”

“Later, I discovered that both mortals and immortals wanted the Mermaid Pearl; why should I offer it to mortals? It’s better to keep it for myself; perhaps I can cultivate immortality at my old age!”

“But I didn’t expect that it would be you, kid, who had the fate of an immortal and entered the immortal sect with the Mermaid Pearl.”

Lin Ji, holding onto his last bit of luck, asked, “Did you see an immortal descend to the world?”

Lin Yu was puzzled: “What do you mean by an immortal descending to the world? I didn’t see it. But it’s not surprising that there are spiritual pearls made from mermaid tears; there could be immortals.”

“I’ve been searching for immortals for a long time.”

Lin Ji’s eyes widened in disbelief: “What do you mean?!”

Lin Yu sighed, lowering his gaze: “I just wanted them to put on a show for me; who would have thought…”

He thought the Mermaid Pearl was only precious in the mortal realm, and those immortals wouldn’t care about it. He thought that as long as he was willing to spend money, they could mutually use each other.

But he didn’t expect that the immortals had such divine powers; how could he, a mere mortal, control them?

Lin Ji’s mind went blank. He didn’t know how long it had been; suddenly, he raised his sword and charged forward: “I swear to kill you!”

So, his family had actually invited a wolf into the house! And in his past life, he had let this person live freely for a lifetime!

But the restrictions hadn’t been broken, and Lin Ji was instead bounced back.

Lin Yu laughed: “So I learned my lesson; I had them set up a killing array targeting you using your birth date and time.”

“If they didn’t lie to me, using your birth date, hair, blood, and so on to set up the array, even cultivators would undoubtedly die, right?”

In this world, the closest people understood each other’s weaknesses the best, stabbing the deepest.

Lin Yu took out a box used for keeping crickets from his sleeve and shook it. The loose cultivators around him immediately clutched their necks and knelt down, hurriedly responding: “Yes! Yes!”

“You only have two choices: either hand over the Mermaid Pearl, and I’ll leave you with a whole corpse, or wait until you die, and I’ll slowly find it myself.”

Ruo Wei Jun shouted in despair: “What does this have to do with me? Let me go!”

Lin Yu replied, “Do you think that knowing so much, I would let you go? Even if I don’t know your birth date, you’ve been beaten to the brink of death by my nephew; I can have them all attack together, and it wouldn’t be difficult to kill you.”

Ruo Wei Jun was left in a daze.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. There’s always a hand within a hand.

After so many shocks, Lin Ji no longer knew how to react until the other party mentioned the Mermaid Pearl.

He returned to that indifferent, half-dead, infuriating tone: “It has already been destroyed by me.”

Lin Yu’s face, which had been determined to obtain it, cracked: “What did you say?”

Lin Ji smiled: “I think, rather than letting someone take the Mermaid Pearl away, I might as well destroy it myself. What’s the point of keeping such a cursed object? Third uncle.”

He even called Lin Yu by that name.

Lin Yu was stunned: “…… Impossible. How could you bear to?”

He suddenly became agitated, “You all go! Kill him for me! No, he can’t die; bring him to me!”

What if the Mermaid Pearl was hidden elsewhere? If he died, where would he go to find it?

Facing the siege of the loose cultivators, various demonic auras also converged towards this place.

Lin Ji felt as if he had returned to the time when everyone was hunting him in his past life.

The array set up using his birth date and time was like the pain of his body exploding.

Forget it, it’s all the same.

Even if he died today, he would drag Lin Yu down with him!

Lin Ji’s anger surged, his eyes bloodshot, using all his spiritual power to resist and break the array.

The swords in the sword tomb suddenly shook violently.

A voice suddenly echoed in Lin Ji’s heart: If the immortals cannot help him, what if the demons come to assist him?

What’s the difference between demons, immortals, and humans? The inherent flaws truly disgust him.

Lin Ji resolutely glanced at the cliff top, as if making a decision.

Suddenly, a strong wind swept through the ruins, and yellow sand filled the air, dispersing the demonic aura.

The pressure on Lin Ji’s body completely retreated, and the array unexpectedly vanished into thin air.

Everyone was confused, and Lin Yu was even blown over by the wind.

He quickly got up and shouted, “Who is playing tricks?”

Inside and outside the ruins, from all directions, a dignified voice suddenly rang out.

It seemed to penetrate his ears from the outside world, deafening, yet also resonated from deep within his heart and mind, omnipresent.

“Who dares to disturb my peaceful dreams?!”