Su Lingyun

Yang Lingrui followed Pei Xuejian up the suspended jade steps, ascending higher and higher until they quickly surpassed the height of the Li family's pavilion.

After climbing another stretch, Pei Xuejian took out a wooden token and pressed it against the empty air.

Just as Yang Lingrui felt a surge of doubt, the scene before his eyes blurred and shifted.

An illusion formation!

Yang Lingrui instantly realized what was happening.

Light and shadow flashed past, and the scene before him stabilized once more.

The jade steps beneath his feet were now a stone path, flanked by soft, loamy soil.

Looking up, the pitch-black mountain cliffs and pavilions were gone. In their place lay a beautifully scenic garden.

"Fellow Daoist Lingrui, follow me."

Pei Xuejian led Yang Lingrui along the stone path and into a winding corridor.

Yang Lingrui continually swept his gaze over his surroundings, feeling a sense of unreality.

So the Mountain Grotto-Heaven truly hid another heaven within!

An illusion formation divided it into upper and lower parts. Only those holding a token could enter this upper region.

He remembered clearly that Song Kaiyang had flown down from this exact height.

No wonder they said the Golden Scale Dharma Assembly involved aristocratic families, yet none were seen at the opening. They were here all along.

Yang Lingrui thought to himself, These aristocratic families truly have grand methods. To create such a place for a mere three-day Dharma Assembly.

Passing through the corridor, a rustic, unadorned farmhouse courtyard appeared before them.

In the courtyard were three people and a well.

A handsome young man in white robes was fishing by the well.

Beside the young man sat a middle-aged man in coarse linen clothes, dozing off.

At the other end of the courtyard, a boy of seven or eight was holding two large stones level with both hands.

The stones appeared quite heavy, leaving the little boy's face flushed red from exhaustion.

"Old Qin, did you really put fish in there?"

The handsome young man asked. The middle-aged man beside him jerked his head and woke with a start.

"Ah?"

"Did you really put fish in there?" he asked again.

"I did." The middle-aged man nodded.

"Then why haven't I caught anything after so long? That little brother of mine is about to die from exhaustion."

The handsome young man glanced at the boy holding the stones.

"Uh..."

The middle-aged man scratched his head. "It must be your bad luck."

As the two chatted, Pei Xuejian brought Yang Lingrui to the entrance of the courtyard.

"Young Master Yun, I have brought him," Pei Xuejian said with a bow.

"He is here?"

The handsome young man propped up his fishing rod and turned around.

Yang Lingrui could not detect the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Qi from him. His cultivation was likely at the late stage of Qi Gathering at the very least.

"Yang Lingrui, is it? No need for restraint. Come sit. I am Su Lingyun."

With a wave of his hand, Su Lingyun summoned two wooden chairs.

"Thank you, Young Master Su."

Once Yang Lingrui was seated, Su Lingyun went straight to the point and took out that Talisman.

"This Divine Movement Talisman-it belongs to your family?"

Yang Lingrui glanced at it. "It does."

"Did you refine it?"

"No. It was refined by an Old Ancestor of my family."

"What are his origins?"

Whoosh—

Yang Lingrui suddenly felt his heart plummet. The voice questioning him did not come from Su Lingyun, but sounded directly beside his ear.

The middle-aged man in coarse linen clothes, who had been dozing by the well an instant ago, now stood right beside him.

Along with him came a terrifying pressure crashing down onto Yang Lingrui's shoulders.

"My family's Old Ancestor... was originally a cultivator from a Sect in another region. While still in the Sect... he came into contact with Talisman Arts. Later... the Sect was destroyed. He was hunted down... and fled to Fish Ridge River, where he was rescued by an elder of my family."

Yang Lingrui bore the heavy pressure, struggling to keep his mind from trembling as he spoke with as much stability as he could muster.

"Oh?"

The middle-aged man nodded slightly. "This isn't a fabricated story meant to fool people, is it?"

The pressure abruptly doubled.

Yang Lingrui pitched forward, nearly falling from the wooden chair to his knees.

"Every... every word is true. I would absolutely never dare... deceive Young Master Su and Senior..."

The middle-aged man still seemed unconvinced and moved to increase the pressure once more.

"Pfft-"

But at that very moment, Yang Lingrui spat out a mouthful of black blood and collapsed to the ground.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man immediately withdrew his technique and looked at Su Lingyun.

Su Lingyun shot him a glance before saying, "Look at you. The visitor is a guest, and his body was already injured. To act so recklessly... truly rash."

He stepped forward and helped the pale-faced Yang Lingrui up, his voice warm and gentle. "Old Qin is a rough man with a simple mind. He means no harm. Please bear with him."

What a load of 'means no harm'!

Yang Lingrui suppressed the raging fire in his heart and forced a smile onto his face. "I am fine. Senior must have been a little impatient. I can understand."

"Ah, it is good that you can understand."

Su Lingyun helped him back into the wooden chair and continued his questioning.

"Then do you know the name of this Old Ancestor's original Sect?"

"I do not. The Old Ancestor has never mentioned it."

"Oh..."

Buzz—

"Gah!!!"

A sharp, piercing pain erupted within Yang Lingrui's Sea of Consciousness, several times stronger than when Zheng Huaming had used his bell that day. Unable to bear it, Yang Lingrui cried out miserably and collapsed to the ground once more.

Fortunately, Chen Yang's consciousness protection triggered at that moment, deflecting the spiritual attack outward.

"Hmm?"

Su Lingyun stared blankly. His own soul technique, meant to attack the Sea of Consciousness, had actually been resisted.

Then he realized that the power did not belong to Yang Lingrui himself; it came from an external source.

Divine Sense separation? An expert!

Su Lingyun felt a surge of astonishment and began to carefully weigh the situation.

Could this Yang Family be a seedling planted in advance by another power? If I continue pressing him, wouldn't I be ruining someone else's harvest?

The middle-aged man named Old Qin also noticed this, revealing a hint of surprise.

He hurriedly walked over to Su Lingyun and murmured, "Lingyun, we didn't just dip our hands into another family's pot, did we?"

Su Lingyun propped his head on one hand, falling deep into thought.

Projecting Divine Sense over a distance was one thing, but this method of separating Divine Sense was truly formidable. It was the work of an expert.

It could very well be a safeguard laid down by a Condensed Origin cultivator.

Coupled with what Pei Xuejian had mentioned earlier regarding Yang Lingrui's realm, this reckless consumption of pills to force a breakthrough was indeed a common method used to 'ripen' pawns.

Hiss—

Thinking of this, he formed a hand seal and cast an art to repair the damage to Yang Lingrui's Sea of Consciousness.

"What are you staring at? Hurry and heal him!"

"Right, right."

Old Qin quickly nodded and stepped forward to help, passing Spiritual Qi into Yang Lingrui to mend his physical injuries.

A quarter of an hour later, Yang Lingrui finally regained some color in his face.

Su Lingyun once again put on a smiling face and stepped forward to help him up. "My apologies, my apologies. I lost control for a moment just now. Let us continue."

By now, Yang Lingrui's eyes were dim and lifeless. He leaned against the wooden chair, gasping for breath.

This was no simple chat. It was a blatant interrogation.

The two members of the Su Family before him did not treat him as a human being at all.

But at this moment, he had no choice. If the other party wanted him dead, it would only take a single thought.

Forced by the circumstances, he had to continue enduring.

Yang Lingrui calmed his surging emotions and opened his eyes. "I... I am fine, Young Master Su. Please continue."

"Hehehe."

Su Lingyun rubbed his hands together. "It is like this. My family also possesses a Talisman Art Inheritance, which Old Qin oversees. The refining methods for the Divine Movement Talisman happen to perfectly complement your family's version. It might allow the Talisman to advance in grade. Therefore, I plan to purchase one hundred of your family's Divine Movement Talismans to take back and study."

Originally, Su Lingyun had planned to make the Yang Family 'voluntarily' offer up that Talisman Art Inheritance, or simply 'invite' that Old Ancestor over for a chat. At the very least, they would have had to copy a version for the Su Family.

But now that the Yang Family might be a pawn in another power's layout, acting so rashly would hand someone a weapon against him. Thus, he stepped back and settled for the next best option-a bulk purchase of finished Talismans.

Yang Lingrui sat up with great difficulty and touched the Storage Bag at his waist.

"Young Master Su, cough, cough... I only have these ten left on me. For the rest... I must return and inform the Old Ancestor before they can be refined."

"Naturally, naturally."

Su Lingyun's attitude was much gentler now. He did not use any other methods to torture Yang Lingrui.

He took a Storage Bag from his robes.

"One hundred low-grade Divine Movement Talismans for eight hundred Spirit Crystals. If you manage to produce standard-grade ones during the refining process, I will add another eight Spirit Crystals for each one. If you can produce fine-grade ones, even better; I will buy those for forty Spirit Crystals each."

He handed the Storage Bag to Yang Lingrui. "There is a total of one thousand three hundred Spirit Crystals here. Eight hundred to buy the Talismans, and the other five hundred are my compensation to you for today. There are also three late-stage Qi Gathering Rejuvenation Pills. Take them all. When the Talismans are ready, deliver them to the Immortal Patrol Office in Wangyue City."

Yang Lingrui feigned a panicked expression and hurriedly said, "Young Master Su, this will not do. One cannot accept a reward without merit. Today, I merely came to exchange a few words with Young Master Su. This..."

"Alright, alright. I told you to take it, so just take it."

Seeing that this young man was so tactful, Su Lingyun stuffed the Storage Bag into Yang Lingrui's hands.

With the matter settled, the two did not keep Yang Lingrui any longer. They ordered Pei Xuejian to escort him back down.

"Which family do you think it is?" Su Lingyun asked, returning to the well and picking up his fishing rod.

Old Qin shook his head. "Hard to say. Ever since the Beast Tide, the chessboard has been scrambled. Everyone is anxious, placing bets and sowing seeds everywhere."

"Hmm. Then we shall leave it at that for today. The compensation I handed over was not stingy. If the real master behind him decides to pursue this later, at worst, I will just kowtow a few times to apologize."

No sooner had Su Lingyun finished speaking than the little boy in the courtyard could no longer bear the weight of the stones. He collapsed to the ground.

"My fish hasn't even taken the bait yet. Who permitted you to put them down?"

"Brother... Brother, I..."

Whoosh—

An invisible spiritual attack struck out. This child was still a mortal. After suffering such a heavy blow, his body only twitched once before falling completely still, his life force extinguished.

"Another useless little brother. They are all such trash. Just when will I catch this fish?"

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