Looking toward the source of the voice, Ye Lin discovered a beautiful, mature woman dressed in a black robe with dragon horns on her head. She was standing on empty air, looking down at him from above.
The beautiful woman had referred to herself as “this Empress” right off the bat and claimed he had slain her offspring. Combining this with the system notification he had received when killing Lu Chen—which stated he had slain the son of a Dragon Clan powerhouse—it wasn't hard to put two and two together.
It was obvious that this black-robed woman was that very Dragon Clan powerhouse. He had killed Lu Chen, and now, like the classic trope of beating the child only for the parent to show up, she had come to seek revenge.
In truth, with the concealment of the Desolate Ancient Dao Pagoda, it would have been impossible for this Dragon Empress to locate Ye Lin through divination.
However, while rules were rigid, people were adaptable. The Dragon Empress, Lu Yun, had simply tracked the exact location where Lu Chen's aura had vanished, which led her straight to the Demon Suppressing Division.
She had then searched the souls of a few Demon Suppressing Guards, easily uncovering everything and pinning down Ye Lin.
The only reason she hadn't immediately dealt a fatal blow to Ye Lin was because she assumed there had to be a Loose Immortal powerhouse backing him, just like herself. She was waiting for that person to show themselves.
“Still refusing to name the Loose Immortal behind you? In that case, this Empress will search your soul herself.”
Seeing Ye Lin stare at her in silence without any Loose Immortal appearing, the Dragon Empress Lu Yun's impatient eyes narrowed.
She raised her hand and made a grasping motion. A massive, illusory hand manifested from spiritual power immediately clawed down violently toward Ye Lin below.
After all, the damaged immortal treasure within her body only allowed her to leave Dragon Burial Island for a single shichen. If she did not return within that time limit, she would face severe punishment from the Heavenly Tribulation.
At best, she would be severely injured and have her cultivation base slashed; at worst, her body would perish, her Dao would dissipate, and she would be barred from entering reincarnation.
But what dumbfounded the Dragon Empress Lu Yun was that Ye Lin, whom she viewed as a mere ant below, actually wielded a complete immortal artifact and unleashed a strike that filled even her with immense dread.
Knowing that this matter could not be resolved peacefully, Ye Lin had unhesitatingly gripped his Immortal King-grade sword—which had been charging for a long time—and unleashed the first form of the Heaven-Cleaving Sword Intent: Charging Form!
Rumble!
This sword intent came with a built-in lock-on function. Lu Yun couldn't even use spatial evasion to dodge. With a dark expression, she could only rely on her powerful physical body and defensive magic treasures to forcefully withstand the blow.
Crack!
Although she successfully blocked the strike, a crack appeared on Lu Yun's defensive magic treasure. However, she herself sustained no injuries.
After all, she was a Loose Immortal powerhouse who was infinitely close to becoming a true immortal. The Charging Form hadn't been charged for long enough, so it naturally couldn't inflict heavy injuries on her. Ye Lin felt a bit of regret about this.
This was currently one of the strongest offensive means at his disposal.
Beyond this, he only had one last resort: the second form of the Heaven-Cleaving Sword Intent, the Defying Fate Form. By swinging his sword when injured or cornered to defy heaven and change fate, he could reflect the opponent's attack back at them with a hundred times its original power.
If he added his trait, “The Strictest Father of Other Races,” which increased damage to other races by ten times...
...and stacked it with the hundredfold power boost from the Heavenly Dao Seal, the resulting power would be a staggering one million times greater. It should be more than enough to completely empty this Dragon Empress's health bar.
With the Desolate Ancient Dao Pagoda's automatic protection, it was equivalent to having a death-defying effect. He could absolutely survive a full-force blow from the Dragon Empress. Now, he just had to wait for Lu Yun to make her move.
While Ye Lin was eagerly anticipating her attack so he could get a massive loot drop, the Dragon Empress Lu Yun was staring back at him with extreme wariness.
To say that Lu Yun didn't covet the complete immortal artifact in Ye Lin's hand would be a lie.
After all, she only possessed a single damaged immortal treasure, which she had retrieved from a forbidden area at the risk of her own life.
If she could obtain a complete immortal treasure, not only would her strength soar, but the time she could spend away from Dragon Burial Island would also increase. This would greatly aid her plans for the Southern Domain, allowing her to plunder more opportunities for immortal ascension in this era.
Yet, she simply did not dare to act—even though the youth before her appeared to be a mere Qi Condensation Stage ant whom she could slap to death countless times.
She had lived for nearly ten thousand years. Countless geniuses of her generation had fallen along the way, yet she, a person of average talent, had managed to climb all the way to the Loose Immortal realm. She had relied on a single word: caution!
If she could win, she would fight; if she couldn't, she would retreat. She would never throw her life away just for the sake of face or the pride of a powerhouse.
Her previous overbearing attitude had been built on her perception of Ye Lin's weak cultivation base. Now that she realized Ye Lin was not to be trifled with...
...combined with her previous failure to reverse time, and the fact that this kid had killed her physically powerful offspring in a single punch...
...and now, he was brazenly flaunting a complete immortal artifact in front of her, casually unleashing an attack that she found incredibly troublesome to deal with, all while waiting for her to strike with complete composure.
He was clearly playing her like a fiddle!
With this thought, she painfully slipped off a storage ring from her right hand.
“I was merely jesting just now. My offspring offended you, and indeed deserved to die.”
“The treasures within this ring are my apology for offending you. From this moment on, our karma is resolved, and we owe each other nothing.”
“I have urgent matters to attend to at home. I shall take my leave. Farewell!”
Having swiftly delivered her apology and offered her compensation, Lu Yun did not give Ye Lin even a split second to act. She tore through space and vanished on the spot.
Standing there, witnessing her incredibly smooth and practiced escape, Ye Lin was completely dumbfounded.
I literally killed your son! Even if he wasn't biologically born of you, he was still your direct offspring!
The enmity of a murdered child is supposed to be irreconcilable. You came here with such overwhelming momentum, only to offer an apology gift and flee in panic? Is this even normal?
“What a pity my cultivation is too weak. The Defying Fate Form can only reflect an attack with a hundredfold power if the opponent actually strikes first. Otherwise, how could I have let such a massive boss escape from my grasp?”
Looking at the storage ring Lu Yun had left behind as compensation, Ye Lin felt a bit better.
After all, the charge on his Immortal King-grade weapon had been spent, and it would take time to recharge. He couldn't just return empty-handed.
Buzz!
As the Dragon Empress departed, the mysterious space dissolved, and Ye Lin reappeared on the streets of Tianqi City.
Not paying too much mind to this minor interlude in his life, he stored the storage ring containing the valuable treasures into the Desolate Ancient Dao Pagoda and continued making his way toward the Tianyu Chamber of Commerce.
“Honored guest, please step inside.”
The moment he arrived at the entrance of the Tianyu Chamber of Commerce, a beautiful maid walked over to guide him inside.
However, this was not Gu Shiyue, the red-dressed woman who had gifted him the purple-gold black card last time.
With the purple-gold black card, he purchased two small spiritual flying vessels at a thirty percent discount—one for regular use and one as a spare. After all, the cultivation world was highly unstable; having a backup in case one got destroyed was only wise.
In addition, he bought several sets of mid-grade and high-grade robes, a large quantity of materials for alchemy, weapon refinement, and talisman crafting, and even picked up an alchemy cauldron.
He also bought the most crucial Bigu Pills, along with some food, water, and other necessities.
By the time he had purchased everything he could think of, he had spent over two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
“Have a safe journey, honored guest.”
As he left, the maid's attitude toward him grew even more passionate.
Without lingering in Tianqi City, Ye Lin returned directly to his Cave Dwelling No. 1 with his massive haul.
What he did not know was that at this very moment, his fierce notoriety had already spread throughout Tianqi City.
Initially, upon hearing that he had reappeared after more than a month, many new disciples who had lost friends or family in the freshman trial didn't dare to cause trouble for the royal family.
Instead, picking on the weak while fearing the strong, they followed the royal family's narrative and laid all the blame on Ye Lin. They had gathered in groups, self-righteously planning to find trouble with Ye Lin and even drive him to his death.
But to their utter shock, Ye Lin had already achieved a heaven-defying battle record before they could even act.
He had killed a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator in a single punch, forcefully slain the eldest young mistress of the Chu family—one of the three great families—and now even had a powerful figure from the Demon Suppressing Division backing him.
Faced with this reality, these spineless cowards could only tuck their tails and keep their mouths shut, never mentioning looking for trouble with Ye Lin again.
Of course, there were indeed some unyielding individuals among the new disciples, but they were sensible enough to know who the real culprit was. They hadn't been misled into harboring hatred toward Ye Lin.
Among the new disciples, there were also two unlucky fellows who gnashed their teeth in hatred toward Ye Lin: Wang Wan and Jiang Feng, who had once tried to use their connections to steal the top two spots in the freshman trial.
Originally, because they were unclear about the backgrounds of Ye Lin and Lin Luoxian, they could only swallow their anger on the day of the freshman assignments.
Once they returned and investigated, discovering that neither of them had any major backing, they were absolutely furious. Unable to find Ye Lin, they had gone to find Lin Luoxian first.
However, every time they went, they were slapped into a state of severe injury by Lin Luoxian. It was the same even when they brought Foundation Establishment Stage disciples with them.
After several failed attempts, they accepted the reality that Lin Luoxian was a tough nut to crack and not to be trifled with. Thus, they accumulated all their rage to unleash on Ye Lin instead.
Who could have known that when they heard Ye Lin's name again, he had already become an existence they didn't dare to provoke?
If he dared to kill even the eldest young mistress of the Chu family, what hope did they have as mere ordinary direct descendants of the Wang and Jiang families?
And so, the two unlucky fellows endured day after day, and finally decided they would just endure it for the rest of their lives.
Aside from these developments, the name Ye Lin also entered the sights of many young geniuses in the royal capital, and even some of the older generation.
However, they thought deeper. Ye Lin's talent was so poor, yet his combat power was so terrifying; anyone with eyes could see that he must possess some extraordinary opportunity.
With such a heaven-defying opportunity to alter one's fate dangling right before their eyes, quite a few people were starting to find it hard to restrain themselves.
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