Chapter 28

Lin Xuan looked back and found Lin Yan staring at him in a daze, as if he were looking at a monster.

Lin Yan had personally witnessed the entire Black Tiger Village—a huge force comparable to the Lin family… no, it was even stronger than the Lin family—be destroyed by Lin Xuan without raising a single ripple.

This scene was simply too shocking, deeply impacting Lin Yan’s young mind.

“Cousin, what’s wrong with you?”

Unbeknownst to him, Lin Xuan had already come to Lin Yan’s side. Glancing at his cousin who was frozen in place, Lin Xuan felt a bit concerned.

“Gulp.”

Lin Yan swallowed hard and took a long time to regain his senses, looking at Lin Xuan with admiration.

This was… a pure victory!

And it was so effortless!

Thinking about how he had wanted to discuss strategies with Lin Xuan and resort to underhanded tactics against Black Tiger Village, Lin Yan couldn’t help but feel a wave of shame. With his cousin’s strength, did he really need to use any underhanded methods?

With such terrifying power, let alone a small Black Tiger Village, even if Black Dahu broke into the Qi Sea Realm, he might not be a match for his cousin!

What schemes and tricks were even worth considering in the face of absolute strength?

“It’s… it’s nothing.”

Lin Yan quickly shook his head and then flattered, “Cousin Lin Xuan is mighty, annihilating Black Tiger Village with just your own strength!”

“What first prodigy of the Great Flame Dynasty, what genius? They aren’t even worthy to carry your shoes!”

Lin Xuan glanced at the fawning Lin Yan, his expression unchanged.

However… being flattered by a child of fate felt a bit nice, strangely enough!

“Alright, enough flattery. Time to loot the spoils,” Lin Xuan said lightly.

“Looting the spoils? That’s a great way to put it!”

Lin Yan’s grandpa praised, “Little Yan, you should learn this from your cousin. In the martial arts world, people die for wealth, and birds perish for food. It’s not as simple as you imagine.”

Lin Yan silently nodded, deeply remembering this phrase, but he still didn’t understand one thing.

His cousin Lin Xuan… seemed to have only made a move for the second time, so why did he seem so experienced?

“Maybe it’s just an illusion.”

…….

For a while afterward, Lin Xuan and Lin Yan began looting Black Tiger Village.

“Damn, this Black Tiger Village is so poor; how can they even call themselves bandits?”

Lin Yan cursed, rummaging through the entire Black Tiger Village, even tearing up the grass and digging three feet into the ground.

Yet, in this vast mountain stronghold, he found items worth only about 5,000 lower-grade spirit stones.

No wonder Lin Yan was so foul-mouthed.

What Lin Yan didn’t know was that it wasn’t that Black Tiger Village was too poor; it was just that all their items had been traded away by Black Dahu for fourth-grade breakthrough pills. Now, they were all burned by Lin Xuan’s fire.

That was why it seemed so impoverished.

Lin Xuan looked at the grumbling Lin Yan, feeling empathetic. A mountain stronghold this large was surprisingly poor; indeed, being an alchemist was much wealthier, far quicker than robbing!

“Cousin Lin Xuan, there’s a cave here; the treasures inside must be substantial!”

Lin Yan said excitedly. After the small rewards, it was time for the big prize.

Without a doubt, fourth-grade heavenly materials were the biggest prizes, and even some spiritual materials couldn’t compare to a thousand-year stone milk of that grade!

Within half an hour, Lin Xuan followed Lin Yan to the entrance of a cave. The cave was winding and dark, with a path that seemed to stretch endlessly.

Following this path, Lin Xuan and Lin Yan cautiously entered the cave. Although there were some traps along the way, Lin Xuan easily destroyed them with his perception.

Moments later, the two arrived at the cave’s deepest level, and upon seeing a glimmer of light not far away, Lin Xuan smiled.

Not far away was a small space, only a few meters wide, but in this space was a small pit. The light Lin Xuan and Lin Yan saw came from this pit.

Inside the small pit was a milky white liquid, giving off a thin aura of spirit energy. However, to Lin Xuan and Lin Yan’s disappointment, the remaining thousand-year stone milk in the pit was less than an inch.

The pit itself was about five or six inches deep.

“What a pity.”

Lin Xuan shook his head. So much thousand-year stone milk had been wasted. As a fourth-grade heavenly material, a bottle of thousand-year stone milk could sell for hundreds of thousands of lower-grade spirit stones. How much had been wasted here?

Lin Xuan carefully collected the remaining thousand-year stone milk, exactly two small bottles, no more, no less.

“Little Yan… you really hit the jackpot this time!”

The voice of Lin Yan’s grandpa echoed in his mind again, but this time there was a hint of excitement in his tone.

“Teacher, what happened?”

Lin Yan curiously asked, not understanding what could have made his teacher so excited.

“Little Yan, listen to me…”

However, before he could finish, a thunderous voice erupted.

Lin Xuan gathered his spirit energy and suddenly slapped the ground, a dense white smoke billowing from beneath. It was a rich and profound Dao rhythm, and soon the area was enveloped in a mist of Dao essence.

“I knew it! The place where so much thousand-year stone milk is must be unusual; there’s definitely some earth treasure here, and it turns out I was right!”

Lin Yan’s grandpa’s hoarse voice echoed in his mind, though there was a hint of doubt in his tone.

“Few people should know this secret. Even most high-level alchemists wouldn’t know. Why would your cousin know?”

“Little Yan… why don’t you go ask him?”

Out of curiosity, he truly felt curious this time. Could it be that this young man had secrets he didn’t know about?

“Teacher, what is this fifth-grade earth treasure?”

Lin Yan was excited. In the thick Dao rhythm, there was an object about the size of a fist, crystal clear, radiating brilliant rays of light, looking very beautiful.

Fifth-grade heavenly materials or earth treasures were exceedingly rare. Each one could spark fierce competition. According to what Lin Yan knew, there had been a fifth-grade earth treasure once in the Great Flame Dynasty, which had led to a bloody war between several dynasties. In the end, the Great Flame Dynasty dispatched five powerful beings in the Transcendence Realm to successfully seize the fifth-grade earth treasure.

Such an item… was worth its weight in gold!