Chapter 198: The Young Lady of the Fang Family Comes Knocking

An Xin returned to the main hall of the sect, a place the elders also favored, which also served as a council chamber.

Several elders were sitting, drinking tea and chatting; the scene was quite warm.

As a major sect, Tianyi Gate had many businesses and enterprises, so life was quite good.

The tea the elders drank was also of the finest quality, with its fragrance overflowing.

The cover of the small booklet caught their interest; one elder picked it up: "Annotations on the Soul-Guiding Paper Man Technique... the handwriting is very elegant, yet carries a craftsman's air. It must be from that County Commandant Li."

An Xin nodded.

They did not look at the contents of the booklet; instead, that elder placed the small booklet back on the table: "What does County Commandant Li require?"

"He requested to consult our local gazetteers."

"Did you ask him what content he wished to consult?"

"He did not say."

"Why not ask?"

"It is merely a local gazetteer; although important, since the other party is willing to pay such a huge price, I suppose they would not want us to know," said an elder nearby.

"Then shall we show it to him or not!"

"Of course we shall show it!" The eldest elder, with hair and beard entirely white, patted the small booklet: "A rare secret manual; why not take it? County Commandant Li is an honest man; it should not be a fake."

An Xin smiled: "Then I will go tell him this good news."

The white-haired elder smiled: "An Xin, you must also shoulder the great responsibility of the sect in the future; for matters like this, you may decide on your own; there is no need to report to us again."

"Good!"

An Xin clasped his fists, turned, and left.

Li Lin was waiting outside; not long after, An Xin came out.

"Brother Li, the elders of my sect have agreed to this matter."

Li Lin clasped his fists: "Thank you. I will spend three to four days consulting; during this period, the trouble of food and lodging falls on you."

"No trouble at all."

As a major sect, there would naturally be a place specifically for hosting guests.

Li Lin settled in here, then read the local gazetteers in Tianyi Gate's library.

They placed the local gazetteers and internal energy secret manuals in the same location.

It was just that one was on the left, and the other on the right.

Li Lin knew the rules, so he never looked to the left, consulting books only within the designated area.

He was here to find the content regarding 'Immortals'.

Or related content.

This was to cross-reference with the content of the "Secret Records of Immortals".

Moreover, Li Lin did not think the "Secret Records of Immortals" would record the whereabouts of all immortals; there must be omissions.

Utilizing the advantage of his official position, he had already reviewed the local gazetteer of Yulin County and discovered information not present in the "Secret Records of Immortals".

The local gazetteer of the Jin Commandery government was inconvenient to view, so he came to Tianyi Gate to try his luck.

After all... Tianyi Gate was a sect hundreds of years old, and it was evident that An Xin had great confidence in the content of his sect's local gazetteer.

Indeed, after spending about three days, Li Lin found very interesting content in the records of Tianyi Gate's local gazetteer.

One entry read: "The Heavenly Demon roared upon the world, bewildering human hearts; leading thousands, all who passed were slaughtered; nobles and commoners perished alike."

Then, he found another entry in a different bamboo scroll.

"An Immortal descended upon Jin Commandery; the Heavenly Demon perished; the world became peaceful."

Although it did not say where the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon appeared, if the record was not wrong, then the Heavenly Demon was killed in Jin Commandery.

Li Lin unconsciously touched his chin; when thinking, he would unconsciously make this small gesture.

The first entry was very interesting.

Bewildering human hearts, leading thousands... so it seems the Heavenly Demon was not only strong in combat ability, but also possessed strong leadership ability.

No wonder Qin Tuo of Yuecheng was considered the reincarnation of the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon.

After all, the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon died in this region of the Southern Frontier, and Qin Tuo indeed rebelled.

Additionally, an Immortal striking down the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon... according to the content he found in the "Secret Records of Immortals", the time points when immortals were active frequently almost all concentrated when the Otherworldly Heavenly Demon appeared.

This was even more interesting.

It seemed these two things appeared in pairs.

Li Lin flipped through the remaining scrolls but found no more content, so he gave up.

He came out of the library and found An Xin in the front hall.

At this time, An Xin was answering martial arts questions for his junior brothers and sisters.

He moved closer and happened to hear a female disciple ask: "Eldest Senior Brother, is the Dual Cultivation Art really that miraculous?"

"Oh, it's alright! But fellow cultivators in the Wu Lin have exaggerated its effects," An Xin smiled.

"Then is it possible that the Dual Cultivation Art could enable a woman learning martial arts at around seventeen years old to defeat me in just four or five months?"

An Xin immediately smiled even more happily: "Senior Sister Yongwei, are you having a nightmare?"

"Really, a few days ago I lost to a maid; she was using the 'Bai Hu Flipping Posture', such a low-grade martial technique." Fang Yongwei looked very depressed: "I have no words if my skills are inferior, but she said she had learned fist technique for less than half a year, yet her blood qi was cultivated via the Dual Cultivation Art."

An Xin couldn't help but laugh heartily: "Impossible; Senior Sister Yongwei, you must be confused from sleep. If such an effect truly existed, the Ding family of Guicheng... would already be the target of universal hatred; you should understand what I mean."

"Is that so?" Fang Yongwei was half-skeptical: "But the Huang family should not lie to me either."

"The Huang family?" An Xin's expression immediately became serious: "The Prefect Huang's family?"

Fang Yongwei nodded.

"Then tell me the details of what happened."

Fang Yongwei immediately recounted the ordeal she had suffered at the Huang family a few days prior.

After listening, An Xin's expression turned very strange: "Wait, are you saying... that maid is Li Lin's concubine, the County Commandant Li of Yulin County?"

"Yes!"

An Xin suddenly turned around, looked at Li Lin who was approaching, pointed at him, and said to Fang Yongwei: "Hmm, the main character has arrived; go ask him yourself."

In fact, he was also very curious.

Fang Yongwei looked at Li Lin and couldn't help but exclaim: "What a graceful Young Master; he is even more handsome than my eldest brother."

An Xin smiled and said: "Brother Li's appearance is indeed extraordinary, a rare sight."

Li Lin walked over, clasped his fists, and said: "Brother An, I have finished consulting the local gazetteer; thank you for the care of the Tianyi Sect these past few days."

"No need for courtesy." An Xin stood up to return the salute, then smiled: "This is one of my junior sisters, Fang Yongwei of the Fang family."

"The Fang family?" Li Lin paused in confusion and asked: "May I ask if the Lady has any relation to Commander Fang?"

"My elder brother!"

"Oh, I have met the young lady of the Fang family." Li Lin clasped his fists: "I have had several encounters with Brother Fang, so we are acquainted."

Fang Yongwei slightly bowed, using the greeting manner of noblewomen rather than that of the Jianghu: "Daughter of the Fang family, greeting Brother Li Shixiong."

Li Lin nodded: "May I ask what instruction you have for me?"

"A few days ago, I sparred with Sister Hongluan and lost." Fang Yongwei looked at Li Lin with a burning gaze: "Then I learned that Sister Hongluan has practiced martial arts for less than half a year. Is the Dual Cultivation Art truly that powerful?"

Li Lin instinctively tilted his head backward.

This young lady of the Fang family is far too bold.

Is the term 'Dual Cultivation' something an unmarried maiden can say?

(End of this chapter)