Chapter 45: Tight Situation, Time to Bolt? I'm Heading into the Mountains to Treasure Hunt!

The fall of two Golden Core assassins from the Shadow Pavilion, especially the gold-medal assassin You Ren, was like dropping a giant boulder into a calm lake, creating massive ripples within specific circles of the Imperial Capital.

While furious, the Shadow Pavilion raised the threat level of "Lin Xuan" to "Extremely High," temporarily withdrawing all overt forces from the Imperial Capital and shifting into deeper concealment. Losing two elites at once, especially a gold-medal assassin like You Ren, was a significant blow to the Shadow Pavilion, requiring a reassessment of the target's strength and the cost of assassination. In the short term, they might not act rashly again, but the next strike would be far more lethal, potentially even deploying a Nascent Soul assassin!

Zhao Yuan, the Third Master of the Zhao family, was both terrified and furious, feeling like an ant on a hot pan. The assassination had failed, the middleman (the dead soldier) who connected them to the Shadow Pavilion had been lost, and he had thoroughly offended the mysterious and unfathomable enemy, Lin Xuan. He had to deal with potential accountability from within his family while simultaneously guarding against Lin Xuan’s retaliation, living in constant anxiety.

Upon learning of this, top-tier powers like the Ye family, the Imperial Court, and the Snow Palace raised their estimation of "Lin Xuan" once again. Being able to counter-kill a Shadow Pavilion gold-medal assassin, regardless of the methods used, proved he possessed terrifying strength and intellect far beyond his apparent cultivation realm. The value of winning him over or forming an alliance had greatly increased, but at the same time, so had their wariness.

Within the Four Seas Firm, the Ninth Elder personally summoned Lin Xuan. Although he did not state it explicitly, his attitude became increasingly cordial, subtly indicating that the firm would be his solid backing and allocating an additional batch of resources for his use. Qian Duoduo was so impressed by Lin Xuan that he became his number one fan.

Facing the undercurrents and tremors in the outside world caused by him, Lin Xuan, who was at the center of the storm, appeared exceptionally calm.

He knew that temporary deterrence could not eradicate the hidden dangers. The Shadow Pavilion was like a bone-deep gangrene, the Zhao family would not give up, and other forces were lurking in the shadows. Remaining in the Imperial Capital offered relative safety under the protection of the Four Seas Firm, but it also meant placing himself under countless overt and covert attacks, leaving him restricted and unable to truly unleash his potential to improve his strength, while constantly remaining in a state of passive defense.

"It is time to leave." Lin Xuan made his decision. The Imperial Capital was fine, but for him, it had become a cage that bound his hands and feet. He needed a wider sky and, even more, needed to improve his strength as quickly as possible to face the more severe challenges of the future.

The Black Wind Mountain Range, the hidden coordinate deciphered from the Nether Sect token, was undoubtedly the best choice. It held unknown opportunities and might even conceal secrets related to the Nether Sect and that mysterious "Sacred Object," making it worth exploring.

He informed Qian Duoduo and the Ninth Elder of his thoughts, stating only that he needed to travel to seek an opportunity for a breakthrough, without revealing the specific information about the Black Wind Mountain Range.

The Ninth Elder pondered for a moment and did not stop him, merely gifting him a life-saving jade talisman and a more detailed map of the Imperial Dynasty's territory, cautioning: "The outside world is treacherous; be careful in all things. The Four Seas Firm has branches in every major city; if you have need, you may use your guest token to seek help."

Qian Duoduo patted his chest and promised to keep an eye on the movements in the Imperial Capital, vowing to find a way to send him word if there was any disturbance.

Preparations proceeded in an orderly fashion. Using the spirit stones and contribution points on hand, Lin Xuan exchanged for a large quantity of high-grade elixirs, talismans, and a set of higher-grade portable array flags through the Four Seas Firm. At the same time, he packed up all the illicit items obtained from the storage rings of You Ren and Shadow Bat, as well as some unused Nether Sect materials, and threw them all to the system for recycling. Although the depreciation was severe, it earned him considerable system energy and some special system points (which could be used to exchange for rare items).

[Current System Energy: 87%]

[Special Points: 350 points]

Everything was ready.

Three days later, in the dead of night.

Lin Xuan did not alert anyone. He changed into an inconspicuous gray martial outfit and once again employed the "Turtle Breath Technique" and "Shadow Concealment Art." With the assistance of the system's deep camouflage, he left the small building of the Four Seas Pavilion where he had lived for several months, departing from this Imperial Capital where prosperity and crisis coexisted, like a wisp of blue smoke merging into the night.

He did not use any flying magic treasures, but instead relied on the "Shrinking Ground to an Inch" divine ability. His figure flickered a few times between the dense forest and the mountains along the official road, and he was already dozens of miles away. Although his speed was not as fast as a top-tier flying boat, it had the advantage of being flexible and concealed, making it difficult to track.

Target—Northwest direction, three thousand miles away, the Black Wind Mountain Range!

The journey was uneventful. Lin Xuan traveled by night and rested by day, choosing paths rarely trodden by people to avoid large towns and areas where cultivators gathered, minimizing the risk of exposure to the greatest extent.

Several days later, he finally arrived at the outskirts of the Black Wind Mountain Range.

Looking from afar, the entire mountain range was shrouded in gray-black miasma. The terrain was precipitous with jagged, strange rocks, giving one a feeling of oppression and ominousness. The air was filled with a faint smell of humus and a lingering demonic aura. The occasional roar of unknown beasts from the depths of the mountains added to the danger.

The spiritual energy here was chaotic, and spiritual sense detection was greatly interfered with; it was indeed an excellent place for hiding and adventure, and it was no wonder the Nether Sect chose it as a stronghold or a place to hide secrets.

Lin Xuan did not venture deep rashly. He first found a hidden cave on the outskirts of the mountain range, set up an array, and settled down temporarily. He needed to adapt to the environment here first and determine the specific path forward based on the vague coordinate deciphered by the system.

"System, using the current coordinate as a baseline, combine it with the deciphered spatial coordinate fragments from the Nether token to perform path deduction and mark dangerous areas."

[Ding! Command accepted, starting environment scanning and path deduction module, consuming 2% energy...]

[Scanning... Terrain analysis... Energy field mapping... Tracking traces of biological activity...]

[Deduction complete! A preliminary path map has been generated, marking three high-energy reaction zones (suspected powerful beast lairs or natural hazards) and two spatially unstable areas (potential cracks or traps). The target coordinate is located in the east-central region of the mountain range; you must traverse the edge of one high-energy reaction zone.]

A slightly blurry but generally clear three-dimensional map appeared in Lin Xuan's mind, with several areas marked with striking red warning signs.

"It is indeed not simple." Lin Xuan took a deep breath, but his eyes became increasingly sharp. Danger and opportunity coexisted; this was the tempering he wanted.

He took out the tokens obtained from the Nether Sect deacon and You Ren, sensing them carefully once more. After approaching the Black Wind Mountain Range, the trace of homologous fluctuation within the tokens seemed to become more active, faintly pointing toward a direction deep in the mountains, roughly coinciding with the path deduced by the system.

After resting for a day and adjusting his state to the peak, Lin Xuan resolutely stepped into this dangerous mountain range shrouded in miasma.

He restrained his aura, controlled his "Shrinking Ground to an Inch" to a level with lower consumption, and moved through the rugged mountains like a spirit ape. He kept his "Eye of Truth" open at all times, alert to dangers that might come from all directions.

The Black Wind Mountain Range lived up to its fierce reputation. Lin Xuan had not even gone a hundred miles deep before he encountered several attacks. There were poisonous demonic plants disguised as vines, iron-armored centipedes burrowing from underground, and swarms of bloodthirsty, violent ghost-faced bats... Most of these demonic beasts were between the Foundation Establishment and early Golden Core stages, but their use of the environment and the bizarre nature of their attacks were far beyond those of beasts of the same level in the outside world.

Lin Xuan did not entangle with them; he avoided them when he could, and if he could not, he killed them quickly with thunderous means before immediately moving on. The dominance of his chaotic spiritual power was fully revealed at this moment; whether it was the tough shells of the demonic beasts or their bizarre toxins, their effects were often greatly reduced under the erosion of his chaotic spiritual power.

Over the past few days, although he had not encountered any great demons above the mid-Golden Core stage, he had experienced many dangerous situations, and his combat experience and ability to adapt to the environment were improving rapidly. During this time, he also collected some rare spiritual herbs and ores, which counted as a small harvest.

On this day, following the path deduced by the system, he carefully bypassed a swampy area marked as a "high-energy reaction zone" and entered a valley filled with strange black rocks.

As soon as he stepped into the valley, the Nether token in his hand suddenly became slightly hot, and the fluctuation within it became unprecedentedly clear and urgent!

Almost simultaneously, the system issued a warning:

[Warning! Detected high-intensity spatial interference and a homologous energy convergence point 500 meters ahead! Suspected target area! Also detected multiple life reactions, two of which reach late Golden Core strength!]

Lin Xuan's heart tightened. He immediately restrained his aura to the extreme, climbed silently onto a huge black rock, and looked down through the cracks in the stone.

He saw that deep in the valley, in an open space, the space appeared abnormally distorted, faintly forming a blurry, constantly fluctuating vortex entrance. Around the entrance stood several broken stone pillars carved with Nether runes, which seemed to form an ancient array.

And at this moment, near the entrance, two groups of people were confronting each other!

One group wore familiar black robes, their bodies wreathed in Nether death energy; they were indeed Nether Sect cultivators! There were about seven or eight of them, and their leader was an old man with a withered face and sinister eyes, whose aura was clearly at the late Golden Core stage! He held a bone banner in his hand, with black energy rolling on its surface and the sound of ghosts wailing.

As for the other group, they made Lin Xuan's pupils shrink suddenly!

They were not human! They were tall, with blue-gray skin, single horns on their foreheads, or scales covering their cheeks—the Demon Race!

The leader was a burly, muscular man with a spiral horn on his forehead that flashed with cold light. His aura was violent, and he was also at the late Golden Core stage! He was followed by four or five other demons, all different in form, but each exuding a soaring baleful aura; they were clearly formidable fighters.

The two groups were at daggers drawn, the atmosphere tense to the extreme, their gazes fixed firmly on the constantly fluctuating spatial entrance!

"Old Ghost Youku! This ruin was discovered by my Black Wind Ridge first! If you know what's good for you, get out!" The one-horned brute's voice was like a booming bell, making the valley hum.

The Nether Sect elder known as Old Ghost Youku gave a sinister laugh: "Xikui, treasures of heaven and earth belong to those with affinity. This place has an affinity with my Nether Sect; is it something you fur-covered, horned beasts can covet?"

"Bullshit! Take this!" The demon leader named Xikui was enraged and threw a punch directly. The violent demonic power transformed into the phantom of a roaring giant rhinoceros, charging toward the Nether Sect group!

"Form the array! Ten Thousand Ghosts Devour Souls!" Old Ghost Youku shouted sharply. He shook the bone banner, and countless fierce ghosts and vengeful spirits shrieked as they rushed to meet the giant rhinoceros phantom!

Boom!

The two powerful forces collided fiercely, shaking the earth and mountains, with the wailing of ghosts and the roaring of demonic beasts intertwined!

The great battle erupted instantly!

Hiding on the giant rock, Lin Xuan watched the two sides fighting fiercely below, then looked at the clearly extraordinary spatial entrance, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes.

"Nether Sect, Demon Race, ancient ruins... This just got interesting."

Like the most patient hunter, he restrained all his aura, lay quietly in wait, and waited for... his own opportunity.

(End of Chapter 45)