Chapter 95

The small courtyard in Qingyun Workshop was named "Qingyun Small Building" by Lin Xuan. With a stable foothold, he did not rush to stir up the situation, but chose to settle down, like a hidden dragon in the abyss, silently accumulating strength.

The primary task was to help Feng Xi fully recover. The efficacy of the Star-Cleansing Lotus was extraordinary, combined with Lin Xuan's pure Chaos spiritual power, the domineering star power remaining in Feng Xi's body was gradually dispelled and refined. Its green-gold feathers regained their divine brilliance, the injuries improved at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the aura became stronger day by day. Although there was still a gap from the peak period, there was no major problem, and it even turned a blessing in disguise, and its resistance to star power was enhanced.

Secondly, Lin Xuan devoted most of his energy to the further refining and comprehension of that piece of Unknown Star Iron. This item had an extremely strong resonance with his Chaos Dao Seed, and that incomplete three-dimensional star map seemed to contain a real starry sky law. He tried to burn it with Chaos Dao Fire, communicate with it with spiritual sense, and even induce the star core power to blend with it.

The process was slow and arduous, the Star Iron was indestructible and extremely difficult to refine. But every time a trace was refined, a pure and ancient origin star power would feed back to himself, allowing him to deepen his understanding of the "Zhou Tian Star Art," and the Chaos Dao Seed became more solid, steadily advancing his cultivation toward the peak of late-stage Soul Formation.

At the same time, he also began to re-refine the Chaos Immortal-Slaying Sword Embryo. He melted several rare metal-attribute and space-attribute materials he looted from the storage bags of Zhao Wuji and others, as well as those exchanged with part of the Geng Metal Spirit Marrow, into it. The golden lines on the sword embryo became more complex and mysterious, and within the gray sword body, it seemed that a world of Chaos opening and stars evolving was gestating, the spirituality increased greatly, and the power was not what it used to be.

In his spare time, he studied the information in the Huangfu Tianji Pavilion jade slip, and had a clearer understanding of the forces in the Imperial Capital, especially paying close attention to the trends of the Zhao Clan, Star Palace, and Shadow Tower. The jade slip mentioned that the Zhao Clan was furious because of the death of its direct descendant Zhao Wuji, and had secretly sent experts to investigate, and offered a huge reward of spirit stones to find the whereabouts and weaknesses of "Mu Xuan/Lin Xuan." As for the Star Palace, it remained mysterious, but it was rumored that an important figure was about to arrive in the Imperial Capital. The Shadow Tower was as active as ever, like a poisonous snake in the shadows.

During this period, he also purchased some scattered ancient books and rumors about the "Ancient Heaven-Cutting War" and "Primordial Dao Ancestor" anonymously through the secret channels left by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. Although most of them were fragmented information, piecing them together also gave him a more blurred but grander imagination about that annihilated history and the origin of his own inheritance.

On this day, the night fell, and the Imperial Capital was lit with ten thousand lights, like a starry river on the ground.

Lin Xuan was sitting in the quiet room, when suddenly he felt something, and opened his eyes. The warning array he deployed on the periphery of the courtyard transmitted a trace of extremely weak, almost imperceptible fluctuation.

Someone touched the array, and the means were extremely brilliant. If it weren't for his keen spiritual sense and his heart-to-heart connection with the array, he would almost not be able to find it.

"Finally here?" Cold light flashed in Lin Xuan's eyes, and his figure disappeared silently in the quiet room.

Outside the courtyard, a blurred black shadow almost merged with the night, sticking to the shadows in the corner of the wall, with no aura at all. He held a strange compass in his hand that kept flashing, and the compass needle was pointing dead at the inside of the courtyard.

"According to the aura tracking and the scattered clues provided by the Liu Clan, the target should be hiding here... what a brilliant concealment array, almost even the 'Nether Shadow Luo Pan' was deceived." The black shadow secretly said in his heart, he was a gold-medal killer of the Shadow Tower, codenamed "Nether Blade," with a late-stage Soul Formation cultivation, good at stealth, tracking, and one-hit kills.

He was about to find the weak point of the array to sneak in, when suddenly, a calm voice sounded behind him:

"Visiting late at night, what is your instruction?"

Nether Blade's hair stood on end, he didn't even think about it, his figure blurred instantly, sliding sideways like merging into water, and at the same time, he waved his backhand, and three silent and soundless Soul-Splitting Shuttles shot toward the source of the sound!

This was his life-saving stunt, the speed was fast to the extreme, specializing in hurting the soul.

However, those three Soul-Splitting Shuttles shot into the shadows behind him, like a stone sinking into the sea, without making any sound, nor feeling like hitting a solid body.

Nether Blade was horrified in his heart, turned around suddenly, only to see that green-robed figure, who didn't know when he had appeared in the position where he originally stood, was looking at him indifferently, and those three Soul-Splitting Shuttles were actually clamped by him with two fingers casually, and the yin-poison soul power attached to them melted and disintegrated the moment they touched the other party's fingers.

"Shadow Tower person?" Lin Xuan played with the three black shuttles, his tone could not tell whether he was angry or happy, "Did the Zhao Clan hire you, or someone else?"

Nether Blade's pupils shrank, knowing that he had met a hard bone that was difficult to imagine. The other party could approach him silently and easily take his Soul-Splitting Shuttles, his strength was definitely above him! He made a decisive decision, his figure retreated violently, and at the same time crushed a life-saving jade talisman in his sleeve, his whole person turned into a nearly transparent phantom, and he was about to escape into the void.

"Did I allow you to leave?"

Lin Xuan's voice seemed to carry strange magic, and as his words fell, the surrounding space suddenly became viscous and heavy, an invisible domain force permeated — it was the simplified application of the Star-Nether Domain!

Nether Blade only felt his whole body tighten, as if falling into an invisible quagmire, the escape technique was instantly broken, and his figure was forcibly forced out of the void!

His face was pale, and fear finally appeared in his eyes. Domain! This was the power level that Spirit Transformation cultivators might touch!

"Senior, spare my life!" Nether Blade knelt on the ground without hesitation, "Junior is just acting on orders, the employer information is kept secret in the building, Junior really doesn't know!"

"Don't know?" Lin Xuan took a step, and had appeared in front of Nether Blade, looking down at him, his eyes cold, "Then talk about what you know. How many strongholds does the Shadow Tower have in the Imperial Capital? What are the main tasks recently? Is there any connection with the Star Palace?"

Powerful spiritual pressure mixed with Chaos Dao rhyme pressed on Nether Blade's heart like a mountain, making his soul tremble, unable to give birth to any resistance.

"I'll say! I'll say!" Nether Blade hurriedly confessed, "There are three strongholds in the Imperial Capital, but they are all facades, the real core is... in the depths of the 'Ghost Market'! The main tasks recently, besides routine assassinations, are focusing on monitoring all young geniuses entering the Imperial Capital, especially those related to 'Heavenly Destiny,' and... searching for a cultivator named 'Lin Xuan.' As for the Star Palace... there are indeed records in the building, seemingly having some origins with the Star Palace, but Junior's status is low, I really don't know!"

Ghost Market? Monitoring geniuses? Having origins with the Star Palace?

Lin Xuan's thoughts turned rapidly, these information verified his previous guesses.

"Seeing that you are quite honest..." Lin Xuan's tone eased slightly.

Nether Blade was overjoyed in his heart, thinking there was a chance of survival.

However, the next moment, a gray star light flashed at Lin Xuan's fingertips, instantly sinking into Nether Blade's eyebrows.

Nether Blade's body stiffened, the spirit in his eyes dissipated rapidly, and he fell softly, his vitality cut off. For this kind of killer whose hands were stained with blood, Lin Xuan had no pity, leaving him would only be a disaster.

He waved his hand to collect Nether Blade's storage bag and that Nether Shadow Luo Pan, cast Chaos Dao Fire to turn his corpse into ashes, and cleaned the scene.

Returning to the courtyard, Lin Xuan's face was serious. The Shadow Tower's actions were faster than he expected, and the target was clear. The possible connection with the Star Palace made him even more vigilant.

"Ghost Market..." He recalled the records in the jade slip, which was the largest black market in the Imperial Capital, where fish and dragons were mixed, order was maintained by several mysterious forces, and it was the best place for selling stolen goods, buying contraband, and obtaining secret information, and it was also a hotbed of crime.

"It seems that it is necessary to go to this Ghost Market." Lin Xuan secretly said. Not only to investigate the reality of the Shadow Tower, but also to find more clues about the coordinates pointed to by the Star Iron.

Just at this time, his brows picked slightly, looking at the direction of the courtyard gate.

Someone came again? And this time, it was coming openly.

I saw the array light curtain at the courtyard gate rippling slightly, and a sound transmission talisman passed through and floated in front of Lin Xuan. A cold and familiar voice came from the talisman:

"Ye Chen, visiting."

Lin Xuan hooked his mouth, finally here. He waved his hand to open the courtyard gate array.

Ye Chen, dressed in white like snow, holding a long sword, walked in. His aura was more condensed than in the Star Burial Valley, his sword intent was restrained, but it was like a peerless divine weapon hidden in a box, and the sharpness might surprise the world at any time. His cultivation had actually broken through to mid-stage Soul Formation, and his progress was rapid.

The two people's gazes met in the air, as if invisible electric light flashed.

"You're here." Lin Xuan said indifferently.

"I'm here to fulfill the agreement." Ye Chen's eyes were burning, fighting spirit rising, "Imperial Capital 'Discussion Platform,' a battle between you and me, dare you?"

The Imperial Capital Discussion Platform was an official place set up in the city for cultivators to resolve grievances and discuss techniques, guarded by powerful arrays, and could be displayed to the fullest.

Lin Xuan looked at this Son of Destiny who was favored by luck, and could feel the vast thunder sword intent and a more unfathomable potential in his body. A battle with him could not only verify what he had learned, but perhaps also glimpse a corner of the so-called "Heavenly Destiny."

"Time, place." Lin Xuan was concise.

"Three days later, noon, Discussion Platform, Jia-1 field." Ye Chen reported the location, then turned and left, without any hesitation, "I hope you won't disappoint me."

Looking at Ye Chen's departing back, a trace of fighting spirit also ignited in Lin Xuan's eyes.

"Son of Destiny... let me see, you proud son of heaven, can you shake my 'variable' Dao!"

The battle on the Discussion Platform three days later would undoubtedly be his first battle to officially make a name for himself in the Imperial Capital! It would also inevitably attract the attention of countless forces!

The winds and clouds have already risen by the side of Qingyun Small Building.