Just a few hours before daylight.

Each and every spirit-cultivator within the convoy or those lucky survivors which happens to be spirit-cultivators and are still inside the range of one-hundred kilometers from Lin’s location... all of them felt the stirring of spirit-elements in their surroundings once the boy began to meditate! suddenly the flow of comprehensions became... uninterrupted like falling rain... their thoughts found the shortest way to the true source of dao with such ease and freedom... the spirit-cultivation of those within that perimeter happened to rise quicker than any of them ever experienced before. Some of the mercenaries were fortunate enough to breakthrough and ascend a stage or... more! despite being the elite-force among spirit-cultivators... some of them did find answers to some of their confusing problems... be these confusions about their cultivation, fighting, and movement-techniques... how to use them with efficiency and mastery... how to hide their weak-points... how to improve their abilities... all of them benefitted and their skills did gain an increase of about a whole grade on average.

Mortals on the other hand were pretty much completely unaffected by the ongoing breakthrough-festival! their sleep is slightly deeper and more comfortable because their wariness did scatter... the mental-strain is gone once the cultivators said that their lives are no longer endangered by the demonic-beasts! how and why? it’s not their place to ask such questions... especially not from a cultivator because none of them dares to offend them.

Group-leaders Yang and Fu... the two mercenary-leaders sat south of the caravan's circle of carriages and drank a toast together to celebrate their survival after encountering such an unexpected ordeal... even they—with all their experience and resourcefulness—didn't ever think that the danger during this mission would be that high! after all... Lantian is a beast-lord of the high-grade and incomparably close to the major-realm of beast-king... that’s not a level of danger which they can hope to escape from... at least not without suffering grievously be that in-person or losing some valuable-members of their groups. Right now their heightened-senses—since they’re both spirit-tyrants—towards spirit-elements everywhere in their surroundings did give the two old men a hint about how much light-energy is being currently consumed from their surroundings... and how many more is being attracted from beyond the range of their senses! the mere fact that they... two spirit-tyrants can't completely encompass a spirit-disciple's "sphere of influence" on spirit-elements while spirit-cultivating? anybody who hears of their current situation would laugh in their face and consider it a... joke. However... here they’re! Yang and Fu ruefully exchanged glances while drinking in silence because... they're witnessing this impossibility happen... that joke is being played on the two men right now... and they’re not laughing at all. If it wasn't for them having already personally-confirmed that Bo An is really outside the boy’s carriage? both of them saw her taking the grey-wolf and the red-tiger somewhere south and into the dangerous territories of the beast-mountains then... these two spirit-tyrants would've thought that it’s the young-girl instead of the little-boy! honestly... Yang and Fu still can’t find the courage within them to believe that the kid is the one who's causing all of this... what about the fact that—whoever is currently spirit-cultivating within the carriage—is someone who does have the natural-affinity for light-energy? these two mercenary-leaders could argue that... the young-lady of the Chentian clan must be using some treasure or activating some special-formation—which is causing all of the light-element to gather towards the carriage—to help the boy spirit-cultivate! that argument is really much more believable over the fact that it’s just Ming by himself who's causing the stirring of these spirit-elements... even if the boy does happen to have the light-element as his natural-affinity. Who knows? maybe Chentian Ao’s precious granddaughter does have the natural-affinity for the light-element as well—since she’s like this mysterious-boy Ming—after all... the "jewel" of the Chentian clan similarly "mysterious" however... unlike the boy who’s unknown to the whole world! Bo An... is a mystery to the whole and entire spirit-world... her natural-affinity has always been a deep-secret to the whole world so far... her overprotective and loving grandfather made sure to hide it very well from everyone both inside and outside her clan. Lightning-spear Yang who’s a spirit-tyrant that’s currently at the peak of the third-stage and very close to ascending to the fourth-stage and crushing-hammer Fu who’s a spirit-tyrant of the second-stage... both of the two spirit-tyrants just shook their heads while sensing and feeling for themselves how the world around them is going crazy just to help this little-boy spirit-cultivate! still... the kid’s spirit-cultivation didn't ascend or gain a single stage despite him having already gobbled-up all of that light-energy... there hasn’t been any signs of a breakthrough actually happening within the carriage... not even once despite there being so... so much and more light-energy being gathered by the boy—which should’ve been enough to raise the kid’s spirit-cultivation upwards to the third-stage of the spirit-apprentice realm, at least—both mercenary-leaders just sighed in the end before finishing the drinks in their hands then the two spirit-tyrants went towards their own carriage to meditate and recuperate. After all... the two leaders did experience quite some action the past few days and the few weeks before these days... both men need some quality-time to digest the valuable-experience from all of these fights with the demonic-beasts to consolidate their foundations and seek further improvements and breakthroughs.

Zhang managed to ascend and breakthrough in his spirit-cultivation to reach the sixth-stage with the help of a high-grade spirit-crystal despite being on guarding-duty... the simple man being close to Lin when he’s meditating experienced his quickest breakthrough ever! meanwhile Wang actually caught-up with Wei’s spirit-cultivation after spending three months being forced to work really hard under the constant nagging from the strong man... plus the various skirmishes and fights the handsome-man has undergone while blocking the demonic-beasts and pushing them away to protect the convoy. Lai on the other hand sensed how he's just a single step away from peak-perfection of the grandmaster-realm! the blade-user only needs to solve his old mistake of neglecting the abilities of his martial-spirit... Lai needs to merge the hypnotic-abilities of his praying mantis with his blade-dao and eliminate this loose-end before he decides to attack the bottleneck of the tyrant-realm. The fatty wasn't just merely sitting there outside Lin’s carriage and doing nothing... the merchant diligently and meticulously calculated and estimated the financial needs that he would require for his next project! while perfecting his plans for how to efficiently operate the transportation-business between mercenary-city and pearl-city... Wei waited for the boy to finish his spirit-meditation so that both of them could talk about what to do once they reach their next destination. After all... mercenary-city is the location where this fatty is planning to making some good... very good amount of profit! the fighting-arenas there inside that city could be a very profitable opportunity... now that his little-brother Lin does seem a lot stronger compared to what he thought he would then... merchant Wei have to tweak and adjust his previous plans a little so that they would make more and bigger amount of profit while exploiting this opportunity. They really need to talk about the order of their moves... plus the fact that they need to get rid from Bo An! her company is bad news for their profit since the young-girl is a... well-known celebrity among the junior-generations of this spirit-world. Since all of their group should go incognito-mode after entering mercenary-city—Lin included since his high-profile action of beating a shadow-colt back them has made him slightly famous in the western-parts of the southern-continent—then... their group need to part-ways with the young-lady of the Chentian clan... sooner than later if possible.

However... this situation changed by daylight because even mortals could feel the difference of the atmosphere in their surroundings... all of them followed their senses and looked towards the boy’s carriage because... whatever that’s happening inside it isn't low-key... not at all.

.........

Inside the carriage.

Lin's skin shined completely with the glow of light-energy because not only was every one of his body-cells is glowing in a bright gold-color since each and every single one of them does have a strand of light-energy within their center but also because... his skin is covered in coating of a thin layer of light-energy that’s entirely made of spirit-energy of the gaseous-quality! meanwhile his golden-heart is similarly glowing in the golden-color however... it’s giving a much brighter shine which reached the other side where the boy’s cracked glass-heart is located... these cracks were visibly welcoming and letting that gold-light inside the lantern-like glass-heart which allowed that light-energy to shine on the lone red-fire inside it! after that light-energy kept amassing inside the glass-heart for some time... the golden-colored light-energy gathered and coalesced before creating a new wick of fire next to the red-fire... this one is entirely gold in color. Now there’s a second fire inside Lin's glass-heart... how did the "first dweller" of this glass-heart—red fire—react? first it "licked" that gold-fire—which seemed like a mischievous greeting—before both fires began to dance around one another! that action caused long shadows to chaotically appear in their surroundings and animate different shapes on the cracked-walls of the glass-heart... both fires seemed just like two kids playing together for the first time in a pure ritual of getting to know each other.

Meanwhile inside the dantian.

Gang—who’s returning from the meridian-tunnel after the third-attempt of working on the major-meridian—felt like he just achieved something... important! during the first and second-attempt the deadly-sin of wrath worked on nothing else within the major-meridian except for painting all the meridian-walls—which Ming already fixed before—in the white-color then... in this third-attempt things changed. Why? because... Gang is returning from the "hole" while being loaded with stinky and nasty impurities—which once covered the next area of the meridian-walls that his sin-brother never managed to reach—however... this time the deadly-sin of wrath didn't get the chance to move upwards for too long within the meridian-tunnel and work on cleaning and clearing its walls before finding the entrance to the first meridian-branch! yes it’s a tunnel which is much too narrow if compared with the meridian-tunnel of the major-meridian but... it made it much too easy for Gang and his two enthusiastic-armies to clear the "blockage" of obnoxious-impurities and the mixture of gross-sediment and stinky-sot that’s filling the cracked meridian-walls underneath it. Within a single push... the deadly-sin of wrath actually reached all the way to the end of that meridian-branch! that narrow meridian-tunnel went all the way from slightly above the area of their stomach—where the dantian is nearby just slightly below—towards the tip of their forefinger on the right-hand... the way forward was blocked with impurities from the very beginning until Gang reached the area where the wrist of the right-hand is located. From there... the deadly-sin of wrath became confused because it found no impurities at all within the last and final part of this meridian-branch! the walls everywhere around him at the end of this meridian-branch are completely golden in color and Gang got welcomed by a great quantity of gaseous-clouds of light-energy that has been—somehow—amassed within this golden-hall... there at the end of this golden-hall there’s a wings-symbol on the wall that’s exactly similar to the one on the back of their right-hand... when Gang placed his right-hand on that wings-symbol and touched it... it pulsed then began to flicker on and off. Once the deadly-sin of wrath commanded some of the gaseous-clouds of light-energy to touch that wings-symbol... he clearly sensed how they moved through that wall and actually exited his body! Gang felt it clearly how these gaseous-clouds merged with the wings-symbol first before they were sent outside his body through the other wings-symbol on the back of his right-hand... that light-energy stuck to their skin before quickly covering the entirety of their right-hand... the huge amount of light-energy being transferred through the wings-symbol caused that layer of gaseous light-energy to move upwards and cover the entirety of their right-arm all the way to the right-shoulder before the deadly-sin of wrath called that light-energy back inside the meridian-branch... and once he did all of that light-energy receded inwards towards the wings-symbol on the back of their right-hand then got transported back inside the golden-hall through the other wings-symbol at the wall inside the meridian-branch. Then both of the wings-symbols aided Gang on his way back towards the dantian-space by offering almost all the golden-clouds of light-energy inside the golden-hall to the deadly-sin... plus some colorful gaseous-clouds of light-energy—which entered through the wings-symbol after being attracted from outside their body—to help Gang in his next task of repairing the meridian-walls of this meridian-branch... which he ended-up being able to clean and repair them all the way back until the entrance where the white-walls of the major-meridian are located. “Well... that wasn't so hard! you two, go eat while I expel these nasty impurities.” The deadly-sin of wrath muttered to himself while patting these two obedient cloud-generals however... he was a bit too focused on studying how his own light-energy is coating his body in a protective-layer once he allowed some light-energy to travel from the dantian-space towards the wings-symbol in the golden-hall through the meridian-tunnels of the major-meridian and the meridian-branch.

..........

Inside the carriage.

“Huff...” Lin’s mouth opened to release a long breath of air that’s mostly consisting of light-energy which contain a considerable amount of impurities inside them... Gang didn't hesitate to burn all of these impurities with the help from the two fires inside their glass-heart and mimicking what Sun once did back on the ship! a single thought is all it took the deadly-sin of wrath before these two small and cute-looking gold and red fires ignited a bit brighter than normal then exited the boundary of the glass-heart through the cracks to appear on the boy’s right-chest. “Sizzle!...” The red and gold fires mixed into a beautiful cloud of fire while covering the strands of light-energy and burning the impurities within them to cinders! not even ash remained of these impurities or the light-energy after this mixture of gold and red fires seared them for just a couple of seconds... right after finishing their job these—cute-looking yet actually very dangerous—golden and red fires just retreated towards their home to play... the glass-heart came to live when the long shadows became animated on its inner walls when the two fires chased one another.

“Hoot!...” Frostine made a sound to complain about the nasty smell before jumping to stand on the great-sage's head then lowering her head to look down at his face from up-close... if this kid kept making these "farts" all of a sudden? then... she wouldn't be able to concentrate on digesting her inherited-memories... like at all! after all... if she could finish this step? then... the white-owl is sure that she can breakthrough and reach the ancestral-realm already.

.........

Inside the dantian-space.

“Heh. This little-bird dares stand on my big-brother’s head? should I pluck all of her feathers? nah... Lin would just nag about for days without end like an annoying-granny,” Gang cracked his fingers once he noticed Frostine’s attitude then remembered that he wasn't free to do whatever he wants well... not just yet! plus how Kai told Lin to... take care of Frostine, “Little-snowflake. You're lucky that you got such a backer.” The deadly-sin of wrath muttered faintly to himself while grinning wide then he focused on remaking another army to finish working on the remaining grey-areas of the meridian-walls back at the meridian-branch... just the fact that when Gang located then opened the first meridian-branch of the first major-meridian it made them able to release their light-energy outside their bodies and cover their skin—which is supposed to happen when they’re at the major-realm of spirit-disciples—means... that they’re currently able to use the ability of energy-armor that’s... an amazing feat already! it’s enough to draw a smile on the face of this deadly-sin. Why? simply because... that ability should only be available once they clear this major-meridian... the first major-meridian! now they don’t have to wait until they achieve a major-breakthrough in their spirit-cultivation before attaining that ability. While whistling care-freely with joy in his tunes... Gang watched the fused-cloud made by the two cloud-generals create another vortex around the golden-colored barrier of light-energy around the spirit-wings and "pop-up" one gaseous-cloud of the dark-gold color after another... by sucking all of the light-energy that enters the dantian-space from a spot right next to the martial-spirit inside the barrier or... the ones which began to fall from the meridian-tunnel! of course... that vortex never consumed any gaseous-cloud that wasn’t "branded" by the martial-spirit. Separated into two different ranks... one army towards the left and another army towards the right were being created for the two-generals—who made a temporary truce and fused into a single entity—to lead! of course... these two smart—and currently fused—cloud-generals didn't forget their place... every now and then they would deliver the tribute of extremely pure light-energy to the spirit-wings in time like a loyal-vessel that’s honoring itself by visiting its lord while being loaded with precious gifts.

Meanwhile within the golden-barrier of light-energy Lin just stood there like a stone-statue in front of their martial-spirit... the boy watched every single detail on each and every one of the normal feathers... he studied every bend of the lines on each symbol-feather with his eyes! the great-sage immediately memorized the way these four-wings would slowly flutter from time to time and send the colorful clouds around them crashing all the way on the very far dantian-walls... despite not directly touching any of the gaseous-clouds in their surroundings... despite not having to go outside this golden-colored barrier of light-energy that covers them... not even once! the four wings of his martial-spirit are still capable of making all of that happen... and from the look of it... it’s being done effortlessly by them. Lin just watched in silence and wasn't bored at all despite watching the same process happening over and over without there being any difference in the cycles. Why? simply because... these four-wings felt much closer to the boy! the more he looked at their details... the more he felt intimacy from them on a... much deeper level.

Gang just shrugged once he saw his big-brother being so captivated by their martial-spirit and patted the two cloud-generals after they did their work of "mobilizing the troops" and led both armies upwards through the meridian-tunnel of the major-meridian toward the entrance of the meridian-branch... from there the deadly-sin of wrath resumed its task of reinforcing the meridian-walls by offering the cloud-soldiers from both armies in a sacrifice of light-energy however... this time the meridian-walls of the meridian-branch became yellow instead of white in color—which is the color of the major-meridian’s tunnel—after the gaseous-clouds of dark-gold color entered the grey-walls of the narrow-tunnel! it continued to happen all the way until Gang reached the wrist-area of their right-hand where the golden-hall and the wings-symbol are... once the connection happened between the white, yellow and gold-walls of the different tunnels... Gang felt so sure that he can transfer light-energy from the dantian-space and fill this golden-hall or send it out through the forefinger of their right-hand with but a... single thought.

..........

Meanwhile down below in the dantian-space.

The four-wings of the martial-spirit spread-out completely at maximum wingspan when the connection between the walls of the major-meridian and wings-symbol at the exit of the golden-hall at the end of the meridian-branch happened... every single one of the wings did shine brighter and brighter in blinding glow of intense gold-light that kept pulsing and causing the golden-colored barrier of light-energy to vibrate! this continued to happen for about a dozen of seconds before the four-wings embraced Lin who stood in front of them in a gentle hug... immediately afterwards a thick shockwave sent a halo of golden-colored light-energy scattering outwardly from the four-wings to paint quite a huge part of the dantian-walls with many huge golden sun-like spots of light-energy. These dozens of golden-suns—which added color and erased the previous bleakness and gloominess of the dark color this dantian-space used have—are a cause of joy to the colorful-clouds to enter the dantian yet... the cost of this upgrade is the golden-colored barrier of light-energy itself! quickly afterwards the martial-spirit created another barrier of light-energy around itself and the boy... it began as a white-colored barrier then it began to change slowly to yellow which the great-sage expects for it to return back to the golden-color later.

...........

Upwards in the golden-hall.

While taking his third return-journey from where the wings-symbols are located... Gang received the help of many colorful-clouds—which got transported inside the golden-hall through the wings-symbols—and the deadly-sin of wrath sacrificed all of them while repainting the yellow-colored meridian-walls of the meridian-branch’s narrow-tunnel a deeper shade of yellow before taking the two cloud-generals downwards toward the dantian-space. “Whistle!...” Gang became surprised once he found the black areas—which previously compromised the majority—of the dantian-walls having been shrunk in size until barely half the dantian-walls are still black! the deadly-sin of wrath gave his big-brother an approving nod, “He really isn’t giving me any easy time, really good! now it wouldn't matter if I stay in the soul-world or the dantian-space, because both of them could be considered environments that would encourage me into working harder and harder.” This time Gang didn't urge the cloud-generals into working anymore and let the two of them just do whatever they want because the situation outside their carriage is... getting "hectic" on one hand there’s Wei and the rest who’re getting anxious! the fatty wanted to take a look inside the carriage many times yet... the blade-user prevented the merchant from doing something so rude to the "young-ancestor" while rolling his eyes at his young-master because... he’s been restraining himself from doing just that since the boy’s carriage began to shine in that fierce-glow! meanwhile some of the mercenaries and spirit-cultivators began to gather around the carriage because... everyone is so "eager" to know this "Ming" the mysterious orphan boy who saved all of them.

“Lin. The meridian-walls of the major-meridian has been painted in white-color all the way upwards until the... entrance of the first meridian-branch.” Gang grinned towards his big-brother when he noticed that Lin has left his state of deep concentration however... the deadly-sin of wrath immediately noticed the difference in color of the light-energy barrier around their martial-spirit and how the boy is currently being embraced by the four-wings.

“You found one?” The great-sage asked while gently removing himself from the four wings.

“I did, what? surprised!”

“I am, it’s so soon. According to the information from old Jin’s memories and the teaching of the prime-light technique, it’s very rare for those in the first-stage of the apprentice-realm to discover a meridian-branch... only those blessed with a special-physique might have it. Even among those... it’s very, very rare.”

“Heh. I didn’t only discover the meridian-branch, alright!”

“Oh! there’s more?” Lin asked and Gang smiled then nodded in excitement, “Tell me everything, please.” The boy sat cross-legged and asked while feeling what changed after he managed to communicate better with his spirit-wings... just how much better is his connection with the light-energy right now exactly.

“The tunnel itself is narrow and is mostly painted in the color yellow right now, well... except for the area of the golden-hall, that’d be beyond the wrist-area of the right-hand where the wings-symbols are located, it’s confusing now I know... there’s two of them one inside and one outside and both are linked in a golden-hall—which its walls are completely painted in golden-color—and the wings-symbol is inside it, it’s the "passage" for light-energy to both enter or exit our body, it happens through the tip of our right-forefinger.” The deadly-sin of wrath told his big-brother what he managed to accomplish while reclining on one of dark-gold cloud-generals... he's treating one of the best two gaseous-clouds inside their dantian-space as some sort of a... floating sofa! the great-sage twisted his neck to look towards his sin-brother and said : “Does it mean?” And Gang immediately nodded once again before saying : “ As it seems, we can already use the ability of energy-armor, plus... there's an additional fire inside the glass-heart, it’s gold in color. Well... that would be all for my report, the current situation outside is... bad. People are dying to meet their "savior" you should go out and meet your fans.” The deadly-sin of wrath teased the great-sage while tickling the cloud-general underneath it which made that cloud-general fly everywhere in panic and make a mess everywhere it went while knocking into the gaseous-clouds in its path. “I see. This means that our guiding-light physique is both special and rare, we learned something new about ourselves. Good job Gang. I’m really glad to see that you're not blushing so much like Ming used to, at least... you’re doing a better job in hiding it. Jokes aside though, I think you should continue working on the inscriptions of the soul-lock ability, meanwhile I’d be dealing with Wei and the rest.” Lin stopped meditating and opened his eyes after hearing the report from his sin-brother the boy smiled when he noticed how Gang carelessly teased the cloud-general then shook his head after seeing this comical sight before yawning lazily while telling the deadly-sin of wrath that he’s leaving.

.........

Inside the carriage.

The flow of light-energy from his dantian-space to the golden-hall where his forefinger is got stoppered with a single one of his thoughts and the skin of his body returned to "normalcy" in an instant.

Meanwhile the crowd of spirit-cultivators outside his carriage immediately noticed the change that happened inside the carriage when the light-energy stopped pushing the spirit-elements away from the surrounding-area around the boy's carriage! their eyes focused on the door of that carriage... most of the mortals forgot even to breath once the glow faded from inside the carriage.

First thing the great-sage noticed once he opened his eyes is Frostine... the white-owl is sleeping while perching on his head—actually she’s so deeply immersed in her state of hibernation and digesting the inherited-memories—and didn't notice that he already awoke from his meditation! gently and slowly raising the owl from his head and nesting its small body in his hands... Lin lowered Frostine towards the piece of indigo-colored fur before getting up and quietly leaving the carriage.

“Ah! young-hero Ming is here.” That shout became the signal for the crowd to make an uproar.

“Hush!...” The boy quickly surrounded his carriage with an inverted-bowl that’s completely made of his soul-force to isolate all of this noise from Frostine who’s still asleep.

“Sister Xue look, the cute kid has finally come out from his carriage.” One young and cheerful-looking girl tugged at a sexy and long-legged woman next to her. “Little-Tong. Why don't you try recruiting him to our mercenary-group? if you manage to do that then... I’d teach you some "secret-moves" of mine.” The woman smiled then whispered her last words which caused the girl to blush. “Really? but, on who would I be using these secret-moves!” The girl muttered while puckering her lips slightly in frustration... within her thoughts the figure of someone that she’s been interacting with for months suddenly appeared however... that person never noticed her like... not at all! “Silly girl, don’t you see how that Cheng Wang keeps looking at you? he’d constantly appear wherever you go. I bet he's always picturing you naked.” Then all of these thoughts scattered into smoke once little-Tong heard these words from sister Xue next to her. “Oh stop it! is he now? why would he want to see me n-naked! he isn’t one of these perverts, is he? he’s a close friend with Cheng Zh-” However... Xue quickly interrupted little-Tong and said : “Eh... maybe you're still a bit too young for these sorts of "grown-up" things.” While a sly glint appeared in her eyes. “I'm almost twenty now. Can’t you see how big they grew? I bet they're—almost—as big as yours! humph.” Little-Tong felt slightly offended by what her big-sister Xue said and crossed her arms below her chest to reveal the size of her bust... unaware that the sexy long-legged woman next to her does have plans of her own when it comes to choosing a partner for her god-daughter.

The great-sage looked towards these two "naughty-ladies" and glared at them slightly because he could hear all of their "improper-conversation" yet... after Lin gave the spirit-cultivators and mortals who’re crowded around his carriage the gesture of lowering their voices... these two resumed their hushed-conversation while everyone else obeyed him and became silent.

“Eh! sister Xue... why’s young-hero Ming giving us that look? he didn’t hear us... did he?” The younger-woman noticed the boy’s glaring eyes and softly whispered her concerns in the ear of the older and sexier women who smirked devilishly before whispering back : “So what if he can hear us? maybe he too... wants to see little-Tong’s naked body,” Then the long-legged lady enjoyed seeing the mouth of her god-daughter gape widely in shock while a deeper blush crept-down from little-Tong’s cheeks towards her neck, “Heh. Silly girl, of course he can’t hear us, we’ve been keeping our voice down, and I’ve been using my spirit-energy to block our conversation from everybody around us.” Xue hugged Tong while calming her... she seemed confident which calmed the younger lady however... the great-sage almost spat a gallon of fresh blood when he heard what that sexy woman just said before! this time Lin gave the long-legged lady that’s called Xue a much fiercer glare because... she’s poisoning the mind of this young-lady that’s called Tong.

“Cough!...” The boy raised an open hand in the face of the crowd after coughing to clear his throat of the curses which he really wants to hurl at this "immoral-Xue" before opening his mouth to say : “Everyone. My beast-companion is in an immediate need for some quiet time right now, so... please don't make any noise around my carriage.” The great-sage said then descended the stairs and walked towards Wei.

Lin gestured for the fatty to follow him towards the area where the female mortals are gathered around some fire and busy preparing breakfast for their families... except for those who’re currently on guarding-duty all of the spirit-cultivators within the caravan followed the boy and the merchant in silence! however... all of them walked behind mercenary-leaders Yang and Fu... since they’re the strongest spirit-cultivators in this entourage. Everyone kept exchanging looks of excitement because... being able to get such a chance to get acquainted with someone like this Ming is a privilege which every cultivator—from every school of thought or system—would take great pride while mentioning how it happened and all of them are going to... brag about the tiniest bit of detail and the circumstances of how they met like... no matter where they go in the future! an encounter with someone special from the junior-generations could also be a possible method to achieve greatness... there already is countless tales of fortunate and lucky individuals who got to meet powerhouses of the spirit-world and form bonds of friendship while these powerhouses were still in their youth or in their most vulnerable-years. After just getting to know these juniors and giving them a somewhat good impression... it usually resulted in there would always be a vacant seat available for them on the table and banquets of the powerhouses once they attained the peak of their cultivation! now this Ming despite his tender age has already proved to the spirit-cultivators in this caravan how the difference of age doesn't mean the older individual would always be the one who’s superior in strength... their group-leaders are spirit-tyrants already yet... both of them had to rely on the boy’s help whenever they truly needed to be saved from the demonic-beasts. The most ridiculous thing of it all is... the kid took care of the two spirit-tyrants alongside more than a couple hundred others of the spirit-cultivators who’re in the grandmaster, master, disciple, and apprentice-realms who participated in the fight yet... he saved all of them an never allowed a single casualty to slip through his fingers! even when the battle kept going on and on for days and nights without end... this orphan child who’s called Ming proved to everyone in this caravan that his concentration is simply... monstrous. Not to mention how the boy saved these spirit-cultivators... if these cultivators had failed to stop the beast-commanders? then... everyone in the convoy who would've certainly died! there’s been many thousands of helpless mortals shivering in their carriages and tightly hugging their loved ones while feeling despair... without the kid’s assistance then everyone would’ve been the next meal for these beasts. Such a "rising-star" certainly does have a very high possibility of reaching the "peak of cultivation" when compared to the majority of "upstarting-juniors" of this time and age... the names of these juniors could be found in the "rankings" which every organization that deals with information-gathering periodically release to entertain the public or to do business privately with specific individuals! the factor of Ming being just an orphan which this incomparably-lucky merchant Wei happened to coincidentally meet by chance during one of his trade-journeys in the western-islands did add a "certain-flavor" to the "curious-nature" of the spirit-cultivators within the caravan... all of them felt the need to know the boy better and fill the gaps of his mysterious background to satisfy their "gossiping-habits" and while they’re doing so... why not leave a good impression during their interactions with the kid? maybe... just maybe... in the future he would remember their time together and bestow upon them his favor.

“Young-hero Ming. I am Li Yang, allow me first to thank you in person with this bow... you coming to rescue my lightning-spear mercenaries is a debt of life no doubt. If there comes a day and young hero Ming requires the assistance of my mercenary-group then please don't ever hesitate to send the word for me, this Yang will gather his men and resources then do his best to cross continents as quick as possible just to be of service.” Li Yang the leader of one mercenary-group—which doesn’t have any spirit-cultivator under his command below the major-realm of spirit-master—was the first to go ahead and stand in front Lin and Wei then give a deep and respectful bow while cupping his fist... once the spirit-tyrant found the boy naturally willing to sit amongst the mortals and join their banquet—which were frightened after the spirit-cultivators suddenly intruded into their secluded area because usually most spirit-cultivators would keep their distance from the lowly them—he felt encouraged about his chances in forming a connection with this kid especially when he saw him extend his hand to grab a piece of hard bread from the table then dap it in some butter before casually chewing on it! the attitude of this Ming is both humble and unassuming... unlike any spirit-cultivator—who’s inherently used to the despairing-difference between the social-layers that exist in this spirit-world—this boy doesn’t carry himself with an air of a superior being... most of the geniuses especially those from the junior-generation does have that defect and shortcoming in their personalities.

“Senior Yang is polite. This caravan belongs to young-master Wei, I can't just stand-by and watch the demonic-beasts destroy it! otherwise, it would’ve saddened him greatly. However, I’d gladly take you up on your offer. If I—or young-master Wei—ever need the help of you and your men then, expect a request to arrive for your lightening-spear mercenaries through the nearest branch of mercenary-guild.” Lin waved it as though it’s nothing while taking out some steaming-hot meat dishes from inside his space-ring then offered the plates to the mortal-people—which kept looking both warily and timidly towards at these "fabled" spirit-cultivators who decided to "mingle" with them because young-hero Ming is doing so—in a polite gesture and a habit that people from his previous-life used to do! the first and the most courageous ones who dared to try some of these meat dishes were... actually the kids around his age who kept giving him curious and excited looks.

“Young-hero Ming. This one is Chen Fu, my crushing-hammer mercenaries is a group grateful spirit-cultivators, whenever you—or merchant Wei—require the service of me and my men... you just give us a "hauler" and we'll hurry your way. I mean, any and every time you do so, we’d mobilize as fast as we can without delay.” The man with a stocky build did the same thing like Li Yang and bowed respectfully towards Lin before he spoke however... the group-leader gave fatty Wei the lazy merchant a very envious look while respectfully elevating the social-status of Tang Wei in front of the boy before sighing in the end! the luck of the special-few in this world is really frustrating sometimes... because some people would stumble and fall after tripping on a treasure when they’re crossing a certain road for the first time while others would spend their lives crossing that road back and forth without ever getting the chance to see said treasure... the most frustrating is some of these special-few would keep finding more and more treasures during their lives without giving the matter any effort while others would waste their lives searching with all diligence without gaining anything despite all their effort... it’s really... leally unfair. However... who is he to complain? after all... within Chen Fu's mercenary-group there's a certain example of someone who perfectly fits into these "special" descriptions... it’s little-Tong! she's someone who’s the same like this merchant Wei—who managed to find this orphan boy Ming during one of his journeys travelling west—or is it Xue who's the lucky one? because... originally she's the one who discovered little-Tong during one of her missions—in one of the twenty-seven empires of the western-reaches of the southern-continent—back when little-Tong was just a little brat about seven years old of age and begging the streets of some city.

“Senior Fu please. Everyone, you’re welcome to join our table. Let's all enjoy this beautiful morning, and be thankful together for being alive.” Lin gestured invitingly for the spirit-cultivators who kept standing behind or around him and Wei to sit and noticed how group-leader Yang quickened his steps before taking the seat next to him on the right-hand side... on their table now there’s Wei and Lai towards his left-hand side while Fu sat next to Yang towards the right-hand side... Chen Fu’s dao-companion and elder of the crushing-hammer mercenaries sat next to him on his right. Meanwhile the rest of the spirit-cultivators found the mortals around them willingly abandoning their seats in a submissive-gesture of giving them to the cultivators and were about to retreat from this area along-with their families... every one of these families planned to move a bit further to give these cultivators more space and more privacy! Zhang and Wang who took their seats next to Lai on the left-hand side and continued their game of "find a woman for Zhang to marry" or... at least one this simple man might like... much to the frustration of the strong man himself and the handsome-man next to him who almost froze his best-friend into an ice-cube after Zhang kept saying no to every option Wang gave him... honestly the element of ice does seem to suit the simple man much better than the handsome-man himself! especially... in these moments... such apathy and indifference for the other sex makes the strong man really seem like an... impotent or an infirm.

“Everyone. Don’t leave! please... join my table. I never meant to chase you away by coming over, I was attracted towards your banquet by the delicious smell that’s all. There's plenty of space here for all of us and... plenty of food, don’t be shy and gather around, please.” The spirit-cultivators who were about to "naturally" take the seats of the mortals after they meekly gave way for them... became suddenly embarrassed after Lin politely invited the families of these mortals to stay! however... none of them dared to say anything to complain about it once their bosses—Tang Wei, Liao Lai, Li Yang, and Chen Fu—looked towards them with a very hard "knowing-look" that meant : "Whatever this little-boy says... you never frown, stammer, dawdle, or yammer. Just... don't "dick-around" and do whatever he says, otherwise... all of us here would simply, show you hell then... give it to you." and mingling with lowly-mortals became the only option of these spirit-cultivators who had to "stuff" their way into the circle... very gently. However... the most excited about this current situation wasn't the grown-ups among the families of mortals—which felt like they’re sitting on hot sheets of solid iron—when they sat side by side with spirit-cultivators! it’s the youngsters who felt like they could fly because of all their excitement instead of feeling fear from some strangers... why should they fear them? their savior...  young-hero Ming is sitting right across from them! right now... these youngsters felt like they’re... invincible.

“Big-brother Ming. Big-brother Ming!” Some brat with snot dangling from his nose struggled against the shackles—which are the arms of his mother—and held the edge of the wooden table to push his small body up and stood on the thighs of his parent to make himself more visible while calling for the boy.

“Hmmm!” Most of the spirit-cultivators squinted their eyes and looked towards the boy’s family which caused the parents and the little boy who dared to call Lin "big-brother" in public to become so pale in the face.

“Yes... little-brother, do you have something to say? little-brother.” This time it was the soothing-voice of the great-sage that helped that boy and his family feel relieved and caused the spirit-cultivators who dared to pressure this helpless family of mortals to feel panic... their behavior has been completely unacceptable! all of them immediately received the hidden-message and retracted their "judging-eyes" from the mortal family and didn’t dare to look Lin in the eyes however... they felt like the boy’s pair of golden-pupils are staring directly at their... souls.

“I-is it true... were these demonic-beasts really chased away by you?” The little-boy quickly got-over his fear after seeing the encouraging look in these pair of golden-eyes then asked in a slightly shy yet innocent and childish tone of voice while fanatic glow adoration clouded his eyes! he did seem to be currently daydreaming and fantasizing about the events where Lin fought both "bravely and valiantly" to protect them.

“En. But, I didn’t do everything by myself, senior Yang and senior Fu here did most of the work with the help of all these good men, I just did my job right and our teamwork allowed us to succeed in the end” These words from the great-sage caused the spirit-cultivators around him to blush from shame because... his words does have some truth in them indeed yet... they felt like their achievements has been slightly exaggerated.

“Whoa!” The eyes of this little-boy shined from excitement after hearing what Lin said, “B-but... wouldn’t they come back?” Then muttered these words... a question—which most of the mortals who’re ignorant about what actually happened—have been secretly asking themselves since yesterday.

“Well... everyone, you can be absolutely sure that you're safe now. Even if the beasts do come back... I promise all of you that I’d do my best to keep it that way,” Lin smiled widely when he heard the boy's question... he spoke to the whole gathering of mortals this time to calm them, “Little-brother. In the future I wouldn’t always be there to help you, so... I need you to protect your own family in my place in the future, can I rely on you to do that?” While saying that the great-sage moved a few plates of food closer to the boy's family in a friendly-gesture to calm the parents of this kid especially the mother—who’s been afraid and tightly hugging her ignorant little-boy because he dared to speak so casually about such sensitive topics despite being in the presence of all these spirit-cultivators—meanwhile... the spirit-cultivators in the surrounding squinted their eyes slightly when they saw for themselves how Lin sent these plates flying towards another table without moving a single one of his fingers with such precision and accuracy! the degree of precision where not one of the plates made a sound once they landed on the table... not a single thing moved from its place on-top of these plates! all of these spirit-cultivators are one-hundred percent sure that this orphan boy Ming didn’t use spirit-energy at all while doing that however... not all of those spirit-cultivators were able to figure-out how the kid is doing it despite being very close to him right now! seeing similar looks of confusion inside the eyes of almost everyone around them except those who’re currently sitting on the same table with Ming... made these spirit-cultivators curb whatever that remained of their "sense of pride or superiority" while being in his presence. Looks could be deceiving... especially in situations like this one! if they forget themselves and say or do something to annoy such a very mysterious individual? then... whoever does so would only be met with... misfortune. While the spirit-cultivators shrunk themselves in their seats and humbled themselves... the mortals in this gathering became so "wowed" once Lin did this "small trick" by using some of his soul-force to move some plates around! especially the kids... they became so amazed to the degree of shaking from excitement their eyes glittered when they began to fantasize and daydream about themselves being able to do the same... someday in the future.

“Little-brother.” Seeing the little-boy being so easily distracted by what he just did... Lin smiled and called him.

“Uh!” The little-boy came to attention, “Y-yes, big-brother you can definitely rely on me.”

“Good. Then you make sure to grow-up both strong and obedient, but above all you should be obedient. Don't ever be naughty and disobey your parents, you know how sad that would make them right?” Seeing the little-boy nod his head the great-sage asked him once again : “Little-brother. Are you going to make your mom and dad sad by being naughty?” Lin looked the child directly in the eyes and asked him this time with a much too serious tone of voice which made the boy fidgety.

“I won't! big-brother I promise that I won’t make them sad, I’d never do that... ever.” The little-boy shook his head like a rattle-drum from left to right then back from right to left over and over then suddenly stopped and firmly raised his head to look at Lin before answering while puffing his tiny chest out... it was a sight of pure-cuteness when the kid spoke while sitting in his mother's lap! then it became a sight of pure-love when the arms of his mother reflexively tightened around the small and tiny waist of her child ever so gently before that woman smiled the sweetest smile any parent could ever smile... because it only happens when they’re proud of their achievement... after all they’re the ones who brought such an individual to life... there’s no greater achievement for them.

“Then... it's a promise between you and me little-brother, I’ll never forgive you if you break this promise. Remember, to grow strong you need to finish your meals, and you need to help your family, always help your family. Can you do that little brother?” Lin pointed towards the food in front of the little-boy where there’s plates that has piles of meat and the other plates which has a variety of fruits or more of his own preferred side-dishes then asked with a "goading-technique" that always works on children who’re slightly older than three years old.

“I can! I promise to be good. Big-brother. Watch!” The little-boy nodded then snatched a fruit from one of the plates in front of him to munch-on with gusto after answering with over-enthusiasm, “Whoa! this is so delicious...” The kid was startled after tasting for himself how sweet this foreign fruit is and began to munch with even more passion.

“Alright little-brother, now listen to my last and final advice very well. All of you should do too, brothers and sisters... only physically train your bodies after reaching the age of six years old... never before! try and meditate if you can but, if you can’t? then... it’s alright. However, I guarantee you there’s very good "surprises" waiting for those of you who can... be patient enough and, endure!” The great-sage reverted to his "tutor" character and talked to the rest of the boys and girls around him however... the spirit-cultivators understood that this orphan-boy Ming has it in his intentions to encourage these little mortals into becoming cultivators! meanwhile... the other kids pushed away the hands of their parents—which they used to reflexively and protectively cover the mouths of their children when that courageous and ignorant little-boy spoke and asked young-hero Ming—then rained questions at this kid who looks younger than themselves or—at best—he’s just little bit older than them yet... Lin slowly and calmly answered whenever he felt the need to answer some really good questions—which revealed a degree of patience and tolerance—much to the surprise of everyone really! the nonsensical ones however... the boy just skipped-over them while teasing the kids who asked them—which made the atmosphere in the caravan ring with laughter—the great-sage's easygoing-attitude and loveable-personality plus the way he behaves respectfully towards both mortals and spirit-cultivators alike... made the tension in the air vaporize into nothing.

Soon afterwards the spirit-cultivators became adjoined with mortals and engaging in all sorts of conversations—which made Li Yang nod inwardly while feeling approval—just a few words from the boy next to him on the left and these two groups of people who practically live in two entirely different worlds became so at ease... the two groups could finally ignore the social-difference and distance between themselves and communicate! somehow... this kid was able to do it. While admiring Ming's charismatic-personality... Li Yang kept ignoring the glares directed towards him from the person on his right—which is Chen Fu—the reason the other group-leader is giving him the "stink-eye" is because... the lightning-cultivator took the seat right next to the orphan-boy! however... the group-leader next to the kid just thought : 'Humph. Old Fu, who cares if you carry a grudge against me? "to early bird goes the worm" and this isn’t just a worm... that’s a solid branch of an immortal tree, a nestling place that could suit a phoenix! yet... it’s left vacant for two "old-birds" like the two of us, of course you and I would compete for it.' Then when the group-leader stole a quick-glance towards the man on his right he found Chen Fu giving him a look which meant : "Then it’s on!" before they broke eye-contact and both group-leaders snorted.

Meanwhile Wei didn’t present this little-brother Lin with his plans just yet because... simply he isn't in a hurry to do so! after spending the night going over his plans and thinking them through... especially after the fatty remembered the two incidents when the boy raced against the blade-user then what happened when his caravan experienced the beast-wave attacks without the kid’s assistance... it made merchant Wei finally wake-up and see the truth to the limits of his "financial power" and how could its influence extend. Wei has always been someone who dreamed of the day that he becomes the wealthiest person alive! hell... why not throughout all history... he dreams of being able to suffocate the strongest of enemies just by... throwing some of his wealth at them. To become someone who’s so influential and have very... very deep pockets which are filled with endless amount of the most rare and most precious of spirit-resources! because all of his fortunes would allow him to form solid-connections with powerful friends and make strong alliances everywhere he goes... then his fortunes would keep him safe from harm yet... during this journey there’s certain encounters and experiences which opened the narrow-eyes of this fatty slightly wider by just a crack. Within the "mirror of truth" the merchant could finally see his "true worth" since a spirit-lord made him humble himself and bend his waist before fawning over the fire-cultivator! how could a disgraceful action like "that" be called anywhere near influential? if Wei was "truly" influential? then... just by hearing his name it would make a city-lord like inspector-Huang come all the way from his pearl-city and meet the fatty in the ocean-water outside pearl-harbor to... "welcome" him with a wide smile on his face and a groveling-attitude... not while hurling "threats" at the merchant and his people before "gracing" them with a... full-body search! the words that his little-brother Lin said back in the ship about what would happen if the boy influenced Wei’s men to change their loyalty... kept playing back again and again in the fatty’s head for three months now yet... he still can’t find the right answer for that problem. 'Sigh. Forget it... if Lin—somehow—got hurt by something or someone from the senior-generation, then all of us would’ve to answer later to some entity that’s called Ming... and that entity does have the title of a "soul-keeper" so, for now all of us need to just make sure that... the boy is always safe. Meanwhile I should keep focusing on making enough money, maybe if I did then I would be able to tempt someone from the senior-generation who’s strong enough to give the kid all the protection that he needs in the future! Lin is just too young after all, despite being too strong for his age and realm of cultivation... I shouldn’t forget that he’s still just a spirit-apprentice of the first-stage.' Wei thought while concluding that the current limits of his little-brother Lin is the... lord-realm or something of a comparing standards in ability! for now these qualities would suffice to make quite a sum of money within the fighting-arenas of mercenary-city but... this question is a question this fatty and his clansmen kept asking themselves : "why is Lin—despite being as physically-strong as and as quick as he currently is—still in such a shallow major-realm in spirit-cultivation?" both the timing of spirit-awakening and the amount of spirit-energy this boy accumulates whenever he spirit-cultivates are just... stunning! the boy has more than perfect control over his martial-spirit and deep connection with his natural-affinity yet... to spend years and years of spirit-cultivation after awakening his martial-spirit without ascending a single stage in spirit-cultivation is... a bit too much for them to believe. Why? simply because... that'd be like stepping into some door then stopping right at the entrance! it’s taking the kid too... too long because despite all his talents he actually spent almost two and half years without improving his spirit-cultivation a single bit... even after he drank the rare and extremely beneficial potion of thought-rebirth... the result is the same... no breakthroughs... not even a minor breakthrough between sub-realms.

Then a question came from the right-hand side from the far-end of their table... these words grabbed Wei's attention from his thoughts and the fatty looked towards the speaker who said : “Young-hero Ming. Is there anything that you wish to accomplish in life? heroes—such as yourself—are said to have "great aspiration" I'm sure that everyone here are like me, very eager to hear all about yours goals.” The woman who’s called Xue asked Lin who was currently very busy tickling a little toddler which some woman brought closer to the great-sage while shrugging her shoulders helplessly because... her baby-boy was really fighting with her until she let him be nearby Lin who immediately answered : “I want to... "see" smiles on the faces of those around me. I want to... "see" happiness in the eyes of those around me. But, there's no way in hell that I’d ever want to... "see" anyone stripped "naked" of these two blessings! actually, I just don't like those who "demean" me for no reason or... those who include me in their jokes without getting to actually know me as a person to begin with.” Lin raised the little-boy up then tossed him for a few meters in the air—which caused the toddler to giggle cheerfully and the mother’s face to become so pale out of fear for the safety of her baby-boy—before gently catching the toddler then taking him in a few quick spins which caused the boy to become wobbly like a drunkard every time he tried to stand back up on his cute and bendy legs... the baby-boy kept revealing a comical-expression of confusion on his sweet and adorable face whenever he fell on his butt—which was much to the amusement of everyone who saw it happen—everyone laughed at this scene of pure innocence where a little kid teased a slightly younger kid! however... the beautiful woman Xue blushed when she heard these words from the great-sage and thought : 'This!... "naughty boy" he dares to play the "game of words" with me?' After all... the boy has already stressed the word "see" three times already then stressed the word "naked" before stressing the word "demean" in the end! clearly... he heard what she was teasing little-Tong about earlier, 'That's why he was glaring at us back then when we were speaking about him but, how could he still hear us despite me disguising our conversation with my spirit-energy? I’m a peak-perfection spirit-grandmaster while he—this little brat—is just a spirit-apprentice who’s still in the first-stage! I can understand that his speed is because he’s a light-cultivator after all... they’re all famous for being like that... fast. Not to mention that this boy’s martial-spirit does come in the form of... wings—which makes him even faster than normal light-cultivators—plus how the martial-spirit itself does seem to be of the elemental-nature! but, that doesn’t explain how is he able to bypass my own spirit-energy—which is of a quality far superior to his gaseous-energy—I’m already about to undergo my breakthrough to the tyrant-realm.' Xue thought while remembering how Lin glared at her back then. She didn’t know because Yang and Fu kept the information about the boy being a soul-cultivator too as well as a spirit-cultivator a... secret! soul-cultivators are individuals who’re very famous for being able to keep a close-eye on their surroundings... which means? if any of them dared to divulge the secrets of said soul-cultivator while being under the mercy of said soul-cultivator! then... they plain and simply would be endangering their own lives! and according to proven and solid facts... this—cute and harmless-looking orphan-boy—Ming is more than capable of pointing a finger at any of them then... release one of his "rays" of light-energy—which an ability that both of them witnessed with their own eyes how it exterminated tens of thousands of demonic-beasts—to mortally-wound or terminate both of them... both of their mercenary-groups doesn’t stand any chance if they’re on the receiver-end of that ability. That's why Xue didn't know anything about that small detail from her own husband! the charming-woman leaned further on the backrest of her chair after she figured-out that this boy did hear what she and little-Tong said then squinted her eyes slightly before giving Lin a dangerous and determined-look... Xue seemed like she made her mind on doing something by the time the great-sage returned to his seat after handing the toddler back to his mother.

Li Yang and Chen Fu exchanged looks when they heard the boy’s answer to Xue’s question... in the beginning they too were really curious about hearing what sorts of ambitions does this Ming have but... the following words from the boy did seem kind-of directed towards something... a bit too much! then Xue's reaction confirmed their previous conclusions... the eyes of the two spirit-tyrants exchanged a hidden message which said : "What’s going-on here? what did Xue—your dao-companion—do to anger young-master Ming? I—you—better calm her down." The fact that Lin used soul-force when he saved them back then from the demonic-beasts couldn't be discovered by anyone other than the two of them... since Li Yang and Chen Fu are spirit-tyrants while the rest of the spirit-cultivators within their mercenary-groups are lower than them in spirit-cultivation by—at least—a major-realm or so... if these two men could sense it albeit very... very-faintly? then... the rest of the spirit-cultivators in this caravan just don't have any chance like... at all! in figuring it out... just earlier when the boy used soul-force once again despite being surrounded by all these spirit-cultivators... from the looks of it and judging by their experienced eyes... the ones who know the secret of this kid are limited to their table and only to their table... Xue is the only one amongst them who’s still left in the dark. Knowing how big of a "mouth" this Xue can be—especially Chen Fu who's her own dao-companion—these two group-leaders felt a "bad premonition" once they noticed how Xue squinted her eyes while looking towards Ming... Fu held the hand of his wife below the table and kept squeezing it gently to send a "warning signal" for his to just stop whatever that is that she's thinking of doing! because... the gain—whatever that is—isn't worth the "risk" here : "Good impression! be a good doll and help me leave a good impression here, please love. Just don’t ruin my plans, think of Fan and little-Tong." These were the word that Chen Fu's smile conveyed when he looked at his beautiful, charming, and really... really stubborn-woman with a pair of bloodshot-eyes. 'It’s enough that old Yang has snatched the seat next to the boy from me you... "impetuous-woman" just keep quiet and don't blabber anything anymore already, can’t you understand that doing so would just give Ming and merchant Wei reason to chase us away from their table!' Chen Fu thought while squeezing the soft hand of his wife once again... this time the spirit-tyrant added a bit more of force because he’s just feeling desperate.

“Young-hero Ming must be joking. Seeing something naked isn't always too bad, is it? take the "naked truth" for an example that’s... the beauty of it. Sometimes our jokes is the shortest and quickest method to bring us closer to one another, there’s insensitive people who just can’t understand a joke... that’s all.” Xue said then raised the cup of wine in front of her towards her sexy lips while donning an enchanting smile—which revealed a very charming and captivating-expression on her face—as the bad-quality liquor burned in her chest the sexy woman felt like this sort of drink really suited her sour mood and thought : 'Humph. Serves you right, you "nasty little thing" brought this upon yourself! you're someone who’s "a hundred years" too early to play this game with me. Brat... you're lucky you're fast, otherwise this grandma would've given you some rounds of serious spanking! you better come back after growing some hair on your body... maybe then it would be fun for me to have a serious "conversation" with you.' While ignoring the signals that her man kept giving her with pleading-eyes... Ning Xue just couldn't keep her mouth shut after all and.

“Well... it depends on our perspective of things. When I peel some fruit of its exterior-layer, it could be said that I'm seeing the naked result and essence of what a tree produced after it underwent a full cycle of different seasons. When I skin what I hunt, it could be said that I'm seeing the basic and simple interiors of that creature’s naked of its visible-appearance no matter what kind of aura that exterior-layer once used to have. In one of these two examples I find my fingers being covered in the sweet-nectar and juicy-fragrance of the fruit, while on the other my fingers are covered in blood and reek of the coppery-stench that comes-along with the process dissecting my prey! in both occasions I did nothing wrong we all agree on that, all I ever tried to do is to live by filling my belly. That's a "truth" yes? well... it isn't naked at all! it's just the nature of things, the cycle of life means for something to live then another has to die and that’s how things work. You just need to make the best of everything that you’re taking from the world, that way you’re giving back without affecting how the cycle works! because... if the cycle isn’t complete? heh, then we’re the first to receive the consequences when nature takes us as its enemy. However, when you commit vile-deeds... then you're naked from justice. When you defy justice... then you're naked from your true and pure-nature. Since every single one of us here is once born with the same purity of body, mind, and spirit then according to that logic... when you poison the brain of someone who’s innocent just for fun of it then... you're naked in body, mind, and spirit. Jokes are made from words or actions or... both, like everything in life there isn’t a single definition of everything. Some might say everything in life is like a double-edged blade that can work both ways, some say there’s multiple-edges and multiple-meanings for everything but, that would over-complicate things for us and it would make us lose interest in understanding the meaning of life. So, let’s simplify things and consider the issue of "truth" as a topic that can divert in two separate ways. If both of these "truths" can simultaneously exist in the same time? then... the only "naked truth" among them would always be the ugly truth that’s connected to every "unhealthy behavior" that exists, meanwhile the other "truth" the truth of justice and the truth of purity... is always the beautiful truth that’s connected to every "healthy behavior" that exists. One truth contributes to the benefit of us all, while the other truth contributes to dragging us all into some "abyss" of injustice, unfairness, oppression, harm, trauma, and inequity. Aunty Xue, do you disagree?” Lin didn't give Xue much time to enjoy the answer that she just gave him and leaned his upper-body forward then twisted his neck to look towards the right-hand direction beyond both Li Yang and Chen Fu straight into the eyes of this "misguided" woman when he spoke—from the look of it—she does seem to be in her mid or... late thirties and she have enough charm to make the feelings of any man stir after a single glance! however... the boy intentionally called her aunty while having the purpose of angering this beauty then enjoyed seeing the corner of her right-eyelid twitch once she heard it... clearly... the great-sage’s wise words before that description fell right off her ears like broken glass when this charming-woman who’s proud of her looks heard that single provocative-word in the end of Lin’s long speech. This "perfect" answer made Li Yang nod again and again while adding the words "quick-witted" and "wise" along-with "composed" to the list of qualities that he gave the boy before this interaction... the judgment this lightning-cultivator has of the great-sage's character improved once again once the spirit-tyrant noticed how even the families of mortals were listening with rapt attention to every word that Ming said! there’s no need to mention how the surrounding spirit-cultivators from the mercenary-groups and the guarding-escort of the caravan reacted... after hearing these words Chen Fu felt like he—somehow—knows what's going-on here and the spirit-tyrant gave little-Tong who’s on a nearby table a side-glance however... within that narrow window of time that Fu got distracted for a moment his woman acted.

After standing-up and pushing her chair the beautiful woman wriggled-out her hand from her husband’s before crossing the short distance between her and the boy in a single step then stood between old Yang and the kid : “Tsk. I'm no "aunty" call me big-sister Xue.” While saying that the long-legged beauty extended her arm slowly in the form of an open-palm then messed-up Lin's hair... with full-intentions of annoying this "glip-tongued" brat who dares not only "retort" but also call her "aunty" her commanding tone of voice was dripping anger and displeasure! Xue gritted her teeth and her pair of captivating-eyes did seem to be "afire" with burning feelings of annoyance however... while the temper of her god-mother flared little-Tong was giggling to herself and feeling great amusement from this sight because... her big-sister Xue really does hate it whenever others gave her titles... especially the ones which reminds her of her true age. Meanwhile Chen Fu began sweating so hard and felt so weak in the limbs like... he’s stuck to his seat! the spirit-tyrant looked at this situation while thinking : 'Has this woman... gone completely insane? this boy can outrun a beast-lord! specifically one bird-lord that’s specialized in speed, all of us saw it happen. He’s brave enough to provoke such creature and dares to step on its back, that’s before coming out practically unscratched from its retaliatory-skill... and before all that he wiped-out a whole blockade of demonic-beasts by just pointing a finger at them! what is she provoking the kid for? even until now I’m still trying to comprehend the words that he just said... they’re very deep and did cause a rippling-effect on the bottleneck that’s been stopping me from reaching the next sub-realm as a spirit-tyrant.' The group-leader of the crushing-hammer mercenaries felt helpless and afraid yet... he couldn’t move and above all he didn’t what to say! things happened so fast and all of a sudden his wife is confronting the boy.

Everyone on their table felt the sudden tension between these two and Liao Lai immediately held the hilt of his wide-blade while awaiting for Wei to give him the order... meanwhile the duo of Wang and Zhang calmly looked towards this woman who’s "overestimating" herself because... not only is she hired by their clan—which means that she and every mercenary here they’re all working for them—but also this beauty is pushing her luck since she thinks that Lin is nothing more than a cute, adorable, and timid little boy! seeing the look that he gave Lai who’s "overreacting" like always... the four clansmen understood the kid’s message : "I got this, I don't require the intervention of anyone on this matter." Immediately afterwards the blade-user let-go of his weapon and resumed his meal calmly! meanwhile the simple man just smiled in excitement while ignoring the elbow of the handsome-man which kept poking repeatedly at his side... again his best-friend must be asking if he likes this fiery, beautiful, and seductive-woman.

“Not until you fix the false-image that you created about me to "you know who" if you do that? then... I may find it within me to call you... "little-Xue" that’s my... final offer, take it or leave it. Humph.” Lin held Xue's hand then pushed it away from his hair while giving her his answer! if she dares to try and be "unreasonable" with him? then... the boy wouldn’t mind having some "morning-exercise" while teaching her a very important and a very valuable lesson.

“Xue. That’s enough! young-hero Ming please ignore her my wife has always been suffering because of her quick-temper, everyone enjoy your meal. Let's go woman! I swear someday you’re going to be the death of me.” Chen Fu felt like his dao-companion would really flip-over on this boy if he allowed things to escalate any further than they already did! after finding his strength to stand the spirit-tyrant quickly pulled his wife towards him by the arm while giving his courtesy to everyone on their table.

“No! this isn't enough, let's do this you... brat! you and me, here and now I dare you. No spirit-energy just hand-to-hand combat, we’ll decide who's right and who's wrong between us. Humph. Within my spirit-world the winners are always heralded as kings and queens even if they’re wrong because they’re strong, if you want me to accept your ways? then... win! that way I’d be forced to accept them.” After pulling her arm free from her husband's hold Xue refused to back-off while goading the kid into accepting her challenge with a defiant and arrogant smile on her gorgeous face... then the beautiful woman proudly stuck-out her chest which caused her body to flaunt its superior-charm to all of those who dared to compare her to any other woman in the caravan.

“Bets everyone! bets... the odds are three to one in this lady's favor, don't miss your chance to make some quick and easy money.” Wei jumped on-top of the table before Lin got to reply Chen Fu after hearing his apology or... even answer Xue's invitation for a fight! the poor wooden-table creaked so loudly underneath the fatty’s overweight... seeing all of that fat bouncing and giggling with every movement from the very excited merchant made the boy wonder to himself how long it would take before this wooden-table just crumples on itself. However... that’s not important right now because... the great-sage needs to teach someone a lesson! Lin is never one who favors beating others... especially females... specifically a female who’s his senior on-top of being beautiful and unreasonable like Fu's woman here. This "voluptuous woman" Xue perfectly fit every and each one of these descriptions... meanwhile Chen Fu kept sweating more and gritting his teeth tighter because whatever that his wife is doing could really ruin any possibility of a connection with this boy in the future! despite having a chest-full of worries the group-leader noticed how Zhang is smiling widely and care-freely while watching merchant Wei collect the bets from everyone alike... be that a mortal or a spirit-cultivator. Then the worried spirit-tyrant—and husband who’s used to indulge his impetuous-wife—noticed how this fighting-maniac kept giving the boy looks which meant that this simple man is hungry for some action with the kid too! Chen Fu had this strong man completely understood during the very first few days of their journey together... how can Zhang be so eager for a chance to personally fight Ming? if he isn't one-hundred percent sure that this fight with Xue would end with the boy actually winning! after all... this "battle-adoring" freak has already fought each spirit-grandmaster in Fu’s mercenary-group... at least once! the spirit-tyrant himself was practically dragged into many sparring-matches with the simple man—who could really take a punch from much stronger opponents without taking a single step back or surrendering—but... the group-leader also knows that his wife is a spirit-grandmaster of the peak-perfection! and during her next fight his dao-companion doesn’t have to fear the boy’s martial-spirit and its clear advantage of speed because... it’s going to be a duel where both opponents has to rely on their physical-strength and only their physiques. Just the natural and prolonged-quenching of spirit-energy to her bones and muscles over the many years that she spent as a spirit-cultivator... these circumstances has made Xue both very strong and very experienced in such spiritless-fights after the beautiful woman spent years being the sparring-partner of her husband who’s already a spirit-tyrant! it could be said that his wife is a veteran since she spent twenty years of her life fighting demonic-beasts in the beast-mountains or... going in all sorts of missions all-over the southern-continent and seeing much of the spirit-world. Then once Fu calmed-down slightly and carefully studied the expressions of Zhang’s close companions he noticed what kind of smile Wei has on his face while collecting bets from those who’re willing to gamble... the sly-glint inside these pair of narrow-eyes was hard to notice yet... the group-leader felt deep shock and some cold-sweat on his own forehead! afterwards the spirit-tyrant sensed how calm and unperturbed both Lai and Wang are when they cleared an area nearby his table right in the middle of the circle of banquet tables... how both men slowly ordered eight spirit-grandmasters to go stand in the shape of an octagon before ordering them to link their spirit-energy together—which caused a transparent spirit-barrier to come to life—from the attitudes of these four spirit-grandmasters...Chen Fu sensed like there’s something still hidden from his eyes.

The fighting-ring is only twenty meters all in all from any side to its opposite and once the "spirit-cage" was activated Xue immediately pulled both of her sleeves up before entering the transparent spirit-barrier... from the look of it this beauty just can't wait for signal so that she could begin giving this brat one round after another round of spanking! the long-legged woman thought it’s certain already... this brat is cornered since the rules of this fight does not allows both competitors to use their spirit-energy however... Chen Fu and Li Yang shook their heads after seeing her confident-attitude because... Xue seems like she forgot about how this boy could run for almost a whole day faster than a shadow-colt plus... how there’s a certain rumor about a "certain phenomenon" that happened during that day.

“Little-Xue. Believe it or not, you're a single small step away from having me forcing my ways on you. Can you see? your husband is very worried about you, he's doing his best and attempting to warn you about... underestimating me. Say, what was it that you planned to do to me earlier?” Lin experienced how this transparent and glass-like spirit-barrier is perfectly isolating all sound from outside after entering however... it wasn't able to hinder his soul-force not a single bit! then he talked with this beautiful woman who does have a devilish figure that reminded him of lady Bai... his mother's best-friend and Boss's wife back home in the village. The boy began by stretching his body and some simple warm-ups while waiting for the greedy merchant to give them the signal but... the great-sage really wanted to know what kind of punishment does this voluptuous woman have in stored for him! the gaze Xue gave him before reminded Lin of the incident when his mother raised him up on a single hand then spanked his plump buttocks until they became red. 

After hearing the boy's calm words the beautiful woman turned to look outside the transparent spirit-barrier and clearly saw the look of worry in the eyes of her kind, loving, and tolerating-man... she immediately understood the price of her actions and how much Chen Fu is going to show her "hell" later in bed since she not only disobeyed him in public but also she kept pestering this little-boy! it’s alright to seek a sparring-match with this Ming but... it’s never okay to rile-up the kid until he begins to frown upon the entire group of crushing-hammer mercenaries. Being one of the three founders of the crushing-hammer mercenaries and an elder of the mercenary-group herself... Ning Xue understands her husband better than anyone and doesn’t need to hear it to receive the message because... a single and quick moment of eye-contact with Chen Fu would more than suffice and her dao-companion isn't sure of her win... the spirit-tyrant isn’t even sure if she’d be able to avoid the humiliation of sorry defeat! that hidden-message made this seductress of a lady burn with frustrated deliriousness while thinking : 'So what if you all think that he's going to win because he’s a rare genius? I admit that he’s a top-class genius but, I’m still not quitting this fight,' Xue herself isn't denying that fact at all, 'However, this little Ming isn’t going to step all over this lady’s dignity without—at least—getting his cute face scratched a few times! I’m going' Then she said : “When the match ends you'd know.” The gorgeous woman refused to tell the boy anything which caused him to just smile calmly then shrug his shoulders before resuming his silent warm-up and she thought : 'Bring it on you brat! big-sister here is going to squeeze you between them, then keep sandwiching you with more force until you surrender. Humph. Dares to call me an auntie? then I’m going to show you... one hell of a crazy auntie!' Ning Xue thought while confronting the kid who no matter how much she glared at him would only give her back the same annoying and calm look with his pair of strange and uncommon golden-pupils... the reason this beautiful woman is mostly annoyed is because she could feel her supply of anger, frustration, and such emotions—which would help her in her fight against this smart-ass little-brat—that supply kept diminishing with every passing second they spend waiting! especially when she looks Ming in the eyes... finally Ning Xue decided that they have had enough waiting and said : “Are we doing this or what? to hell with it! boy, ready or not here I come.” Before stomping the ground with her feet... the beauty crossed the twenty meters of distance that separated her from Lin with a single push of her right-foot then in a split-second with all her charm she became only two steps away from the boy! while twisting her hips and leaning slightly towards the left with her upper-body... she opened one of her long-legs towards the right... right before firmly planting her left-foot towards the kid's right. Through the opening of her dress—which extends at the side of her dress all the way up until the upper-parts of her right thigh—Xue allowed her right-leg to extend all the way to the far right then brought it forward and downwards with all the momentum of her movement in a side-kick that seems a lot like a whip-lash... her kick is aimed towards Lin's upper-left arm and chest without any signs of the beauty intending to show her young opponent any mercy! like "flowing water" the actions of Ning Xue were both unhindered and really smooth as if she has already practiced throwing that side-kick many thousands of times before... the long-legged woman efficiently angled her body and is controlling the amount of twisting in each joint to add both weight and speed to her own kick. Meanwhile her left-hand is tucked close towards the side of her chin and is like a loaded canon that’s ready to fire a following punch at her target however... is facing the great-sage such an easy task? is he such an easy target? the transparent spirit-barrier is isolating every sound from outside the fighting-ring however... it isn’t isolating the sound inside the fighting-ring from being transmitted outside to the audience.

“Pa!...”

Everyone—except for Wei—were pleased since the fight began earlier than they expected however... right now everyone—except for the four who know Lin's true name because they expected such a result—watching this fight became shocked! this rare mixture of mortals and spirit-cultivators which create this weird gathering that gets to act as a lucky audience and get the rare chance to witness this sparring-match between a talented individual from the junior-generation in a direct confrontation with a senior to test hand-to-hand combat-techniques and physical-strength... the audience were shocked because... the boy used a single hand to block Xue's side-kick! with his right-hand in the gesture of an open palm the kid caught her right-knee like a hawk latching-on to the body of a snake right after contact then—not all of them could see how he did it but, those who did saw how—he twisted on his heels to turn clockwise which caused him to point his own back towards his opponent while leaning below her spread right-leg... the audience were like the boy who intentionally took a look at the panties of his opponent while passing underneath her body from between her legs and clicked his tongue after seeing the color of her choice which turns out to be red... like he expected. Ming—who’s facing Xue's back after retreating a single step—didn’t seem to hesitate at all when he rewarded his opponent a breathtakingly-heavy smack with his left-hand! that slapped her bountiful butt-cheek on the left-side of her body which hurled Ning Xue forward the remaining distance of a meter on the fighting-ring until she was stuck face-first in the transparent spirit-barrier then it began to deform outwardly.

“Auntie. You're full of "openings" like... everywhere! you better take this seriously otherwise, I’m really going to "reward you" with a few more "gifts" I got to warn you though. My hands are "itchy" and I’m feeling "generous" today, you’ve been warned.” The boy became the "epitome of arrogance" in the eyes of his opponent and the audience however... the kid calmly retreated then invited Ning Xue to try again after warning that he isn’t going to go easy on her if she let her guard down! meanwhile Ning Xue hissed from pain and really wanted to rub her tingling-ass—which felt like it’s on fire—however... after seeing the eyes of everyone in the audience around her burning with lecherous-excitement the beauty just gritted her teeth and... endured.

Outside the fighting-ring.

The audience cheered loudly after they witnessed the boy win the first-exchange... especially the mortals... specifically the juniors who watched their young-hero Ming demonstrate his abilities.

Li Yang snickered inwardly to himself when he noticed how Chen Fu gritted his teeth after watching how own woman be humiliated like that and thought : 'For how long would he be able to endure it after seeing his beloved-wife getting bullied by a little kid? I wonder! so much for telling his dao-companion to keep herself calm earlier... his jealousy is admirable but, would it end with him going on a separate paths from such a genius because of his woman? heh. No matter, forming a friendly connection with the boy would certainly benefit us in the future. Old friend. Don’t hold a grudge against me if you end-up being left behind.' Then the lightning-cultivator focused on the sparring-match and watched how Ming took the angry woman a bit more seriously... no more spanking happened to these pair of "uneven" buttocks—which is much to the dismay of the audience—those who’re watching felt like it’s unfair since this seductress currently have one butt-cheek that’s fully rounded to perfection after the boy slapped it while the other butt-cheek is untouched yet... it feels like it’s begging for a chance to be inflated too! that would give them the sight they’re hoping to see... the "legendary" sight of the perfect peachy-butt.

From time to time Lin would easily restrain Xue and tell her what she did wrong before releasing her to try again then instructing her to stop revealing her intentions prematurely with unnecessary-movements... while hissing from anger and frustration at this boy who turns-out to be much stronger than her husband Chen Fu and way more calmer than his twin-sister Chen Fan who’s the only advisor and the true leader of their crushing-hammer mercenaries! after jumping like a "maddened-lioness" at this little-brat again and again... and again yet... Ning Xue still couldn't scratch or touch anything with her fingers besides "thin-air" in the end.

Until Lin finally decided to exhaust his opponent because he lost interest on this sparring-match once he felt how this match has become "meaningless" since this stubborn-woman is refusing to admit defeat... despite there being a "clear-disparity" between both of their abilities and strength where he’s the superior and she’s the inferior! the boy has shown a great amount of patience and tolerance for his opponent and kept giving the "disheveled-beauty" a huge amount of advices with well-intentions... the kid began raining both punches and kicks at Xue in quick and heavy-combinations while being a gentleman and leaving her face untouched. The great-sage closed the curtains on this fight and ended it by giving the audience what they’ve been whispering and secretively talking about... after whacking the right butt-cheek and giving it a similar slap to even both sides of Xue’s ass! the beauty fell to her knees while tears kept welling-up within her eyes then she gave her man outside the fighting-ring a weak sight of herself that stirred-up all the emotions of her husband’s especially his worry for her that kept increasing from the moment she talked to the boy until now... like a maiden who’s getting bullied by a villain and is desperately waiting anxiously for her hero to arrive... that long-legged woman looked towards her man with eyes begging for him to do something. Of course... Lin clearly noticed the sly-glint fleeting across the eyes of Ning Xue when she gave Chen Fu that helpless-gaze however... the boy didn’t reveal anything and ruefully smiled before looking towards the spirit-tyrant who kept squeezing both of his hands into fists then unfold his fingers which revealed that they’re currently shaking! having witnessed his woman getting spanked by a boy in front of everyone must’ve been a shock for this group-leader... this is a shameful experience indeed and Chen Fu thought : 'Even if the actions this woman are very foolish most of the time. Even if they’re always making me look bad in front of everybody. Because, she never listens to my advice like...ever! because, Xue has always been a complete and a one-hundred percent idiot. Yet, she's still my lovely, foolish, and idiotic-woman. Is it about to change? does this mean that someone else might take my place! my role in the "fun" game of spanking Xue’s amazing butt is in... danger. I need to step forward and defend her honor, even if I end-up losing my remaining chances of having a close and friendly relationship with this boy Ming... I still have to do it anyway.' The group-leader walked towards the transparent spirit-barrier and the side of the octagon in front of him lost the connecting-layer of spirit-energy between two of the eight spirit-grandmasters currently operating this spirit-barrier to allow the loser of this sparring-match—which is Ning Xue who gathered herself up slowly—to come out... seeing his wife coming towards him Chen Fu who has to face this boy even if he isn't feeling comfortable about having this experience being forced on him thought again : 'However, I have to admit that Xue’s swollen-butt is making her look even more attractive and appealing! I bet it would feel good if I pump against them, I must give it a good try later. I’m certainly doing that, today for sure! but, right now I need to focus on the kid. Since he’s able to suppress my wife with such ease, then he isn’t an easy opponent. If I don’t take this seriously? then, I’m afraid I would end-up being an embarrassment to everyone here. I can’t allow my men to be ashamed of looking me in the eye.' After having these final thoughts the spirit-tyrant made-up his mind. After all... Chen Fu’s hand-to-hand combat-techniques are much more refined than his dao-companion but... most of his abilities does have some "necessary-requirements" otherwise... his power and execution of some movements would seem... somewhat lacking! one example for these requirements are for his natural-affinity to be used in tandem with some of the hand-to-hand combat-techniques... earth-energy has always made this group-leader a tough and sturdy challenge for all of his opponents. The physical-strength of Chen Fu is even more than Li Yang’s despite being a person of a lower cultivation-realm... a single stage of cultivation is a huge difference especially within the major-realms beyond the grandmaster-realm! the physical-strength of this earth-cultivator has reached two-horses and five-dogs and after the group-leader ascended to the tyrant-realm he choose to focus on the dao of "heavy-ness" specifically... the aspect of intent over the aspect of spirit. Instead of choosing to supplement his natural-affinity for earth-energy with a different element of spirit-energy especially... since Chen Fu doesn't have any clear talent towards any of the other elements and kept finding difficulties whenever he attempted to understand any of them! the spirit-tyrant redirected his attention towards intent once his efforts became rewarded with gains... his own intent isn't something tangible that’s related to the elemental-section that’s branching from the main-source of the school of thought and system of cultivating intent—like the characteristics of Lin's fire-intent—but... it’s an ethereal-force of crushing-intent belongs to the branch that’s related to intent of the weapon-section. The crushing-intent of this group-leader does have some similarities with Lai's blade-intent in both being ethereal-forces of intent-energy—before the major-realm of their intent gets to reach the realm of materialization—however... instead of being a cutting-force it’s a crushing, heavy, and compressing-force! when the earth-cultivator augments the abilities of his hand-to-hand combat-techniques with either earth-energy or crushing-intent to make his attacks heavier and much harder to block or... even more deadly and lethal whenever Chen Fu uses both options together while executing an ability during a situation where he fights at such close-range... the spirit-tyrant becomes like a "mighty castle" and reveals great resiliency in his defense while his offense does reach the absolute limit.

“No matter what I say you, you never listen! damn-it woman... now I need to either win this time and become "the senior who went overboard and bullied his junior" or, lose! and become what? the "laughingstock" for Li Yang and his group of lightning-spear. I’m going to be ridiculed for god-knows how long... because of you! go clean yourself and get some rest but, don’t leave the carriage until I’m finished here. Since we both know that I’m joining you very shortly, and why would I do that instead of being friendly with young-hero Ming? because... no matter what happens next I’d be too embarrassed to stay here afterwards, no thanks to you. Xue. Wait for me in the carriage, we need to... talk.” Chen Fu glared at his wife when she’s passing next to him then held her by the shoulders and pulled her closer before softly whispering these words in her ear however... in the end group-leader Fu couldn't help but sneak a quick-glance at the swollen butt of his dao-companion! the earth-cultivator really wanted to get-over with this sparring-match so that he could "personally" check on the "damage" done to his woman’s "sacred" body.

Meanwhile the long-legged beauty immediately left this gathering while keeping her head down to hide what kind of expression is on her gorgeous face and accompanied by her god-daughter little-Tong who kept giggling very loudly after every time she whispered some words in the ear of her big-sister Xue... the young-woman was complimenting her god-mother on the success of her first-class "act" that she demonstrated a few minutes earlier in front of her dao-companion! yes... the charming-woman apparently lost to Lin and quite badly despite being the one insisting for a duel and the one to make the rules yet... the beauty still managed to drag her man into the cause of defending her honor—which is considered a win to any woman who’s in love like Ning Xue—because... there’s a huge risk when the spirit-tyrant does so... since it might come at the price of her husband sacrificing the chances of ever forming a friendly-connection with such a genius. Despite already knowing that her loyal, compassionate, dependable, and loving man is willing to many great things for her... actually seeing him taking these steps without hesitation to prove that he would go that far for her made Xue’s heart dance at the tunes of endless love! her dao-companion is getting something "good" tonight for sure... he’s more than earned that "special" care. Quite frankly... her husband is going to need it soon! why? well... simply because... the beauty doubts that this boy would lose to her man after personally experiencing what it feels like to spar with the kid. From the look of it... this Ming is going to lean towards being a bit more "heavy-handed" when dealing with the spirit-tyrant and rough him for a bit before taking his win from the earth-cultivator! since the long-legged woman is certain that this boy has been purposefully going easy on her despite his rabid-blows... then once he reveals his true strength then her Fu would be completely suppressed.

“Bets! hurry before the fight begins, bets everyone! senior Chen Fu is a spirit-tyrant of the second-stage, the odds are nine to one in his favor. Don't miss your chance to win big, don’t miss a quick chance of easy profit...” Wei immediately clapped to grab the attention of the audience and people began to shout when calling their bets... winners from the previous fight bragged and losers glared towards those who dared to tease them! the crowds hustled and bustled with activity while the murmurs of conversations and gossip circled from table to table however... the ones most unpleased were the crushing-hammer mercenaries! their group-leader and his dao-companion are the main topic right now... the people of the lightning-spear mercenaries are pushing things slightly with the jokes.

“Senior Fu. Please, you can make your move now.” Lin didn't wait until the procrastinating-few from the crowd of gamblers to finish deciding on who they think is going to be the winner and prevented them from the chance of ever making a choice when he asked for Chen Fu to start.

“Young-hero Ming. Be careful!...”

“hsst!...”

The spirit-tyrant came punching from the get go by moving straight towards the boy... since he's a lot shorter than his wife the group-leader’s reach is suited better towards opponents who’re as short as the great-sage! Lin immediately responded by popping his head up and away towards the left-hand side to avoid the earth-cultivator’s right-straight then... began swaying his upper-body while moving his center of gravity—waist—towards the right-hand side of his opponent. Like a "pendulum" the boy began to move while engaging the bulky man in a contest of boxing... as it would seem this sort of competition is Fu’s "preferred" and most comfortable-style of fighting whenever he’s having a combat at close-range! both of them are strong indeed however... after testing the water the great-sage confirmed that he’s superior in physical-strength... maybe he’s stronger than this man by a lot more than a one-ton or one-horse of force according to the measurement-standards of this spirit-world that he learned during the first time Lin tested himself.

When the boy increased the output of strength in his own attacks the spirit-tyrant sensed how the bones of his arms would groan from pain whenever he blocks any punch from this kid who gave him quite a "startling" surprise when Ming revealed such an unbelievable amount of pure physical-strength... such power in such a young age is... really scary! the group-leader already knows that this kid must be physically very strong for him to be able to endure all the physical burden of such a long race between pearl-harbor and pearl-city while being just a spirit-apprentice—which means that the boy not only didn't use any spirit-energy to assist him during the whole race until he reached the finishing-line but also didn’t get to enjoy the passive-benefit of having the quenching of spirit-energy to his physique after years of spirit-cultivating—and Chen Fu prepared himself mentally for it after seeing this young-hero Ming suppressing his own dao-companion... this confirms the rumors that he once heard from the people who witnessed the race when it happened... these people said that they could feel the boy's heartbeats and their own hearts became afflicted with a squeezing-pain afterwards... those who were slow to use their spirit-energy to fight it or those who were weaker than the master-realm felt like they’re meeting their own death when the suppression gripped their physiques and hearts. The phenomenon of ruling-heart was mentioned later by some people who are knowledgeable about the system of body-refinement—and according to the rumors—some said it really happened during the boy’s race and some said it didn't but... who cares? especially... this spirit-tyrant right here and right now! the experience of getting pushed-back by a kid in this competition of physical-strength is really making the earth-cultivator feel really annoyed because it’s such an extremely bitter pill to swallow... the group-leader suddenly felt like he wasted almost fifty years of his life doing absolutely nothing when he retreated just one single step while confronting this Ming. Not to mention how sad it made Chen Fu feel about himself when he’s being in a complete disadvantage in both technique and power—which should've been his only advantage—since he lived longer, experienced more, and practiced for many years! this fight caused the spirit-tyrant to—somehow lose focus on his current form and how his abilities are executed and—experience daydreams while being in a daze-like state of thinking a lot about his own past... while the years went by within his thoughts the earth-cultivator began to become aggressive in his attempts to attack.

“Crackle!...”

“Hmmm!...” After feeling the two fires inside his glass-heart at the right-side of his chest suddenly becoming active while creating a crackling sound... Lin quickly evaded the incoming punch from his opponent instead of calmly receiving it in his palm like he used to before! the boy felt danger when he looked at the normal-looking fist while it travelled past his chest before a crushing pressure suddenly overcame his body and... “Boom!...” the great-sage looked behind him and could see the ground being indented inwardly in the shape of a much bigger fist before one extra-large cloud of dust spread around from where that "invisible fist" hit the ground earlier... just the sound it made gave everyone who’s watching some sense of how strong and forceful the previous punch of crushing-intent was exactly! had the boy received it with his palm? then maybe... some bones on his arm would’ve broke before his smaller body got thrown back the aftereffects of its great power.

“Eh. T-this!... I-I'm...” Chen Fu began to stammer in a loss of words when he awoke to the fact that his crushing-intent has been used during a simple sparring-match with a junior-cultivator... the shame he felt in himself while being stared-at by the whole crowd made the mercenary-leader blush in shame while feeling like he’s suffocating! meanwhile the eyes of the crowd—especially the spirit-cultivators—suddenly hardened and their frowns deepened when they looked towards the spirit-tyrant... Wei—who has been taking advantage of every moment and detail of these sparring-matches had—decided to spice things up a little with his commentary for those who’re enjoying the show while aiming to pull more "victims" into betting against Lin before this "unexpected" attack happened. The boy was dodging each and every one of these punches... flawlessly! however... in Wei's commentary-version the kid is both struggling and helpless after being pushed to a corner. Then... once the crushing-intent happened to reveal itself in one of the attacks—which means the earth-cultivator just broke the rules—Wei just shamelessly called it "qi-vitality" to trick more of the ignorant-victims into giving him their wealth by betting on the wrong and the losing-horse.

Li Yang became so surprised once he witnessed how Chen Fu got pulled so deep in this sparring-match with the boy to the degree of forgetting the rules of this competition... once moment it seemed like the earth-cultivator was enjoying the challenge with the kid! then... in the next moment he’s relying on his crushing-intent to punch. 'Certainly... he isn’t going to burn the bridges after crossing them now! is he?' The lightning-cultivator thought while looking towards this rival of his... the group-leader wanted to confirm if his old friend is in the right state of mind! if the mercenary-leader of the crushing-hammer mercenaries isn’t in the right state of mind? then... the spirit-tyrant is the only one who’s capable of stopping him from doing something... well... stupid.

Zhang on the other hand became so excited because he’s always been very interested in group-leader Fu’s crushing-intent because... it’s simply unique! it isn't the strongest intent among the many intents the simple man actually seen over the years but... it’s to his liking which is more than enough reason for the strong man to give it some of his attention whenever he witnessed it being used.

“That’s your intent, am I right? it feels so heavy, like... a mountain or something. Do you want me to use my intent as well? mine is fire so... I advise you to think about it extremely carefully and reconsider before you choose! or, we can just call it an "unintentional foul" and continue with the previous rules where we just rely-on the physical-strength of our bodies.” Lin used the tip of his fingers to gently massage his sternum which slightly itched after a close encounter with Chen Fu’s crushing-intent when he spoke... the boy didn’t blame the stocky man on forgetting the rules or losing control and committing a foul after being caught-up in the spur of the moment... at all! why would the great-sage do that? not to mention that he’s always been known for his tolerance... this actually used to happen a lot back in his village. After Lin joined the seniors from his village and began to spar with them... the "battle maniacs" would experience a phase of "battle lust" from time to time! their eyes would redden and become bloodshot whenever the "excitement" got to their "heads" and almost every time it happened... the boy would end-up suffering—at least some severe—bruises. Sometimes... the great-sage would just use his spirit-wings to disengage from the spar before his opponents could give him more... "trouble" and that always worked in awaking the excited grown-up—who’s being a bully—from that... weird state! then... Lin exposed the fire-intent inside the right-side of his chest to his opponent who could see the glass-heart clearly and every single crack on it along-with every single one from the audience.

On the other hand the earth-cultivator’s face blushed in shame when he noticed how young-hero Ming calmly gave him some face by first revealing one of his own secrets before warning Chen Fu... by leaving the choice and the decision in his hands... on how the rules of this spar are going to be... all of these are respectful gestures from the boy towards him! the mercenary-leader sucked-in a deep breath before saying : “Normal rules, no need to change anything at all... it’s embarrassing enough that I committed a foul to begin with! changing the rules would only make me feel more ashamed of myself, I say young-hero Ming should hurry and end it already. Because, I feel like I'm an exotic creature that’s being displayed at some storefront with all these eyes giving me these... annoying looks right now.” Finally Chen Fu removed all the distractions from his head... this time the group-leader went at the offensive against the kid like a cornered beast! he sent punches then kicks and attempted to lock the joints of his opponent or throw his younger and smaller-sized opponent off-balance by tackling him towards the ground... any technique or ability in his "repertoire" was used and executed without a shred of hesitation on Lin by the veteran mercenary-leader.

When there’s such an exciting fight happening right in front of their eyes and someone like Tang Wei adding "fire" to the ongoing action by broadcasting his commentary—which is not exactly true—to this mixed crowd of mortals and spirit-cultivators... they’re indeed having the best time of their life watching this spar... the majority of "hot-blooded" cultivators felt so eager and hungry for some action too! especially... Zhang.

Finally Fu—who gave it his all and confirmed that all of his abilities and methods were either countered or blocked successfully by the boy—understood that he doesn’t have anything anymore to try and win against this kid... the spirit-tyrant was about to announce his own loss! yet... right in the moment before the stocky man could give up... Chen Fu found that his face got stuffed into the ground right after both of his legs got entangled with the boy's.

Lin slithered his arms around Fu's neck before firmly and expertly locking his fingers in a tight grip to secure his hold then... both of his legs twined themselves around the stocky man’s waist while sticking himself closely to his wide back! the boy began to squeeze with his thighs like a python strangling its prey... whenever the earth-cultivator attempted to counter by delivering a blow with any of his elbows or wriggle himself free from this disadvantageous flat position of "kissing the floor" with his face... the great-sage would be a step ahead and blocking or restricting the joints of his opponent by changing his position or hold.

The group-leader felt like he’s being held-down by some sort of cunning and agile spider that kept encircling him with its webs and knew that he already lost when he failed to remove the boy... who’s been acting like some sort of a "sticky leech" and "creeping" all-over his back and using the strangest and weirdest joint-locking techniques for a while now! the only two available methods to help the spirit-tyrant escape this situation are by either using his earth-energy or crushing-intent... both of them forbidden to be used in this spar... the stocky man would be so ashamed of himself if he committed another foul in this spar anyway.

“Tap or take a nap.” The great-sage said when he noticed how the eyes of his opponent began to swim within their socket and Chen Fu began to tap on the ground.

The mercenary-leader who couldn’t breathe because the boy’s strong choke-hold blocked air from entering his lungs with a pair of slender, frail-looking, and small arms... while crushing the earth-cultivator’s ribcage from both sides with his thin legs! finally found himself being able to breathe once again because the kid quickly let-go of him and released his arms from the choke-hold... once young-hero Ming got-off of the group-leader’s back and stood on his feet he offered the exhausted man a helping-hand to pull him up... the spirit-tyrant immediately noticed how this youngster’s face is so calm while a faint smile is on the corner of his mouth. While looking directly at these pair of golden-pupils from such a close distance... Chen Fu—somehow—felt like this boy actually knows what he's intending to do to his beautiful woman next to vent-out all these feelings after this... morning embarrassment! Ning Xue really... really outdone herself this time in giving the group-leader troubles.

Those who won by betting on Lin were the minority yet... they’re making quite a ruckus nonetheless... meanwhile those who lost looked towards the stocky man and... glared—or cursed him—in silence! why? because... this "useless" and much "stronger" mercenary-leader was the choice of the gamblers.

Wei kept commentating and emphasizing-on how "hard" and "difficult" the fight must’ve been for the kid and "hinting" the audience about the "detail" of how this boy must be very close to the point of exhaustion right now... while repeatedly reminding how anyone would be after two back to back fights with a peak-perfection spirit-grandmaster and a second-stage spirit-tyrant! so what if they didn’t use spirit-energy? young-hero Ming is just a spirit-apprentice of the first stage.

......

Chen Fu immediately escaped from this awkward situation where he’s being under the "spotlight" and ran back towards his carriage with a bellyful of mixed feelings... the man felt like he’s being wronged by these "assholes" who lost after betting on him actually winning! yet... after he lost they didn't give him the "emotional support" that he deserves after previously giving it his all during that sparring-match.

Once the spirit-tyrant arrived he met little-Tong who did seem like she’s been waiting for him... the earth-cultivator was surprised that this girl—who’s one of the talented prospects among his mercenary-group—didn’t seem surprised that he lost! however... the most annoying thing is that little-tong kept giving him these "gloating looks" not because she’s happy that he lost the sparring-match... but because this little-brat actually knows all about what is going to happen later—after he and Ning Xue "talk" things—between themselves.

Little-Tong thought : 'These two are the cutest lovebirds, for sure.' While giving her group-leader a "knowing look" and a grin.

However Chen Fu just thought when he saw little-Tong's expression : 'Just when did my private activities with Xue become such an "open secret" to everyone? I must teach that woman to become meek and tame like a "proper" wife, I can't let my dao-companion always getting me mixed-up with all sorts of needless troubles anymore! I’m doing it this time for sure, I’m sure old Yang is going to take advantage of this situation where I’m not there and use the opportunity to earn the favor of young-hero Ming. Humph... sigh! there’s no use crying over spilt milk, right now I really need to fix Xue’s crooked attitude.' The mercenary-leader understands that he needs to "vent" all of these emotions... most of them are going to be sent towards the one who caused them in the first place... his own wife Ning Xue! his beautiful and charming woman didn’t only shame and embarrass herself but also she brought her husband a dose of the same bitter emotions... now the spirit-tyrant needs to immediately do something and make all of these bad habits... go away.

“Little-Tong you’re a very lucky person.”

“Heh. I’ve always been told that I’m very lucky indeed but, boss Fu is the luckiest person in my eyes really.”

“Why’s that?” The stocky man frowned and asked while feeling confusion.

“Having such a loving dao-companion like big-sister Xue to take care of yo-” Before little-Tong got to finish what she’s planning to say the man in front of her raised a hand to stop her from saying anymore then interrupted her words by saying : “Cough!... w-why don't you go earn our group some fortune from this event before it ends? my advice would be to always bet on the kid’s win, but... I'm sure that you'd do just fine. Help me with something would you... if you see the boy reaching his limit and you’re certain of winning, then... quickly go in there and enjoy clobbering him around. Don’t forget to give him some for the sake of me and your big-sister Xue... alright!” Then the girl saw boss Fu taking out one purple-coin from his space-ring before tossing it towards her.

Just this small action of tossing a small coin towards little-tong sent pain-signals branching all-over the earth-cultivator’s nerve-system... as if there’s a huge swarm of bees inside his body that became their beehive! while rubbing his fore-arms to ease their pain a little the mercenary-leader grimaced slightly while remembering why he’s in pain... earlier the spirit-tyrant used his arms to directly resist by blocking or whenever he tried to parry some punches or kicks from the boy... that’s why his bones are still screaming from all the rattling aftereffects since some of that kid’s power and strength did manage to travel all the way through Fu’s skin and muscles then reach the bones! even after the stocky man used some of his earth-energy after the fight to ease this pain... it still refuses to completely go away. But... young-hero Ming’s lesson doesn’t carry anything harmful in it and the group-leader certainly stands to gain from it however... all of that can be done after he shows his woman just who’s really the boss between them the two of them... for the first time ever! his dao-companion needs to learn how she should always heed his orders and behave herself... especially in the presence of others. The beauty needs to begin her mission as an "elder" of the group and care for the future of their group of crushing-hammer mercenaries but... above all else... as the "leader" of the group Chen Fu is obligated to teach his wife how to always give him face and to stop embarrassing him for no reason! Ning Xue always does it while relying on the bonds of love, intimacy, adoration, and deep care between the two them... that’s always been her "safety net" whenever that charming woman did something wrong. The spirit-tyrant still needs to meditate and calmly think about his fight with the boy... he still needs some quiet time with himself to try and understand the meaning of the words this kid said before the beauty insisted on having it her way... like always! the earth-cultivator still isn't able to find the "underlying meaning" behind a few lines that Ming said... the stocky man’s intuition kept warning him not to lose this lead this time... especially since the mercenary-leader sensed how the bottleneck of the third-stage kept loosening-up since a couple days earlier and he wants to take advantage of these circumstances and try to push his spirit-cultivation forward by ascending a stage.

After catching the purple-coin little-Tong gave her leader another knowing look while thinking : 'Poor boss, he’s so impatient to the degree of actually giving me a purple-coin to gamble! he can’t wait until big-sister Xue finishes her preparations huh.' Yet she didn't leave after receiving that "bribe" and stuck her head inside boss Fu and big-sister Xue's carriage to take a look at what she's going to wear for her man this time... the girl giggled once she saw the "heavenly figure" of the long-legged woman sticking-out seductively from the very revealing lingerie! the pink color is certainly going to please this spirit-tyrant today... little-Tong patted the earth-cultivator on his wide and muscular shoulder in an assuring-gesture. But... instead of seeing the stocky and slightly short man smile from ear to ear he actually grunted faintly from pain while the expression on his face resembled a... "meat bun" that’s being tormented by a kid who isn’t hungry and playing with his food! after flushing red on the face from pain because that gentle pat from little-Tong sent a few more waves of suffering directly towards his head... Chen Fu nodded in silence and seemed to be hesitating slightly while standing in front of the door to his carriage. Once she saw that sight Tong smiled then shrugged her shoulders before leaving the man hesitate on how to perfectly solve his issues with her big-sister Xue. 'Certainly they’re going to do everything the "old way" they always do.' The girl thought while heading towards the bustling area.

.........

Lin was fighting a captain of the lightning-spear mercenaries this time.

Wang kept arguing with Zhang about how he's being "unreasonable" because... if he doesn't choose a woman already? and bring that woman of his choice back to the clan with him this time then... Zhang's mom and his own mother wouldn't stop nagging poor Wang for not doing the only thing they ever asked him to do! at least... with such a sincere attitude.

Unfortunately from the look of it... Zhang who’s been frowning very hard and puckering his lips in dissatisfaction during the whole hushed and faint whispering-conversation is being "stubborn" about the whole thing and is refusing to give the thought any care while thinking : 'Why should I marry when I don't feel like it? I would rather go spar with Lin instead, or... break my own back in some very difficult training-session. That’s many times better than wasting my time with some girl—who wouldn't understand me anyway—doing some weird activities, or... saying useless words to make her pleased. Females have always been both very strange and very complicated creatures to me, oftentimes they’re just too scary and too hard to even understand! I better stay clear from all of them... even my own mother is such an exotic creature, just why is she pushing the matter of my marriage and "whatnot" too far? during the past few years she often asked me for a grandchild and a daughter in-law to keep her company in my absence. Her excuse is very stupid it’s just weird! there’s father and aunty to keep her company back in the clan.'

Lai was watching Lin's execution of every technique and ability then linking these movements with how the boy exercised his physical-strength  back on the ship... the blade-user felt weird when he fused the two events because... while watching the kid train his body Lai just couldn't get his hands on the point of these random and dance-like moves! however... when he got to see Lin in action for the first time—last time he was given the punishment of operating the protective-formations while Zhang and Lin had their fun—these "incomprehensibly" ridiculous moves does indeed seem like they’re not only the best and most direct but also the easiest and most efficient moves to take when cutting corners towards the opponent... the dream of any "combat-enthusiast" is having the ability of forcing their foes into an endless situation of backpedaling whenever they decide to lay pressure on them and reveal how big of a disadvantage their opponents have when facing them. 'Sigh. If I only had a similar technique that’s compatible with the blade-dao! then, I would’ve ruled my generation.' Lai thought while feeling some regret then continued watching the boy take-on the mercenaries, guards, or the spirit-cultivators from the group of passengers one after another... be these opponents spirit-apprentices like the kid himself or a major-realm higher with the cultivation of spirit-disciples... these individuals wanted to test for themselves how big of a "disparity" and gap that exists between themselves and this genius in ability! soon afterwards the spirit-masters and spirit-grandmasters decided to participate in the event and joined the fun even.

Wei announced to the audience that the "betting house" is officially closed when everyone just wanted to bet on their young-hero Ming! just for fun the fatty resumed his role as a "commentator" and old Yang joined him in the mission of trying to dissect the movements, techniques, and abilities of this boy.

None of those spirit-cultivators—who lost after mercenary-leader Fu—felt any shame after losing to a kid! after all... this boy just bested a spirit-tyrant who’s specialized in both crushing-strength and sturdy-defense when he beat the earth-cultivator earlier before them... it’s their honor to be able to withstand the mental-pressure of being locked in the same "octagon-cage" with Ming... being able to endure for a few more moves compared to those who did the same from their friends is the "true competition" between those who dared to fight the boy. However... the kid’s long "winning streak" made the audience cheer loudly specifically the group of "Ming-maniacs" who became the die-hard fans of the boy! soon it became a cacophony of united-chant after each win.

“Ming!... Ming!... Ming!...”

“Haha... another win.”

“Young-hero Ming! makes your head ring!”

“Winning in style, like stringing a string.”

While people watched the fights and talked amongst themselves. Those who dared enter the "cage" and face Lin became used to his style because... everyone did see how the boy always likes to keep himself on the defensive-side of things first—according to mercenary-leader Li Yang—the kid is doing so to measure the strength of his opponents first before going on the attack! that way... when Ming is countering the moves of his opponents he would do it without hurting them. Well... not much! however... the boy’s last words to those who were brave enough to join him in a sparring-match would always make the eyes of his opponents light-up with an excited glow while revealing expressions of pure-joy on their face... then these people would leave in a hurry towards their carriages to seclude themselves after giving the kid their thanks. Gradually the number of spirit-cultivators within the audience trickled down until it was noon... those who are currently still watching Lin fight are the few patient spirit-cultivators who’re aiming to snatch the win over a genius like this boy! the people within this group are those who choose to bid their time and wait so that they can study the kid’s style of combat a bit more while aiming to find weaknesses or vulnerable shortcomings to take advantage of or... until the great-sage is just a step away from the "abyss" called "exhaustion" which everyone gets to face whenever they exercise their physical-strength for long durations.

Plus Lai—who’s currently doing his duty of guarding his young-master Wei—there’s only four spirit-cultivators currently within this audience who didn’t fight Lin yet... they’re Wang, Zhang, Li Yang, and little Tong! she’s the only one to make quite a bit of fortune from gambling before the organizer of the betting house—Wei—decided that he would just be losing coins if everyone wants to bet on the boy winning every fight.

The families of mortals sat under the shade of their makeshift tents and watched this little boy that’s called young-hero Ming beating-up many strong men and women one after another after another... fathers and mothers kept encouraging their own children—especially the ones who weren't ten years old yet—to try and awaken their own martial-spirits to become spirit-cultivators! who knows? some of them might become strong like this kid someday however... only if they gave it their best effort and diligently tried to become strong like he’s.

Finally Zhang just couldn't hold back his growing enthusiasm and excitement any longer then jumped inside the cage... without introductions or exchanging any words the simple man showered Lin with attacks and revealed all of his new-combinations from the next-version of himself after spending three months upgrading his capabilities! not only were the attacks of the strong man fast and heavy but also they were deviously patient and so compacted and precise... so that Zhang wouldn’t leave himself wide-open between attacks for the boy who can easily disrupt the flow once a gap appears in the style of his opponent.

Lin immediately noticed how the simple man's approach has differed by much since their last sparring-match together more than three months ago and just smiled while thinking : 'This big guy indeed changed by a lot during these past few months, heh... I bet he didn’t even notice it! his physical-strength did increase as well as his speed, he’s slowly overcoming his previous shortcomings.' However that opponent in front of him is the best individual on the ranking of physical-strength within this group of spirit-cultivators... that’s why the boy is specifically so very excited about this second sparring-match with the strong man! the great-sage became even more excited about the fact that despite Zhang’s success of getting physically stronger and improving his own hand-to-hand combat techniques during the previous three months... Lin’s own body does seem like it has been upgraded as well. Compared to what the boy thought his physical-strength would reach earlier... his current physical-capabilities are way more advanced than what it should've been! according to his own estimations... the simple man is about four-horses strong or so since each one of these "lazy punches" that he’s currently receiving on his palms or parrying with his hands equals at least four-thousand kilograms of pressure... from time to time—because of the effect from executing a certain technique or ability—this force of pressure increases by a lot more than double that weight of pressure. However... the great-sage became very excited after witnessing how his smaller-sized body is capable of receiving all of these "fearsome" attacks without succumbing to any of them or showing being burdened with any disadvantage! seeing that he remained on the defensive and on the receiving-side in this fight for more than enough already... after all... Lin’s already finished his analysis of his friend and completely estimated all of the improvements in a new mental-chart. Which means? now he can go right ahead and push the gas-pedal a bit more... that way the boy would get to see a bit more of what his body is capable of doing right now! when the great-sage upped both his strength and speed by another notch then "wildly" went head to head against Zhang... Lai and Wang became so surprised when they saw it with their own eyes how Zhang got pushed-back despite him going all out! why so surprised? well because... first of all that "strength-maniac" is a simple-minded fool and the way simple-minded fools think is... simple. Yet... despite that being said sometimes simplicity can achieve wonders and impossible feats... the strong man was below Lin in rank when it comes to physical-strength by about three or four-hundred kilograms of strength! however... three months later the simple man should be above the boy in that ranking because he broke the kid’s record of three-horses, seven-dogs, and five-chickens of physical-strength—which equals three-thousand, seven-hundred and fifty kilograms—and ascended to the strength of four-horses... maybe Zhang’s strength improved even further after their many fights with the demonic-beasts. Still... here he’s losing to the great-sage despite all that being said! from the look of it... the only details making this strong man capable of holding-on during this fight are... his stamina-tank, resilience, and endurance. The simple man held-on for about fifteen minutes before falling on his back once again while gasping for air because of severe exhaustion while thinking : 'Heh. I actually lost once again! he’s become stronger than me despite being unconscious for three months, I thought that I finally managed to surpass him in something. Yet, he’s still ahead of me in physical-strength! no matter... it suits me better that way, that way I’d have a goal in front of me.' Zhang was smiling widely and basking in the sun to enjoy one of the feelings that he likes the most... it’s the feeling of going all-out and giving it his all in a fight! win or lose? it just doesn't matter for the strong man as long as he gave it his absolute best and left nothing behind for regret.

“Hurry-up and leave the fighting-ring already!”

“Yes, the boy is clearly exhausted... fellow cultivators, this is your chance!” Wei immediately took advantage of the ongoing air of excitement among some of the sly spirit-cultivators who lost once already yet... they’re still unsatisfied about the results and are planning to challenge the kid once again to steal the win.

“He certainly does look like it. Big fella Zhang, quickly now.” The excitement increased indeed and some spirit-cultivators prepared themselves to enter once the earth and fire-cultivator left the fighting-ring.

“Humph. I’m not fighting anyone twice,” Lin revealed an annoyed expression on his face while saying that, “I’m not doing it for free, bet on it or pay for it. Choose a method carefully before coming inside to face me because... you need to pay or bet double the minimum loss during some random round of bets, the third time you enter the ring it would be three-times that and so-on it goes! quickly decide now... I don’t have all day.” Tang Wei just grinned from ear to ear once he heard what the boy just said earlier then looked towards the spirit-cultivators who gawked after hearing these much unexpected words from the boy while thinking to themselves : 'This arrogant boy... he thinks that he’s invincible or something? he dares to think about robbing us from our wealth because we’re trying to beat him! unforgivable.'

“Hah! so what if I have to pay more? merchant Wei open-up the betting house already, I'm betting on myself this time too. That kid must be bluffing us to buy some time for himself to recover,” One spirit-cultivator sneered then retrieved some coins and said so while walking towards the fatty... the reason this man spoke without care is because this spirit-barrier isolates the sound from outside to those inside it.

“Not fair! I waited for so long until the moment where this boy "gases-out" big-brother, please don’t fight me for this opportunity... I promised myself to avenge big-sister Xue.” Another woman quickly interjected while holding her own coins.

“Cough!... fellow cultivators you should decide by drawing lots, quickly now because... you see... the thing is... Ming is able to recover very fast.” Wei slyly said then whispered his final words while building-up anticipation and watched all of these sneaky spirit-cultivators decide the order of who gets to enter between themselves in a hurry... every contestant choose to bet on the boy’s loss and their own win! however... despite paying the high price and waiting for the most opportune moment to strike again... their attempts are bound to fail.

Meanwhile little-Tong took advantage of this situation and made a few more bets on the boy winning... her action caused Wei to notice how this "hedging" client has always been betting on the winner and the fatty specifically restricted the amount she’s allowed to bet so that this girl wouldn’t snatch more than she deserves of the merchant’s profit that he accumulated "uprightly" without "hoodwinking" anyone.

During every fight old Yang and Wei's commentary reached all the way outside the circle of carriages and entered the ears of those currently on guarding-duty... every one of these guards practically counted the minutes until their shift ends! all of them wants to either go and watch the fights and enjoy the festive-mood or... to personally participate in the action. Indeed once the next shift arrived to swap places with them... these guards really ran towards the circle of the banquet to join the festivities... in the beginning they were surprised once they noticed that mortals are making the great-majority of this audience! however... after understanding that this is young-hero Ming’s wish and that their commanders and superiors are fine with it... these spirit-cultivators either ignored the mortals or did like some of their fellow-cultivators and superficially-interacted with them.

This wave of new arrivals are mostly spirit-cultivators from the two groups of mercenaries and Wei's own men while the minority of them are the fatty’s latest clients—who ditched the other caravans to join his—however... all of them decided to join the fun and fight! that’s why the fights continued to blaze inside the octagon cage without stop for a few more hours... under the witness of this much too excited audience and while listening to the interesting duo of commentators their all-too beloved young-hero Ming forced some of his opponents into submission after giving them an entertaining show of speed, strength, control, agility, and an all-rounded ability... once in a while the boy would knock-out some of the "stubborn fools" who refuse to submit and quit the fighting-ring because... according to the rules set by that kid himself they need to bet or pay double on their second-attempt and triple on their third-attempt... their gambling habits made every one of the fools bet on their own win and that’s why they stubbornly refused to face loss with a broad-heart.

Finally the "fighting-mania" quieted-down and once again the eyes of the crowd swam between the faces of the spirit-cultivators who didn’t fight the boy yet... only four people remain and two of them didn't spar with Lin today while the other two cases never sparred with the kid before... Li Yang, Lai, Wang, and little Tong.

Every spirit-cultivator within the caravan experienced a beat-down—at least once—except for them plus Wei and Bo An... one of them is a merchant who wouldn’t fight the boy—unless there’s a very, very generous offer and a guaranteed gain in both cases of triumph or defeat—for very good and understandable reasons! while the other is the young-lady of the Chentian clan and she too would never spar with the boy to entertain the likes of them... if she wants to try? then... Chentian Bo An would do it in private. Li Yang has been joining the fatty and taking care of the commentary-job while deeply wishing if the kid would agree to join his lightning-spear mercenaries if he’s invited... Liao Lai has been focusing on creating and developing or—at least—mimicking a blade-technique that’s similar to Lin's fighting techniques! he remained calmly sitting next to Wei and keeping himself always at a very close distance like a loyal and devoted personal-guard because that’s his role to play... maybe Wang is the only person in this caravan who isn't interested in being the boy's latest "punching bag" especially not in public. The handsome-man is already too busy thinking about these questions while searching with his eyes around him... which one of these girls and women within this caravan? which one is the "lucky-not" one who have the highest-chance of grabbing Zhang's attention? which one is the one who’s going to worm her way into the "dormant feelings" of intimacy within my best-friend’s heart? which one is the one who’s going to open his blind-like eyes towards the opposite-sex and ignite them with passion? Wang looked until his eyes almost jumped of their sockets yet... he couldn’t locate a clear enough target! little-Tong patiently waited for an opportunity to sweep the carpet from underneath this formidable kid and the perfect chance to con this fat, greedy, and very shameless merchant of as much as possible of his wealth... while avenging both her big-sister Xue and group-leader Fu plus the rest of the crushing-hammer mercenaries who lost to this young-hero Ming.

........

Meanwhile Chen Fu and Ning Xue inside the carriage... they’ve been attached at the hip a few minutes after Tong spoke with him and the spirit-tyrant went at it like an "animal" to vent some of his frustrations at his dao-companion! however... all his attempts to force his woman into submission were only making voluptuous Xue moan louder and louder... if it wasn't for the sound-isolation formation that Ning Xue activated earlier before their "talk" began? then... the sound of her moans would've been heard all the way over within Lin's audience. Even when his whole body ached with every thrust of his waist... Chen Fu couldn't stop himself from wanting to push slightly deeper while firmly pinning the shoulders of his woman from the back to firmly hold her in the "perfect position" underneath his body with a pair of rough and strong hands! however... the carriage gave away the actions currently being committed inside it when it began to shake from side to side in a constant yet quick rhythm... thankfully for the two "horny-birds" there’s not too many people currently looking towards the area of their carriage anyway... only some of the guards on-duty noticed it and envied boss Fu on having such a charming and "active" woman as his dao-companion. These two are known for being wild even before Lin met them... too wild actually! why’s that? because... both husband and wife both want a child of their own and to create a family... that has been their aim for years now. But... they never succeeded in conceiving one for themselves... at least not just yet! with such an "unhealthy" amount of sexual-activity it’s just a miracle that it took them so long... the latent-potential and talent for spirit-cultivation between these two dao-companions isn't so great however... their love for one another is... simply endless. While pushing his woman's perfect body underneath him the earth-cultivator felt so grateful for the boy because... he really made him the best "cushion" after giving Ning Xue these two heavy-handed spanks! just ramming it in and feeling the bouncy, springy, and flexible buttocks of his woman absorbing the pressure from his abdominal-muscles is a very... very addictive-feeling—which Chen Fu just can't get enough of it no matter how many he relished in the pure pleasure of being washed with it—of ravishing poor Ning Xue... the long-legged beauty forgot how many times it happened today because her brain kept freezing and shutting-down for no reason. Meanwhile the gorgeous woman could only think of her man's male-organ because... all of her thoughts kept elongating into shapes which are much too similar to the thick rod that’s been poking her innards on the lower parts of her body for years and years! yet... this time it felt like it could reach all the way up into her "brain" then that hot and veiny organ kept repeatedly puncturing her mental-vessel to make more pleasure ooze from it... feeling the hot liquid seeping inside the deepest parts of her womb and making it almost explode after flooding this "baby-compartment" made Xue shiver in pleasure for the first time ever after years of life... on-top of her Chen Fu never felt so alive after years of life. Why? because... this session has practically just begun yet little Xue is already "shivering" underneath him like a wet little-kitten in the middle of December! 'Heh. This is so much fun... one more time, Xue still needs to be disciplined.' The spirit-tyrant thought while forcefully raising his woman towards his chest before cupping her soft and big breasts inside his wide hands... while hugging his wife from behind and roughly kneading her breasts he resumed his repetitive, rhythmic, and deep thrusts before leaning his head forward to lock-lips with her to suck with greed on her sweet lips! while enjoying the dreamy and "lost in lust" pair of eyes... the earth-cultivator burned the expression on the face of his woman inside the deepest and fondest part of his memory. While getting fiercely and mercilessly "nailed" Ning Xue wondered why is this time so different? she practically had sex like a... "million" times with her man Fu already! then deep inside her head the image of a pair of golden-pupils suddenly appeared in the darkness of her subconscious... these eyes calmed her thoughts once they gave the beauty’s mind a single calm stare. 'It's him! the boy is the one responsible for this chan-Hnghhh-e Mmmm!... yes, that's the spot. Now harder please... aim a little bit deeper hubby... Ahhn!...' When the charming beauty opened her mouth to and were about to voice these thoughts to her husband... the next thrust from her man made her soft and fragile-looking body spasm and feel weaker and weaker while getting crushed underneath all of the weight of his muscular body that kept relentlessly pushing against her! on top of the soft bed cushions the long-legged Ning Xue was forcefully prevented from being able to think straight by Chen Fu soon afterwards... the mercenary-leader never gave his dao-companion a second's worth of rest however... it isn't like this voluptuous woman is complaining or anything... all of this isn’t to the dislike of the wife... at all! because... discovering this new and exciting side of her loving and caring husband after all these years is a... wonderful surprise... right.

.........

"Lin has more to teach him" the blade-user just felt it so clear deep in his guts however... to confirm if his intuition is correct... Lai has to be in the receiving end of this boy's every ability, movement, and technique to see if he could figure-out a similar blade-technique for himself! not someone else... himself. However... right now—and almost all the time—he’s on-duty and the blade-user is responsible for guarding the young-master! if he just go and leave the young-master unprotected? then... his clansmen would never forgive him if something happened to the fatty in his absence.

“You can go,” Tang Wei said so and Liao Lai looked towards his right where the fatty is sitting next to him, “Don’t overthink things and go if you want, there’s still old Yang, Wang, and Zhang wouldn’t take long to recover. I’m sure that it wouldn’t take long before he comes back.” The merchant didn’t look towards the blade-user because he didn’t want this clansman to see the sly glint inside his narrow eyes... meanwhile Lai was feeling touched because he’s going to be the first—among these four—to enter the octagon cage to spar with the boy! why? because this proud blade-user just doesn’t like the idea of getting to face the kid when he’s on the brink of exhaustion... that wouldn’t be fun at all.

Lai walked towards the invisible spirit-barrier and entered the octagon-cage while the fatty announced the "awesome" abilities of his own personal-guard to the audience and attracted the "beloved customers" and the "cute-looking gamblers" towards his table to call their bets... since he isn't allowed to use his wide-blade during this spar... Lai relied on using each one of his arms like a much-thinner, smaller, and lighter blade! much to his surprise the blade-user noticed how Lin’s style of combat changed once their sparring-match began... indeed the boy began giving the gold and earth-cultivator practical and brilliant "out of the box" hints about how to include using a sharp weapon while relying on that—very strange yet very formidable and all-rounded—versatile and unknown technique. However... this little brat kept playing with him for quite a long time without giving the audience the swift conclusion that was expected... the great-sage wanted to teach the blade-user enough and prolonged the event until Lai honestly began to believe that there’s not a single bone in his body that wouldn’t break if he dared to exchange one more move with Lin! 'He's stronger than before, way much stronger! now I understand why Zhang lost despite all of his nonsensical amount of physical-strength, that time—when we were racing—must've been the reason why this boy’s physical-strength has increased by all that much. Despite the kid really doing nothing during the past three months... his abilities doesn’t seem rusty at all to me, he’s got the aspects of body, spirit, soul, and intent almost all covered-up and held between his fingers! I better focus on myself rather than others, at least he did give me some valuable hints. Right now all I need to do is... be thankful for this opportunity, then work harder from here-on until I’m fully capable of applying these current comprehensions with my blade! then, integrate these new techniques with my blade-intent and spirit-energy. However, right now the techniques of my martial-spirit needs integration with my blade-dao! it’s a must for me before I reach the major-realm of spirit-tyrant, I really need to breakthrough... I need to do it correctly yet quickly. Sigh. I hate being in a hurry, especially when I’m doing something that’s very important to me! however, I have to because... shitty merchant over there is about to reach the ninth-stage—and last stage—of the spirit-grandmaster realm like myself. If Wei ever manages to reach the tyrant-realm before I do? then, I know it for a fact... he just wouldn't shut up about it!' Lai thought while retreating from the octagon-cage and directly going towards his own carriage to meditate after giving Lin the gesture of surrendering.

Wang immediately understood that he has to taste this beat-down whether he liked it or not once he saw that Lai had enough of this painful-experience... the handsome-man jumped inside the octagon-cage and unlike everyone before him... the ice-cultivator kept doing his best to keep his distance from his opponent while trying to evade all and every single attack from Lin who didn’t care about going on the defensive first like he always did before! the reason why the boy didn’t test how much this Wang has improved lately is because... the handsome-man in front of him isn’t seeking to win at all... it felt both amusing and slightly insulting to be honest. The ice-cultivator is seeking to passively keep himself on the defensive without a need to attack at all... not even once! no matter how many times the kid "intentionally" revealed flaws in his techniques or... exposed weak-points in his motions while attacking... Wang knew better and "never" bit the bait that’s been dangling in front of him. The handsome-man just wants to do his best and to "prolong" this sparring-match... while doing so he’d limit the damage he’s receiving to absolute-minimum for as long as he can before elegantly... surrendering with style! that’s his master-plan.

The mortals among the crowd kept "Poo-ing" this "spine-less" Wang because he’s—a really handsome-man which means that all of their reasons are almost completely motivated by emotions of jealousy and envy—doesn't seem to even have the "guts" to fight... yes he might be a little bit frightening and being his opponent might be a little bit much because the pressure must be a little bit more than expected still... he’s just little boy in the end! however... nobody could deny that it was fun to watch... especially the kids in the audience. Almost all of them kept giggling and laughing while watching this fight... in their eyes the ice-cultivator did resemble an amusing "clown" whenever he tried to escape from young-hero Ming again and again... and again! they just don’t want this show to end... at all.

Old Yang generously mentioned how Wang’s defense is very solid indeed... while the handsome-man is keeping his eyes open and watching every attack from his opponent he’s making sure of his own safety first and foremost by not risking his chances or receiving any unnecessary damage... the ice-cultivator is maintaining his calm despite being on the receiving-end of such an endless barrage of attacks from Ming! that’s considered an amazing achievement on its own... these words from the strongest spirit-cultivator soured the mood of this ignorant crowd of mortals... especially the haters of this Wang. Then the lightning-cultivator patiently explained how this approach isn't and shouldn’t be considered wrong at all because... if the handsome-man is lucky and patient enough? then... he might actually be able to catch the boy by surprise in a heartbeat just like that and win the sparring-match! "If his physical-strength is comparable to young-hero Ming, or—at least—slightly close to Zhang’s physical-strength then... Wang would've had—at least—thirty-five maybe even a forty-percent chance of actually winning this sparring-match." When Li Yang openly voiced his own opinion most of the females within the crowd—the same ones who noticed Wang’s pair of eyes eying them before—who previously revealed some disappointment deep within their sad-looking eyes... immediately began to see the handsome-man from an entirely different point of view after hearing Yang's timely commentary! some of these smitten and bewitched girls and women found their hidden courage and began to cheer loudly for their "prince charming" while some walked towards the fat merchant’s table and handed their bets... their choice of gambling is on who exactly? such a silly question—is asked by those who dare to ask—indeed... it’s going to be master Wang's win... of course! these actions from the blushing-ladies would mostly be followed by a wave of teasing comments... meanwhile the envious-males within the crowd kept wishing in silence for the handsome-man to be eating dirt and terribly shamed by the boy... because he deserves it. Thankfully... the invisible spirit-barrier is isolating all the sound from outside the octagon-cage! otherwise... Wang would've most certainly spat like a liter of fresh blood after hearing just a single one of the "spiteful-comments" made by his "jealous-haters" or... some of the little kids who watched him defending in a sorry-looking state from the beginning once their newest "role-model" young hero-Ming became slightly serious. Finally everything was over once Wang got forcefully forced into one of the eight corners of the octagon-cage then pummeled hard every time whenever the handsome-man attempted to either escape or counterattack.

Lin grabbed Wang's left-wrist with his right-hand then slapped the other arm—that was sent by the ice-cultivator with the intention of clenching his smaller-sized body—away with a backhand sweep of his left-hand before quickly jabbing Wang's nose twice... while doing so the great-sage simultaneously used his left-knee to deflect Wang's straightforward front-kick from finding the location of his belly—which is an attack that aimed to give the handsome-man some space and room to breathe—then nudged the handsome-man's jaw upwards with a measured left-uppercut! the boy let go of Wang's left-wrist after pulling it downwards to shrink the gap of height between them then rewarded the ice-cultivator with a right-hook that landed perfectly on the jaw—which caused the handsome-man’s neck to twist in a dangerous-looking angle all the way to the right—and rattled his brain so hard inside his skull... while slumping down towards the ground on his knees and feeling completely paralyzed Wang understood that he must've been a bit too "passive" for Lin's taste. That's why the boy choose to knock him completely out from the fight despite seeing and knowing fully well how the opponent in front of him is currently feeling so helpless... helpless to the degree of opting for the "desperate" and "embarrassing" choice of going for the "clench" while facing a little-kid! because... he’s that desperate to survive this without being humiliated... well... at least not by much.

Li Yang just smiled and entered the octagon-cage once he saw two of merchant Wei’s men enter the invisible spirit-barrier and carry Wang out because he’s unconscious and can’t go back to his own carriage by himself in such a sorry state... while confronting his very young opponent the mercenary-leader thought to himself : 'I can't miss-out on these festivities, not participating would be a sin! after all... this boy is a huge opportunity for me to test how far I currently am in comparison to such an "outstanding talent" he’s a few generations my junior already however, standing face-to-face with this boy after seeing for myself exactly what he’s capable of doing. He really doesn’t have any sort of "threatening aura" or "air" around him, he does seem weak and fragile indeed... this "depth" is so terrifying.' The lightning-cultivator isn't old for someone who’s at the third-stage of the spirit-tyrant realm but... he wouldn’t be considered young either! for him to be given the title of a "powerhouse" among his generation... Li Yang would require some more stages in his spirit-cultivation as well as some "special factor" that allows him to "shine" among his peers however... this group-leader is specialized in a single element—which is lightning—and despite his perfect mastery of his "weapon of choice" this lightning-cultivator still couldn’t unlock its intent "spear-will" keeps eluding him. The "path of destruction" is a much more difficult path than seeking intent... if the mercenary-leader can’t attain the smallest of accomplishments when seeking spear-will? then... him seeking to fuse fire-energy and lightning-energy before seeking the superior-ranked element of death would be... Li Yang seeking his own destruction instead! after all... he isn’t so talented in his own natural-affinity and fusing a basic-ranked element with a high-ranked element is already very... very difficult. However... that isn’t the most difficult step within the path of destruction! in-fact it’s the easiest one... afterwards there’s the requirement for a perfect-fusion of spirit-energy between the perfect-mixture of fire and lightning-energies and death-energy... then later afterwards there’s the most difficult step... which is? seeking destruction-energy itself! only the most stupid and the most confident spirit-cultivators would choose that path... Li Yang doesn’t fall under one of these two categories... well... at least not yet. Being a user of lightning-energy Li Yang wouldn't allow himself to keep being on the defensive like Wang did before him because... it would be him going against his lightning-dao! from the moment he entered the transparent spirit-barrier the lightning-cultivator refused to shy-away from this little-boy... at least not without actually feeling how hard, quick, devious, and brilliant the attacks of this kid are. The spirit-tyrant has been studying the movements of this Ming since earlier this morning... honestly the mercenary-leader thought that he completely understood the boy’s style of combat and all of its varieties after watching all of his previous fights! However... Li Yang became so surprised once he discovered that this kid actually began to use an entirely different and new style of combat just to counter his own moves.

Meanwhile outside the octagon-cage... Wei became so elated while accepting bets from his dear customers and even more elated because he’s going to watch old Yang in action once again! however... what really elated the fatty more is whenever he fanned the flames with his commentary about this fight... it would actually attract more gamblers to try their luck. Every move the mercenary-leader made benefitted the merchant who felt like his affinity towards the element of lightning does indeed resonate with this spirit-tyrant’s style of combat... deep inside his narrow-eyes—specifically within the center of his brown-pupils—there’s a faint image of a purple-spear that’s missing the tip of its spear-head! that purple-spear is completely made from lightning-energy and Wei became so captivated and entranced by the style of combat while watching the fight that he unknowingly entered a state of deep comprehension... the phase of silence didn’t go unnoticed and the people from the audience became confused while looking towards merchant Wei they began to ask themselves : "why did the commentary suddenly stop?"

An air of unease filled the chests of those who placed their bets on Ming after this silence began... they began to doubt their choices and some of them honestly thought that they’re going to lose their wealth this time! why? well... since the man who’s the true leader and owner of this caravan should be favoring his underling then... this merchant Wei should be playing his role and attracting customers to place their bets against the boy like he’s been doing before yet... the fatty suddenly stopped talking and began to stare in silence at the fight like an idiot. Surely... he's worried about the kid! and even more worried about how much money he’s going to lose... that greedy merchant must’ve made a mistake and they did too.

On the other hand those who betted on Li Yang’s win felt like this silence is a chance for them to finally relish in the moment of success after many failures... they began to chant Yang's name louder and louder with an increasing excitement while watching the man go on the offensive from the get-go like a simpleminded and suicidal-general! like a general who found himself the last man standing on the battlefield and is faced-with an entirely new army of fresh troops... after undergoing a great battle just earlier where he encountered another army and successfully vanquished at the cost of losing every single one of his soldiers... he’s still refusing to die without mercilessly tearing apart every single foe on his path towards the other general.

Zhang returned after taking a while to rest and smiled when he saw how the audience is riled-up then... the simple man noticed how his young-master Wei is staring at nothing like a complete idiot and keeping his silence despite being the commentator! knowing what—usually—accompanies this weird-state whenever his young-master enters it... Zhang quickly moved and stood behind the fatty to act as his temporary personal-guard while activating the sturdiest armor of earth-energy that he can conjure on his body. Last time Wei had a sudden-enlightenment the strong man got himself scorched... much more compared to the time where Lin burned him with his fire-intent back on the ship! despite being so lazy and extremely neglectful of his spirit-cultivation... this fatty is—somehow able to attain—two stages beyond Zhang in spirit-cultivation while being a few years younger too... Wang and Lai always hated this detail however... the simple man always thought that it’s natural when a "lord" is stronger than his "vessels" within this spirit-world which most of those who’re currently living in it only respect the strong. Otherwise... one of his vessels should switch places with Wei and take the lead instead. However... he got to admit that this Li Yang is holding his ground "quite well" against the boy! even if Zhang is certain that this kid is intentionally restricting his own strength and only using physical-strength that’s comparable to Li Yang to make this a "fair" sparring-match... plus the factor of fatigue which began to "kick-in" and reveal itself after Lin underwent this very prolonged exercise. Yet... the strong man is still faithful in his own conclusions about the eventual winner of this spar... in the end it’s going to be Lin's win despite all odds! Zhang has this endless amount of faith in his own instincts... in-addition to a similar faith in his own friend.

The cheering chants and noise from the audience attracted attention towards them from the spirit-cultivators who retreated from the gathering and secluded themselves to digest their own comprehensions earlier after fighting young-hero Ming... the majority of them speeded-up the process of their transition from a stage to the next despite them being undergoing a breakthrough... while the minority stopped the process all-together so that they would be able to go and take a look! why would they risk losing the opportunity of another breakthrough? well because... they simply shouldn't miss the fight between the person with the highest spirit-cultivation within the whole caravan and young-hero Ming. Those who already fought with the boy—at least once—began to trickle-back into the audience to watch the fight after spending a short amount of time meditating in seclusion... while excitedly exchanging conversations about how much they earned from their loss the spirit-cultivators—who didn't manage to increase their spirit-cultivation by a stage after fighting the beasts—became so surprised once they found a few dozen more within the audience who managed to increase their spirit-cultivation by a stage after they sparred with the kid! then... they became even more surprised after hearing about how many more could’ve increased their spirit-cultivation had they remained in seclusion to meditate... everyone around them did gain something or more ever since this young-hero Ming appeared.

Finally... and like Zhang anticipated Lin was able to deliver a nasty body-blow to Yang's right-midsection which landed directly on the liver and took the breath away from the spirit-tyrant and caused his face to contort from pain... before the mercenary-leader could even manage to recover from the unexpected hit from his opponent the boy was already twisting his torso and unleashing his next attack! while turning counterclockwise and lowering his center of gravity the kid used the heel of his left-leg to sweep both of Yang's legs from the ground... before the lightning-cultivator got the chance to use his left-hand to support the weight of his falling body and regain his balance in front of this very formidable and unpredictable young-hero Ming. Lin was already supporting his body on two palms while bending his elbows to lower his back even further towards the ground and pushing hard against the ground to position himself right below the falling body of Li Yang... with the sole of his right-foot buried a few inches deep in Yang's left-side specifically in the soft abdominal-flesh right below the ribcage... the boy extended his reach by straightening the bent joint of his right-knee which raised his opponent up from the ground and hurled the mercenary-leader’s body towards the sky like a weightless-feather! while the right-leg delivered that swift and heavy attack to the spirit-tyrant... the kid was using his back to absorb strength from the ground below his body and using his left-leg to transition that force by letting it act like a hook that’s firmly planted into the earth below it... right before delivering the last push with the sole of his right-foot Lin’s waist began to rise upwards like a spring and unleashed the accumulated power from his back and left-leg towards the tip of his toes on the right-leg! when the boy created the perfect bridge with his spine and his straight right-leg sent the spirit-tyrant flying upwards... the audience felt like they’re watching a bow releasing an arrow towards the sky... then Lin did a hand-stand in all elegance before flipping his body to stand normally on two feet once again while looking upwards at Li Yang who used his lightning-energy to cover his body and stop it from rising too far upwards. The man slowly lowered himself to stand in front of the boy—who could see how his opponent remained floating a few inches above ground—and kept admiring this young and fearsome talent which kept giving him and everyone else in this caravan many unexpected yet valuable experiences... while cupping his fist politely boss Yang said : “Thanks young-master Ming. You gave this Li Yang face by going slightly easy on me, let us do this again in the future while using our spirit-energy. I’m sure that it won't be long before it to happens... this Yang admits his inferiority.” Li Yang nodded then left in a hurry... his destination? his own carriage of course! his comprehensions this time are way more than what the lightning-cultivator can delay... he needs to quickly digest them otherwise... he'd certainly come to regret it if he doesn't. The mercenary-leader sensed it clearly this time like daylight clear... the bottleneck towards the mid-grade spirit-tyrant is loosening more and more! this is a chance for him to widen the gap between himself and his friend and rival Chen Fu... of course he wouldn’t hesitate to take it.

While looking around him Lin could be clearly seen by the shocked audience... exhausted to the degree of gasping for every breath he took in his chest which kept heaving up and down in erratic rhythm! but... the great-sage doesn't want to rest... at least not just yet. This morning exercise is fun and all of these opponents helped him get a feel of his current physical-strength and understand how far can his capabilities can go... why should he stop now? he shouldn’t do so before getting completely exhausted! however... since Wei had closed his eyes once Li Yang lost and entered a state of weird absentmindedness to comprehend whatever he gained from this sudden-enlightenment... the great-sage doesn’t know if there’s going to be any more opponents because only little-Tong is left among all these spirit-cultivators... she’s the only one who didn't give sparring with Lin a try yet.

“Yes! mommy, big-brother Ming won once again, do you see that? hahaha.”

“Big-brother Ming. You're so cool!”

“Big-brother Ming is so amazing, he can beat everyone! hahaha. I'm going to grow-up very strong, just like him.”

The kids cheering for their young-hero Ming... awoke the surrounding spirit-cultivators from their silent shock after seeing Yang's loss with their eyes! meanwhile the families of these excited juniors did their best to shush and hush their children while looking warily towards the expressions on the spirit-cultivators... most of them were frowning or gaping at the mouth. These mortals are timid by nature especially whenever they’re dealing with spirit-cultivators... the boy's polite attitude did give them some relief and release of mind that’s true! however... who knows what these kids might say or do in their pure ignorance to offend these spirit-cultivators... those gamblers who lose their wealth betting on the wrong side can be driven insane by a few words.

“I’m not sure if I saw this big-sister over there fight big-brother Ming.”

One cute little-girl with freckles muttered to her parents while looking towards Tong who seemed hesitant about joining this sparring-match or not... after all Tong is only in the peak-perfection of the spirit-disciple realm! however... the little-girl's comment happened to be said during a moment of silence being shared by the entire audience... everyone turned to look towards little-Tong when they heard what the little-girl said especially the "gamblers" who looked towards the girl like she's their final hope of regaining what they lost. The reason little-Tong kept hesitating about whether to participate or not is because... the girl sensed her so-called "luck" wouldn't be of any help this time! especially... when she’s against this freak of nature... Tong isn't physically strong like... at all! her hand-to-hand combat techniques are... "mediocre" at best.

“We still have little-Tong, she's very lucky and her natural-affinity is actually a "special element" she’s a spirit-cultivator of mist-energy.”

“Yes! this damned kid is obviously very exhausted and about to hit his breaking-point, beyond that there’s no way he’s able to continue another fight. Little-Tong you just need to give him one more push and the boy would fall, hurry now before he’s able to recover.”

“Err!... merchant Wei is actually meditating, so... who’s going to take our bets?”

“What? then wake him up! I lost half my wealth already, this is my chance to win it all back and more.”

“This... we better not offend our contractor, the disciplinary-hall of our mercenary-guild would skin all of us alive if we do!”

“Why?”

“Well because... you know! he didn't do anything against the terms of his contract, plus there’s boss Zhang over there. If you’re confident of your abilities then... go ahead, be my guest if you want to challenge that maniac.”

“Fuck! are we just going to let this chance slip from between our fingers?”

While the spirit-cultivators argued with one another or... to be precise... while the losers amongst the gathering of spirit-cultivators pulled at their hair from frustration! they heard the boy's voice giving answer to their problem : “I can play the role of being the house and take all of your bets instead of merchant Wei... just call your bet and you wouldn't find me forgetting a single figure, even if you dearly wish for such an incident to happen... I still won't forget to reward the winners and take from the losers.” Turning their heads to look towards him... every spirit-cultivator within the audience was stunned from shock because they found-out that this young-hero Ming didn't exit the transparent and sound-isolating spirit-barrier! the ones who threw curses and insults at the kid earlier became so frightened and began to sweat bullets when they thought this : 'He’s able to hear what we say! then, he must’ve heard what we said before. This is bad... really, really bad.' Seeing the boy smiling their way while wiping down sweat from his face in one of his dirty sleeves... seeing how the kid didn't urge them to decide just yet! these spirit-cultivators immediately understood that every second being wasted would only mean that they’re giving this Ming more time to rest and recover... which is only to his advantage and one spirit-cultivator cautiously asked to test the water : “what are the odds?”

“Good question. If she's going to be my next opponent? then, odds are two to one in her favor. Of course, anyone of you is more than welcome to take her place. However, my old rule applies... it keeps on accumulating with every turn you take in challenging me. Just take your time everyone, no need to hurry when you’re deciding who’s going to be my opponent. If you want to change my opponent? then, do it first before notifying me. After seeing for myself who’s going to be my opponent, then I’d give you all the amount of stakes before you call your bets. Fellow gamblers, merchant Wei’s house always welcomes your service.” The way Lin calmly said these words made the innards of the spirit-cultivators twist in pain when they heard him... most of them did taste the boy's punishment this very day and they know what it means to be stuck within an enclosed barrier with this kid! the soft tune which young-hero Ming spoke in really gave them the creeps... fighting the boy once again? no way in hell... at least not right now when it’s going to cost them a lot more to do it themselves. Everyone here understands that this boy went easy on them during their sparring-matches earlier... those who dared to pay and enter the octagon-cage again didn’t find the kid being merciful at all! just a little reminder for these stubborn and wasteful fools is the bruises which didn't heal yet... this time especially after they understand how them talking trash behind young-hero Ming’s back earlier is... actually found out! certainly the boy would be extra more heavy-handed on whoever courageous enough to face him once again after all that’s said and done... right. After all... this kid dared to spank the butt of boss Fu's woman right in front of all of them including her own dao-companion! he wouldn't spank them too and force them to walk around for a while with swollen-butts... would he? nobody can say for sure. Not to mention that... the reason of that dispute is commonly known... Xue said something about young-hero Ming behind his back! she thought that he didn’t know about what she said but... he did and he rewarded her for what she did by taking both her and her man directly and beating them then it became the turn of the whole audience to be... beaten in one sparring-match after another after another... now there’s only little-Tong. Only she... she’s allowed to participate for free while having no fear of being mistreated by the boy! because... the girl didn’t say anything bad about the kid.

“Little devil. You're on! fifty green-coins from me, little-Tong is going to win. Do your best sister, if he dares be a bully? then... don’t worry, all of us would storm the barrier and beat the naughty thing for you and big-sister Xue’s sake.”

“Heck! I lost one of my blue-coins each in three wrong bets, two blue-coins from me. I’m betting on Tong's win this time as well.”

“One purple-coin from me, I'm going all-in on Tong this time. The kid looks really exhausted, I’m afraid betting on him anymore would be risky.”

“All or nothing from me here. One low-grade spirit-crystal, place my bet on Tong! may her halo of lucky touch all of us, fellow-cultivators... let’s see if our prayers are going to be answered.”

While gritting their teeth or sighing after being in a loss for words to say... these spirit-cultivators found themselves in a very difficult situation! why? well because... if they waited any longer? then... young-hero Ming would rest and recover. Which means? their chances would become slimmer... breaking the winning streak of this brat would be much more difficult! especially after merchant Wei once said that he’s able to recover very quickly... if they bit the bait? then... they would be gambling on Tong's luck not her ability because this girl isn’t famous for her strength or her refined hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Finally... the gamblers cracked under this silent and annoying mental-pressure that’s been coming from Lin for a while now! especially when the boy retrieved a chair from his space-ring and sat on it very calmly and slowly... him waiting for them with the same careless and laid-back attitude. That attitude is exactly the reason why they’re feeling mental-pressure however... once the first woman shouted her bet and encouraged the girl from her mercenary-group... the rest of the gamblers gritted their teeth before calling their own bets.

“If you all agree to the option of "double or nothing" then... I can give you all a handicap, one that’d be to her advantage.” Lin stored the chair back in his space-ring then told the crowd of "red eyed" spirit-cultivators... some of them frowned and some of them felt like there's something wrong in this situation.

Zhang only smirked when he saw this situation where Lin is playing and teasing a group of his seniors... these spirit-cultivators are in the palm of his hand yet he’s still able to manipulate all of them while keeping himself absolutely calm! taking a look at the faces of the spirit-cultivators around him the simple man really felt sorry for their ignorance and indecisiveness... his little friend is clearly stalling for time and using every second to recover yet... this group of spirit-cultivators are so timid they’re afraid to poke this "paper tiger" and their hesitation is never going to allow them to take a look beyond their opponent.

“What handicap?” Tong asked when she heard the boy mention it... since anything that’s supposed to be to her advantage is good for her! then... maybe there’s a chance for her to win this... the girl thought : 'Maybe my luck hasn’t failed me yet.'

“If I'm correct? then, you're not in the master-realm just yet. Am I right?” Lin asked Tong while looking towards her. After seeing the girl’s pair of eyes squinting slightly before nodding to confirm his guess he continued : “Your special element of mist is a bit restraining to mine own element of light, don’t you agree?” Once again the boy saw his next opponent nod to confirm his guess however... this time her eyes glowed brightly like lanterns because little-Tong understood his meaning.

“Get to the point you br-... err, young-hero Ming! please don't stall for time, that’s cheating.” One spirit-cultivator amongst the group of gambling losers slammed the table in front of him with his fist before he spoke—which caused the plates and cups to fly a few meters up in the air before down towards the ground and crashing then breaking into countless fragments—the surrounding mortals in the audience became so scared once they saw it happen! then... their faces paled severely from fright once the spirit-pressure of a spirit-grandmaster covered them with a terrorizing sense of unease... all of them began to shake like leafs on a tree during a fierce storm after falling to their knees and expressing dread all-over their faces.

“Any action of terrorizing these helpless people, anyone who does similar actions in the future... you better be really prepared for the consequences. Expect me to appear in front of you with all the wrath in the world, then... really show you what it feels like to have a boy like me forcing you to kowtow and apologize to every single one of them for three days and three nights! don't you dare forget that they're merchant Wei's precious clients right now, they’re not yours or anyone's target for bulling—at least not until we complete our task of sending them safely to the agreed-upon destination—the authority of the Cheng clan's caravan would be administered on everyone here including me and both Li Yang and Chen Fu. Let this be the first and final warning to all of you... our clients will and shall always be both respected and protected, that rule is going to be maintained for forever as long as this caravan is in business! since our clients are not the ones to wrong you first then... they’re considered "invincible" within our caravan. Instead of taking matters to your own hand in the future... you better come to merchant Wei or one of his close subordinated to solve all your disputes! seek one—or all—of them to solve your problems and you better provide proof or valid and honest witnesses before you throw your complaints at our customers. We don’t live in a jungle where the strong preys on the weak, if that life suits you better? then please be my guest... go live in these mountains with the beasts! because... this caravan doesn’t welcome evil and doesn’t tolerate injustice.” Lin regretted that he allowed this person to vent his anger by letting him break some plates and cups then immediately scattered the spirit-pressure with his soul-force... his calm words thundered inside the ears, heads, and chests of the spirit-cultivators and shook everyone of them to their very core! while helping the helpless and innocent mortals rise-up to their feet with a gentle touch of assistance from his—quite exhausted—soul-force... the boy gave this frightened crowd of spirit-cultivators a small taste of his "grumpy side" by lining and defining his bottom-lines and making them as clear as daylight! the soul-pressure that covered these spirit-cultivators didn’t affect their bodies... not at all... it gripped their primordial-souls within a cage... that cage kept gradually shrinking and tightening around their souls... they felt helpless and despair because in all honesty... they sensed how their fate and survival depends on a single thought from the boy.

........

Meanwhile Inside his soul-world.

Gang kept smiling while giving the silver runes and inscriptions around their third silver-eyes—which are currently half-complete—an exhausted gaze while feeling sleepy before leaving the soul-world and going towards the dantian-space to take a nap on top of the fused cloud-generals however... the deadly-sin of wrath felt really... really good when his big-brother included him in his threat earlier.

........

When Lin used his soul-pressure he didn't include Zhang, Wang, Lai, Fu, Xue, Wei, Yang, or Tong... these eight were the only spirit-cultivators left completely unaffected.

The boy wants to face someone who’s capable of using an element that naturally has the advantage of restraining his own element... after all he wants to see for himself how other elements are capable of affecting his own light-energy! that's why the great-sage didn't want to include little-Tong within this severe warning... a clash of spirit-energy is some sort of test to the strength of spirit-energy itself... when facing someone who’s using spirit-energy of the same grade in quality or from the same ranking in form. Then it’s the most direct answer to the question of : "How strong and pure the user’s spirit-energy currently is?" When the girl is allowed to fight while using her spirit-energy then... she’s allowed to coat her body with the ability of energy-armor! each one of her punches, kicks or any other attack of hers would send some of her mist-energy towards her opponent... if her opponent isn’t able to block that spirit-energy with his own? then... it would enter his physique and wreak havoc from the inside... the better her control of her spirit-energy the bigger the damage. If Lin did the same and protected himself with spirit-energy? then... his light-energy needs to be both pure and of high quality! or... compressed enough to equal Tong's own mist-energy otherwise it wouldn’t be able to nullify the force of her attacks without having some of the girl’s mist-energy intruding into his body and disrupting the flow his light-energy or... "worse" if her mist-energy succeeded in disrupting the working of his inner-organs! which could be really... dangerous if left neglected... take Lai for example and how impatient he was for an opportunity to remove inspector Huang’s water-energy from his body. Fights where spirit-energy is directly clashing tend to prolong... especially if the spirit-energies are of the same rank in form since both the great-sage and he girl use spirit-energy in the gaseous-form...which is limited to the major-realms of spirit-apprentice and spirit-disciple... while the liquefied-form of spirit-energy comes next afterwards in the following two major-realms... that higher form of spirit-energy is limited to both spirit-masters and spirit-grandmasters! Meanwhile the crystalized-form of spirit-energy is the highest-form and the final one on the ranking because... Lin simply doesn’t have any more information on this topic...which is a spirit-energy of a grade in quality that’s limited for those in the major-realms of spirit-tyrant and spirit-lords to use. The boy wants to know how pure his light-energy is right now... he wants to see if the purest type of gaseous-energy he currently have within his dantian-space—the two nebulas of gaseous-clouds of the dark-gold color and the two cloud-generals—would fare for how long exactly when faced against someone who's at the peak-perfection of compressing their gaseous-energy to the stage of almost liquefying! this is the sort of challenge this great-sage would love to experiment... the excitement he’s feeling is more than enough to accept any loss with a wide grin on his face.

Meanwhile the spirit-cultivators—who just experienced the effectiveness of the half-complete inscription around Lin's silver-eye—gave the boy looks of disbelief while dread invaded their thoughts... they sensed something far worse than killing-intent from that pressure this young-hero Ming gave them! far worse than the strongest spirit-pressure they experienced... ever. Those among this gathering who once chanced upon encountering soul-cultivators are extremely rare yet... this minority within this group of spirit-cultivators didn't feel anything even close what this kid just gave them when he threw his threat in their faces. They all felt it very clearly for a moment back then... their souls simply got imprisoned while their thoughts revealed themselves to the kid! their memories became like books spread-open for the boy to read while their past and present got uncovered... their future is held between the fingers of this Ming who’s free to mold it however he wants... spirit-cultivators with cultivation at peak-perfection of the spirit-grandmaster realm felt the same. Despite the boost these individuals receive to the strength of their soul after reaching that major-realm... these spirit-grandmasters felt cold sweat trickling down their backs when they felt that "inescapable" danger from the boy—the danger which swooped-on and captured their souls—out of nowhere! all of them kept their mouths shut and their postures humbled... this isn’t a junior that they dare offend... amongst all juniors of this world he’s one of the most difficult juniors! other juniors rely-on the backing of their sects or clans... this junior in front of them rely-on his own ability... the difference is clearly notable because... after offending other juniors these spirit-cultivators would be punished by someone from their own generation or older... while after offending this junior these spirit-cultivators would be punished by their junior... there’s this factor of embarrassment and shame which none of them really wants to taste... ever.

“You're saying that... if they double their gamble? then, I'm allowed to use mist-energy during our sparring-match! everyone? when I’m using mist-energy then—at least—I should be guaranteed to win, there’s the additional boost of defense, attack, and stamina. Young-hero Ming might be physically strong but, I think I can take him on with my mist-energy as long as he doesn't use his martial-spirit to keep his distance or to avoid my attacks.” little-Tong spoke and her excited words awoke the group of frightened spirit-cultivators from their previous shock... the girl felt nothing when the kid shouted at them and—for some reason—they all does seem really frightened! 'Humph. Bunch of cowards! look at them... fear is all-over their eyes.' Little-Tong thought to herself while attributing these guys’ timid behavior to their previous loss... looking at them and seeing hesitation in their eyes she honestly found them pathetic! especially when the girl saw them exchange looks once again before finally deciding to pay the price for the handicap... the gamblers brought their bets and placed them in front of merchant Wei with droopy shoulders and listless eyes. These "sore-losers" understood that this young-hero Ming didn't include little-Tong in his previous warning... these sore-losers understood that they need to keep acting normally and never try to do something foolish like... expose what the boy just did! why? no reason other than... the affairs of the "strong" has no relation whatsoever with the "weak" and these spirit-cultivators—who received this "rude-awakening" really—awoke from their previous "illusions" of being the strong within this gathering they felt like they truly fit this description... the description of being weak and helpless! precisely this group of sore-losers... they kept their mouths shut and paid some of their spirit-resources to appease the anger of this "little-ancestor" Ming. After all... to receive the favor from this genius or not isn't up to them... it’s entirely up to the boy himself whether he chooses to befriend any of them or not! all they can do is... to try and leave a good impression with the kid while hoping that—someday in the near future—this young-hero Ming would grow-up into a formidable "titan" of this spirit-world... and not any titan... a titan that’s going to remember them... a titan that’s going to extend a hand of assistance when they need it. Most of the loose-cultivators—who joined the caravan of Cheng clan—were planning on joining the ranks of merchant Wei's men and waiting for the opportune time before offering their service... the mercenaries of the two groups are relying on their two group-leaders to do the task of forming connections with this fat merchant Wei! meanwhile there’s a few within this caravan who have their own plans and agendas... they’re waiting for the right moment to deliver their requests.

While Lin got misunderstood by these spirit-cultivators... the great-sage was really shocked by how much this simple use of soul-force is so different and so effective! despite Gang having already exhausted almost eighty-percent of their soul-force on the inscription this time... the effect from using some of the remaining twenty-percent of his soul-force to exert some soul-pressure is... way more than the boy ever expected. Lin understands that he isn't only physically-exhausted because of this prolonged streak of sparring-matches... Gang has been simultaneously soul-meditating and completing his task of completing the runes and inscriptions of the soul-lock ability while his big-brother sparred with all of these people! it did cost the great-sage by adding a factor of strain that kept sapping-on his concentration and depleting his focus... on-top of the side-effect that follows whenever the preparations for that "special" ability were made. The great-sage plans to stop this event and go take a good nap after sparring with the last spirit-cultivator—which is little-Tong—within this caravan... even the eight grandmasters who’re currently fusing their spirit-energy to operate the transparent spirit-barrier did swap-places with other spirit-cultivators just so they could give sparring with the boy a try earlier today.

The mortals gave young-hero Ming appreciative-looks since he’s kind enough to stand-up to defend and speak for them... their admiration for the boy reached a point—which is even higher than before and slightly—close to worshipping! soon afterwards some of these mortals moved and began remove and clean whatever that was broken, spilled, or scattered around the table... they did it without giving the person who caused this mess a single glance.

The silence between these two—socially-different—classes of people didn't go completely unnoticed... the boy already knew about the existence of this social-gap between spirit-cultivators and mortals from old Jin Bao's fragmented-memories! but... this is the first time he's witnessing it for himself and seeing it happen reminded the great-sage of the scenes he saw back in pearl-harbor of slaves being chained and abused... these memories replayed inside his head while he’s categorizing the "social-standing" of these mortals in the eyes of these spirit-cultivators. 'They’re not seen as slaves yet, they’re no different than mere "ants" in the eyes of these spirit-cultivators! at least... the majority sees them that way.' Lin thought while seeing for himself how the air between the members of his audience is getting heavy with awkwardness, discomfort, shame, and slight worry.

“Young-hero Ming. Here I come.” Little-Tong walked inside the invisible borders of the octagon-cage and activated the ability of energy-armor... her body was immediately covered with a layer of mist-energy while an additional layer of white-colored steam-like cloud covered the area half a meter area surrounding the girl’s body! that confusing halo around his opponent only appeared after the inch-thick, fluffy, and white-colored cloud of gaseous-energy covered all of Tong’s body... these two layers of mist-energy did confuse the eyes of the boy and because he’s not allowed to use soul-force the kid doesn’t know if it would allow him to pierce through that energy-armor.

Lin really felt like every one of these white-clouds is a sponge that would ooze liquid if pressed on them with his fingers however... the girl didn't give him much of a chance to take a longer look and study her mist-energy any further! why’s that? because... little-Tong dashed towards the great-sage right after she gave him the polite gesture of cupping one of her fists with the other hand... the boy reacted to her advance by uncorking the sole exit for his light-energy and released his own light-armor for the first time in public. From the tip of his forefinger on the right-hand light-energy all the way down in the dantian-space became apparently excited once they discovered this chance to "go play outside" and these two nebulas practically raced towards the wings-symbol... these gaseous-clouds of the dark-gold color would be converted into the gold-color while passing through that slightly narrow passage before sticking and blasting themselves into the great-sage’s skin! a layer of light-energy in the gold-color shined brightly everywhere around the kid and like his opponent... that energy-armor made it hard for the girl to see clearly how her opponent is going to attack.

........

Inside the dantian-space.

Gang did see it clearly when it happened... these two cloud-generals and their armies of dark-gold gaseous-clouds would turn into the white-color while they’re taking the pathway through the tunnel of the major-meridian! then... afterwards they’d turn into the yellow-color when they’re crammed inside the meridian-branch... afterwards they’d turn into the gold-color once these clouds exit the parts of the meridian-branch where the meridian-walls of the tunnel are painted yellow in color and enter the golden-hall where wrist-area and the wings-symbol exists before going out to cover their skin... clearly this ability relies-on the quality of its user’s spirit-energy and the effort being made on improving their system of meridians.

......

Outside within the octagon-ring.

When the blinding gold-colored light-energy made the mortals unable to see and these people began to cover their eyes while being amazed by how could such a thing happen during daylight... the spirit-cultivators just used some of their spirit-energy to block this boy’s blinding-effect when he unleashed his light-energy! however... they could only see a somewhat "hazy figure" like a... "vague-shadow" that’s standing inside the octagon-cage and waiting for little-Tong who’s about to attack.

“Huh!... j-just... how?”

“What the fuck is going on? isn't he just a spirit-apprentice of the first-stage! how’s he able to use the ability of energy-armor already?”

“I get it, the boy must’ve a "physique" it must be. Probably it’s a "special" one among physiques! otherwise... it's impossible to imagine him being able to use energy-armor so early because of anything else, I bet it’s the working of his physique.”

“Damn-it! now I’m not getting any rest when we return to mercenary-city, I don't have enough spirit-resources to use and improve my spirit-cultivation. Now I only own the contribution-points from this escort-mission! sigh, my breakthrough to the grandmaster-realm is going to be delayed for a few more months.”

“Hehe. I quit being stubborn early-on and changed-sides, after betting on young-hero Ming for a few rounds... I'm certainly going to get the version of the spirit-tool which I’ve been wanting to buy since long ago from one of the guild's grandmaster-blacksmiths. I’m certainly going to get that sword "custom-made" specifically according to my taste, this time around... I’m not afraid of the price!”

While the spirit-cultivators exchanged conversations between themselves be their tone of voice full of joy, sorrow, shock, confusion, or amazement after seeing what Lin can achieve... little-Tong didn’t stop her first attack simply because her opponent is able to use the ability of energy-armor! after their first-exchanging happened both sides noticed how the girl’s mist-energy made the light-energy stop and prevented it from piercing the effective steam-like layer around her... at least not by much. The steam-like layer of half a meter around little-Tong's body merely shrunk by less than twenty-percent after the first clash of spirit-energies happened... under the light-energy that’s coming from Lin’s energy-armor the steam-like layer actually nullified the light-energy and prevented it from reaching the true energy-armor of inch-thick mist-energy around the girl’s body! while watching the figure coated in white-steam run towards him at a speed that’s comparable to Li Yang’s speed—when he’s seriously relying-on the speed of his physique—because... with the assistance of her mist-energy this little-Tong can punch harder than Zhang and faster than a spirit-tyrant who’s specialized in speed when said tyrant isn’t using spirit-energy. However... the girl isn’t the only one who changed after she began using her mist-energy! the boy clearly felt how his skin, muscles, bones, and innards did seem to "awaken to life" from the moment his own light-energy completely covered the skin of his body in the ability of energy-armor... the strands of light-energy—which preferred to fuse with the body-cells instead of entering the dantian-space—began to glow at their brightest... these strands of light-energy did seem like they’re greeting and welcoming the arrival of their monarch. Like little-Tong in front of him or anyone else who's able to use the ability of energy-armor... the great-sage clearly felt how his senses immediately heighten without him having to concentrate or make any effort and how his physical-capabilities improved after the light-energy coated his body! his speed and power almost doubled which is a lot... his defense and stamina were especially noticeable because Lin clearly felt how both of them increased at a "nonsensical and unbelievable" rate! these two attributes almost tripled if compared to what they used to be without Lin putting the energy-armor of light-energy on his skin. In-fact... the boy noticed his exhaustion from before began to scatter with each breath he took into his chest! his fatigue began to "fade-away" much faster... it’s just "incomparable" to how his recovery was before... it’s—at least—a few times more advanced. Little-Tong punched, kicked, and attacked however she liked and the great-sage—like always—kept himself on the defensive from the beginning... almost in every one of his fights the Lin would attempt to estimate the strength of his opponent however... her speed, power, and techniques aren't a problem for him! yet... her spirit-energy—her mist-energy—is proving to be a "difficult" problem to tackle. Why’s that? well because... each time he blocks one of her attacks Tong's mist-energy would clash with his light-energy not only would it push-back and strain his energy-armor but also exhaust a big amount of his light-energy whenever their spirit-energies met! during all of his previous fights there wasn’t a single moment where the boy used his soul-sense to study or read the motions of his opponents... he fought fairly and won by relying on his own strength, ability, and his well-planned strategies. After collecting enough information on his opponents during the sparring-matches... the great-sage would make his move in the right time and take the win! yet... he’s unable to see the movements of his opponent because of the mist-like layer and he’s forced to react instantly once he’s able to see an attack about to hit his body... he’s in a passive state despite being capable of doing more that girl’s natural-affinity plus the rules of this sparring-match are restricting him a lot.

Meanwhile little-Tong is someone who already understands that her only advantage over this young-hero Ming is her mist-energy which should be of a higher-quality after exchanging a couple dozen of moves with the boy... that's why this girl didn't hesitate to aim for a clash where the expenditure of spirit-energy is at its highest! her aim is to deplete the kid’s spirit-energy to the point where he’s unable of using energy-armor and take her win... like Tong hoped Ming's energy-armor began to gradually fade-away from its original color of gold into the yellow-color after each one of their exchanges.

Seeing this happen was much to the excitement of all gamblers who already threw their lots with little-Tong and betted on her eventual win... meanwhile those who betted on Lin's eventual win weren't so anxious or worried about the wealth they might lose! why’s that? well simply because... not only did they bet less than all of these "sore-losers" but also because most of them already won... a lot earlier today! the spirit-resources they gave in this bet are the wealth they gained from some of these "sore-losers" and it wouldn’t hurt them to lose some of what they already gained effortlessly.

The adult mortals on the other hand kept themselves silent while inwardly voicing their prayers for this young-hero Ming to win this fight while the youngsters among these families voiced their support loudly by shouting to encourage the boy to win.

Despite all these odd—which none of them seem to be going in his favor—Tong became so stunned when she found Ming's pair of golden-pupils being so calm like always... during the fight earliest moments of their fight the girl couldn’t see clearly because of the boy’s energy-armor and its blinding-effect! however... after the light-energy began to lose its "vigorous-shine" little-Tong could see them clearly... even when the kid is clearly losing spirit-energy fast after each one of their clashes... even when his loss of spirit-energy is much more than herself. He’s calmly maintaining his defensive-posture and... just watching his own light-energy drain-away! it’s like... this Ming doesn't care about the result and isn’t really seeking to win this match.

Actually... along-with the additional boost to his speed and power from the ability of energy-armor Lin could stop holding himself back and overpower this girl if he’s willing to actually move a little and avoid these attacks from her! however... that would be "meaningless" in this situation... because the boy wants to test the purity and quality of his own gaseous-energy in comparison to someone who’s supposedly at the peak of purifying their gaseous-energy and about to ascend into an entirely new purity and quality-ranking.

.........

Inside the ring of origin.

Kai felt the aura of faith and its wisps which came from this group of rowdy mortals and could see it fusing with Lin's already gigantically-sized aura of faith! immediately afterwards the boy’s energy-armor became tenaciously annoying in the eyes of his shocked opponent... the girl clearly sensed how stronger and sturdier so suddenly.

When these wisps of faith-aura fused with the kid’s light-energy and gradually reinforced it... even little-Tong who’s currently facing Lin noticed the difference in this situation when things began to lean towards the boy’s advantage! much to her disadvantage... the kid began to lose less and less of his spirit-energy after each exchange! if things keep heading in that unfavorable direction? then... she might actually lose this match.

“Heh. This brat is like a "loach" whenever one of his disadvantages gets revealed, it’s like the world itself is extending a hand to help the boy cover his shortcomings! somehow, he always ends-up coming-out from these situations on-top. In this case here, it’s the gratitude of these mortals which is assisting the kid after they placed their faith on Lin. That must've ruined his plans for testing the quality of his light-energy. Tsk, tsk, tsk! how long is it going to take the brat before he comes asking for my help? I swear it... sometimes he's a bit too shy. He really should beg me again to teach him how true cultivation is done... after all, it’s for his own good!” Kai muttered while taking a walk inside that "mysterious" forest between the gigantic-trees... many demonic-beasts which are far stronger than Lantian would quickly lower their heads to greet the talking-raccoon whenever he’s passing through their territories! some of these demonic-beasts has already left their offerings of spirit-fruits in Kai's path so that he may take their most valuable spirit-resources... if he likes to do so.

.........

Outside the ring of origin.

Lin of course noticed how his energy-armor has managed to withstand Tong's previous attack without losing light-energy more than this girl did lose of her mist-energy... that previous exchange actually ended-up in a "tie" despite the purity of the boy's energy-armor having fallen to light-energy of the yellow-color! both contestants of this sparring-match felt great shock after this conclusion.

“I admit defeat.” Tong quickly retreated back and shouted her surrender very loudly... once the eight spirit-grandmasters heard the girl they released the restriction of containing those who’re inside transparent spirit-barrier... after exiting the octagon-cage little-Tong scattered her ability of energy-armor and once the layer of mist was gone everyone watching became... stunned! once these spirit-cultivators discovered how this girl is covered in sweat and her chest is heaving up and down from extreme exhaustion... she’s obviously very fatigued despite her sparring-match not really taking that long before she surrendered then escaped that spirit-barrier seemingly... frightened.

The crowd of mortals began to chant the name of their young-hero and that cheering-noise had some of the winners among spirit-cultivators joining in the fun... meanwhile the losers gave the boy silent and despondent looks before sighing... especially after seeing the clear difference between the kid and little-Tong when both of them scattered their ability of energy-armor! during that fight it’s clear that this Ming was able to actually recovered from his state of extreme physical-exhaustion—somehow this boy was able to—exchange that uncomfortable state with another state of extreme spiritual-exhaustion... nobody could blame the girl after seeing her early surrender anymore. Once they discovered that glaring flaw—which should've affected the circumstances of this bet and improved their hopes for winning—if little-Tong stubbornly kept herself going on an onslaught of high-cost and high-risk attacks while relying only on her mist-energy? then... after draining the kid's light-energy to the maximum... the girl would be forced to use her weakened mist-energy plus her frail physical-strength to attack against Ming’s very strong physique. To end this fight quickly... Tong had to sacrifice her advantage however... doing so is completely to her disadvantage! why? because... the kid previously proved to all of them that his physical-strength can indeed affect the strong bodies of spirit-tyrants. Spirit-energy would seep inside the physical-bodies of spirit-cultivators in greater quantities along-with every increase of their cultivation... especially after every increase in the major-realms which would allow the strongest individuals to gain the strongest of physical-bodies! bodies capable of withstanding the burden of containing spirit-energy of higher quality and purity.

........

From the direction south of the caravan.

Bo An was returning from the territories of beast-mountains... the young-girl sat on-top of Fang Bo's back and ran her fingers through his silver-colored fur while smiling slightly because she’s about to enjoy cuddling Ming once again! the sight of the young-lady of the Chentian clan on-top of the big grey-colored wolf had this certain pure and untouchable beauty to it to whomever that got to see it... she did seem valiant, courageous, proud, natural, and straightforward. Meanwhile Sun ran next to her grey-wolf and his size is clearly much bigger than before... from the look inside these vertical yellow-pupils this winged-tiger is very eager and wants to show its buddy all of its latest achievements! once Bo An heard the chanting noise from the caravan... she immediately led the two beasts in that direction and headed for the source. However... once these three were next to Lin and Bo An’s carriage all of them stopped and looked towards it! why? simply because... the young-girl and the two demonic-beasts felt an increasing pressure being emitted from inside the carriage... none of them dared to enter the carriage or take a look... doing so felt... so dangerous.

.......

Inside the carriage.

Frostine was still perched where Lin left her in the morning however... a layer of white-blue spirit-energy covered the white-owl’s small body! slowly her wings began to spread-open yet... her captivating eyes are still closed shut.

........

“Whoosh!...”

“Vzzzt!... crackle...”

“Clang!...”

“Boss Yang is breaking-through to the middle-stages of the tyrant-realm! long live our group of lightning-spear mercenaries... long live, long live...”

“Look, merchant Wei is breaking-through... they’re undergoing their breakthrough practically in the same time, for two practitioners of the same element of lightning to achieve this... is this just a coincidence?”

“Some beastly-aura of demonic-pressure has been coming from young-hero Ming's carriage for a while now, it seems like what he said earlier today about his beast-companion being in a critical-junction of its evolution is true! after all... there’s young-lady Bo An from the Chentian clan to help him speed the rate of growth whenever these demonic-beasts require it.”

“Blade-master Lai seems to be on the verge of breaking-through, for a while now... every time I look towards that man’s carriage—for some unknown reason—I keep seeing my hometown!”

“That’s nothing surprising... it just means that his blade-intent is about to send you to the "afterlife" to meet your loved ones.”

“Hehehe... didn’t you guys notice?”

“Notice what?”

“For quite a while... now boss Fu and big-sister Xue’s carriage, it’s never stopped shaking! you know what that means... right.”

“Babies in the making!”

Zhang just smiled while feeling accomplished because his early preparations did save him from getting affected by Tang Wei's breakthrough... the simple man looked towards Lin then grinned so widely once he saw his little-friend politely give his thanks to the eight-grandmasters who has been responsible for operating the transparent spirit-barrier! these spirit-grandmasters blushed slightly afterwards they scattered the octagon-cage while feeling... really good about themselves.

“Ming. What’s going-on here?” Bo An was really stunned after seeing this strange and very unexpected situation where many spirit-cultivators are simultaneously breaking-through however... once the young-girl got to see the boy's dirty and torn clothes plus his disheveled and exhausted appearance along-with the surrounding area which is deeply-scarred after experiencing many sparring-matches! the young-lady of the Chentian clan ignored the currently ongoing and very rare phenomenon then ran towards the kid and asked while holding him by the shoulders and scanning his body with her worried eyes and searching for any kind of injury.

“Just some sparring with these seniors... hmmm! Bo An, where did you take Sun? not only is he looking different because his measurements and size are bigger but also he feels even more different. Buddy. Come here, let me take a closer look at you.” Lin shrugged then answered the girl's question before calling his winged-tiger which immediately changed form then purred after jumping into the arms of his best-friend... the orange-kitten willingly offered its belly for the boy to rub it once it settled in a very comfortable position in the arms of its owner... the boy used his weakened-version of soul-sense to scan Sun's body especially the demonic-core inside his buddy’s tiny skull while tickling the kitten's soft belly with the tips of his fingers.

“Meow!.. yes, yes, yes... right there buddy. That's the spot, purr!... this feeling is the best.” Sun suddenly spoke and the great-sage kept staring downwards at the small orange-kitten on-top of his hands with shock in his eyes.

“Hehehe. Sun is very capable, once he succeeded in reaching the realm of devil-beast this morning he’s able to speak the common-tongue! Ming, how is it? isn’t this a big pleasant surprise.” Bo An said so and smiled while tightly hugging Lin from behind... the young-girl completely ignored the eyes of everyone around them in the audience then joined the boy in the fun game of tickling Sun's belly.

“I never expected him to be able to speak so soon but, I like this surprise... now me and buddy can communicate better.” Lin answered while thinking to himself : 'So he speaks now, I guess this journey is going to be even more lively from now on.' Then afterwards the great-sage took Bo An by hand and led the two cute-looking demonic-beasts towards their carriage.