"It seems you've chosen the hard way!" Lin Tang's expression turned cold. He increased the intensity, forcing Number Seven to experience ultimate pain.
After so ti, he asked, "Hunter Number Two, are you ready to submit?"
"I... will... never... submit..." Number Seven twisted like a maggot, yet his words remained defiant.
"In that case, I have no choice but to bury you alive. You'll remain conscious for ten, twenty, or even a hundred years. Hmm, that sounds quite interesting." Having said his piece, Lin Tang moved to drag him outside.
"Wait!" Number Seven jolted. "I am willing to submit! But you have to give a new na!"
"Hunter Number Two has so much personality, and you're still not satisfied? Fine, let's call you Wang the Eighth."
That's even worse than Hunter Number Two!
"As long as you're obedient, when I cultivate to a higher realm and no longer need you, I might grant you your freedom," Lin Tang said, patting his shoulder like a boss making grand promises to an employee.
"Will you be able to bring back from the dead then?"
"That depends on your performance."
"I'll transcribe my Cultivation Technique right now."
After Number Seven had written down five Heaven-grade secret manuals, Lin Tang asked again, "Where are the visualization diagrams?"
"Ordinary paper cannot bear the essence of a visualization diagram. Only the hide of an ancient mythical beast or a similar treasure will work," Number Seven said, shaking his head. "At the very minimum, you'd need the hide of a Martial Saint..."
"That's simple. Aren't you a Martial Saint right here?"
"Uh, that's true... Wait a second, AHH!!"
The flying sword flashed, and a large piece of skin fell from Number Seven's body, causing him to twitch in agony.
"Is that enough? If not, I can keep cutting," Lin Tang said with a smile.
Damned demon! Number Seven cursed inwardly, but said through gritted teeth, "To inscribe a visualization diagram, you also need Spiritual Essence. I have no soul, so I have no Spiritual Essence."
"What? Why didn't you say so earlier!"
"Did you ever give a chance to speak?!"
Just as Lin Tang thought these secret manuals were useless, Number Seven explained that by using a certain Cultivation Technique to condense Spiritual Essence, one could advance to the Heavenly King realm. From there, even without visualization diagrams, one could still master the remaining techniques. This was also the required path to becoming a Martial Saint.
"To advance from a Heavenly King to a Martial Saint, you must continuously practice new Cultivation Techniques, mastering each one and then integrating them seamlessly. Once you grasp the essence of martial arts through this process, you will naturally break through. Every Martial Saint's understanding of this essence is different and cannot be described in words. You can't expect a master to teach it to you directly; you must comprehend it yourself."
"Oh? Then how does one break through from a Martial Saint to a War God?"
"If I knew that, I would have broken through while I was still alive. I can't give you the answer, but there is soone who definitely can!"
"Who?"
"The Langhuan Holy Master!"
"Heh, are you trying to trick into finding him so he can kill ? Are you sure he's any match for ?"
"I'm just telling the truth. In your current state, you are absolutely no match for him!"
"Is he a War God? Or a Human Immortal?"
"I don't know! I don't even know if the current Holy Master is the sa one who captured all those years ago. I don't even know if he's human! All I know is that he cannot be looked at directly, he cannot be described... He, he, he's too terrifying..."
As he spoke, the relatively calm Number Seven suddenly clutched his head and began to tremble violently. A mont later, he fainted dead away.
Lin Tang's heart skipped a beat. This man was no longer under the Holy Master's control, yet he still had such a visceral reaction. It seed this Holy Master was truly a figure of imnse terror.
「Another day passed.」
The door to the secret chamber opened. Mo Pinglan, who was standing guard outside, moved to greet him respectfully, only to stop short when she saw a stranger walk out.
She was shocked. "Who are you?"
Number Seven gave her a single, emotionless glance that made her entire body freeze. In the next instant, he vanished.
Mo Pinglan gasped for breath and cautiously stepped into the secret chamber, terrified that Lin Tang had been ambushed and killed. Fortunately, that wasn't the case.
Lin Tang, having reverted to his original appearance, smiled and said, "I have so free ti, so I'll help restore your appearance."
Mo Pinglan had been curious about his transformation, but upon hearing his words, BOOM! Her mind was flooded with pure joy.
Finally! Finally! The clouds had parted and the moon was revealed!
Mo Pinglan dropped heavily to her knees. "I swear for the rest of my life to be utterly loyal to Lin Tang and never betray him! If I break this oath, may my body rot away and may I beco the ugliest monster imaginable!"
"Get up, close the door, and take off your clothes."
"Yes!" Without the slightest hesitation, she imdiately complied.
"This is going to be very painful. You'll have to endure it." Sword light flickered at Lin Tang's fingertips. In the blink of an eye, he had peeled the skin from her face and back.
Mo Pinglan was about to let out a piercing scream, but she forcefully stifled it, afraid that the noise would displease Lin Tang or disrupt the treatnt.
"A tough woman, indeed," Lin Tang praised as he continued to carve away her flesh—more precisely, the parts that were completely necrotic.
Just as Mo Pinglan was about to faint from the agony, Lin Tang commanded, "Spring Breeze and Rain!"
A gentle True Qi, like a soothing nectar, enveloped her bloody body. Her flesh and skin began to regrow until she was completely restored.
"Holy... shit..." Even a lady like Mo Pinglan couldn't help but curse.
She had assud Lin Tang would apply so dicine, wrap her in bandages like a mummy, and force her to wait for ten days, half a month, or even longer. She was even ntally prepared for the possibility that she wouldn't fully heal, hoping only to beco slightly less ugly—enough to be seen in public.
She had never, ever imagined that he could just point a finger and make her instantly perfect.
"A miracle! This is a miracle!" Ecstatic, Mo Pinglan spun around and danced before dropping to one knee and gazing up at Lin Tang. "Master, you are my god!"
Caught between amusent and exasperation, Lin Tang said, "Alright, get dressed and leave!"
"No, I won't leave! Please, allow to serve you!" Mo Pinglan clung to his leg and gave a firm tug, pulling his pants down.
"Uh—"
"Wait!"
"Don't—"
「Two hours later.」
Mo Pinglan, glowing with a radiant luster, walked out of the secret chamber with a spring in her step. Normally, she would have been completely limp, needing at least two days to recover. But thanks to Lin Tang's Spring Breeze and Rain technique, her vitality was replenished. All the swelling vanished, and she was restored to her original, flawless state.
When Lee Encai and the others saw her, they were stunned.
"Wh-what... How is this possible?"
"Are you really Mo Pinglan? You're not an imposter, are you? And that's not a human-skin mask?!"
It was too startling! Too shocking!
"Big Brother Lin, did you find more Thousand-Year Yellow Sun Ointnt? Do you have any left? Can you put so on ?" Lee Encai clung to Lin Tang's arm, her face full of longing.
Lin Tang looked troubled. "Maybe tomorrow. I'm truly all out today, not a single drop left..."
"Hmm?" Lee Encai had the odd feeling that a joke had just flown completely over her head.
Zhu Yingning, an expert in poisons, had a keen sense of sll. Even though Mo Pinglan and Lin Tang had both bathed, she detected faint clues.
Hmph! And she dared to call a slut. Mo Pinglan, you're the real vixen! That bastard Lin Tang has so heavy tastes, too, sleeping with her even after seeing how hideous she was! she cursed inwardly.
"How is your practice of the Life Creation Technique going?"
"It's too difficult! I can't understand it at all! Big Brother Lin, you'll have to teach us hands-on," Lee Encai said, glancing suspiciously at the seductive glint in Mo Pinglan's eyes. Then, like a little kitten, she rubbed against Lin Tang.
"I'll learn it first, then I'll teach you," Lin Tang said, gently patting her head.
"Are you going into seclusion again?"
"There's no need. Co back to Jiangbei with ."
"I want to go too!" Zhu Yingning hurriedly raised her hand.
"Why do you want to tag along? Get lost!" Lin Tang's attitude shifted instantly.
"Hey! Why are you so two-faced? You're only an to !" Zhu Yingning's eyes reddened with frustration.
Mo Pinglan shot her a contemptuous glance. Stupid woman. All breasts and no brain. If she had obediently accepted the Master's favor back then, she would have risen in status long ago. She wouldn't be so disliked now.
To avoid being spotted, Lin Tang only flew with Lee Encai for a short while in a deserted area; he didn't fly all the way back to Jiangbei. Even so, she shrieked with delight, thrilled by the experience.
Lin Tang then located the Heavenly Person Academy's Holy Corpse and placed it in his Storage Ring. Upon extending his Divine Sense, he discovered that the Holy Corpse contained an incredibly pure spiritual energy. Absorbing it would drastically strengthen his Divine Sense.
This was fantastic!
"I wonder how many more Holy Corpses are out there? If I could get eight or ten of them and absorb them all, my Divine Sense would probably surge to the peak of the Golden Core Stage! I'll have to ask where the Heavenly Person Academy's main headquarters is!"
「Inside the academy.」
Ji Yongyan sneezed several tis in a row, his eyelids twitching violently. "I have a growing feeling that disaster is imminent. What are we going to do?"
「Elsewhere.」
Yan Qinghe and the others were also on edge, worried that the armies of the Underworld would descend upon the mortal realm. By the fourth day, however, the eerie cave remained completely silent.
"So, it was a false alarm?"
"Thank heavens!"
"If we can just hold out for a few more days, the one from Yaochi Heavenly Palace will awaken..."
「anwhile.」
The super-tycoon Gan Leixin suddenly arrived in Jiangbei and made a public announcent. He declared that he owed all of his current success to a benefactor from his past. Without that benefactor, he would have died long ago. Now, he had finally found his benefactor's orphaned child and wished to offer half of his family's fortune as a show of imnse gratitude!
The news caused an imdiate uproar.
"My god, that's Gan Leixin! His net worth is in the hundreds of billions! Is he really willing to give away half of it?"
"The person he's looking for is in Jiangbei? Who on earth could it be?!"
"It couldn't be , could it? Haha..."
"It's obviously !"
"He said it's an orphan. How shaless are these people with living parents, trying to claim it's them?"
In an instant, countless eyes turned toward Jiangbei, incredibly curious to see who the lucky individual was. Throughout Jiangbei, people were buzzing with excited anticipation. Those who were orphans felt their hearts pound in their chests. Others who knew it couldn't be them seethed with jealousy, wishing they could take the person's place.
Dong Mingfeng and her family were holed up in a temporary daily-rental apartnt. After two days of fruitless job searching, they stumbled upon the news and their eyes turned red with envy. Hundreds of billions! Even a tiny fraction of that would be enough for them to live on for the rest of their lives!
When Shen Jiayue searched for a photo of Gan Leixin, she found one of him holding a young boy in his arms—a boy who looked exactly like the blind man they had encountered in the hospital.
"AHHH! Mom, Dad, look at this!"
When Dong Mingfeng and Shen Xin saw it, their faces turned green.
"The person Lin Tang offended was a titan of that caliber?!"
"We're going to be dragged into this, aren't we? We're dood!"
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