The air in the Mortal Estate, usually thick with the oppressive smell of damp hay and spiritual neglect, felt different now—it crackled with anticipation. News traveled fast in the Azure Cloud Sect. The sudden appearance of the mysterious, high-grade Luminous Catalyst Powder at the Alchemy Examination was the loudest, most aggressive slap in Yan Xia's face that the Outer Sect had witnessed in decades.
Yan Xia, Foundation Establishment Level Eight, was not known for her patience.
Lin Feng knew he had exactly three days before her patience expired and her fury was translated into action. He was Level Eight; she was Level Eight. But she had the political leverage of a major clan, while he had only a shovel and a single, terrified accomplice.
He found Han Yue at the designated "Elder Bao" plot, already digging.
"Yan Xia is furious," Han Yue reported, her voice low but steady, lacking its usual nervous tremble. The success of the Catalyst Powder had inoculated her against common fear, replacing it with high-stakes adrenaline. "Her entire network is running frantic. They are buying back low-grade moss at inflated prices just to keep the supply line moving. It's too late, though. The Inner Sect Elders are now demanding the new powder."
"Demand breeds desperation," Lin Feng countered, kneeling to inspect the newly planted seeds. He was no longer planting; he was laying down defenses. "She can't attack me openly, as I'm protected by the estate's rules, however weak. But she can attack the source. The registered plots of Elder Bao and the Benevolent Cultivator."
He looked up at her, a serious expression crossing his face. "We are planting a trap, Han Yue. Not moss."
"A trap?"
"Yes. A garden of fear," Lin Feng confirmed. "This land is desolate, yes? Which means the foundational Qi lines are almost non-existent. Perfect. It means that any Qi I inject here will stand out like a beacon. I'm going to spend the next two nights draining the surrounding earth of its base Qi and then replacing it with false spiritual lures."
His plan was audacious. He knew Yan Xia wouldn't send a high-level Elder—that would be too obvious. She would send a squad of her best, most loyal Foundation Establishment disciples—Level Four or Five—to destroy the crops, kill the supposed "Elder Bao," and retrieve the source of the superior moss.
Over the next two nights, Lin Feng worked his core to the brink. Using his mastery over the Earth and Wood elements, he pushed an exhausting amount of Qi into the plots, not for growth, but for manipulation.
He created a network of invisible Qi-Snares: patches of ground that appeared normal, but which were subtly laced with Lin Feng's Level Eight Earth Qi. Any disciple below Level Six Foundation stepping on them would feel their own Qi instantly become sluggish and difficult to command—as if trying to run through mud.
But the final touch was reserved for the Wood Element.
Lin Feng found three scraggly, thorny saplings growing along the fence line. He used his Wood Qi to hyper-accelerate their growth, not into towering trees, but into thick, thorny, defensive barriers—Barbed Spiritual Thickets. They looked like large, ugly bushes, but their thorns were coated in a subtle, paralyzing poison, refined using the black ring's purification feature on common local venom weeds.
"It looks… aggressive," Han Yue commented, eyeing the thickets on the morning of the third day.
"The thorns are a distraction," Lin Feng corrected, wiping the sweat from his brow. "The real weapon is the psychological fear I installed into the soil. Anyone who steps here will not only feel their Qi stutter, but they will hear the sound of their own heart beating against their ribs, multiplied tenfold."
He turned to Han Yue, pulling her close. "Yan Xia won't wait. Tonight is the night. You must be nowhere near the Mortal Estate. Go to the Outer Gate Market. Buy materials, sell the last of the polish, whatever. Just be seen. Your alibi must be rock solid."
Han Yue looked up at him, her eyes shining with determination. "Be careful, Lin Feng. You are fighting an entire clan."
"I'm fighting a few arrogant children with limited combat experience," Lin Feng smiled, the confidence radiating off him. "Besides, I've been practicing my stable-hand intimidation skills."
He placed his hand gently on the back of her neck and leaned in, his gaze intense. "When I get back, you can count every single copper coin we made, and we can celebrate my Level Nine breakthrough. Do not return until the third watch of the night, even if you hear screaming."
The closeness, the direct command, and the quiet promise of celebration sent a delightful shiver down her spine. "Deal. Just try not to permanently damage my client list, Stable Hand."
Lin Feng waited at the Elder Bao plot. He didn't hide; he sat on a rock in the center of the garden, pretending to be meditating. He suppressed his aura to Foundation Establishment Level Four—just enough power to look like a competent, if slightly reckless, cultivator tending a garden, but weak enough to seem like an easy target.
The attack came precisely at the second watch of the night.
A squad of five disciples, all bearing the subtle, metallic-blue insignia of the Yan Clan, landed silently twenty paces away. They were led by a towering, muscular man named Fu Zhong, Foundation Establishment Level Five, known for his blunt force attacks.
"There he is," Fu Zhong snarled, pointing a heavy, spiritual axe at Lin Feng. "The fool who calls himself Elder Bao. Destroy the moss, kill the cultivator, and bring us the black ring he supposedly uses to purify his hands."
Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes, feigning shock and fear. "Oh, dear. Visitors. I was just enjoying my deep breathing exercises. Is there a problem, esteemed disciples?"
Fu Zhong roared with arrogant laughter. "The problem is that you interfered with the Yan Clan's profits, stable filth! You and your moss are finished!"
The five disciples charged simultaneously, spreading out to cover the whole garden. The moment the first disciple, a young man named Lei Ping, hit the perimeter of the Qi-Snare, his rush immediately faltered.
Thump-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP. THUMP-THUMP.
Lei Ping's heart instantly started pounding in his ears, magnified by Lin Feng's silent Wood Qi manipulation. The pure, life-affirming Wood Qi, when injected directly into the Earth Qi of the snare, caused a profound, unsettling emotional terror in the unwary intruder.
"W-wait! The ground feels heavy!" Lei Ping stuttered, looking at his feet as if they were encased in lead. He looked up at Lin Feng, who was now slowly rising from his rock.
"Heavy?" Lin Feng asked, his voice calm, yet edged with an unnatural coldness. "Perhaps you are simply overwhelmed by the purity of the spiritual soil. It tends to reject the presence of greed."
Fu Zhong, being Level Five, didn't feel the full effect of the snares, but he noticed his comrades' hesitation. He launched his spiritual axe in a wide, whistling arc, aimed to cut Lin Feng in half.
Lin Feng did not move. He simply extended his hand, and activated his Level Eight Earth Qi.
The axe was a spiritual weapon designed to cut through steel, but as it entered the immediate vicinity of Lin Feng's personal Qi field, it felt like it was passing through liquid cement. It slammed into an invisible barrier ten inches from Lin Feng's chest and halted with a thud.
Fu Zhong stared in disbelief. "Level… Level Seven?"
"Close enough," Lin Feng replied, the calmness in his voice utterly terrifying. He made a subtle, rotational gesture with his wrist.
The Barbed Spiritual Thickets instantly came alive. The branches twisted with impossible speed, shooting out three-foot spikes that wrapped around the legs of the three distracted Qi-Snared disciples.
SNARE!
The disciples screamed not from pain, but from the sudden, profound spiritual paralysis the venom caused. They were bound, helpless, and hyperventilating from the terror generated by their own hearts.
Fu Zhong, realizing he was facing a hidden Foundation Master, abandoned his axe and pulled out two fire talismans, aiming them at the precious moss. "You can't stop all of us! Burn the garden!"
"You are not burning anything," Lin Feng said, stepping off the rock and finally walking toward Fu Zhong.
Lin Feng moved with the speed of pure, Level Eight refinement. He didn't use an explosive burst; he used utter efficiency. He appeared in front of Fu Zhong, delivering a deceptively simple punch to the disciple's solar plexus.
The power of the punch was not kinetic; it was pure Earth Qi. It bypassed the disciple's defensive spiritual armor, striking directly at his internal meridians.
CRACK!
Fu Zhong flew backward, slamming into the perimeter fence. He didn't die, but his Foundation Core was instantly compromised, his cultivation permanently damaged, leaving him paralyzed and writhing in agony.
Lin Feng surveyed the scene: five disciples, all defeated in under twenty seconds, without a single casualty or the use of his signature black ring.
He walked over to Fu Zhong, pulling the man's spiritual storage pouch off his belt. Lin Feng found exactly what he was looking for: a personal, signed scroll from Yan Xia.
"If the target resists, deliver this message: Confess, or the stable hand's entire estate will burn."
Lin Feng smiled, a genuinely dark, chilling smile.
He pulled a clean, thin-bladed knife from Fu Zhong's belt and used it to slice off a massive chunk of his own thriving Vitality-Infused Moss. He then meticulously placed the bright green moss inside the scroll, sealing it with the wax seal of the now-crippled Fu Zhong.
He then addressed the paralyzed disciples, his voice now dropping to a chilling whisper.
"You tell Yan Xia that the Stable Hand's Garden is guarded by a force she cannot comprehend. Tell her that if she sends anything less than her strongest Elder, all her disciples will be returned to her broken and bankrupt."
He paused, then added a final, devastating touch. He used his Earth Qi to rip the clothing from the disciples' bodies, leaving them bound, paralyzed, and exposed to the cold night air—the ultimate humiliation in the sect.
"And tell her that the price for attacking a high-grade supplier is one hundred top-grade Spirit Stones for damages, delivered to the Outer Gate Administrator, Han Yue, by noon tomorrow. Failure to pay means the Vitality-Infused Moss will be sold to her direct competitor, the Elder Council Alchemist, Elder Hong."
Lin Feng stood over the conquered plot, his breath returning to normal. The sheer effort of manipulating the Earth Qi and fighting five enemies simultaneously had been a dangerous drain, but the stress had worked its magic.
The Primordial Chaos Art responded to the crisis, purifying and expanding his internal reservoir. The final spiritual shock of crushing Fu Zhong's core was absorbed by the black ring, recycling the hostile power into pure, stable essence.
Ding! A quiet, internal sound of success.
Foundation Establishment Level Nine achieved.
Lin Feng was now one step away from the ultimate Foundation Realm breakthrough—Level Ten. He was faster, stronger, and more lethal than Yan Xia, and she didn't even know his name.
Lin Feng cleaned up the area, leaving only the five humiliated disciples as clear evidence of his power. He tossed the borrowed knife back into the empty stable bucket. He looked up at the Inner Peak, where Yan Xia slept.
"Your move, Yan Xia. Your move."
He knew he couldn't celebrate yet, but he knew exactly what he was going to do. He retrieved the shovel and walked back toward the stables, eager to meet the one person who wasn't afraid of his secret.
He arrived back at the desolate stable area just as Han Yue's shadow appeared around the corner. She gasped when she saw the calm expression on his face and the faint dust of spiritual energy on his boots.
"You're late," she said, trying to sound stern, but her voice was tight with relief.
"I had to ensure the return message was properly delivered," Lin Feng replied, walking towards her. He dropped his voice, leaning close so only she could hear the hint of triumph. "Yan Xia knows she is dealing with a Level Eight now. And I'm about to be a Level Nine. She has exactly twelve hours to pay us one hundred Spirit Stones, or we ruin her entirely."
He reached out and gently brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek. "Did you miss me, Administrator?"
Han Yue's eyes widened slightly, her gaze flickering to his lips. "I only missed the Spirit Stones, Stable Hand. But I admit, you look quite pleased with yourself."
"I am always pleased when I make a profit," Lin Feng said, leaning in just close enough for the scent of his purified Qi and the damp earth to mingle with her jasmine perfume. "And you, my loyal partner, are about to be very rich."