Wen Lang understood exactly what those people were after, but he hadn't expected them to become this blatant—so shamelessly open about it.
He turned back and stared deeply at Geng Shiqiu.
Geng Shiqiu met his gaze without the slightest hint of fear.
In the end, under Wen Lang's protection, the elders reached an agreement:
They would allow one month.
If Lin Ye could not be captured and brought back within a month, then Lin Zhonghai's remaining legacy would be divided among the elders.
That was the rule.
To them, whether Lin Ye lived or died was irrelevant.
Although Wen Lang was acting sect leader, he held limited real authority—if the others joined forces even slightly, they could overturn anything.
Now his only option was simple:
Find Lin Ye before Geng Shiqiu and the others did.
Thunder Peak — A Hidden Courtyard
In a quiet compound, a youth in blue robes practiced swordsmanship beneath a tree.
His movements were light and fluid, yet filled with shifting, unpredictable changes—almost illusion-like.
Within his sword momentum, faint arcs of lightning crackled.
"This Phantom Thunder Sword Art is truly profound…"
"No wonder it's considered a high-grade Mystic-tier technique."
The Phantom Thunder Sword Art.
One of the Wind Thunder Sect's two high-grade Mystic-tier sword techniques—only the most central figures of the sect were qualified to cultivate it.
This blue-robed youth was none other than the sect's Young Sect Master:
Pei Shaoyi.
According to sect rules, the Young Sect Master did not participate in core disciple rankings, but aside from the title, his privileges were equal to theirs.
A maid stepped forward.
"Young Master, Fifth Elder has arrived."
"Oh?" Pei Shaoyi wiped his hands with a towel and handed his sword to the maid. "Invite him in."
The visitor was Fifth Elder Chen He.
"Everyone, leave," Pei Shaoyi ordered.
Soon, only Chen He and Pei Shaoyi remained in the courtyard.
"Young Sect Master," Chen He reported in a low voice, "Lin Ye has been expelled by Geng Shiqiu for killing Xu Liang."
"At the elder meeting, Wen Lang agreed that if Lin Ye cannot be found and brought back within one month, then Lin Zhonghai's legacy will be revealed and distributed."
Pei Shaoyi took a calm sip of tea.
There was no surprise on his face—only thought.
"So Lin Ye used some method to force Geng Shiqiu into a corner…" he murmured, the corner of his mouth lifting faintly.
"Interesting."
"This is fine. It saves trouble."
"But Lin Ye must be eliminated before Wen Lang finds him."
Chen He nodded. "Understood."
The truth was:
Young Sect Master Pei Shaoyi had been quietly controlling more than anyone realized.
Within the sect, who knew how many people were coveting Lin Ye's inheritance—some even willing to strike personally.
Blazing Wind Forest — Deep Mountain Region
Lin Ye did not concern himself with the affairs of Wind Thunder Sect.
He didn't care.
But he was curious about what Lin Zhonghai had left behind—something so valuable that it drove these people to act with such urgency.
At the moment, Lin Ye was deep within the Blazing Wind Forest.
The Enforcement Hall had already sent people searching for him, but the terrain was dangerous, and night was when beasts emerged.
In the short term, no one dared to chase too far in.
This area was more than thirty li from the sect, deep in the mountains.
Lin Ye found a cave and rested briefly.
"Let's see what's inside Xu Liang's storage ring."
He planned to head to Ray River City.
Resources were harder to gather in the wild, but in a city—money could buy anything.
As for the sect's pursuit?
How many of them could actually match him?
Unless an elder personally moved, Lin Ye would kill anyone who came for him—without hesitation.
And every kill would feed the blood sea.
It would raise the height of the blood peak.
Killing allowed him to seize a portion of a person's blood essence—cultivation strength meant greater blood energy.
Already, Lin Ye could vaguely make out the opening lines of the second layer of the cultivation method.
He examined the ring.
"So poor… not even four million spirit stones."
"But this Golden Origin Pill is worth something."
"The refinement technique is acceptable—not great, but not terrible."
"It was likely purchased."
A fourth-grade pill.
The Golden Origin Pill.
It had been given by Geng Shiqiu as compensation to Xu Liang—
yet now it had fallen into Lin Ye's hands.
"If I process it further…"
"I might be able to elevate it into a fifth-grade pill."
Lin Ye studied it carefully.
Back in Ray River City, he had bought a large quantity of materials—many of them fifth-grade herbs.
Silver Blood Grass.
True ten-thousand-year ginseng.
And more.
No wonder two thousand spirit-stone-equivalents vanished so quickly.
He opened the Five Tiger Cloud-Suppressing Cauldron.
First, he refined six fifth-grade herbs into pure medicinal essence.
Then he added over a hundred auxiliary ingredients, using their varying properties to provoke and stimulate the reaction within the pill.
The amount, the types, the sequence—
every detail mattered.
To a ninth-grade alchemist, this was not difficult.
What Lin Ye was doing now was outrageous:
He treated the fourth-grade Golden Origin Pill as a partially finished fifth-grade pill…
and forcibly refined it again.
Even the most experienced alchemist wouldn't dare attempt such a thing.
One mistake would destroy ingredients worth millions of spirit stones—and waste a priceless fourth-grade pill.
Inside the cauldron, flames surged.
A medicinal fragrance spread.
The refinement continued until dawn.
Finally—
a thick, overwhelming pill aura burst out from inside the Five Tiger Cauldron.
Lin Ye lifted the lid.
His expression carried unmistakable joy.
"It worked."
"A fifth-grade pill."
"Golden Spirit Pill."
In his hand was a blazing, molten-gold pill.
He swallowed a Breath-Instant Pill first to recover some depleted energy—
then immediately consumed the Golden Spirit Pill.
Too many pills harmed one's constitution?
That only applied when the pills were trash.
A true high-grade pill did the opposite.
The Golden Spirit Pill melted into a warm current, flowing through his body.
Completely different from the brutal tempering of the Demon Bone Pill.
This pill's power was gentle—
and under that comfortable warmth, his cultivation still rose rapidly.
As the Golden Spirit Pill released its power, Lin Ye circulated the Nine-Turn Shura Art, constantly drawing blood-evil energy from the blood sea into his body.
The Spirit-Gathering Ring accelerated the absorption even further.
Boom!
The Qi Sea inside Lin Ye transformed violently—
expanding by tenfold again.
At the same time, the moment his body touched the ground…
he could feel endless earth-vein energy surging toward him.
"Earth Transformation Realm."
Lin Ye opened his eyes.
Cultivators of the Earth Transformation Realm were vastly stronger—
because they could draw on earth-vein energy.
Even the strongest Qi Sea Realm cultivator would struggle to break an Earth Transformation cultivator's defense without divine weapons.
The greatest strength of Earth Transformation cultivators lay in forging an energy armor using earth-vein power.
Once formed, it became the final defensive barrier around the body.
Xu Liang had been able to withstand Lin Ye's Blood Slaughter Nine Executions largely because of this armor.
Now Lin Ye's blood-evil Qi Sea began pulling earth-vein energy endlessly—
and an energy armor started forming around him.
"Hm?"
"This armor… is different."
Lin Ye stared at the force gathering around his body, his expression shifting.
In his previous life, he had condensed energy armor countless times—
but this time, as his cultivation method ran…
it was as if earth-vein energy from tens of thousands of miles was pouring into him.
A vast current.
A violent convergence.
Suddenly—
his blood sea consciousness surged.
A powerful flood of blood-evil energy poured out—
and fused directly into the armor.
"The blood sea…"
"It's helping me form the armor."
Boom!
Earth-vein energy roared endlessly into him.
In front of Lin Ye, a blood-colored armor was forged—layer by layer.
At the same time, deep within the blood sea, another reef broke the surface.
On that stone, four words appeared—
Shura Blood Armor.