The purchase decision came surprisingly quickly.
Leng Zibo had expected the mysterious body refiner before him to hesitate for a long time.
After all, two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones was already an enormous sum for most Purple Palace cultivators.
Choosing a Rank Four inheritance was not something one did lightly.
Yet Lin Sheng merely stood silently before the five jade slips, his gaze lingering on each for only a few moments before he calmly reached out.
His hand rested upon two of them.
"The Crimson Blood Furnace Technique."
"The Five Elements Body Forging Art."
Leng Zibo blinked.
He had expected the former.
He had not expected the latter.
A trace of surprise flashed through his eyes before it quickly disappeared beneath his professional smile.
"Fellow Daoist..."
"If I may offer a suggestion."
Lin Sheng raised his head.
Leng Zibo lightly tapped the jade slip containing the Five Elements Body Forging Art.
"You may wish to reconsider this choice."
"The Crimson Blood Furnace Technique is an excellent inheritance."
"It has produced several famous body refiners throughout history."
"Its cultivation requirements are harsh, but at least they are clear."
He then looked toward the second jade slip.
"The Five Elements Body Forging Art is... somewhat different."
"It has remained within our Alliance for many years."
"The lower portions of the inheritance are actually rather common among certain body refinement circles."
"They possess decent value for cultivators with balanced constitutions or those born with Five Elements Spiritual Roots."
"Beyond that..."
He slowly shook his head.
"The complete inheritance has little practical use."
Lin Sheng listened quietly without interrupting.
Leng Zibo continued.
"The technique demands absolute harmony between all five elemental energies."
"Unfortunately..."
"Very few cultivators truly possess such balance."
"Even those blessed with Five Elements Spiritual Roots usually favor one or two elements over the others."
"The imbalance grows greater as their cultivation rises."
"They eventually abandon the technique after wasting tremendous resources."
He smiled faintly.
"If Fellow Daoist simply wishes to cultivate a powerful Rank Four body refinement method..."
"I would wholeheartedly recommend the Crimson Blood Furnace Technique."
"It is a much safer investment."
Silence filled the room.
Lin Sheng's expression never changed.
Only Crystal's countless calculations quietly flashed across his vision.
•[Compatibility analysis complete.]
•[Crimson Blood Furnace Technique: Primary focus—Qi-Blood tempering. Compatibility with current physique: 91.7%.]
•[Five Elements Body Forging Art: Primary focus—Elemental body refinement. Compatibility with Five Elements Astral Qi: 99.98%.]
•[Recommendation: Acquire both techniques.]•
Lin Sheng had already reached the same conclusion long before Crystal displayed it.
The Crimson Blood Furnace Technique represented one of the finest traditional Qi-Blood body refinement inheritances.
It would greatly enrich Crystal's database.
As for the Five Elements Body Forging Art...
To everyone else...
It was an incomplete road leading nowhere.
To him...
It was almost tailor-made.
No one else possessed perfectly balanced Five Elements Astral Qi condensed directly into all twelve Innate Acupoints.
No one else possessed Crystal's ability to continuously optimize cultivation techniques.
Perhaps the creator of this inheritance had failed.
Perhaps everyone after him had failed as well.
That didn't mean Lin Sheng would.
He calmly looked at Leng Zibo.
"I'll take both."
Leng Zibo studied him for several breaths.
Seeing the unwavering calm within Lin Sheng's eyes, he could only sigh inwardly.
Every cultivator believed they were the exception.
Every genius believed ancient failures wouldn't apply to them.
Eventually...
Reality always taught the harshest lesson.
Still, that wasn't his concern.
He was a merchant.
Not a teacher.
He slowly nodded.
"In that case..."
"The Crimson Blood Furnace Technique costs two hundred and fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
"The Five Elements Body Forging Art costs two hundred thousand."
"The total comes to..."
"Four hundred and fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
Lin Sheng didn't bargain.
Nor did he hesitate.
With a casual wave of his sleeve, a storage bag landed gently upon the table.
Leng Zibo swept it once with his divine sense.
His pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.
Every spirit stone inside had been neatly arranged.
Not one more.
Not one less.
Exactly four hundred and fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones.
He silently accepted the payment before placing both jade slips before Lin Sheng.
"The restrictions have been removed."
"They now belong to Fellow Daoist."
The moment his fingers touched the jade slips, Lin Sheng's Mental Perception surged outward.
Unlike the brief verification earlier, there were no longer any restrictions.
Complete circulation routes.
Body tempering diagrams.
Secret techniques.
Supporting medicinal formulas.
Every single character flowed into his sea of consciousness at astonishing speed.
Crystal immediately began recording everything.
•[Scanning complete...]
•[Inheritance integrity verified.]
•[Crimson Blood Furnace Technique: Complete. No missing sections.]
•[Five Elements Body Forging Art: Complete. No hidden alterations detected.]
•[Commencing optimization analysis...]•
Several breaths later, Lin Sheng closed both jade slips.
A faint smile finally appeared on his face.
"Satisfactory."
Those two simple words caused Leng Zibo's eyelids to twitch.
He had witnessed countless cultivators purchase cultivation techniques over the years.
Some spent days studying them.
Others required experienced elders to verify authenticity.
This mysterious cultivator...
Had apparently finished checking two complete Rank Four inheritances in less than ten breaths.
What kind of divine sense was that?
Suppressing the question, Leng Zibo merely smiled professionally.
"I'm pleased Fellow Daoist is satisfied."
Lin Sheng stored the jade slips before turning toward the exit.
Just before he stepped through the doorway, Leng Zibo suddenly spoke again.
"Fellow Daoist."
"If our Alliance acquires any other body refinement inheritances in the future..."
"I hope you'll visit us again."
Lin Sheng neither nodded nor refused.
His figure simply disappeared beyond the corridor.
Only after the room became completely silent did the polite smile on Leng Zibo's face gradually transform into one of amusement.
He gently weighed the storage bag in his hand before letting out a quiet chuckle.
"I actually managed to sell both..."
"...for a combined four hundred and fifty thousand."
He shook his head with a smile.
"Some people truly are willing to pay any price for hope."
His gaze then shifted toward the darkest corner of the room.
Without turning around, he spoke calmly.
"Follow him."
"I want to know who he is."
The room remained perfectly silent.
Yet the shadow beneath a cabinet suddenly rippled.
The next instant...
It vanished without leaving behind the slightest trace.
----
After leaving the Jiuding Merchant Alliance, Lin Sheng neither hurried nor slowed his pace.
He simply merged into the endless stream of cultivators moving throughout Thousand Isle City before gradually heading toward the outskirts.
Only after he had completely left the busiest districts did the faint smile at the corner of his lips become slightly more obvious.
Within his sea of consciousness, Crystal calmly displayed its latest report.
•[Scanning complete.
Five Rank Four body refinement inheritances successfully recorded.
Data integrity: 100%.
Commencing comparative analysis and optimization.]•
Lin Sheng couldn't help but feel rather satisfied.
From the very moment Leng Zibo had produced the five jade slips, Crystal had already begun silently copying everything contained within them.
The restrictions on the jade slips could prevent ordinary divine senses from reading too deeply.
Unfortunately...
Crystal wasn't ordinary.
It merely required time.
That was precisely why Lin Sheng had deliberately spent several moments examining every inheritance before finally purchasing two of them.
To Leng Zibo, it had appeared that he was hesitating.
In reality...
He had merely been buying Crystal enough time to finish recording every single technique.
The Crimson Blood Furnace Technique and the Five Elements Body Forging Art were genuine purchases.
The remaining three...
Were unexpected gains.
"Not a bad deal."
His figure continued gliding across the sea.
The endless ocean stretched beneath him while countless islands gradually drifted farther behind.
Just then...
His expression became indifferent.
Without turning around, his Mental Perception quietly swept backward.
Sure enough.
Several dozen li away, an extremely concealed aura was following him.
The person's concealment technique was quite impressive.
Unfortunately...
Compared to Lin Sheng's eighty-five li Mental Perception, it was little more than a candle attempting to hide beneath the blazing sun.
Crystal immediately highlighted the target.
•[Target located.
Foundation Establishment Realm.
Maintaining distance of twenty-three li.
Probability of hostile surveillance: 99.4%.]•
Lin Sheng didn't show the slightest surprise.
He had expected this the moment Leng Zibo displayed such enthusiasm.
Whether it was curiosity or greed...
The result was the same.
The Jiuding Merchant Alliance wanted to know his identity.
A cold glint flashed through his eyes.
The next instant...
Wind Martial Intent silently circulated beneath his feet.
His aura disappeared.
Even the fluctuations of his Gang Qi vanished completely.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator following him frowned.
"...Gone?"
He immediately stopped.
His divine sense repeatedly swept across the surrounding sea.
Nothing.
The mysterious cultivator had completely vanished.
Impossible.
He had been locking onto the man's aura the entire journey.
How could someone simply disappear?
His instincts immediately became alert.
The surrounding seawater gently rippled.
Sea breeze brushed across his face.
Silence.
Then—
A calm voice suddenly sounded directly behind him.
"Looking for me?"
The man's entire body stiffened.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Before he could react, a powerful hand had already grasped his throat.
His spiritual energy became completely suppressed.
His entire body froze.
He didn't even know when Lin Sheng had appeared.
The distance between them...
Had become less than half a step.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator's pupils contracted violently.
His heartbeat nearly stopped.
He felt it.
Death.
As long as the hand tightened slightly...
His neck would shatter instantly.
Lin Sheng looked at him calmly.
His eyes carried neither anger nor killing intent.
That emotionless gaze frightened the man even more.
After several breaths of silence, Lin Sheng finally spoke.
"Go back."
His voice remained completely calm.
"Tell your master..."
"This is the only warning he'll receive."
"If anyone follows me again..."
"...both of you will die."
The words were neither loud nor imposing.
Yet every syllable struck directly into the man's heart.
Before he could even respond—
The pressure disappeared.
The hand around his neck vanished.
The sea breeze returned.
The silver-robed figure standing behind him had already disappeared without leaving behind the slightest fluctuation.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator remained frozen in place.
Only after dozens of breaths did he suddenly realize...
He was still alive.
His breathing became ragged.
His face had long turned pale.
Without daring to linger another moment, he transformed into a streak of light before rushing directly back toward Thousand Isle City.
Meanwhile...
Lin Sheng had already arrived above Spiritless Island.
The entire island remained perfectly quiet.
Only the invisible fluctuations emitted by countless runic formations gently spread throughout the surroundings.
Landing beside the altar, Lin Sheng slowly exhaled.
The incident with the Jiuding Merchant Alliance had only been a minor interruption.
Now...
His true preparations could finally begin.
He spent the next several hours inspecting every formation node surrounding the island.
One after another, the runes responded perfectly.
The concealment formation.
The isolation formation.
The defensive formation.
Finally...
The Void Imprinting array surrounding the teleportation altar.
Crystal continuously compared every node with the original design.
•[Inspection complete.
Formation integrity: 99.87%.
Void connection stable.
Cross-regional teleportation requirements satisfied.]•
Lin Sheng slowly nodded.
Everything...
Had finally been completed.
He walked toward the altar before gently placing his hand upon its cold surface.
The void fluctuations hidden deep within the formation quietly responded.
Only after confirming the connection once more did he finally withdraw his hand.
His gaze slowly swept across the entire island.
Months of preparation.
Countless resources.
Relentless experimentation.
Everything had been for this single moment.
After returning to his cultivation cave, Lin Sheng sat down cross-legged.
Just as he prepared to begin his daily meditation—
BOOM!!
An earth-shattering explosion suddenly erupted from the distant horizon.
The heavens themselves seemed to split apart.
An incomparably terrifying shockwave swept across the endless sea.
The mountain beneath him shook violently.
The cave walls cracked.
Even the teleportation formation outside trembled under the overwhelming force.
Lin Sheng was caught completely off guard.
The terrifying impact forced him to one knee.
His organs churned violently.
Outside...
Several runes surrounding the altar exploded one after another.
His expression changed instantly.
Without hesitation, he rushed out of the cave.
The moment he raised his head...
His pupils contracted sharply.
Far beyond the horizon—
Where Thousand Isle City had once stood—
The entire island had vanished.
Only several enormous ravines remained where mountains and cities once existed.
Towering above the ruined landscape floated an enormous dragon-like figure.
Its crimson scales reflected the sunlight.
Its pair of golden eyes overlooked the sea like an ancient sovereign.
Lin Sheng recognized it immediately.
"The Flood Dragon..."
His voice became almost inaudible.
Yet what truly caused his heart to sink...
Was no longer its appearance.
It was its aura.
That overwhelming pressure no longer belonged to a Rank Four yao beast.
It had...
Reached Rank Five.