A full month passed quietly, and with the arrival of the new year, the entire city seemed to awaken from its usual rhythm.
From outside Lin Sheng's courtyard came the distant sound of celebration, laughter drifting through the streets, drums beating in steady rhythms, firecrackers exploding one after another, and the occasional roar of cheering from the livelier districts. Lanterns had been hung across the streets, their warm light illuminating the night, while families gathered around large tables filled with food, children ran through the streets carrying little toys and paper lanterns, and martial artists who normally spent their days cultivating or fighting took the rare opportunity to drink and celebrate with their companions.
Even the usually solemn streets around the Demon Suppression Division had become somewhat livelier.
Lin Sheng, however, remained completely unaware of most of it.
He was still in seclusion.
His courtyard remained surrounded by formations, their faint fluctuations continuously sealing the area while the spiritual energy within the surroundings circulated according to a carefully established rhythm.
Outside the courtyard, Lou Feng and Su Yang arrived together.
It was the first time the two had met.
Neither had previously been given the opportunity to properly introduce themselves, and Lin Sheng had certainly never expected that they would meet on their own.
Lou Feng looked at Su Yang curiously.
He had naturally heard of him.
The rising genius whose name had recently caused quite a disturbance throughout Dongtai Prefecture, the young martial artist who had climbed rapidly through the Human Martial Rankings and even defeated someone from a higher external cultivation realm.
Su Yang, meanwhile, had also heard of Lou Feng from his master.
But hearing about someone and actually meeting them were two different things.
After exchanging a few words, the atmosphere surprisingly became relaxed.
Their personalities were somewhat similar.
Both enjoyed cultivating.
Both possessed a considerable amount of patience when it came to training.
And both were the type who could spend hours discussing cultivation without becoming bored.
Before long, the two were already sitting together discussing how they had met Lin Sheng.
"So Master actually taught you personally?" Lou Feng asked, his expression becoming somewhat surprised.
Su Yang nodded.
"Yes."
Lou Feng looked at him for several breaths.
"So you're the Su Yang everyone has been talking about?"
Su Yang smiled faintly.
"I suppose so."
Lou Feng suddenly laughed.
"What a coincidence. I didn't expect the genius of Dongtai Prefecture to actually be my fellow disciple."
Su Yang was equally surprised.
He had originally assumed that Lou Feng cultivated martial arts like himself, but the more he listened, the stranger it became.
"You don't cultivate martial arts?"
Lou Feng shook his head.
"No."
"What do you cultivate?"
Lou Feng hesitated briefly before explaining the basics of his cultivation path.
Su Yang listened quietly, and the more he heard, the more familiar certain aspects sounded.
"Talismans?"
Lou Feng nodded.
Su Yang's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I've seen someone use them before."
"Bing'er?"
The name slipped out naturally.
"I've traveled with her before."
He briefly explained some of what had happened during the escort mission, including the talismans he had seen her use.
The moment the subject came up, both of them suddenly became quiet.
A strange sensation passed over their bodies.
The hairs on their arms seemed to stand erect.
Their expressions changed.
Su Yang immediately looked toward the sky.
Lou Feng's eyes narrowed.
"Do you feel that?"
"Yes."
It wasn't hostility.
It wasn't killing intent.
It was something far more difficult to describe.
The feeling of being watched.
Not by a pair of eyes.
But by something that seemed to encompass the entire world around them.
The sensation wasn't limited to the two of them.
Throughout Dongtai Prefecture, martial artists suddenly raised their heads.
Experts who had been drinking stopped with their cups halfway to their mouths.
Cultivators in secluded meditation opened their eyes.
Several experts within the Demon Suppression Division simultaneously looked toward the direction of Lin Sheng's courtyard.
For a brief moment, everyone felt as though something invisible had swept across their bodies.
And the source was Lin Sheng.
Inside his courtyard, Lin Sheng had been quietly cultivating when his perception suddenly expanded.
His consciousness spread outward.
One hundred li.
The threshold he had been waiting for.
The moment his perception crossed that distance, something changed.
His spiritual sense was no longer merely an extended perception.
It had become something resembling a domain.
Within that range, every fluctuation of energy became clear.
The movement of people, the circulation of Qi, the fluctuations of formations, the faint spiritual energy within objects, even the countless small changes occurring throughout the city entered his awareness.
Lin Sheng continued expanding it.
One hundred and ten li.
One hundred and twenty li.
He finally stopped.
His perception covered the entirety of the city.
The massive city, which had once seemed enormous to him, now appeared almost small beneath his consciousness.
"One hundred and twenty li."
Lin Sheng quietly calculated.
His mental strength had finally reached the level required to spread a genuine domain.
He could feel countless things simultaneously.
The Demon Suppression Division.
The various families.
The martial halls.
The streets filled with celebrations.
The countless people moving beneath the lanterns.
Yet among all those things, two familiar presences immediately caught his attention.
His disciples.
Lin Sheng's expression changed.
"Ah."
He immediately withdrew his perception.
The overwhelming sensation vanished.
Outside, Su Yang and Lou Feng both released a breath.
"What was that?" Lou Feng muttered.
Su Yang looked toward the courtyard.
"Master."
Before either could say anything else, the courtyard door opened.
Lin Sheng stepped outside.
His two disciples immediately stood.
"Master."
"Master."
Lin Sheng looked at them and smiled.
"Happy New Year."
"Happy New Year, Master."
Lin Sheng glanced between them.
Then he noticed that they seemed surprisingly comfortable with each other.
"I didn't have time to properly introduce you two before."
He chuckled.
"Looks like that wasn't necessary."
Lou Feng smiled.
"We've already introduced ourselves."
Su Yang nodded.
"We were discussing cultivation."
Lin Sheng wasn't surprised.
"Not bad."
He looked at the two of them for a moment.
Perhaps it wasn't particularly strange.
After all, both were Children of Luck.
If two people possessing such extraordinary destinies happened to become fellow disciples, it wasn't particularly surprising that their personalities would naturally mesh.
Lin Sheng then took out several prepared gifts and handed them to his disciples.
"These are for the new year."
Lou Feng's eyes brightened.
"Thank you, Master."
Su Yang also accepted his gift.
"Thank you."
Lin Sheng nodded.
"Enjoy yourselves."
He looked toward the distant streets.
The celebrations were becoming even livelier.
Large lanterns floated above the streets, fireworks occasionally erupted in the sky, illuminating the night for several breaths before disappearing, while the sound of drums and laughter continued spreading throughout the city.
Lin Sheng stood silently for a while.
For some reason, the scene reminded him of the Immortal Continent.
He remembered the people there.
His friends.
His family.
The countless memories that had accumulated throughout his life.
He hadn't thought about them this deeply for quite some time.
Soon.
He would return.
Once he achieved Rank 4, he would no longer need to remain trapped on this continent.
Lin Sheng looked toward the distant sky.
"Soon."
Then he turned around.
He still had cultivation to complete.
A month later, the courtyard once again fell into complete silence.
Lin Sheng remained seated within his formations, his entire body surrounded by a thick aura of Qi-Blood.
His breathing was almost imperceptible.
Within his liver, the enormous accumulation of Qi-Blood that had previously been unable to complete its transformation was finally moving again.
His Shen had strengthened.
His foundation had stabilized.
And this time, there was no collapse.
The Qi-Blood surged.
A dragon slowly emerged.
Its scales gradually became clearer, its body becoming increasingly solid until it finally transformed into the fifth Qi-Blood dragon.
The moment it formed, something unexpected happened.
The other four dragons reacted.
The dragon within his heart stirred.
The one within his spleen moved.
The dragon in his lungs raised its head.
The dragon within his kidneys slowly opened its eyes.
Then the five dragons began moving.
They didn't attack one another.
Instead, they began circling around Lin Sheng's five viscera, moving slowly as though each were waiting for something.
Lin Sheng watched this strange phenomenon with curiosity.
"Are they waiting to be released?"
The five dragons continued circling.
With every rotation, his viscera became stronger.
No.
It wasn't simply strengthening.
They were being refined.
His organs were gradually becoming more resilient, their internal structure changing under the continuous nourishment of his Qi-Blood.
Lin Sheng could even feel his lifespan subtly increasing.
His Jing was becoming stronger.
The transformation was reaching deeper into his body's origin.
He remained silent for a long time.
"Interesting."
Five dragons.
Five viscera.
The relationship between them seemed far more profound than he had initially imagined.
Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes.
"One more exchange."
After that...
He would have completed the nine blood exchanges.
And once the final transformation occurred, he would finally know exactly what kind of existence his Qi-Blood could become.
Meanwhile, far from Lin Sheng's courtyard, the atmosphere within the Wei family residence had become considerably more serious.
Several figures entered the residence through a concealed entrance.
They were representatives of the Liu family.
No servants were permitted to approach the room.
No outsiders were allowed to know about their meeting.
The two families had already conducted numerous tests over the past period.
And the more they investigated the Su family, the more discrepancies they discovered.
Too many things didn't add up.
The Su family's reactions to certain events had been strange.
Their resources didn't completely match their apparent circumstances.
And most importantly...
The Su family's Ancestor had still not shown himself.
That alone had caused the two families to become increasingly suspicious.
Inside the secret chamber, the representatives exchanged glances.
"We've tested them enough."
One of them finally spoke.
"We need to force them to reveal their hand."
Another person remained silent for a moment before answering.
"What do you propose?"
A cold smile appeared.
"Rumors."
The Wei family representative's eyes narrowed.
"About what?"
"The Su family's Astral Gang Ancestor."
The room became quiet.
Then the man slowly continued.
"We'll spread word that he was seriously injured."
"If the Su family truly has nothing to hide, they'll ignore it."
"But if there's something wrong..."
His smile deepened.
"They'll have no choice but to react."
The Liu and Wei families had already begun making their move.