Chapter 77: Seek Wealth and Danger
Sun Man's home had fourteen independent cultivators in the Building Foundation Period, plus himself making fifteen people. At this moment, five people descended while ten others remained suspended in midair.
"Be cautious, my Taoist friends, they might silence us."
As soon as Lin Jiang came down, he sensed that Sun Man and the others were communicating with each other. Immediately, he also communicated with the other four. If they decided to take action and kill someone, then Lin Jiang and the others could be eliminated by their joint efforts because they didn't dare let the Giant Wave Fish Gang know that they were the ones responsible.
The faces of the other four people changed, and they quickly stood together, back to back, staring up at the sky. Sun Man and the others also seemed to have come to a decision, as they all looked towards Lin Jiang and the others.
"Sun, my Taoist friend, today's exchange has come to an end. How about opening the formation and letting us go home?"
"We don't mean to neglect you, my Taoist friends. How about taking a temporary break?"
"No, Sun, my Taoist friend. I want to go home. Please release the formation."
"The outside is filled with danger. It would be better to take a temporary break."
"Dear Taoist friend Sun, please think carefully. I am a second-level Formation Master. Your family's formation is difficult to break from the outside, but not so great on the inside. The Eight Gate Golden Armor Formation and the Five Elements Shock Killing Formation must be activated simultaneously, requiring a complete third-level spiritual vein. Spirit stones won't do."
A person stepped forward and said coldly. Sun Man's formation has three layers: two for external defense and one for internal confinement. It is incredibly powerful. However, on Lin Jiang's side, there is a Formation Master, which changes things. They can see the strengths and weaknesses of the formation. Breaking it won't be difficult.
"Dear Taoist friend Sun, we understand the rules of the Taoist path. Today, we will leave first. We know nothing about what will happen afterwards."
"Dear Taoist friend Sun, think it through. Hesitation will only lead to chaos. There are many independent cultivators in this area. Do you really think you can eliminate them all? If you truly want to do it, do it and then run away. The Yun State is vast. There are plenty of places to cultivate."
Someone else said. A battle among golden cores will cause a great disturbance. It won't just be Shen Bo they are after. It's impossible to keep it a secret. If we truly want to take action, it's better to escape immediately after succeeding.
"Taoist Friend Chen speaks wisely. Dear Taoist friend Sun, I shall also take my leave."
As soon as these words were spoken, three more people stood by Sun Man's side, facing Lin Jiang and his group. Lin Jiang recognized them as settled residents of the Yunzhong Mountain Range, with families and homes. They had already established themselves and saw no need to flee for this one occasion.
"Since you Taoist friends are determined to leave, I dare not keep you any longer. Please go."
Sun Man saw that Lin Jiang's side had more people and immediately made the difficult choice to allow everyone to leave.
"Thank you, Taoist Friend Chen."
"Thanks, Brother Chen."
After leaving Sun Man's cave, everyone thanked Taoist Friend Chen, who is an expert in formations. He had just exerted great pressure on Sun Man, and if it wasn't for him, Sun Man might have taken action.
Lin Jiang quickly flew back home and immediately activated the protective formation, placing Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao into the Spirit Beast Bag. He also added spirit stones to various formations as a precaution.
Lin Jiang had no intention of practicing cultivation. He sat and waited for the situation to unfold, feeling that things were not as simple as they seemed.
Sure enough, two hours later, a powerful divine sense swept through Lin Jiang's residence. Lin Jiang promptly got up and flew high up into the sky, where he saw Liu Dong, the person in the black robe.
"You truly are a clever person."
Liu Dong saw Lin Jiang and recognized him as the person he had previously met by Yuntuo River.
"I can still pretend not to know anything."
"That's what they said too."
Liu Dong casually swung his hand and seven heads fell down, exactly belonging to Sun Man and his six friends.
"Do we have to fight to the death?"
"Haha, what can you do to challenge me?"
"Killing fuliu-jian and Shen Bo wasn't without consequences, right? The support behind the Giant Wave Fish Gang will soon appear."
With a thought, Lin Jiang summoned Big Shadiao and Small Shadiao, who flew up into the sky and let out a piercing cry, filled with a warning.
"You're lucky to encounter a late-stage second-tier Aurora falcon."
Liu Dong's eyes lit up, but he wasn't intimidated by Lin Jiang at all. He summoned a powerful magical sword and struck down towards Lin Jiang.
"*Boom*"
The spell protecting Lin Jiang's cave broke instantly. Lin Jiang became anxious and shouted, "Liu Dong, do you want to repay kindness with enmity?"
"What do you mean?"
"Take a look at who I am."
Lin Jiang immediately changed his appearance, transforming back into Lin Yu's original look.
"You, you..."
"It's me. I saved both you and Liu Siyu back then, and I also gave you the Overlord Scroll."
"It's really you, Uncle Lin."
Liu Dong looked at Lin Jiang in absolute shock, memories of their past together flashing through his mind.
Liu Dong first met Lin Jiang at his home. His father, Liu Jie, asked Lin Jiang to teach him script magic. However, the greatest favor came after the Trident Fish Gang was destroyed. Lin Jiang risked his life to shelter Liu Dong and Liu Siyuan, providing them with the Overlord Scroll and paying their rent for three years. This allowed them to evade the relentless pursuit of the Giant Wave Fish Gang.
"It's me."
"Why did you leave without saying goodbye back then?"
"Back then, I was only in the Qi Refining Period. How could I have offended the Giant Wave Fish Gang? Your father Liu Jie and your uncle Liu Hui helped me. All I could do was that."
"That's alright, let me come in and rest for a bit."
"Okay."
Lin Jiang opened the inner formation. He couldn't beat them in a fight. fuliu-jian and Shen Bo, both at the golden core stage, died. Sun Man and the other seven at the Building Foundation Period were easily defeated. He had no chance of winning, and it seemed impossible for him to escape. That's why Lin Jiang decided to reveal his identity.
"Uncle Lin, how have you been all these years?"
"It's been tough. Independent cultivators struggle, as you know. It took me a lot of effort to barely reach the Building Foundation stage."
"You seem younger than when I last saw you."
"Just took the Appearance Fixing Pill."
"Very good."
Liu Dong nodded, knowing that Lin Jiang was lying, but he didn't expose it. After all, who doesn't have secrets as a cultivator?
"What happened to Liu Siyu?"
"She got married, married an independent cultivator in Yunzhong City. Just like you, he's also a Talisman Maker. They settled in the northern part of Yunzhong Mountain Range, living in seclusion. They might even have a grandchild by now."
"That's great, it wasn't in vain for me to save you back then."
"Indeed, it's good. So, Uncle Lin, can you help me out?"
"What do you want?"
"I'm a dying person now. Here are nine storage bags, all of them are yours. Inside, there are at least a hundred thousand spirit stones. You can give Liu Siyu's family five thousand spirit stones every ten years, totaling fifty thousand. Additionally, there are some cultivation techniques and secrets. Make sure to give them a copy. The rest is all for you."
"Aren't you afraid that I will keep everything for myself?"
"It doesn't matter if you keep everything for yourself, I owe you from the past."
Liu Dong said that Lin Jiang, who was in the Qi Refining Period back then, risked his life to save him and even paid three years' rent in Yunzhong City. This favor was not small.
"Alright, I promise."
"Thank you so much, Uncle Lin."
"Could you let me see what I look like after practicing the Overlord Scroll? I almost couldn't resist practicing it back then."
"Should we still not do it?"
Liu Dong shook his head. He no longer wanted to show his true face. The Overlord Scroll was too terrifying.
Lin Jiang didn't say anything else, but he noticed Liu Dong's hands. They were very thin and old, like the hands of an elderly person near the end of their life. However, Liu Dong was not even a hundred years old, so he should have had a lifespan of five hundred years.
"Never mind, I'm leaving. I won't kill the other independent cultivators in the Building Foundation. Uncle Lin, be careful."
Liu Dong wanted to say something else, but in the end, he didn't speak. He left behind the bag and quickly disappeared, taking the heads with him.
Lin Jiang looked at where Liu Dong had just stood, a puddle of blood, and realized that he had been seriously injured.
"Forget it, forget it."
Lin Jiang sighed and once again lamented the difficult life of independent cultivators. Seven Building Foundation Period cultivators, all gone, and it had only been a few hours.
Lin Jiang quickly found fuliu-jian and Shen Bo's bag, used his spiritual sense to erase the markings inside, opened it, took out ordinary items like spirit stones, and immediately put back anything that could expose his identity. Then he had Big Shadiao carry it away and throw it out, preferably flying hundreds of miles away as quickly as possible.
After cleaning up the traces, Lin Jiang waited for Big Shadiao to return and immediately left Yunzhong Mountain Range, entering Yunzhong City and finding an inn to stay in. He opened each storage bag, one by one.
Half a day later, a terrifying fortune was laid out in front of Lin Jiang. The spirit stones alone exceeded four hundred thousand, with fuliu-jian and Shen Bo being the richest, their spirit stones totaling over three hundred thousand. There were also some pills, martial arts techniques, and the rest of the items were all discarded, as they were even more valuable.
Sun Man and the others also had substantial wealth, after all, they were all experienced Building Foundation Period cultivators. Sun Man, in particular, was a second-tier alchemist. However, Sun Man's most valuable possession was still in his house. Lin Jiang now had Sun Man's formation control token.
"The combined value of all the various treasures amounted to over five or six hundred thousand spirit stones."
"Seeking wealth and fortune amidst danger, the ancient people were truly not deceiving me."
Lin Jiang sighed repeatedly, he could understand why Sun Man and the others took the risk. Their wealth during the Golden Core Period was too abundant. Spirit stones were just a small part of their wealth, the valuable equipment and treasures added to the total value, not less than two hundred thousand. If they were divided equally among the seven of them, they would each receive tens of thousands, which would be their income for one or two years. And if they succeeded, it would probably be a matter of solving it within an hour.
To earn a year or two's worth of money in just one hour, there would be many people who couldn't resist the temptation.
"I've lost more than what I've kept, I need to find some secret techniques that can remove special marks, or find a reliable and powerful place to sell stolen goods."
Thinking about the things that were thrown away afterwards, Lin Jiang felt very regretful. The value inside was even greater than what Lin Jiang had kept. If he had the ability to keep them, it would have been a big profit.
