Daqin arrests alchemists, what does it matter to me as a qi refiner?

There are still three days left in the selection competition. If those families don't show up, he'll go there himself. Several families won't let such an opportunity slip by.

"Let's head south!"

Yang Ling observed their actions and wondered if the Yan and Huo families were so terrifying that they were as afraid as mice in the face of a cat.

"Is the Twin Swords Master really that formidable? You all seem quite afraid of him!"

Lin Chong gasped.

Unexpectedly, Yang Ling dared to address them by their given names.

"What do you know? They're not only strong, they're geniuses too. Among the major families, they're exceptionally talented and young, so naturally they're deeply loved and respected!"

"If I were to face him, I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to defeat a single finger!"

Yang Ling smiled. If that's the case, then he would become someone those people fear.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. With your strength, you can't possibly handle them!" Kong Qingqing comforted Yang Ling. Yang Ling was speechless. This was the first time he had ever been comforted, and it felt very strange.

Feng Xueyuan couldn't stop laughing; she almost couldn't hold back her smile.

At this time, the sky gradually darkened.

"Let's find a place to rest now. At night, many monsters will appear in Sunset Valley, making it inconvenient to travel!" This place is deserted, rarely visited, and in a remote location. Yang Ling glanced around and decided not to stay with them.

"You all stay here, I'll go rest and meditate under the tree. We can talk about it tomorrow!" Lin Chong felt that Yang Ling's actions were provocative. Qiu Xiao stood up for Lin Chong.

"That's enough! Our junior sister is willing to take you along, and your companions haven't said anything. Now you dare to question us!" Yang Ling shrugged. It's not his fault; he didn't ask them to be like him.

Seeing this, Kong Qingqing leaned close to Feng Xueyuan and whispered:

"Your friend seems to have a bad temper. You should try to talk to him; he's likely to get beaten up!" Kong Qingqing said, but Feng Xueyuan ignored her. Beaten up? It would be good enough if others didn't get beaten up by Yang Ling.

Late into the night, Yang Ling heard a faint sound. He sensed a serpentine beast swimming towards them. The beast's eyes glowed eerily, its tongue flicked, and its face was ferocious. Most importantly, this beast had developed some intelligence, making it even more cunning and difficult to deal with. Yang Ling abruptly opened his eyes. As the serpentine beast approached, it sensed an aura attacking it and repelled it. It suffered internal injuries and was unable to move. Yang Ling then unleashed a powerful, mountain-like aura, pressing down on it and instantly splitting its body in two.

Yang Ling's movements were incredibly fast, almost imperceptible. This astonishing commotion first caught Feng Xueyuan's attention. She braced herself, knowing it was Yang Ling's doing. When the others arrived, their pupils contracted sharply upon seeing the serpentine beast's corpse!

Who could have done that? That's incredible! None of them possess such strength; the person who made the move must be stronger than them. Who could it be?
"That expert must not have gone far. I wonder which expert it is, and if he could come out and meet us!"

Feng Xueyuan watched the spectacle from the sidelines. She had sensed the approaching demonic beast and was about to make a move when Yang Ling beat her to it.

"Who did it? Who are we here?" Kong Qingqing wondered. They all shook their heads; no one had seen clearly.

"We didn't see it either!"

“This person is definitely not weak. I actually sensed it just now and was planning to take action to deal with him, but unfortunately a master beat me to it and has already taken care of him!” Yang Ling and Feng Xueyuan smiled at each other and did not say much, just listened quietly to Lin Chong’s casual talk.

In fact, Lin Chong didn't even notice the serpentine beast approaching. They only came out because they heard the noise, and Yang Ling and Feng Xueyuan didn't expose his disguise.

They just thought it was funny.

"Actually, I think I can handle it too! Don't worry, this expert shouldn't be someone from the selection competition, but someone even stronger. As for why he's here, I don't know!" Lin Chong analyzed, feigning composure. The others nodded in agreement, finding his words quite reasonable.

"You're amazing! Even if we joined forces, we might not have been able to kill that monster!" Qiu Xiao praised Lin Chong without reservation; he was quite skilled at flattery. Lin Chong looked up.

"Of course, this is nothing to me. Dealing with it is a piece of cake! Don't worry, I'll protect you more than enough. I don't believe he can really do anything to me..." He said, emphasizing each word, quite pleased with Qiu Xiao's praise. A genius like him naturally enjoys being praised.

Who doesn't like to hear nice things? They're not stupid.

Then, Lin Chong turned his gaze to Yang Ling.

“Weren’t you outside the whole time? Why didn’t I see you come out? And you were hiding under a tree when facing such a serpentine beast, and you only came out now!” Feng Xueyuan silently defended Yang Ling.

“He came out as soon as he heard the sound, just like us. I don’t think it’s necessary to make a fuss about it!” As soon as Feng Xueyuan finished speaking, Lin Chong stopped dwelling on the matter and took out the crystal from the monster.

"Alright, with me here, the other monsters won't dare to come in. You should all go back first!" Just as he finished speaking, he heard footsteps beside him. He immediately became alert and shouted angrily.

"Who's hiding in there acting so suspiciously? Get out here right now!"

He didn't rush to make a move. If they were some powerful figure, his rash action might bring them death.

"Finally found you, Senior Brother, you're here too!" The man said eagerly upon hearing Lin Chong's voice. Lin Chong raised an eyebrow; so it was someone from the Kong family.

"You're from the Kong family? You look like an outer disciple!"

"That's right, it's me. We just discovered a cave up ahead, and it looks like there's treasure inside!" Lin Chong recognized the man as well, but something seemed off. He thought to himself: Treasure? Why would they be so kind as to share it with us?

"Are you sure you're not lying to us? Such a good opportunity, you're willing to share it with us? If it were you, you would have already taken it for yourself!" Lin Chong recognized this man; he had a history of cunning and underhanded tricks within the family. Therefore, he had to be wary. The man sighed.

"Senior brother, how could we dare lie to you? It's come to this. Besides, we only entered that cave by chance, and there's a powerful seal on it that we can't touch!" the man said seriously, only then noticing Feng Xueyuan and Yang Ling. A hint of doubt flashed in his eyes as he asked, "Who are they? They don't look like members of the family!" Kong Qingqing stepped in time to smooth things over and help them out of the predicament.

“These are some of my good friends. I brought them here specially. You don’t need to be so nervous; they’re all on our side!” Hearing Kong Qingqing’s words, the man breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Chong, however, felt more disdain; they didn’t particularly like Yang Ling. As for Feng Xueyuan, she was fairly strong and beautiful. They could stay, but with Kong Qingqing present, it wasn’t appropriate to simply kick them out.

"Alright, just say what you have to say. Since we're on the same side, there's no need to hold back!" Lin Chong readily agreed, acting very generously. Yang Ling observed this but didn't say anything more. The man nodded and continued.

“I suspect there are other treasures inside that cave, so I think it must be something special. It's just that we're too weak to handle it. We wanted to ask our families for help, but luckily we ran into you. Any later and we would have been discovered!” They looked at each other, suddenly intrigued. Could he have really stumbled upon something good?

"We are indeed not qualified enough, otherwise we wouldn't still be outer disciples, so we can only wait for you!"

"Alright, now that you've run into us, let's get going before we get spotted. There's no time like the present; we can't let this good stuff fall into other people's hands!" Lin Chong said directly, his eyes darting around before he added.

"Hey, senior brother, if you manage to get any treasures, could you share some with me? I'd also like to get some treasures to improve my strength!"

"We're all from the same family, so naturally there's a share for you. Don't be so formal!" The man breathed a sigh of relief. He had no ill intentions; he just wanted to improve his strength. He had initially worried that the other party would be unreasonable, but now it seemed the outcome was quite good.

"We'd better hurry over there. Other families are loitering nearby. Once they notice us, they'll come and fight us for it, and our lives will be in danger!" They knew perfectly well that such a great opportunity was extremely rare for them. Yang Ling remained calm and composed. He had encountered all sorts of great opportunities before; why would he be moved by such a small one?

But he also wanted to go and see what could have excited them so much.

"Why aren't you surprised at all? And you seem quite calm. That man gave you a hard time on the way here, so you have to be careful. I'm worried he might do something bad to you!" Feng Xueyuan said cautiously to Yang Ling. Yang Ling nodded, not surprised at all.

"I know what you mean, but this opportunity doesn't seem very promising. If you like it, I'll pick out a suitable method for you later!" Yang Ling's words made Feng Xueyuan know that he would definitely keep his word. Besides, Yang Ling had previously plundered a super large ancient tomb and found all sorts of good things, so she was already used to it.

"Then it's a deal!" Yang Ling had thought Feng Xueyuan would refuse, but to his surprise, she agreed.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Ling strode forward.

Along the way, whenever they encountered other monsters, they were able to quickly deal with them.

As dawn broke, they finally discovered the cave in a very secluded place.

The man couldn't help but smile as he strode quickly to the front.

"This is it..." Suddenly, his expression changed drastically. Not only him, but the others did too. It turned out there were several more people inside the cave, looking around. Judging from their clothing, they were from the Yan family. Although the man was somewhat displeased, he still stepped forward, only to find that someone had beaten him to it.

"Who exactly are you people? Besides, I was the one who discovered this cave first!"

The man turned to look at them, and seeing that there were quite a few of them, they exchanged glances and quickly calmed down.

"This cave doesn't have your Kong family's name carved on it. Even if you discovered it first, that doesn't stop us from coming in, does it? The outer barrier was broken so easily. If you didn't want us to find it, you should at least set up a stronger barrier!"

"That's right, the major families have always gotten along very well!"

"It wouldn't hurt for us to take a look; we can all share!"

Lin Chong had no patience to waste words with them and quickly stepped forward, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

"Get out of here right now, or we'll kill you!" They clenched their fists, filled with resentment, clearly unwilling to leave. One of them spoke up.

"Does your Kong family think you can bully us just because you have more people? Let me tell you, don't be so arrogant. Our people are right in front of us. If you dare to touch us!"

"Yan Lin will absolutely not let you off easily!"

They became slightly more restrained, after all, Yan Lin's strength was indeed superior to theirs, and if Yan Lin really came, their lives would probably be in danger. Lin Chong quickly calmed down and asked.

What exactly do you want?

"It's simple. We'll stay here and look at what we have. Once we get what we want, we'll leave naturally. Anyway, you won't lose anything. I just checked, there's a high-level cultivation technique here!"

"You can all learn, isn't that good?" They smiled, and seeing that the other party was somewhat wary, they couldn't help but feel a little smug.

The man turned to look at Lin Chong, wondering to himself, "We were the ones who found this place first." Lin Chong's eyes darted around, and he took a step back, making way for them.

"In that case, please take a look!"

The man's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing Lin Chong's words. What exactly did his senior brother want? The others smirked and continued searching the cave. They weren't paying attention to the newcomer and naturally didn't notice the murderous intent flashing in Lin Chong's eyes. Lin Chong was no soft-hearted man; he was ruthless in obtaining what he wanted, and he wouldn't hesitate to use any means necessary to get what he wanted.

He certainly didn't dare provoke Yan Lin, but that didn't mean he wouldn't launch a sneak attack. Taking advantage of their inattention, Lin Chong swiftly stepped forward and slashed at their heads. Several men tried to defend themselves, but before they could even draw their swords, they were killed on the spot.

"Senior brother, isn't this a bit inappropriate?" They exchanged bewildered glances, not expecting Lin Chong to be so ruthless. Lin Chong turned to them and whispered.

"Are you really stupid? Do you really think it will benefit us if word gets out that they got this? If we don't kill them, they'll go back and complain, and we're no match for them!" He paused deliberately before continuing.

"You may not know, but Yan Lin obtained the Qin family's cultivation techniques and is probably incredibly powerful now, his cultivation level has improved considerably. Once he finds out, do you think he'll let us go?" (End of Chapter)