A technologically powerful nation: The national treasure is actually myself.

"Ancient ruins?"

Zhao Hu pondered for a moment and said:

“Brother Lin Yang, there is actually quite a bit of information about the ancient ruins. You can buy some information by spending money at the trading company. However, the more secret information is probably only available in some ancient aristocratic families and sects, and it is not easy to obtain. Our Zhao family does not have any information in this regard.”

"Oh, I see." Lin Yang didn't ask any more questions.

Zhao Hu then said, "Brother Lin Yang, since you were caught up in the ancient ruins last time, there have been several other ancient ruins incidents in the past three thousand years, all of which occurred outside the city. The frequency is a bit high. In the past, it would only happen once every very long time. There might be some changes outside the city. It's best to stay away from the city as much as possible."

Lin Yang couldn't help but ask, "Were ancient ruins rarely seen before?"

"Yes, ancient ruins rarely appear. Brother Lin Yang should know this, right? You are in the Zhengmu Mansion, which is called the Inner Mansion in our local terms. Ancient ruins rarely appear in the Inner Mansion, or even never appear. Some people may not have even heard of ancient ruins."

Zhao Hu looked at Lin Yang.

Lin Yang nodded slightly; he had indeed never heard of the ancient ruins before.

Zhao Hu continued:
“Ancient ruins don’t appear very often in our area. Sometimes they might not appear even once every hundreds of thousands of years. But now, in just over three thousand years, they have appeared several times. This is obviously abnormal, especially since more than half of the people who were caught up in the ancient ruins have died.”

"Hmm? Someone died in the ancient ruins?" Lin Yang was slightly surprised.

"Yes, if you die in the ancient ruins, you die in reality. There have been five ancient ruins incidents in the past three thousand years, involving a total of thirteen people, seven of whom have died."

Zhao Hu sighed:

"Now many people dare not leave the city rashly, and many trade routes have been cancelled."

Lin Yang was secretly alarmed upon hearing this.

Reflecting on his own situation in the ancient ruins, it seems that he did not face any major life-or-death crisis.

Being trapped in the Holy Spirit Sect, the worst outcome would be eternal damnation, not immediate death.

Looking back now, he was actually quite lucky.

They didn't encounter the extremely dangerous ancient ruins projection world, and were even awakened by Yu Qing.

"The ancient ruins are truly a very special place," Lin Yang sighed softly.

He was with Zhao Hu and others at the time, so Zhao Hu and the others were not caught up in the ancient ruins.

I don't understand what the conditions are for being drawn into the ancient ruins.

Is it completely random or subject to certain conditions?

As Lin Yang pondered, he arrived at the main hall.

Several elders of the Zhao family, including Zhao Xiongshan and Zhao Chen, were present.

This includes Elder Zhao Huoshan, who failed to break through to the Yuanhe Realm twice in a row.

Lin Yang glanced at Zhao Huoshan's face. Although it looked normal, the two failed attempts had still damaged his vital energy to some extent, and his aura was a bit weak.

Upon seeing Lin Yang arrive, Zhao Xiongshan had him and Zhao Huoshan introduce themselves before getting straight to the point:

"Guest Minister Lin, we have decided to launch a surprise attack on several of the Bai family's properties outside the city and fight them to the death. We hope that you can help us."

Lin Yang nodded: "Brother Zhao Hu just told me. Patriarch Zhao can make the arrangements as he sees fit. I won't refuse."

Zhao Xiongshan laughed and said, "In that case, I won't stand on ceremony with you, Elder Lin. The plan is simple: several elders will lead a group of people to raid the Bai family's property. If we can kill a few of their elders, we'll be successful."

As he spoke, he quickly explained the raid plan to Lin Yang.

The plan is indeed very simple.

The Zhao family now has one less elder at the Yuanhe Realm than the Bai family, resulting in a significant gap in their top-tier combat strength.

Previously, the Zhao family did not want their clansmen and disciples to be attacked and killed by the Bai family, so under pressure from the Bai family, they voluntarily gave up most of their property to protect their clansmen.

If we could kill a few of the Bai family's Nirvana Realm elders and a batch of Bai family disciples, we could severely damage the Bai family's strength.

To put it bluntly, the Zhao family mainly wanted to vent their anger and didn't want the Bai family to be too smug. After succeeding, they withdrew directly from Xiwu City and did not intend to continue fighting the Bai family to the death here.

The evacuation plan is also very simple.

After taking action, return directly to Xiwu City and leave via the teleportation array.

Therefore, this operation must be swift and decisive.

Of course, once the fight begins, the two Yuanhe Realm experts from the Bai family will inevitably intervene.

The Supreme Elder Zhao Yuanhui will hold them off, allowing the others to return to the city and leave.

In response, Lin Yang asked, "How will the Supreme Elder escape?"

Zhao Xiongshan laughed and said, "The Supreme Elder has a way to escape. The Bai family's newly promoted elder is still a newcomer. Unless he is willing to risk his life to stop him, the Supreme Elder can escape."

Lin Yang understood.

The reason the Zhao family is taking action now is because...

This is also because the Bai family's newly promoted Yuanhe Realm elder is still shallow in foundation and not enough to threaten Zhao Yuan.

If this drags on any longer, and the Bai family's newly promoted Yuanhe Realm elder stabilizes his position in the Yuanhe Realm, Zhao Yuan will have no way to escape from the two's combined attack.

Therefore, the Zhao family did not want to delay any longer.

They plan to take advantage of the current opportunity to severely damage the Bai family.

"Of course, the other elders of the Bai family are not to be trifled with either, and they may fight to the death, so we will inevitably lose some people this time..." Zhao Xiongshan added.

The elders of the Zhao family were also prepared to sacrifice some of them.

Lin Yang didn't say anything, only saying, "Patriarch Zhao, just tell me the targets you need me to attack."

"Guest Elder Lin, you are very strong, and we are very grateful for your willingness to help. So this time, we would like to trouble you to go to the Bai family's mine that is closest to Xiwu City. The Grand Elder will go with you. After killing the people in the mine with lightning speed, you can return to Xiwu City as soon as possible without delaying the evacuation," Zhao Xiongshan said.

He had considered Lin Yang's feelings in this way.

Being closer to Xiwu City would make returning there much faster, preventing us from being held up by the Bai family.

With the Grand Elder accompanying them, they can buy Lin Yang time should anything unexpected happen.

Of course, being close to the city also has a drawback, which is that it makes it easier for the Bai family to be the first to run into those who come to support them from inside the city.

But compared to other places, this is already the best choice.

The farther you are from the city, the longer it will take to return, and the lower the probability of returning.

Although Zhao Yuan could hold off the two Yuanhe Realm cultivators from the Bai family for a while, he couldn't hold them off for too long.

Therefore, once Zhao Yuan escapes, before the others return to the city, they will be hunted down by the two Yuanhe Realm experts from the Bai family.

Lin Yang could tell that Zhao Xiongshan was still considering his feelings, so he didn't say anything more and nodded in agreement.

In fact, he could have directly dealt with the two Yuanhe Realm elders of the Bai family together with Zhao Yuan. All that was needed was for someone from the Zhao family to lure them out of the city. There was no need to take too much risk by launching surprise attacks on several places.

However, Zhao Xiongshan and the others were clearly not entirely confident in his abilities.

Although I believe he is invincible within the same realm, I don't really think he can deal with someone in the Yuanhe realm.

Therefore, this plan was devised to launch a surprise attack on several of the Bai family's properties, thereby weakening the Bai family's power to the greatest extent possible.

Therefore, Lin Yang didn't say it.

Anyway, everything will be clear after the operation is completed.

……

The elders of the Zhao family successively disappeared from the city.

To ensure the success of the raid and prevent the Bai family from discovering it beforehand.

The Zhao family went to great lengths to keep the Bai family's spies in the dark and allow the elders to leave the city quietly.

However, not everyone went out.

Some people stayed behind to continue deceiving the Bai family.

In short, through a combination of deception and manipulation, the plan proceeded smoothly.

"Guest Elder Lin, the mine we're going to is also an important property of the Bai family. The elder stationed there is a peak Nirvana Realm elder of the Bai family. If the two of us work together, we can kill him with lightning speed. After that, don't worry about the others, just leave."

On the way, Zhao Huoshan spoke up.

The reason he and Lin Yang were working together on this mission was to join forces to kill the Bai family's Nirvana Realm peak elder.

In fact, under normal circumstances, Zhao Huoshan could do it alone.

After all, he was capable of attempting to break through to the Yuanhe Realm twice.

However, after the two attacks, he was somewhat affected, so Lin Yang was paired with him.

Lin Yang nodded and, led by Zhao Huoshan, approached the mine.

As they silently approached the mine, even getting close to the courtyard where the Bai family elder resided, the Bai family elder, a peak Nirvana Realm expert, remained completely unaware. Some inappropriate noises and sounds even emanated from the courtyard.

It sounds rather dissolute.

Lin Yang's expression turned slightly strange.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Huoshan transmitted his voice:

"That old bastard Bai Dan is the most lecherous. Actually, with his cultivation level, he doesn't need to personally oversee things here."

"But he came here to guard the mine in order to satisfy his own desires, and turned it into a den of iniquity, indulging in debauchery every day."

“There are other people in the Bai family, especially elders at the Yuanhe Realm, so he can’t go too far. But here, this is his own territory, and he can do whatever he wants.”

Lin Yang remained silent for a moment.

Not all practitioners are pure of heart and devoid of desires, single-mindedly seeking the Way and striving upwards.

Especially those who know they have no hope of going any further, their desires and quirks are even more extreme.

The Bai family elder in front of us is a typical example.

Having been stuck at the peak of the Nirvana Realm for many years with almost no chance of breaking through, he simply let himself go.

Some people even become psychologically twisted because it is difficult to advance their cultivation level further, and the strange quirks they develop are unimaginable and incomprehensible to ordinary people.

He transmitted his voice to Zhao Huoshan, saying, "Let's make our move now."

Zhao Huoshan nodded slightly.

The next moment, the two exchanged a glance and made their move simultaneously in perfect unison.

The power of the Dao surged out and directly leveled the entire courtyard.

"Who?"

A loud shout rang out, and Bai Dan's expression changed drastically.

There was another person lying on top of him.

However, before he could react, he saw a flash of white light.

laugh.

A soft, gentle sound.

A bloody hole appeared on Bai Dan's head.

The next instant, a seven-colored flower bloomed, completely enveloping Bai Dan's body.

Before his power could even erupt, his consciousness began to dissipate.

He didn't even see who killed him.

puff.

Bai Dan's naked body lay on the ground.

"Ahhhh!"

Only after Bai Dan's body fell did several terrified screams echo through the room.

A sharp sound pierced the night sky, instantly startling everyone in the mine.

Swish swish.

When the others from the mine arrived at the leveled villa and saw Bai Dan's body, they were all terrified.

"Who? Who actually killed Elder Bai Dan..."

"Quickly, go and report to the patriarch!"

"... "

The mine descended into chaos.

Everyone was terrified. The strength of the newcomer, who could kill Bai Dan in an instant, was beyond their wildest imagination.

Soon, someone looked at the women who were so frightened they didn't even have time to put on their clothes and demanded to know what they had seen.

The answer, naturally, was a blank.

……

"Lin...Guest Minister Lin...you..."

Meanwhile, Lin Yang and Zhao Huoshan had already returned to Xiwu City.

Zhao Huoshan's expression was strange.

Or rather, it was very exciting.

No single adjective can describe his current expression.

He looked at Lin Yang with the eyes of someone looking at a monster.

Lin Yang had just told him that they would act at the same time.

However, before he could even unleash his full power, Bai Dan was already killed.

By the time he realized what was happening, Lin Yang had already vanished from the mine.

At this moment, Zhao Huoshan was deeply shocked.

Lin Yang actually killed Bai Dan in an instant!
Yes.

The battle just now was a swift and decisive victory.

Although Bai Dan was engaged in sexual activity, he might not have been very vigilant.

Ultimately, he was a true peak Nirvana Realm cultivator, yet he was instantly defeated by Lin Yang.

This strength shocked Zhao Huoshan, but also made him somewhat fearful.

If Lin Yang could kill Bai Dan instantly, then he could certainly kill him instantly as well.

Zhao Huoshan didn't know much about Lin Yang because when Lin Yang arrived in Xiwu City, he had been in seclusion trying to break through to the Yuanhe Realm.

I just heard that my family has gained a very capable guest advisor.

Even when Zhao Xiongshan arranged for him to be with Lin Yang, he only briefly inquired about Lin Yang's strength.

Despite learning that Lin Yang had the ability to fight opponents of higher levels, he didn't take it too seriously.

They only regarded Lin Yang as an auxiliary and supplementary force for this operation.

But what Zhao Huoshan had just witnessed deeply shocked him.

Such strength...

He was actually a guest retainer of the Zhao family?

Zhao Huoshan had a lot to say at that moment.

But for a moment I didn't know what to say.

The only thought that kept recurring in his mind was that if he had known Lin Yang was so powerful, he could have split up and killed several more elders of the Bai family.

He is now filled with regret and pity.

Lin Yang remained calm.

He could naturally tell that Zhao Huoshan was currently in a state of unease.

However, he didn't offer any explanation, only saying:

"Elder, if you want to kill a few more Bai family elders, you can go and support the others."

Zhao Huoshan's expression changed, and he subconsciously asked, "What do you mean, Guest Elder Lin?"

"I'm going to help the Supreme Elder," Lin Yang said calmly.

Zhao Huoshan was taken aback.

Lin Yang smiled slightly at him: "I think Xiwu City is quite nice, and I have no plans to leave for the time being."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huoshan seemed to understand something and asked incredulously, "Guest Elder Lin, you wouldn't actually be able to deal with someone at the Yuanhe Realm, would you?"

-

Xiaohu wishes everyone a Happy New Year! May everything go smoothly and may you make a fortune in 2026! (End of Chapter)