Ascending to Immortality by Slaying Spirits

Chapter 67 - One Thousand Martial Artists

"Here you go, this is your wages, including yesterday's." Zhou Ziyang respectfully handed twenty spirit stones to Lin Le.

"Yes, thank you, Manager Zhou." Lin Le put away the spirit stones. These twenty spirit stones were enough to buy all the high-quality pills he had handed in, even at market price.

“There will be one batch like this every day from now on,” Lin Le said.

He understands that if others give him face, he should give them some face in return; he knows this basic social etiquette.

"Then thank you very much, Master Zhou." Zhou Ziyang said, cupping his hands in thanks, his face beaming with joy.

"Hey, I wouldn't call myself a master." Lin Le waved his hand. "I'm going back now."

"Master Zhou, please take care." Zhou Ziyang respectfully saw Lin Le out.

"The powerful and influential are still the most domineering."

Walking down the street, Lin Le patted the storage bag at his waist.

Ordinary forces would never be willing to trade spirit stones. Although the official price is one thousand taels per stone, privately one would have to spend an extra one hundred or even two or three hundred taels to exchange for them.

Back at his residence, Lin Le took out the spirit stones and began refining them.

The spirit stones turned gray at a visible speed, and the spiritual energy within them was quickly refined by Lin Le.

Lin Le estimated that his internal observation of the fourth level of the Spirit Platform was already more than halfway complete:

'If I refine the water elemental energy for another day, I should be able to reach the fourth level in about two days.'

After digesting the spirit stone, Lin Le entered a meditative state to refine his soul.

At the same time, an old man with a gaunt face slowly walked towards the entrance of Bailian County.

Wei Zhenshan and Xiang Lingchen, both dressed in official robes, stood at the city gate waiting.

The old man stopped about 30 feet away from them and asked, "Where is my ridge?"

“They’ve disappeared,” Xiang Lingchen said coldly.

The old man squinted: "County Commandant Xiang, what do you mean by this?"

Xiang Lingchen said coldly, "It went out to steal food without my permission and hasn't come back yet, so I would like to ask Tushan-jun to find it yourself."

Tu Shanrong said, "What you're saying is truly laughable. County Commandant Xiang, Bailian County is your territory. How could you not even be able to keep an eye on a little fox?"

"Missing is missing, what can you expect me to do?" Xiang Lingchen sneered. "We've searched everywhere these past few days, but there's no trace of Tu Shanling. Don't believe me? Come and search for yourself!"

Tu Shanrong's tone also turned sinister: "So what exactly do you mean, Xiang the county magistrate?"

"Haha, Tushan-jun, we didn't mean anything by it," Wei Zhenshan said with a laugh. "We just really can't find Tushan Ridge, so we just wanted to ask you if you have any way to find your son."

"If we can find it, that would be wonderful. If we can't, it's our mistake, and we will definitely give you a satisfactory compensation."

"You really can't find it?" Tu Shanrong asked.

"We really can't find it." Wei Zhenshan shook his head, and he and Xiang Lingchen stared at Tu Shanrong.

They also suspected that Tu Shanling had secretly slipped back to Baiyun Mountain. If that were the case, then Tu Shanrong's intentions were quite clear: it was planning to make them its prey.

They're not idiots; the other person has already drawn their knife, so why would they just sit and wait to be hacked?

So today's meeting is both a discussion and a probe.

Tu Shanrong understood the unspoken meaning behind their words, and his expression turned gloomy. He certainly knew whether Tu Shanling had returned to Baiyun Mountain or not.

In other words, Tushanling has met with misfortune.

He took out a compass from his bag and dripped his blood onto it in front of Wei Zhenshan and Xiang Lingchen.

The blood vessels spread, eventually forming an arrow pointing towards Tu Shanrong.

The atmosphere immediately became heavy, because everyone present knew what kind of spell this was, specifically used to find direct blood relatives.

At this moment, the spell was directed at Tu Shanrong, meaning that there were no direct blood relatives of his in this region. "Excellent, excellent!" Tu Shanrong's voice was calm yet filled with anger. "I entrusted my most promising child to your care, and this is how you look after him?"

“We didn’t want this either, Tu Shan Jun.” Wei Zhenshan smiled bitterly. “Tell us, what compensation do you want? We’ll do our best to give it to you.”

That's what they say, but from Tu Shanrong's perspective, he could already see the imperial aura of the entire city poised to erupt.

Clearly, if it makes the slightest move, these two people will deliver a thunderous blow.

After a long silence, Tu Shanrong said, "One thousand martial artists, let's just let this matter go."

"Impossible!" Wei Zhenshan refused without even thinking.

The entire Bailian County has only fifty or sixty thousand people. A thousand people are easy to find; you can just find some laborers. But a thousand martial arts masters, who have a high social status, are absolutely impossible to find.

“Okay,” Xiang Lingchen said at this moment.

"Are you crazy!" Wei Zhenshan roared at Ling Chen upon hearing this. "Even if our two families had a thousand martial artists, if we gave them all to him, our foundation would collapse!"

"It only said one thousand martial artists, but didn't mention any limit," Xiang Lingchen said calmly.

Wei Zhenshan narrowed his eyes: "You have a way?"

"Yes," Xiang Lingchen said.

Wei Zhenshan waved his sleeve: "If the cost exceeds what we agreed on, you'll have to make up the difference yourself. I won't pay!"

"Okay." Xiang Lingchen nodded, then looked at Tu Shanrong, "However, it's difficult to raise the thousand. Could you allow us to pay in installments over three months?"

Tu Shanrong nodded slowly: "Okay, but I will meet the first batch in half a month, and there must be no fewer than three hundred people."

Xiang Lingchen pondered for a moment, then nodded: "No problem."

"Then I'll head back first." Tu Shanrong turned and took two steps, then stopped. "By the way, have you found any clues about the murderer who caused my son's death?"

"We're still investigating," Xiang Lingchen said. "But he's most likely still in the city. There was another murder the day before yesterday, and judging from the characteristics, it should still be him."

"You can't catch him?" Tu Shanrong asked in a low voice.

“We can’t catch him for now,” Wei Zhenshan said. “But don’t worry, as soon as we catch him, we’ll hand him over to you immediately.”

"Don't keep me waiting too long," Tu Shanrong said, then slowly left.

Watching Tu Shanrong's departing figure, Wei Zhenshan's fawning smile vanished: "Xiang Lingchen, a thousand martial artists, are you really confident?"

“Of course.” Xiang Lingchen turned around. “Moreover, compared to this, the emergence of a third-party force in our city is what we should pay the most attention to.”

Yes, the emergence of a third-party force in the city is what they should pay the most attention to.

Wei Zhenshan's face also darkened.

He had a frank conversation with Xiang Lingchen, explaining that the people who killed his family members these past few days weren't from his side, and that the Xiang family wouldn't kill their own people.

Tu Shanrong's attitude suggests that Tu Shanling has indeed disappeared or even died.

In other words, someone wanted to use Tu Shanling's death to disrupt Bailian County and challenge their position.

This is not something they can tolerate.

But who could it be?

After all, Bailian County is only so big, and they know exactly which ones pose a threat.

Meanwhile, the "third party" they were referring to was waking up from his meditation.

Lin Le looked at Qing Li who was getting closer, and without her saying anything, she reached out her hand.

After transmitting yang energy, he was hugged by her like a giant body pillow.

When will this day end?
Lin Le sighed inwardly, suppressing the blood flowing down his face, and forced himself to fall asleep.

(End of this chapter)