I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

The middle-aged female cultivator stood frozen in place, her sinister eyes now filled with terror.

"Senior...Senior..." Her voice, no longer carrying the sinister and ruthless tone, trembled and became hoarse: "This junior was blind and offended you, senior. Please spare my life!"

Lin Che remained standing with his hands behind his back, the moonlight falling on his ordinary face, revealing no emotion.

"I said, answer my question."

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, yet it made the female cultivator tremble all over, her knees buckled, and she almost knelt down.

"Yes, yes..." She nodded hurriedly, no longer daring to hide anything, speaking rapidly, afraid that a moment's delay would bring about her death: "My surname is He, my given name is Chuyun, and I am a member of a collateral branch of the He family."

"The He family?" Lin Che raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Yes... I am from the He family, one of the three families that control the ancient cave secret realm."

He Chuyun's voice grew softer and softer as she stole a glance at Lin Che's expression.

"Junior...Junior wasn't actually bidding for the tokens at the auction, but...but choosing a target."

She gritted her teeth, her voice tinged with a desperate, self-destructive tone:

"Seeing that you only have the cultivation of the late Foundation Establishment stage, senior... I harbored evil intentions, thinking... thinking of stealing the token, rebinding it, and then reselling it..."

Lin Che's eyes flickered slightly.

"Isn't the token bound to your aura? How can your He family change that?"

He Chuyun gritted her teeth; now that things had come to this, she dared not keep anything to herself any longer.

She knew that if this Golden Core cultivator wanted to know, there were plenty of ways to get him to talk.

Rather than suffer physical pain, it's better to confess honestly.

"Yes! The secret realm is jointly controlled by the He family and two other families, and each family has the secret method to unbind and rebind."

She paused, then added, "Although it is claimed that others cannot use the token after it is bound, in reality, if the disciples of the three families obtain the token that was auctioned off by an outsider, they can use a secret method to erase the original owner's divine sense imprint. In this way, the token that was auctioned off by an outsider becomes a quota for our own use once it comes into our hands."

After listening, Lin Che understood.

No wonder He Chuyun dared to ambush and kill lone token holders after the auction.

Once the token is in her hands, she can easily turn it into a quota for the He family's own use, and then sell it again for another windfall.

Two ways to make a profit – a sure thing.

"How long has your He family been doing this kind of thing?"

He Chuyun lowered her head, not daring to look Lin Che in the eye.

"...Before each secret realm opens, all three families will send someone to do this: target those rogue cultivators with low cultivation levels and weak backgrounds. Whether they use the stolen tokens themselves or resell them, they make a clean profit."

Lin Che remained silent for a moment.

He suddenly found it somewhat ridiculous.

These forces near Burning Bone City appear respectable on the surface, but secretly they engage in such shady dealings.

They make a profit by auctioning off tokens and then another by intercepting lone cultivators, profiting from both ends.

However, he also learned about the modus operandi of the forces near Burning Bone City from this incident.

He shook his head and continued to recall information about the He family.

According to Lin Che's understanding, the He family mentioned by this person is the Golden Core He family near Burning Bone City.

Their main business is somewhat similar to that of the Lin family, both being animal trainers.

However, unlike other animals, the spirit beasts tamed by the He family were mainly used for transporting goods.

Transporting supplies from Zhennan Camp to Fengu Pass was the main business of the He family.

Hundreds of years of operation have established a firm foothold in this industry, making a fortune.

It can be said that in the vicinity of Burning Bone City, whether it is a family force or other forms of force, they almost all rely on Burning Bone Pass for their livelihood.

Or rather, these forces were formed and grew gradually by relying on the ancillary industries of Burning Bone Pass.

The Lin family's growing power has likely attracted their attention.

I guess it won't be long before I'm dealing with them, right?

the other side.

Seeing Lin Che remain silent, He Chuyun assumed he was still considering the pros and cons, and quickly added:

"Senior, I know I was wrong! Please spare my life! I'm willing to offer up all the spirit stones and spiritual items I have, just please spare my life!"

As she spoke, she hurriedly took off the storage bag from her waist and placed it on the ground. She then took off the ring from her hand, the jade hairpin from her hair, and even carefully placed the wooden cane aside.

Her movements were hurried and frantic, as if she would lose her life if she hesitated even a step too long.

Soon, a small pile of things appeared on the ground.

Storage bag, ring, jade hairpin, wooden staff, and several magical artifacts that fell from the sleeve.

It glowed with a faint light under the moonlight.

Lin Che looked at the small pile of things, his face still expressionless.

He Chuyun's heart sank little by little.

She gritted her teeth, then suddenly raised her head, a ruthless glint of desperation flashing in her eyes.

"Senior! Although I have offended you, I am still a member of the He family! The He family has been operating in this Burning Bone Pass for hundreds of years, with several Golden Core stage elders in the clan. If you kill me, the He family will definitely investigate to the end!"

Her voice rose a few decibels, as if she were trying to embolden herself, or as if she were making a final struggle.

"Although you are a Golden Core cultivator, you are ultimately alone. The He family has thousands of cultivators; if they all come out, you might not fare well! Why not let me go? I swear I will never reveal what happened today. Wouldn't it be a win-win situation if we both back down?"

After she finished speaking, she stared nervously at Lin Che, waiting for his response.

Although she understood that she was just an insignificant member of a branch of the He family, the He family would never go to great lengths for someone like her.

But she had no choice but to gamble.

She was betting that the man in front of her was wary of the He family's power, and that he would be willing to let her go to avoid trouble.

Lin Che, who was deep in thought, suddenly smiled.

Are you threatening me?

"No, I wouldn't dare!" He Chuyun hurriedly shook his head, his voice trembling, "This junior was merely... merely stating the pros and cons..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Lin Che's mind stirred slightly, and his spiritual energy flowed.

The two golden hands tightened simultaneously.

"Click—"

With a crisp crack, the iron-feathered eagle was crushed into a bloody mess before it could even let out a scream. Dark red blood seeped from between its golden palms, dripping onto the fallen leaves and leaving a dark stain.

At the same time, He Chuyun's body suddenly stiffened.

Her body slowly dissipated in the golden light, transforming from the edges into specks of light that drifted in the night sky like fireflies.

There were no screams, no struggles, and not even a plea for mercy.

In just a few breaths, the middle-aged female cultivator vanished completely.

It's as if it never existed.

Lin Che withdrew his hand, his expression calm, as if he had only done a trivial matter.

With keen insight, they launched their attack without warning.

His gaze swept over the spot where He Chuyun had vanished, over the remains of the iron-feathered eagle, and over the surrounding ground.

Then, he saw a strand of black silk thread silently falling onto his sleeve.

The thread was so fine that it was invisible to the naked eye. If it weren't for the Wind Eye, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.

It clung quietly to the sleeve, emitting a faint, almost imperceptible fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Lin Che frowned slightly.

This should be the He family's backup plan.

Those who kill their people will be marked with this symbol.

The mark will adhere to the murderer, and cannot be removed or concealed. As long as members of the He family get close enough, they will be able to sense it.

With a slight thought, Lin Che released a wisp of Phoenix Blood True Fire from his fingertips, enveloping the black thread.

The thread struggled for a moment in the purest and most yang flames before turning into a wisp of black smoke and dissipating into the air.

All traces must be completely removed.

Lin Che withdrew his hand and his gaze fell on the open space.

"Should the Lin family also prepare such a contingency plan?"

He was thinking about this matter as he tried to erase any trace of the person.

He naturally did not want any accidents to happen to the descendants of the Lin family.

Even if contingency plans are prepared for them, there is no guarantee that accidents will not happen and that members of their clan will not die.

Setting up life lamps and leaving such tracking marks allows them to know whether their clansmen are still alive and who killed them in case of an emergency.

Even if they can't take revenge immediately, at least they'll know who their enemy is, so they won't die without knowing why.

This is very necessary.

Lin Che cleaned up the battlefield while thinking about it.

He picked up the storage bags and magical artifacts from the ground, probed them with his divine sense, and roughly counted them.

There weren't many spirit stones, about twenty or thirty thousand, and some pills and spiritual materials, though they weren't of high quality, but it was better than nothing.

That wooden staff is quite good; it's a second-tier high-grade magic weapon, and you can sell it for some spirit stones.

After cleaning up the traces, Lin Che vanished from the spot in a flash.