After being jilted by the saintess at the beginning, why is she crying?

He abruptly raised his head, not bothering to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, a greedy glint even flashing in his eyes due to his eagerness, and spoke rapidly like a machine gun:

"I remember that day, the spiritual energy had not yet recovered, and I was ordered to go there to guide the newly initiated disciples."

Lin Fengmian was just a newcomer to the martial arts world, yet he casually pulled out two low-grade spirit stones! Two of them!

His voice trembled slightly with longing when he said the word "spirit stone".

"At the time, I was so overwhelmed by this unexpected joy that I thought I had struck it lucky. I accepted it without thinking much about it."

But upon closer reflection, the more I thought about it, the more something seemed off!

He spoke faster and faster, spitting as he spoke:

"The two women beside this boy are cultivating at an astonishing speed."

In just a few days, he went from a mortal with no cultivation to the late stage of Qi Refining!

Such speed is unheard of! There must be a massive amount of resources supporting it! That's when I began to suspect—Lin Fengmian must be hiding a great opportunity, or… a source of even more spirit stones!

On the main seat, Li Tianlei tapped the black iron armrest with his fingers intermittently.

Each "thud" was like a heavy hammer striking Qingming Zhenren's heart, carrying a metallic echo that sent shivers down one's spine.

The firelight danced on his rugged face, making the hideous scar appear even more terrifying in the alternation of light and shadow.

After a long while, Li Tianlei slowly exhaled, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

"You old fool...you're not entirely wrong."

He leaned forward slightly, his massive body casting a shadow that enveloped Qingming Zhenren entirely, his voice revealing undisguised greed:

"Although spiritual energy has recovered, its concentration is still far from reaching the level of naturally condensed spirit stones."

Every existing spirit stone was unearthed from ancient ruins and is priceless.

If this kid truly harbors a great opportunity, as you say, and if we can get him to reveal the source of the spirit stones…

He paused, his rough fingertips rubbing the surface of the spirit stone hard, his gaze becoming burning and frenzied:

"With the current abundance of revitalized spiritual energy, my cultivation speed has increased more than tenfold! This bottleneck of the mid-stage Golden Core realm, which has kept me stuck for decades, might just be broken through in one fell swoop!"

"Bang!"

He slammed his hand on the armrest, causing the entire hall to tremble.

"Fellow Daoist Qingming, you still have a lot to do for me. If this matter succeeds, I will credit you with the greatest contribution and will not hesitate to reward you handsomely!"

Upon hearing this, Qingming Zhenren was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead striking the black stone ground with a loud thud.

"Thank you, Sect Master! Thank you, Sect Master!"

Li Tianlei suddenly stood up, his black heavy armor clashing with the clanging of metal.

He took a deep breath, his voice like a thunderclap, instantly piercing through the hall and resounding throughout the entire Xuanming Sect:

"By order of the Sect Master—Lin Fengmian, a former disciple of the Jue Ling Sect, possesses an ancient spirit stone relic, an item that our Xuanming Sect must obtain!"

"From this day forward, all disciples of my sect and affiliated forces shall immediately devote all their efforts to searching for this child's whereabouts! If we can capture him alive—"

"A reward of ten low-grade spirit stones, plus a drop of Xuanming Body Tempering True Blood! Simultaneously, a direct promotion to Inner Sect Elder!"

Anyone who obstructs our path, regardless of who they are, will be killed without exception!

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire Xuanming Sect erupted in excitement!

Ten spirit stones! That's ten low-grade spirit stones! Before the spiritual energy recovered, the entire Xuanming Sect only consumed a handful of spirit stones a year!

Moreover, there is the Xuanming Body Tempering True Blood—that stuff can directly temper the body, and for those disciples in the sect who follow the path of body cultivation, it is more precious than spirit stones!

Add to that the direct promotion to Inner Sect Elder... this means instant ascension!

Countless auras filled with greed surged into the sky, and figures swarmed out of the sect like locusts. Killing intent and ambition intertwined, stirring up the miasma above Black Cloud Abyss.

Hearing the resounding command, Qingming Zhenren slowly got up from the ground and wiped the remaining cold sweat from his forehead.

He looked out at the churning miasma in the sky outside the palace, a cold, triumphant smile slowly creeping onto his lips.

"Lin Fengmian... that brat. It's all your fault for those two spirit stones. You forced me to betray the Jue Ling Sect, and now you've made me a target of the Xuanming Sect."

His voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself, yet it carried a sinister pleasure:

"This time, I'm going to expose your true colors. Trying to shift the blame... I want to see how you die."

……

Meanwhile, on the Xuan Tian Continent, in the northern region of Zhongzhou...

In a desolate and remote mountain area, a dilapidated mountain gate stands crookedly, with a plaque hanging on it whose characters have faded to the point of being almost illegible—"Qinglan Sect".

Rather than calling this a sect, it's more accurate to describe it as a long-abandoned, dilapidated mountain village.

In reality, this is the ruins of a dilapidated ancient sect. The entire sect has only thirty to fifty disciples, most of whom have negligible cultivation levels. Even the most powerful cultivator in the sect is just an old man in the early Golden Core stage.

In this Central Plains region teeming with experts, it doesn't even qualify as a ninth-rate force.

At this moment, at the entrance of the sect's relatively well-preserved council hall, a figure sat alone on the stone steps.

The man had gray hair and a gaunt face, but at that moment he was frowning and muttering to himself.

"Damn it...where did that brat Lin Fengmian run off to?"

Li Cheng rubbed his temples hard, his face full of anxiety. He had practically turned half of Zhongzhou upside down lately, using no less than a dozen different tracking techniques, but each time the results pointed in completely different directions.

Sometimes in the east, sometimes in the west, and finally all connections were completely severed, like a broken string with no beginning or end.

"In all my years of experience, I've never suffered such a crushing defeat at the hands of a mere brat!"

He grumbled and patted the stone steps beneath him, about to get up and try another secret technique, when suddenly—his whole body jolted violently!

"wrong!"

He suddenly stood up, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy eyes, and his expression changed drastically!

"Why is the connection to this life force... getting weaker and weaker?!"

The life force aura originating from Lin Fengmian and connected to the depths of his soul was rapidly diminishing at an extremely abnormal rate.

Like a candle flickering in the wind, it could be extinguished at any moment.

Li Cheng's palms instantly broke out in a layer of cold sweat.

"Something's not right... This kid is clearly a person of great fortune! His destiny is as hard as black iron, how could he have fallen so easily?"

His face was so dark it seemed to drip water, and his teeth were grinding together: "Could it be... that he really was swept into some kind of void turbulence and vanished without a trace?"

This thought was like ice water poured over Li Cheng's head, leaving him frozen in place.