"Is this true?"
Feng Ling was shocked. He hadn't expected the other side to move so quickly and begin laying out its scheme in secret.
If not for Elder Lingchen's odd habit of "meditating on the rooftop in the middle of the night," which led him to discover the other party's movements, Feng Ling would have rested for the night and plundered the treasures within the Weiyun Sect the next day.
But now he had no choice but to move up his plans!
"Big brother, how could this be false? I saw a group of Black-Clad Men sneaking into the rear courtyard with my own eyes. Less than a quarter of an hour later, they vanished into the night, dragging several Sect Disciple corpses with them!"
Fearing that rash action would alert the enemy, Elder Lingchen refrained from acting alone. Instead, he rushed over to report the situation to his elder brother, Ling Weiyun.
So they couldn't hold back any longer?
So there really are accomplices... and quite a few, by the looks of it!
"To be so familiar with the sect's layout, they must have a mole hidden among the disciples!" Feng Ling responded with a feigned analysis, though in truth he couldn't care less about any of this.
"Big brother, you must investigate this thoroughly tomorrow! We must root out the culprit, or we'll be nurturing a tiger that will bring us disaster..." Elder Lingchen's eyes brimmed with worry.
Ling Weiyun's own brother, indeed. Blood ties aren't severed merely by leaving home.
"Ah— Second Brother Chen, to be honest with you..." Feng Ling scrunched his old face into a knot, feigning grief, and confessed half-truthfully to Ling Chen, who sat properly to his right: "This time, though your big brother was fortunate enough to survive, my cultivation is no longer at the Eighth Revolution..."
Having said this, Feng Ling held his breath. He had only dared to make this decision after careful deliberation.
Either way, death awaited him. If he guessed right, Elder Lingchen would be the key to his safe escape; if he guessed wrong, Elder Lingchen would kill him on the spot!
This time, Feng Ling was betting big!
Fortunately, his luck held out—he wasn't one of those unlucky wretches who kick the bucket at the start.
"How could this be? This is troublesome now!"
Elder Lingchen was slightly taken aback, his old face full of doubt and worry, but he harbored no ill intent. Feng Ling used the Assassin's Mind-Reading Technique he relied on to gauge people's hearts and confirmed that Lingchen's reaction was genuine, not an act.
"Big brother, what are your plans?" Elder Lingchen asked urgently. He feared Ling Weiyun might lose his head and refuse to retire, clinging to the Weiyun Sect.
"Once this matter is settled, I shall find a secluded place of scenic beauty and retire to the mountains, free from worldly disputes!"
Feng Ling calmly took a sip of tea. Though he was saying this to fool Ling Chen, he had thought about—and even yearned for—such a leisurely, carefree life of seclusion in his previous life. But the world is unpredictable; how could everything go according to one's wishes?
"Excellent, then!"
Hearing this, Elder Lingchen let out a sigh of relief.
Right after, Feng Ling leaned in and whispered a few words into Elder Lingchen's ear, then handed over a letter: "Go now. I believe the other side won't dare close the net in a hurry, not yet!"
"Take care, big brother!"
Elder Lingchen rose, took the Letter Feng Ling had prepared, and left under cover of night, worry weighing on him.
Want to play, do we?
As Ling Chen's figure vanished from sight, Feng Ling's mouth curled into a faint smile. He slipped out again, heading straight for the Treasure Pavilion!
It was called the Treasure Pavilion, but it was only a small wooden hut. For a mid-to-small power like the Weiyun Sect, held together by one man's strength, how many usable treasures could it have?
Moreover, in the entire Weiyun Sect, only Ling Weiyun and his old wife were of any real use. The couple ran the Sect and taught the disciples themselves, while their two foolish sons idled all day.
Feng Ling couldn't help admiring the Ling Weiyun couple. They truly were old heroes of their generation.
.....
"The Weiyun Thunderbolt Art!?"
In the room, which measured a little over ten square meters, a shadowy figure methodically gathered everything of value.
After taking a few steps, Feng Ling stopped beside a corner thick with dust.
Without his extraordinary eyesight, he might have overlooked an Advanced Ghost Technique!
This was the fourth ghost technique discovered so far, and the only advanced one among them.
Two beginner offense-and-defense Ghost Techniques: 《Ghost-Transcending Art》 and 《Stone-Shattering Fist》; and one intermediate movement Ghost Technique: 《Ghost Shadow Traceless Step》.
The Dark Token's faint glow faded. After collecting everything of value, Feng Ling sat in the empty room and flipped through the four Ghost Technique Manuals.
The Ghost-Transcending Art was the one Feng Ling had used earlier. It was the most basic Ghost Technique: it had no special features, but it was also the most practical.
In fact, the Ghost-Transcending Art grew stronger with the Ghost Spirit Master's cultivation.
Unlike most Ghost Techniques, it did not limit a Ghost Spirit Master's ability to use it. Because it was the most basic Ghost Technique and nearly every Ghost Spirit Master knew it, however, people classified it as a beginner-level Ghost Technique.
Stone-Shattering Fist channels Ghost-God Power through the fists and palms. Its effect resembles an Intermediate Ghost Spirit Master's ability to injure someone from a distance. Mastered to the highest level, it can shatter boulders with bare hands!
It is the best fist technique for a beginner Ghost Spirit Master challenging an Intermediate Ghost Spirit Master above their level!
Best?
Best? Feng Ling frowned, seeing the advantages and drawbacks at a glance. Stone-Shattering Fist might be a powerful weapon in the early stages, but after breaking through to Intermediate Ghost Spirit Master, a cultivator would find its power reduced. It would become little more than a chicken rib.
In other words, it had the common flaw of low-level Ghost Techniques limiting a high-level Ghost Spirit Master's strength!
"Thud—!" The room trembled. The restrained blow made little noise, but it left a fist mark more than ten centimeters deep in the stone floor.
After trying the technique's movement pattern a few times, Feng Ling quickly mastered Stone-Shattering Fist. Ling Weiyun's memories made the technique feel familiar.
Though it had significant flaws, it made no difference to Feng Ling at this point — and besides, he genuinely needed a few ghost techniques to rely on right now!
He estimated that, using the Stone-Shattering Fist now, going up against a Fifth Rank cultivator, keeping himself alive shouldn't be a problem!
Next, Feng Ling opened Ghost Shadow Traceless Step and found the same problem as with Stone-Shattering Fist. He learned it anyway; after all, it was an Intermediate movement technique!
The minimum requirement for cultivating this Intermediate movement technique was the cultivation of a Fifth Rank Intermediate Ghost Spirit Master. Other Low-level Ghost Spirit Masters might only stare at the manual, unable to use it, but Feng Ling met the prerequisite!
First, in his previous life as an assassin, Feng Ling's movement technique was already excellent, giving him a solid foundation. Second, the original owner of this body had been an Eighth-Rank Advanced Ghost Spirit Master, so his physical constitution was more than up to par. Finally, he also had the vast energy support granted by the Eighth-Rank Ghost Spirit Body.
"An incomplete fragment!" Feng Ling exhaled a breath of turbid air. He had only read a few pages of the final Advanced Ghost Technique when he frowned and spotted the problem.
This advanced ghost technique was nothing but an incomplete fragment!
Feng Ling paused, then understood at once:
It turned out that Ling Weiyun had compiled this Ghost Technique Manual after obtaining a fragment of 《Thunderbolt Art》 and adding his own insights. He had even added the "Weiyun Thunderbolt Art" title to the cover afterward.
"Crackle, crackle, crackle—" The electric current twisted like a silver snake, growing more ferocious...
"BOOM!!!"
In the vast darkness of night, an earth-shaking roar rang out, thick smoke and dust billowing into the sky.
The entire Treasure Pavilion,
crumbled to dust and scattered in an instant...
Right after, the whole Weiyun Sect was jolted awake, and everyone rushed swiftly to the scene.
"Sect Master, something terrible has happened!"
"Why such panic?"
"The— the Treasure Pavilion... someone robbed it and destroyed it!"
"Quick! Come with me and take a look!"
Feng Ling threw open the door, dark-faced, and followed the panicked Sect Disciple toward the Treasure Pavilion.
Treading across the rooftops, he sped along the way.
Feng Ling's right hand was clasped behind his back, his fingertip pressed against his index finger, waves of a tingling, numbing sensation coiling through it.
A little more,
just a little more, and he would have been discovered!
"Good heavens! Who did this?"
"Hmph! Destroying our sect's Treasure Pavilion — this is an unforgivable enmity. We must capture that despicable thief!"
The site where the Treasure Pavilion once stood was now empty and in complete disarray. A crowd had already gathered, voicing their righteous fury in loud condemnation.
Feng Ling, the instigator, kept his face as still as an ancient well, but his heart shook.
Just a trace—a single trace!
That single strand of Lightning destroyed the Treasure Pavilion and drained every last bit of Ghost-God Power from his Second-Turn Ghost Spirit Master cultivation in an instant!
Without the Eighth-Rank Ghost Spirit Body replenishing his energy in time, he might have met with disaster!
"Dad, someone's destroyed the Treasure Pavilion!"
When their father, Ling Weiyun, arrived, the two sons explained at once, afraid he might not notice the destruction. The several dozen others respectfully called out, "Sect Master."
"My lord, this matter must be investigated thoroughly!" the Impostor Madam Pan Yuan said, pressing a clenched fist to her chest with a look of utter grief.
Just as Feng Ling was about to speak, a disciple came running over in a panic and cried, "Terrible, terrible! Eight bloody corpses are laid out at the sect's front gate..."
Everyone's faces changed all at once. Ling Chi and Ling Han rushed forward and seized the one who had spoken.
Their relentless interrogation left the man, already half out of his wits, even more rattled. He could not give a coherent answer.
"Let's go..."
Unable to stand by any longer, Feng Ling spoke in a low voice and led everyone toward the sect's entrance.
After everyone had left,
After the crowd had left, Ling Chi and Ling Han grabbed the dazed disciple like a chick by the neck and followed.
Every hatching from the shell is a new birth...
Amid the countless troubles and vexations of this world, may the sages offer to you all a Pure Land of the Soul.