The night was dark and quiet.
Dark clouds covered the moon, making the forest around the old stone bridge look even more dangerous.
Lin Kai stood on a high rock near the bridge, looking down at the meeting point.
Beside him were Su Mei, Wang Bo, and Ye Chen.
Li Tian was tied tightly and sitting on the ground, his mouth covered so he could not shout.
“They will come with a trap,” Ye Chen said in a low voice.
“The Li Clan will never hand over so many resources without trying something.”
Lin Kai nodded.
“I know. That is why we prepared.”
Earlier in the day, Lin Kai had asked Han Wei to spread false information that he would bring only two people to the exchange.
In reality, Wang Bo and Ye Chen were hidden in the trees on both sides of the bridge.
At exactly midnight, several figures appeared from the direction of the city.
The leader was a tall middle-aged man with a strong aura — Peak Stage 8.
Behind him were eight Stage 7 experts and more than twenty Stage 6 guards.
They were carrying two large storage boxes.
The middle-aged man stopped at the center of the bridge and shouted, “Black flame boy! Come out! We brought what you asked for. Show us Li Tian!”
Lin Kai walked out from the shadows, pulling Li Tian with him.
Su Mei stayed a few steps behind.
“Put the boxes in the middle and step back,” Lin Kai said coldly.
“I will check them first.”
The Peak Stage 8 expert, who was called Elder Li Hong, gave a cold smile.
“You are very careful for someone so young.”
He ordered his men to place the two boxes in the center of the bridge.
Then the Li Clan group stepped back ten meters.
Lin Kai walked forward slowly.
He opened the first box.
Inside were piles of gold coins.
He checked a few of them and confirmed they were real.
The second box contained ten glowing high-grade spirit stones.
Their pure energy made the air around them feel heavier.
Lin Kai closed the boxes and stored them in his ring.
Then he looked at Elder Li Hong.
“Good. Now I will return your young master.”
He pushed Li Tian forward.
The young man stumbled and almost fell.
Two Li Clan guards quickly ran over and pulled him to safety.
“Attack!”
All the Li Clan experts released their auras at the same time.
Powerful energy waves exploded toward Lin Kai.
Lin Kai had already expected this.
He activated Lightning Flash Step and disappeared from his position.
At the same time, Wang Bo and Ye Chen jumped down from the trees.
Wang Bo smashed into the group of Stage 6 guards with his heavy sword, sending several of them flying.
Ye Chen’s sword moved like a silver snake, cutting the arms and legs of two Stage 7 experts in the first few seconds.
Lin Kai appeared behind one of the Stage 7 experts and placed his palm on the man’s back.
Black energy poured out.
Devour!
The man’s body shook violently as his cultivation was pulled away.
In less than ten seconds, his core was half-devoured and he collapsed.
Elder Li Hong roared in anger and attacked Lin Kai with full power.
A huge yellow spear made of pure energy formed in his hand and shot forward.
Lin Kai crossed his arms and blocked the attack.
The force pushed him back several meters, and blood came out from the corner of his mouth.
The difference between Early Stage 6 and Peak Stage 8 was still large.
“You are still too weak!” Elder Li Hong shouted.
Lin Kai wiped the blood and smiled coldly.
“I don’t need to defeat you tonight. I only need to leave.”
He took out a special talisman that Old Ghost Mo had given him earlier and crushed it.
A thick black fog exploded in all directions, covering the entire bridge.
Inside the fog, Lin Kai’s Void Eye allowed him to see clearly while the Li Clan experts were blinded.
“Wang Bo! Ye Chen! Fall back!”
The three of them moved quickly through the black fog and disappeared into the forest.
Su Mei was already waiting with the escape route prepared.
Elder Li Hong tried to chase them, but the fog made it impossible to find their tracks.
After ten minutes, the fog slowly disappeared.
The Li Clan group stood on the bridge with several injured members and no sign of Lin Kai.
Elder Li Hong’s face was extremely ugly.
“That boy… he is getting more dangerous every day.”
Li Tian, who was now free, shouted angrily, “Uncle, we must kill him! He humiliated our Li Clan!”
“You almost died because of your own arrogance. Be quiet.”
Back in the abandoned valley, Lin Kai and his group finally stopped to rest.
Wang Bo was laughing loudly.
“Brother Kai, that was amazing! We took their money and still escaped!”
Ye Chen cleaned his sword and said, “We were lucky. If Elder Li Hong had been more careful, it would have been much harder.”
Su Mei looked at Lin Kai with concern.
“You are injured.”
Lin Kai sat down and took out a healing pill.
“It’s nothing serious. The Void Core is already repairing the damage.”
He checked the two storage boxes again.
Fifty thousand gold coins and ten high-grade spirit stones.
This was a huge amount of resources for him right now.
“With this,” Lin Kai said, “we can buy better weapons, more pills, and even hire some people.”
Wang Bo’s eyes shone.
“Are we going to build our own force?”
“Yes,” Lin Kai answered.
“From now on, we will slowly gather people who are loyal to us. The Li Clan and the Lin Clan are both our enemies. We cannot fight them with only four people forever.”
Ye Chen nodded.
“I know a few lone cultivators who hate the big clans. I can contact them.”
Su Mei added, “Han Wei also knows many people who need money and protection.”
Lin Kai looked at the night sky.
“Good. Start contacting them tomorrow. But be careful. Only accept people we can trust.”
While they were talking, far away in Azure Cloud City, the Li Clan was in complete chaos.
Li Zhen was extremely angry after hearing that the exchange had turned into a fight and several experts were injured.
At the same time, in the Lin Clan, Lin Feng received the full report.
He sat in his quiet room and slowly smiled.
“Lin Kai… you are becoming more interesting. First you robbed their warehouse, then you kidnapped their young master, and now you escaped from a Peak Stage 8 elder. Very good.”
He stood up and looked out of the window.
“Keep growing. When the time comes, I will be the one who ends you.”
In another part of the city, Zhao Rong was drinking tea alone.
When he heard the news of the failed ambush, he smiled with interest.
“Black flame… devouring power… this Lin Kai is not simple. I should get closer to him.”
The storm around Lin Kai was growing larger every day.
And this was only the beginning.
End of Chapter 12