In the morning.
A big snow came out of the blue and snowflakes whirled in the sky like a myriad of feathers. A row of icicles with the size of arm hung from the eaves. It was freezing cold outside.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
In the yard, the quickly moving saber reflected light here and there, sweeping large quantities of snow up into the air.
Lin Xun was shirtless and moved so quickly that people could only catch the shadows of his body. He brandished the Sky Breacher so sharply and smoothly that nothing could break through his defense.
Lin Xun was tall and slim. And the muscles of his bare upper body were like blocks of thoroughly-tempered lead, which made him look well-built and elegant rather than stout and barbaric.
It had been half a year since he left the mine prison and Lin Xun turned from a thin, pale and weak boy into a charming, elegant and self-possessed young man.
And the already comely and angular face was lit up by a high spirit.
Suddenly with a whizzing sound, a bone spear broke through the defense of the wielded saber and hit at the weakest point. The strike was simple, direct and nimble.
With a thud, Lin Xun stumbled and staggered backward a few steps, the Sky Breaker in his hand buzzing.
“This saberplay is very powerful, but its core power was not unleashed because you haven’t mastered it thoroughly.”
Shia Zhi, wearing a black wind coat, stood calmly in the snow at a distance with a bone spear in hand.
“I know.”
Lin Xun put away his saber, sighed softly and then started washing himself.
What he practiced just now was Six-word Saberplay. At the level of Nuance, he had just got to the essence of this saberplay but it was really hard for him to exert his core power thoroughly.
Lin Xun knew that he needed more actual combat experience. Practicing all by himself was far from enough, and he must undergo trials of cruel fights.
“You are not going out today?” Shia Zhi put away her bone spear and asked.
“Not for now.” Lin Xun put on his clothes, covering his naked upper body, and started preparing breakfast.
He refined two more Explosive-flam Sabers these two days, but the stir caused by sale of the first saber in Golden Hall made him realized that it was not a proper time for him to go to Golden Hall to sell these two spiritual weapons because he was afraid that lots of people in this town were looking for him - the “secret spiritual tattooist”.
However, Lin Xun believed since Golden Hall could sell that Explosive-flam Saber out at a price of 300 imperial silver coins, it definitely wouldn’t want to let go of this opportunity of making more money. Gu Yanping would contact him sooner or later.
According to the information collected by Fatty Shiao, Lin Xun realized that he was not as safe as he thought.
Therefore, he should take some measures to deal with the threats from the Clan of Wu and guard himself against the revenge of Lian Fei.
He thought for a long time last night and finally decided to seize all available resources to improve his strength!
At breakfast, Lin Xun told Shia Zhi his thoughts, "We can't just sit still and await destruction. We must make some preparations and act in advance."
Shia Zhi listened in silence.
Lin Xun mused, “This time, the Clan of Wu plans to kill me through Lian Fei just because they are afraid that the Keystone Business will stir a finger. But, as you know, the Keystone Business will not help us any more, so we have to rely on ourselves.”
Shia Zhi raised her head and said carefully, “You have told me these a few days ago. Now just tell me what to do.”
These words robbed Lin Xun of his speech. He was in a trance and asked awkwardly, “I really have said these before?”
Shia Zhi answered, “Yes”.
Then Lin Xun said, “That’s good. My plan is that we take the initiative and find a proper chance to wipe out Lian Fei and his followers.”
Shia Zhi asked, “And then?”
Lin Xun mused, “Once Lian Fei dies, we will know the real attitude the Clan of Wu holds towards this matter. If they do not hesitate to take violent actions against us, we have no choice but to hide for some time.”
Shia Zhi frowned and repeated, “Hide?”
Lin Xun nodded and said, “Yes, hide. I’m afraid they have known that we are living here. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”
And he continued after a pause, “With sufficient manpower and large fortune, the Clan of Wu is a local snake in Donglin Town. If we have to be their enemies, we can only take circuitous tactics such as assassinations and sneak attacks. In this way, they are sitting targets while we lurk in the dark and act under cover. As long as we do not get caught, this will definitely give them a hard time.”
After thinking about it for a while, Lin Xun added, “But such tactics are very dangerous. Once we get trapped or exposed, we have no choice but to fight desperately to extricate ourselves."
Shia Zhi thought for a while and said, “If I steal up on them, I, at most, can kill a practitioner at the preliminary stage of Gang Spirit Realm.”
Lin Xun was shocked for this was the first time Shia Zhi revealed how powerful she really was and what surprised Lin Xun even more was that Shia Zhi had already had the power to kill a practitioner at the preliminary stage of Gang Spirit Realm!
That was Gang Spirit Realm which was extraordinary in the eyes of common people!
At that realm, the Qi was refined into Gang. One could take in the spiritual energy of the universe anytime and anywhere and in the Ocean of Qi in his body could form an inscrutable “Pond of Spiritual Power”. A practitioner at Martial Realm couldn’t contend with one at Gang Spirit Realm in terms of fighting capacity.
It was said that reaching the Gang Spirit Realm meant one had just set foot on the road of cultivation. At this stage, not only did the spiritual power and physical strength surpass the human limits, but also the life span, soul and even the whole body would be thoroughly remolded!
The ninth level of Martial Realm was nothing more than the base for stepping on the road of cultivation in the eyes of real practitioners.
But Shia Zhi said she had the power to kill a practitioner at the preliminary stage of Gang Spirit Realm. Although she had to make use of sneak attacks, it was shocking enough.
She was just a girl of 5 or 6 years old. Who could believe that she was so powerful?
It had been a long time before Lin Xun calmed down and responded, "That's good."
Shia Zhi frowned, “Good? Given another three months, I can kill a practitioner at the preliminary stage of Gang Spirit Realm without relying on sneak attacks.”
Lin Xun was just speechless. And he had thought that it was remarkable for him to non-stop rise in rank, from the second level to the fifth level of Martial Realm, during a little more than half a year.
Who could ever think that Shia Zhi progressed much more quickly.
Except “Wow”, Lin Xun really didn’t know what to say about her…
Lin Xun rubbed his forehead and said, "We don't have so much time. I think the worst that can happen is if we are really at wit’s end, we could just leave Donglin Town and find a proper opportunity to stage a comeback.”
Shia Zhi raised her head and said seriously, “But I do not like enduring and escaping.”
Lin Xun shrugged and said, “This is the worst situation which has a slim chance to happen.”
At this time, there came the rat-tat at the door.
Shia Zhi seemed to know who that was and just kept eating her meal.
Soon, the courtyard door was pushed open, Fatty Diao and the Bones walked in and each of them carried a giant box.
“Respected Boss Shuang Mu!”
Fatty Diao and the Bones was surprised to see Lin Xun here, but they instantly gave a salute with a flattering smile.
With the corners of his mouth twitching imperceptibly, Lin Xun thought that this ugly nickname seemed completely irrecusable…
“Put things there, and then you can leave.”
Shia Zhi ordered casually.
Fatty Diao and the Bones nodded quickly, put the two boxes in the corner of the wall, and went out in humble reverence.
“What’s that?” Lin Xun asked immediately.
Shia Zhi stood up and said, “I, with my guys, wiped out another gang last night. These are the trophies.”
She opened one wooden box and found it was full of shining imperial silver coins whose number was about 500.
But Shia Zhi just gave it a glance and opened the other box. It was full of cans and bottles of spiritual medicines which were obviously valuable.
Lin Xun stepped up. After seeing these imperial silver coins and spiritual medicines, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “The profit is a bit too fat!”
Shia Zhi replied casually, “Those gangs have been in the Civilian Area for many years. They often rob of, extort and steal others’ property. Do you really think they will be short of money? These are only a small part of what we get, and the rest has already been distributed to members of Shuangmu Faction.”
Shuangmu Faction!
Hearing this, Lin Xun got defeated totally and just asked, “So, now…Shuangmu Faction also becomes a gang?”
Shia Zhi answered, “Yes”, and then added instantly, “The Civilian Area is quite a mixed bag and it is impossible to eradicate all the underground forces. However, under my constraints, Shuangmu Faction is no longer involved in businesses like stealing, robbery and killing.
Lin Xun asked with surprise, “This is equivalent to depriving them of the means by which they survive. How could they agree on this?”
Shia Zhi answered, “They have already agreed because I have promised to help them take over other gangs’ territories and the benefit they get is way beyond their imagination.”
Lin Xun lost his tongue and asked no more questions.
“I ordered them to pick these spiritual medicines out particularly for they are very beneficial to the cultivation at the fifth level of Martial Realm.”
Shia Zhi continued, “The 500 imperial silver coins in this box should meet our daily need. Therefore, you do not have to spend so much energy and time in refining spiritual weapons for money.”
Then, Shia Zhi turned back into the room and intended to go to sleep again.
At this moment, Lin’s mood was pretty complicated. War and pillage were surely the most effective ways to amass a fortune!
In as short as two days, Shia Zhi wiped out two big gangs in the Civilian Area and gained 700 imperial silver coins and a lot of spiritual medicines. In contrast, the money Lin Xun earned from selling spiritual weapons was just a drop in the bucket.
However, Lin Xun wouldn’t give up refining spiritual weapons. Gaining wealth by robbing and taking over others’ territories not only would just work temporarily, but also was too risky, and the trophies were all stained with blood.
But refining spiritual weapons was different. It was a steady way of earning money, and more importantly, it could help him polish his skills of inscribing spiritual tattoos.
Since this day, Lin Xun no longer went out and made the best use of the daytime to inscribe spiritual tattoos, refine spiritual weapons, promote his cultivation, strengthen his spirit and soul, practice martial arts…
At the meantime, every three days he would enter the Mille-waterfalls of Spiritual Tattoo Battlefield to challenge himself. Although he failed every time, he could clearly feel that his physical strength kept getting stronger.
As for Shia Zhi, this little girl slept during daytime and vanished at night. Every other day, she would bring back a large fortune, either imperial silver coins or spiritual medicines beneficial to Lin Xun’s cultivation.
Were it not for the troublesome Clan of Wu, Lin Xun even kind of liked the current tranquil life which was really uncommon for him.
Unfortunately, his life was not destined to be tranquil forever.
At one night ten days later, an assassination attempted against Lin Xun started quietly...