After watching He Qing leave, Lin Jin didn’t plan on going out anymore. As it had been an exhausting day, he planned to go back, meditate, and practice the pulse-seeking technique, strengthening his veins while he was at it. After that, he would catch a good night’s sleep.
Lately, Lin Jin hadn’t been slacking off when it came to personal cultivation.
His blood contract was at the peak of the fourth realm so he was actually a step away from the fifth realm.
According to the Friar Association’s grading system, anyone at the fifth realm was considered an assistant lecturer. Lin Jin estimated that he was probably a few days away from reaching the fifth realm.
The results of using the pulse-seeking technique to strengthen his veins and promote his cultivation were visible. All five of his senses were heightened and if Lin Jin kept up the effort, he should be able to renew his physical body.
This was something other friars couldn’t even begin to imagine.
Since ancient times, immortal cultivation was performed in hopes of renewing one’s physical body, to remedy a person’s shortcoming so that their physical performance could be enhanced. This would, in turn, lead to greater spirit energy absorption. One would be able to start casting stronger spells and in some cases, prolonging one’s life.
After eating those desserts in the late afternoon, Lin Jin didn’t feel hungry. He instructed the inn’s workers not to disturb him before returning to his room.
He let Xiao Huo and the white ape train on their own while Lin Jin sat on the bed to begin strengthening his veins.
Time flew by. It was around sunset when he first started, but after Lin Jin was done reconstructing one of his veins and felt refreshed, he opened his eyes to realize that it was already dark outside.
“Let’s continue!” Lin Jin took a deep breath before carrying on the cultivation process.
Even in a bustling city like the royal capital, many spots would fall into dead silence when it got late at night. There were no lights and only occasional candlelights could be seen on either side of Jade Dragon River.
Deep into the night, a dark silhouette darted through the Jade Dragon Palace with great speed like a phantom, making not a single sound.
The shadow arrived at Sixth Princess, He Yu’s quarters, and looked around before jumping inside.
Despite how late it was, He Yu hadn’t gone to sleep yet.
Usually, she would lay in bed, letting thoughts run through her mind as she gradually fell asleep. But today, she found it hard to rest so she got up and started reading with the help of candlelight. Though, after two pages, she went into a daze, thinking about something.
This was one of her scarce few hobbies.
Just then, the candlelight flickered as if there was a slight breeze within her enclosed room.
Being a sharp person, He Yu looked up to see that she now had an uninvited guest in her room.
This person was standing in the shadow so He Yu could only see the outline of their figure.
He Yu was about to shout for help when the intruder said something. He Yu’s eyes widened at once and she gave up yelling.
Moments later, the shadow left with a slightly scorching golden ring in their hand.
Not long after the shadow left, the silhouette of a dragon darted out from Jade Dragon Temple and headed straight for the palace, into He Yu’s quarters.
The cries of a dragon resonated.
Inside the inn, Lin Jin abruptly opened his eyes.
The silver needles around him were vibrating slightly.
“I think I heard something just now.” When he tried to listen closely, he couldn’t hear anything anymore.
Xiao Huo and the white ape were sleeping soundly inside the room. The white ape, in particular, had developed a love for food recently and would slack off during cultivation. Lin Jin brought him along so he could urge the white ape into training too. If he just let the primate be, God knows when the white ape would finally master Transformation.
Lin Jin didn’t wake the white ape up. He suddenly felt panic during his cultivation earlier, so he opened his eyes, only to sense nothing after that.
It might have been an illusion.
Then, he muttered under his breath, “Come back.”
The hundred needles all over his body glistened as they flew back into Lin Jin’s sleeve.
This was where Lin Jin usually kept his needles.
They were no ordinary needles. These were coiled wire needles that Lin Jin spent days and nights crafting with a unique method.
At first, Lin Jin only had one coiled wire needle, but he now had more than a hundred. If anyone were to fight him, even those on the same level as Yang Jie shouldn’t be able to harm him.
The windows were wide open. Lin Jin walked over to enjoy the night scenery of this city.
Suddenly, he felt a sense of impending danger.
A pitch-black arrow whistled silently as it sliced through the air, aiming for Lin Jin’s throat.
With his quick reflexes, Lin Jin turned to his side to avoid it.
Thud!
The arrow pierced into the wall before staining it black and emitted a foul smell.
It was a poison arrow.
Xiao Huo was the first to wake up. He practically dashed over like a lightning bolt to shield Lin Jin from further attacks. The white ape was equally nimble. He darted out of the window and disappeared into the darkness.
Lin Jin turned to look at the arrow as fear started sinking in.
If he had been a tad bit slower, even if the arrow just scraped his skin, he would have surely died. No doubt, it contained a lethal dose of poison.
“Who’s trying to kill me?”
Lin Jin was baffled. It was his first time here in the royal capital and the number of people who knew him could be counted with all the fingers on one hand. So who was it who wanted him dead on the first day?
Anger.
He was absolutely furious.
Fortunately, Lin Jin had been meditating lately so he didn’t lose his composure.
Xiao Huo was here to protect him and letting the white ape go alone should suffice.
Despite him being Rank 3, the white ape was a creature from the Grassy Continent and was also a monster who recently learned Beast Energy Formation and Demonic Transformation. He could even stand up to a Rank 4 beast on his own.
Furthermore, that person who fired the arrow seemed to be alone and human.
If they were human, that made things easier.
Lin Jin remained indoors as going out would make him even more vulnerable to attacks. He decided to stay inside the room and let Xiao Huo protect him.
He drank some tea to calm his nerves. Soon, there was some movement outside.
The white ape returned.
This white ape was now much larger, being the size of an average adult. His black fur was pushed out by newly grown white fur and the primate looked much more energetic with his thick limbs exposed.
His natural physique already surpassed even the strongest of men, so even if the white ape never cultivated, he could easily overpower so-called martial arts experts through raw strength.
The white ape carried a person with him.
This person wasn’t moving so they didn’t know if he was dead or alive. The man was dressed in black and his covered face was bleeding.
No doubt, this was the guy who fired the arrow earlier.
“White ape, did you beat him to death?” Lin Jin asked. The white ape flashed him an innocent look. Lin Jin went over to see how this person was heavily injured with his chest dented. He showed signs of only exhaling and not inhaling.
This must be the work of the white ape.
Though, he couldn’t be blamed either. This mysterious man was obviously a professional assassin so it was better that he was dead than risk the white ape getting hurt.
Looks like Lin Jin couldn’t get any answers out of this person.
Sure enough, that person soon drew his last breath. Lin Jin found some poison arrows on him while the white ape brought back something else, a bow.
The bow was well-crafted and powerful. Lin Jin gave the string some tugs and he was sure that this weapon was lethal up to a range of a hundred and fifty feet. It could even pierce through rocks.
Moreover, a poison-tipped arrow meant that a simple scrape was sufficient to kill.