305: Chapter 303 It's on My Head

"Leniency? Do you think Lord Xuantian's rules are a joke?!"

The guard wasn't buying it at all; he gave a sinister grin, his Face full of fatty flesh, and abruptly raised the long whip in his hand that flickered with thunderous light.

"Since you can't hand over the tribute, then according to the rules of Liuyun Town, you are to be expelled immediately! You old bag of bones, go out to the wasteland and be a snack for those void beasts!"

With that, the long whip in the guard's hand let out a piercing whistle as it tore through the air, ruthlessly lashing down toward the old man's thin back!

If this whip landed, given the old man's current state—like a flickering candle in the wind—he would likely lose half his life on the spot, even if he didn't die.

The expected sound of flesh tearing did not ring out.

Even that piercing sound of thunder tearing through the air came to a weird, abrupt halt at a certain moment.

"Snap."

An extremely faint yet exceptionally crisp sound echoed in front of the tea stall.

The black whip, laced with violent Law of Thunder and capable of flaying a common Half-Immortal alive, stopped just an inch away from the old man's back.

It wasn't blocked by some powerful Magic Treasure.

Instead, it was caught effortlessly in mid-air by two long, fair, well-defined fingers.

Time seemed to fall into a standstill at this moment.

The eyes of everyone—including the guard with the distorted Face, the old man kneeling on the ground waiting for death, and the trembling onlookers on both sides of the long street—

All froze in this instant upon those two fingers holding the long whip.

Looking along those two fingers,

One saw a youth who had been sitting quietly in the corner of the tea stall, wearing a long robe devoid of any Formation ripples, looking like a Mortal scholar without any cultivation.

He was sitting there peacefully.

His left hand remained flat on his knee, his right arm was slightly raised, and his two fingers steadily gripped the whip that was constantly pulsing with thunderous light.

And by his side, the girl in the moon-white dress, who was peerlessly beautiful and seemed detached from the world, still leaned intimately against his shoulder. She hadn't even lifted an eyelid, as if she didn't care at all about this potentially fatal attack.

"This... how is this possible?!"

The eyes of the guard who swung the whip nearly popped out of his head.

The thunderous whip in his hand was a Magical Artifact personally bestowed by an Earth Immortal!

A single strike from it contained the Law of Thunder of the Upper Realm; even a Body Cultivator at the same Half-Immortal level wouldn't dare to catch it with bare hands!

This kid in the green robe, who seemed to have no cultivation ripples, actually caught it effortlessly with just two fingers?!

Not only that, the guard discovered with horror that no matter how frantically he surged the immortal power in his body, even using every ounce of strength he possessed, the caught whip remained as if rooted, not budging an inch!

Those seemingly slender fingers showed no violent spiritual energy ripples, only an immeasurable calm like an abyss, as if they could completely swallow all power.

"Who... who are you?!"

The guard's forehead was instantly covered in cold sweat. He roared with false bravado, trying to use his voice to hide his inner panic.

"Let go! Obstructing the Law—do you want to rebel?!"

Su Lin did not answer him immediately.

He tilted his head slightly, his deep gaze like something physical, piercing through the guard and landing directly on the guard commander sitting atop the six-legged Vicious Beast in the rear.

"I was the one who broke the table of this tea stall."

Su Lin's voice was steady and gentle, without any hint of anger.

He slowly released his fingers from the long whip.

"The two units of immortal spirit ash he's missing—put it on my tab."

As Su Lin spoke, he very casually pulled a dark silver metallic scale, only the size of a fingernail, from his sleeve.

This was precisely a fragment of scale armor that Chu Weiwei had casually peeled off after they killed that Blade-Armor Corpse Wolf at the edge of the forest earlier.

Su Lin flicked his finger, and the scale turned into a silver light, drawing a perfect arc in the air and landing squarely in the guard commander's arms.

"This material should be more than enough to cover his tribute for this month."

Su Lin withdrew his hand and sat back down on the long bench, as if he had just done a trivial thing.

However, the atmosphere on the entire long street became extremely strange at this moment.

The guard commander caught the flying scale in a flurry, just about to get angry.

But when his gaze fell upon that dark silver scale, his pupils suddenly shrank, and his breathing instantly became heavy.

"This... this is..."

The commander's hands trembled as he held the scale before his eyes to examine it closely.

Though it was only the size of a fingernail, the extremely complex natural metallic patterns on it, and the heart-palpitating, violent aura of a bottom-tier predator of the Taihuang Immortal Domain emanating from within...

There was absolutely no mistaking it!

"This is a reverse scale fragment of a Blade-Armor Corpse Wolf?!"

The commander let out an incredible cry of shock in his heart.

Blade-Armor Corpse Wolf! That was a terrifying Vicious Beast that lived deep within the metallic forests on the outskirts of Liuyun Town!

The physical defense of an adult corpse wolf could even withstand a full-strength strike from an Early Stage Earth Immortal!

Even if Lord Xuantian personally led a team to hunt one down, it would cost a significant price to kill just one.

The scale armor of such a Yao Beast was an excellent material for refining defensive Immortal Artifacts.

Even a fragment this small, if taken to the black market in the main city for auction, could be exchanged for at least dozens of Low Grade Immortal Stones!

To use it to cover the old man's two units of immortal spirit ash tribute?

This was simply using a cannon to hit a mosquito—a total waste of a precious treasure!

"This kid... what is his background? To be able to bring out material of this level? Could he be some Young Master from a big Family in the main city out for experience?"

Countless thoughts flashed through the commander's mind in an instant.

He looked up and gazed at Su Lin again.

No spiritual power ripples, no Law leakage—everything looked so ordinary.

But it was this extreme ordinariness that, after casually producing a Blade-Armor Corpse Wolf scale and catching a full-strength whip from a Half-Immortal with two fingers, turned into an immeasurable fear.

"Commander! This kid dares to openly defy the Law and even dared to injure me! Please give the order, sir, to take him down!"

The guard who had been frightened earlier saw that the commander hadn't spoken and thought he was hesitating. He immediately began to bluster loudly, trying to regain some Face.

"Shut up!"

The guard commander suddenly turned his head and gave a furious shout, directly choking back the guard's subsequent words.

Though he was greedy, he was no fool to have managed to reach the position of commander in a place as ruthless as this.

The waters of the Taihuang Immortal Domain were too deep; throwing a random stone could hit someone with a background that reached the heavens.

The depth of the green-robed man before him was unknown, and the girl beside him had a peerless appearance and temperament. To act rashly before figuring out the other party's background was seeking death!

"Since this Young Master is willing to pay the tribute for this old gentleman, then that is naturally for the best."

The guard commander changed his Face extremely fast. He very quickly swept the scale into his storage ring, his Face squeezing out a fawning smile that looked worse than crying.

"Young Master is generous and righteous; I am impressed. This old thing's tribute is now considered paid in full."

With that, he waved his hand and shouted to his subordinates, "What are you standing around for? On to the next house!"

The guards looked at each other. Though they were confused, they didn't dare to disobey the commander's order. They all put away their weapons and followed the commander in a grand procession toward the other end of the street.

A bloody conflict that seemed on the verge of erupting was thus dissolved into nothingness in an extremely dramatic fashion.

It wasn't until the backs of those guards completely disappeared around the street corner that the Half-Immortals on both sides of the street, who had been holding their breath, finally dared to let out a long sigh of relief.

The way they looked at Su Lin was no longer just with numbness, but with an extremely complex light mixed with awe, curiosity, and disbelief.

The old man who had almost been whipped to death was still kneeling on the ground.

He stared blankly at the empty ground before him, then looked at Su Lin, who had sat back in his original spot, as if he were in a dream.

"Cus... customer... you..."

The old man's lips trembled. He wanted to say some words of thanks, but found he didn't know what to say at all.

"The money for this table is my compensation to you."

Su Lin didn't look at the old man. He just reached out and patted Chu Weiwei's shoulder, signaling her to stand up.

"Let's go."

"Alright, Revered Master~"

Chu Weiwei stood up obediently and very naturally took Su Lin's arm.

At the moment she turned to leave, Chu Weiwei's amethyst-like eyes casually swept in the direction the guard commander had gone.

Deep within those seemingly pure eyes, a trace of imperceptible purple-gold powder followed her gaze and silently dissipated into the air.

"Taking Revered Master's things requires paying interest, you know."

Chu Weiwei chuckled happily in her heart.

On that scale, long before she took it out, she had already coated it with a chronic toxin called [Immortal-Corroding Soul-Devouring Powder].

That poison was colorless and odorless and wouldn't take effect immediately, but it would seep bit by bit into that commander's immortal foundation through his pores.

Within seven days, that greedy commander would suffer a full-body ulceration and turn into a pool of foul-smelling black water in what would appear to be an extremely normal Qi Deviation.

Consider this the interest for him daring to stare at Revered Master with those filthy eyes just now.

Su Lin led Chu Weiwei away from the simple tea stall, walking slowly under the awestruck gazes of the crowd.

They didn't go to any so-called inns, nor did they linger in the prosperous areas of Liuyun Town.

Su Lin led Chu Weiwei through a series of twists and turns, specifically choosing to walk through desolate and dilapidated small alleys.

Finally, they stopped before an abandoned courtyard at the very edge of Liuyun Town, near the black city wall.

This courtyard looked long-deserted; the main gate was already half-rotted and collapsed, and the yard was overgrown with dark red weeds that had serrated leaves.

"Revered Master, are we staying here tonight?"

Chu Weiwei curiously looked around the ruined courtyard. She didn't find it distasteful; instead, she felt it was secluded enough that no blind fools would come to disturb her and Revered Master's world for two.

"Yes. This place is at the edge of Liuyun Town's Formation. Although the Spiritual Qi is thin, the monitoring is also at its weakest."

Su Lin pushed open the rickety wooden door and walked into the yard.

The reason he chose to settle the matter peacefully at the tea stall earlier wasn't because he feared that guard commander, but to avoid unnecessary complications.

He needed an absolutely quiet place where he wouldn't be disturbed to properly study the Laws of this Taihuang Immortal Domain, as well as...

The [world tree] inside his body that was undergoing some kind of incredible transformation.

Su Lin walked to the center of the yard and took a deep breath.

"Weiwei, protect me while I Cultivate."

"Don't worry, Revered Master! With Weiwei here, not even a fly will get in!"

Chu Weiwei immediately put away her flirtatious manner, her expression becoming incredibly serious.

She walked to the four corners of the courtyard and buried a poison pill that emitted a faint green glow in each.

Then, she formed hand seals, and a transparent poisonous miasma barrier that almost blended with the night instantly enveloped the entire abandoned courtyard.

Once finished, she returned obediently to Su Lin's side and sat cross-legged, her beautiful eyes alertly scanning the surroundings.

Su Lin did not hesitate further.

He sat cross-legged on the stone slabs overgrown with weeds in the center of the courtyard and slowly closed his eyes.

His mind sank, instantly crossing the barrier of his Physical Body and entering that vast and boundless inner world of his.

Within the star sea of the [Myriad Heavens Star Chart], the sapling formed from the [world core] had undergone a startling change by now.

The sapling that originally had only a few tender leaves had now grown into a small tree several yards high after absorbing the resentment and providence of a hundred thousand years of ascenders, as well as Chu Weiwei's pure Medicine Immortal Origin.

The trunk presented a deep Chaos color, and the bark was naturally formed with profound Dao patterns that seemed to date back to the beginning of heaven and earth.

And what shocked Su Lin the most were the leaves of this tree.

Every single leaf presented a different color and form.

Some leaves were ice-blue and translucent, radiating an extreme chill; that was the manifestation of Mu Qingxue's Dao of Ice.

Some leaves were as black as ink, with black and white intertwined Demonic Fire burning upon them; that was the imprint of Luo Ximei's True Immortal demonic essence.

Some leaves were crimson like blood, containing a terrifying power of blood and Qi, representing Su Hongling's Mahayana path of a Body Cultivator.

There were also purple-gold Imperial Dragon pattern leaves, Medicine Immortal leaves emitting faint green poisonous gas, and Abyssal Devouring demon leaves permeating with the power of devouring...

The ultimate Daos cultivated by his seven disciples had actually all been perfectly imprinted and absorbed by this world tree, which then grew its own Law leaves!

"This is not just a world tree..."

"As long as this tree continues to grow, it can constantly analyze, imprint, and even fuse all the Dao Laws that exist in this world!"

"And I, as the Revered Master of this tree and the creator of this inner world..."

Su Lin abruptly opened his eyes. In the starry sky of his inner world, two brilliant rivers of stars pierced through the darkness like two sharp swords.

"I will no longer be limited by any single cultivation system."

His Divine Sense suddenly and keenly captured an extremely faint spatial ripple coming from the endless void at the edge of his inner world.

That was...