171: Cao Zi Jian Jue

The entire hall became terrifyingly silent. Zi Xuan Sanren spoke, but Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal did not give him Face, offering no reply, and continued to stare at Lin Shiming.

Seeing this, Lin Shiming finally took a deep breath, removed the Storage Pouch and spirit beast pouch from his waist, and even handed over the storage bracelet he had hidden in his sleeve.

All the Magical Artifacts and Spirit Stones were displayed before Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal and Zi Xuan Sanren.

As the spiritual items and Magical Artifacts clattered out, thousands of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, hundreds of catties of qingming iron, as well as the two Natal Spirit Zombies inside the Demon Binding Pouch, the Spirit Shocking Drum, Heavenly Silkworm Spider Silk, the Substitute Puppet, the Red-haired Demon Monkey... a large number of treasures were displayed before them.

However, there were no High-Grade Spirit Stones, nor any of Lu Changming's belongings.

Lin Shiming had already found an underground location to store these before entering the city, and arranged for the Golden Winged Mantis to guard them. He was not worried about his Storage Pouch being searched, but rather that the Lu Family might have Cultivators who could track his aura through Magical Artifacts or relics.

For example, Lu Changming had found him through the Golden Luan Eagle, but at this moment, the Golden Luan Eagle had been completely burned to ashes.

Unexpectedly, he had stumbled into good fortune and avoided a calamity.

"Your Disciple has quite the Opportunity, not bad!" Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal's expression finally softened, no longer as aggressive as before, but when he saw the demonic Cultivator's relics, he studied them carefully.

He clearly wanted to study the relics of the demonic Cultivator and Corpse cultivators to see if he could find the two culprits, Golden Corpse and Chen Yunlai. After a thorough inspection, Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal raised his eyebrows, then picked up the Corpse Refinement Sect's Second Spirit Corpse Secret Art Jade Slip.

In his words, a hint of interest was revealed.

"Senior Martial Uncle, this Jade Slip was left by a Corpse Refinement Sect Cultivator. This Disciple cannot comprehend it, so perhaps Senior Martial Uncle could enlighten him!" Lin Shiming also spoke.

Seeing Lin Shiming's astuteness, Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal nodded and then said,

"Indeed, this Jade Slip is quite complex. How about this, as a welcoming gift, Senior Martial Uncle will grant you one Opportunity to enter Tianhe City's third-tier treasure vault!"

As soon as Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal said this, Lin Shiming was overjoyed.

Tianhe City's battle merit exchange list started with ten heads of Cultivators of the same rank, with some even requiring hundreds of heads of demonic Cultivators of the same rank. But this time, he was allowed to choose freely from the treasure vault.

With the System's guidance, this was precisely the kind of Opportunity he lacked.

Otherwise, while he was confident he could kill Cultivators of the same rank, he could not ignore the fact that there was always someone stronger. Even if things went smoothly, it would inevitably attract the attention of high-ranking demonic Cultivators on the battlefield.

Those demonic Cultivator Purple Mansion Cultivators would not play by the rules. If they took a liking to you, they would want your flesh and your Divine Soul, completely disregarding any Cultivation rules.

After Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal handed Lin Shiming a token, he said he had matters to attend to and left.

Only Lin Shiming and Zi Xuan Sanren remained in the entire main hall.

"Not bad, you might truly be like your ancestor, possessing a latent spiritual body!" At this moment, Zi Xuan Sanren, looking at Lin Shiming, also had such a guess.

At that time, he accepted Lin Shiming only because of Lin Xianzhi.

Lin Xianzhi did him a favor, and Zi Xuan would protect the Lin Family for a period.

It was just that Lin Xianzhi and the Lin Family's Heart-Nature truly suited him, so his support had never ceased, even during this national war.

"A latent spiritual body is too illusory. Shiming knows he only has Three Spiritual Roots, and it is more important to focus on the present and cultivate diligently; that is the true path!"

"Indeed, your Heart-Nature is also good. At your age, to have such thoughts, even in the Qingxuan Sect, you would be considered a Genius!"

"To be honest, besides bestowing upon you a Cultivation Technique and a second-tier Magical Artifact, I haven't given you much other help. How about this, you have also rendered meritorious service this time. Here is a set of Profound Rank sword Dao secret arts, which I obtained by chance and is unrelated to the Sect. I shall bestow it upon you!" Zi Xuan Sanren continued to speak.

Lin Shiming was extremely surprised at this moment. He never expected that this interrogation would not only go smoothly but also turn into a blessing in disguise.

A Profound Rank sword art secret technique, that was far superior to his Purple Wood Mysterious Sky Sword Formation.

Lin Shiming took the Jade Slip handed over by Zi Xuan Sanren, and with inner excitement, glanced at the name of the sword art.

"Grass Character Sword Art!"

A simple four-character name, like the martial arts of an ordinary Mortal Cultivator, yet when he finished reciting the four characters, he felt a blade of grass appear in his mind. One day, that grass suddenly rose with the wind, transforming into a sharp sword.

Slicing the heavens!

Splitting the earth!

The firmament shattered!

As the vision faded, Lin Shiming broke out in a cold sweat, returning to himself, only to realize he had lost his composure in front of Zi Xuan Sanren.

"Please forgive me, Master!"

"No matter, do not let this sword art go to waste. In my opinion, this wood-elemental sword art is extremely stunning!" After Zi Xuan Sanren finished speaking, he picked up the teacup from the Eight Immortals table and began pressing down the spirit tea with the lid.

Knowing that Zi Xuan Sanren intended for him to leave, Lin Shiming immediately took his leave.

Only after exiting the Purple Xuan Hall did Lin Shiming truly relax. Outside, Xie An, having learned that Black Flood Dragon Loose Immortal had left first, knew that Lin Shiming would be fine and came up to speak with him.

The relationship between Xie An and the Lin Family was also the closest. The Lin Family's Alchemy and Artifact Refining shops in Qingyun Market also had a share for Xie An.

Especially after the Li Family disappeared and defected, the entire market completely fell into the hands of the Lin Family, Qian Family, and other Foundation Establishment great families. The Spirit Stone income also increased significantly, and the relationship between the Lin Family and Xie An grew daily. If Xie An were to Breakthrough to Purple Mansion in the future, the Lin Family would gain another backer.

"Senior Brother, this is Junior Brother's token of appreciation. This harvest is all thanks to Senior Brother's arrangements!" Lin Shiming took out a Storage Pouch, which contained thirty catties of qingming iron.

This third-tier Materials was most suitable for refining spiritual armor and was a rare commodity even in the Qingxuan Sect, only available in Tianhe Province within the Spirit Beast Sect's territory.

"Thank you, Junior Brother!" Xie An did not hesitate and accepted it directly. He was now at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection and needed to Breakthrough to Purple Mansion, which required a large sum of Spirit Stones, even within the Sect.

As his relationship with the Lin Family was already close, he naturally would not be polite.

After bidding farewell to Xie An, Lin Shiming returned directly to the Lin Family's small courtyard. At this moment, all the Lin Family members had returned to their residences. As for the gates of Tianhe City, a new batch of Cultivators had already taken up guard.

Even if the demonic Cultivators and Corpse Refinement Sect attacked again without regard for losses, the city gates could not be taken down in a short time, unless the demonic Sect could produce spiritual insects like the Spirit Devouring Ant.

However, such spiritual insects were inherently fierce and incomparable; adult spiritual ants were almost impossible to tame, and encountering spiritual ant eggs by chance required immense Opportunity.

Upon returning to his residence, Lin Shiming first recounted everything to Lin Xianzhi in detail. However, upon hearing that Lin Shiming had also obtained a sword art, Lin Xianzhi's Face not only showed no joy but turned extremely pale.

This was something Lin Shiming had never seen on Seventh Grand Uncle's Face before.

Moreover, in his opinion, the Grass Character Sword Art was indeed powerful.

Yet, he did not know why Seventh Grand Uncle reacted this way.