66: Chapter 66 An Elder's Guarantee, A Sword Pointing at Deep Tide

The cold wind, carrying ice shards, tore at the air outside the Water-Moon Heaven-Blurring Array.

The night was as dark as ink, with no starlight in sight.

In front of the plank path, Lin Ze had changed into a washed-out Daoist robe, his bamboo hat pulled low. The "thousand illusion mask" shimmered slightly, transforming his handsome features into those of a sallow-faced, destitute Loose Cultivator with a scar at the corner of his eye.

“Phew...”

Lin Ze exhaled a wisp of white breath, forcibly suppressing the stabbing pain in his Dantian.

The crack on his Heavy Water Origin, left behind from forcibly breaking through to the Middle Stage of the Fifth Level of Qi Refining, was like a sword hanging over his head, threatening to plunge him into eternal perdition at any moment.

“I must head to the Shenlan Inner Sea to find a natural spiritual treasure to repair my Origin.”

Lin Ze's gaze was cold and hard as he summoned his green travel leaf Magical Artifact, preparing to step onto the water and depart.

Just as his right foot stepped onto the artifact.

“Boom!”

A heavy Spiritual Pressure crashed down from the Nine Heavens.

The light barrier of the Water-Moon Heaven-Blurring Array instantly dented inward by three feet, letting out a mournful wail.

The river water surrounding Reed Island sank several yards, creating a massive vacuum on the water's surface.

“A Foundation Establishment senior?”

Lin Ze's pupils shrank, and the hair on his body stood on end.

Inside his Dantian, the Heavy Water Vortex instinctively reversed, preparing for a desperate struggle.

Ripples appeared in the Void Realm.

A figure in a purple-gold python robe tore through the wind and snow, teleporting directly in front of Lin Ze.

The newcomer's hair and beard were bristling, and his tiger-like eyes burned with an anxiety and fury that could burn the heavens and boil the seas.

It was the pillar of the Linghu Lin Clan, Patriarch Lin Zhenhai.

“Great-Grandfather, why are you...”

Before Lin Ze could finish, Patriarch Lin Zhenhai gave him no chance for nonsense.

“Shut up!”

The Old Patriarch bellowed, his voice like a great bell, causing the tiles of the wooden hut to tremble.

A withered, large hand firmly gripped Lin Ze's wrist.

A surge of Foundation Establishment True Essence, like a river breaching a dam, surged roughly yet with restraint into Lin Ze's Meridians.

The True Essence entered his body, heading straight for the Dantian.

When Patriarch Lin Zhenhai saw that shocking crack on the Heavy Water Origin...

The Old Patriarch's body shook violently.

That old face, which had weathered two hundred years of storms, instantly turned pale.

“Your Dao Foundation is damaged, and your Origin is cracked?”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai's voice trembled with extreme heartache and shock.

He stared fixedly at the youth in the bamboo hat, his eyes bloodshot.

“You bastard, what on earth did you do?”

“To force a breakthrough in Realm, you dared to overtax your Origin? Do you not want your life anymore?”

The roar was mixed with Foundation Establishment pressure, causing the Cold Spring beneath the water to surge with waves.

“The Dao Foundation is the cornerstone for ascending to immortality. A crack in the Origin cannot be touched by ordinary Medicinal Pills at all.”

“By being so eager for quick success, you are destroying your own future! You are ruining the Lin Family's once-in-a-century Qilin son!”

The Old Patriarch was pained to the core, his knuckles turning white from clenching too hard.

This boy had actually risked his life to break through behind his back, cracking his priceless Dao Foundation.

Facing the thunderous rage, Lin Ze slowly took off his bamboo hat.

He did not resist the sharp pain in his wrist, but simply raised his bloodshot eyes to meet the other's gaze calmly.

“Great-Grandfather, your grandson knows his mistake.”

Lin Ze's voice was raspy, but his tone carried a madness born of desperation.

“Though the Three-Clan Allied Army is destroyed, the Shenlan Abyss is now before us.”

“The Sea Abyss Secret Auction is about to open. In a place of lavish spending where Golden Core Great Sects compete, someone at the Early Stage of Qi Refining doesn't even have the right to be cannon fodder.”

“If I want to obtain a Dao-protecting divine bird for the Family, and if I want to protect Reed Island, I must possess the strength to suppress everything.”

“Your grandson... could not wait for the slow process of water dripping through stone.”

It was like a heavy hammer striking the heart.

The Old Patriarch looked at the youth's pale face.

“You foolish boy, you foolish boy!”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai's eyes were red as he let go of Lin Ze's wrist.

He took a step forward and pulled the youth's thin shoulders into his arms, his thick python robe shielding him from the freezing river wind.

“The Family isn't dead yet. If the sky falls, your Great-Grandfather will hold it up. Why did you have to carry this crushing pressure alone?”

The Old Patriarch took a deep breath and pushed Lin Ze back, his tiger-like eyes erupting with unprecedented dominance.

“So what if the Dao Foundation is damaged? So what if the Origin is cracked?”

“Isn't it just a matter of finding a water-attribute natural spiritual treasure to mend the Origin?”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai stomped his foot, his heroic spirit soaring.

“The Linghu Lin Clan sits upon an Iron Crystal Ore Vein, earning mountains of gold every day.”

“I promise you, even if I have to empty the Lin Family's Spirit Stones, even if I have to wreck the auctions of those Golden Core Great Sects, I will definitely bid for that spiritual treasure for you at the Shenlan Market.”

“Your Dao Foundation, Lin Ze—the Family will back you up.”

His words were powerful and resonant.

The ten-thousand-year-old ice that Lin Ze had built around his heart for the sake of his cautious path instantly melted.

Cultivation was cruel, but having an elder willing to use the entire clan's strength to protect one's path was where the warmth of a Family lay.

“Grandson thanks Great-Grandfather.” Lin Ze's eyes reddened as he bowed deeply.

“Pack your things, we move now.”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai waved his sleeve, acting with swift decisiveness.

“The Shenlan Market has already opened, and it's a den of dragons and snakes. How could I be at ease letting you go alone on that broken leaf?”

The Old Patriarch took out a jade token flickering with purple lightning and tossed it into the sky.

“Screech!”

The clouds in the sky suddenly exploded.

A ferocious bird, fifty feet long with wings that blotted out the sun and feathers of deep purple, descended from the heavens, with violent arcs of lightning dancing around its body.

“A Second-Grade Low Grade Yao Beast, a Purple-Lightning Thunder-Peng?”

Lin Ze sucked in a breath of cold air.

A spiritual bird like this, possessing a trace of the Thunder Roc Bloodline, had a flight speed that could leave Foundation Establishment seniors in the dust.

This was The Old Patriarch's personal mount, the Lin Clan's true hidden foundation.

“What are you standing there for? Get up here.”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai stepped onto the broad back of the Thunder Roc, his python robe fluttering in the wind.

Lin Ze suppressed his shock and sent a secret hand seal toward the Cold Spring.

“Xiao Xuan, Cold Shadow, guard the water veins with your lives. Seal the island. Kill anyone who dares to cross the boundary without mercy.”

“Roar!”

“Hiss!”

Deep underwater, the giant turtle and the emerald ghost gave muffled responses.

Killing intent locked down the island.

Lin Ze leaped up and landed on the back of the Purple-Lightning Thunder-Peng.

“Go!”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai formed a seal with one hand.

“Boom!”

The Purple-Lightning Thunder-Peng flapped its wings violently, and lightning exploded into air currents across the river surface.

On the Thunder Roc's back, demonic power condensed into a wind-shielding barrier, making the ride exceptionally stable.

Lin Ze sat cross-legged behind his Great-Grandfather, looking down at the receding Yunmeng Great Marsh.

As they entered the far north, the scenery of the outer regions gradually disappeared.

The dark clouds in the sky hung extremely low, and the air was filled with a frigid mist capable of swallowing Divine Sense.

“Rumble...”

From time to time, hundred-foot-tall waves surged from the sea surface. Deep-sea whirlpools were like the mouths of abyssal giants, and terrifying sea monsters flickered in and out of the waves, rolling out suffocating Demonic Qi.

“This is the edge of the inner sea.”

Patriarch Lin Zhenhai stood with his hands behind his back, his voice tinged with awe.

“In the outer regions, the Foundation Establishment Stage is the ceiling, but in the Shenlan Inner Sea, Second-Grade Yao Beasts are as common as hair, and Third-Grade Great Yao are not just legends. Without a Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, crossing this sea is seeking death.”

Lin Ze's eyes were bright as he stared at the sea.

Under the pressure of heaven and earth, the magic power in his body did not shrink back; instead, a desire to conquer it was born.

“The puddles in the outer regions are too shallow to raise a hidden dragon.”

“This abyss is my, Lin Ze's, true testing ground.”

The Purple-Lightning Thunder-Peng traveled through the mist for three days.

When the dawn of the fourth day pierced through the gloom, the mist ahead was forcibly split open by the great power of a Formation.

“Zeler, look ahead.” Patriarch Lin Zhenhai's voice was fervent.

Lin Ze looked up abruptly.

Dozens of immeasurably large "Ancient Sea-Bearing Turtles" had their carapaces joined together, supporting a giant market spanning hundreds of miles on the violent inner sea.

Colors flowed and shimmered over the market.

This was the core of the Yunmeng Marsh, the Shenlan Market!