My senior sister made chicken for me!

The voice was not loud, yet it was like an extremely resounding slap, fiercely striking Bai Yixuan's face.

"You!"

Bai Yixuan's face instantly turned ashen, then flushed red!

"Senior Brother Bai, please go back. I still need to Cultivate, so I won't keep you company."

Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered to waste any more words on him. After speaking, he turned and his figure completely vanished into the thick fog.

All that remained was Bai Yixuan, trembling with rage, his features nearly contorted.

"Good... very good!"

Bai Yixuan stared intently at the churning white fog. In the depths of his eyes, an undisguised, cold killing intent flashed past.

He flicked his finger.

A faint, almost imperceptible grey spiritual light, like a tiny moth, silently landed on the lintel of Lin Yuan's small courtyard, then disappeared.

"Hmph, something that doesn't know the immensity of Heaven and Earth!"

"Just a dead man, yet he dares to be so presumptuous in front of me..."

Bai Yixuan murmured softly, his face once again displaying that gentle smile, though the smile looked sinister no matter how one viewed it.

Just then, a cold voice sounded from behind him.

"Junior Brother Bai, why are you here?"

Bai Yixuan's body stiffened abruptly, then returned to normal. He turned around, forcing out what he thought was his most perfect smile.

"Senior Sister Gu. I... I had some questions regarding the Dao of Alchemy, and wanted to discuss them with Junior Brother Lin."

However, his gaze uncontrollably fell upon a delicate food box Gu Zheng was carrying.

Waves of extremely tempting meat fragrance wafted out in wisps from the gaps in the food box, like an invisible hand fiercely tearing at his nerves.

The jealousy in Bai Yixuan's eyes almost solidified and spilled out.

"Senior Sister, this is..."

"Oh."

Gu Zheng responded indifferently.

"Yesterday, a Scarlet Feather Chicken appeared near Black Stone City. The meat of this Spirit Beast is delicious and contains Fire Spiritual Power. Thinking Junior Brother Lin might like it, I brought him some."

Boom!

Hearing this, Bai Yixuan felt as if a Nine Heavens Divine Thunder had struck him, leaving his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, his mind completely blank!

Impossible... He had pursued her for an entire year, and she hadn't even spared him a proper glance!

Now she... she actually personally hunted a Spirit Beast and cooked for that guy?

"Senior Sister truly... is attentive and caring toward him." Bai Yixuan practically squeezed the words out from between his teeth, the flames of jealousy burning fiercely in his heart.

Gu Zheng glanced at him, her cold phoenix eyes filled with scrutiny: "How I interact with Junior Brother Lin seems to be none of Junior Brother Bai's concern, doesn't it? If you have nothing else, please do not disturb his Solitary Cultivation."

After speaking, she stopped looking at Bai Yixuan's ashen face, walked straight to the courtyard gate, and softly said toward the mist, "Junior Brother Lin, I made something delicious. Open the door for me..."

Gu Zheng's cooking skills, one could only say... had greatly improved.

Compared to Han Shuang's cooking, which could make ordinary ingredients vibrant and fragrant, Gu Zheng's was not just one or two tiers lower. However, the Scarlet Feather Chicken itself was a supreme grade Spiritual Materials; its meat was delicious and its Spiritual Qi abundant. Just boiling it in plain water wouldn't make the taste bad.

"How is it? Does it taste alright?" Gu Zheng picked up a golden, glistening roasted chicken leg and placed it in Lin Yuan's bowl, her face showing a hint of imperceptible anticipation.

This was not the first time she had brought food. Yesterday, she had brought an unknown Spirit Beast Soup, the taste of which was only barely palatable.

"It's pretty good. Senior Sister, you eat this chicken neck!" Lin Yuan picked up a piece of chicken neck and smoothly placed it into Gu Zheng's bowl.

Watching Lin Yuan eat with such relish, Gu Zheng felt a surge of pride. Su Meiniang's scheme was indeed correct; this stubborn rock was gradually being warmed by her. If she continued like this, it wouldn't be long before he was utterly devoted to her.

"Senior Sister, how many Disciples have currently gone to the mine for excavation?" Lin Yuan asked casually while gnawing on his chicken leg.

"About a third of the Core Formation Stage and Foundation Establishment Stage core combatants have gone," Gu Zheng replied vaguely while chewing the chicken neck. "We mainly sent a large number of Qi Refinement Stage Disciples over, as Black Stone City is our foundation, after all."

"If this city is lost and we lose our foothold, the Blood River Spirit Mine certainly won't be protected either."

Lin Yuan nodded. A third of the intermediate force had gone, which didn't sound like a small number, but it wasn't enough to empty the city.

Moreover, as far as he knew, Black Stone City still had the City Protecting Grand Array. This Array was named the 'Nine Nether Xuan Yin Grand Array,' an ancient Formation passed down through the Sect, possessing infinite power.

Let alone Core Formation Cultivators, even if a Nascent Soul expert arrived personally, they shouldn't dream of easily breaking through it in a short time.

A Grand Array of this grade requires at least a Third-Grade Array Master to set up. Throughout the Six Kingdoms of the Eastern Domain, it is said there is only one Third-Grade Array Master publicly known, who is rarely seen.

The highest ranked Formation Master in the Yin Corpse Sect is only Fifth Grade; they are still separated by a Heavenly Chasm from Fourth Grade, let alone Third Grade.

Therefore, as long as this Array is not breached from the inside, it will be impregnable.

As long as the Grand Array remains unbroken, Black Stone City is temporarily safe.

After the two finished eating, Gu Zheng seemed to have Sect matters to attend to, so she packed up the food box and left first.

Lin Yuan closed the courtyard door and once again entered his monotonous Cultivation... Three months quietly slipped by amidst the fragrance of Medicinal Pills and the surge of Spiritual Qi.

The tense, murderous atmosphere within Black Stone City had almost entirely dissipated.

Good news frequently arrived from the Blood River Spirit Mine; almost every day or two, they would excavate an incomparably precious High-Grade Spirit Stone, while Medium Grade and Low-Grade Spirit Stones piled up like mountains.

The enormous profit was like a jar of strong liquor, intoxicating everyone in the Yin Corpse Sect.

The Sect successively transferred more Cultivators to the Spirit Mine. Even the guards patrolling the city walls became lax and negligent, often gathering to gamble and frolic.

In contrast, the Misty Immortal Sect seemed to have lowered their banners and silenced their drums over the past three months, making no major moves, as if they had completely given up the fight.

With this ebb and flow, Black Stone City had unknowingly begun to rot from the inside.

The night was inky black. In the corner of the courtyard, several unknown insects were singing softly.

Inside the bedroom, candlelight flickered, and the air was filled with an enchanting and ambiguous atmosphere.

"Why do you seem so worried these past few days?" Xue Linglong leaned lazily in Lin Yuan's arms, her slender fingers tracing circles on his chest as she asked softly.

Lin Yuan sighed, his eyes gazing deeply at the heavy night outside the window: "I don't know why, but I've felt uneasy these past few days, as if something major is about to happen. Especially the Spiritual Qi circulation of the City Protecting Grand Array, it seems... somewhat obscure and stagnant, no longer as smooth as before."

His eighty years of experience struggling at the bottom level meant his sense of danger far exceeded that of ordinary people. This feeling was like the suffocating stillness in the air just before a storm.

Xue Linglong was slightly startled: "Are you saying..."

Before she could finish her sentence.

Boom—!

An earth-shattering loud noise, without any warning, came from the direction of the city center!

It wasn't the dull sound of external force striking the city wall, but rather a roar more like something exploding from the inside!

The entire earth trembled violently. In Lin Yuan's small courtyard, the roof tiles rattled, and dust continuously fell.

At the same time, the grey mark on his lintel suddenly lit up, then turned into flying ash!

Immediately afterward, shrill warning sirens pierced the night sky!

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The City Protecting Grand Array... the Grand Array has been breached from the inside!"

"The Misty Immortal Sect has broken in!"

Countless terrified shouts from Yin Corpse Sect Disciples came from all directions.