99: Chapter 99 Caravan Disguise

The box slid across the table, and the "thud" was exceptionally clear in the silent study, like a pebble thrown into the heart-lake of Manager Han, who was adept at calculation.

His gaze subconsciously followed the sandalwood box, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.

As the person in charge of the Lin Family Trading Firm on the surface, he knew better than anyone what the Lin Family lacked most right now, and what they wanted to trade for most.

"Manager Han," Qin Ruowei's voice was as cold as ever, yet carried an unquestionable decisiveness, "Inside the box are thirty High Grade Three-Turn Green Spirit Pills. Spread the word that the Lin Family wishes to trade this batch of Medicinal Pills for an equivalent value of starfall iron."

Starfall iron!

Manager Han's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm, maintaining that humble smile: "Madam is wise. These Three-Turn Green Spirit Pills are holy medicine for Cultivators attempting to break through to the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, and are priceless in the Southern Region. If we use these to trade for starfall iron, it will surely attract many Loose Cultivators or small Families who have stock on hand."

Lin Chen did not speak, only looking quietly at Qin Ruowei.

His Divine Soul felt waves of stinging pain from overdrawing the System's abilities, but Qin Ruowei's appearance was like a cool, clear spring, allowing his tense nerves to relax slightly.

He knew that in matters of Family strategy, her judgment had never been wrong.

However, Qin Ruowei herself furrowed her brows slightly, as if quickly weighing something.

Her beautiful Phoenix eyes swept across the sand table in the corner, her gaze lingering for a moment on the few small black flags that Liu Ruxu had inserted.

"No," she suddenly changed her mind, her tone resolute, "Change the wording."

Manager Han was stunned, bowing his body to listen attentively.

Qin Ruowei's line of sight moved away from the sand table, landing on the corner of the study where a pile of damaged Formation Plate parts, dismantled from the Shadow Moon Pavilion's flying boat, were stacked.

"Just say that the Lin Family is offering a high price to acquire all damaged spatial-attribute Magical Artifacts and Materials. No matter how broken they are, as long as they are related to the word 'space', we want them. The Medicinal Pills can be released in batches as bargaining chips for the exchange."

This change caught Manager Han off guard, but he was a smart man and immediately understood the underlying meaning.

Acquiring starfall iron was too clear a goal, easily leading people to associate it with repairing the mountain-protecting Formation.

But acquiring damaged spatial Magical Artifacts sounded more like collecting research Materials after a battle; the motive was vague, making it less likely to arouse the vigilance of interested parties.

"Yes, Madam, I understand!" Manager Han immediately agreed.

Just then, Chu Yun, who had been burying his head in that pile of parts, suddenly raised his head, a glimmer of pleasant surprise erupting in his eyes.

This decision by Qin Ruowei was exactly what he had been hoping for!

He was just worrying about not having enough Materials on hand to study the structure of that Central Continent flying boat; this was like being handed a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.

He stood up excitedly, still holding a palm-sized core Formation Plate he had just dismantled, and just as he wanted to say something, his movements suddenly froze.

"Eh?"

Chu Yun let out a soft exclamation and looked down at the Formation Plate in his hand.

While dismantling it just now, he had felt that the feel of the Formation Plate's interlayer was a bit off, appearing slightly heavier than indicated on the blueprints.

He subconsciously gave it a jolt with his Qi, and with a soft "click", the back panel of the Formation Plate popped open, revealing a tiny gap.

He carefully pried it open with his fingernail, and a jade slip, thin as a cicada's wing and warm all over, slid out from the interlayer.

The jade slip felt icy in his hand; it had no runes on it and was as smooth as a mirror.

Chu Yun curiously injected a trace of Qi into it.

Hum—

The jade slip suddenly lit up, projecting a three-foot-square light screen.

On the light screen was a dynamic, extremely detailed map, which was the map of the Southern Region of the Spirit Realm.

And above the Southern Region map, a royal emblem composed of three arcs and a dot, emitting a faint golden light, was suspended there, slowly moving towards the direction of Qingxuan City at a speed that was visible to the naked eye, extremely slow, yet incomparably firm.

The light screen illuminated everyone's face in the study, and also revealed the trace of unbelievable horror in their eyes.

"This is... real-time tracking!" Chu Yun's voice was trembling.

The opponent was not sensing their general location through a star Formation at all, but possessed a precise method capable of locking onto them in real-time!

This jade slip was like an hourglass counting down, coldly announcing the approach of the enemy.

The atmosphere in the study instantly became oppressive to the extreme.

"Clan Chief."

A soft voice broke this deathly silence.

Zhu Waner had walked in at some point; she seemed not to notice the scene on the light screen, walking straight up to Lin Chen and stuffing the broken ancient beast-hide talisman, along with a small storage ring, into Lin Chen's hand.

Her fingertips were icy, and at the moment they touched Lin Chen's palm, she lingered for a moment, whether out of nervousness or wanting to convey some message.

"My father says that the rules of the Tiangong Workshop... are very strange. This contact talisman must be activated personally by the talisman holder using their own blood essence and Qi; no one else can do it for them."

Her voice was very soft, carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

After speaking, she gave Lin Chen a deep look, her eyes complex, filled with worry, concern, and a trace of determination.

Afterwards, she said no more and turned away resolutely.

The moment she turned and took a step, a crisp "crack" sound came from her waist.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Chen caught a glimpse of the warm jade pendant she had always worn at her waist, carved with a double-fish pattern, which had unexpectedly split down the middle with a clear crack, without any warning.

That was a warning Magical Artifact that only core members of the Zhu Family possessed!

Lin Chen's heart sank abruptly, and just as he was about to speak to call her back, the study door was forcefully pushed open.

Master Chiyang's tall figure burst in; his face was livid, his breathing rapid, and his usually cheerful face was now covered in dark clouds.

"Clan Chief, something happened!" He strode up to Lin Chen, his voice as heavy as iron, "I just went to the Iron Sword Sect; all the starfall iron in their treasury was stolen last night...! Cleanly, not an ounce left!"

This news was like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely into everyone's hearts.

When it rains, it pours!

The repair Materials for the mountain-protecting Formation were gone, while the tracking by the Central Continent imperial Family was already close at hand.

Master Chiyang's gaze swept over everyone, finally fixing firmly on Lin Chen's bandaged right hand, his eyes extremely complex, filled with both regret and a bit of struggle.

"But..." He took a deep breath, as if having made a difficult decision, "Sect Master Shen Cang of the Iron Sword Sect said... you can go and take that piece of starfall iron core in his sword box."

starfall iron core!

Lin Chen's pupils constricted.

That was the bone of a Sword Cultivator's natal Flying Sword; its value was far beyond that of ordinary starfall iron!

Was Sect Master Shen Cang planning to... destroy his own natal sword to trade for a glimmer of survival for the Lin Family?

This sentiment was too heavy.

Master Chiyang looked at Lin Chen's shocked expression, his voice becoming increasingly dry: "He said that you saved the nearly ten thousand lives of the Iron Sword Sect, so a sword is nothing. Moreover... that iron core might be something only you can use."

Inside the study, it fell into a deathly silence once again.

Half an hour later, in the secret chamber.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged, all alone.

In front of him floated a short metal rod, only three inches long, dark all over, and covered with natural star patterns.

It looked unremarkable, yet it emitted a sharp Sword Intent capable of splitting even space; it was precisely Sect Master Shen Cang's natal sword bone—the starfall iron core.

Lin Chen did not hesitate any longer.

The safety of the Family, the threat from the Central Continent, the injuries in his body—everything was forcing him to break the situation immediately.

He sank his consciousness into the stone ring on his thumb, and the cold voice sounded again.

"Deal."

He wrapped his Divine Sense around that piece of starfall iron core and, slowly and firmly, "fed" it to that coarse stone ring.

The moment they made contact, the stone ring erupted with unprecedented light, like a hungry star, crazily devouring the pure energy and sharp Sword Intent contained within the iron core.

The starfall iron core melted and decomposed at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into the most fundamental Origin energy, which was absorbed by the stone ring.

On the surface of the stone ring, light and shadow twisted, and a miniature space gate, only the size of a fingernail, unexpectedly appeared out of thin air.

Behind the gate was a deep, boundless darkness, where starlight faintly twinkled.

Lin Chen's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

Success!

He could feel that with just a thought, he could take out that so-called "Void Crystal Marrow" from this gate.

He did not hesitate in the slightest, tentatively reaching his right index finger into that miniature space gate.

A cold, smooth sensation came from his fingertip, as if he had touched a piece of ten-thousand-year cold jade.

His heart filled with joy; he exerted force with his fingertip, clamped onto a small fragment, and quickly withdrew his hand.

A crystal fragment, even more dazzling than a diamond, was clamped between his fingertips and brought out of the space gate.

However, before he could examine it closely, a heart-wrenching, excruciating pain suddenly came from the entire palm of his right hand!

He lowered his head in horror, only to see that on his palm, three long, narrow cuts deep enough to see the bone had appeared at some unknown time.

The wounds were as smooth as a mirror, with not a drop of blood flowing out; only wisps of silvery-white spatial power, like tiny venomous snakes, were crazily drilling into his arm along the wounds!

This was an injury caused by the turbulence at the edge of the space gate!

The power that was overdrawn was, after all, not without a price.

"Boom!"

Just as Lin Chen was enduring the excruciating pain, trying to use his Qi to seal the wounds, a muffled, thunderous sound suddenly came from overhead.

The entire secret chamber trembled violently because of it, and dust fell down in rustles.

"Clan Chief!"

Liu Ruxu's figure rushed in like a ghost; for the first time, her face had lost its composure, filled with panic and urgency.

"The Central Continent's flying boat... has arrived three thousand miles outside the Qingxuan Mountain Range! They have stopped and are using some kind of large-scale Formation to search... Ah!"

Before her voice had faded, an even more violent vibration suddenly came from beneath everyone's feet.

That feeling was not like an earthquake, but more like some invisible yet majestic power, like a searchlight, shining straight down from the sky, penetrating the rocks, penetrating the layers of Restrictions of the Lin Family's mountain-protecting Formation, and scanning heavily upon the dome of this secret chamber, which was disguised as an underground cargo warehouse!

They had been discovered!