154: Lin Yi and Emperor Yuan's decision.

"Dead!"

Looking at the headless corpse of the world-renowned "Blind Swordsman" Wang Wu, Lin Yi shook his head slightly, his face showing little joy.

"After killing Blind Wang and the others this time, the next people the Great Yuan Dynasty sends will likely be experts of the Innate Golden Core Realm."

"And every Innate Golden Core Realm expert is formidable. Even if both my Body Refining and Qi Refining break through to the Xiantian Golden Core Realm, my strength would probably at most equal a common expert at the Late Stage of the Innate Golden Core Realm, which is roughly around the top thirty of the Heaven Rank."

"But this time I have displayed such powerful talent and strength. If the Great Yuan Dynasty wants to deal with me again, they definitely won't send such 'weak' Innate Golden Core Realm experts."

"The people they send next will likely be, at the very least, Innate Golden Core Realm Peak experts ranked in the top twenty of the Heaven Rank, or more likely, they will directly send experts from the top ten!"

"As for the top ten of the Heaven Rank, not only have their cultivation and Force Exertion Realm reached the Peak of the Innate Golden Core Realm level, but even their Saint-level Martial Arts have reached Minor Achievement."

"In front of such experts, even if both my Body Refining and Qi Refining break through to the Xiantian Golden Core Realm, I would likely still be killed in a single move!"

"It seems that before I evolve a sufficiently powerful talent, I cannot rush to break through to the Xiantian Golden Core Realm."

Lin Yi thought silently to himself.

Talent was the Foundation of his standing in this world. Whether it was increasing his cultivation speed or enhancing his ability to fight above his level, a powerful talent could help Lin Yi achieve it.

For example, "King of Battle" was only a mystic purple rank talent, yet it could raise Lin Yi's Martial Arts Techniques Realm by two levels, significantly increasing his combat power and making killing top ten Earth Rank experts as easy as slaughtering chickens.

What if this talent could be upgraded to the brilliant gold rank?

"Then with the strength of such a talent, never mind after I break through to the Xiantian Golden Core Realm; even now, I could probably suppress most Innate Golden Core experts with my Innate True Essence Realm body and charge into the top twenty or even top fifteen of the Heaven Rank."

"If both my Body Refining and Qi Refining could break through to the Xiantian Golden Core Realm, it would be even more incredible. Forget the top ten of the Heaven Rank; I might even be able to challenge the top three!"

Of course, a brilliant gold rank talent was simply too powerful. In the short term, Lin Yi didn't dare to hope for such a talent.

However, as long as he could evolve a Half-Step Brilliant Gold Grade combat talent, that would already be enough to satisfy Lin Yi.

"I now need about 16.796 billion taels of silver to evolve one talent. To evolve two, it's about 33.59 billion taels."

Thinking of this, Lin Yi calculated silently in his heart:

"After killing Black and White Impermanence and Marquis of Chu Zhuang, Chen Heng, I accumulated seven billion taels of silver at the Wanxiang Tower. Now, adding this Marquis of Angry Mountain, Sun Bufan, and the two Innate True Essence Realm Peak experts from the Great Yuan Dynasty's Beichuan Branch Hidden Guards I'm about to kill, that's another seven billion taels. This brings the total to fourteen billion taels."

"Then there's the 'Blind Swordsman' Wang Wu and 'Sunflower Shifting Form' Dongfang Yunbai. Although the four of them aren't from the Great Yuan Dynasty, none of them are good people either."

"In their hundred-plus years of cultivation, they've offended many factions, many of whom have placed bounties on them."

"Although these bounties aren't as high as those for Great Yuan Dynasty experts of the same level, Dongfang Yunbai and the others are exceptionally strong. Together, they should be worth about 23 billion taels of silver."

"23 billion, plus the previous 14 billion, and the little bit of charging progress I had left from the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, I'm only about 8.25 billion taels of silver short of the amount needed to evolve two talents."

"Well, in that case, I'll go destroy a few Great Yuan Dynasty branches first, and then return to Wanxiang Tower to exchange for silver and evolve my talents!"

With his mind made up, Lin Yi then swiftly moved to hunt down the two Innate experts from the Beichuan Branch.

A hundred breaths later, after these two Innate experts also died at Lin Yi's hands, and after Lin Yi had purged the Beichuan Branch—killing off the experts below the Innate Realm one by one—he quickly left Beichuan Prefecture City and headed toward another Hidden Guard branch stronghold of the Great Yuan Dynasty.

As Lin Yi departed, some minor lackeys who had barely survived by hiding in nearby residential houses finally dared to show their faces. They quickly used various special means to send word to Dadu, the capital of the Great Yuan Dynasty... Soon, a day later, in the Yuan Imperial Palace in Dadu, inside an incredibly massive and luxurious study.

"Clang! Crash!"

"Smash! Bang!"

The sounds of objects being smashed echoed continuously within the study.

The contemporary Yuan Emperor, Yuan Jingyi, was dressed in black casual robes but still exuded an aura of immense majesty. He was currently roaring and smashing things in the study, his face full of rage.

Antique treasures, each worth a fortune to the outside world, were being violently shattered on the floor as if they were worthless, all to vent the fire in his heart:

"Useless! Useless! A bunch of useless fools!"

"Four top-ten Earth Rank experts, plus a Sun Bufan from the top thirty, actually failed to deal with a mere Innate True Essence Realm Lin Yi. What on earth are these useless fools good for?"

"Your Majesty!"

Seeing Yuan Jingyi in this state, King Chenyi, who was dressed in black armor and standing to the side, shook his head helplessly:

"In truth, one cannot blame the Blind Swordsman and the others for this. After all, no one knew that this Lin Yi would be so strong."

"To kill five top-tier Earth Rank experts in just five breaths, including four from the top ten—with this strength, I'm afraid even ordinary Innate Golden Core experts are only at this level."

"Innate Golden Core!"

Hearing those words, the rage on Yuan Jingyi's face froze, replaced by a thick sense of jealousy:

"How can that damned Lin Yi be so lucky? What kind of Opportunity did he get from the Martial Emperors Relic Palace last time? To actually be able to rival an Innate Golden Core with a mere Innate True Essence Realm body!"

"Such a thing is simply unheard of. Even the Ancestors of the Three Great Sacred Lands and our Great Yuan Dynasty's Old Ancestor couldn't do it back then. Does this kid intend to rival the Martial God?"

"Rivaling the Martial God is naturally impossible!"

King Chenyi immediately shook his head upon hearing this:

"After all, how great was the Martial God? Even the Martial Emperors Relic Palace was something he left behind. This Lin Yi has merely obtained a tiny bit of the legacy left by the Martial God in the palace; how could he possibly rival him?"

"However, this kid's strength is indeed formidable. Within the Xiantian Golden Core Realm, unless forty or fifty experts are mobilized for a joint siege, there's simply no way to deal with him."

"And forty or fifty Innate Golden Core experts is something even our Great Yuan Dynasty couldn't scrape together even with all our strength!"

"Therefore, if Your Majesty wishes to deal with him, we can only wait until after he breaks through to the Xiantian Golden Core Realm."

King Chenyi finished speaking and said no more, waiting for Yuan Jingyi's decision.

On the other side, listening to King Chenyi's analysis, Yuan Jingyi was silent for a moment before letting out a long breath, his eyes flashing with terrifying killing intent:

"Hoo! Fine, since we can't deal with him for now, let that kid live for a few more days! We will strike once he reaches the Xiantian Golden Core Realm."

"But this time, there must be absolutely no mistakes. Otherwise, forget about you all; even I would likely be killed by the enraged Old Ancestor!"

"So the next time we deal with Lin Yi, I, along with the three Innate Golden Core Realm Princes of my Great Yuan Dynasty, will all take action."

"Furthermore, just to be safe, send someone to find and bring back King Lie!"

"What! Your Majesty actually wants to bring back King Lie?"

Hearing this, even the black-armored King Chenyi couldn't help but be shocked.

King Lie, King Lie—this was a peerless expert ranked second on the Heaven Rank! Armed with the divine weapon, the 'thunder seven kills spear,' his strength was incredibly formidable, suppressing countless Innate Golden Core experts!

If he hadn't been so focused on the Martial Dao and had no interest in the throne back then, the current Yuan Jingyi would likely have been him. How could it have been Yuan Jingyi's turn?

Of course, even if King Lie wasn't the emperor, his status in the eyes of the Great Yuan Dynasty's Martial Saint Old Ancestors far exceeded that of Yuan Jingyi!

Because he was a true Genius! A peerless Genius who had entered the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, obtained True Spirit Liquid, and had the hope of becoming a Martial Saint!

Compared to such a Prodigy, what did a mere contemporary Yuan Jingyi count for?

"Yes! Your Majesty!"

At this thought, while his heart was shaken, the black-armored man nodded respectfully and walked out of the study.