172: Leaving the Palace

"Whoosh!"

Outside the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, on a patch of soft grass, the Void Realm rippled.

The next moment, a vortex rose, and a figure stepped out from within.

"Phew! Two years and nine months... I've finally come out of this Martial Emperors Relic Palace."

On the grass, Lin Yi let out a long breath. Looking at the familiar sky above, his heart eased slightly, but remembering the culprits who forced him into the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, a trace of killing intent soon flickered in his eyes.

"It's been over two years. Now that I'm out, it's time to settle some scores."

"The Great Yuan Dynasty, King Lie, Yuan Jingyi, as well as King Wu An, King Hongyu, King Chenyi, and every single one of those who besieged me in the past—every last one of them shall die!"

"But there's no rush for now; after all, I'll have plenty of time to kill them. It's been two or three years since I've seen my parents. I should return to the Heavenly Mountain Sect first to see them, catch up with Wang Kai and Zhao Haihong, and then deal with King Lie and the others!"

With a thought, Lin Yi first went to a branch of the Wanxiang Tower to reveal his identity. He borrowed a flying Azure Eagle specifically for travel and then rushed back to the Heavenly Mountain Sect.

Not long after Lin Yi appeared at that Wanxiang Tower branch, the Great Yuan Dynasty quickly received the news.

Inside a plain small courtyard in the Yuan Imperial Palace of the Great Yuan Dynasty.

A figure dressed in casual black clothes, yet possessing an extremely burly and domineering physique, was sitting cross-legged on the ground, cultivating.

Suddenly—

"Lie!"

A majestic yet excited voice rang out from outside the door.

A breath or two later, the Yuan Emperor, Yuan Jingyi, dressed in casual clothes and exuding an air of nobility, pushed open the door and entered. He said to the cross-legged King Lie:

"Lie, that Lin Yi has appeared again."

"What!"

Hearing this, King Lie opened his eyes. Purple lightning flashed within them, and then a smile couldn't help but appear on his face:

"That little rat who hides his head but shows his tail has finally appeared. I thought he was going to hide for the rest of his life!"

"I don't know where that little rat has been hiding for the past two-plus years. Even my Great Yuan Dynasty couldn't find him anywhere, allowing him to live for so much longer."

"But now that he has appeared, his time of death has arrived!"

"Yuan Jingyi, where is he now? Tell me quickly. I will set off immediately to kill him and eliminate this great threat to our Great Yuan Dynasty!"

"Lie, the place where Lin Yi recently appeared was the Wanxiang Tower branch in Shanhe Prefecture of the Martial Province."

“Two days ago, he suddenly appeared there, borrowed a flying Azure Eagle from the Shanhe Prefecture Wanxiang Tower branch, and then left."

"Based on the information gathered by my subordinates and the direction the Azure Eagle took, Lin Yi should be heading back to the Heavenly Mountain Sect in Qing Province."

"Heavenly Mountain Sect in Qing Province?"

"Heh, this Lin Yi certainly loves his hometown; he even wants to die there."

King Lie sneered upon hearing this:

"But that's fine. He is a Prodigy of his generation, after all. At least he won't be without someone to collect his body after he dies. Since he has chosen his own undertaker and burial ground, this King will grant his wish!"

"Yuan Jingyi, prepare the eagle beasts. We leave immediately!"

"Alright!"

Hearing King Lie's words, Yuan Jingyi immediately nodded heavily, a look of intense excitement flashing in his eyes.

Lin Yi was a major threat to his Great Yuan Dynasty, and he already hated him deeply.

More importantly, during the battle over two years ago when they besieged Lin Yi at the Wanxiang Tower, Lin Yi had actually heavily injured him with a single saber strike in front of so many people, causing him to lose all face.

In fact, if King Hongyu and King Chenyi hadn't risked their lives to save him afterward, he probably would have perished there. Thus, he naturally harbored immense hatred for Lin Yi.

Seeing that his opponent was about to die, even with Yuan Jingyi's stable temperament, he couldn't help but feel excited and thrilled at this moment.

As for whether King Lie would be unable to defeat Lin Yi after three years?

Yuan Jingyi had basically never even considered that question!

Because for a Martial Artist to reach the top three of the Heaven Ranking, it was already extremely difficult to make further progress in strength.

Even if Lin Yi's situation was special, it would be incredibly impressive if he could increase his strength by sixty to seventy percent in just over two years.

And with that kind of strength, he couldn't even defeat the King Lie of two years ago, so how could he compare to the current King Lie?

After all, King Lie hadn't spent the past two years in vain.

In order to ensure a one-hundred-percent chance of killing Lin Yi, King Lie had received the full cultivation support of the Great Ancestor, the "Yuan Emperor," over these past two-plus years!

Not only had he consumed countless precious treasures that even Yuan Jingyi craved to the point of madness, but more importantly, he had also received personal guidance from the Great Ancestor, the "Yuan Emperor," every ten days.

Combined with King Lie's already remarkable talent, his strength had increased by more than twenty percent compared to two years ago. It could be said that he had reached the true limit of the Innate Golden Core.

With such strength, how could the insignificant Lin Yi compare?

With that thought, Yuan Jingyi immediately began making arrangements.

A moment later... "Screech!"

Accompanied by a piercing bird cry that could shatter gold and stone echoing through the Yuan Imperial Palace, a golden light soared into the sky under the gaze of countless palace maids and eunuchs, flying toward the distant Qing Province... Thus, on the Great Yuan Dynasty's side, Yuan Jingyi and King Lie were advancing rapidly toward the Heavenly Mountain Sect.

Meanwhile, on the other side, within the Heavenly Mountain Sect, Lin Yi had also returned to the sect aboard the Azure Eagle.

Afterward, after a grand celebration with his parents, as well as Zhao Haihong, Wang Kai, Wang Yu, and other friends and family, Lin Yi resumed his life of cultivation.

After all, he knew his opponent wasn't a minor character like King Lie, but the terrifying mountain that was the Yuan Emperor!

Although that mountain's talent couldn't match his own, the time he had spent cultivating was far longer than Lin Yi's.

Through the accumulation of long years, he had long ago reached the Peak of the Martial Saint Realm, and was even just one step away from breaking through to the terrifying Realm above Martial Saint.

Given the Yuan Emperor's ambition, once he reached that Realm, he would inevitably seek to unify the Nine Provinces.

At that time, forces like the Wanxiang Tower, the Great Chan Vajra Temple, and the Zuowang Daoist Sect might be able to submit or retreat overseas, but he would definitely be doomed.

Even if he fled overseas, the Yuan Emperor would likely use all his power to find and kill him!

After all, his potential was simply too immense—even greater than the Yuan Emperor's. This completely threatened the emperor's status and could even threaten his life! He would never allow Lin Yi to exist!

Therefore, if he wanted to survive, he had to become stronger! And he had to do it as quickly as possible!

Ideally, he would soon be able to rival a Martial Saint, pass the Innate Golden Core Realm trial of the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, and finally Breakthrough to become a Martial Saint!

By then, with a peerless divine weapon in hand and the rewards from passing the Innate Golden Core Realm trial, even if he wasn't as strong as the Yuan Emperor, the other party probably wouldn't be able to kill him. He would then be completely safe.

"But how can I rival a Martial Saint?"

Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn't help but frown.

His understanding of Martial Saints was far too limited. He had only learned fragments from the mouths of Gu Changsheng and Tianwu, the spirit of the Martial Emperors Relic Palace. As for the details, Lin Yi was completely in the dark.

While in the Martial Emperors Relic Palace, he had been entirely immersed in his martial training, focusing solely on passing the Xiantian Golden Core Realm trial, so he hadn't thought to ask Tianwu about it.

Thus, all he knew now was that his strength was still far from that of a Martial Saint, but he had no idea how to bridge that gap.

"Forget it, I'll go ask Old Ancestor Yan Hui!"

With that decision made, Lin Yi's mind settled. He stood up and headed toward the cave where the Old Ancestor resided.