103: Chapter 103 The Storm Is Brewing

Inside the quiet room, the middle-aged woman lay unconscious on the ground. Lin Qing leaned over to pick up the warm, lustrous white Jade Slip. With the Rank Six Cultivation Technique in hand, the process had been so smooth that even Lin Qing felt surprised.

He put the Jade Slip away, removed the Storage Rings from both individuals, and hung them together on the belt inside his clothes.

After finishing this, Lin Qing did not leave immediately. In the end, he decided to perform the Soul Searching Technique to see if there was anything noteworthy in the minds of these Rank Six Cultivators; perhaps he could even obtain some Intermediate Spells or clues to a Treasure Trove.

To be safe, he started with the woman, who had a weaker cultivation. His palm lightly covered her forehead, and his domineering Divine Thought silently invaded her Sea of Consciousness.

It took the time for a cup of tea to finish reading her memories. A massive amount of memory fragments flooded into Lin Qing's mind like a tide, as scenes of her past slowly unfolded.

The woman was actually an Alchemist. Although her level wasn't high, she was already able to refine healing Medicinal Pills usable by Rank Five Cultivators, which was already very rare in Great Qi.

It wasn't that Great Qi couldn't produce excellent Alchemists, but rather because Great Qi was not a closed-off country. Alchemy was an extremely sought-after profession, and talented Alchemists all went to higher-level territories to develop.

Once the Cultivators of this world hit a regional Bottleneck in their cultivation, they usually only had two paths to take.

The first path was to travel far from home to higher-ranked Imperial Dynasties and Empires, stepping onto a broader stage of cultivation. There, higher-grade resources and top-tier Cultivation Techniques existed, and the speed of cultivation was far beyond what a small place could compare to.

But this path was fraught with danger. In a small place, you were a respected powerhouse, but upon entering high-tier territories, your former innate advantages would vanish. A slight lapse in judgment could lead to being caught in the crossfire of even stronger beings, resulting in death and the end of one's Dao.

The second path was more stable. That was to stay in one's homeland, take root in a local power, and recruit many Disciples, relying on thousands of them to collect cultivation resources on one's behalf.

Although the quality of resources was low and cultivation progress was slow, it was stable, the risk of falling was extremely low, and one could be respected and enjoy life.

The woman before him had once taken the first path.

Twenty years ago, she was among the top five in the Great Qi Heavenly Pride Competition and had represented Great Qi to participate in the entry examination of the Chuyun Immortal Sect.

Although she failed to enter as expected, she fortunately survived the brutal examination.

After failing the exam, she did not choose to return to Great Qi. Instead, she stayed in the Empire, wanting to change her fate against the heavens and carve out her own great Dao of cultivation.

But at that time, she only had a Rank Four Middle Stage cultivation and no backing. Wandering alone in an Imperial Dynasty where Spirit Realms were everywhere and powerhouses were as numerous as clouds was incredibly difficult.

She had once joined a small-scale power in a remote area of the Imperial Dynasty. However, the cultivation talent that had allowed her to look down on her peers and make her famous in Great Qi was merely passable in the Imperial Dynasty. Even within a small power, she couldn't secure a core position.

Her clear and pretty appearance, in the midst of the mixed and chaotic lower-level forces of the Imperial Dynasty, instead became the source of trouble.

Local female Disciples were jealous of her looks, often cornering and beating her until her face was swollen and her body was covered in bruises.

Countless male Disciples harbored ill intentions toward her, secretly making things difficult to force her into submission.

During the most dangerous incident, she went out on a mission and was cornered in the deep mountains by several Disciples who intended to forcibly violate her.

She resisted with all her might. Just as her purity was about to be lost, she was luckily spotted by an old Alchemist who had entered the mountains to gather herbs, and he stepped in to save her.

The old man was kind-hearted and pitied her plight, so he took her as a Disciple and taught her the Dao of Alchemy.

The woman's talent in the Dao of Alchemy was quite good. While it wasn't enough to make her wealthy or reach the heavens in a single bound, it was enough to support herself.

From then on, she diligently studied Alchemy while polishing her cultivation. Under the old man's careful guidance and resource assistance, she successfully broke through from the Rank Four Middle Stage to Rank Five in the third year after the Chuyun Immortal Sect examination ended.

But when wandering in a foreign land, stability was always a brief illusion.

When the old man killed those wicked Disciples to save her years ago, he had ultimately planted the seeds of disaster.

Several years later, the Sect members and relatives of those Disciples followed the trail to seek revenge.

The old man only had a Rank Five cultivation, making him just an ordinary Cultivator in the Imperial Dynasty; he was utterly powerless to resist the enemy's retaliatory siege.

When the woman returned from gathering herbs, the once stable and warm little medicine hall had already been turned into ruins.

Her benefactor and master had died, his body and soul extinguished, leaving no remains.

At that moment, although her heart was filled with grief and indignation, she was powerless. The disparity in strength was too great; if she showed herself, she would only be throwing her life away for nothing.

She could only endure her bloody tears and return to a life of wandering.

After wandering outside for several years, seeing through the coldness of the world and tasting all its hardships, the grand ambitions in her heart were completely smoothed away by reality. She eventually chose to return to her homeland, Great Qi, and back to the most familiar Qiushan Sect.

And in the Sect back then, the honest Senior Brother who had taken good care of her and was not good with words had remained unmarried for many years.

Reunited after a long absence, the two naturally became Dao Companions, accompanying and supporting each other.

She thought she could live a stable life from then on, but after many years of marriage, she gradually saw her husband's true colors.

This Senior Brother, who appeared honest, dull, and dutiful on the outside, was actually a person with hidden passions. In fact, that was fine, as it added a different kind of flair to their lives.

What made her even more uneasy was that after years together, she vaguely sensed that her Dao Companion seemed to be a spy planted in the Qiushan Sect by some organization.

Countless small, suspicious points connected, keeping her heart tense for years, yet she didn't dare to ask and could only hide it silently in the depths of her heart.

After watching the woman's turbulent half-life of memories, Lin Qing felt a slight sense of lamentation.

Cultivators in the world may seem to fly through the sky and roam freely, but in reality, most are unable to help themselves, swept along by fate and the general trend.

Subsequently, Lin Qing continued to perform the Soul Searching Technique on the burly man.

The man's Divine Soul was more stable. During the soul-searching process, his brow furrowed from time to time, but in the end, he failed to break free from Lin Qing's technique and remained unconscious.

A massive amount of memories flooded into his mind, and the truth surfaced.

The woman's Dao Companion was indeed a spy planted by another force, and that force was precisely the Xuanye Demon Court.

The Xuanye Demon Court was a top-tier force on the same level as the Chuyun Immortal Sect. In recent years, this colossus had been frequently active in the territory of the Chuyun Immortal Sect. Even a remote Dynasty like Great Qi had many spies planted by them.

From this man's memories, it was learned that almost all of the six top forces within Great Qi had been infiltrated by the Xuanye Demon Court.

And the reason why the man joined the Demon Court and was willing to become a pawn made Lin Qing sigh even more.

It wasn't out of greed for profit, but a compromise for love.

The other party had used the woman's life as a threat, forcing him to submit to the Demon Court, lurk in the Qiushan Sect, and transmit intelligence for them.

The person who had appeared back then was a Rank Six Peak powerhouse, with strength far exceeding his own.

If the other party really wanted to strike, even if they hid in the Qiushan Sect, the two of them would not have any power to resist.

With no other choice, this honest Senior Brother could only bow his head and compromise, becoming a hidden chess piece for the Demon Court, enduring and lurking for years against his own will.

After seeing both their memories, Lin Qing was a bit surprised—it was actually true love?

These two were just a pair of ill-fated lovers swept up by the general trend in a chaotic world.

It was just that this man's love was too obvious, which was why he was accurately manipulated by the Xuanye Demon Court.

At the same time, a trace of solemnity arose in Lin Qing's heart. The infiltration strength of the Xuanye Demon Court was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Even the remote Great Qi was full of spies; those higher-ranked Imperial Dynasties and Empires were bound to be the primary targets of the other party.

Presumably, a top-tier Sect war sweeping across the entire region was not far off. A chaotic era is approaching; the wind and rain are coming!

Lin Qing did not take their lives. He moved the man into the room and placed him beside the woman.

Having finished everything, he did not stay any longer, turned to step out of the courtyard, and casually closed the gate.

Still maintaining Wang Meng's appearance, he left the Qiushan Sect with calm steps and without a sound.