13: Will they win in Chapter 13?

Heixuan City is located beside an abandoned black iron mine, and this obscure little city has recently become the center of attention within a hundred-mile radius.

Martial Artists from the Jianghu carrying sabers and swords can be seen everywhere on the main street, making a huge contribution to the local tourism industry.

Of course, it has also dealt a devastating blow to the business of the local bandits.

Lin Yuan walked along the main street, carefully observing the Jianghu travelers passing by.

Just as Sect Master Tie said, it is dominated by Loose Cultivators at the Qi Refinement Stage, with very few True Aperture experts appearing; it seems everyone also knows the rumors are unreliable.

Because a true Martial King's palace would definitely be built on a spiritual treasure land, or a place of great significance to the owner of the palace.

Heixuan City is a godforsaken border region; King Panwu wouldn't specifically run over here to build a palace, right?

Impossible, absolutely impossible.

He isn't a philanthropist, after all.

Feeling that this was a sure thing, Lin Yuan settled down and found the Liuyun Sect's property in Heixuan City—the Liuyun Inn.

The innkeeper was an Outer Sect Disciple from twelve years ago, long having lost the enterprising spirit of a Martial Artist; he now looked like a wealthy man, having just broken through to the True Aperture Realm a few years ago.

From him, Lin Yuan learned detailed intelligence regarding the "King Panwu Palace."

Three months ago, the E-Stream flowing through Heixuan City experienced an unexplained drying up, revealing the riverbed. Someone saw traces of man-made structures on the riverbed, and after entering, found a large number of murals with patterns and text.

After interpretation by specialists, it was discovered that the murals were structural diagrams of a palace, and the owner of the palace was the famous King Panwu from the Zhongzhu Continent.

The text beside them described the palace entrance in detail; it is located at the bottom of a cold pool downstream of the E-Stream.

Therefore, during this period, local powerhouses have been organizing manpower to dig a water diversion canal, which is nearing completion soon.

Lin Yuan arrived at the perfect time, and he settled down at the inn.

Three days later, news came that the entrance to the mysterious underground palace had finally appeared.

The Martial Artists in the entire city moved at the news; with a few whooshes, dozens of figures shot into the sky, advancing toward the outskirts at extreme speed.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan departed immediately.

Although he did not have elegant movement techniques, with the support of True Qi, his speed was not slow, and he arrived at the edge of the cold pool before long.

The former cold pool had long been drained, revealing a layer of silt ten zhang deep. In one corner was a three-meter-high stone gate, which was the entrance to King Panwu's underground palace.

No one knew what was in the underground palace, but Loose Cultivators were known for being reckless; not caring about this or that, a crowd of people jumped into the deep pit like a plague of locusts and rushed into the stone gate, with some clashing midway and exchanging blows.

After waiting a while, seeing that most people had gone, Lin Yuan set off unhurriedly and entered the underground palace.

Walking through a corridor about a thousand meters long, Lin Yuan encountered the first fork in the road. He randomly chose one and continued walking for several hundred meters, then encountered a second, and repeated this seven times before truly entering the interior of the underground palace.

This was a huge karst cave, whether located underground or inside a mountain, he did not know. It was covered with a layer of moss resembling starlight, and a huge underground river flowed through the area, nourishing a swamp, presenting a scene of vitality where all things vied for growth.

About dozens of Martial Artists were distributed throughout the karst cave, searching carefully.

Lin Yuan looked around, his gaze fixing on a crevice in a rock, where a crimson three-leaf herb stood, with a hint of silver light on its top.

"Blood Barbarian Grass?"

Lin Yuan recognized the true identity of the plant before him at a glance; it was a relatively rare medicinal herb that, when consumed, could cleanse the Bloodline and strengthen the physique.

Its value was at least around fifty taels of silver.

He drew his saber and used the blade to pluck it.

However, before he could examine it closely, the rock beside him suddenly rose, and two openings split on its sides, with cold light gathering into a beam, shooting over like a laser.

Where was this a rock? It was clearly a Clam Demon!

The water stream they spat out was mixed with a large amount of mud and sand, like a meat grinder, capable of grinding prey into residue in an instant!

"I've been waiting for you!"

Lin Yuan was unhurried, having anticipated this; he slashed out with his saber, the air emitting a hissing roar.

The terrifying air pressure instantly cut through the water flow, then struck the Clam Demon's hard shell without losing momentum.

Puchi!

The shell, harder than steel, could not withstand Lin Yuan's slash at all and was cut in two, from which three pearls spilled out.

The pearls produced by the Clam Demon could barely be considered a secret treasure.

Lin Yuan put the spoils into his pocket and continued deeper.

At this moment, the benefits of having strong Mental Energy became apparent; his five senses were keener than ordinary people's, and he could often discover precious herbs hidden in the dark.

Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had collected medicinal herbs worth several hundred taels of gold, arousing the covetousness of some people with ulterior motives.

When he walked to a large tree, two people suddenly jumped down from the canopy, surrounding him from left and right, the greed in their eyes undisguised.

"Kid..."

"Your next sentence is 'Hand over the precious herbs, and I will spare your life'!"

"Hand over the precious herbs, and I will spare your life... What?"

The two were shocked, then immediately furious.

"Dare to mock us? You're finished, you are truly finished; no one in heaven or on earth can save you! Now, kneel and kowtow, sever one of your arms yourself, and we might still let you live."

"Sigh."

Lin Yuan sighed: "I am such a kind and gentle person, why must you force me to take action?"

He drew his saber and walked toward the two.

"Ho ho, you didn't choose to run, but instead approached us? What gave you such confidence?"

The two sneered repeatedly; they were the famous Twin Bandits of the area, proficient in combined attack techniques, and to date, dozens of Peak Qi Refining Martial Artists had died tragically at their hands.

But clearly, they had provoked the wrong person this time.

Lin Yuan drew his saber, the saber beam piercing the air, Evil Qi filling the sky, as if a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had appeared; this was Lin Yuan using the Breaking Evil Saber Art from the Blood Blade Technique.

This saber technique was surprisingly compatible with Lin Yuan's newly born True Qi, and when attacking, it carried a mental attack, making it a god-tier skill for bullying weaker opponents.

One of the two didn't even have time to circulate his True Qi before he was beheaded by Lin Yuan's saber.

The other was scared pale, turned, and fled.

Having just run a few meters, a faint blood-colored light flashed by; his figure did not change, and he ran another few dozen meters before suddenly stopping.

It wasn't that he didn't want to run anymore, but that he couldn't.

A blood line appeared out of thin air on his neck, bleeding continuously until it couldn't stop, and his entire head tilted forward and fell, landing right in front of him, held in his two hands against his chest, forming a bizarre scene.

Lin Yuan shook the blood off his saber but did not put it away, instead turning his head to look at an empty space.

"You've been watching for so long, it's time to show yourself, right? Friend!"

Swish!

A figure darted out and landed on a boulder.

He glanced at the corpses of the Twin Bandits and smiled slightly: "Not bad, to be able to instantly kill two people, you can be considered to have some ability. I, Chen Yuan, cherish geniuses the most; put down the precious herbs and retreat, and I will spare your life."

He spoke as if it were a matter of course, as if it were a great act of charity.

Lin Yuan laughed dumbfoundedly: "Just based on you!"

"Of course, just based on me!"

Chen Yuan stood with his arms crossed, releasing a powerful Aura from his entire body.

He was no rookie at the Qi Refining Realm, but a genuine True Aperture powerhouse.

"Bring it on."

Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered with nonsense and confronted him tit-for-tat.

"You are seeking your own death, don't blame me."

A trace of pity flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes.

Can a True Aperture win against a Qi Refining?

Guaranteed win, bro!