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Chapter 144: Chapter 144: The Lin Brothers!
The battlefield was cleared, and the merchant caravan set out once again.
Before leaving, Guo Qing approached Luo Cheng and said:
"Luo Cheng, Ling Xuan doesn’t understand your true strength, that’s why she acted this way. Actually, if you just demonstrate a bit of your ability, she’ll definitely change her mind."
"No need."
Luo Cheng shook his head outright.
If Ling Xuan had shown a better attitude, he wouldn’t have minded explaining things properly. But now, why bother trying to warm someone who clearly doesn’t reciprocate it?
Seeing Luo Cheng determined in his choice, Guo Qing could only say:
"The Running Horse Plain is very dangerous, take extra care being alone."
Luo Cheng nodded, "Take care."
After bidding farewell, Guo Qing mounted his horse and caught up with the caravan.
Watching the group leave, Luo Cheng immediately began devouring Martial Souls.
The Martial Soul Grades of these bandits were quite ordinary. Even the Martial Souls of the four bandit leaders were only Three-star or Four-star, but there was at least a large quantity of them.
After devouring all the Martial Souls, Luo Cheng felt a surge of energy coursing through his body, and the Dragon Energy within the Essence Energy Vortex stirred restlessly. He decided to strike while the iron was hot and began refining the Martial Soul Essence.
Two hours later.
The air around Luo Cheng rippled faintly, and a faint dragon roar echoed within his Dantian.
The scales of the Dragon Energy in the Essence Energy Vortex, originally small and delicate, visibly grew larger by a whole circle, their surfaces glimmering with a dazzling radiance that made the Dragon Energy appear even more mysterious and unfathomable!
After a moment, Luo Cheng opened his eyes, clenched his fists, and furrowed his brows.
The noticeable change in Dragon Energy signified a significant improvement in the True Dragon Technique.
Yet, Luo Cheng’s strength hadn’t increased much.
Still shy of reaching 99,000 jin!
In fact, over the past few days’ cultivation, Luo Cheng had discovered that once his strength exceeded 98,000 jin, his progress slowed significantly, almost grinding to a halt!
"It seems that reaching 100,000 jin of strength in the Transcendence Realm and achieving the Golden Body Realm is indeed no simple matter..."
Luo Cheng shook his head and muttered to himself.
From his master, Elder Chen Xuan, Luo Cheng had heard that many geniuses attempting to break into the Golden Body Realm often faltered at the final step, wasting their time and efforts fruitlessly.
Despite this, Luo Cheng did not feel discouraged and instead began pondering solutions.
"Right, the Heavenly Cauldron Fist also has body-strengthening and tendon-refining effects. I can continue cultivating it! If I manage to master the Heavenly Cauldron Fist’s First Move, ’Tribe River,’ I will surely be able to further unlock my body’s potential!"
"By then, with a breakthrough in cultivation, supported by the True Dragon Technique at the Sixth Layer and the First Move of the Heavenly Cauldron Fist working in tandem, there’s no way I won’t be able to break into the Golden Body Realm!"
Luo Cheng’s gaze radiated determination.
Whether it was the Body Refining Realm or the Transcendence Realm, they were foundational realms in martial arts.
Luo Cheng understood deeply the importance of a solid foundation. If this foundation was fragile, his future achievements would certainly be limited, like a castle built in the air that could collapse at any moment!
Breaking through this hurdle and mastering the Golden Body Realm would definitely bring immense benefits to his future cultivation!
At this moment, Luo Cheng felt somewhat relieved that he had parted ways with the caravan.
If he had stayed with them, his cultivation would have been restricted, unable to fully concentrate on his training.
But now, he no longer needed to hold back.
"Time to move!"
Leaping onto his horse, Luo Cheng followed the traces left by the caravan ahead.
Since he had taken on the escorting mission, Luo Cheng hadn’t bought a map of the Running Horse Plain; losing track of the caravan could potentially cause him to become disoriented in this vast plain.
Over the next two days, Luo Cheng steadily trailed the caravan from a distance.
During this time, the caravan encountered four Demon Beast attacks and a group of bandits, all successfully repelled by Guo Qing and the others with relative ease.
Following behind the caravan, Luo Cheng took advantage of the situation, devouring the Martial Souls and Beast Souls from the Demon Beasts and bandits one by one, gradually raising his strength to 99,000 jin!
With such abundant energy as support, Luo Cheng’s progress with the Heavenly Cauldron Fist also picked up speed.
Luo Cheng estimated that in less than half a month, he could completely master the First Move of the Heavenly Cauldron Fist, ’Tribe River’!
This rate of advancement, if made known to others, would undoubtedly leave them dumbfounded.
After all, the Heavenly Cauldron Fist was at least a Five-star grade fist technique, incredibly intricate and profound. Achieving such remarkable progress in a short time was nothing short of astounding!
Another day passed.
By midday, the Ling Family caravan moved steadily across the plain.
Ling Xuan, Guo Qing, and Ji Rou rode at the front of the group.
"We should be able to leave the Running Horse Plain by tomorrow!"
Realizing their departure from the perilous Running Horse Plain was near, Guo Qing, whose nerves had been tense all along, exhaled slightly in relief.
Ling Xuan nodded slightly and smiled lightly, "We’ve really relied on you two this time."
As she spoke, Ling Xuan turned her head to glance toward the rear of the caravan.
On the horizon, a solitary rider trailed the caravan from afar.
Seeing this figure, a mocking smirk appeared on Ling Xuan’s lips, feeling assured that her decision to cast Luo Cheng out of the caravan was the right one!
The Ling Family could easily afford the 1.8 million taels, but they wanted value for their money.
In Ling Xuan’s eyes, Luo Cheng simply wasn’t worth it!
Guo Qing casually asked, "Miss Ling, I’ve heard that Linguan City has been unstable lately?"
Ling Xuan nodded slightly and replied, "According to my father, the legendary Empress of the Great Chu Dynasty has gone missing. Now the entire Great Chu Dynasty is in turmoil, and the borderlands are rife with opportunistic forces stirring unrest..."
"The Empress of the Great Chu Dynasty is missing!"
Guo Qing and Ji Rou were deeply shocked by this revelation.
The legendary Empress of the Great Chu Dynasty had singlehandedly subdued dozens of nations across the Yunlan Domain in the Eastern Continent. Her power and status far surpassed the Sect Masters of the Three Great Sects; she reigned supreme!
Such a figure vanishing would undoubtedly unleash monumental chaos!
Guo Qing was about to ask further questions when her brows suddenly furrowed, gazing ahead.
Ahead, two riders approached swiftly.
Spotting the pair, Guo Qing’s guarded expression rose, and she ordered the caravan to halt.
In no time, the two riders reached the caravan, revealing themselves as two middle-aged men clad in black robes.
"Didn’t expect to run into people here."
"Must be merchants from another city. Linguan City has been chaotic lately, with all sorts of forces trying to make quick profits."
"Hmm, those three women look decent. Can’t believe we found this kind of prize in the middle of nowhere!"
The two spoke brazenly as they drew nearer, and upon seeing Guo Qing and the others, they exchanged grins filled with strange delight.
Ling Xuan frowned slightly at their words and coldly said:
"Gentlemen, we have no quarrel with you. Please leave immediately!"
Instead of leaving, the two black-robed men exchanged smiles and blocked the caravan’s path.
The tall black-robed man holding a lance, with narrow, blade-like eyes, stared at Ling Xuan and grinned sinisterly:
"What if we don’t leave?"
Seeing the men were merely in the Sixth Layer of the Transcendence Realm, Ling Xuan was unimpressed and responded coldly:
"Then we’ll have no choice but to make you leave!"
With a wave of Ling Xuan’s hand, several Transcendence Realm experts from the Ling Family surrounded the two, fixing them with steely glares.
"Heh heh, do you really think they can stop us, the Lin Brothers?"
The tall black-robed man let out a sinister laugh and suddenly leapt into the air, thrusting his lance at one of the Ling Family guards.
The attack was extraordinarily swift, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the sky, leaving a clearly visible crack in the air!
"Watch out!"
The Ling Family guard, also in the Sixth Layer of the Transcendence Realm, sensed the extraordinary nature of the strike and immediately drew his saber to parry.
Clang!
The saber was directly knocked away, and the silver lance continued its momentum, piercing straight through the guard’s chest!
"What!"
Ling Xuan and the others were stunned.
The next moment.
Splurt!
The tall black-robed man’s hand trembled, and the guard’s body dismembered explosively, with blood scattering across the ground!
Shaking his silver lance, the tall black-robed man turned to Ling Xuan and the others, grinning darkly:
"It has always been us, the Lin Brothers, making others leave!"
