Lin Shu lifted his hand and gazed at the lifelike Golden Lion Statue in his palm. With a sigh, he put it away.
’In any case, this was practically a Hidden Technique Pavilion for the Foundation Establishment Stage.’
’No need to be too greedy.’
’Besides, getting a Foundation Establishment Fourth Grade Immortal Technique for only ten Sin Coins saved me several times what it would have cost to deduce one from scratch.’
’From now on, I should pay close attention to the auras of Immortal Descendants with high Cultivation. I’ll try to get them whenever I can.’
He let out a long breath.
He closed his eyes and began to grow accustomed to the surging power within his body.
With his inner sight, he saw the Golden Jade Hundred Bones radiating a scorching brilliance.
Lin Shu pursed his lips as a sense of alarm suddenly arose within him.
He wasn’t sure why, but despite this being his own body, he felt as if he were looking at some kind of precious Treasure.
He instinctively recoiled at the thought of anyone else seeing these bones.
This defensive instinct was even stronger than his concern for the Ink Flood Dragon Sword Bracelet in his Storage Bag.
As Lin Shu closed his eyes, silence once again descended on the area.
「Three days passed in a flash.」 Night once again enveloped the mountains and rivers.
The sound of rustling footsteps echoed from behind the Signal Tower.
"Huh, no trouble?"
It was the same group of Cultivators as before, now arriving to take over the watch. They brought several Qi Cultivation Cultivators with them, stopping at the base of the Signal Tower. Looking up at the solitary figure above, they presented the Jade Scrolls in their hands.
"You didn’t run into any trouble, did you?"
"No."
Lin Shu stood up and presented his own Jade Scroll.
"Alright."
One of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators smiled, but he didn’t suggest that Lin Shu bring more people next time.
Clearly, during their few days back in Shihu City, they had heard about the Yu Family’s pitiful Immortal Descendant.
He didn’t think the young man would survive at Yongzhou Pass for very long.
But he also didn’t want the man to die on his very first watch. To lose one’s life without ever tasting a Crimson Heart Pill from an Immortal Family would be far too great a loss.
"Looks like your luck is pretty good. Go on, get some rest."
He was about to leap up when the junior brother beside him tugged on his sleeve, motioning with his eyes toward the Signal Tower.
The Cultivator froze for a moment, his expression turning grim.
The tower itself was covered in cracks, clearly the aftermath of a brutal battle.
’The disciples of the Great Shun Dynasty are no fools. They would never try to storm the pass alone.’
’They usually come in well-coordinated groups of three to five—not so large that they’re spotted ahead of time.’
’And they’re always led by at least one Foundation Establishment Cultivator, usually more.’
"I wouldn’t call that lucky," the junior brother said in a low voice.
It was clear he had been attacked right after starting his watch.
But he had seemed so calm, and with not a single injury on him, that they had all subconsciously overlooked the tower’s damaged state.
In the time it took to exchange a few words, the young man had already emerged from the tower and ambled out of their line of sight.
"No wonder he dared to refuse the goodwill of the Yu and Chen Families. There’s truly something extraordinary about him."
The Foundation Establishment Cultivator remarked with a sigh, shaking his head.
’If he hadn’t followed the wrong Master, his future would be far smoother than ours.’
The group pushed aside their distracting thoughts, leaped to the top of the tower, and poured their Spiritual Power into the Blood Spirit Stone, beginning the next watch.
Meanwhile, the moment he was out of the other Cultivators’ sight, a glint flashed in Lin Shu’s eyes.
In an instant, his body shot forward. He leaped dozens of feet into the air, treating the mountainous terrain below as if it were flat ground.
Although he had yet to learn the Light Body Technique, by simply running fast enough and jumping high enough, his movements were even more swift and fierce than the streaks of light those other Cultivators became.
’How exhilarating!’
A journey that had previously taken four hours now took a mere fifteen minutes. The Earth City was already in sight.
「Shihu City.」
Normally, the city would have fallen silent by this hour of the night.
But tonight was different.
Today was the day the guard shifts changed.
「Inside an inn.」
Steward Luo sat at a table, his gaze fixed on some distant point, his thoughts wandering.
A crowd of people had gathered before him.
The most agitated of them all was Yu Qing. He strode to the front, looking for all the world like he was about to grab the Steward by the collar and demand answers.
"What did you say? I lost eight disciples, and not only is there no compensation in merit points, but you dare to dock the points that the dead should have earned?!"
"Calm yourself, Little Mountain God."
Steward Luo turned his head wearily. "You provided a total of thirty-two disciples. Twenty-four of them completed the full seven-day watch, earning eight hundred forty merit points. The remaining eight died after guarding for only three days, earning one hundred twenty merit points."
"That’s a total of nine hundred sixty points. You can calculate it again; it should be correct."
"But they died! They’re dead! And they repelled the invaders and defended the Signal Tower!" Yu Qing’s face was flushed, his eyes showing no grief, only fury at the paltry number of merit points.
"But it’s also true that they didn’t kill a single enemy."
Steward Luo sighed, his voice growing a little firmer. "These are the rules of Yongzhou Pass. You were the one who brought them here. This group of Cultivators was working for you. Their death benefits are not the responsibility of Yongzhou Pass."
At these words, Yu Qing’s breathing grew rougher.
He may have come from the Yu Family, but he was far too young to dare challenge the rules of Yongzhou Pass.
The young man suddenly whirled around, his once-handsome face now slightly twisted.
He roared at two of his disciples, whose auras were faint, "You useless trash! Since you already wounded them so badly, why didn’t you dare to give chase?!"
The two disciples’ faces were pale and dazed.
They had never imagined that after risking their lives to defend the Signal Tower, they would return only to face their Master’s furious accusations.
"If this happens again, don’t blame me for being merciless!"
Yu Qing’s heart was bleeding. He had lost more than twenty percent of the disciples he had worked so hard to assemble, which meant his daily income of merit points had just plummeted.

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