He hated that his attacker didn’t play by the rules.
The man clearly had the power to face him head-on, yet he’d chosen a sneak attack. If his opponent had appeared openly, he wouldn’t have underestimated him.
But there were no ’if’s.
The gray-robed man’s throat burst open, and his body crashed to the ground.
Zhao Linyuan stood frozen, long spear in hand, as if he’d been rooted to the spot.
The Blood Exchange Fourth Transformation powerhouse who had been overpowering him and his Senior Sister was killed in under five breaths, without even a chance to fight back.
’Is he also a Blood Exchange Fourth Transformation powerhouse?’
Zhao Linyuan’s eyes were fixed on the figure sheathing a sword. He was about to offer his thanks when the man turned around. Seeing the familiar face, Zhao Linyuan froze. It took him a moment to process, then his eyebrows shot up. "Senior Brother Lin!"
"Junior Brother Zhao, it’s been a while."
The corners of Lin Yan’s mouth curved upward. ’I have to admit... back at the Martial Arts Hall, Junior Brother Zhao was always a step ahead of me. Now that I’ve finally surpassed him, seeing his shocked expression is pretty satisfying.’
"Senior Brother Lin? Is he a senior brother from one of the halls?"
Standing to the side, Zhou Wei listened to Zhao Linyuan and Lin Yan’s conversation with curiosity in her eyes. She had joined the Sect a year before Junior Brother Zhao, and she was sure she’d never seen this Senior Brother Lin before. ’A senior brother with his kind of power... I’d have definitely noticed him during the Sect tournament.’
But this Senior Brother Lin before her was a complete stranger.
"Senior Sister, this is my senior brother from the Martial Arts Hall."
Zhao Linyuan heard his Senior Sister’s whisper and turned to explain.
His explanation made Zhou Wei’s eyes widen as she stared at Lin Yan in utter disbelief.
She knew all about Junior Brother Zhao’s background, of course.
He came from Guangping County Town, had joined a Martial Arts Hall, and studied under a Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist. She was already amazed that he had managed his Cultivation to the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing before the age of seventeen.
A talent like Junior Brother Zhao might only appear in a county town once in a decade or more.
And now Junior Brother Zhao was telling her that this young man, who had just defeated a Blood Exchange Fourth Transformation practitioner, was his senior brother from that same Martial Arts Hall.
’What kind of Martial Arts Hall could produce two such talents?’
"Senior Brother Lin, Master mentioned in his letter that you’d gone to the Qing State Lin Family."
Zhao Linyuan walked toward Lin Yan. He was still reeling from the shock of his senior brother’s strength, but there was no jealousy in his heart—only happiness for him.
"Junior Brother Zhao."
The two martial brothers embraced, and Zhao Linyuan was overcome with emotion. "When Master told me you’d gone to the Lin Family, I was so happy for you! I knew you wouldn’t have to worry about your future Martial Arts Cultivation Techniques. I just... I never expected you were already at the Blood Exchange Realm..."
"Third Transformation."
Lin Yan saw no reason to hide the truth from his junior brother. The power he had just displayed was indeed that of the Blood Exchange Third Transformation.
"Blood Exchange Third Transformation... I guess it’s my turn to chase after you, Senior Brother Lin."
"I’m just a step ahead, Junior Brother. With your talent, reaching the Third or even Fourth Transformation will be no trouble at all."
Lin Yan smiled and patted Zhao Linyuan’s shoulder. Though his face was warm, a flicker of confusion passed through the depths of his eyes.
’When I touched Junior Brother Zhao just now, his Martial Arts Tree appeared in my mind, and it was... strange.’
’In terms of height, his Martial Arts Tree was actually taller than my own.’
’If it had been Junior Brother Zhuang, Lin Yan wouldn’t have been surprised. That guy is a known sandbagger; he’d definitely hide his true strength.’
’But not Junior Brother Zhao! He wouldn’t do that.’
’And besides its height, there was another peculiar thing about his Martial Arts Tree: the main trunk was very thin, completely out of proportion with the thickness of the branches.’
’It was as if some external force had suddenly stretched the trunk, making it taller, but the branches hadn’t been able to keep up.’
"Senior Brother Lin, let me introduce you. This is Senior Sister Zhou."
"Thank you for stepping in to help, Senior Brother Lin."
Zhou Wei expressed her gratitude. Lin Yan acknowledged it with a nod and a smile.
"Junior Brother Zhao, what are you doing here?"
Lin Yan pushed the strange matter of Junior Brother Zhao’s Martial Arts Mountain to the back of his mind, glanced at the gray-robed man’s corpse, and asked curiously.
"Several Martial Arts Clans in Fufeng and Pingyao Counties were recently wiped out. The Sect suspected a Tribulation Cultivator was responsible and issued a mission. Senior Sister and I were assigned to investigate, and our pursuit led us here. We just never expected our target to be at the Blood Exchange Fourth Transformation Realm."
As he said this, Zhao Linyuan glanced at Lin Yan again. ’For Senior Brother Lin to defeat that gray-robed man while only at the Blood Exchange Third Transformation... he must be on the verge of the Fourth Transformation. And that Sword Gang from earlier... he’s probably mastered several forms of Sword Intent.’
"Senior Brother Lin, wait a moment."
Zhao Linyuan walked over to the gray-robed man’s corpse, crouched down, and searched the body for a moment before pulling out a stack of silver banknotes and a few bottles of Elixirs.
"Senior Brother Lin, you’re the one who killed him, so these belong to you. As for the body... I’ll ride on your coattails and take it back to the Sect for the reward."
Zhao Linyuan was very forthright. Lin Yan didn’t stand on ceremony either, simply nodding and accepting the items. Zhou Wei, standing nearby, showed no dissatisfaction; without her Junior Brother Zhao’s senior brother, she and Zhao Linyuan would have likely died here.
At the thought of dying alongside Junior Brother Zhao, a blush suddenly crept onto Zhou Wei’s cheeks.
"Are you heading back to Guangping County Town, Senior Brother Lin?"
"Yes."
"Perfect. I haven’t been back in ages. I’ll go with you, Senior Brother Lin, to see Master and our other brothers."
"Master will be thrilled."
"He’ll be happy to see me return, but when you show up, Senior Brother Lin... I’m afraid Master is in for a shock."

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