Chapter 34: Coming to the Door

Looking at the dark red pill in his hand, Chen Lin's expression shifted unsteadily.

Yu Yuehai had said that he had to consume one pill every ten days to feed the Melanin Worm inside his body; it seemed the time had come.

The pill had been refined by Yu Yuehai using his own essence blood, and Chen Lin was extremely repulsed by it.

When he first received it, he had only taken a single glance and kept it in his storage bag, thinking that if the backlash from the Melanin Worm wasn't too severe, he could endure it and avoid using it.

Now, however, he had no choice but to use it.

With this thought, Chen Lin closed his eyes, popped the pill into his mouth, and swallowed.

It was pungent and carried a metallic scent of blood, somewhat similar to the smell of a Blood Demon Pill.

As soon as the pill entered his stomach, the pain in his abdomen immediately ceased, and the discomfort in his body vanished along with it.

It truly was instantaneous.

With a gloomy expression, he recapped the bottle and put it away. Having lost the mood to practice spells, Chen Lin turned to head back to his room.

"Hehe, I didn't expect you to live here, and that you're a man! You certainly made it difficult for me to find you!"

An angry voice suddenly rang out from above, followed by a figure drifting gracefully into the courtyard.

Chen Lin quickly pressed himself against the wall, his flying sword ready to be activated at any moment.

Someone capable of descending from the sky was at least at the mid-stage of Qi Refinement.

But when he saw the newcomer's face, he couldn't help but freeze.

He quickly regained his composure, putting on a look of confusion. "Who are you? Who are you looking for?"

The newcomer was actually Lu Li, the third young master of the Lu family, the one who had commissioned the Soul-Seizing Talisman!

Chen Lin was deeply perplexed, not understanding how the other party had found this place. Suspecting it was a trap, he feigned ignorance.

He muttered to himself inwardly; after leaving the inn, he had changed his appearance twice and even abandoned his prepared hideout. Logically, his identity should not have been discovered.

Furthermore, so much time had passed—what was the other party looking for him for? Did they want to take back the reward of spirit stones?

Lu Li maintained his arrogant, noble demeanor. He glanced at Chen Lin and let out a light chuckle. "It seems those fifty mid-grade spirit stones were quite effective; they actually allowed you to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refinement. This makes things even better!"

"What are you talking about? I don't understand. Fellow Daoist, I think you have the wrong person. There are four people living in this courtyard, but the other three are out. If you are looking for them, you can come back tonight or tomorrow."

Chen Lin continued to play dumb.

Seeing his refusal to admit it, Lu Li sneered. "Stop pretending. I have already left a mark on you. Never mind that you're disguised as a woman—even if you turned into a beast, you couldn't run!"

Immediately, his aura shifted, and he sneered sideways. "The person I, the third young master of the Lu family, am looking for—even if he crawls into a rat hole, I will drag him out!"

Chen Lin remained silent.

He had thought the man was an upright and honorable gentleman, but he hadn't expected him to have played tricks on him. Moreover, the method was so sophisticated that he hadn't noticed it at all.

"What are you saying? I really don't understand."

No matter what, he would not admit it.

The most likely reason the other party was looking for him was still the Soul-Seizing Talisman, but right now, he only wanted to wait steadily for Yu Yuehai to leave; he didn't want any unexpected complications.

He wasn't afraid of the other party using force. With the talismans Yu Yuehai had given him, the man wouldn't be able to kill him instantly, and he could call for help at any time.

Additionally, Ye Jingyun was likely monitoring him from the shadows and would likely stand by and watch.

Seeing that Chen Lin would not yield without seeing the coffin, Lu Li's eyes turned cold.

As a direct descendant of the Lu family and a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, every rogue cultivator he met would bow and scrape before him. Yet this man ignored him. If he didn't have a use for him, he would have killed him with a single sword strike.

Even so, he intended to give Chen Lin a warning to ensure he would be obedient.

With that thought, Lu Li tapped his storage bag, and a small black sword hovered before him.

"It seems you prefer the hard way rather than the easy one. Then this young master shall fulfill your wish!"

Seeing this flying sword, Chen Lin was startled. He instantly recalled the scene in the inn where the old talisman master was killed in a single strike.

Without hesitation, he cast a Vajra Shield on himself and prepared to activate a communication talisman.

Lu Li did not strike immediately. Instead, like a cat playing with a mouse, he watched Chen Lin's movements.

A mid-stage Qi Refinement rogue cultivator, even if he emptied his entire fortune, would be unable to withstand a single strike from this high-grade flying sword!

Once he had dealt with him properly, he would naturally become obedient.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed as he looked into the distance.

A streak of light shot toward them, landing in the courtyard in an instant.

"Third Young Master Lu, you certainly carry quite the prestige. Given your status, do you not find it disgraceful to attack a mid-stage Qi Refinement rogue cultivator?"

The one who appeared was none other than Ye Jingyun.

She first glanced at Chen Lin, then addressed Lu Li.

Seeing this, Chen Lin's expression relaxed, and he put away the communication talisman.

Ye Jingyun was powerful; with her here, there was no need to waste a talisman to summon Yu Yuehai.

"Pavilion Master Ye, why are you here? Do you know each other?"

Having managed the Water Moon Pavilion for several years, Ye Jingyun was quite well-known in Kaiyuan City, so Lu Li naturally recognized her.

However, he didn't care much.

Although the woman from the Water Moon Pavilion had some connections to the Han family, she was not a member of the Han family after all. Given the current special circumstances, regardless of their relationship, he had to take this man surnamed Chen away today.

Ye Jingyun was highly skilled in social graces. She saw through Lu Li's attitude at a glance and understood why he had come. She and Yu Yuehai had investigated the matter of Chen Lin refining the Soul-Seizing Talisman very thoroughly.

Unfortunately, had it been before Yu Yuehai's promotion, she might have been wary of the five great families, but now, his status was enough to suppress her.

After a moment's thought, she smiled calmly and said, "It is more than just knowing him; this person is my registered disciple. I do not know how he offended Young Master Lu. If there has been any offense, I, as his master, will apologize on his behalf."

"A registered disciple?"

Lu Li was stunned for a moment before letting out a cold laugh.

"Does Pavilion Master Ye take me for an idiot? With your status, would you take a cultivator in his forties as a disciple? Besides, doesn't your Water Moon Pavilion only accept female cultivators? Since when did you have male disciples!"

Ye Jingyun walked slowly to Chen Lin's side, her smile unabated. "That was in the past. As for the current situation, Fellow Daoist Lu should know better than I. Traveling in the wilderness is harsh; having male disciples is more convenient. Moreover, I only have a Qi Refinement cultivation myself; if I can take a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator as a disciple, what more could I possibly complain about?"

"You want to take him with you?"

This surprised Lu Li even more.

As a direct descendant of the Lu family, although he had been kept in the dark previously, he had been informed of the situation a few months ago. He knew this place was being controlled by the "Abnormalities," and the family ancestor was preparing to lead the core clans away.

Although he couldn't feel anything unusual about himself and couldn't see the so-called "red lines," he believed the ancestor's words.

It was precisely because of this that he had sought to refine the Soul-Seizing Talisman at all costs last time, wanting to go outside the city to capture a soul and refine a special treasure to use during their escape.

Unfortunately, that secret treasure had been damaged a few days ago and required another Soul-Seizing Talisman to be re-refined. He had sought out many talisman masters, but none could successfully refine it, which was why he had thought of Chen Lin.

Lu Li looked at Ye Jingyun, hesitated, and then his gaze became firm.

He spoke coldly, "My apologies, Pavilion Master Ye. Regardless of whether this person is your disciple, I must take him with me today. However, I do not intend to harm him; I simply want him to help me refine a talisman."

Ye Jingyun thought to herself, *As expected,* while secretly criticizing Chen Lin for being insufficiently cautious. To display such an ability so casually in the outside world—he truly did not understand the perils of the cultivation world.

A person like this would absolutely not survive three months in her Black Demon Sect.

What she didn't know was that if Chen Lin were to hear her thoughts, he would cry out many times that he was being wrongly accused.

No matter how cautious one is, one cannot guard against things beyond one's cognition.