“That old fellow..,” Lin Dong murmured to himself as he stared at the jade scroll in his hands.

The “Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps” was a grade eight martial art – not a bad grade. Yet what really attracted Lin Dong about the martial art was that it was a type of movement martial art. Although its attack strength was limited, it would enable Lin Dong to dodge and move skillfully.

The mastery of a powerful movement martial art can render a person undefeatable in a fight. Such movement martial arts, however, were extremely rare in the Great Yan Empire. Little did Lin Dong expect that it would be tossed to him in such a casual manner by the hemp garment old man.

Lin Dong’s eyelids lowered as he probed the jade scroll with his Mental Energy. Information flowed into his mind from within. A moment later, his brows furrowed. The Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps was indeed exceedingly profound – yet Lin Dong could not help but find it incomplete, as if it was merely a fragment of the original.

“Heh, you didn’t think that the old fellow would be so kind-hearted as to bestow on you the complete martial art, did you?” Little Marten appeared, mocking.

“Even in the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace, this Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps can be considered a relatively strong martial art. In its entirety, it must be of the Manifestation grade. Did you think that the old fellow would trade a Manifestation grade martial art with a copied Soul Symbol?”

“So what if it’s just a fragment? Have you forgotten the Stone Talisman’s ability to simulate martial arts?” A small grin flashed on Lin Dong’s face. While others might be helpless in such a situation, he possessed the Stone Talisman – the ultimate tool to practise an incomplete martial art such as this.

“Given your strength, it’s not going to be easy to use the Stone Talisman to perfect a Manifestation grade martial art,” Little Marten shook its head.

“No matter the difficulty, success will come at some point,” Lin Dong smiled. Immediately after, a serious look appeared on his face as he stared at Little Marten, “From where does the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace hail from? It sounds really powerful.”

Upon hearing that name, Little Marten’s expression turned serious. After a period of silence, it finally mentioned, “Not only is it ‘strong’, even in my peak, I couldn’t help but be fearful of them. You simply cannot imagine how humongous they are. All that you have seen.. whether the Four Great Clans or even the Great Yan Empire is nothing but fluff in their eyes.”

Lin Dong was stunned. Since being acquainted with the Little Marten, he had always known it to be a fearless chap. Such words would rarely come out from its mouth. It seems as if the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace was truly a fearsome existence.

“The Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace enjoys a pretty solid reputation in this world. Put bluntly, your Great Yan Empire doesn’t even possess the qualifications to be mentioned alongside them. Simply a thought from the experts in the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace would cause the Great Yan Empire to disintegrate.”

Little Marten shook its head, exclaiming, “In terms of strength, that old fellow can only be considered mediocre in the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace.”

Lin Dong sucked in a mouthful of cold air. A Nirvana stage practitioner could only be considered mediocre in the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace. Wasn’t such a faction simply too horrifying?

If it was indeed as Little Marten explained, Lin Dong possessed no doubt that such a sect had the power to wipe out the Great Yan Empire with a flip of its hand. Afterall, a single Nirvana stage practitioner alone was able to wreak havoc in the Great Yan Empire. How much more the stronger experts in the Nine Heavens Supreme Purity Palace!

“In the future you will understand more about this sect, but there’s no need for that now. You have no connections with them. This incident was merely an accident.” Little Marten waved its claws, comforting Lin Dong.

A bitter laugh escaped Lin Dong. This world was gigantic indeed. All that he had witnessed was merely the tip of the iceberg. The encounter today reinforced the importance of strength to Lin Dong. If he had not possessed the trump card that was the Blood Soul Puppet, he would be nothing but an ant in the eyes of the hemp garment old man. The latter would simply capture him and, when it came the time to take his Soul Symbol, dispense with the need for any compensation towards him.

Because in his eyes, Lin Dong was too weak to withstand even a single blow!

What reason need a lion speak to a lamb? The supposed ideal of ‘justice’ shows itself only under the accompaniment of might.

Lin Dong, who had just begun to be a little sure of himself with his recent stardom in the Great Desolate Province, was faced with a rude awakening. Despite his recent growth in strength, he remained a weakling before true experts.

Moreover, he now needed greater power to protect himself precisely because he had obtained an object as sacred and mighty as the Devouring Ancestral Symbol!

“Phew..”

Lin Dong breathed out a long breath as determination flashed in his eyes. He possessed the potential to become mightier. He was confident that his future would not be any worse than anyone else. The next time he met the hemp garment old man, he would make him realize how wise it was for him not to have acted rashly today..

“Let’s go! Leave this place!”

His eyes sweeping across the utterly destroyed mountains, Lin Dong no longer intended to continue resting. Despite the leaving of the hemp garment old man, Lin Dong remained on guard as he lept onto Little Flame’s back. Without further ado, a low growl emitted from Little Flame’s throat. Its blood-coloured wings swept downwards and its body became a flash of blood-red light, swiftly vanishing into the distance.

Silence descended upon the mountain range, leaving it in its carnage.

....

Lin Dong’s worry did not materialize. Plainly, his performance earlier had thoroughly dissipated the hemp garment old man’s interest in him. Moreover, with Lin Dong’s possession of the Blood Soul Puppet, the old man understood that had he wanted to harm Lin Dong, he would have to pay a huge price – a price that he was absolutely reluctant to pay without being sure if Lin Dong carried the Devouring Ancestral Symbol.

Yet though Lin Dong no longer felt that he was being tracked, he continued at a rapid pace over the next few days, pushing Little Flame to its fastest speed and rushing towards the Great Yan Province like a madman without any stops along the way

Such maniacal progress continued for an entire week before Lin Dong heaved a sigh of relief. Presently, he had already put significant distance between himself and the Great Desolate Province, passing through even a vast province city along the way. Being such a great distance away, even the hemp garment old man would not be able to track him even if he wanted to.

After ensuring his safety, Lin Dong found a secure place and rested soundly for two days before continuing on his journey to the Great Yan Province.

Perhaps due to the appearance of the hemp garment old man, Lin Dong received significant motivation to increase his power. Thus, even while rushing, Lin Dong wasted no time by spending all his spare time on training.

As he continued along his journey, he was gradually mastering the ‘Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps’ that he had obtained. When he employed the martial art, his figure became elusive and untrackable. Overall, Lin Dong was very satisfied with the Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps, after all, it was a Manifestation grade martial art. Despite being incomplete, it was in a different league from average grade eight martial arts.

Of course, even while practising the Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps, Lin Dong did not slacken in his training in other martial arts. On the summit of the Mysterious Black Yin mountain where he slayed Teng Sha, he had devoured his spirit essence and, with it, many of his memories. These included the Secret Arts and martial arts he practised.

Among those martial arts, Lin Dong eventually found what he was looking for – that is, the sub-Manifestation grade martial art used by Teng Sha – the Great Desolate Ocean Splitting Seal.

This martial art was obtained by Teng Sha similarly from the Great Wastelands Ancient Tablet. Its might was to be reckoned with and while it was, strictly speaking, not a true Manifestation martial art, it was nonetheless of a different level when compared to the average grade nine martial art.

Faced with such a martial art that could raise his own combat power, Lin Dong clearly had no intentions of passing it over. While on his journey, Lin Dong continually practised the Great Desolate Ocean Splitting Seal along with the Supreme Purity Sky Wanderer Steps.

Additionally, the mountain ranges along the way were populated densely by Demonic Beasts, offering Lin Dong a copious amount of opportunities to hone his new martial arts through real-life combat. This greatly sped up his progress in learning the new martial arts.

Under such diligent training, Lin Dong’s combat strength climbed steadily day by day..

..

Over this month, Lin Dong trained with barbaric frenzy once again, crossing mountains and striding between cliffs, receiving the training that came from the environment and nature.

Within that month, Lin Dong had marched through almost half of the entire Great Yan Empire, passing through numerous great province cities, yet staying no more than a short while in each of them. This was because time was running short for Lin Dong. The entire Great Yan Province was at present in a beehive of activity due to the upcoming Lin Clan gathering, as countless experts flocked towards it to witness the glory of the younger generation of one of the Four Great Clans of the Great Yan Empire – the Lin Clan.

Such a clan gathering was a monumental event to the entire Great Yan Province. This was because everybody was aware that those who would emerge from the clan gathering would turn into the big shots in the Great Yan Empire!

Hence, the clan gathering would be visited not just by the leading factions of various parts of the Great Yan Empire, but even by representatives of the royal family. Such was the significance of the Lin Clan Gathering!

..

As the entire Great Yan Province buzzed with activity for the upcoming Lin Clan Gathering, a weather-beaten figure strided slowly out of a deep mountain by the borders of the Great Yan Province. He gazed at the enormous province city ahead, a faint smile spreading across his face.

Lin Clan. Lin Langtian. I, Lin Dong, have arrived..