Steady Mortal Path: Starting from Obtaining the Golden Core Inheritance

Chapter 359 The Inside Story

Lin Changsheng frowned slightly as he sized up the short, stocky man in front of him, who was about five feet tall.

The identity of the newcomer needs no further explanation. Just by looking at his high-level robe that radiates spiritual light and bears the conspicuous insignia of an elder of the Willow Smoke Sect, one can tell that this person is none other than Elder Nie, the newly promoted elder of the Willow Smoke Sect.

"Who is your Excellency?"

Elder Nie descended from the sky, his face scrutinizing Lin Changsheng.

"Elder Nie, there's no need to be nervous. My surname is Lin, and I currently serve as a guest elder of the Willow Smoke Sect, residing at the Qingxia Peak Dojo. Today, I happened to pass by this place and inadvertently discovered several suspicious individuals who were pretending to be robbers causing trouble, so I took action to stop them."

Lin Changsheng smiled kindly and explained in a calm tone.

At this moment, Lin Changsheng had roughly determined that this 'Elder Nie' was probably also problematic, otherwise, how could he have appeared here so coincidentally at such a crucial moment?

The reason he didn't expose them directly was simply because it involved a dispute between sects, and Lin Changsheng didn't want to get involved.

"Are you a guest elder of this sect?"

Elder Nie seemed quite surprised upon hearing this, and even feigned a look of recollection before his face filled with suspicion:

“That’s not right. Although I haven’t been in the sect for long, I’ve met all the high-ranking members of the Willow Smoke Sect, including the guest elders. There doesn’t seem to be a single elder with the surname Lin among them.”

"You say you are a guest elder, do you have a way to prove your identity?"

In the end, Elder Nie remained unconvinced and persisted in his insistence.

Lin Changsheng offered no further explanation and directly took out a token from his storage bag that could prove his identity as an elder.

"Huh, this token isn't fake."

Elder Nie examined it for a moment, then suddenly realized what was happening:

"I remember now, you are Elder Lin Sangou."

"I previously hosted a banquet to invite the sect's senior members to a small gathering, but Elder Lin was in seclusion and unfortunately could not attend."

Elder Nie shook his head, understanding the implication.

Lin Changsheng watched Elder Nie's performance quietly, smiling faintly without saying a word.

He had already sensed that Elder Li of the Ziyun Sect seemed to be using some kind of flying escape technique, and his aura was already very blurred, exceeding the sensing range of ordinary Golden Core cultivators.

After confirming his identity, Elder Nie solemnly inquired about what had happened earlier.

After a short while, like the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

"Is there such a thing?!"

After learning the whole story, Elder Nie was furious, then sighed and complained:

"Why didn't Elder Lin say so earlier? He almost made me miss the best opportunity to pursue him."

He slapped his thigh in regret, then instructed Lin Changsheng to guard the other two again. He activated his flying artifact alone, transforming into a streak of light and disappearing in the direction Lin Changsheng pointed.

……

The border of Yanguo.

In a desolate, uninhabited mountain range.

A red light fell from the sky, accompanied by a booming sound, and birds and beasts scattered in the deep forests of the mountains.

The red light faded, revealing a burly, robust old man of the sixth rank, looking somewhat disheveled, with a pale face and bloodstains on his beard.

At this moment, he was sitting naked on a low hilltop, practicing his internal energy and regulating his breathing.

Before long, another short figure followed them there.

"who!"

The burly old man below noticed the unusual movement and was initially startled, but relaxed his guard after sensing the presence of the newcomer.

"Junior Brother Li, what happened? Why did you provoke that Lin San Gou and expose your true identities, making him suspicious?"

The next moment, a short, stocky figure descended; it was none other than Elder Nie, who had just parted ways with Lin Changsheng.

At this moment, Elder Nie looked displeased and questioned him in a harsh tone.

"Senior brother, this person appeared rather suddenly, his attack methods are extremely sharp, and he even saw through our telepathic communication."

The burly, robust old man stammered his explanation, and as he finished speaking, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and his face darkened as he said:

"Since this person has seen through our identities, keeping him alive is a threat. Now that our senior brother has arrived, why don't we find a way to get rid of him?"

As he spoke, he thought of the three corpse-refining puppets that Lin Changsheng had released earlier, and a look of greed appeared in his eyes.

"No."

But Elder Nie resolutely refused.

Just as the old man in front of him seemed somewhat surprised, he then explained:

“This person is somewhat special in the Willow Smoke Sect. Although he is only a guest elder without real power, he has close ties with the sect’s Supreme Elder, ‘True Lord Yunmiao’. If we rashly take action against him, it may lead to unpredictable consequences.”

"However, as far as I know, Elder Lin is not keen on socializing and spends most of his time in seclusion. He has never actively interfered in sect affairs, so he may not report this matter to the sect."

"Moreover, even if we report this matter, we still have True Monarch Qingdan backing us up, so the task of investigating will most likely fall on me in the end."

"However, you need to be more careful in your future actions to avoid similar mistakes in the future."

At this point, Elder Nie gave a somewhat disapproving warning.

"Senior brother, what if that guest elder of the Willow Smoke Sect reports this matter to True Monarch Yunmiao? If the latter investigates, wouldn't we be ruining the sect's important affairs? What if the sect master pursues the matter..."

The burly old man still seemed uneasy, and there was some worry in his voice.

"Don't worry, although True Monarch Yunmiao has been in charge of Liuyan Sect for many years, his mind is not on development at all. Now that True Monarch Qingdan is sharing the burden, he has almost relinquished power."

"As for this newly promoted Azure Pill True Monarch, as long as he wants to obtain the fourth-level alchemist inheritance from our Supreme Elder, we will not hesitate to sacrifice some of the sect's interests."

"Speaking of which, Elder Lin Sangou also has a conflict with their True Monarch Qingdan, but we don't need to get involved."

Elder Nie's expression was subtle, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

"So good."

Upon hearing this, the burly old man finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

……

Han family territory.

The crisis was averted, as if the dark clouds that had been hanging over us for days had simply vanished.

With the heavy weight lifted from his heart, Han Feng felt relieved.

In addition, Master Lin generously left several precious third-tier magic artifacts and the azure flying sword magic weapon from the spoils of this battle with the Han family.

"Thank you, Master Lin. These treasures have just solved my urgent problem."

"Please accept these spirit stones, Master Lin, as payment for these treasures."

After accepting the magical artifacts and treasures, Han Feng tactfully prepared a huge sum of spirit stones and respectfully presented them.

Lin Changsheng accepted it without hesitation.

With a sweep of his divine sense, he could roughly determine the amount, which was enough to match the value of these magical artifacts and treasures, and even slightly overpriced, with some redundancy.

Not long after, Elder Nie returned alone, saying that he had not been able to find the escaped cultivator.

Lin Changsheng had anticipated this, but he remained calm and simply said, "You've worked hard."

Next, Elder Nie went to the Han family and pretended to question them carefully.

Han Feng and the others seemed to have noticed something strange, but they dared not offend or neglect this newly promoted elder of the Liuyan Sect. When asked questions, they answered all their questions.

Finally, Elder Nie took the opportunity to propose to Lin Changsheng that he accept the two Golden Core early-stage Tribulation cultivators who had died earlier, as well as his own belongings, in order to investigate their identities later.

"Elder Nie's actions are indeed meticulous and thorough; I admire him greatly."

Lin Changsheng smiled and praised him highly.

"Elder Lin is too kind. It is my duty and I cannot shirk it."

Elder Nie responded politely.

In the end, the bodies of the two deceased Golden Core cultivators, along with the remaining stolen goods, were handed over to Elder Nie for disposal.

……

the other side.

On the border of Yan Kingdom, after parting ways with his senior brother, the burly and robust old man peacefully recovered from his injuries in the desolate and silent mountains.

Although he possessed the late-stage third-order body refinement realm, he still endured multiple bombardments from the three-headed corpse puppet and was also attacked by Lin Changsheng, who also possessed the late-stage third-order body refinement realm, resulting in injuries.

The two exchanged blows for only a short while, but the difference in skill was immediately apparent, demonstrating that even among those at the same level, there are differences in body-refining techniques.

"My injuries have basically stabilized and will no longer affect my journey. I'll feel more at ease once I get back to the sect."

"That Lin Sangou from the Liuyan Sect is no ordinary cultivator. It seems that we need to be careful to avoid him when we set foot in Yan Kingdom in the future."

Although he coveted the other party's special corpse-refining puppet, he was self-aware and kept sighing.

Just then, a faint laugh came from the clouds.

"Hehe, I can't stand other people talking. Since you want to return to your sect, I'll give you a ride."

As they were speaking, a man in white descended from the sky, with a pair of shimmering, translucent, seven-colored butterfly wings on his back, exuding an astonishing aura.

"It's you……"

The burly old man's pupils suddenly contracted, and his expression turned extremely horrified.

Half a day later.

Lin Changsheng returned to Qingxia Peak.

Even after returning to his cave, a strange look still lingered on his face.

Recalling the results of his interrogation of the Ziyun Sect cultivator, although they were within his expectations, some other information still surprised him quite a bit.

The burly old man who had reached the third level of body refinement was named Li Yan.

He is one of the elders of the Ziyun Sect.

This was a secret plot, orchestrated by Elder Nie from within, to gradually erode some of the resources of the Yan Kingdom over the next few decades.

It was precisely for this reason that Elder Nie took the initiative to join the Willow Smoke Sect and assume the position of elder, and secretly plotted to open the door to convenience for them.

Even the elder of Liuyan Sect who died mysteriously was orchestrated by Elder Nie and others.

Of course, this series of events also required the tacit approval of Qingdan Zhenjun and Chen Xingzhou.

The reason is simple: after advancing to the Nascent Soul True Monarch level, Chen Xingzhou's own magical power and divine sense increased dramatically, and he gained a more refined and masterful control over the details of alchemy.

With his cultivation level and social status both improved, he was naturally unwilling to let his alchemy skills remain at the third level.

However, the inheritance of skills above the fourth rank is precious and rare. The sect does not have the corresponding fourth-rank alchemy inheritance reserves, and the chances of this inheritance appearing at an auction are extremely slim.

Among the surrounding cultivation world, the only one with a clear lineage of fourth-order alchemy techniques is the 'Purple Cloud Sect'.

The previous Nascent Soul cultivator of the Purple Cloud Sect, 'True Monarch Purple Fire,' was a genuine fourth-tier alchemist with a far-reaching reputation.

Although no fourth-level alchemist has appeared in the Purple Cloud Sect since the passing of the 'Purple Fire True Monarch', the alchemy tradition has been well preserved.

In order to pass on the fourth-order alchemy technique, True Monarch Qingdan secretly contacted the Purple Cloud Sect and reached a certain consensus.

Li Yanchang didn't know all the specifics, but as one of the executors involved, he knew quite a bit about Qingdan Zhenjun betraying the sect's interests.

Lin Changsheng was quite surprised when he first heard about this.

Unexpectedly, Chen Xingzhou, a native cultivator of the Liuyan Sect, would actually harm the sect's interests for the sake of a fourth-order alchemy inheritance.

"If Sect Leader Huang knew about this, he would probably be overjoyed."

"Although the sacrificed interests are not enough to bring down a Nascent Soul True Monarch, they can give us an advantage in the power struggle within the sect."

Lin Changsheng shook his head, still not revealing the matter to Sect Master Huang Jia.

Now that they have learned from Li Yan that Elder Nie knows he has connections with True Monarch Yunmiao, the reason he is hesitant to act is probably because of Chen Xingzhou's intentions.

In that case, it's better to maintain the neutral persona and not participate in factional struggles.

The most important thing now is to fulfill the agreement with True Monarch Yunmiao and obtain the 'breakthrough' spiritual item for breaking through to the fourth level of body refinement as soon as possible.

……

In the days that followed, Lin Changsheng continued his seclusion to improve his puppet-making skills.

After four years and countless precious mineral materials, he finally created the first top-tier third-order puppet.

Unlike the previous repair of the top-tier third-order puppet and the modification of the corpse-refining puppet.

From start to finish, every part of this puppet was made and assembled by Lin Changsheng.

This also marks that Lin Changsheng, with his mid-stage Golden Core cultivation, has officially become a top-tier third-order puppeteer.

To outsiders, it may seem unbelievable, or even a fantasy.

But Lin Changsheng did just that.

Besides his cultivation level being at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, his divine sense, magical power, and recovery speed all surpassed those of ordinary late-stage Golden Core cultivators.

In terms of itself, it will not be a hindrance at all, so it is perfectly reasonable to create a puppet that is above its level.

Of course, this is also largely due to the fourth-level insights given by True Monarch Yunmiao.

After all, even Chen Xingzhou, who had advanced to the True Monarch realm, secretly colluded with other forces for the sake of inheriting the fourth-order alchemy technique.

This also reflects the value of the inheritance of fourth-level skills.

A year ago, Master Lu visited again, bringing with him the top-tier third-order puppet that had been repeatedly repaired.

This time, the puppet was completely damaged and could not be repaired.

After truthfully informing him of the results, Master Lu, looking anxious, inquired about the progress of Lin Changsheng's puppetry skills.

Lin Changsheng didn't reveal much, only saying that he was trying his best to understand the technique.

Even now, having successfully created a top-tier third-order puppet, Lin Changsheng is not in a hurry.

It took another year or so to hone my skills.

At the same time, observe the puppet, identify and correct any omissions or deficiencies, make changes and adjustments, and review the entire creation process.

Based on the existing foundation, further improvements and refinements were made to create a more mature Tier 3 top-tier puppet.

The only drawback is that this process is rather long and too mentally taxing, making it difficult to maintain in the long term or to mass-produce them.

……

Liuyan Sect, at the summit of Yunmiao Peak.

In the silent ice crystal palace, a graceful figure dressed in plain clothes stood quietly.

"Elder Lin truly possesses extraordinary talent in the art of puppetry. In less than twenty years, he has actually created a third-tier puppet!"