“Please trouble senior to take me to him.”
Lin Xiao said without hesitation.
The elder nodded and led Lin Xiao, flying along a specific route within the lake.
Inside Spirit Pool Island, there were blessed lands belonging to other elders, various medicinal herbs, and even spirit beasts. One could not wander freely. Outsiders were not even allowed to travel alone on the island. This was one of the more troublesome aspects of Spirit Pool Island.
After flying several thousand li across the lake region, Lin Xiao arrived at an island. The island was not very large, but it spanned over ten li in radius, with neat and dignified buildings inside.
Lin Xiao flew in. The guiding spirit controller elder then flew to the periphery of the island to wait.
As soon as he entered, Long Tutian strode out of a room, laughing heartily as he welcomed Lin Xiao inside. Only after closing the door tightly did Long Tutian transmit to Lin Xiao via divine sense, “How was it? Did your spiritual force break through?”
Lin Xiao was slightly surprised. Even here, they had to speak using divine sense transmission?
“It failed, but my spiritual force combat strength has grown considerably stronger. Sweeping seventh-grade advanced spirit controllers should pose no major issue.”
Lin Xiao replied via divine sense transmission.
Divine sense transmission was hard to eavesdrop on, safer than using aura pressure to shield the surroundings.
“Ji Zhen and Wu Meng, those two old fellows, are still hiding around the periphery of Spirit Pool Island. There are also experts concealed in other positions. Even inside Spirit Pool Island, they have spies.”
Long Tutian told Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao was startled. The eight great forces could plant spies even inside Spirit Pool Island. Were they that powerful?
“Spirit Pool Island has internal conflicts too. Though no one openly targets you, some secretly wish to deal with you. Thus, your movements are very likely under their watch.”
Long Tutian said, “If you wish to leave Spirit Pool Island, first go see Ximen Haoyue. Have him use spiritual force transformation to take your appearance and mislead observers. Also ask him for a pill that severs connections to your vital blood and blocks any bodily traits from linking to the outside world. This prevents anyone with special methods or hidden tricks from sensing your position.”
Lin Xiao frowned. He had wondered about this. Spirit Pool Island was a holy land with treasures like the Spirit-Illuminating Mirror. How could the eight great forces infiltrate so easily?
It turned out the problem lay within Spirit Pool Island itself. If insiders colluded with outsiders, his every move would probably be under their control.
With the Heavenly Eye in his body, his aura could not be probed by others, but he could not rule out other methods of detection.
For instance, placing something on him that might not be visible, such as infusing tracking medicinal vapours, or attaching some invisible, imperceptible treasure to his body, blending into his hair or the like.
Or, like Long Tutian, who could directly sense his vital blood.
There were also beings like Mei Tianmo or the Blood Spirit Nose that could track by scent.
If he severed all connections between himself and the outside world, every tracking and detection method would completely fail.
By the time he was hundreds of thousands or millions of li away, even the finest treasures would likely lose the ability to sense him.
Even if they could still detect him, they would never catch up.
As for the formula for such a pill that severed everything, the Heaven-Swallowing Spirit Emperor’s memories contained one. It adhered to the entire body’s surface and skin, sealing one’s aura, vital blood, and anything attached to the body within.
However, the ingredients were too rare and extremely hard to find. He did not know if Spirit Pool Island possessed such a pill or the materials.
“What exactly is your current combat strength?
Using all your methods, could you kill a First Layer Martial Saint?”
Long Tutian suddenly asked.
“My petrification power should be at the level of a First Layer Martial Saint. My vital force is probably not far behind. My spiritual force has also reached near-saint strength. If that First Layer Martial Saint relies purely on power with no other techniques, there might be some chance.”
Lin Xiao said.
He was confident. With near-saint spiritual force combat power, vital force slightly stronger than his spiritual force, plus even greater petrification power, as long as his strength did not run out, defeating a Martial Saint should not be too difficult.
After all, he still had the Heaven-Swallowing Spirit Gathering Finger, which combined vital spirit force and spiritual techniques. Even if it could not blast a First Layer Martial Saint to death, injuring one should be possible.
As for actually killing one, it would depend on the opponent’s methods.
He had never truly fought a Martial Saint, after all.
Yet he was somewhat puzzled why Long Tutian suddenly asked this.
Waiting here for him, Long Tutian must have originally thought he might break through to seventh-grade mid-level spiritual force realm, greatly increasing his combat strength and giving him the ability to kill a First Layer Martial Saint.
“Then there is a chance.”
A smile suddenly appeared on Long Tutian’s face. “The Ji family has established a major branch in the southeast of Holy Province, overseen by a First Layer Martial Saint elder, Elder Bei. Since Ji Zhen remains stationed here unmoving, why not go kill the Ji family’s Elder Bei first? Ji Zhen will surely lose his composure.”
At these words, Lin Xiao was momentarily stunned.
Then his eyes lit up brightly.
Ji Zhen had been squatting here waiting for him. Could he not give the man a similar great surprise in return?
“Killing Elder Bei may not succeed, but destroying the Ji family branch should be no problem.”
Lin Xiao said with certainty.
If he truly killed a Ji family Martial Saint, Ji Zhen would surely rage until he spat blood, and the stakeout would collapse on its own.
It would also deter the other forces. If they staked him out or tried to act against him, they would have to weigh whether their branches in Holy Province could withstand the consequences.
It would prove to everyone that he possessed Martial Saint-level strength and was not so easily manipulated.
As for whether he could kill Elder Bei, that remained to be seen.
But defeating him, Lin Xiao was fully confident. Even if he could not kill him, he would ensure the elder could not protect the Ji family branch.
With his current strength, annihilating a Ji family branch was well within his capabilities.
If the Ji family branch were destroyed, Ji Zhen would surely rage until he spat blood.
Only now did Lin Xiao understand Long Tutian’s true purpose in coming to him.
“Then the matter of destroying Elder Bei is entrusted to you. To avoid bringing trouble to the Azure Dragon Gate, it would not be suitable for me to go. I will remain here to further mislead Ji Zhen and the others.”
Long Tutian said.
Lin Xiao nodded. Long Tutian had originally stayed to protect him. If Long Tutian suddenly left, Ji Zhen and the others would inevitably grow suspicious.
Moreover, as an important elder of the Azure Dragon Gate, if Long Tutian personally acted, the Azure Dragon Gate would face retaliation from the Ji family. This was something Lin Xiao did not wish to see.
After all, the Azure Dragon Gate had already done much for him.
Long Tutian handed a map to Lin Xiao. “This is the map of the Ji family branch, along with the teleportation array routes to get there. Prepare well. I await your good news.”
Lin Xiao accepted it, then saw Long Tutian off. He himself followed the Spirit Pool Island elder away to find Ximen Haoyue.
Ximen Haoyue agreed to the spiritual force transformation request and provided a severance pill, though it left Lin Xiao owing him a favour.
Afterwards, Lin Xiao found An Miao again and asked her to seek out materials for a concealment pill, plus the concealment pill itself. With that, quietly leaving Spirit Pool Island should pose no problem.
