It was that familiar sensation of falling from the clouds again. Qin Wanyuan had once more entered the dream realm of Lin Que and Jiang Moqing’s memories.
However, this time, the dream didn’t pick up where the previous one had left off. Instead, it opened with a scene of shocking intensity.
In a desolate wilderness, a group of demonic beasts was besieging a number of cultivators wearing the robes of the Sword Seeking Sect. Scattered across the ground were corpses clad in various other outfits.
The beasts’ eyes glowed with bloodthirst, and the disciples of the Sword Seeking Sect were steadily pushed back, suffering heavy casualties. The entire scene was a grotesque spectacle of blood and flesh, saturated with brutality and gore.
Some tried to escape by flying into the sky, only to be blocked by an invisible barrier.
Qin Wanyuan blinked in confusion.
“Isn’t this Lin Lang’s memory? Why am I seeing people unrelated to him…?”
Just as that thought crossed her mind, one of the besieged and battered Sword Seeking Sect disciples suddenly raised his head and roared toward the sky.
“Lin Que! How dare you do this to us?! If you kill me, my family will never let you go!!!”
Qin Wanyuan froze for a moment, then looked up and saw a young man standing in the sky, hands behind his back, atop a flying sword.
The young man’s white robes were soaked in blood, and his expression was cold and merciless.
A scar that stretched across nearly his entire face made him look even more fearsome.
It was Lin Que.
“A killer must be prepared to be killed. From the moment you and your people laid hands on me and my senior sister, you should have known this day would come.”
Lin Que’s tone was flat and cold. “If I’m killed by your elders in the future, it will only mean I wasn’t strong enough. If not… the same applies in reverse.”
After hearing Lin Que’s words, Qin Wanyuan looked again at the Sword Seeking Sect disciples on the ground, now under siege by the beasts and finally recognized them as the noble scions who had once plotted to harm Lin Que.
Immediately after, a sequence of flashing images, like scenes from a lantern slide, swept through Qin Wanyuan’s mind.
It turned out that after rescuing Jiang Moqing last time, Lin Que had voluntarily applied to carry out a mission assigned by the sect and those noble scions had also taken on the same task.
Both sides were fully aware that this so-called “ordinary investigation mission” was, in reality, a battleground for their personal vendetta.
Only one side would walk away alive.
The noble scions mobilised every resource at their disposal. They hired assassins, had elders from their families secretly tail them and prepared to ambush them at any moment. Even the elder assigned to accompany the mission was one of their own.
In contrast, Lin Que went alone.
Before the actual battle began, the noble scions were smug and confident, eagerly awaiting the miserable end they believed awaited Lin Que. The thought of losing never even crossed their minds.
After all, the gap in strength between the two sides seemed far too great.
And in truth, it was.
Even though Lin Que had once had his cultivation crippled and had yet to fully return to his former peak, the prestige of the Eastern Region’s former foremost talent was not something that a group of noble sons whose cultivation was stacked high on pills like a castle in the sky could shake.
As for the accompanying elder…
Qin Wanyuan seemed to realize something. She shifted her gaze upward again and discovered that high above the sky, another fierce battle was taking place.
Dark clouds loomed across the heavens, thunder rumbled, and yet the storm was swiftly torn apart by flashes of sword light. The sheer force of it made even the mountains faintly tremble.
Straining her eyes to the limit, Qin Wanyuan could barely make out two figures clashing at incredible speed in the sky.
The battle in the sky quickly drew to a close. Suddenly, a figure plummeted from above, crashing into the ground and leaving a deep crater. Upon closer inspection, Qin Wanyuan realized it was the elder who had accompanied the mission.
“This elder may be considered on the lower end among the sect’s elders, but even so, he’s at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage….just one step away from Soul Formation. Who could’ve done this?”
Puzzled, Qin Wanyuan looked up again and saw a figure so familiar it couldn’t possibly be mistaken.
It was An Xiaoyao.
The elder lying in the pit coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with shredded flesh. His eyes were filled with terror, yet his mouth remained unyielding.
“An Xiaoyao! As an elder of the Sword Seeking Sect, not only did you allow a disciple to commit murder, but you also took part yourself! You treat the sect’s rules like nothing—how do you justify this?!”
At that, An Xiaoyao merely sneered.
“Rules? Rules manipulated at will by people like you…what meaning is there in obeying them? Did you really think I, An Xiaoyao, would stand by like a lamb to the slaughter while you butcher my disciple?”
With that, she drew her sword and struck, cutting off the elder’s last breath.
Just before death claimed him, the elder glared at An Xiaoyao and spat out his final words:
“Don’t think… the others will let you off.”
“We don’t plan on letting them off either. Don’t worry…they’ll be joining you soon. No one will escape what’s coming. Not you, not them.”
An Xiaoyao sneered coldly.
With that, the elder died. His eyes were wide open, refusing to close in peace.
Meanwhile, the rest of the noble scions were being devoured one by one by the surrounding demonic beasts, all under the cold gazes of Lin Que and An Xiaoyao.
Afterward, their deaths were disguised as casualties from a demonic beast attack. Even though everyone knew something was off, when the matter was brought to the public court, no one was able to refute Lin Que.
This stood in stark contrast to when Lin Que had previously been framed.
Now, it was the restored prodigy of the Eastern Region on one side and a group of noble sons lying dead on the other. The elders naturally knew where to place their bets.
No matter how powerful those noble families had once been, they were now nothing more than corpses. Even if their clans sought revenge later, the outcome of that battle was far from certain.
Besides, the fact that Lin Que, after regaining his cultivation, would go so far as to use such brutal methods against those who had wronged him… was proof enough of how ruthless he had become.
The elders knew full well: if they picked the wrong side now, and Lin Que ended up the final victor… who could guarantee he wouldn’t come for them too?
And so, despite all the glaring doubts surrounding the case, it was quietly dropped. The file was tossed into a pile of unresolved cases, never to be touched again.
Watching all of this unfold, Qin Wanyuan was stunned but also deeply satisfied. She didn’t feel Lin Que was cruel in the slightest. In fact, she wanted to praise him.
“Serves them right! That’s my Lin Lang….so powerful!”
And just as the elders had feared, the sect soon fell into a wave of unprecedented and ruthless purges.
Those who had formed mortal enmities with Lin Que died mysteriously, while others were found guilty of unspeakable crimes and thrown into prison.
As these events unfolded, Lin Que’s status within the sect continued to rise. Even the elders who had once wavered in their neutrality began to favour him, with the Eighth Elder who was called the “Smiling Tiger” being the most eager of all.
And it wasn’t just within the sect. Outside as well, Lin Que made full use of his status as the top talent of the Eastern Region to forge strong connections. Gradually, he built a personal network of allies, and his influence soon surpassed that of the noble families to which the fallen disciples had once belonged.
Those families who had lost their heirs could do nothing but swallow their rage. Not a word of revenge was ever spoken again.
There were indeed families willing to go all-in to avenge a single noble child. But they were few and far between. After all, no family had just one heir. When one died, there was always another ready to rise. And far from resenting Lin Que, those who ascended instead were often grateful. He had given them the chance to step into power.
The world of cultivation wasn’t just about battles and bloodshed. It was even more about social maneuvering and human connections.
At this point, Lin Que truly held the status and backing worthy of the Eastern Region’s number one.
And yet, watching Lin Que’s rise step by step, one couldn’t help but feel a trace of doubt.
His path of vengeance had certainly been satisfying to witness, but… it didn’t seem like something he would have done.
It was true that people changed after major trauma, but the level of cunning and strategy he displayed couldn’t be acquired overnight. And where had he gotten all that damning evidence that struck so precisely at the very core of the elders’ factions?
Had Lin Que experienced sudden enlightenment or was there a hidden master guiding him from the shadows?
Qin Wanyuan was puzzled by it all. Throughout the entire sequence of events, she had never seen anyone guiding Lin Que from behind the scenes. In the end, she could only assume it had been a sudden breakthrough on his part.
Before she could think more deeply about it, the dream scene shifted once again, this time to the secluded abode shared by Lin Que and Jiang Moqing.
Lin Que descended gracefully on his sword and landed in the courtyard. Jiang Moqing was waiting to greet him. She was dressed in plain robes and her face was slightly pale.
The moment she came forward, she began checking him over with concern, searching for any injuries. Her usual cold demeanor was nowhere to be seen; instead, she carried a touch of gentle femininity.
“Are you hurt? Did you get injured?” she asked.
“I’m fine. No need to worry about me.”
The normally aloof Lin Que actually smiled a little at that moment. Almost instinctively, he reached out and placed a hand on Jiang Moqing’s head, gently ruffling her hair.
“What about you, Senior Sister? How’s your injury?”
Hearing his soft words and feeling the warmth of his hand resting on her head, Jiang Moqing froze slightly. She looked up at Lin Que’s scarred face.
That little boy who used to barely reach her chin had, before she realized it, grown taller than she was.
Gradually, a flush of pink crept onto Jiang Moqing’s pale cheeks.
“Mhm… I’m fine.”
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