Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

Chapter 78 The Secret of Panlong River

Although Lin Jingchu was quite envious of the Spirit Control Sect's secret techniques for controlling insects and beasts, the timing was not right, and he did not intend to make contact with them.

After this little incident, Lin Jingchu left the market after buying the right monster materials and herbs, and returned to Wangjiang Town.

After flying for more than ten miles, before even leaving the airspace of the canyon, they encountered a gray-robed man in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, who was flying towards the market on a magical artifact.

Lin Jingchu cautiously activated the Xuanchi Heavy Sword beneath his feet, deflecting his course to avoid the attack.

However, just as the two sides approached to within about thirty feet—

A familiar detection wave swept over Lin Jingchu's entire body once again! It was exactly the same as the wave emitted by the token used by the short, stocky Fu family cultivator in Black Stone Market!

Lin Jingchu's expression remained unchanged, but he caught a fleeting hint of surprise in the gray-robed man's eyes, which the man quickly concealed.

The two passed each other by, just like ordinary strangers, about ten feet apart.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait." Lin Jingchu suddenly spoke up.

The gray-robed man paused for a moment, then without hesitation, he swiftly reached for his storage pouch at his waist with his left hand, pulling out a communication talisman between his fingers, ready to activate it.

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Jingchu's eyes. He took a step forward, his figure flashing twice, leaving several afterimages, and instantly appeared behind his opponent.

Hearing the sharp whistling of a blade cutting through the air behind him, the gray-robed man was terrified and reached out to summon a protective talisman with his left hand.

The next instant, a gleaming blade flashed past in the corner of his vision.

With a soft hiss, blood splattered.

The gray-robed man felt a piercing pain in his right wrist as his right hand, which was holding the communication talisman, was severed at the wrist.

The severed hand, along with the unactivated communication talisman, plunged into the surging river below.

"Ah—!" The gray-robed man let out a shrill scream as blood gushed from his severed wrist. The intense pain caused his whole body to tremble violently, and the flying sword beneath his feet flickered wildly, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Upon seeing this, Lin Jingchu "kindly" grabbed the gray-robed man by the neck, lifted him up, and casually retrieved the out-of-control flying sword at his feet.

Unfortunately, the gray-robed man was completely unmoved. He made a fist with his left hand, and a scorching red fireball instantly condensed, ready to retaliate.

Without a word, Lin Jingchu struck the man's dantian with the hilt of his sword. The gray-robed man turned pale immediately from the blow and bent over to stand up.

Lin Jingchu lifted him up like a chick and quickly descended to a mudflat covered with jagged rocks by the river.

The gray-robed man, having recovered his strength, tried to struggle again, but Lin Jingchu grabbed him by the neck and slammed him heavily against a hard rock. With a dull thud, the impact made him see stars and almost knock him unconscious.

Lin Jingchu swiftly looted all of the man's belongings, then channeled several streams of spiritual energy to seal his meridians and stop the bleeding.

Just then, a loud "splash" came from the surging river behind us! Water sprayed skyward!

A black-scaled monster, resembling a giant crocodile with short horns on its head and over ten feet long, roared and lunged at the two people on the beach! It was a mid-level level one monster called "Black Scaled Flood Dragon," known for its strong defense and skill in surprise attacks.

Excitement gleamed in the black-scaled dragon's scarlet eyes—it was time to eat! Finally, it could have some…

"Bang!"

The next moment, it felt an unimaginable force strike its skull! Its limbs twitched, its vision went black, and it fainted.

Lin Jingchu shook his slightly numb right fist. These scales were indeed tough. But the medicinal baths he'd spent thousands of spirit stones on over the years hadn't been for nothing.

He was quite lucky, encountering a monster on his very first day in the treacherous shoals. Although monsters were "common" to appear in the treacherous shoals of the Panlong River, this "common" was relative to other areas in Tiannan, where cultivators searching for monsters often found it difficult to spot even one after ten days or half a month.

After glancing at the unconscious beast, Lin Jingchu made up his mind. He waved his hand and threw out several array flags, his fingers forming a hand seal.

The next moment, the two people and the beast on the rocky beach, along with the bloodstains, vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.

Within the illusion array, Lin Jingchu stepped on the severed wrist of the gray-robed man who was pretending to be dead.

"Ah—!" The other party instantly let out a pig-like scream.

Hearing the piercing scream, Lin Jingchu tore a piece of cloth from the gray-robed man and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, with a few punches, he knocked the man's nose crooked to one side and split his eye socket. First open an oil and soy sauce shop, then open a silk and colored cloth shop.

Only after the gray-robed man frantically waved his hands and made "mmm" sounds did Lin Jingchu tear the rag out of his mouth.

"Stop hitting me! Just ask me! I'll tell you everything!" the gray-robed man pleaded, his words slurred.

"The Fu family?" Lin Jingchu asked coldly, simultaneously activating the system-rewarded "Insightful Acuity." This divine ability has a limited usage time of three-quarters of an hour; he had only used it briefly last time when investigating Du Dong in Tiantong City.

The gray-robed man's eyes flickered, and he nodded.

The next moment, Lin Jingchu's fist, as big as a sand bowl, rained down again like a storm! It made him howl like a banshee once more.

"Are you kidding me?" Lin Jingchu withdrew his fist, and the meerkat retorted, "The domineering and scorching spiritual energy within his body is clearly from cultivating a superior technique of the Demon Flame Sect!"

Now, the gray-robed man dared not lie any longer and honestly confessed that he was indeed an inner disciple of the Demon Flame Sect and that he was on a mission to capture a traitorous disciple.

Lin Jingchu toyed with the detection token in his hand, sneering repeatedly:

"Just offending the young master is enough to warrant such a massive uproar, pursuing him from the western and northern parts of Yuanwu Kingdom, and even to this treacherous shoal? It seems the disciples trained by the Demon Flame Sect are all utterly loyal. Of course, how could someone practicing a secret technique like the 'Azure Sun Demon Flame,' which damages cultivation, be disloyal to their sect?"

He had no patience to waste any more time with the gray-robed man. He formed hand seals and chanted obscure incantations, and a cold and sinister spiritual power immediately rose around him.

The gray-robed man, who was lying on the ground, looked up at Lin Jingchu, who looked like a demon descended to earth, swallowed hard, and was so frightened that his soul almost left his body.

Lin Jingchu deliberately slowed down the casting of the spell, tormenting the gray-robed man until his spiritual insight sensed that the man's mind was being pushed to its limit.

Lin Jingchu turned around and suddenly pointed a finger. A beam of purple spiritual light shot out from his fingertip and entered the body of the black-scaled dragon behind him, which had just awakened and was shaking its head.

"Roar—!" The black-scaled dragon roared and rolled in pain! Then, in the gray-robed man's extremely terrified gaze, the tough black scales and thick skin on the black-scaled dragon's body were peeled off bit by bit, completely "shed" by an invisible hand.

In the end, only a mangled, bloody demonic body remained, barely clinging to life.

The gray-robed man's spirit completely collapsed under this terrifying and bizarre scene. He answered whatever Lin Jingchu asked, daring not to hide anything any longer.

Lin Jingchu wasn't some kind of demon. After obtaining the necessary information, he ended the gray-robed man's life with a single fireball and cleaned up the scene.

After getting ready, he mounted the Xuan Chi Heavy Sword and took to the air. However, instead of returning to Wangjiang Town, he increased his altitude, directly crossing the canyon hundreds of feet high, and plunged into the continuous, desolate mountains.

Lin Jingchu flew two or three hundred miles in one breath before landing in a dense forest.

Lin Jingchu took out the gray-robed man's storage bag. This guy's storage bag actually had a restriction, but it was only effective against ordinary mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators. With Lin Jingchu's powerful divine sense, comparable to the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, he opened it with a little effort.

Two top-tier exquisite magic artifacts, over two thousand spirit stones, cultivation techniques, fire control secrets, and miscellaneous items such as pills and talismans.

"It's true what they say, a horse won't get fat without night grass, and a person won't get rich without unexpected wealth. This trip has earned me more than a year of hard work setting up formations and refining weapons within the sect," Lin Jingchu said with a shake of his head and a smile.

After a series of reflections, his expression turned serious, and he took out the jade token he had obtained from Deacon Yang.

According to the Demon Flame Sect disciple, a hidden secret realm lies beneath the treacherous rapids of the Panlong River. This jade tablet is the key to unlocking that secret realm.

The key to the Panlong Secret Realm was discovered by the Tianxing Sect by chance hundreds of years ago, but they have never been able to find the entrance to the secret realm.

Although the search and capture team led by Ling Feihua, the young master of the Demon Flame Sect, was imminent, accompanied by several late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and even Core Formation cultivators, it was still very close.

But to just leave this great opportunity to waste in this desolate wilderness?