Chapter 64: The Astonishment of Zhang Lin and the Others

In the courtyard of the Earth-Fire Residence, Zhang Lin paced back and forth, the friction of his shoe soles against the stone floor making a faint rustling sound.

The setting sun drew his shadow long, casting an anxious, swaying silhouette against the courtyard wall.

"He's been gone for so long, why isn't he back yet?"

Zhang Lin looked up at the courtyard gate for the fifth time, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "A figure like the Lord of Qitian City, what good could he possibly want with Lin Chuan?"

Wang Tiehu squatted in a corner, his rough fingers unconsciously picking at the moss in the brick crevices. "I heard those big shots... if they get unhappy even a little bit, they just..."

He made a gesture of slitting a throat, only to be glared at fiercely by Li Yu beside him.

"Shut your crow's mouth!"

Li Yu was twisting the corner of her tunic, her knuckles turning white. "Lin Chuan is so sharp, surely he..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the courtyard gate was pushed open with a creak.

Startled like birds at the sound of a bowstring, everyone jumped to their feet. They saw Lin Chuan leisurely stepping over the threshold, his moon-white robe immaculate, a subtle smile hanging at the corners of his mouth.

"Lin Chuan!"

Zhang Lin lunged forward in a single stride, grabbing Lin Chuan by the shoulders and shaking him back and forth. "You..."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly choked up, his eye rims turning somewhat red.

Li Yu had already circled Lin Chuan three times before suddenly reaching out to pull open his collar.

Lin Chuan let out an "ouch" and hurriedly protected his neckline. "What is Sister Li doing? In broad daylight..."

"Stop spouting nonsense!"

Li Yu's cheeks flushed slightly, though she forced a fierce expression. "Let me see if you're hurt!"

Her fingertips condensed a wisp of spiritual energy, roaming and probing around Lin Chuan's meridians.

Wang Tiehu scratched the back of his head with an honest grin. "As long as you're safe, as long as you're safe. What did the City Lord want with you anyway?"

Lin Chuan straightened his ruffled collar, a flash of craftiness in his eyes. Naturally, he would not mention the existence of the little fatty, so he attributed everything to Elder Zi:

"The City Lord learned about what happened in the Azure Nether Secret Realm, and simply wanted to test the existence of Elder Zi."

With a flick of his fingertip, a wisp of purple mist swirled in his palm. "That City Lord is extremely shrewd. The moment I revealed a tiny hint of aura, he politely sent me back."

Everyone let out a long breath, their tightly strung nerves finally relaxing.

Zhang Lin patted his chest and turned around. "Come inside, I brewed..."

"Wait."

Li Yu suddenly froze in place, her voice sounding as if her neck had been pinched. She stared straight past the courtyard gate, her pupils contracting violently.

Following her gaze, the teapot in Zhang Lin's hand shattered into pieces with a loud crash.

On the street outside the courtyard wall, nine colossal beasts stood quietly in place.

Each stood thirty feet tall, covered in dark red scales, the protruding bone spurs along their spines reflecting a cold metallic glint in the setting sun. Their thick limbs were deeply embedded in the ground, and the white mist exhaled from their nostrils froze into frost in the air.

"E-Earth Dragons?"

Wang Tiehu's legs trembled. "And they're at the Venerable Martial Realm..."

What was most spine-chilling was that these fierce beasts had profound iron reins around their necks, connected to a gilded carriage behind them that rivaled a palace in grandeur.

The glazed bells hanging from the eaves of the carriage chimed in the wind, every single sound striking straight at everyone's heartstrings.

"The... The carriage of Young Master Wan San?"

Zhang Lin's throat tightened. "I-Is he looking for you too?"

Lin Chuan turned back nonchalantly and waved at the leading Crimson-Scaled Earth Dragon. "Thank you for your trouble, everyone. Take Wan San back."

A suffocating scene unfolded.

The nine fierce beasts lowered their heads simultaneously, their single horns almost touching the ground. The lead Crimson-Scaled Earth Dragon let out a docile whine from its throat, actually wagging its tail like a domestic dog seeing its master.

"We obey your command, Milord."

The Earth Dragons spoke with human voices, their vibrations causing dust to shower down from the courtyard walls.

When they turned around, their thick tails carefully avoided the courtyard gate, pulling the carriage with a posture of reverence bordering on piety.

Not until the carriage vanished around the street corner did the small courtyard return to a dead silence.

Li Yu turned her head mechanically, only to find Zhang Lin's jaw practically dropping to his chest, while Wang Tiehu had slumped straight down onto the ground on his knees.

"You..."

Zhang Lin's voice was hoarse. "You came back riding in Wan San's carriage?"

Lin Chuan dusted off some non-existent dust. "We crossed paths on the way. He also wanted to test me, and after inviting me into the carriage for a chat, he just gave me a ride back."

Yet Li Yu and the others acted as if they hadn't heard a word Lin Chuan said, staring fixedly at the spot where Wan San's carriage had departed.

It was no wonder they reacted this way. Those were nine Earth Dragons at the Venerable Martial Realm! Even early-stage Emperor Martial experts without any background had to act polite to these nine Earth Dragons out of respect for the Wan family.

Yet these nine Earth Dragons acted as if they wanted to wag their tails up to the sky in front of Lin Chuan, behaving just like lapdogs. How could Zhang Lin and the others not be shocked?

Lin Chuan naturally saw the doubts lingering in their hearts, but he wasn't one to boast. He interrupted the group just as they were about to ask for the reason,

"Before long, Wan San will come to the Earth-Fire Residence to find me. You can ask him yourselves about any questions you have then."

With that, Lin Chuan suddenly turned serious. "My cultivation realm is still advancing too slowly."

He looked toward the direction of the Secret Realm Square in the center of Heavenly Fate City, stars spinning in the depths of his pupils. "I need to break through to the Earth Martial Realm as soon as possible..."

He turned and strode into the house, leaving the three of them staring at one another in dismay.

When Wang Tiehu had first met Lin Chuan, the latter was merely an ordinary person who hadn't even started body-refinement; even when Zhang Lin and his wife met him later, it was right at the beginning of his body-refinement journey.

In a mere three months or so, Lin Chuan had gone from the early body-refinement stage to a profound martial expert of today—and he still called this cultivation speed slow?

Meanwhile, inside the carriage ten miles away, Wan San, who had previously appeared dead drunk, suddenly opened his eyes. The Undying Heavenly Phoenix on his shoulder transformed into human form, flushing Jiang Yan's pale cheeks with a rosy glow.

"Yan'er, we finally have a chance to change our destiny!"

Wan San's voice trembled as he gently pulled his beloved into his arms, watching the scenery rapidly receding outside the window.

Until before today, he, who seemingly appeared infinitely glorious, had always harbored one constant fear—that his heavily injured father would suddenly pass away, leaving him, an unsupported third young master, to be swept out the door as easily as garbage by the family head's legitimate son.

But now, having grasped Lin Chuan's mighty coattails, he possessed the power to overturn the situation and alter the tragic destiny of both himself and Jiang Yan!