Chapter 22: Ordeal 1

Lin Cui showed no sign of sorrow. She lifted her foot and kicked Lin Yuan twice, saying, “Hey, are you still alive?”

Lin Yuan tried to stand by supporting himself with his hands but fell back down, splashing a lot of dirty water onto Lin Cui’s skirt.

Due to the heavy rain, Lin Cui was also almost completely soaked. Her dress clung tightly to her body, made of silk, revealing glimpses of her skin.

“You can still move. Seems like you won’t die.”

Lin Cui bent down and dragged Lin Yuan under the eaves with one hand, then left the courtyard. When she reached the bustling corridor, she stopped and headed toward the family affairs office.

Although she disliked him, Lin Yuan was still the young master of the Lin family. If she ignored his condition after being beaten up like this, it might look like she was covering something up. Besides, she was a bit worried about that girl Xue’er.

The family affairs office of the Lin family was located in the southeast of the Lin residence. Due to its unique function, it had an independent space. A low wall surrounded the exterior, and a guard stood watch about ten meters away.

“Hey, everyone in Linjiang says Li Tan is a waste, but look at Lin Jingwu—he’s still lying in bed unable to get up.”

“Exactly, exactly. I think Li Tan can actually cultivate—he’s just been deliberately hiding it by the Li family for some ulterior motive.”

“Rubbish! If Li Tan could cultivate, why would he come to the Lin family as a son-in-law?

But how did he manage to defeat Lin Jingwu? It’s really puzzling! What do you think happened?”

“I think maybe the eldest miss secretly helped him. I heard that last night the eldest miss took the initiative with Li Tan—”

Two guards were chatting heatedly at the entrance of the family affairs office when suddenly footsteps were heard, followed by an angry voice.

“What did the eldest miss take the initiative to do with Li Tan?”

The guard who had just spoken was startled. He hurriedly looked outside, then immediately turned his head back, straightening his previously slouched posture, almost wishing he could slap himself a hundred times.

Lin Cui didn’t bother with him. She stepped onto the platform and quickly walked inside. All the way, the family servants or guests gave her varying degrees of respect.

Receiving their respect, Lin Cui recalled Li Tan’s indifferent attitude and felt very annoyed.

So many cultivators treat me with utmost respect, yet how dare this guy, who can only rely on some strange techniques to bully others, act so arrogantly? Does he really think he’s my husband?

But no matter how annoyed she was, it was useless. She couldn’t just drag Li Tan out and beat him up.

After a while, Lin Cui contacted her cousin Lin Quangui, who managed the family affairs office. She briefly reported the death of the guard and Lin Yuan’s crippling.

When Lin Quangui heard about the guard’s death, he merely responded with an indifferent “Oh,” showing a completely detached attitude. But when he heard about Lin Yuan being crippled, he immediately shot up from his chair, saying he needed to find Lin Long.

Lin Cui didn’t care about Lin Yuan’s life or death. She knew even if Lin Yuan died, the Lin family wouldn’t dare to touch even a single hair on Li Tan’s head. Therefore, she was too lazy to get involved. After grabbing the keys, she entered the prison.

The Lin family’s prison was underground, with each cell completely isolated, sealed except for small windows left for ventilation and delivering food. It was eerily quiet inside.

Lin Cui found the cell where Xiao Xue was imprisoned. She quietly opened a small window about a meter above the ground and looked inside. Xiao Xue was wearing prison clothes, shackled, and pitifully curled up in a corner. Faint marks of whipping were visible on her wrists.

Lin Cui’s hands trembled, and she felt a sharp pang of pain.

She had been the one to decide Xiao Xue’s punishment, and now taking her out wouldn’t raise any objections. But then, all the suffering Xiao Xue had endured would lose its meaning.

Therefore, she remained silent and left.

Since it was a punishment, it was better to see it through to the end.

While the Lin family was in turmoil over Lin Yuan and Lin Jingwu, Li Tan had reached the outskirts of the Domain of Fallen Immortals again. Time was pressing—he had to refine the Nine-Turn Green Spirit Pill before the poison in his body erupted, or else everything would revert to the path before his rebirth.

Poisoned, captured in his sleep, then rescued by Tang Leyin within the Domain of Fallen Immortals.

That’s right, the reason Li Tan had managed to escape from the perilous depths of the Domain of Fallen Immortals during his previous life, full of dangers, was entirely thanks to Tang Leyin. And he had even received a Nine-Turn Green Spirit Pill from him for free.

Thinking of Tang Leyin, a gentle smile involuntarily appeared on Li Tan’s face, and a warm, slightly blissful feeling filled his heart.

But when he recalled his family and his own fate in his previous life, Li Tan’s heart turned cold again.

He felt a bit afraid—afraid that fate would, just like back then when he fled the Domain of Fallen Immortals as a useless person, create countless accidents to pin him firmly in his original position, finally finding another way to watch Tang Leyin commit suicide for his sake.

This wasn’t just paranoia. Thinking carefully, since Li Tan had started deviating from the rebirth path, unexpected incidents had kept happening. The most severe was just now—if he had been locked in the prison, he would only be able to wait for the poison to erupt.

Li Tan raised his head, feeling drops of rain falling on his skin, icy cold. In the deep, seemingly all-consuming night sky, he vaguely saw a sharp, gleaming sword hanging above his head.

He lowered his head, staring straight ahead at the forest flapping like a black sail in the wind. Li Tan remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, a faint warmth emerged from his dantian without warning. His body trembled. Looking inwardly, he saw the Desolate Pagoda standing proudly in his dantian, exuding a divine radiance and an extraordinary aura.

“Oh, Desolate Pagoda, how could I forget you?”

Although the road ahead was unclear and fate merciless, he had the Desolate Pagoda—the one that had brought him back to his youth and granted him a second chance! What could fate do?

If it blocked his path, he would break through it! Li Tan’s gaze became resolute again as he strode into the Domain of Fallen Immortals.

Within the Domain of Fallen Immortals, in the hunting area.

A half-human-sized predator, wounded and driven out of its territory by other beasts, growled dangerously at a fresh and elegant white-clothed young man.

At first glance, the young man seemed somewhat frail, but his eyes were bright and alert, showing absolutely no fear toward the massive creature that could seemingly swallow him in one bite.

“Good luck. I encountered a predator that has developed a beast core.”

The young man cheerfully examined the predator as if it were a meal on the dining table.

This person was none other than Li Tan, who had come in search of medicinal herbs.

Let’s talk a bit about the beast core.

In the Nine Provinces of the world, six dominant races controlled everything.

However, there were always places beyond their control, and the Domain of Fallen Immortals was one such place. Within it existed both ferocious beasts and demonic beasts. Ferocious beasts need not be discussed, but demonic beasts had many notable characteristics.

Compared to demon races, demon beasts mainly differed in two aspects.

The first had uneven intelligence, which increased with strength, while the latter were born with considerable intelligence.

The first had fixed forms that couldn’t change, while the latter, upon reaching a certain level of cultivation, could transform into forms resembling humans.

Apart from these differences, there were numerous connections between demon races and demon beasts, yet no one had fully unraveled them.

This is just a digression. Let’s return to the main topic. All demonic beasts possessed inner cores, which were highly sought after once extracted. A few particularly fierce beasts also had beast cores, similar to inner cores. Though not as valuable as the inner cores, they were still quite useful as ingredients for pill refinement.

In short, although beast cores weren’t particularly precious treasures, they were quite valuable for exchanging for ordinary wealth. At least for Li Tan, who was currently destitute, they were extremely useful.