A gentle autumn wind breeze blew in the courtyard. The leaves of the willow tree in the courtyard’s center had turned golden yellow.

The autumn weather was refreshing and the air was crisp. Lin Xun and Xia Zhi were seated opposite each other at a stone table in the courtyard. Spread out atop the stone table were five huge pots of beast meat, filling the air with its aroma.  

The beast meat didn’t look particularly appetizing but Lin Xun had stewed them with various rune materials as well as different combinations of beast meat to create a delicious flavor. 

On the other side of the stone table, rested an iron pot of aeth grains.

Lin Xun and Xia Zhi lowered their heads and gorged themselves on the food. They hadn’t eaten in four days.

Xiao Tianren sat on the other side, watching them with a smile as he briefly summarized the matters that had occurred in the past four days. 

It turned out that after the battle had ended, Xiao Tianren returned to the village with the villagers. Naturally, the village strewn with dead bodies horrified them but they felt more of relief and happiness. 

The death of Lian Rufeng and others meant trouble to the village had been eliminated. However, consequently, many problems needed to be dealt with urgently. 

For example, Xiao Tianren found that in addition to Lian Rufeng and other guards, there were another five or six unfamiliar-looking people, including Wu Henshui, who had died. Their appearance and clothing indicated they weren’t ordinary people. 

It was hard to guarantee that the death of all those people in Feiyun Village wouldn’t lead to more trouble. 

Another problem was that Feiyun Village had no guards after the death of Lian Rufeng and the other village guards, which meant no one would help the villagers deliver and exchange goods with the Qingyang Tribe.

That matter also needed to be resolved.

Lin Xun felt much more comfortable after devouring four bowls of aeth grains and one pot of beast meat.

After making himself a cup of herbal aeth tea, Lin Xun organized his thoughts and responded to Xiao Tianren. “Uncle Xiao, do you know the people who came with Lian Rufeng?”

Xiao Tianren suddenly sprang up and said, “Come take a look and you will know.”

Lin Xun glanced at Xia Zhi, who was only concentrating on eating, and nodded. The two left together.

……

On the empty martial arts ground in the village’s center.

Many miscellaneous items were stacked together, including weapons and accessories such as armor, boots, belts and jade pendants.

In addition to this, there were also six bodies!

When Lin Xun and Xiao Tianren arrived, Zhou Zhong and other hunters of the village were guarding the items and corpses.

“These were found on Lian Rufeng’s corpse. Also, since those six aren’t from our village, I didn't let anyone touch them. We were waiting for you to come and investigate to see if there is anything important,” explained Xiao Tianren. 

Lin Xun inwardly complimented Xiao Tianren for his attentiveness. Without any hesitation, he squatted down by Wu Henshui’s corpse and began his investigation.

When Lin Xun met the goateed old man four days ago, he had sensed a dangerous aura around him. 

However, the old man had died a violent death. The chilling hole that split his chest suggested a sharp weapon killed him.

Lin Xun thought of Xia Zhi. He couldn’t help but feel astonished. The little girl was stronger than he had imagined.

Xiao Tianren, Zhou Zhong and the others gathered around, their gazes curious but also filled with reverence.

Four days ago, when they saw the bodies of Lian Rufeng and others, they were paralzyed with shock for a good while. They realized just how terrifying the thirteen year old Lin Xun really was.

He had killed dozens of cultivators including Lian Rufeng and other fourth-layer True Martial Stage experts, something unimaginable to the villagers. 

Therefore, their image of Lin Xun had unconsciously changed. Beneath his delicate and gentle appearance were awe-inspiring and terrifying powers.

Unaware of the villagers’ thoughts, Lin Xun continued to search Wu Henshui’s body, but there was nothing else except a black ring.

“Could it be…” 

Lin Xun examined the ring closer. It was entirely black and was made from something that was neither metal nor jade but it weighed heavily and emitted a cold air. 

With one thought, Lin Xun released a wisp of aeth power from his fingertip and into the ring. 

A little space appeared in his mind. It looked like a little shed and had many objects stacked everywhere such as piles of copper coins, tokens, aeth herbs, and some bottles and jars. Apart from these items, there was nothing else.

It was indeed an aeth storage tool! 

Lin Xun was ecstatic. From what he knew, aeth storage tools were very precious because they were constructed from a rare kind of material called spatial aeth crystals. There was a saying that the tiny mustard seed can accommodate the huge Buddha's mountain. The storage aeth tool had the same wonderful feature. 

It was impossible to own such a treasure unless one was from a wealthy family!

Lin Xun muttered, “It seems that guy isn’t an ordinary person…”

With one thought, he took out a badge from the storage ring. The palm-sized badge was constructed from a warm jade-like material called wood stone, and the pattern on the front seemed to be some sort of symbol.

A line of characters was engraved in the empire's seal script on the back of the badge—Chief Steward of Wu’s Apothecary in the Qingyang tribe!

Lin Xun instantly knew that the man was from the Qingyang tribe and was a chief steward of a branch of the Wu’s Apothecary!

Soon, Lin Xun made another discovery. Housed in the storage ring was a badly damaged book that had information regarding Blood Essence Sand.

Additionally, there was an animal skin bag containing various seeds of aeth herbs and weighed over five kilograms. The seeds could cover acres of Aeth Fields!

“So they came for that reason,” said Lin Xun pensively.

Xiao Tianren couldn’t help asking, “What did you find?”

Lin Xun casually answered, "If my guess is correct, Lian Rufeng and his people colluded with the chief steward of Wu’s Apothecary and plotted together  to occupy the Aeth Fields in Feiyun Village so they could plant aeth herbs.”

They wanted to occupy the Aeth Fields! 

Xiao Tianren, Zhou Zhong and the others reddened with fury. The entire village depended on the Aeth Fields to live. Who would have thought that Lian Rufeng would be so greedy and cruel to collude with an outsider to take their Aeth Fields? Clearly, they didn’t care whether the villagers would survive or not!

At the same time, they rejoiced that Lin Xun decided to eliminate Lian Rufeng and the others, and stopped their plan from succeeding. Otherwise, the consequences would be hard to imagine.

Lin Xun didn’t tell Xiao Tianren about the Blood Essence Sand. He took out his Skybreaker Blade, applied strength to his palm and sliced open Wu Henshui’s stomach. Blood wildly gushed out. 

What is he going to do?

Xiao Tianren and the others were all startled. They almost vomited when they saw the bright blood and organs spilling out the corpse

Lin Xun didn’t seem uncomfortable. He knitted his brow in concentration and focused as he ran his palm along the meridians and organs of the corpse. His hands were quickly covered in blood. 

The scene was so horrifying that Xiao Tianren and the others couldn’t bear to watch. They all turned their heads away and didn’t dare to take another look.

Fortunately, Lin Xun soon got up and cleaned his hands in the pond on the other side of the martial arts field. Then, he said, “This guy is indeed very powerful. He possessed a cultivation base of the Big Cycle, the eighth-layer True Martial Stage!”

He appeared relaxed outwardly, but he couldn’t maintain calm inside. The reason why he opened up the old man’s stomach was to confirm his cultivation level.

After all, the old man hadn’t quite reached the Spirit Dipper Stage, as demonstrated by the absence of dipper qi around his body. Therefore, it was impossible to determine his cultivation level from the outside.

After the inspection and verification, Lin Xun was clear that the old man not only had an impressive background but also an extraordinary cultivation base. Lin Xun felt he would have died in his hands if not for Xia Zhi.

Then, what about Xia Zhi?

She killed a cultivator of the eighth-layer True Martial Stage with one move. Didn’t that mean her cultivation base was more impressive? 

Xiao Tianren assumed a solemn and worried expression. “Would the death of such an important man bring trouble to our village?”

Lin Xun shook his head. “I can’t be sure yet. Later, I will personally pay the Qingyang Tribe a visit and inquire there. Maybe I can make a judgment then.”

“You are going to the Qingyang tribe?” exclaimed Xiao Tianren. 

Lin Xun shrugged and smiled. “Of course, without Lian Rufeng and the other guards, I have to help everyone exchange for living supplies in the Qingyang Tribe.”

Xiao Tianren couldn’t help feeling emotional. “Lin Xun, I…”

Lin Xun interrupted him with a wave of his hand. “Uncle Xiao, you don’t have to say thank you. I am also a part of Feiyun Village. It’s something I should do.”

Xiao Tianren inhaled deeply, trying to control his emotions. “Good! Lin Xun, you must tell us if there’s anything you need in the future. Although our Feiyun Village is poor, we will do our best to help you even at the risk of our lives!”

Zhou Zhong and the others nodded vigorously.

Lin Xun smiled and turned around to investigate the other spoils elsewhere on the martial arts grounds.

The other items were nothing good. The majority of the items on Lian Rufeng and others were of low value. The only thing that caught Lin Xun's attention was a pair of boots engraved with the swift wind rune.

He removed the boots from Lian Rufeng. It was considered a piece of aeth tool equipment, but the swift wind rune was rough and ordinary, and thus was not of great value.

Lin Xun took the storage ring and boots and left the other items for Village Chief Xiao Tianren to deal with.

Zhou Zhong and the others transported the corpses of Wu Henshui and others out of the village and incinerated them to destroy all traces.

Before leaving, Lin Xun suddenly remembered something. He said to Xiao Tianren, “By the way, Uncle Xiao, since the trouble has been eliminated, how about we mine for the Feiyun Fire Copper in a few days?”

The mention of Feiyun Fire Copper made Xiao Tianren's heart blaze with excitement. He nodded. “It’s up to you. It is indeed best to have the wealth in your hands earlier, so you won't have to worry about it anymore.”