Chapter 460: The Right Moment Arrives

“Everyone inside, listen up! Come out now, or face certain death!”
“Within half an hour, I’ll guarantee the safety of those who come out. Otherwise, death awaits them.”
“Come out one by one, starting from the left side of the back row. Those who comply will not only be spared but will also receive 10,000 taels of silver each. Otherwise, wait for your family to collect your body.”
……
After making their decision, Lin Dong and the others didn’t wait long. Loud voices echoed outside the shop, unsettling those inside. Everyone looked troubled, clearly regretting having joined in the chaos. Now they were trapped inside, and stepping outside might mean death.
They refused to believe those words. Who among them was a fool? Being spared and even getting silver was utterly ridiculous. As soon as they stepped outside, they’d surely be surrounded by the crowd, and whether their bodies could remain intact was doubtful.
The noisy shouts came from some impatient warriors, essentially urging them to come out to avoid death or face certain death otherwise. But as no one responded, the noise gradually faded. Clearly, they now understood the situation of those inside—they themselves wouldn’t come out either.
Yun Lan sat upright on her chair, eyes closed, silently entering a meditative state.
Lin Dong appeared focused, scanning the surroundings constantly. In reality, his head was merely moving slowly, his eyes vacant, seeing nothing. Most of his attention was on his meridians, though his spiritual energy flowed at the same speed as his meditation, so he didn’t need to concentrate as intensely as Yun Lan.
Vibrant spiritual energy surged through his meridians. With each return of the energy, his dantian grew slightly larger.
Time passed by. Neither Lin Dong nor Yun Lan spoke, breaking the silence. The earlier situation had already been a perfect opportunity for them to escape, as part of their plan. But to be absolutely safe, they decided to wait for an opportunity created by outsiders rather than creating one themselves, to avoid arousing suspicion. Moreover, Lin Dong had come to Tianfeng Street because he had reached the late stage of the fifth level of the Heart Reversal Phase and was on the verge of breaking through to the sixth level. Lacking any auxiliary materials for cultivation, he came here to try his luck.

Since they had to stay here for a while anyway, Ling Chenyue decided to use this time to try to break through to the sixth level of the Heart Reversal stage, which could increase their chances. The sky gradually darkened. Seeing that the shop assistants had already lit candles, while nothing but darkness surrounded the shop with no light coming through, Ling Chenyue grew impatient. It was pitch black, but precisely the best time for an escape. In his view, if three strong fighters teamed up—assuming they didn’t encounter a peak-level warrior—they would be invincible. With the cover of night, they could easily break through. If there really was a peak-level warrior interested in the Snow Red Grass, which was of little use to him, that warrior could simply walk into the shop and demand it. Peak-level warriors didn’t fear the major sects behind the spirit material shops; they cared nothing about them. At that level, unless they committed an act as serious as killing a royal family member, which would pose a severe threat to the imperial power, the Heavenly Might Pavilion could only turn a blind eye. Otherwise, the cost of capturing a peak-level warrior would be too high, and success wasn’t guaranteed. In desperation, such a warrior might even turn violent against the common people. If they did, they could easily massacre entire cities. More than ten failed attempts at capture would cause a severe upheaval in the Great Han Nation. Even the Heavenly Might Pavilion, which already had many peak-level warriors, didn’t dare to provoke them recklessly, let alone major sects that had hardly any peak-level warriors at all. A major sect’s strength might be enough to trap a peak-level warrior, but only if that warrior refused to flee. If the warrior decided to fight guerrilla warfare, no sect could withstand such a subtle form of attack. Unless it led to the destruction of their sect, no one would want to incur an irreconcilable feud with a peak-level warrior. If someone could walk into a spirit material shop and demand the Snow Red Grass, they certainly wouldn’t stay outside in the cold waiting for them to leave. Undoubtedly, there were no peak-level warriors outside. As far as Ling Chenyue knew, strong fighters at the sixth or seventh level of the Mental State stage were extremely rare even in the capital, aside from those in the Heavenly Might Pavilion. Escaping, especially with the cover of night, was almost certain to succeed. Just as Ling Chenyue was about to speak, Zi Han pulled him back. Zi Han slowly shook her head and said softly, “The chances of escaping now are slim.” Ling Chenyue struggled for a moment but then sat down obediently. He trusted that Zi Han wouldn’t make unfounded suggestions. “There are too many strong fighters outside. Even with just the two of them, their chances of breaking through are about 50-50. If we add the two of us as burdens, the chances are at most 10-20%.” Zi Han felt helpless. As a strong fighter, she knew better than Ling Chenyue how many strong fighters were lurking outside.

Entering the Heart Reversal Phase, the gap between each level is indeed enormous. But a strong warrior at the first stage of Heart Reversal Phase can easily stop one at the third stage and hold them off for two or three moves. Even if there’s one warrior at the fifth stage among those outside, as long as all the warriors dare to attack fiercely, they can hold Lin Dong and Yun Lan back for a minute or two—let alone with those two burdens added on. To truly ensure the safety of these two burdens, it would require all the outside warriors to be at the second or third stage, which is almost impossible. Instead, having one or two warriors at the fifth stage gives the best chance. Even if there are warriors at the eighth or ninth stage, the odds are still much higher than all being at the second or third stage. If there’s one warrior at the seventh stage, just Lin Dong and Yun Lan would need to strike first and use ruthless tactics to intimidate all the warriors into not fighting to the death. The darkness slowly faded in silence. A glimmer of dawn appeared on the horizon, gradually spreading. Soon, as a bright red sun peeked out, the entire land was fully illuminated. Stomachs began to growl. The herbal merchants, who had been in fear all night, were the first to become restless. They realized that the staff at the Spirit Material Shop had no intention of preparing breakfast for them. It made sense—since they ignored dinner yesterday, breakfast would naturally be neglected too. These disciples from the major sects wouldn’t care whether you were a buyer or not. When business was slow, showing off high-grade spirit materials was already their greatest consideration for buyers. They might be a bit nicer or more enthusiastic, knowing these things were the main reasons for poor business, but they couldn’t give up on their pride as warriors and sect disciples. Even the sects thought the same way—money was unimportant, but reputation was crucial. If they were to be kind to these ordinary herbal merchants, the entire sect would be laughed at, let alone going to the trouble of preparing meals. There were countless herbal merchants in the world; losing a few didn’t matter. After all, dying of hunger was the fault of those outside, not the Spirit Material Shop, and it certainly wouldn’t affect the sect’s reputation. “I want to leave! I don’t have Snow Red Grass!” One herbal merchant rushed to the door and shouted. “I want to leave! I don’t have Snow Red Grass either.” “We want to leave! None of us have Snow Red Grass.”

The other herbal merchants immediately followed, shouting loudly one after another. Soon, even a few warriors joined in. With their strength, enduring hunger for three to five days wasn’t a problem, but staying trapped in this spiritual materials shop all day and being targeted for robbery was not only frustrating but also unsettling. They preferred to be the attackers on the outside, the stronger side.

“Want to come out? Hand over the Snow Red Grass first.”

“That’s right. Give me the Snow Red Grass, and I promise your safety.”

Outside, the chaos grew as well.

“Idiot! If we had the Snow Red Grass, we’d have eaten it long ago, even though we knew we couldn’t take it out.”

“Who called you an idiot? Who knows if you’re not a scapegoat sent by some strongman to buy the Snow Red Grass? With your strength, can you even afford it? Even if you could, giving it to you would be exploiting a precious resource.”

“I said you idiot! What, you dare bite me?”

“You brat, show some courage! If I don’t kill you, you’ll be called a dog from now on!”

“Have the guts to come in! You’re not even worth being a dog.”

The noisy scene began to get out of control.

“Take off all your clothes, throw out everything you have, and shave your head off. Then there’s no need to kill you.”

A loud voice suddenly rang out, causing Yun Lan to stir slightly and open her eyes.

The opportunity to break through would soon arise, given how things were developing. Without hesitation, Yun Lan raised her arms, as delicate as fine jade, put a pale blue pill in her mouth, and gently placed her palms on Lin Dong’s back.

“Protector!”

Zi Han was stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening. She looked at Yun Lan in surprise. She understood that Lin Dong was about to break through, and Yun Lan intended to help him do so.

Attempting a breakthrough during the Heart Reversal Phase five, even with the assistance of a peak-level expert, would result in a loss of strength. At the seventh stage of Heart Reversal Phase, it might even cause a regression in cultivation level. Even if the level didn’t drop to the sixth stage, strength would still be greatly reduced.

After hesitating for a while, Zi Han slowly nodded. She believed that the spiritual pill Yun Lan had taken must have the effect of stabilizing her cultivation level. Otherwise, even if Lin Dong succeeded in breaking through, if her own level regressed, their combined strength would actually decrease, making it unprofitable under such circumstances.

As for how many years it would take Yun Lan to recover her lost strength, Zi Han thought it had little to do with her. As long as her cultivation level didn’t drop, the early and late stages of the seventh stage of Heart Reversal Phase would simply mean greater spiritual energy.

With Zi Han’s nod, Yun Lan’s spiritual energy flowed continuously through her palms into Lin Dong’s meridians.

A breakthrough is imminent; not a moment of slackness is allowed. Lin Dong’s entire focus was on channeling his spiritual energy and guiding Yun Lan’s spiritual energy to continuously strike at his dantian. He was unaware of anything outside, not even the approaching moment for breaking through.