Chapter 162: Anxiety

Everything went smoothly. With Liu Lixiong’s persistent urging, Lin Dong set off on his return journey. Unlike before, he was now accompanied by two of Liu Lixiong’s disciples as guards. With two martial artists who had surpassed the Lingdong Phase guarding him, he could traverse most of the areas inhabited by spiritual beasts on Qingmei Mountain. Since it was a descent, Lin Dong reached the foot of the mountain by evening.

Riding fast all the way and traveling through the night, although the VIP card was only meant to improve attractiveness, he still had no idea how to address theft prevention or storage functions. Fortunately, he was lucky—when he arrived in Qiufeng City, the city gates were just being opened.

Back at the inn, he briefed Ma Chun about the Peng family’s situation. After grabbing some food from the kitchen and devouring it quickly, he returned to his room to practice. Despite staying up day and night without eating, the trip to Qingmei Mountain had wasted nearly two days, which he needed to make up for.

For a full day and night, Lin Dong didn’t step out of his room. His dantian, already strained by spiritual energy, finally couldn’t withstand the intense pressure and burst open. All the spiritual energy was reduced to a faint barrier around it. The barrier continued to compress, refining the spiritual energy until it reached one-tenth of its original amount before stopping.

As the spiritual energy circulated through his meridians, the barrier began to expand. After one full cycle, it regained stability. Lin Dong sensed the spiritual energy within the barrier—it already occupied about 15% of his dantian’s capacity. In other words, after the Wanhong Fruit expanded his dantian by 50%, and it returned to its original size after the breakthrough, that extra 50% of spiritual energy remained.

With this spiritual energy, his starting point for cultivation improved significantly, enough to shorten the time needed to advance from the eighth level of the Lingdong Phase to the ninth level by one or two months.

Having successfully reached the eighth level of the Lingdong Phase, the next step was undoubtedly to gradually solidify the barrier into a true dantian. Of course, before that, he needed to visit the Military Assessment Institute in Xilan City to register his cultivation level and obtain Spirit Gathering Pills from Ren Qingsong.

From the Transportation Gate to Xilan City, Lin Dong found Zhang Ye, who was temporarily in charge of the inn there, and asked about Old Ding. Learning that there was still no news of Yun Cangqiong, he headed alone to the Military Assessment Institute.

With such rapid progress, Ren Qingsong was overjoyed, while Yang Laiting was so happy he could hardly hold his writing brush.

After registering his realm, Lin Dong did not stay in Xilan City for long. The lack of any news from Yun Cangqiong was a huge blessing for him—it meant there was still hope for the super mission involving Old Man Ding. But the higher the hope, the greater the disappointment. Old Man Ding could hold on for another ten-odd days, during which Yun Cangqiong might return at any time. And until the last moment, Old Man Ding would not give up hope. Therefore, Lin Dong kept forcing himself not to think too much about it and dared not stay in Xilan City, avoiding the extra worries of both joy and anxiety. As days passed, Zhang Ye sent no news about Old Man Ding through the transportation portal. This was Lin Dong’s orders—unless Old Man Ding was on the verge of collapse or Yun Cangqiong returned to the inn, he was not to come looking for him. No news meant the possibility of completing this super mission grew greater. Though Lin Dong tried to avoid overthinking it, as time approached, it became increasingly difficult for him to control his emotions. Anxiously waiting, Peng Zhenyuan in the Peng family hall was no less troubled. He paced back and forth, sighing sometimes and feeling uneasy at other times, completely lacking the dignity and composure of a past Peng family head. Suddenly, Peng Zhenyuan stopped and roared, “Damn it! Have you found him?” Outside, several guards trembled with fear, none daring to speak or enter the hall to face Peng Zhenyuan’s fury. Not long ago, the body of the guard captain had been thrown out from inside. As they waited anxiously, several figures appeared around the corner. The guards took a closer look and immediately rejoiced. The one at the front was none other than Peng Tianan. Having rushed all the way, Peng Tianan was extremely worried, unable to figure out why the old man was so angry with him. He had often bullied others since he was ten or eight years old. As long as he was careful and didn’t cause death, there should be no problem. Staying overnight in a brothel? For other noble descendants, especially those heirs, it could indeed provoke such anger. But as a worthless cultivator, at most he would only tarnish the Peng family’s reputation—nothing serious. Could it be that he had accidentally offended some important person? Peng Tianan frowned deeply, still unable to identify anyone among those he had oppressed who seemed to have connections to important figures even after entering the hall. Seeing Peng Tianan frowning and looking angry, Peng Zhenyuan’s fury intensified even more. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped Peng Tianan hard. Smack!

With a crisp sound, the guards outside all swallowed hard, not daring to breathe loudly. If anyone bold enough to peek inside could have seen it, they would have witnessed that furious slap sending Peng Tianan spinning like a rapidly rotating top, circling frantically in place.
“You beast! Why won’t you die?”
Seeing Peng Tianan spin faster and faster with no sign of stopping, Peng Zhenyuan, losing control, kicked him hard. With a loud thud, Peng Tianan crashed into the wall like a cannonball, unable to catch his breath for a long time.
“I’ll kill you, you beast!” Peng Zhenyuan raised his hand, eager to slay Peng Tianan with a single blow.
Terrified, Peng Tianan kicked wildly on the ground, ignoring why and pleading desperately, “Don’t kill me! I’ll never dare again! I promise!”
Peng Zhenyuan’s raised hand trembled before slowly lowering.
“Not kill you? How dare I? They said either no heads at all or all the heads of the Peng family.” Peng Zhenyuan roared, “How dare I not kill you?”
Peng Tianan’s heart sank—all the heads of the Peng family? If someone else had said this, he would have thought it was a ridiculous joke. But coming from Peng Zhenyuan, coupled with that demand, which kind of power was this?
The Heavenly Might Pavilion? A sect?
Peng Tianan shuddered. Apart from the Heavenly Might Pavilion or a sect, there was no other possibility for someone to demand all the heads of the Peng family.
This thought sent chills down Peng Tianan’s spine—neither of those groups was to be trifled with. Demanding all the heads of the Peng family meant they might truly slaughter the entire family.
Just as Peng Zhenyuan was about to roar again, a guard rushed in from outside.
“Master.”
Peng Zhenyuan rushed to the guard and demanded sharply, “What have you found?”
“The owner of Lin’s Inn is named Lin Dong, in his early twenties. He rarely goes out and seldom handles the inn’s business, leaving it to the manager.” The guard hurriedly replied, “I heard he has a daughter who doesn’t seem to live at Lin’s Inn but comes to stay for a few days every month.”
“Anything else?” Peng Zhenyuan pressed.
“Nothing else.” Unaware of Peng Zhenyuan’s anger after he left, the guard shook his head, “He’s only been in Autumn Wind City for a short time. We can only gather this much information quickly. For more details, we’d have to send someone to Xilan City.”
“Xilan City? There’s no time!”
Peng Zhenyuan paced back and forth, his expression shifting wildly.

Under Peng Tianan’s fearful gaze, Peng Zhenyuan paused for a moment before gritting his teeth and saying, “Inform the eldest madam to take out the Pure Yang Sword. Make a list of all the precious treasures—nothing must be missed.”
“Yes!”
The guard stood up, but just as he turned, Peng Zhenyuan shouted again, “Also, go to the sixth young lady and check out the toys she’s made. Pick out a few that are nice-looking and suitable for girls to play with, using top-quality materials.”
“This…” The guard looked troubled. “The sixth young lady’s mind is becoming more and more chaotic. Anyone who enters her courtyard, except for the fifth madam, gets bitten by her…”
“Then have the fifth madam go!” Peng Zhenyuan snapped angrily.
The guard was shocked and quickly left the hall.
In a corner, Peng Tianan trembled violently. Even when Peng Zhenyuan glared at him, he still doubted whether his ears had malfunctioned just now.