Chapter 68: Assassination at the City Gate
Translated by algoo | Proofread by algoo
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The sixteenth day without Lingyin. He missed her.
Lin Xiu sat in the courtyard, looked up at the sky, and sighed softly.
People are fickle. When Lingyin was around, Lin Xiu wished she would leave sooner. Now that she was gone, he longed for her return.
After breaking through his cultivation using the Yuan Crystal, Lin Xiu’s strength had barely increased over the past half-month. Without Lingyin’s help, cultivating his ice abilities was extremely slow. He used to train his strength with Dali, but now that level of weight was no longer enough to push his physical limits.
If he increased the intensity of his training to match Sun Dali’s, even if Dali was simple, he would notice something was amiss. The initial awakening of his strength ability had already reached the limit of ordinary humans. No matter how much a normal person trained, they couldn’t reach Lin Xiu’s current level. Only mystic arts could achieve this.
So, during this time, Lin Xiu could only practice martial arts in his spare time. His internal Qi had grown considerably, and he could now use it freely.
Today was another day of missing Lingyin. Lin Xiu sat in the courtyard, with Da Huang lying at his feet, intently focused on a large piece of beef in his bowl.
The new servants of the Lin Family all knew that this guard dog held a high position in the household and usually ate better than they did, so no one dared to bully it.
Suddenly, a loud boom echoed from the sky. Da Huang jumped up in fright, looking around warily.
Lin Xiu patted its head and said, “It’s alright, just thunder.”
Hearing Lin Xiu’s words, Da Huang lay back down and continued eating.
But at that moment, Lin Xiu suddenly looked up. “Thunder?”
Thick, dark clouds had gathered in the sky. Within them, flashes of light flickered – brewing thunder.
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The cultivation of mystic arts was uncertain. Some abilities consumed a great deal of Yuan power and could be used to quickly increase strength through depletion and recovery, like freezing and controlling fire. Some barely consumed any Yuan power, like spatial manipulation and beast speech. Some could be cultivated anytime, anywhere, like strength. Others required specific environments. Freezing and lightning were the most typical examples.
Out of twelve months, the cultivation speed of ice abilities was slow for ten. But during the coldest month, a single day of cultivation could equal ten days or half a month of normal practice—a feast after a year of famine.
Lightning power was the same. Under normal circumstances, it could only be improved by consuming and slowly recovering Yuan power. But during thunderstorms, one could draw lightning into the body. Now was the perfect time to cultivate lightning power!
However, home was not the ideal place for cultivation. When he drew down lightning, everyone nearby would see bolts striking the Lin residence. Those who didn’t know better might think he’d done something heinous.
Besides, it was too conspicuous. Lin Xiu wasn’t that foolish.
He returned to his room, put on a servant’s outfit he’d prepared earlier, and wrapped a scarf tightly around his face, concealing it completely. He slipped out through the back door.
Since learning that Yang Xuan hadn’t ordered the previous assassination attempt, Lin Xiu had become even more cautious.
He concealed his identity and made his way out of the east city gate. Leaving the main road, he headed towards a mountain outside the city. Away from the road, there were few people around, so Lin Xiu didn’t need to hide his strength. His explosive power and endurance, far exceeding human limits, allowed him to move as fast as a cheetah, quickly disappearing into the mountains.
Not long after, bolts of lightning slanted down from the sky, striking somewhere in the mountains.
Hunters at the foot of the mountains were accustomed to this. Lightning striking the mountains during thunderstorms wasn’t unusual. They often encountered charred trees while hunting.
However, today’s lightning strikes seemed excessive. From the beginning, they hadn’t stopped…
In the mountains, beneath a giant tree, Lin Xiu was being struck by lightning.
Or rather, he was actively letting himself be struck by lightning.
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Those who awakened the power of lightning could not only create it but also attract it. During thunderstorms, they were like moving lightning rods, able to draw lightning from the sky for cultivation.
Arm-thick bolts of lightning crashed down onto Lin Xiu, yet he remained unharmed, even wearing an expression of enjoyment.
In fact, Lin Xiu was indeed enjoying it. So, this was what it felt like to be struck by lightning. A tingling sensation spread through his body, his pores opening wide, making him want to moan.
Although Lin Xiu’s body was unharmed by the lightning, his clothes were reduced to ashes under the constant bombardment. He was now completely naked. Fortunately, this was a remote mountain forest, with no one around to witness it.
Lin Xiu had anticipated this situation and had prepared multiple sets of clothes in his spatial storage.
However, in the future, it would be better to undress beforehand during cultivation to avoid wasting a set of clothes each time.
Lin Xiu’s entire body now crackled with arcs of electricity. Under the lightning’s bombardment, the Yuan power within him grew rapidly, at a rate dozens of times faster than usual cultivation. This proved once again that his path of cultivation was not singular. The more abilities he possessed, the more ways he could cultivate, gradually closing the gap between him and those geniuses.
After an unknown period, the lightning strikes ceased, and large raindrops began to fall.
The clothes Lin Xiu had just changed into were quickly soaked.
Generally, thunderstorms didn’t last long. But even a short fifteen minutes was equivalent to a month’s worth of usual cultivation, and Lin Xiu was more than satisfied.
He raced down the mountain in the heavy rain, slowing to a normal pace only when he neared the main road.
Worried about missing the opportunity to cultivate with the lightning, Lin Xiu had left in a hurry, forgetting to bring an umbrella. After sprinting down the mountain, he was drenched and looked quite disheveled.
The rain was pouring down, and the main road was deserted. Occasionally, a carriage would pass by, hurrying along. As they passed through puddles in the low-lying areas, they nearly splashed Lin Xiu with mud.
Another carriage approached, and Lin Xiu moved slightly further away.
This carriage’s owner was clearly more considerate than the previous ones. As they passed Lin Xiu, they noticeably slowed down.
When they reached him, the carriage stopped completely. The driver, a sturdy man, smiled at Lin Xiu and said, “Young man, why aren’t you using an umbrella in such heavy rain? Come on up, I’ll give you a ride.”
Lin Xiu declined, “No need, I’m almost at the city gate. My home is near there.”
The man didn’t insist, simply waving at Lin Xiu with a smile. “Then we’ll be on our way.”
As he waved, a glint of cold light shot from his sleeve, aimed directly at Lin Xiu’s forehead.
In that instant, Lin Xiu felt a strong sense of mortal danger. The superhuman reflexes granted by his strength ability allowed him to jerk his head to the side at the crucial moment. The dart passed through his hair, taking only a few strands with it.
However, the danger was far from over.
The moment the dart missed, a long sword appeared in the man’s other hand. Without giving Lin Xiu any time to react, the sword slashed through the air with a whistling sound, aimed directly at his left chest, where his heart was located.
Where the sword passed, the rain instantly vaporized, turning into white mist—the effect of channeling Qi into a weapon.
If this strike landed, Lin Xiu’s heart would be pierced through.
Crack… crack… crack…
A thick layer of ice formed over Lin Xiu’s chest. However, it didn’t hinder the long sword. The blade paused momentarily, then pierced through the ice and into Lin Xiu’s body.
But that brief moment allowed Lin Xiu to twist his body. The sword didn’t pierce his chest but instead grazed his left shoulder.
The assassin, surprised by his target’s reaction speed in dodging two fatal blows, was about to channel his Qi to finish him off when he saw the young man’s pupils turn silver.
“What is this!”
Even the assassin, accustomed to various scenes, couldn’t help but be startled.
He tried to immediately channel his Qi for a final blow, but the next moment, a strange power surged from the long sword into his body, instantly paralyzing him, rendering him unable to react.
While the assassin was briefly paralyzed, an ordinary-looking fist landed on his chest.
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