Meng Lin opened her eyes with a new light, feeling a shift in her cultivation and understanding.

The air around her felt more vibrant, and her spiritual consciousness, once released, seemed sharper, more attuned to the world around her.

She took a deep breath and called out to the system in her mind.

[Meng Lin]

[Soul Wandering Stage (Middle)]

[Experience points: 6 > 10%]

System Coin: 1080

Immortal Jade: 3

Taoist Gacha Wheel: Unavailable

Spiritual Roots:

[Water > Fire > Gold > Wood > Earth]

Variant Elemental Qi:

[Mud] [Erosion] [Water] [Darkness] [Fire] [Gold 20%]

[Heavenly Dao]

[Death]

[Comprehension 0.06%]

Main Cultivation Method: [Elemental Qi Convergence Method]

Side Cultivation Methods:

[Basic Qi Gathering] [Formless Cultivation Method] [Brute Vortex Cultivation Method] [Black Tortoise Essence Art, 5th Layer] [Imperial Water Art]

Techniques:

[Celestial Moonlit Sword Art] [Hundred Unity Techniques] [Wrath of Thunder] [Physique Cleansing Sutra] [Vital Essence Exchange]

Secret Techniques:

[Stellar Soul Shield]

Skills:

[Immortal Flesh]

Ancient Spirit Seal:

Crimson Tortoise Dragon

[Market] [Blacksmith] [Alchemy] [Daily Mission]

Meng Lin studied the screen, her eyes lingering on the slight increase in experience points. She had made progress, but it seemed so slow that she couldn't wrap her head around how the system calculated it.

She looked at her inventory and sighed in disappointment; she realized that she didn't have the ingredients necessary for the Spirit Rejuvenation Pills, and her system coins were also not enough to buy them.

She contemplated for a while before she looked into her system market. After several minutes of browsing through the market, she found something that she could use for transportation.

Skyveil Foot Cloud

A small, ethereal cloud that allows the user to fly at a moderate speed, offering smooth transportation but limited usefulness or uniqueness.

420 System Coins

Meng Lin hesitated briefly before confirming her purchase. With a soft chime, the Skyveil Foot Cloud materialized in front of her.

An ethereal, mist-like cloud shimmered into existence beneath her feet. It was cool to the touch, almost weightless, and made her hover just above the ground.

With a thought, she felt the cloud lift her smoothly into the air, and she tested its responsiveness by speeding forward and stopping sharply.

It was pretty slow for her taste, but it was smooth and efficient, comfortable for travel over longer distances.

Sitting back down on the ground, her thoughts shifted to the past events that had happened, and she looked at the jade box still clutched in her hand; it was no longer responding to anything.

In the past, when she tried to open it, she realized it wouldn't budge, but after consuming that rank 8 ancient spirit beast essence, it just might open now.

With a heave, Meng Lin channeled her strength and tried once more to open the jade box. She focused, applying all her physical strength, but the box didn't budge.

Frustrated but not discouraged, Meng Lin set the box in her inventory. She knew she would have to uncover more about its origins or gain greater power to unlock it. For now, there were other matters to attend to, and her spiritual veins were at the forefront of it all.

She closed her system menu, her thoughts returning to her master’s words about the Ascension Realm and the manipulation of fate.

Whoever had tampered with her and her master's path to intersect with Tian Yu had to hand immense power—possibly even beyond the Ascension Realm. The Five Absolutes… Meng Lin trembled at the thought.

“I’ll grow stronger,” she whispered to herself, determination burning in her eyes. "I'll uncover the truth behind all of this. And no one shall control me."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She stood up, glancing at the horizon of the crashing waves. She turned to her master and spoke. "Master, I think it's time for me to head out and gather some alchemy ingredients. I need them to heal my spiritual veins."

Li Yu, who had been meditating silently, opened her eyes and regarded Meng Lin with a thoughtful expression. "You wish to go alone?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of concern.

Meng Lin nodded. "Yes."

Li Yu sighed, her gaze softened. After a moment, she reached into her sleeve and pulled out the Void-State Tablet. "Here, take this with you. I’ve left a spatial imprint on it. If you encounter danger, the tablet will sense it and call for me; this way, I can be there if things go wrong."

Meng Lin hesitated for a moment before she nodded, tucking the Void-State Tablet into her robes as she stored it away in her inventory. "I'll return safely."

With one final glance at her master, Meng Lin turned and began walking toward the island's edge, gazing across the horizon and recalling the encounter with the bandit leader and his group.

With a flick of her wrist, she accessed her system inventory once more, this time taking out a map. It was a crude map she made based on the map she had seen when she visited the Lark Jade Restaurant with Luange Chen.

In the map, she had marked the undisclosed island and the nearby sects, trading hubs, and scattered cultivator settlements that dotted the region. However, with the events that had happened all across the continent, Meng Lin didn't know how accurate the information on the map was anymore.

Nevertheless, she selected the nearest one—a high-tier city known for its alchemy market and trade connections. If she could get there, she might find the ingredients for the Spirit Rejuvenation Pills.

She turned her gaze to another island a few miles away, the barren island where she had been with the girls; she had to get them first before journeying into the trading island.

Stepping out onto the Skyveil Foot Cloud, Meng Lin allowed her mind to wander as she flew in the sky. The slight increase in her experience points still nagging at her, making her wonder what would push her progress further.

The journey was what Meng Lin would describe as very boring; the Skyveil Foot Cloud was moving fast enough to match Gold Core Cultivators, but it was still very slow for her current self.

It took her several hours to reach the area of her last battle. The sea was calm, the wreckage of the flying boat long gone, likely swallowed by the crashing waves. Meng Lin looked around, scanning the area for any signs of anything.

Once satisfied that the coast was clear, she directed her cloud to the nearby island. As she neared the island, the familiar aura of the Crimson Tortoise Dragon began to show, covering the island as if a protective barrier.

Swoosh!

Within seconds, the tortoise dragon appeared before her, its aura surging in excitement as it closed in on her. "Mistress, are you all alright?" the dragon asked, sensing something amiss as it looked at Meng Lin.

Meng Lin gave a small nod. "What happened after I left?"

“As you commanded,” the dragon replied, “I took five of the remaining cultivators hostage. The others were eliminated.”

Meng Lin nodded approvingly. She directed the cloud toward the island, descending from the sky onto the clearing where the three girls—De Sijie, Xi Lin, and Xi Lan—stood waiting, alongside the five prisoners.

As she touched the ground, the girls rushed forward with concern etched on their faces. “Miss, are you alright?” Xi Lin asked.

Meng Lin merely shook her head, her expression calm but distant. “I’m fine.” she said flatly.

She didn’t elaborate further; her focus shifted to the five hostages kneeling nearby, their hands bound with thick elemental spiritual qi; they probably also had their dantians sealed as well.

The five men, each with varying degrees of fear and defiance in their eyes, trembled as Meng Lin’s gaze fell upon them.

One of the men, San Di, couldn't help but ask in shock, “The boss, is... is he dead?” His voice cracked with fear, and the others' faces changed.

Meng Lin's gaze turned cold as her aura changed, she fixed her eyes on San Di. "Your leader is dead."

San Di's body trembled, and the others exchanged fearful glances, their faces paling as they realized their last hope for rescue had vanished. “H-how can that be?” San Di stammered.

Meng Lin stepped closer. “I’m not here to discuss your leader's fate. I want information.” She scanned their faces, noting the flickers of fear and defiance.

“You five are all that’s left of your group. Tell me everything you know about the plans and operations of the Golden Fang Bandits.”

The five men exchanged anxious looks, and San Di finally spoke up, his voice quaking. “The Golden Fang Bandits? Boss Xue had us desert the Golden Fang Bandits after he took the jade boxes; we don't know anything."

Meng Lin's eyebrows raised, but she remained impassive. “The jade box. What can you tell me about it?”

San Di swallowed hard. “I don't know, but Boss Xue believed that with it, he could become unstoppable.”

“And where is the other one now?” Meng Lin pressed.

San Di hesitated, glancing nervously at his companions. “We… we don’t know. It was with Boss Xue, but he never told us its location. He probably has it in his storage bag; after the first one was taken, he always kept the other one with him."

Meng Lin narrowed her eyes in contemplation. If the other box was with this boss Xue, then does that mean it's lost in the belly of the giant whale, or does Taoist Tian Yu have it now?

One of the other prisoners, a burly man with a scarred face, piped up, “Wait! I heard him mention a place before. An ancient ruin to the north. He goes there a lot; it might be there. That's where we found the floating ship."

Meng Lin's interest piqued. “Ancient ruins? What else do you know?”

The man swallowed hard, sweat trickling down his forehead. “That’s all I know, I swear! Please, spare us! We were just following orders!” His voice cracked with fear, and the two girls in the group nodded quickly, pleading with their eyes.

Meng Lin's eyes narrowed as she assessed them. "You were following orders?" she repeated, her tone cold. “That doesn’t absolve you from the consequences of plotting against me. You were part of an ambush meant to take my life."

The young man’s face turned pale, and the others lowered their heads, realizing that their chances for mercy were slim.

De Sijie took a step forward, her eyes still glinting with slight curiosity. “What are you going to do with them?"

Meng Lin’s gaze remained fixed on the prisoners. "What else," she said. "I want information on the Golden Fang Bandits."

One of the older prisoners, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke, his voice gravelly and resigned. “You won’t get anything from us,” he muttered. “We’re already dead.”

Meng Lin’s eyebrows raised as her gaze turned even colder “We’ll see about that,” she said.

She waved her hand toward the Tortoise Dragon, which summoned a thin, invisible thread of elemental energy. It coiled in the air before wrapping tightly around the older prisoner, forcing him to his knees.

“You have two choices,” Meng Lin continued, her eyes locked onto the man’s. “You talk, or you die in the worst way imaginable.”

The prisoner clenched his jaw, refusing to speak. But Meng Lin wasn’t in the mood for a drawn-out negotiation.

With another motion of her hand, the small, thin, invisible thread of elemental qi tighten slowly, causing him to gasp as the pressure intensified around his body.

“Choose your words wisely,” Meng Lin said coldly, her voice steady as she watched the man’s desperate attempts to free himself. “This can end quickly or drag on painfully.”

The older prisoner, now gasping, felt the energy squeeze tighter, crushing down on his ribs. His face turned a pale shade, the color draining as he fought against the invisible force. “P-please!” he managed to choke out, his voice breaking under the strain. “I’ll tell you what you want! Just let me go!”

Meng Lin’s gaze remained unwavering, and with another flick of her wrist, the thread tightened further. The sickening sound of cracking bones echoed through the clearing, mingling with the rustle of leaves as the other prisoners looked on in horror.

“Stop! We’ll talk!” San Di yelled, his voice filled with panic. “Just let him go! We’ll tell you everything!”

Meng Lin’s eyes flicked to San Di but stayed locked on the older man, whose body was now buckling under the pressure.

Sweat poured from his forehead, and his breaths became frantic gasps. With one final motion of her hand, the thread pulsed violently, and the man’s body snapped in two with a sickening crack.

The sound reverberated through the clearing, followed by a haunting silence. Half of his body crumpled to the ground, blood spilling onto the forest floor, staining the ground with a crimson color.

The remaining prisoners recoiled in horror, their faces reflecting shock and terror. They had just witnessed a brutal execution, and it was clear that Meng Lin would not hesitate to do the same to them.

“Now,” Meng Lin said, her voice calm yet chilling as she surveyed the remnants of the man before her. “Who else wants to tell me about the Golden Fang Bandits?”

San Di, trembling uncontrollably, raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “We’ll talk! We’ll tell you everything!” His eyes darted to the fallen body.

Meng Lin smiled, her expression unfaltering as she stepped over the dismembered corpse to move closer to San Di. “Good. Start with the locations of your hideouts and the strongest in each of them. I want every detail, or you will share the same agonizing fate as him.”

The air was thick with silence as even the three girls standing at the side were quiet. San Di gulped down before he began to speak, his voice shaking. Meng Lin listened, absorbing the information as San Di spilled out everything he knew.

After an hour of questioning from Meng Lin, she was finally satisfied with the obtained information, mentally marking the locations, important phrases, and key figures within the Golden Fang Bandits.

“...and the last information i know is that they are going to be moving from the mountain to the Yuan Kingdom Capital this week,” San Di concluded.

De Sijie at the side snorted after listening in, disdain flashing across her face. “How arrogant can this bandit leader be, thinking he can just take over an entire kingdom without retaliation from the others?"

Meng Lin nodded. "Either he overestimates himself, or he has something that he thinks can turn the tables."

Turning back to San Di and the remaining prisoners, she declared, “Now that I have what I need, your lives are no longer of use to me.” The prisoners’ faces blanched at her words, panic washing over them.

With a flick of her wrist, the Crimson Tortoise Dragon opened its mouth, a large amount of Elemental Qi gathered. Meng Lin looked at the prisoners, her voice calm. “You will die for taking part in the attempt against my life, but I'll make it painless for you.”

Boom!

In an instant, A blinding flash of light appeared one second, and the next, the light faded to reveal a small crater where the prisoners once stood.