Yun Hongling glanced at the two men before leaving the great hall. Zhou Lixing and Zhou Haiming inside the hall had already been taken away.
Inside the great hall, there were only two people standing in the middle, with silence pervading the space.
Li Lin came back to his senses, looking at Li Zhong in front of him. His heart was somewhat touched, and for some reason, it began to fluctuate intensely at this moment.
"Is Elder Yu doing well?" Li Zhong asked, looking at Li Lin.
"Master is very well," Li Lin replied lightly. Li Zhong was also a disciple of Master Yu Yu before, which Li Lin had known for a long time.
"That's good. Although he's not the best master, he's definitely a good one," Li Zhong said.
"He is indeed a good master," Li Lin said, standing with his hands behind his back. "Just say what you want to say."
"If you still harbor resentment towards the Li family and me, then give me another palm strike until your resentment is gone," Li Zhong said calmly, looking at Li Lin, though his heart's turmoil was unknown to others.
"You know about resentment, then why did you let me have any, haha," Li Lin chuckled lightly.
"I just want to say, none of this was my wish. The Li family and I have wronged you and your mother. If you kill me now, I will have no complaints. This is what I owe you and your mother," Li Zhong said, his expression still calm but his eyes revealing a sense of helplessness.
"Killing you won't make up for the twenty years of harm my mother and I have suffered," Li Lin said lightly. This was something Li Lin said on behalf of the previous Li Lin and his mother.
"I know. When I became the head of the Li family, it was destined that there were things beyond my control. This is the fate of every head of the Li family," Li Zhong sighed.
"There's no need to use the Li family as an excuse. What you owe us can never be repaid," Li Lin snorted coldly.
"Do you really hate me that much?" Li Zhong asked, looking at Li Lin, his gaze trembling slightly.
"Hate? You're not worth it. I didn't know before, but now, you don't even have the qualifications to make me hate," Li Lin said, then slowly walked towards the exit of the great hall.
"Lin'er, I know I have failed, but please believe me, I have always had you and your mother in my heart. Everything was beyond my control. I just wanted to protect you as much as possible," Li Zhong said, watching Li Lin's back.
"Do you think I would believe you? Where were you when my mother and I were bullied? What did the Li family give us?" Li Lin turned back, his eyes filled with hatred. Li Lin didn't understand why he felt such intense hatred at the moment. Logically, he was just an outsider, but maybe it was the hatred towards the Li family and Li Zhong left in the blood of the previous Li Lin.
Looking at Li Lin, Li Zhong's gaze became empty, and he sighed lightly, "I didn't expect your hatred to be so deep. Take good care of your mother for me and apologize to her on my behalf."
"Hmph, if you want to apologize, do it yourself. I will definitely take good care of my mother. It's none of your or the Li family's business," Li Lin said.
"The Li family might experience turmoil soon. Protect your mother well. If you don't want to be the head of the Li family, then so be it. I don't want you to follow in my footsteps," Li Zhong said.
Li Lin didn't say anything and walked out of the great hall. However, as he turned around again, the corners of his eyes involuntarily moistened.
"Is this my destiny?" Inside the great hall, looking at Li Lin's back, a tear slid down Li Zhong's empty eyes, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, making him appear very weak.
The events in the Li family's great hall soon became known to all members of the Li family, surprising everyone, including the servants. Li Lin's actions had deterred everyone in the Li family, but the servants were secretly delighted. The Zhou family father and son had always been arrogant and bullied them, so hearing about their fate brought them joy.
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Three external elders and stewards of Yunyang Sect soon found an excuse to leave the Li family. With such events unfolding, they felt it inappropriate to stay any longer.
In a courtyard of the Li family, Li Xiaobai was in front of Li Lin, opening a jade box in his hands, and a vast energy suddenly spread out, enough to make his heart beat in sync with it.
"Young master, what is this?" Li Xiaobai, now no longer the same as before under Uncle Jiang's guidance and having undergone a transformation, could immediately sense that the object inside the jade box was no ordinary item, definitely a precious treasure.
"This is the Martial Spirit Holy Fruit of Yunyang Sect. Go to Uncle Jiang's secret chamber to refine and assimilate it. If you have the chance to break through to the Martial King level in the future, this Martial Spirit Holy Fruit will bring you considerable benefits. With your current single-layer Martial Soul cultivation, if you refine it, with some luck, you might break through to around the sixth layer of Martial Soul," Li Lin said softly. The energy contained in the Martial Spirit Holy Fruit was immense, but now that it was out of the secret land, its effect had greatly diminished. If it had been used inside the secret land, Li Xiaobai could potentially break through to the ninth layer of Martial Soul, or even become a Martial General.
"That powerful?" Li Xiaobai was astonished. To break through from a single-layer Martial Soul to above the sixth layer, the treasure's value was unimaginable, making him excited.
"Refine it well. Uncle Jiang and I need to go out for a while, probably for a month. By then, you should have finished refining," Li Lin said with a slight smile.
While the Li family members privately discussed the events that had occurred, two days later, Li Lin, Little dragon, and the old servant Uncle Jiang appeared in a mountain range hundreds of miles away from the Li family.
This mountain range was not small, and in the deep spring season, it was lush and vibrant with life.
"Roar!"
Two figures leaped down from the back of a Sky-winged Snow Lion, namely the old servant Uncle Jiang and Li Lin.
"The Sky-winged Snow Lion is indeed an excellent mount. Not bad," Uncle Jiang said, looking up at the Sky-winged Snow Lion in the sky with some surprise.
"Swoosh!" Little dragon breathed out, observing the surroundings with curiosity.
"Roar." The Sky-winged Snow Lion shrank to a size of two meters in length and one meter in height, landing next to Li Lin. Its white feathered scales and wings covered its belly, seamlessly hiding any traces.
"Uncle Jiang, how long will it take to refine the Ten Thousand Year Red Copper?" Li Lin asked the old servant Uncle Jiang.
"I don't know, maybe about a month," Uncle Jiang replied.
"Sky-winged Snow Lion, take the Martial Spirit Holy Fruit and find a place to refine it," Li Lin said, taking out a jade box with a baby fist-sized Martial Spirit Holy Fruit in his hand.
"Thank you, master." The Sky-winged Snow Lion said, opening its massive mouth to suck in the Martial Spirit Holy Fruit from Li Lin's hand, then leaping away.
"Boy, you actually gave the Martial Spirit Holy Fruit to the Sky-winged Snow Lion?" Uncle Jiang glared at Li Lin, "How many of Yunyang Sect's Martial Spirit Holy Fruits did you get?"
Uncle Jiang knew Li Lin had already given Li Xiaobai a Martial Spirit Holy Fruit, and now here was another. Li Lin himself had also consumed one, and there were only nine Martial Spirit Holy Fruits in total. This meant others would get fewer.
"I got seven," Li Lin said. "Uncle Jiang, do you want one? I still have some."
"Never mind, the Martial Spirit Holy Fruit is extraordinary, but it would have been more useful if I had taken it two hundred years ago. Now it wouldn't be much use to me," Uncle Jiang said. "You getting seven of Yunyang Sect's Martial Spirit Holy Fruits, those old monsters in Yunyang Sect must be puzzled."
"Uncle Jiang, how old are you, really? Over two hundred years old?" Li Lin asked in disbelief.
"What's so strange about that? It's common for cultivators to live a few hundred years. You just didn't know. I should be about three hundred years old now, but compared to some old monsters, I'm still lacking," Uncle Jiang explained.
Li Lin thought about it; creatures like the Reversed Scale Demon Peng and the Blood Jade Tiger were thousands of years old, and Bai Ling was even six thousand years old. This time, Li Lin only brought Little dragon, leaving the Reversed Scale Demon Peng and Bai Ling to secretly protect his mother at the Li family.
"Let's go. There's a cave below. I sometimes come here to make elixirs. Refining the Ten Thousand Year Red Copper here won't attract attention," Uncle Jiang said, then leaped down the gorge in an instant.
"Flying in the air." Li Lin watched Uncle Jiang's departing figure. Away from the Li family, Uncle Jiang no longer appeared frail and aged. Li Lin saw Uncle Jiang flying, a feat that at least required Martial Commander level strength, but he felt Uncle Jiang's current power was not just that of a Martial Commander. The pressure from Uncle Jiang's aura felt no weaker than Yun Xiao Tian's.
Uncle Jiang's true strength had always been a mystery to Li Lin, who then also used his Wind Wings to leap down into the gorge.
In the center of the gorge, on a sheer cliff, there appeared a cave, which would be hard to discover without coming down personally.
"Sssss..."
Many flying beasts were scared off from their perches on the cliff, fluttering away.
Inside the cave, Li Lin was surprised by its size, which was several hundred meters in diameter, surrounded by stalactites.
The cave floor was flat, and upon closer inspection, there was a faint scent of medicinal herbs.
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