The Blood Triangle.
When Lin Huang woke up and opened his eyes, Jia Xuanxuan was walking into the room carrying a bowl of medicine. She still looked a bit haggard, but much better than before.
"You’re awake!" Seeing Lin Huang struggling to sit up, Jia Xuanxuan let out a sigh of relief. A beautiful, elegant smile blossomed on her face, making her look incredibly touching.
"Where are we?" Lin Huang asked, his voice hoarse.
"This is the Blood Robe Alliance. It’s Feng Wanli’s home." Jia Xuanxuan helped Lin Huang sit up. "You’ve been unconscious for ten days. I was really worried you wouldn’t wake up."
Lin Huang managed a weak smile, his entire body still aching. "Back in the Blood Triangle, was it Feng Wanli who saved me?"
He still remembered that when the people from the Celestial Thunder Sect attacked, a wall of wind had suddenly appeared in front of him. Before he could see who had intervened, he had passed out.
Jia Xuanxuan nodded and handed him the medicine bowl. "When the great battle broke out outside the city, Feng Wanli had already received the news, but he was still a step too late. It’s all my fault you were so heavily injured!"
Lin Huang chuckled dryly. "Those people were there to kill me. It had absolutely nothing to do with you. If anything, I dragged you down with me."
Jia Xuanxuan looked at Lin Huang doubtfully but didn’t say anything more. She quietly fed him the medicine.
Over the next few days, Lin Huang stayed in the Blood Robe Alliance to recover from his injuries. He had no contact with the outside world, nor did he meet the Alliance Leader of the Blood Robe Alliance, Feng Wanli.
"Human Element Ninth Heaven!" In his room, Lin Huang sensed the realm within his body and smiled bitterly. Ever since his fight with Crown Prince Lingyun, he had been trying to break through to the Ninth Heaven. Later, encountering the Blood Crow’s Eye had caused a slight loosening of his Profound Gate.
It wasn’t until his recent battle against the two Celestial Element powerhouses of the Celestial Thunder Sect, which pushed him to his absolute physical limits, that he managed to break down the barriers and successfully break through to the Realm of Human Element Ninth Heaven.
He had truly risked his life for this breakthrough.
When Lin Huang’s injuries were mostly healed, Jia Xuanxuan finally took him for a stroll around the Blood Triangle. Thanks to her status in the Blood Robe Alliance, very few people dared to provoke them.
Fundamentally, the Blood Triangle was a massive city covering a vast territory of thousands of miles. Because it was situated at the borders of the Three Great Dynasties, it had become a paradise for criminals.
Villains who had nowhere else to go mostly flocked here. After a century of accumulation, the place had long since fallen into complete chaos. It was a melting pot of good and evil, riddled with countless factions and interwoven powers.
Here, an obscure street vendor might have once been a notorious bandit. A prostitute could have been the princess of a dynasty. A cook in a tavern might be a hidden Martial Marquis powerhouse.
Naturally, this was also the most well-informed place in the East Spirit Realm.
After wandering around the Blood Triangle for a few days, Lin Huang picked up a lot of hearsay. Quite a few of these rumors genuinely shocked him:
The Poor Scholar, Song Zhimou, had been appointed as the Grand Marshal of the Army for the Great Zhou Dynasty, leading three million soldiers on a crusade against a neighboring dynasty.
The Divine General’s Mansion of the Great Xia Dynasty had gone to war. Within ten days, they crushed the Great Chu Dynasty’s seven hundred thousand Great Halberd Warriors and arrived at the gates of the Great Chu Imperial City. Zhao Changfeng, the vanguard of the three armies, attained divine investiture in a single battle, leaping to forty-ninth place on the East Spirit General List.
In the East Spirit Realm, Jiang Tianhe, the second son of Jiang Licheng—who ranked second on the Martial Marquis List—had joined the Celestial Thunder Sect.
Seven days ago, in the Qinglong Mountain Range adjacent to Xuanyuan City, a boundless, radiant light had erupted. It was suspected that an ancient tomb had surfaced. The Sect Masters of the Four Great Sects all went to investigate in person, and countless martial artists in the Celestial Element and Martial Marquis Realms flocked to the scene like ducks to water.
Eleven days ago, Shen Diexin of Piaoxue Palace was hunted by mysterious assailants. Fortunately, the Piaoxue Palace Master, Yan Nangui, arrived in time. It was rumored that those chasing Shen Diexin were from the Celestial Thunder Sect and Fengyu Tower.
Furthermore, the disciple Shen Diexin brought back this time was said to possess talent no less than that of the East Spirit Legend, Lin Cangxue. Even Jiang Tianhe, who had entered the Earth Element Realm at fourteen, was considered slightly inferior.
Upon hearing this, Lin Huang finally let out a long sigh of relief.
It seemed Shen Diexin and Fatty Bai had successfully reached Piaoxue Palace. However, he hadn’t expected the pursuit by the Celestial Thunder Sect and Fengyu Tower to alert the Piaoxue Palace Master, Yan Nangui.
Lin Huang was also surprised to realize that his sister, Lin Cangxue, had been famous throughout the East Spirit Realm since five years ago. Whether in the highly chaotic Blood Triangle, the Four Great Sects, or the Ten Great Dynasties, she was universally acknowledged as the most talented genius in the East Spirit Realm in hundreds of years.
The East Spirit Legend!
Unfortunately, what people spoke of was only the Lin Cangxue of the past. Now, whenever her name was mentioned, everyone couldn’t help but shake their heads.
They had originally thought this extraordinary woman would one day dethrone the long-renowned Xuanyuan Tibing. Little did they expect her to fall halfway, her Martial Soul shattered.
At the thought of this, Lin Huang couldn’t help but clench his fists and take a deep breath. When Xiao Yishan left, he had mentioned a method for Lin Cangxue’s Martial Soul Nirvana. Now that he was heading to Piaoxue Palace, he needed to start making preparations.
In a tavern, when Lin Huang heard that ten days ago, two Celestial Element powerhouses hunting a Human Element boy had met with disastrous defeat—with one even perishing on the spot—he smirked. He never expected to become the subject of people’s idle gossip.
"There’s one more thing you all must have heard about by now," a few burly men talking loudly not far from Lin Huang said.
"You mean... the wealthiest man in Xitang, Jia Wanjin?" someone asked in confusion.
Lin Huang’s ears twitched. Ever since parting ways with Jia Wanjin that day and bringing Jia Xuanxuan to the Blood Triangle, he hadn’t heard any news about him.
Lin Huang hadn’t dared to ask Jia Xuanxuan either. He was afraid it might be bad news that would crush her fragile heart.
Beside Lin Huang, Jia Xuanxuan’s pretty face turned pale, her expression dimming considerably. Her slender jade-like hands clenched tightly as she clearly tried her best to suppress her emotions. She had already learned the news about her father from Feng Wanli.
She had never imagined that her father would one day leave her.
Nor did she expect that the father who had forbidden her from practicing martial arts since childhood was actually a formidable powerhouse.
Now, apart from her sister and Feng Wanli, she had no other family left in this world.
Whenever she thought of this, a sharp pang of pain pierced deep within Jia Xuanxuan’s heart. She felt as though she had been abandoned by the entire world—left all alone, never to see her family’s smiles again.
"That man was truly surprising. He spent his whole life being a shrewd businessman and could be considered the wealthiest in the world. Who would have thought he was actually such a powerhouse?"
"Indeed. Busy with business every day, yet he still managed to cultivate to the Martial Marquis Realm. He truly deserves to be called a hero of our time."
"No wonder it’s said that every time he went out on business, he was always safe and sound no matter how dangerous it was. He was quite cunning, hiding his Martial Marquis cultivation while pretending to be a frail merchant. God knows how many people he scammed to death over the years."
"With that said, it’s not surprising that he possessed the Ancient Scroll of Mountains and Rivers!"
"It’s just too much of a pity that such a man died in battle at Wuya Peak."
"What’s there to pity? For a martial artist to die in the Jianghu is perfectly natural. Besides, he didn’t die alone; dozens of men in black were buried alongside him. He definitely lived up to the prestige of a Martial Marquis."
Hearing their conversation, Lin Huang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. He gently patted Jia Xuanxuan to comfort her.
Jia Xuanxuan looked up and forced a smile. Despite the grief in her heart, there was also a trace of pride. Her father was not some corrupt, calculating evil merchant who stooped to petty tricks.
He was a Martial Marquis powerhouse!
He died in battle at Wuya Peak fighting for the justice in his heart, fighting for his dignity.
"I also heard that when he died in battle, he was draped in the Blood-Colored Sun and Moon Banner. He died kneeling towards the east, roaring something, though no one knows what it meant."
"Maybe it was some kind of ritual!"
Hearing this, Lin Huang frowned, murmuring to himself, "The Blood-Colored Sun and Moon Banner?"
In his previous life, during the years he was hunted by Liu Cangsheng, Lin Huang had also seen many people die kneeling towards the east. Their expressions were solemn and dignified, and they were all draped in the Blood-Colored Sun and Moon Banner.
But Lin Huang had never known what it meant.
"The Blood-Colored Sun and Moon Banner?" Lin Huang repeated in a whisper, unable to figure out the hidden meaning behind it.
After pondering for a long time, Lin Huang gave up. This wasn’t something he should be concerned about anyway. There was no need to waste his mental energy on it.
"Aside from Jia Wanjin, there’s another thing you definitely wouldn’t expect, and it’s closely related to Xuanyuan Tibing!" a bearded man not far from Lin Huang spoke up in the tavern.
"Xuanyuan Tibing? What earth-shattering thing has he done now? That shouldn’t be right. As the Human World Myth, what else could he possibly do? Did he command a million soldiers and wipe out a sect again?"
"Have you... ever heard of the Thirteen Kills of the Character Ren?" The bearded man lowered his voice, looking at everyone mysteriously.
"The Thirteen Kills of the Character Ren?"
"You mean that mysterious assassin organization in the East Spirit Realm that’s said to have been passed down for hundreds of years, the Thirteen Kills of the Character Ren?" someone responded.
The bearded man maintained his secretive look. "Exactly. This mysterious organization has never failed a mission. It’s said that there are only thirteen people in total in the Thirteen Kills, yet each of them is extremely proficient in the art of assassination. They come and go without a trace, like a divine dragon whose head you see but not its tail."
"So what does Xuanyuan Tibing have to do with the Thirteen Kills of the Character Ren? Could he be one of them?" someone asked, puzzled.
The bearded man chuckled but stopped talking. Instead, he put on a helpless expression. "Before we talk about that, let’s first discuss who is paying for this meal."
Hearing this, the surrounding men all facepalmed, their eyes shifting away in unison.
"My wife is calling me home for dinner!"
"My stomach hurts. I need to visit the outhouse first."
"Oh dear, my conscience hurts so much! I’m going to faint! I’m fainting!"
The bearded man watched them all putting on an act and snorted coldly. "If you don’t want to know, forget it. This news is juicy enough for you to scam several meals."
Hearing this, everyone’s eyes lit up.
Lin Huang smiled wryly. He thought, "So after all that, sharing all these rumors was just to trick someone into paying for a meal?"
"At most... the few of us will split your share," someone proposed.
The bearded man laughed heartily, then shouted loudly, "Waiter, get your ass over here! Your grandpa wants to order more dishes!"
Everyone winced in pain at his words, feeling the pinch in their wallets.
Now that someone was treating him, the bearded man stopped hiding things. He tilted his head back, downed a cup of strong liquor, sat squarely on his stool, struck a pose, and prepared to start his story...