At the foot of Celestial Waterfall Cliff, Fatty Bai seemed oblivious to Lin Huang’s dark expression. "That’s the girl!" he said excitedly. "Mr. Lin, you don’t understand. These are the scars of happiness!"
"I’ll ask you one last time. Who beat you up?" Lin Huang raised his head, staring dead straight at Fatty Bai.
"WAAAH!"
With a sudden wail, Fatty Bai burst into tears. He plopped his butt onto the ground, sobbing like a four-hundred-pound infant.
"Mr. Lin, I was beaten half to death! You have to avenge me!" Fatty Bai cried, snot and tears streaming down his face. "There’s a mad dog in the Inner Sect who’s been biting at me these past few days. He’s ridiculously fierce, and I can’t beat him. At this rate, I’ll be dead in a few days."
Lin Huang’s expression gradually hardened. "What exactly happened?" he asked coldly.
Fatty Bai scrambled up from the ground, sighing heavily. Looking as listless as if he had just recovered from a severe illness, he explained, "You know how I flirted with that girl? Her name is Yann Qing’er, and she’s the daughter of Yann Nangui, the Palace Master of Piaoxue Palace!"
Lin Huang’s breath hitched slightly. He was utterly dumbfounded.
"After she pummeled my chest with her little fists, I thought that was the end of it," Fatty Bai sighed. "But then, out of nowhere, a whole horde of ’flower guardians’ jumped out to fight me to the death. I could handle the others, but one of them is an absolute brute, like a tiger on aphrodisiacs. He picks on me every single day, and I just can’t beat him."
After listening to Fatty Bai’s tale, Lin Huang pondered for a long time before speaking. "Is this the real reason you came to Celestial Waterfall Cliff?"
"Of course... not!" Fatty Bai nearly let the truth slip.
"What’s the guy’s name?"
"Songg Chaoyang!" Fatty Bai chuckled with a cheeky grin.
"Songg Chaoyang?!"
Before Lin Huang could respond, Lu Han spoke up from the side in surprise, clearly recognizing the name. Meeting Lin Huang’s inquiring gaze, Lu Han explained, "Songg Chaoyang is at the Earth Element Sixth Heaven realm, and his Martial Soul is the Profound Tier Middle Grade Purple Shadow Spirit Leopard. He previously entered the Inner Sect as the champion of the Outer Sect tournament. He’s quite a prominent figure in the Inner Sect now!"
"Earth Element Sixth Heaven, huh?" Lin Huang rubbed his fingers together, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
There weren’t many people Lin Huang frequently remembered from his past life. Aside from Lin Beichen, Lin Cangxue, and Jun Qingcheng, there were only Qin Xuance and Fatty Bai.
Although Lin Huang usually treated Fatty Bai with overt disdain, the deep-seated brotherhood between them could never be erased by anything.
Some lines simply could not be crossed.
There was a saying that a gentleman could wait ten years for revenge, but Lin Huang felt that being a gentleman was too exhausting.
Even though Songg Chaoyang was at the Earth Element Sixth Heaven—a level far beyond what Lin Huang could currently match—he wouldn’t mind using the Array Puppet once more since Fatty Bai had been bullied.
Even though the Array Puppet had a very limited number of uses left.
So what?
Later that day, Lin Huang secretly left Celestial Waterfall Cliff.
It wasn’t to avenge Fatty Bai, of course.
Atop a misty mountain peak, faintly discernible halls and pavilions were hidden among the clouds. Frost covered the glazed architectural structures, giving the entire peak an exceptionally frigid and austere atmosphere.
Inside Shen Diexin’s courtyard, the woman frowned slightly as she looked at the black-robed youth standing before her. "Do you not know you’re currently being punished and aren’t allowed to leave Celestial Waterfall Cliff?"
Lin Huang looked up and smiled. "Rest assured, Elder Shen. No one spotted me on the way here.
"I came to find you, Elder Diexin, regarding my sister’s Martial Soul," he quickly added, noting her icy demeanor.
Shen Diexin was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected Lin Huang to sneak out of Celestial Waterfall Cliff just for Lin Cangxue’s Martial Soul. However, she quickly replied with a cold tone, "Go back for now. I’ve been trying to find a solution for Cangxue’s Martial Soul, and the ancestor in the palace hasn’t given up either."
At these words, however, she sighed inwardly. After conducting countless experiments, Piaoxue Palace had given up on Lin Cangxue a year ago.
It was fundamentally impossible to restore the Profound Frost Cyan Phoenix Bird.
Although she herself had never given up, she didn’t have the slightest clue on how to proceed. To her knowledge, restoring a shattered Martial Soul was an impossible feat; she had never even heard of such a precedent.
If neither she nor the palace’s ancestor had a solution, how could Lin Huang possibly have one?
While Shen Diexin didn’t blame Lin Huang for secretly leaving Celestial Waterfall Cliff, she didn’t harbor any hope for him. Restoring a Martial Soul was an unbelievably difficult task.
There was no way Lin Huang could know how to do it!
In the courtyard, Lin Huang simply smiled. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. "My master left this behind. He said this method originates from the Qiankun Da Nirvana and holds a chance to restore my sister’s Martial Soul."
"...Xiao Yishan?!"
Shen Diexin’s eyes suddenly lit up—whether because Lin Huang mentioned Xiao Yishan or the method to restore the Martial Soul was unclear. She eagerly took the paper from his hand.
Sea of Karma Flower.
Flame Dragon Fruit.
Heart-Burning Lotus.
Three items of extreme Yang energy, supplemented by a Fourth-Level Fire Array, could refine a sliver of Nirvana Flame to be integrated into the Profound Sea. Cultivating this Nirvana Flame into the Nirvana Divine Flame would aid the Profound Frost Cyan Phoenix Bird in achieving Nirvana Rebirth, unlocking the Martial Soul’s Nirvana talent. From then on, the phoenix would soar into the highest heavens, and given time, it could undergo Nirvana to become the ultimate Martial Soul of the Phoenix Lineage—the Nirvana Divine Phoenix!
Staring at the information Lin Huang had transcribed from the Qiankun Da Nirvana, a brilliant light erupted in Shen Diexin’s eyes. Her slender hands even began to tremble slightly.
If Lin Huang had just told her this himself, she might not have believed it.
But if it came from Xiao Yishan, its credibility was undoubtedly astronomical. Every time she thought of that unkempt, middle-aged man, her heart couldn’t help but stir.
It was perfectly normal for the man known as the Mortal World Butcher to know of such a method.
"But the items listed here are no ordinary objects," Shen Diexin finally reacted after a long pause. "Never mind the three wondrous items; even this Fourth-Level Fire Array is unimaginably difficult to procure."
Lin Huang shrugged. If these things were so easy to find, he wouldn’t have come to her.
"Piaoxue Palace does have a Flame Dragon Fruit, but there is absolutely no news regarding the Heart-Burning Lotus and the Sea of Karma Flower," Shen Diexin sighed. "Although I have hope of breaking through to become a Fourth-Level Array Master in a few years, I specialize in Ice Element Arrays. It would be very difficult for me to control a Fire Array. And in this East Spirit Realm, Fourth-Level Array Masters can be counted on one hand."
At the very least, there wasn’t a single Fourth-Level Array Master within Piaoxue Palace, nor even among the entire Four Great Sects.
In contrast to Shen Diexin’s pessimism, Lin Huang revealed a surprised smile. He hadn’t expected Piaoxue Palace to possess a Flame Dragon Fruit.
This was undeniably a massive and welcome surprise.
"Although it will be difficult, it’s better than having no hope at all," Lin Huang grinned. "I already have some leads on the Sea of Karma Flower, though it won’t be easy to obtain. I’ll handle that one!
"That way, with the Sea of Karma Flower and the Flame Dragon Fruit secured, we’ll only be missing the Heart-Burning Lotus."
"The Sea of Karma Flower?!"
Shen Diexin’s face filled with uncontrollable surprise at the mention of it. She hadn’t expected that there was already a lead on the Sea of Karma Flower, the most difficult to obtain of the three wondrous items.
At this moment, she couldn’t help but look at Lin Huang in a new light.
"Leave the Heart-Burning Lotus and the Tier Four Array Master to me," Shen Diexin said, a slightly gratified smile gracing her snow-white face. "At least you remember her kindness. It wasn’t in vain that she risked her life to protect you."
At the thought of the day Lin Cangxue would make her legendary return, Shen Diexin’s normally placid heart couldn’t help but ripple with emotion. An expectant smile touched the corners of her lips.
Lin Cangxue was her Registered Disciple, and this former legend was about to return. As long as they found the Heart-Burning Lotus and a Tier Four Array Master, the name Lin Cangxue would once again echo across the East Spirit Land.
"What about the Flame Dragon Fruit?" Lin Huang asked.
"The Flame Dragon Fruit is the reward for the champion disciple in the historical Battle for Chief," Shen Diexin replied.
Huh?
Lin Huang furrowed his brows. "The Battle for Chief? The reward for the champion disciple?"
With his or Lin Cangxue’s current strength, it would be extremely difficult for either of them to seize the title of Chief Disciple.
"Don’t worry about that," Shen Diexin explained, seeing his concern. "Xie Qinghou, the current number one in the Inner Sect, has already touched upon the Celestial Element Realm. Once he fully steps into it, he’ll be ineligible to participate in the Battle for Chief. Therefore, the one with the highest chance of taking first place in the battle is the Inner Sect’s number two, Yun Feifei.
"And Cangxue showed immense kindness to Yun Feifei in the past. If not for the Lin Cangxue of yesterday, there would be no Yun Feifei of today. So, getting her to hand over the Flame Dragon Fruit shouldn’t be difficult."
"Yun Feifei?" Lin Huang nodded, etching the name into his mind.
"Then we only need to worry about the Heart-Burning Lotus and the Fourth-Level Array," Lin Huang said with some hesitation. Although he felt much more assured, a lingering sense of unease remained deep within him.
The Sea of Karma Flower... how was he going to subdue a guy like Lu Han?
As for the Flame Dragon Fruit, there were far too many variables in the Battle for Chief for him to feel completely at ease.
Furthermore, there was an even more important point that intensified his wariness. He had been at Piaoxue Palace for over a month, yet he had never once heard the name ’Yun Feifei’ cross Lin Cangxue’s lips.