The old man’s gaze was fixed upon the inherited pseudo-immortal treasure, a glint of avarice, barely perceptible, flickering within his aged eyes.

Wang Lin, observing this, allowed a hint of amusement to play upon his lips. He offered no feigned alarm, no dramatic display. His demeanor remained as before – calm, composed, and utterly unfazed.

He held no desire to instigate a theft of the old man’s celestial jade, but if the elder sought to claim what was his, Wang Lin would stand his ground upon the bedrock of righteousness. Then, it would not be robbery and murder, but righteous self-defense.

Thus armed with justification, any killing would be righteous, his position unassailable. Combined with his formidable cultivation, none upon this Rain-Cloud Star would dare interfere.

Eight centuries of cultivation had gifted Wang Lin not only with wisdom, but also with a keen understanding of deception. Yet, he rarely flaunted his guile. Here, in the Star Domain of Luo Tian, cloaked in a new visage, he acted in such a way that even those who knew him well would be unable to penetrate his disguise.

Hesitation flickered in the old man’s eyes. After a long moment, he exhaled a breath of stale air, and clutching the bronze mirror, he rasped, “How many celestial jades do you seek for this trinket?” Wang Lin’s voice was even, unhurried. “Fifty thousand.”

The old man’s brow furrowed. Fifty thousand celestial jades were within his pouch’s grasp, but they represented nearly a century of slow accumulation, carefully hoarded for his upcoming attempt to ascend. To surrender them now risked crippling his chances of success.

Lost in thought, he gazed at the mirror in his hand, caught in a tempest of indecision. This treasure held immense appeal. For a nascent soul cultivator to possess an inherited pseudo-immortal treasure was a thing of no small consequence. If its power was sufficient, he could even stand against those who had reached the pinnacle of nascent soul cultivation.

Though the mirror’s specific abilities eluded him, he understood that all inherited treasures possessed formidable potency.

The thought of murder and robbery had crossed his mind, but he studied the young man before him. His composure was unyielding, and more importantly, the ability to casually produce such artifacts suggested lineage from a prominent cultivation family.

After a protracted silence, the old man retrieved a separate pouch from his robes. He extracted ten thousand celestial jades, then tossed the remaining jades and the pouch to Wang Lin.

Wang Lin accepted the pouch and, with a mental sweep, confirmed the count. He tucked it away and tossed the inherited jade slip to the elder.

The old man caught the slip and focused his mind upon it. A moment later, joy illuminated his face. He paused, then inquired, “Do you… have more?” Wang Lin surveyed the old man and drew a hairpin from his pouch. “This is also a pseudo-immortal treasure.” The old man’s eyes betrayed his disappointment. He nodded curtly to Wang Lin and departed the Azure Bamboo Pavilion.

Wang Lin purchased a few materials from the shop and followed the old man out. The young shopkeeper, still standing by, could scarcely believe what he had just witnessed.

As Wang Lin walked the streets, he let his divine sense unfurl, a flicker of mocking amusement playing about his lips. He felt the unwavering gaze of another, tracking him relentlessly. “Very well, I shall grant you your opportunity.” Wang Lin changed direction, heading towards the city gates. He quickly exited the city and summoned a flying sword, taking to the skies at a deliberately slow pace.

He maintained the speed of a Core Formation cultivator. After traveling several thousand miles, a vast cloud of mist materialized abruptly in the sky before him. The mist’s arrival was eerily sudden.

In the blink of an eye, the mist coalesced into a gigantic hand, reaching for Wang Lin with a sharp, piercing hiss.

The amusement in Wang Lin’s eyes deepened. A flicker of lightning danced within them. As the hand reached for him, Wang Lin lifted his right hand and casually waved it. In that instant, a wave of colossal celestial power erupted from his gesture.

The heavens thundered as the grasping hand vanished like smoke. The vast black mist behind it was also violently dispersed, and a pained cry echoed from within.

“You are not Core Formation!” A gaunt middle-aged man was revealed as the mist dissipated. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and sparks of electricity danced across his body, crackling loudly. Horror etched itself upon his face, and he retreated swiftly. A dark aura emanated from him as he employed some unknown art.

Wang Lin glanced at him impassively and continued his unhurried pursuit. The man’s cultivation was but the middle stage of nascent soul, and Wang Lin could obliterate him without breaking a sweat.

Terror filled the middle-aged man. A single gesture from Wang Lin had nearly shattered his nascent soul. If he did not return to his family quickly, he would surely perish. He bitterly regretted listening to Elder Sun and agreeing to trouble this man for a few spiritual stones.

The unwavering pursuit of the man behind him sent icy tendrils of fear through his heart. The pressure of impending death threatened to overwhelm him.

In the blink of an eye, the distance of several thousand miles was traversed. The middle-aged man plunged into the city. His face was pallid, and his nascent soul was nearly extinguished. In desperation, he coughed up another mouthful of blood and staggered towards the Sun family estate in the heart of the city.

Reaching the estate, he could no longer contain the dissipation of his nascent soul. In a hoarse scream, he cried, “Save me!” As if expending his last remaining strength, his body wobbled, and he collapsed.

A white figure streaked forward, a white-robed man. He caught the falling body, and his face contorted in alarm. He frantically produced numerous pills from his pouch and forced them into the man’s mouth.

At the same time, figures emerged from the Sun family manor, some taking to the skies. Wang Lin, his expression calm, strode towards them.

“Insolent fool, daring to harm a member of the Sun family!” One of the Sun family members brandished his flying sword and charged towards Wang Lin. Wang Lin simply flicked his sleeve, and a gale erupted, transforming into a tempest that engulfed every Sun family cultivator within a hundred yards, hurling them away. “All of you, retreat!” A booming voice echoed from the manor. Three old men emerged, one of whom was Elder Sun, the very elder who had traded with Wang Lin! His face was now a mask of grim fury.
The speaker, a crimson-faced elder, fixed Wang Lin with a chilling glare from below. “Whose whelp are you,” he rasped, his voice like winter wind, “to trespass upon the ancestral grounds of the Sun Clan? Know you, this act invites calamitous ruin!”

Wang Lin offered a slight smile, gesturing towards the elder Sun beside him. “I come seeking him.” His tone was deceptively gentle.

Elder Sun’s countenance darkened further. “Youngling,” he snarled, “the bargain struck with the Merchant-Guild is concluded. Dare you claim remorse?”

Wang Lin shook his head, instead pointing towards the unconscious figure sprawled upon the flagstones below. “A most curious happenstance, it seems. Scarcely had I quit the market stall than this fellow intercepted me. Overwhelmed, I found myself… led here.”

Elder Sun grunted dismissively, but unease flickered in the eyes of two other elders at his side. They quickly parsed the affair, realizing the truth of the matter: Sun coveted the wares of the stranger, and, loathe to soil his own hands, dispatched a kinsman to acquire them.

But Sun was a high-ranking Elder of the Sun Clan. Come what may, his peers must uphold his reputation. The crimson-faced elder sneered. “Absurd! Regardless of your lineage, boy, you shall remain. Your kin may treat with the Sun Clan for your ransom, and then, perhaps, your fate shall be decided!”

A flicker of icy light danced in Wang Lin’s eyes. He raised his right hand, bringing it down in a swift, decisive motion. A thunderous roar echoed from the heavens, and a palpable, crushing weight descended upon the Sun Clan manor.

The assembled Sun Clan members gasped, their faces contorted in desperate resistance. Without their straining, straining, they felt as though they would crumble to dust. Even the three elders alongside Sun strained with every bit of essence that they had.

“Absurd, you say?” Wang Lin’s voice was a shard of ice.

“Hold, I beg you, esteemed Daoist!” A voice, aged and weary, echoed from within the depths of the manor. A figure emerged, cloaked in black, his movements slow and measured. His appearance seemed to momentarily lessen the oppressive aura.

Though he had not yet Ascended the Summit, his cultivation stood at the very pinnacle of the Nascent Soul stage. He was but a hair’s breadth from enlightenment. Yet Wang Lin perceived something more: clinging to the old man, faint but undeniable, was the residual spiritual signature of an Ascended cultivator. It did not suggest that the old man was concealing his own strength, but rather, that the divine sense of a powerful being was draped upon him.

“The Sun Clan has erred, and trespassed against this honored Daoist,” the black-clad elder intoned, his voice heavy with regret. A collective gasp rippled through the ranks of the Sun Clan, including the three elders. Realization dawned in their eyes.

“Two hundred thousand Spirit Jades, and this matter is concluded,” Wang Lin stated, his gaze unwavering.

The black-clad elder’s face tightened. He hesitated, then nodded. “Agreed. However, two hundred thousand is a vast sum. This is but a branch of the Sun Clan, and we lack such reserves. Grant us three days to gather the necessary funds, and the debt will be paid.”

Wang Lin studied the elder, his gaze lingering upon the faint impression of divine sense that clung to him. He was not interested in the man himself. Withdrawing his gaze, Wang Lin turned and departed.

Only when Wang Lin was a distant speck on the horizon did the black-clad elder exhale, his form visibly relaxing as the lingering presence of the Ascended cultivator faded. He turned his gaze upon Elder Sun, his eyes blazing with fury. “Fool!” he hissed.

The crimson-faced elder hesitated. “Two hundred thousand Spirit Jades… even for the main branch of the Sun Clan, that is a considerable sum.”

The black-clad elder’s tone was glacial. “The Old Ancestor of the main branch graced me with his presence, commanding that all demands be met, even were it four hundred thousand! Furthermore, a clan-wide edict is hereby enacted: Let no word of this day pass beyond these walls. And above all, let no one disturb this…individual.”

Far to the east, beneath the surging waves of Ran Yun Star, a figure sat in silent meditation. Bare-chested and long-haired, he was a lone sentinel in the watery abyss. He opened his eyes, and the darkness retreated before their incandescent glow.

He gazed upwards, towards the sky, his thoughts racing. “Could this be the Ascended cultivator who has so suddenly appeared…? But his cultivation…it is beyond my comprehension. I sense…a chilling trepidation in his presence.

This one…he is not to be trifled with. If he resides within our Sun Clan’s city, perhaps this is the dawn of our good fortune!”

“That final gaze…was it a warning? He departs, bidding me to leave him undisturbed. This one holds the power…the authority, to speak to me in such a manner…” The figure fell silent, lost in contemplation. Finally, with a surge of movement, he rocketed from the seabed and vanished into the heights above.