Chapter 420 Wang

Lin Lee remained standing on the sword, his face impassive. He raised a brow slightly, hearing the immediate begging for mercy, and sensed the wave of palpable fear released by all three.

’Why are they so afraid? They didn’t even wait for me to speak,’ he thought, his expression becoming thoughtful. The raw, absolute terror of these mortals was far beyond the healthy respect he was used to from the cultivators on the other continent. He decided to find out.

He gently released a thread of his refined spiritual qi, controlling the old man and both young men’s figures, forcing them to stand up.

"There is no need to bow," Lin Lee said, his voice calm, yet resonating with an undercurrent of undeniable authority. "Tell me about this area, this land. Are there any immortal forces nearby? And why are you so fearful of my existence?"

The three of them were more horrified by the gesture of Lin Lee controlling their bodies with an invisible force than by his presence. They stood rigid, their eyes wide in a daze. The young boys remained silent, clutching at the old man’s robe.

The old man, however, quickly regained a semblance of control, realizing that the Immortal was speaking to him. "Your Excellency... this area is but the meager outskirt of our Lu Village." He cleared his throat, trying to speak humbly. "As for your Excellency’s presence... you are an Immortal, flying upon a spiritual artifact. It is only obvious for insignificant mortals like us, without any spiritual root, to be fearful of an existence so far above us."

He paused, then added, "As for immortal forces... we are mere fishermen, but we have heard talk of a great immortal sect further to the north. We do not know its exact location or name, only that it lies far from the sea."

Lin Lee nodded slowly, absorbing the information. He redirected the Dark Star Sword humming below his feet thoughtfully, turning around in the air.

’Northward still,’ he thought to himself. The vague mention of a northern sect confirmed his initial suspicion. The sect was undoubtedly the red mark on the map he had stolen from the Hua Sect Treasury... the very reason he had crossed the North Sea.

He looked at the fearful villagers one last time, decided they had no more useful information, and then turned his head around. The Dark Star Sword vibrated beneath his feet, and with a soft "whoosh!" Lin Lee was airborne again, a dark streak flying relentlessly toward the unknown, high-qi lands of the north.

The old man and his both grandsons glanced at his back in awe and yearning.

Lin Lee flew for nearly an hour on the Dark Star Sword. The land gradually transformed from a desolate coast into a rolling landscape of low hills and scattered woods, the concentration of spiritual qi increasing with every northward mile. Finally, a large settlement appeared nestled in a broad valley ahead.

He gently brought the Dark Star Sword to rest on the ground in a discreet thicket just outside the town’s perimeter, suppressing the sword and his aura to the Qi gathering level as he didn’t sense any strong presence in the town.

’Only few foundation establishment cultivators, the rest are all in the gathering realm. Probably this is just a remote town.’ Lin Lee’s thoughts flickered looking at the well built area; the walls were of solid gray stone, and the tiled roofs within looked new and clean.

’First I need to eat delicious food, my tastebuds need new nourishment.’ He decided to eat something new urgently, feeling extremely tired of eating just raw spirit-fish.

He walked through the main gate, which was surprisingly unguarded, and headed directly toward the center of the town, locating a bustling, two-story wooden restaurant based on the delicious aroma of roasted meat and seasoned vegetables.

Lin Lee selected a quiet table near the window and ordered a variety of the most aromatic dishes the house offered. Soon, his table was laden with steaming food, and he began to eat, savoring the rich, complex flavors that were a welcome change from the clean but simple taste of spirit-fish.

While he foraged, he paid keen attention to the situation in the town. The architecture was the typical wooden and stone construction he had seen in the previous continent he had left, but here, the buildings were noticeably cleaner, the streets better paved.

The people walking past wore relatively well-made, clean silk and linen clothes, a clear indication that this town, and the county it belonged to, enjoyed a decent level of wealth. The simple act of trade he observed confirmed the use of common gold and silver currency.

As he continued to observe the other people inside the restaurant, the wooden entrance door was pushed open with a soft thud, and a small group walked in. Lin Lee’s gaze immediately fell upon the leading young man among them.

’Here comes one of the foundation building experts I sensed before.’

The young man’s body was releasing a fresh, distinct spiritual fluctuation of the Foundation Establishment realm, the kind that spoke of a recent, successful breakthrough. The two young men following him were also healthy, but their strength was unimpressive, barely reaching the Gathering Qi realm... mere lackeys, probably.

Lin Lee also caught the hushed whispers of other guests, whose conversations were momentarily interrupted by the arrival of the group. They referred to the young Foundation Establishment cultivator as "Young Master Wang Yi."

Young Master Wang Yi, perhaps feeling the focused intensity of Lin Lee’s stare, glanced over. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, but it was quickly replaced by a bright, confident smile. Instead of heading toward the main stairwell to the second floor, he changed course and walked directly toward Lin Lee’s table.

"Brother, I apologize for the interruption, but may I join you?" Wang Yi asked, his tone polite but infused with a casual authority, indicating he was used to getting his way.

Lin Lee took a moment, glancing at the young man’s smiling, expectant face, then simply nodded toward the empty seat across from him.

"Please sit down," Lin Lee said, his voice calm and steady.

Wang Yi sat immediately, then turned to his servants.

"You two, go and find a cabin to rest. I will join you in a while," he instructed. The two young men nodded respectfully.

"Yes, Young Master Wang," they replied, giving Lin Lee a curious, almost assessing gaze before nodding toward him and departing toward the staircase leading to the second floor.

Once they were gone, Wang Yi leaned forward, his gaze direct and conspiratorial. He pointed subtly with his chin at the simple casual shirt and pants Lin Lee was wearing below his dark long hooded robe, which were distinct from the native robes around them.

"Brother, you are truly brave," Wang Yi spoke in a strange language different from the language spoken by natives in this realm, lowering his voice. "You didn’t even change your costume before accepting the mission in this realm. Do it as soon as possible before these native sect disciples recognize you and kill you as an outsider. Even those hostile origin seekers will recognise and hunt you in order to take away your origin points."

Lin Lee raised a brow slightly at Wang Yi’s sudden, intense declaration using an unknown language, but he who knows countless languages and can read facial expressions of anyone... immediately begin analyzing what he was saying,

’Looks like this guy is testing my identity using the unknown language.’

Lin Lee thought and immediately cross referenced the words spoken by him and derived other possible words through it with combination of Wang Yi subtle expression and actions, countless thought processes running in his mind completing the structure of this new unknown language at alarming rate, then he separated the special words spoken by him... mission, realm, outsider, and hostile origin seekers.

These words sent a massive surge of surprise through Lin Lee’s heart, combining them a possible scenario appeared in his mind, which Wang Yi just pointed at.

It was clear he had stumbled into a situation far more complex and unknown than a mere low-level spiritual world. His expression, usually completely impassive, revealed a flicker of doubt as he fixed his gaze on Wang Yi.

"Do you recognize me?" Lin Lee asked using the unknown language a few sentences he just structured after analyzing the unknown language words spoken by Wang Yi, his voice calm, yet edged with a subtle question. "What exactly do you mean by a ’mission,’ an ’outsider,’ and ’hostile origin seekers’?"

Wang Yi was visibly startled by Lin Lee’s response. He stared back for a moment, the cheerful confidence draining rapidly from his expression. He stood up from his seat, a clear intention to retreat in his eyes, and gave a hesitant shake of his head.

"Looks like you don’t believe me. Anyway, I have already warned you," Wang Yi said, his voice now cautious. "The rest is up to you." He turned to leave, dismissing the conversation.

... Chapter End ...