Chapter 964: Don't Ask—Asking Just Hurts Your Pride

The last tall, thin powerhouse watched his two companions die violently in an instant, his Soul almost scared out of his body. He pushed his Body Technique to the limit and fled toward the army below, regardless of everything, his speed so fast it dragged out an afterimage!

Watching the fleeing tall, thin man, Lin Chen stood in midair, his indifferent gaze locking onto that doomed gray shadow. His right hand lifted, and a giant finger descended from the heavens with a rumbling crash, covering a radius of ten zhang around that gray shadow.

Boom!

The giant finger slammed down, the earth collapsing with a thunderous roar. Dust mixed with like a geyser, forming a short‑lived yet magnificent yellow cloud. Terrifying shockwaves expanded outward in rings, blowing the nearby Eight Desolate Domain Martial Artists head over heels!

As the smoke and dust dispersed a little, there was only a huge, charred fingerprint‑shaped pit several zhang deep left on the ground, fissures spreading out for dozens of zhang around its edge.

At the center of the pit one could vaguely see a mass of blurred flesh and shattered bone. The aura of that tall, thin man had completely vanished from between heaven and earth!

The tall, thin man, along with several Innate Realm Martial Artists who were dragged in, hadn’t even managed any effective resistance or a scream before they were ground to dust by the giant handprint from above!

The scene was deathly silent!

Whether it was the Martial Artists of the Canglan Domain or those of the Eight Desolate Domain, they were all stunned by the sight before them.

In just five breaths of time, three Innate Realm powerhouses had fallen. This… was this still a battle between Innate Third Realm experts?

“Little Junior Brother he…”

Chai Daoqi’s mouth was slightly open; he too was shaken. He knew Little Junior Brother was very strong, but this was a bit too absurdly strong.

Innate Third Realm experts were like weeds in his hands. As someone who was also Innate Third Realm, his feelings were very complicated.

“Everyone heed my command—slay the invading enemies of the Eight Desolate Domain!”

After snapping out of his shock, Liang Hanyang immediately issued orders. Junior Brother Lin’s continuous kills had already intimidated all the Martial Artists of the Eight Desolate Domain. At this moment they had lost their will to fight; it was the perfect time to pursue and kill.

The Martial Artists of the Canglan Domain also came back to their senses and charged toward the mountain one after another. So what if their numbers were fewer than the enemy’s? With Lord Lin here, the outcome of this battle was already decided.

“Little Junior Brother, don’t intervene anymore.”

Just as Lin Chen was about to charge into the Eight Desolate Domain formation, his ears caught Second Senior Brother’s voice transmission.

“Little Junior Brother, the battlefield is the best grindstone for Martial Artists. There will be sacrifices, but those who survive the battlefield and experience such life‑and‑death combat will find it helps them break through their Realms.”

Liang Hanyang briefly explained the reason. Not everyone had Little Junior Brother’s talent, where breakthroughs were as easy as drinking water. Most Martial Artists not only struggled to gather enough cultivation resources—even when they managed, they’d still often get stuck at bottlenecks.

Out of a hundred Innate First Realm Martial Artists who survive the battlefield, half can break through to Innate Second Realm, and even those who don’t, their true combat power will far surpass same‑Realm Martial Artists who’ve never gone through life‑and‑death battles.

Innate Realm Martial Artists are like this, and Grade-Entering Martial Artists are the same.

The slaughter on the battlefield not only lets them accumulate battle merits to exchange for resources, it also allows their Divine Soul to grow, laying the foundation for breaking into the Innate Realm in the future.

With Second Senior Brother’s reminder, Lin Chen stopped making big moves, but he still used his Divine Thought to watch over the fight. Once he discovered any Canglan Domain Martial Artist in a crisis, he would flick his finger and shoot out energy to help them out.

Giving Canglan Domain Martial Artists the chance to grow didn’t mean he’d just watch them get killed and remain indifferent.

“Second Senior Brother, has something changed in this Sect War?”

Ten Thousand Ridges Mountain was not the border between the Canglan Domain and the Eight Desolate Domain. For the Martial Artists of the Eight Desolate Domain to attack all the way here meant the border had completely fallen.

“A year and a half ago, a lot of Innate Realm Martial Artists suddenly appeared in the Eight Desolate Domain. Two Elders died in battle at the border. In the end, the Sect Leader ordered a retreat.”

At the mention of the war situation, Liang Hanyang’s expression grew solemn. A year and a half ago, the war had still been in stalemate; neither side had much change along the border. But then Innate Martial Artists in the Eight Desolate Domain suddenly increased by over a thousand. They launched attacks at multiple points along the entire border. Two Elders chose self‑detonation to cover the retreat of other Disciples, falling at the border.

If it were in normal times, the Canglan Sect wouldn’t care much about a thousand Innate Martial Artists. Counting the Canglan Sect and the Canglan Domain, there were nearly ten thousand Innate Martial Artists on their side. The key was that the Eight Desolate Domain’s Innate Martial Artists numbered about the same. With their Innate numbers equal, that extra thousand on the enemy’s side was enough to affect the flow of the war.

“Any idea where these suddenly appearing Innate Martial Artists came from? Could they be from the Yama Hall?”

“They’re not Yama Hall Martial Artists. Yama Hall cultivates Assassination Techniques, but the cultivation techniques of these Innate Martial Artists aren’t Assassination Techniques. As for their origin… Master and the others haven’t said.”

They haven’t said!

Lin Chen seized on the key words in Second Senior Brother’s reply. That meant the Sect Leader and their Master might know the origin of these newly appearing Innate Martial Artists, but had chosen not to tell their Disciples.

Just as Lin Chen was about to ask further, his Divine Thought sensed a powerhouse approaching. His gaze immediately turned to the sky on the left. A middle‑aged man covered in fresh blood was rushing over at high speed, but when he arrived above the mountain, he seemed to sense the situation below and the anxiety on his face quickly faded.

“Senior Brother!”

Seeing the newcomer, Liang Hanyang quickly called out.

Lin Chen instantly understood that this man was Master’s eldest disciple, his Senior Brother.

“Senior Brother, this is Little Junior Brother. Fortunately Little Junior Brother arrived in time and killed three Innate Third Realm Martial Artists of the Eight Desolate Domain.”

Hearing his Second Junior Brother’s words, Tu Ruoxing also looked over at Lin Chen standing beside his Second Junior Brother.

He had long known Master had taken in a Little Junior Brother. Back when Master sent him a message, he’d been in closed‑door cultivation at a crucial moment of breaking through to the middle period of Innate Fourth Realm, so he couldn’t return. By the time he came back to the sect, Little Junior Brother had already gone out.

However, he did know about Little Junior Brother’s performance in the Heaven-Reaching Pagoda. The outside world generally acknowledged that Little Junior Brother had already reached the Peak of Innate Third Realm, so defeating three Innate Third Realm Martial Artists was nothing strange.

Seeing that Senior Brother didn’t look shocked, Chai Daoqi grinned and said, “Senior Brother, Little Junior Brother only used five breaths of time to kill those three.”

“Five breaths of time?”

This time shock appeared on Tu Ruoxing’s face. With his middle‑period Innate Fourth Realm cultivation, defeating three Innate Third Realm Martial Artists was no problem, but to kill them within five breaths was something he probably couldn’t do.

“Little Junior Brother, what Realm are you at now?”

Prompted by Third Junior Brother, Tu Ruoxing realized he’d missed something: he actually couldn’t see through Little Junior Brother’s Realm.

“I just recently, by coincidence, broke through to Innate Fourth Realm.” Lin Chen rubbed his nose, speaking modestly.

Liang Hanyang and Chai Daoqi fell silent at once, especially Chai Daoqi. He’d already felt quite satisfied after breaking through to Innate Third Realm, but compared to Little Junior Brother…

Forget it. Comparing people… only pisses you off.

A monster like Little Junior Brother—better not ask about his Realm in the future. The more you ask, the more your self‑esteem gets crushed.

Tu Ruoxing’s mouth twitched as well. That modest look on Little Junior Brother’s face paired with the Realm he’d just reported really was enough to piss someone off.

“I was able to break through to Innate Fourth Realm because I went to a certain Secret Realm. In that Secret Realm, the flow of time is different from the outside world. If we count by time spent cultivating, I’ve cultivated for nearly forty years.”

As for the matter of the ancient Remnant Race, Lin Chen didn’t know what attitude the sect held, so he didn’t mention it. But he did briefly describe the Thousandfold Secret Realm. Mainly, he was worried that if he said nothing, his three Senior Brothers’ hearts on the Martial Path might shatter.

“I knew it. Even with Little Junior Brother’s talent, you shouldn’t be breaking through that fast. If you’ve cultivated for decades in a Secret Realm, that’s understandable.”

Chai Daoqi’s expression eased a bit. Breaking through to Innate Fourth Realm in a few decades—given Little Junior Brother’s strength, that really wasn’t surprising.

A trace of thought flickered in Liang Hanyang’s eyes. With Little Junior Brother’s talent, if he really had cultivated for decades, Innate Fourth Realm probably wouldn’t be the limit.

But since Little Junior Brother hadn’t said more, he wasn’t going to dig.

Everyone has their own secrets, even among Senior and Junior Brothers.