"Hmm..." Pastor Qianyu bowed his head and pondered for a moment, saying, "This is easy to handle, just need an illusion boundary, kill him and destroy the body..."

  Mu Qianyu didn't ask Lin Ming who to kill or why, for her, the people she liked were friends and those she hated were enemies, there was no distinction between good and evil.

  "This is for you..."

  Mu Qianyu took out a crystal clear purple bead from the Xumi seal, "This is the Dream Realm Bead. After activation, it will form an illusion boundary. Warriors below the Innate level can't escape, and people around won't notice. It's like isolating you and your enemy in a separate space, cutting off all information. Even transmission talismans can't send signals out. You'll have enough time to kill him and handle the scene."

  Lin Ming's heart was delighted as he took over the purple bead, intending to put it into his Mustard Seed Ring. After some thought, he asked, "Is this Dream Jade Bead very valuable?"

  Mu Qianyu burst out laughing, and the sunlight shone on her stunning face, like a dancing spirit of light, captivating the hearts of all who saw her.

  "Consider it a gift from me, but be careful, the Dream Boundary won't help you kill anyone, you'll have to rely on yourself."

  At the moment he saw Mu Qianyu's beauty, Lin Ming had a brief moment of distraction. He lightly exhaled and suppressed the distracting thoughts in his heart, nodding to say: "Mm, I'm confident."

  "Hehe, I believe you won't do something without being sure of it. I previously thought it was impossible to absorb the Thunder Spirit, but you did it." Mu Qianyu smiled.

  Neither of them mentioned anything about parting, and after the two had breakfast, Lin Ming went out hunting as usual. However, when he stepped out of the cave, he had a premonition that when he came back again, it might be time to say goodbye... "Don't want to?" Pastor Qianyu smiled and stroked Zhu Que's head, but Zhu Que had an unwilling expression on his face.

  Mu Qianyu said with a bad temper: "You're so cheap, just a few roasted meats and you've been bought off."

  The phoenix blinked its eyes, with a face full of grievance. It was born on the Divine Phoenix Island since it was young, eating tender bamboo shoots and drinking clear spring dew. These things that were not tainted by worldly impurities sounded beautiful, but after eating them for so many years, they were actually bland and tasteless.

  "Alright, we should go. There are still many things to do, next time if you're craving something, I'll bring you out to eat some game." Mu Qianyu said. With a light tap of her toe, she floated up and landed lightly on Zhu Que's back.

  The Vermilion Bird walked out of the cave, and Pastor Qianyu looked back at him with a faint gaze.

  The bonfire in the cave has gone out, and the pot is hung on a simple branch. The soup in the pot is still warm, and next to it is a neatly laid bed of dry grass, which was her bed for three days.

  Such a simple setup, yet it left Mu Qianyu with a faint sense of warmth, making her somewhat reluctant to leave.

  She let out a soft sigh. Mu Qianyu took out a pair of small porcelain bottles from the Xumi Seal, and also took out a jade slip, on which she wrote something with her soul power. With a light flick of her jade finger, the porcelain bottles and the jade slip seemed to have grown wings as they flew into the cave and landed on a flat rock inside.

  Suppressing the strange feeling in her heart, Mu Qiuyu gently patted Zhu Que's head and said, "Let's go, Huo Er."

  The phoenix let out a clear cry and flapped its wings to take flight.

  The wind whistled past her ears, and the Vermilion Bird's speed grew faster and faster. Mu Qianyu couldn't help but turn her head back once again, and the mountain wall where the cave was located had already shrunk to a small cluster the size of a palm, about to disappear from view.

  "Perhaps... we'll meet again by chance... When Lin Ming returned with his prey, he saw that the cave was empty. The familiar red-clad beauty was gone, and the Vermilion Bird had flown away, leaving behind only a few beautiful fire-red feathers. Next to the feathers were two porcelain bottles and a jade slip."

  With a somewhat melancholy sigh, Lin Ming didn't feel surprised. He had long guessed that there would be such a farewell. However, when the moment really came, he still felt a strange sense of desolation in his heart.

  Lin Ming put down the prey casually, walked to the side of the rock and sat down, picked up those few fiery red feathers and stroked them for a while, carefully stored the Xu Mi ring, then Lin Ming picked up the porcelain bottle and jade slip.

  The porcelain vase is warm and smooth like jade, subtly carrying the faint scent left by the rain of a thousand autumns.

  The spiritual power sank into the jade slip, inside was a simple text.

  "Although it's a bit rude, but after thinking about it, I think it's better to part ways without saying goodbye. Thanks for taking out the Purple Thunderbolt for me, and here are two bottles of elixir as a gift."

  "I had intended to leave behind a Spiritual Elixir that would directly enhance your cultivation, but I think that cultivating still relies on oneself, and gradual accumulation is the most stable approach. So, I'll leave behind a bottle of Mind Gathering Pills that increase cultivation speed instead - twenty pills in total. They will have the best effect when you reach the Condensation Period."

  "Another bottle is the Spirit Revival Pill, only three pills are left. It can be used by warriors below the Pre-Heavenly stage to temporarily increase their cultivation and unleash combat power beyond their limits. If you encounter a sudden danger, taking the Spirit Revival Pill can help you escape."

  "I'm on Shenfeng Island, destined to meet again. Mù Qiānyǔ."

  Lin Ming put away the jade slip and the elixir, let out a light sigh. These past few days seemed like a dream, now that he had woken up, it was time to end this. He still had many things to do.

  The undying sacred fire located in the Huo Chi tribe, he wants to take it back, but the strength of the Huo Chi sect leader is too powerful. At that time, relying solely on a flame clone, he was able to chase and kill himself with no way to escape. Now, even if he has obtained the Zi Jiao divine thunderbolt, he still doesn't have full confidence in being able to destroy him.

  And even if he were to destroy the Huo Chi Zhang Jiao, absorbing the undying sacred flame's fire essence with his current strength would not be an easy task, so he could only temporarily put it aside.

  So, for now, the first thing to do is to return to Tianyun Country and kill Ouyang Qianhua.

  If it wasn't for accidentally mastering the Thunderfire Strike and obtaining a Thunderbolt Evil Fire Bead, Lin Ming would have probably been killed by Huo Yanguang already. This grudge cannot be left unavenged!

  "Ou Yang Di Hua's cultivation is only in the middle of the Condensing Pulse, but his uncle is a senior elder of the Seven Mysterious Valley. The skills and treasures he has learned far surpass those of ordinary warriors. In terms of overall strength, he is at least equivalent to a warrior at the peak of the Condensing Pulse, comparable to Chi Gu. This cultivation, I can kill him without much difficulty... When the south was still lush and green, Tian Yun City had already entered the depths of winter."

  The cold wind of the thirty-ninth day blows in waves, as if it wants to penetrate into people's bones.

  The tree trunks were already bare, the snow piled up on the streets had disappeared from sight, and there were few pedestrians on the road. The vendors that could be seen everywhere in the past were nowhere to be found now. The once bustling streets were now quiet and still, with only occasional barking of dogs and the rustling sound of newly posted window papers in the cold wind.

  Inside Tianyun City, every household lit up their stoves, and slightly affluent families sat around the kang eating dog meat hot pot. Poorer ones would also boil a pot of ginger soup to warm their family's stomachs. After all, it was the capital of Tianyun Country, and the people's lives were relatively prosperous, with hardly any cases of starving or freezing to death during the New Year.

  In the vast snowy Tianyun City, in a deep mansion in the southwest corner, there is a waterside pavilion with exquisite and luxurious decorations.

  In this season, the lake water should have frozen long ago, but at the bottom of this lake, there is a small magic array that extracts geothermal heat to keep the lake water at the most suitable temperature. Even on the lake, several water lilies are planted, although they haven't bloomed yet, the leaves of the water lilies are still green in color. In such a season, green is indeed a luxurious color.

  On the pavilion's platform over the water, two men in magnificent attire sat facing each other.

  Sable fur-lined jacket, silk sleeveless garment, deerskin boots, and a purple gold brazier. On the sandalwood table in front of them were three plates of exquisite pastries, a jug of fine aged wine, and even some lychee grapes that were rarely seen this time of year.

  All this shows the wealth and nobility of the master of the house.

  One of them is Ouyang Dihua, the newly appointed Seventh Mystic Envoy of Tianyun Country, and the other is Zhang Fengxian, the patriarch of the Zhang family of the United Business Association and the biological father of Zhang Guanyu.

  After Zhang Guanyu was deposed, Zhang Fengxian had already regarded Lin Ming as an enemy.

  However, Lin Ming's strength was powerful and his position was stable. He also had the support of the Seven Xuanwu Factions and the Crown Prince. Zhang Feng knew clearly that with his power, it was impossible to deal with Lin Ming.

  Ouyang Qianhua gazed out at the scenery beyond the building, silently drank a cup of wine, and said in a low voice: "Still no news?"

  Zhang Fengxian let out a sigh and shook his head slightly, "The southern border stretches for 100,000 li, with complex terrain inside, forests, swamps, mountains, and grasslands, ferocious beasts roaming about, and countless tribes big and small. Just relying on portraits to find someone is like searching for a needle in the ocean."

  Half a month ago, Lin Ming and Huo Gong disappeared at the same time in South Jiang. The two Shen Feng eagles also disappeared. When Ouyang Dihua learned of this news, he was somewhat apprehensive. He began to investigate, but although his identity was extraordinary, the number of people he could mobilize was very limited. So, he borrowed the power of the United Chamber of Commerce to secretly investigate.

  In Ou Yang's view, half a step later, Huo Gong's killing of Lin Ming was a sure thing, and there shouldn't be any unexpected surprises.

  However, Huo Gong had disappeared. Ouyang Qianhua originally thought it was Qinzi Ya who secretly took action, but half a month ago, Qinzi Ya returned and apparently knew nothing about Lin Ming's disappearance.

  Qinzi was unaware, Ouyang Dihua's heart also returned to her stomach, she deduced the situation at that time, in any case, Lin Ming would definitely die, so the key is, where did the fire go?

  Did he die unexpectedly in southern Xinjiang? Or did he kill Lin Ming and then discover some astonishing secret, escaping with that secret?

  These two possibilities, Ou Yang didn't care much about them. What he was most worried about was that Lin Ming hadn't died but was lurking in the dark like a venomous snake. If that were the case, then he would be in danger. Lin Ming's growth rate was astonishing, and it was possible that within a few years, his strength would surpass Ou Yang's own!

  Seeing Ou Yang's changing expression, Zhang Feng said tentatively: "Lord Ou Yang, why not follow the previous plan and take action against Lin Ming's family? This way, we should be able to force him out. If he doesn't come out, it would prove that he is already dead. What do you think, my lord?"

  Zhang Fengxian had long wanted to take Lin Ming's family hostage, otherwise it would be hard to dispel the hatred in his heart. However, he did not know that as early as when he was talking with Ouyang Qiu, a layer of invisible barrier had already enveloped them, completely isolating them from the outside world...