### Chapter 41: Speculations
Deep in a shadowy nook of Lingwu Mountain, where overgrown bushes choked the path and boulders loomed like silent sentinels, two figures huddled. Moonlight seeped through the canopy, dappling their forms—one stooped, with a pronounced hunch and a frame as thin as a twig; the other, of average build, standing with a deference that bordered on fear.
"The outer sect tournament's top spot must be yours," the hunchbacked man said, his voice like gravel scraping stone, cold enough to chill the night air. "Those above are watching. Don't squander the resources we've poured into you."
"I won't fail you, Lord Luo," the other man replied, his tone rigid with respect. Though his features were half-shrouded, his voice gave him away: Mu Rongfeng, the outer sect's most revered disciple.
Why was Mu Rongfeng, a proud Fourth Level cultivator, sneaking around in the dead of night to meet this hunchback? Why did this "Lord Luo" care so fiercely about an outer sect tournament? And what "plans" hung in the balance?
Lord Luo's eyes narrowed. "Word is a new Fourth Level has popped up—Lin Yi. Think you can handle him?"
Mu Rongfeng scoffed, disdain sharp in his voice. "A nobody who stumbled into a heavenly elixir, that's all. He's got no real battle sense, no control over his spiritual energy. I'll crush him."
Lord Luo's gaze turned icy. "Arrogance breeds carelessness. One misstep, and our plans unravel. Don't let him become a problem."
Mu Rongfeng stiffened, sensing the rebuke. "Understood, my lord."
Suddenly—
"Who's there?" Lord Luo snapped, cutting himself off. His head whipped toward a clump of bushes, eyes blazing.
A figure lurched from the shadows, darting away before they could see his face. He ran like the wind, no trace of a fight in his posture—he knew he was outmatched.
"After him!" Lord Luo barked. This conversation was *secret*—a leak would ruin everything.
Mu Rongfeng sprinted after, Lord Luo hot on his heels.
"Stay!" Lord Luo roared, hands flying through incantations. A swirling vortex of black mist coalesced in his palms—tainted spiritual energy, twisted and malevolent. He hurled it at the fleeing figure. But mist alone wasn't enough. With a flick of his wrist, he tapped his storage bag, and a dozen thin needles materialized. Each glowed with a sickly green light, reeking of rot—tools of poison, not battle.
"Die!" he hissed, flinging the needles. They streaked through the dark, silent as death.
*Thud!*
The fleeing figure stumbled as the mist slammed into his back, but he kept going—until the needles found their mark. A spurt of blood erupted from his mouth, and he swayed, nearly collapsing.
"Stop chasing," Lord Luo panted, skidding to a halt. "Too close to the outer sect quarters. We'll be seen."
Mu Rongfeng froze, chest heaving. They were barely 300 yards from the outer disciples' cottages.
"Did you see who it was?" Lord Luo grated, staring at the retreating figure vanishing into the sect's boundaries.
Mu Rongfeng squinted, recalling the silhouette. "The build… it looked like Lin Yi. The one who hit Fourth Level."
"Fourth Level?" Lord Luo's brow furrowed. "That man had Fifth Level Qi Refinement. I'd recognize that aura."
"Fifth Level?" Mu Rongfeng's jaw dropped. Lin Yi had been Fourth Level just days ago! How? "He must've found more of that heavenly elixir. It's the only explanation."
Lord Luo shook his head, skepticism etched into his hunched frame. "No. A heavenly elixir potent enough to push a First Level to Fifth in three months would've torn his meridians to shreds. A First Level can't handle that kind of energy—it'd make him explode."
Mu Rongfeng fell silent, confusion warring with envy. He, with his Four Spiritual Roots, had clawed for years to reach Fourth Level. Lin Yi, cursed with Five Roots, was defying every law of cultivation.
"Whatever his secret," Lord Luo said, voice dropping to a growl, "he's a problem. And problems… get eliminated."
Mu Rongfeng nodded, a cold smile spreading. The tournament finals would be the perfect stage.
…
Lin Yi staggered into his cottage, slamming the door shut. Blood soaked his back, where the needles had burrowed into his flesh—burning, as if acid ate at his bones. He collapsed onto his bed, teeth gritted.
That hunchback was no ordinary cultivator. His spiritual energy reeked of *corruption*—not the pure flow of a sect disciple, but something darker, twisted. And Mu Rongfeng… complicit in whatever scheme they were hatching.
He pressed a hand to his wound, wincing. The poison was spreading, slow but relentless. He'd need every ounce of his *Five Spirits Body Tempering Technique* to purge it.
But as he closed his eyes, focusing on cycling his energy to fight the toxin, one thought burned brighter than the pain: Mu Rongfeng wasn't just a rival. He was a traitor.
And traitors, Lin Yi vowed, didn't live long.
Outside, Lord Luo and Mu Rongfeng vanished into the night, their speculation swirling. They'd never guess the truth: Lin Yi's power came not from elixirs, but from a forbidden technique and a mountain of Great Replenishing Pills. A secret far more dangerous than any heavenly treasure—one that could upend everything they thought they knew about cultivation.
The night settled over Lingwu Mountain, but for Lin Yi, sleep was impossible. He'd stumbled onto something big—something that could get him killed.
But he'd never been one to back down from a fight.