Inner Court Training Ground, Piaohua Palace
Lin Chen's fist slammed into the third-stage training puppet, sending it stumbling back three steps with a crater in its chest. The dozens of inner court disciples watching collectively flinched. Elder Li announced without emotion: "Lin Chen, you have cleared the Three Trials. Promoted to inner court disciple."
On the other side of the grounds, Lin Ying gently stroked the head of a second-stage fire lion. Moments ago it had been ferocious; now it nuzzled her palm like a kitten. Elder Li's expression was complicated: "Lin Ying, you have tamed ten beasts in record time. Also promoted."
[System: Promotion successful. Warning—30% hostile disciples (+50 hostility), 5% suspicious elders (+30 suspicion). Piaohua Palace runs deeper than Tianxuan Sect ever did.]
Lin Chen's face remained expressionless as he led his sister off the platform. He felt the daggers in their backs—envy over his thunder-patterned core, greed for Lin Ying's beast-taming gift, and simple hatred for outsiders.
---
Third Month in Inner Court
"New kid, go clean the spirit beast shit from the back mountain!" A late-stage Foundation Building senior tossed him a manure shovel, sneering. "Don't say I didn't warn you—here, the weak do the shit work."
The senior was technically weaker than Lin Chen's outward early-stage Core Formation cultivation, but his ten years of connections made him bold. Lin Chen took the shovel silently and left. Three months of this—cleaning cages, toilets, mining spirit stones, and now literally shoveling shit.
[System: Host's patience—MAXED. Recommended action: Assassination (89% success). Risk: Palace Lord's wrath. Not advised.]
Lin Ying had it worse.
Cornered by female disciples, their leader was Liu Yanyan—a peak Foundation Building cultivator, direct disciple of an inner court elder. Beautiful and vicious.
"So you're a natural beast-tamer? Show me." Liu Yanyan smirked, releasing three frenzied second-stage beasts from her spirit pouch—fire lion, frost wolf, venom serpent. Their eyes were blood-red. They'd been fed Madness Pills.
"Calm them within one incense stick, or..." Liu Yanyan's eyes held murder, "that soft skin of yours won't even make a snack."
[System: Malicious targeting detected—Lin Ying. Danger Level: HIGH. Recommended: Kill Liu Yanyan (92% success).]
Lin Ying bit her lip, refusing to beg. Her small hands trembled as she formed seals, channeling the Basic Beast-Taming Art. For a fleeting moment, an unknown lotus mark flickered on her forehead, glowing faintly.
The three beasts froze. Madness drained from their eyes, replaced by raw fear. They prostrated themselves before Lin Ying like subjects before a queen.
Liu Yanyan's face twisted: "Impossible! Madness Pills should've—"
Lin Ying recalled the beasts and walked away, her eyes red but dry.
[System: CRITICAL—Liu Yanyan has marked Lin Ying for death. Kill intent: 100%. Warning: Lin Ying is Host's reverse scale. Touch her, die!]
---
That Night, Moonless and Black
In her cave dwelling, Liu Yanyan whispered into a transmission jade: "Master, I discovered a strange lotus mark on Lin Ying's forehead—likely an ancient inheritance. Such a treasure shouldn't fall to outsiders. I can eliminate her and bring you the—"
A ghostly figure materialized behind her.
"No need to wait. Now works."
Lin Chen's voice was colder than the ninth underworld.
Liu Yanyan's pupils shrank. She started to turn. A thunder-wreathed dagger pierced her heart. Her soul shattered before she could scream.
[System: Target Liu Yanyan (Peak Foundation Building) eliminated. +500 Kill Points. Total: 2,880/3,000.]
[Hidden condition "Reverse Scale Fury" achieved! Female cultivator density: 73%. Environmental match confirmed.]
[System upgrade! Tenth Slaughter God unlocked: Cao Cao, the Womanizer!]
[Skill "Lady's Friend" activated:
- Female cultivators' favorability +100%
- Female cultivators' damage -50%
- Damage to female cultivators +300%
- Damage taken from female cultivators -90%
- Damage to male cultivators +500%
- Damage taken from male cultivators -95%
Cooldown: 7 days]
[Skill effect: Miniature chancellor's crown appears above Host (wine-cup size). Global announcement: "I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me!"]
In an instant, a three-inch black chancellor's crown materialized above Lin Chen. Simultaneously, every cultivator in Piaohua Palace's inner court heard the tyrannical voice echo in their minds:
"I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me!"
The sound shook the peak for a hundred miles.
[System: Skill demo complete. Female cultivator panic +50, confusion +80. Evaluation: Coolness lasts forever. Trouble is forever too.]
Lin Chen sheathed his dagger, looting Liu Yanyan's pouch and identity token. He studied the cooling corpse. "I warned you. Lin Ying is my reverse scale. You touched her anyway."
He vanished into the night like he'd never existed.
---
Dawn, Saintess Palace
Inner court was in chaos. Liu Yanyan's soul plaque had shattered. The Grand Elder was enraged, ordering a manhunt.
Lin Chen stood before Ye Qingyan, holding Lin Ying's hand.
"Ye Qingyan, I killed Liu Yanyan," he stated flatly. "She marked my sister for death. Tried to steal her lotus mark."
Ye Qingyan shot to her feet, eyes wide: "You killed the Grand Elder's direct disciple? The entire inner court is hunting the killer!"
"Exactly why I need two favors." Lin Chen's voice remained calm. "First, cover my tracks. Give the Grand Elder a 'reasonable' explanation for her death. Second, every half-month, sneak the Heaven-Rank Beast-Taming Tome from the forbidden archives and teach it to Lin Ying here."
He paused. "In exchange, I won't reveal our connection. Otherwise, when the Grand Elder investigates and discovers the Saintess secretly met us... what would she think?"
[Negotiation logic chain: Murder → Leverage → Mutual benefit]
Ye Qingyan's eyes narrowed. She understood—Lin Chen was binding her to his ship. But Liu Yanyan was dead. Controlling this variable might benefit her.
After a long silence, she nodded slowly. "Fine. But you must swear a Heavenly Oath not to expose this."
[System: Heavenly Oath binding—MODERATE. Violation mortality: 80%.]
"Agreed," Lin Chen said without hesitation. "But the oath is void if Piaohua Palace attacks us first."
[System: Heavenly Oath revised. Mutual terms accepted.]
---
Five Months Later, Secluded Mountain Hut
Three thousand miles from Piaohua Palace, Lin Chen had built a cottage in a hidden valley wrapped in three layers of concealing arrays.
Lin Ying's routine was strict: dawn meditation under the waterfall, afternoon combat drills with Silver Moon Wolf King—not "play," but tactical training. Ambushing third-stage beasts, practicing crowd control on frenzied packs.
Every half-month, on the night of the new moon, Ye Qingyan would arrive. She'd converge her aura a hundred miles out, drift into the cottage like a falling leaf, and brand the essence of the Heaven-Rank Beast-Taming Tome directly into Lin Ying's consciousness. Each session lasted three hours. When Ye Qingyan left, fine sweat lined her temples—the Heavenly Oath's backlash, burning her soul with every lesson.
Month 1: Lin Ying contracted five second-stage beasts. An Ironback Wolf offered its lifeblood essence voluntarily.
Month 2: She found an injured third-stage Fiery Demon Wolf pup in a canyon. Following the tome's method, she used her own blood essence as the bond. After seven days and nights, the pup opened its eyes—filled with devotion. Beasts for ten miles fled, sensing a sovereign's birth.
Month 3: She attempted to commune with the phantom of a fourth-stage Sky-Rending Demon Eagle—a dangerous overreach. Her soul left her body, battling the eagle's remnant will on a mental plane. Lin Chen stood guard, lightning crackling in his palm, ready to sever the connection if her soul was wounded. She failed to tame it but extracted a killer move—"Eagle Strikes the Heavens"—integrating it into her combat style.
Meanwhile, Lin Chen hunted beasts by day, gathered herbs, reinforced their concealment arrays. By night, he cycled the Primordial Spirit Devouring Art, refining core after core. He'd reached the threshold of mid-Core Formation but suppressed it—breakthrough fluctuations would draw attention.
[System: Cultivation progress: Early Core Formation → Mid threshold (suppressed). Breakthrough requires secure location.]
---
Eight Months After the Murder
Ye Qingyan had just exited the forbidden archives when the Archive Elder blocked her path.
"Saintess, why are you in the forbidden archives at night?" The elder's gaze was sharp as a hawk's, fixed on the jade slip in her hand.
Ye Qingyan's expression remained placid: "By order of the Palace Lord, to consult the beast-taming manual."
The elder sneered: "The Palace Lord's order? I've guarded these archives for thirty years. No one is permitted private access! Saintess, you're stealing from the palace!"
[System: Exposure imminent! Ye Qingyan—DANGER. Advice: Intervene or lose her and the tome!]
Ye Qingyan gripped the jade slip, resolve flashing in her eyes as her late Core Formation aura erupted...