Chapter 156: Leaving Youling Mountain

Lin Yi noticed that Zhuge Xian's mental state was far from well, and could not help shaking his head.

She was just a young girl after all, with a fragile temperament.

Being unable to withstand even such minor ripples meant her future achievements would be limited.

"Lin Yi, what should we do? Li Xincheng must have discovered something," Zhuge Xian said, condensing her internal Qi into a thin thread for sound transmission.

Her body trembled slightly, clearly displaying a level of tension that had reached its absolute limit.

Lin Yi patted her shoulder and said with a profound gaze, "Relax. Besides, you weren't the one who killed Yuling, so what are you nervous about?"

Hearing this, Zhuge Xian thought to herself that he was right; she was merely a half-step grandmaster, and even if she spoke the truth, no one would ever believe her.

At that moment, Li Xincheng pointed at Lin Yi and said, "You, step forward."

Lin Yi remained indifferent, directly ignoring Li Xincheng.

This caused Li Xincheng's expression to sink. To act so arrogant on his own turf meant Lin Yi truly held no regard for him as an enforcement elder.

Everyone else present also turned their gazes toward Lin Yi.

After all, during the past two days, Lin Yi had generated the most buzz in the entire training grounds.

Not only had he knocked down that terrifying goshawk with a single punch, but he also held over a hundred nine-grained pills in his possession.

Now, he even dared to openly ignore the enforcement elder. Was this Lin Yi trying to defy the heavens?

Hu San stood among the crowd, his eyes filled with lingering resentment.

"Haha, this brat really thinks he can act lawless just because he has a little strength. Every single elder of the Martial Arts Association is a Spirit Master."

Hu San sneered inwardly, already envisioning the scene of Lin Yi being slapped to death by Li Xincheng.

True to expectation, Li Xincheng's beard twitched, and an aura condensed from the power of heaven and earth rolled outward like a tidal wave, pressing down toward Lin Yi.

Those standing closer to Lin Yi immediately felt a heavy oppression in their chests.

"How boring," Lin Yi said calmly, turning around as if preparing to leave.

He had no time to waste here playing games with Li Xincheng; with this time to spare, he would rather stay by Yuling's side and cultivate a bit longer.

Lin Yi's attitude made Li Xincheng's already gloomy face darken until it seemed as though water was about to drip from it.

"Too arrogant!"

Li Xincheng roared inwardly. In this Martial Arts Association, which youngster wouldn't respectfully address him as Elder upon meeting him?

Yet when it came to Lin Yi, he was directly ignored.

How could the normally haughty Li Xincheng possibly tolerate this?

Li Xincheng took a step forward, arriving directly before Lin Yi, and delivered a palm strike straight toward his chest.

Knowing Lin Yi's strength, he did not hold back with this blow.

As long as Lin Yi dared to retaliate, members of the elders' council would naturally step forward and suppress him to death on the spot.

Lin Yi's gaze turned cold. He grabbed Li Xincheng's wrist and, borrowing the momentum of the strike, swung him backward.

Thud.

Unprepared, Li Xincheng was sent flying by this subtle yet immense force.

However, being a Spirit Master after all, he managed in his haste to stabilize himself using the power of heaven and earth.

By the time he regained his footing, he discovered that Lin Yi had already vanished.

"Strange, where did he go?" Li Xincheng looked around in all directions.

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, and Hu San asked doubtfully, "Elder, wasn't that brat knocked away by you?"

Li Xincheng's speed earlier had been too fast; all they saw was a flash of a figure, followed by the current scene.

Li Xincheng maintained a blank expression. It would have been fine if he had truly knocked the opponent away, but the problem was that he had been the one thrown by Lin Yi.

Naturally, he would never speak of such an embarrassing matter.

Although the skirmish here had been on the verge of turning bloody, the sudden burst of a Spirit Master's power had already attracted members of the elders' council.

A total of four people arrived, led by an old man in a black robe who served as the Grand Elder of the Martial Arts Association, possessing a cultivation realm at the eighth tier of the Spirit Master level.

Among these four elders, there was one whom Lin Yi recognized.

That was Liu Jiurong, whom he had encountered earlier that day at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.

"Old Li, what happened just now?" Liu Jiurong asked in a deep voice.

"I discovered a suspicious individual, but he slipped away," Li Xincheng replied with a dark expression.

"Slipped away?" The Grand Elder frowned.

The outbreak of combat had lasted less than a second from start to finish, yet in that brief window of time, the person had somehow managed to escape.

"Yes, his strength is formidable. I already crossed paths with him yesterday," Li Xincheng said, choosing not to conceal it and recounting yesterday's events to the Grand Elder.

Upon hearing this, though the Grand Elder's face remained expressionless, a flash of fury surged in his eyes.

Regardless of everything else, Li Xincheng was an enforcement elder of the Martial Arts Association. To think he had been beaten by a rogue cultivator, and even forced to cripple his own arms publicly.

This was a blatant disregard for the Martial Arts Association.

"Very well. How many years has it been since anyone dared to provoke our Martial Arts Association like this?" the Grand Elder said coldly.

A wave of excitement flashed through Li Xincheng's heart; once the Grand Elder gave the word, Lin Yi would either be dead or stripped of a layer of skin.

"Issue the order immediately. Have people search for this person with all our strength. Regardless of whether he killed Yuling or not, the mere act of provoking an elder is enough to convict him," the Grand Elder declared.

"Grand Elder, actually, there's no need for such trouble. This person is none other than Mr. Lin from Jiang Province," Li Xincheng said.

"It's him?" The Grand Elder's gaze narrowed.

Some time ago, the Red Skull had spent a hefty sum to hire Assassin No. 07 from the prison to assassinate Lin Yi, only for the assassin to be defeated within a few moves.

Although that incident had been thoroughly suppressed by the Red Skull, as the Grand Elder of the Martial Arts Association, he was still able to acquire such intelligence.

If Lin Yi was indeed the one who made a move, that would explain why the battle had concluded so swiftly.

It was just that Lin Yi had no grievances or enmity with their Martial Arts Association; why would he go out of his way to sneak in and kill Yuling?

The Grand Elder pondered for a moment and said, "I will handle this matter personally."

……

Lin Yi had originally planned to stay at Youling Mountain for a few more days, considering that the elders there were quite well-off in terms of resources.

However, the appearance of Li Xincheng had ruined that mood.

He knew that as long as Li Xincheng remained there, the man would undoubtedly continue to cause trouble.

Lin Yi was not a mass murderer and had no desire to kill Li Xincheng over such trivial matters.

That being the case, it was better to simply leave Youling Mountain outright.

In any case, his harvest from this trip had been substantial enough.

"Since I've come to the Capital, I might as well drop by to see Wu Da, just to save him from nagging every single day," Lin Yi muttered to himself.

Over the years, Wu Da had consistently managed the Linda Group for him; even without extraordinary achievements, he had certainly put in plenty of hard labor.

Lin Yi could take this opportunity to check on Wu Da's health as well.

Wu Da was a workaholic, and without a robust physique, he likely would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.

Youling Mountain was several hundred miles away from the Capital, but Lin Yi was in no rush and journeyed at a leisurely pace.

When he reached a certain highway, an off-road vehicle suddenly pulled over and stopped beside him.

"Handsome, let me ask you, is this the road leading to the Capital? Our navigation system broke down halfway here," a stylishly dressed young woman asked, rolling down the car window.

"Yes," Lin Yi nodded.

"Thanks a lot," the fashionable girl said in gratitude, preparing to drive off.

Lin Yi called out to her, "Could you give me a ride?"

The Capital was still a long way off. He had been walking because there was no transport available earlier, but now that he had encountered a vehicle, Lin Yi naturally didn't wish to walk any further than necessary.

"This……" The fashionable girl hesitated.

"If not, never mind," Lin Yi said, not forcing the issue and preparing to continue walking forward.

After walking a few meters, the fashionable girl honked twice from behind and called out, "Get in then."

Lin Yi glanced at the girl, opened the door, and took a seat in the back.

In the back row sat an elderly man, who was currently resting with his eyes closed.

This old man was no ordinary person, but rather a martial artist whose cultivation realm was at the third tier of the Xiantian level.

While such strength was completely negligible to Lin Yi, within secular society, he was already considered a bona fide minor expert.

After Lin Yi boarded the vehicle, the old man opened his eyes just a crack, and upon seeing that Lin Yi was merely an ordinary person, closed them again.

The fashionable girl introduced herself, "Hello, my name is An Ya, and this is my grandfather."

Lin Yi said indifferently, "Lin Yi."

"You're not a local from the Capital, are you?" An Ya asked while driving.

"No," Lin Yi answered simply.

"Hehe, by the way, why were you walking alone on this highway? When I drove past the stretch ahead earlier, I didn't see a single car," An Ya asked out of curiosity.

This highway was rather remote and not the main route leading into the Capital.

"Taking a walk," Lin Yi replied.

An Ya chuckled softly, refusing to believe his words. Who on earth would go for a walk in such a desolate place?

"If you don't want to talk about it, fine," An Ya said.

Lin Yi shrugged. He truly had been taking a walk, all the way from Youling Mountain to this spot.

Since An Ya chose not to believe him, he couldn't be bothered to offer any further explanation.

At that moment, the old man sitting beside Lin Yi suddenly spoke up, "An Ya, focus on driving."

"Understood, Grandpa." After saying that, An Ya concentrated on the road and ceased conversation with Lin Yi.

Over an hour later, the vehicle finally entered the Capital.

An Ya slowed down the car and asked, "Lin Yi, where are you headed? If it's on the way, I can give you a ride a bit further."

"To the Linda Group," Lin Yi said.

"What a coincidence, I'm heading to the Linda Group too. They've recently launched a new product and are looking for distributors, so I'm going to try my luck," An Ya said.

"Oh," Lin Yi nodded.

An Ya asked, "What are you going to the Linda Group for? Are you going to work there?"

Lin Yi's attire was far too ordinary, giving no hint that he might be a wealthy individual.

"No, I'm looking for someone," Lin Yi shook his head.

An Ya did not press further.

Upon arriving at the Linda Group, Lin Yi stepped out of the vehicle.

Compared to the branch in Jiang Province, the headquarters in the Capital was far more magnificent, with an entire skyscraper belonging entirely to the Linda Group.

"Lin Yi, we'll be going in first," An Ya waved and walked inside accompanied by the old man.

Lin Yi watched An Ya's retreating figure for a moment before taking out his phone to call Wu Da.

The call connected after only two rings.

Wu Da's voice was extremely excited and carried a trembling tone as he said, "Mr., Mr. Lin."

"Yes, I'm right outside the entrance of the Linda Group," Lin Yi said.

"Mr. Lin, when did you arrive? Why didn't you notify me in advance?" Wu Da asked hurriedly.

"I've been here for two days," Lin Yi smiled.

"Oh, Mr. Lin, then I'll come down to welcome you right away," Wu Da said happily.

"No need. Just inform the front desk; I'll go up myself."

Lin Yi preferred not to attract too much attention. If Wu Da came down personally, he was certain his face would appear on all major newspapers by the following day.

"It was my failure to consider everything thoroughly. Please forgive me, Mr. Lin," Wu Da said with a hint of self-reproach for forgetting that Mr. Lin disliked fanfare.