Evening, at the outer disciples' residence.

"Senior Brother Yang, congratulations on winning first place in the sect competition!"

"Yes, yes, and they even successfully entered Yanlai Peak!"

The disciples he encountered along the way all congratulated Yang Lin when they saw him, their eyes filled with undisguised envy.

That was the top prize in the sect's grand competition. Although this year's competition was held a bit earlier and many of the direct disciples had not yet returned, Yang Lin's ability to win first place still impressed them.

Not to mention, and most importantly, they even entered Yanlai Peak!

Yang Lin's smile remained unchanged, and he returned the greeting to the disciples. Compared to himself, he really couldn't understand how Shen Changlin could compare to him. Was his innate Dao physique ruined?

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly.

After patiently responding to the congratulations, Yang Lin returned to his residence a moment later, unable to hide the smile in his eyes. Only when he turned his back to others did a hint of calculation appear on his face.

"Heh, I really hope Shen Changlin can quickly recognize that storage ring as his master and be controlled by the restriction. Then what will he have to fight me for?"

Yang Lin's smile grew increasingly cold as he packed his luggage.

But at this very moment—

His hands, which were packing his things, stopped abruptly. In Yang Lin's vision, a layer of hazy black mist had appeared. When the black mist appeared, a silent fear and sense of crisis surged into his heart.

A clear, low chuckle suddenly came from behind.

"You really didn't have good intentions, Yang Lin."

"Who is it?!"

Yang Lin's voice suddenly rose, his tone distorted by a moment of terror. He turned his head and stared intently behind him.

That was the window—outside the window, the night was as still as water, the darkness spreading silently, carrying a terrifying sense of crisis in its silence, while around the house, black mist lingered on the roof, blocking out the outside world.

On the window frame, a taller boy wearing a dark black cloak leaned against the window frame, his knees bent and his other long leg lightly touching the ground.

Black mist flowed from the depths of his dark eyes and swirled around him.

Yang Lin's expression darkened slightly: "Shen Changlin, is that you?!"

"It's nice to see you again, Senior Brother Yang."

On the window lattice, Shen Changlin pulled down his cloak, revealing a handsome face with a youthful air, sharp yet aggressive. His smile was pure and innocent, making him look like a good young man.

Yang Lin felt at ease.

He's just a Qi Refining stage cultivator, a piece of trash whose innate Dao Body talent has been destroyed. What's so scary about him?

"So it's Junior Brother Shen."

Yang Lin paused: "Why did you suddenly come here tonight, dressed like this? Does Elder Ruan know? Go back quickly, your senior brother will pack his things and go to Yanlai Peak soon."

"I'm here to demand an explanation from my senior brother."

Shen Changlin chuckled, his cloak billowing as he landed lightly: "Which master gave me this storage ring?"

"Junior brother is joking, that's mine—"

"Yeah?"

Shen Changlin's eyes turned slightly cold: "It seems that Senior Brother Yang is truly hiding his true strength. His cultivation is even more profound than Master's. If he casts a restriction, I'm afraid I'll be nothing more than a puppet on a string."

Yang Lin was surprised that Shen Changlin had actually discovered the problem with the storage ring, and even described its effects. His face instantly contorted with rage.

"Have you broken through it?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Changlin scoffed, casually tossing the storage ring to the ground and crushing it into dust bit by bit: "What do you think?"

“Shen Changlin, it would be so much better if you were just an ignorant and unaware puppet. Instead, you disrupted that person’s plans. If you tell anyone, I will have no place to stand on Yanlai Peak.”

"You forced me to do this!"

Yang Lin's expression turned cold. With a backhand flick, a long sword appeared, and he immediately launched a straight attack—

The pressure from the Golden Core cultivator instantly pressed down on Shen Changlin!

However, the cloak on Shen Changlin's body was lifted by spiritual power, and the black mist surging from his eyes actually reversed the pressure. At the same time as Yang Lin was attacked, he rushed forward and struck Yang Lin's chest with a palm!

"Foundation Establishment stage! Shen Changlin, I didn't expect you to have a trick up your sleeve, but I am a Golden Core cultivator, you can't defeat me!"

Yang Lin was startled and took a half step back. He looked at Shen Changlin with surprise and immediately abandoned the idea of ​​using his aura to intimidate him. Instead, he focused his sword energy and slashed down at Shen Changlin.

Just as the black mist was about to help, Shen Changlin cut off the connection, causing his smile to widen.

"The competition just ended, and your injuries haven't fully healed yet, Senior Brother Yang?"

"you--"

Without pausing, Shen Changlin dodged to the side as Yang Lin attacked, then formed a hand seal with one hand, instantly filling the air with Daoist energy. Even the longsword in Yang Lin's hand seemed to vibrate and hum faintly.

He had no sword in his hand, but the way of the sword came naturally to him. Attracted by his innate Dao body, a sharp sword light slashed down from nowhere!

Yet, at the moment of its severance, it undergoes a thousand transformations.

All paths lead to oneness, and from this oneness, all things come into being.

He seemed to have grasped the true essence of the "Secret of the Unity of All Paths".

At this moment, Yang Lin attacked, pouring almost all of his spiritual power into this strike, leaving a long knife wound on Shen Changlin's chest, and blood instantly soaked into the black cloak!

As blood was drawn, Yang Lin's eyes turned red, and he raised the knife as if to pierce his heart.

But at the same moment he landed, Shen Changlin kicked Yang Lin straight in the chest. He had vaguely grasped something, and as he made a hand seal, the long knife in Yang Lin's hand instantly flew into his hand.

The long sword seemed to sense something and leaped with joy.

But Shen Changlin did not react. He twisted the hilt of the knife in his hand and then threw it out. The tip of the knife pierced through Yang Lin's waist and abdomen!

Yang Lin coughed up blood after being attacked by his own weapon.

"So this is what the 'Ten Thousand Paths Return to One' in the 'Ten Thousand Paths Return to One Technique' means? It does match my innate Daoist physique quite well..."

Shen Changlin murmured a few words, using this body to control all paths, all paths returning to one, and then using the "path" to create all things. The first path he controlled was naturally the sword path, which he was most familiar with.

Seeing Yang Lin pierced through the abdomen by a long knife and pinned to the ground.

Shen Changlin treated the wound on his chest briefly before taking half a step forward and squatting down in front of him.

"You learned swordsmanship for your master's sake, didn't you?"

"But—you're not qualified."

His smile was innocent, but his voice was terrifyingly cold.

Because of excessive blood loss, Yang Lin's face was terribly pale, but with his Golden Core stage body supporting him, he wouldn't die in a short time, but he was taking in more air than he could exhale, and he was suffering more.

Shen Changlin had no intention of killing him for the time being. Instead, he walked past him and rummaged through the half-packed luggage on the table.

"Senior Brother Yang, who is that person you're talking about?"

"Ha... Die, you piece of trash!"

Shen Changlin's eyes were cold, and he didn't say anything. He started rummaging through Yang Lin's residence. The black mist had already taken control of the place beforehand, so he wasn't worried about any noise getting out.

Just then, the black mist in his mind said in a strange tone, "There seems to be something under his bed?"

"Um?"

Shen Changlin was slightly taken aback. With a surge of spiritual energy, he directly lifted the bed sheet next to him and discovered that there was a small pit dug under the bed, with a small wooden box inside.

Yang Lin, who was barely able to speak, turned even paler and couldn't help but want to crawl over.

He didn't even notice that his abdominal wound had been torn open.

"Don't look!"

"Chen Changlin, get the hell out of here—"

He could hear Yang Lin's furious curses, but they sounded more like bluster than genuine bravado, his voice filled with terror and fear.

Shen Changlin ignored him and turned it on by himself.

'Click—'

A soft sound.

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