Chapter 90: A Thousand for the Living, the Dead for Free

Thank you to "Primordial Chaos Divine Dao" for the thousand-coin reward!

The weather in Fuyang City changed without warning. Moments ago the stars had still been glittering overhead; now goose-feather snow was falling thick and fast.

In the blackness of night, heaven and earth had turned a murky gray-white, bleak and desolate, yet with a bone-deep coldness hidden within.

Lin Zhan sat cross-legged on the roof of an inn in Fuyang City, still immersing himself in the subtle understanding of the circulation of spiritual power within his body. Snow had already covered him over, and he looked almost like a snowman.

Snow and wind? No, that was not all. It seemed another kind of disturbance had begun to rise.

Lin Zhan opened his eyes and immediately sensed the problem: people were approaching, and there were quite a few of them.

Closer still.

He focused his divine sense on the group and discovered that these dozen-odd men belonged to the same sect. At the auction, they had been seated in an ordinary private room on the second floor.

Back when he had successfully bid for the Devouring Cloud Demon Armor, those people had already looked furious, throwing him unfriendly glances more than once.

Lin Zhan had guessed they might try some petty tricks in the shadows, but he had not expected them to come so openly and brazenly looking for trouble.

Fine. Since you dare to come, you must be prepared to bear the consequences. This Fuyang Inn is my territory now, so naturally I make the rules.

Anyone who wants a room is welcome; anyone who wants to stir up trouble can forget it.

Besides, Lin Zhan figured that if the Wei family intended to seek revenge, they ought to be arriving about now as well.

"If you're coming, then all of you come. The inn is plenty big enough. You're most welcome! Let me show you just how formidable a fifth-rank human cultivator can be!"

He no longer feared battle in the slightest. As long as none of them were high-rank earth cultivators, then even if he could not defeat those at the lower earth rank, he could still run. There was no need to worry about any real danger to his life.

As for those below the earth rank, they were nothing but cannon fodder.

Lin Zhan grinned and mocked himself. "It seems I finally am no longer cannon fodder."

After speaking, he rose from the roof, shook the snow from his body, and leaped down into the courtyard of the inn.

He opened the gate, as though he truly intended to do business.

Then he moved a high-backed chair out from the hall, sat down in it, took from his storage a flask of strong liquor once given to him by Cloud Chant, and began to drink leisurely by himself.

It seemed they had received news that the innkeeper and the servants had already fled. The elder of the sect from Hundred-Mile Mountain, Pu Ding, led his men straight in, swift and clean, without the slightest hesitation.

Pu Ding and six others burst through the front gate, while on both sides several more companions vaulted over the walls.

The three groups met in the courtyard at the same moment, and all at once they saw Lin Zhan lounging with one leg crossed over the other, holding a wine flask, seated in a high-backed chair and smiling at them.

"Are you all here to stay the night? One thousand for the living, free for the dead!"

"Uh..."

The men from Hundred-Mile Mountain were all stunned on the spot, staring at Lin Zhan as if he were some kind of oddity.

"What a joke! You're already at death's door and still in the mood to joke? Stay at your sister's inn!"

"Brat, you're very arrogant. Do you even know whom you've offended today? If you're wise, hand over the Devouring Cloud Demon Armor immediately, and perhaps we may spare your life!"

Once they had surrounded him, one of them shouted at Lin Zhan.

Calm and composed, Lin Zhan set the flask lightly on the ground, stretched lazily, and let one sleeve fall back to reveal the protective state of the Devouring Cloud Demon Armor on his arm. Seeming to speak to himself, yet also to them, he said, "This Devouring Cloud Demon Armor really is a fine piece of armor. Look at it—close-fitting and warm once worn. Truly excellent. This was something I won at auction. If you want it, then come and take it!"

If you want it, then come and take it.

Indeed, toward such arrogant and unreasonable people, Lin Zhan had never bothered with empty politeness. That would only waste time.

Since they coveted his treasure, and had already broken into his territory saying such things, what more courtesy was there to show?

"You seek death!"

The man bent his body like a drawn bow and shot forward like an arrow. Raising both hands, he turned palms into claws and came slashing down at Lin Zhan.

Lin Zhan picked up the flask and was just about to smash it at the man, but on second thought he could not bear to do it. It was the last half-jar of wine Cloud Chant had given him. Hastily, he put it into his storage, then sprang upright and flew straight to face the other man.

If you want to grab me, then try. I was just about to test the armor's protection.

Lin Zhan dared to be so bold only because he could see that the other man was merely a seventh-rank human cultivator.

"Hand over the Devouring Cloud Demon Armor at once!"

"Fine, then. I won't hand it over. What can you do to me?"

Lin Zhan raised a hand and allowed the man's claws to close around his arm. That arm, after all, was precisely where the armor's protection was strongest.

Hm?

The man's imposing Iron Claw struck the Devouring Cloud Demon Armor, yet it could not advance even the slightest bit further. Lin Zhan's arm at that moment was like ice that had lain for a million years, hard as iron.

The Devouring Cloud Demon Armor had long been sustained by Lin Zhan's spiritual power. Ripples spread across the armored sleeve, and symbols of some protective formation flickered in and out with glimmering light.

Hiss.

Lin Zhan clearly heard the sharp intake of breath from the other man, a sound full of disbelief.

Ordinarily, that Iron Claw could crush metal and shatter stone. Yet today, it could not even seize the flesh and blood body of someone whose rank was two levels lower than his own. Truly bizarre.

"Mm, the protection is not bad at all. Unharmed in the slightest. Continue."

With a flick of his wrist, Lin Zhan threw off the claw gripping his arm. Then, turning his body, he seemed about to unleash some kind of impact technique and deliberately left his back exposed to the other man.

The moment the man saw this, he was overjoyed. Damn, that's exactly how a foolish rookie behaves, exposing such a huge opening!

At once he changed claw to palm, and a forceful Iron Palm thundered down onto Lin Zhan's back.

"Wait—why is there no scene of blood spitting forth, no sight of him being blasted into fragments?"

His palm force had gone out, yet it was like a mud ox entering the sea, completely swallowed and dispersed without a trace.

Still dazed, he withdrew his hand and looked at it in disbelief.

"Heh, not bad. The Devouring Cloud Demon Armor can absorb one hundred percent of seventh-rank human damage. It really is a fine thing."

After taking the blow, Lin Zhan stood unmoved, entirely unaffected.

Very well. The test of protection against seventh-rank human cultivators ends here.

With a flip of one hand, he produced a white bone pagoda and held it before him, pointing its opening at the still-stunned man.

"Seal!"

Spiritual power surged into the white bone pagoda, the formation within it began to turn, and a cloud of pale white light erupted forth, swallowing the man in an instant.

"Aaaah!"

A scream rang out from within the pagoda.

This was the first time Lin Zhan had ever used the pagoda's suppressive power. His refinement of it was still rather crude, and as a result the man inside cried out even more miserably.

Then came a dull explosion. The bone pagoda trembled slightly before settling still. Through the spiritual link he shared with it, Lin Zhan knew exactly what had happened inside. Everything in there had been obliterated. The scene was truly horrific.

At once he gained a fuller understanding of the white bone pagoda's suppressive power. As for people like Pu Ding of Hundred-Mile Mountain, they were all beneath the earth rank. Why not suppress them all at once and see how many could be held down together?

"Since you've all come as a group, then go in together and huddle up. It's warm inside!"

From afar, Lin Zhan adjusted the pagoda toward them. The opening at the bottom looked like the gaping maw of some heaven-swallowing beast, opened wide in a terrifying yawn.