Chapter Twenty-Five: The Small Mountain Village in the Fog

  The strongest team actually didn't loot, it's probably hard for people to believe if you tell them.

  Xia Cheng led the team in a rush, opened the envelope in his arms, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He remembered what his father had entrusted him with before he left.

  "The matter of the Mountain Stronghold trial, no one can intervene, I cannot, Second Elder cannot, even the locations in all five envelopes are completely confidential. However, after Second Elder's investigation, I can give you a choice of the task with the lowest difficulty but the richest resources!"

  "So, you're different from them. What you need to do is to reserve your greatest strength, take down the target and successfully obtain that resource. In this way, you'll have the biggest trump card and the most important resource. In this way, you can rest assured to collect other resources, or even if you steadily make it to the end, there's a possibility of winning!"

  "The easiest task, the most important resource."

  Xia Chen smiled slightly, with a confident look on his face. He believed that he would be able to get it soon. As for the difficulty and all that, they had never been within his consideration.

  The difficulty of Shan Zhai's trial is already high and cannot reach the boundary of the cyclone.

  He's just a nine-story body cultivator, but now he's the one who can fight anyone with confidence!

  Xia Cheng seemed to have seen his own bright future beckoning him over.

  ……

  Time flies, and after seven days, it is already the tenth day of the Mountain Stronghold trial.

  The sky was somewhat gloomy, as if it could rain at any time. A group of over a hundred people were hurrying along the road, and among them were Xia Lin and his companions.

  After seven days of continuous travel, they finally arrived near their destination.

  In these seven days, they also encountered many merchant caravans. Under Sun Zhong's leadership, they launched several successful attacks and returned with great spoils. As for the resources obtained through robbery, as long as they could be used for cultivation, Xia Lin generously distributed them to everyone. As a result, apart from plundering, the strength of the mountain stronghold disciples was once again enhanced. Some disciples who had not broken through in a long time finally made another breakthrough, and even Sun Zhong finally charged into the seventh level of Body Tempering, becoming a true fierce general.

  During this time, Xia Lin quietly rested in the carriage except for meals, and the other disciples thought he was recuperating from his previous battle, which they all agreed with.

  And now, just as they were about to arrive at their destination, Xia Lin also took the initiative to walk out of the carriage for the first time.

  "Is it almost here?"

  "Yes." Sun Zhong nodded, pointing to a small mountain in the distance. "According to the instructions on the envelope, our final destination is there, only five miles away from our current location."

  "Wu Li Road..." Xia's eyebrows furrowed slightly, "The mountain road isn't easy to walk on, and Wu Li Road won't be a cakewalk either. Looking at the weather, it seems like it's going to rain soon, let's speed up."

  "Yes!"

  Sun Zhong nodded, and with a single order, the mountain stronghold disciples sped up, rushing towards that small hill.

  Unfortunately, reality is always disappointing. After walking for about a mile, big raindrops started falling from the sky and soon turned into a heavy downpour.

  "Master, we can't go on, the road ahead is all mountain roads, it's too dangerous to go up in this weather, why don't we just rest at the foot of the mountain?" Sun Zhong hastily said as he rushed over.

  Xia Lin looked around and saw that as the rain got heavier, the weather also became foggy.

  With his current strength, these mists won't have much of an impact on him, but for the mountain stronghold disciples, it's a different story. Rushing forward recklessly will likely result in casualties. Not to mention that when they arrive at their destination, there will be another battle waiting for them.

  Looking from the carriage, in the distance, at the foot of the mountain, a village is faintly visible, appearing somewhat hazy in the mist.

  "Alright, let's rest." Xia Lin nodded and pointed ahead: "There is a village nearby, let's go there to borrow lodging first."

  "Oh?" Sun Zhong looked in the direction of Xia Lin's pointing, but gained nothing.

  Looking at his somewhat puzzled appearance, Xia Lin raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

  "There's nothing over there."

  "Huh?" Xia Lin was taken aback, had he just seen things? He looked up again and although it was a bit blurry, the outline of a village was faintly visible, not an illusion.

  Just then, Xia Lin's mind stirred and he looked at Sun Zhong and asked: "Sun Zhong, how far can you see?"

  Sun Zhong raised his head and looked around, sighing: "In this heavy rain, it's probably only about a hundred meters."

  "So it was."

  Xia Lin nodded thoughtfully, and it wasn't that he saw an illusion, but because even in this heavy rain, his visibility was as high as 500 meters!

  What's the big difference between Font 7 and Font 8?

  Absolutely not!

  So the only possibility is that he has the blood of the ancient barbarian tribe in his body.

  As the degree of blood circulation in his body became higher and higher, the opened up blood vessels became larger and larger. At this time, his physical quality also became stronger and stronger. Apart from his original strength, even his five senses seemed to have become a bit stronger than before.

  Xia Lin's eyes closed slightly, and her ears moved lightly. In the midst of the heavy rain, she actually heard a faint human voice coming from the direction of the small village.

  Indeed, all senses have become stronger overall.

  There is still 19%, almost done, when he completes the last 19% of blood vessel activation, the ancient barbarian's blood vessel in his body will be fully activated, and he himself will undoubtedly step into the Blood Refining Realm and become a true cultivator!

  "I think I saw it from a distance, and the brothers also got wet. Let's hurry over." Xia Lin said to Sun Zhong.

  "Yes!"

  Sun Zhong led the way, taking his troops swiftly in the direction that Xia Lin had indicated.

  The 500-meter distance was quickly covered, and as they approached, Sun Zhongcai was astonished to discover that there really was a village, but it was not far away as Xia Lin had said.

  A distance of as much as 500 meters, isn't it just a bit far? However, he didn't ask any questions, and the young master became even more mysterious in his heart.

  Seeing the village, everyone excitedly rushed over, but just a few steps away, a horn sounded from the village.

  "Uggghhh..."

  A dense crowd of people surged out of the village, appearing suddenly, and by the time Xia Lin walked up to them, they were all shocked by what was in front of them.

  Not because of the village's strength, but because it is too weak!

  In the heavy rain, from sixty-year-old elderly people to ten-year-old children, they all took up weapons and rushed out. Knives, swords, axes, and even a man holding a hoe came out, each aiming their weapons at them.

  "What...what's going on here?" Sun Zhong said in surprise.

  The villagers are not strong, but they have the advantage of numbers. However, this is not a problem for Sun Zhong. Most of them are old, weak, sick or disabled, and he can't bring himself to fight them.

  "You scoundrels! We won't let you take our Lin'er away today!"

  "Right, I strongly disagree!"

  "What's the worst that could happen? I'll just die. Do you think I'm afraid of you?"

  The village over there is making a loud noise, and one by one they are defending themselves to the death.

  "Master... what's going on?" Sun Zhong said with some uncertainty.

  "Don't be in a hurry." Xia Lin's eyebrows slightly furrowed, "It seems like there's been some misunderstanding. Let's not rush over yet, let's clarify things first, don't want to suffer from an unjust disaster."

  "Yes." Sun Zhong ordered everyone to stop in their tracks.

  Xia Lin stepped out of the carriage and into the rain, followed by Lü'er who emerged from behind him.

  "Pffft!"

  An umbrella was opened to shelter Xia Lin from the heavy rain.

  "Huh?" Xia Lin was taken aback, and smiled: "Lu'er, when did you still have an umbrella?"

  Lu'er smiled and said, "When going out on a long trip, one must bring an umbrella. This is common sense. Young master doesn't need to remember these things, just leave them to us maids."

  Xia Lin smiled silently and slowly walked towards the village.

  At this time, the village was only a dozen meters away. Xia Lin took a few steps and arrived in front of them. The other side seemed to be unexpected as well, looking at Xia Lin and Lü Er walking over with some confusion.

  "It seems... you're not just some mountain bandit from a small stronghold."

  "Really, such a handsome young master and miss, how could they be mountain bandits?"

  "Shh, it seems like a passing merchant caravan."

  "Damn it, those good-for-nothings from Xiaoshanzhai, how can they have such handsome young masters and misses."

  "Look, they're coming."

  Summer ignored the chattering crowd, focusing his gaze on an old man with gray hair and a gray robe in the center of the crowd. "Sir, hello, are you in charge here?"

  The old man in grey nodded and his face showed a clear look of rejection: "Not bad, I am the village chief here. You seem not to be from Xiaoshan Village, where are you from?"

  Xia Lin cupped his hands and said: "Village chief, hello. We are a merchant group heading to Linjiang City. Due to the sudden heavy rain, we hastily took a wrong turn and ended up in this secluded area. So, we came to ask if you could provide us with a place to rest. Would that be possible?"

  As soon as Xia Lin finished speaking, the villagers started chattering among themselves. Since there were children among them, ranging from a few years old to teenagers, they naturally became very lively.

  "Oh, another merchant caravan, sigh..."

  "The merchant group, it's been a long time since we last had anything to do with that merchant group."

  "Shut up!" The village chief's mustache quivered with anger as he scolded them, before the children finally fell silent.

  He glanced back at Xia Lin, and the village chief's eyes suddenly became extremely sharp. A piercing gaze swept over Xia Lin, making him tremble slightly, giving him a feeling of being seen through, which flashed by quickly, but left Xia Lin with lingering fear.

  As expected, there is an old man in the village who has a treasure. Although this old man is so advanced in age and doesn't have much real power, he has a lot of experience, so his gaze at people is extremely sharp.

  He must have sensed even a hint of hostility from Xia Lin just now.

  The village chief nodded and was about to agree when a sturdy man who had been following him suddenly interrupted: "No way! Absolutely can't let them stay!"

  The sturdy Han's attitude was very firm, but on his simple face, a strong sense of rejection towards outsiders was revealed.