Lin Feng's plan to acquire the volatile, high-grade materials for his Core Formation breakthrough hinged on a perfect intermediary: someone powerful enough to bypass Yan Xia's commercial scrutiny, yet arrogant enough to fall for a subtle trap.
That person was Guang Li, the spoiled and influential son of an Inner Sect Elder, known less for his cultivation talent and more for his flamboyant spending and desperate pursuit of the beautiful Inner Disciple, Su Ling.
Lin Feng had meticulously studied Guang Li's habits. Every Tuesday afternoon, Guang Li visited the Moonlit Waterfall Pavilion—a secluded teahouse near the Inner Peak—to study a difficult, highly complex Spiritual Array Scroll. This scroll was rumored to contain the key to a major formation, and Guang Li publicly obsessed over it, trying to impress Su Ling with his intellectual prowess.
The only problem? Guang Li was mediocre at formations and had been stuck on the scroll's third chapter for two months.
Lin Feng and Han Yue, dressed in their most unremarkable robes, staked out the teahouse. Han Yue clutched the heavy jade box containing the Spirit Stones ransom.
"Guang Li is Level Seven Foundation, and his father is a prominent Elder," Han Yue whispered, nervously adjusting her Hidden Soul Amulet. "If this goes wrong, we don't just have Yan Xia after us—we have the Inner Sect."
"Guang Li is predictable, Han Yue," Lin Feng reassured her, his eyes scanning the elegant grounds. He was now Level Nine Foundation, but he still maintained the aura of a low-level servant. "His weakness isn't lack of skill; it's his ego. He needs validation, not power. We aren't selling him a product; we're selling him a reputation."
They watched as Guang Li arrived, impeccably dressed in shimmering azure robes, his spiritual sword sheath adorned with seven embedded jadeite stones. He sat alone, dramatically unrolling the ancient, yellowed scroll.
Lin Feng waited precisely ten minutes. The moment Guang Li started nervously running his hand through his hair—a clear sign of frustration—Lin Feng initiated the plan.
"Stay here. Blend in," Lin Feng instructed Han Yue. "I'm going to bump into him. Be prepared to step in if he tries to kill me for daring to exist near him."
Lin Feng approached the pavilion, walking with the practiced humility of a stable hand. As he passed Guang Li's table, he "accidentally" tripped over a decorative planter, sending a small amount of dirt and pulverized fertilizer scattering onto the corner of the ancient array scroll.
"AAAGH!" Guang Li shrieked, jumping up as if splashed with acid. "You wretched, filthy beast! What in the nine realms do you think you're doing? You've soiled my Great Harmonizing Array Scroll!"
Lin Feng immediately dropped to his knees, his face a mask of terrified servility. "A thousand apologies, Young Master! I am but a clumsy stable hand! Please, forgive my filth! I will scrub the entire estate!"
Guang Li, already prone to histrionics, was purple with rage. He drew his spiritual sword, the jadeite glowing menacingly. "Scrub? You think cleaning can erase your stain on this masterpiece? I should just erase you!"
Just as Guang Li raised the sword, Han Yue, following Lin Feng's instructions perfectly, intervened.
"Young Master Guang Li, please wait!" Han Yue rushed forward, projecting the image of a helpful, low-level administrator. "This servant is clearly terrified! I am Administrator Han Yue from the Outer Gate. Surely, a simple cleaning fee is sufficient. You wouldn't want to dirty your magnificent sword with stable-hand blood, would you?"
Guang Li paused, the mention of his magnificence tempering his rage. He looked at Han Yue, finding her soft, beautiful presence a better audience for his anger.
"A cleaning fee? This scroll is worth ten thousand Spirit Stones!" he bellowed. "I should make this stable rat lick the dirt off the paper!"
Lin Feng kept his head bowed, but he subtly activated his Level Nine spiritual sense, allowing his awareness to flood the scroll. In the fraction of a second his sense touched the paper, the Primordial Chaos Art instantly analyzed the array's structure and Guang Li's mental block.
The array was complex, but the reason Guang Li was stuck was painfully simple: a fundamental misunderstanding of the Fire/Water confluence rule on the third chapter.
"Young Master, please look closely," Lin Feng said softly, his voice still trembling with fear, but carrying a subtle, intellectual weight. He didn't look up, but his finger—a dusty, rough finger—pointed exactly to a small, insignificant symbol on the scroll.
"That glyph there, Young Master," Lin Feng stammered. "The one representing the Gushing River Stream. A master of formations like yourself must surely know that the River Stream cannot be bound by the Sealing Mountain Talisman… unless the previous glyph is inverted to accept the Reverse Flow Affinity."
Silence fell over the pavilion.
Guang Li stared at the spot Lin Feng indicated. He squinted at the complex diagram. He read the notes. His mind—previously hitting a dense, unyielding wall for months—suddenly, violently snapped the answer into place. The solution to the confluence rule was blindingly obvious once the Reverse Flow Affinity was considered.
Guang Li's mouth fell open. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath until he let it out in a whoosh. His initial fury was instantly replaced by a wave of shock, excitement, and—crucially—confusion.
How did a stable hand know that?
Lin Feng, keeping his head down, quickly explained: "My apologies, Young Master. My stable work requires me to move heavy objects, and I occasionally listen to the Inner Disciples discussing spiritual physics. I must have misheard, please disregard my lowly ramblings!"
"Misheard? Ramblings?" Guang Li sputtered, quickly rolling up the scroll to hide his epiphany. He realized instantly that the solution was his, and his alone, but the source of the idea was a deadly secret. He couldn't let anyone think a servant was smarter than he was.
He looked at Han Yue, who was watching him expectantly. He looked back at Lin Feng, whose rough hands were still touching the ground.
"Nonsense!" Guang Li barked, forcing a haughty tone. "You filthy rat! You were distracting me! But… but I have solved the dilemma now! It was a mere momentary lapse! And your little assistant here has provided a suitable distraction. You are both incredibly lucky!"
He glared at Lin Feng, his eyes narrowed with a mix of gratitude and hatred. "You. Stable Hand. You have dirty hands. You will purchase some items for me. Expensive, hard-to-find items. It will be your penance for distracting a genius."
Lin Feng immediately played the part. "As the Young Master commands! But I am merely a servant; I have no access to the Inner Market."
"That is what my spiritual pouch is for, fool!" Guang Li sneered, pulling out a small, ornate leather bag—a storage pouch. He didn't put his own money in it; he pulled out a detailed list written on spiritual parchment.
"Take this list. It is for ingredients for my next great Array-Enhancement Elixir," Guang Li lied, puffing out his chest. "If you fail to return with all items, the Inner Peak will hear of your insolence! And you will be rewarded handsomely if you succeed."
Lin Feng took the list, his eyes quickly scanning the required materials. It was exactly what he needed: Thunder Lotus Petals, Dragon's Breath Dust, and a single Essence Condensation Herb.
"My thanks, Young Master. We will succeed!" Lin Feng promised, bowing low.
Guang Li dismissed them with an arrogant wave of his hand. "Now get out of my sight. I have solved the array; I must prepare to impress Su Ling."
As they hurried away from the pavilion, Han Yue nearly stumbled, clutching the jade box under her arm.
"Lin Feng! Did you see his face? You cracked his secret and his ego in one go!"
"He's an easy mark," Lin Feng said, a flicker of genuine amusement in his eyes. "He's terrified that someone discovered his weakness, so he immediately turned me into his personal errand boy to protect his secret. Now he has plausible deniability. If Yan Xia asks why a stable hand is suddenly shopping for Core Formation materials, Guang Li can simply say he ordered it for his own, brilliant research."
Lin Feng quickly added the Spirit Stones from the jade box into Guang Li's storage pouch.
"This pouch has the wealth of the Yan Clan ransom, disguised as the funds of the Young Master Guang Li," Lin Feng explained. "Yan Xia can't touch this shipment, or she's attacking an Elder's family. Guang Li will happily spend his father's money—which is now my money—and take the credit for his own 'spiritual research.'"
They returned to the safety of the Unholy Garden. Lin Feng didn't waste a minute.
He handed the pouch and the list to Han Yue. "You know the markets better than I do. You will use Guang Li's pouch, Guang Li's list, and his influence to acquire these items. They must be purchased in three different locations, far apart, to avoid setting off any single market alarm. And you must look as bored and official as possible while shopping."
Han Yue took the pouch, the weight of the Spirit Stones heavy in her hand. "My first major assignment for the Inner Sect's most arrogant idiot. And you are going to be cultivating while I risk my neck?"
"I will be refining your Hidden Soul Amulet to Foundation Level strength, to protect you from Yan Xia's inevitable, subtle scrutiny," Lin Feng countered, giving her a pointed look. "Besides, I need the time. I must prepare the Core Chamber in the garden. These materials are incredibly volatile. If I don't break through to Level Ten Foundation before I attempt Core Formation, I will incinerate myself, the garden, and possibly the entire Mortal Estate."
He pulled her close, the intensity of his gaze making the conspiratorial intimacy almost unbearable. "Be safe, Han Yue. Return immediately once the last item is secured. If you feel any unusual spiritual energy near you—any at all—don't engage. Drop the pouch and run. The money is secondary; your safety is absolute."
She nodded, the moment too charged for speech. The danger and the trust they shared had become its own strange, addictive form of flirtation.
"I'll see you soon, Stable Hand," she murmured, and then she was gone, stepping out of the protection of the estate and into the lethal marketplace of the Inner Sect.
Lin Feng watched her go, a sliver of concern clouding his fierce ambition. He had placed his entire future in the hands of a Level Three Qi Condensation girl and the unpredictable ego of a spoiled brat.
He then knelt on the earth, pulled out his shovel, and began meticulously digging a shallow, four-foot-wide pit in the center of the Unholy Garden. This pit would be his Core Chamber, where he would risk everything to reach the peak of the Foundation Realm.
Lin Feng activated his black ring, focusing his immense Level Nine power into the center of the pit, compressing the earth until it was harder than basalt. He needed absolute spiritual isolation for the final jump.
"Level Ten," Lin Feng whispered, the coldness returning to his voice. "The peak of Foundation. Then, Core Formation. I need to be the strongest Foundation Master in this entire Outer Sect before Yan Xia realizes who she's truly dealing with."
The digging and compressing continued long into the night, the only sound the metallic thunk of the spiritual shovel hitting the hardening, ancient ground.