Lin Yuan spent a long time "facing the wall" in his cave, trying to suppress the embarrassment of his failed planting attempt. He rubbed his still sore arms and threw himself back into the great undertaking of the "Starry Ape Body Tempering Technique." This time, with the boost from the acceleration card, his movements, though still strange and awkward, were at least much smoother, and the number of falls decreased significantly. He stretched his muscles and bones while grimacing, enjoying the slow but continuous double pleasure of "passive + active" body tempering within him.
"Peak Master! Peak Master! The Divine Tree has sprouted! And it's even bearing fruit!" Outside the cave, Xiao Cui's clear, joyful, and incredulous shouts pierced through the stone door like heavenly music.
What? It sprouted and bore fruit? So fast? Lin Yuan was stunned, then overjoyed! The system's product is indeed top-notch! He immediately stopped his cultivation, no longer caring about maintaining his image, and rushed out of the cave in three steps at a time.
At the edge of the stone platform, near the three spiritual energy nodes, several handyman disciples had gathered, their faces filled with astonishment. Where the seeds had been planted, three strangely shaped plants, each about a foot tall, had sprouted!
The plant is entirely a warm, silvery-white color, its leaves resembling miniature stars with faint, star-like veins flowing along their edges. Most striking are the thumb-sized, perfectly round fruits at the top of each plant, seemingly sculpted from the purest blue crystal! Inside, tiny sparkles of starlight swirl gently, emitting a sweet, cool, and soothing aroma—this is the [Starry Night Berry]!
"My goodness... has it really become a divine tree?" Lin Yuan leaned closer for a look. The berries were crystal clear, shimmering with starlight—their appearance was absolutely perfect! He subconsciously swallowed. This stuff looks far superior to those dried fruits!
"Peak Master, this...this was really planted by you?" a servant disciple couldn't help but ask, his eyes filled with admiration. From seed to fruit in less than half a day? This method was unheard of!
Lin Yuan instantly straightened his back, stood with his hands behind his back, and his face was unfathomably calm: "Hmm, just some minor tricks, not worth mentioning. This is a 'Starberry,' which has a minor effect on nourishing the soul." He tried hard to imitate the tone of a reclusive master, but inside he was overjoyed. This kind of prestige was much better than successfully growing vegetables!
He carefully picked a berry; it was cool and bouncy to the touch, and starlight seemed to flow from his fingertips. He handed it to Xiao Cui, who was watching eagerly: "Here, you found this. It's a treat for you. Want to try some?"
"Thank you, Peak Master!" Xiao Cui was overjoyed. She held the cup in both hands and carefully took a small bite. Instantly, her round eyes widened even more, and her face was flushed with happiness: "So...so delicious! It's cool and sweet, and it feels...so much clearer!" A faint warm current flowed into her mind, making her feel refreshed.
The other servant disciples watched with envy, casting longing glances their way.
Lin Yuan waved his hand generously and said, "Everyone gets one! One for each person! Consider it a welcome bonus!" He personally picked the remaining eight berries (nine from three plants, one for Xiao Cui, and eight for the remaining eight) and distributed them to the onlooking servant disciples. Seeing the surprise and gratitude on their faces after they carefully tasted them, Lin Yuan's frustration over the failed planting completely vanished, replaced by a strong sense of accomplishment and a self-satisfied feeling of "peak master's benevolence."
Feng Qinghuang was also drawn by the commotion and walked over. Looking at the three strange star plants and the berries in the hands of the servant disciples, a hint of surprise flashed in her usually cool eyes. The star essence and vitality contained within these plants were extraordinary. She took the last berry from Lin Yuan; the cool, sweet scent emanating from her fingertips seemed to make the fragments in her sea of consciousness tremble with pleasure.
She gently placed it in her mouth. Instantly, a stream of pure, cool, and nourishing essence, several times more potent than the Star Fruit preserves, surged into her sea of consciousness, invigorating her soul, which had been slightly weary from cultivating the chains and maintaining the array! This effect... far exceeded her expectations!
Her gaze towards Lin Yuan held a renewed hint of inquiry. This planting method… and these berries… were far from ordinary! It seemed that more and more mysteries surrounding her master were accumulating.
"Master, this thing..." Feng Qinghuang was about to ask when suddenly, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and her cold gaze instantly turned sharp as a knife as she abruptly turned towards the mountain path!
Almost simultaneously, Li Tie, a menial disciple responsible for patrolling the outer nodes of the formation, scrambled up to the summit, his face filled with panic and anger: "Peak Master! Senior Sister Feng! Something terrible has happened! The 'Dui' position formation node on the mountainside... has been destroyed!"
What?! Lin Yuan's smile froze instantly.
Feng Qinghuang's figure blurred, transforming into a streak of light as she rushed towards the mountainside! Lin Yuan, disregarding his "superior demeanor," took off after her, his heart filled with both shock and anger. Which bastard dared to cause trouble? Just when things were starting to look up, he came to ruin everything!
In a relatively hidden rocky depression halfway up the mountain, lies a crucial secondary node of the Star Spirit Guiding Array. At this moment, a starstone, about the size of a bowl, which had been embedded in the rock crevice and steadily emitting a soft starlight, was violently pried out, smashed to the ground, and shattered into several pieces! The runes inscribed around the node were also mostly scratched away by a sharp weapon, the spiritual light dimmed, and the flow of star power in the entire area noticeably sluggish!
Several disciples responsible for patrolling the area stood by, their faces pale, filled with shock and anger.
Feng Qinghuang crouched down, her fingertips brushing against the scratched runes and damaged starstone, her eyes icy and piercing. The destruction was brutal and deliberate, no accident! Her powerful divine sense instantly enveloped the entire Starfall Peak, like an invisible radar scanning every single servant disciple!
When Lin Yuan arrived, he saw Feng Qinghuang stand up, her gaze like two icy spikes, instantly locking onto a seemingly honest middle-aged man named "Wang Laoshi" among the group of miscellaneous disciples!
When Wang Laoshi was locked onto by Feng Qinghuang's gaze, his body stiffened abruptly, his honest expression froze instantly, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes!
"It's you." Feng Qinghuang's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling coldness that could freeze one's soul.
"Feng... Senior Sister Feng! I'm innocent! I... I've been working on the summit with everyone and I've never come down!" Wang Laoshi knelt down with a thud, his voice trembling with sobs, kowtowing repeatedly, looking like an honest man who had been unjustly wronged.
The other servant disciples looked at each other in bewilderment; they had indeed seen Wang Laoshi wiping the stone pillars on the summit.
"Yes, Senior Sister Feng, Wang Laoshi has been with us the whole time..."
"Could it be... that someone sneaked up here?"
Lin Yuan frowned as well. Had they made a mistake?
Feng Qinghuang remained unmoved. She slowly raised her hand, palm facing Wang Laoshi. An invisible force instantly lifted Wang Laoshi from the ground, suspending him in mid-air!
"Your aura lingers here." Feng Qinghuang's voice was icy. "The soles of your shoes bear the unique 'Star Pattern Moss' powder found here, matching the traces left at the scene of the destruction. Your fingertips bear subtle spiritual energy recoil marks left from forcibly prying open the starstone. And..." Her gaze flashed like lightning as she looked at Wang Laoshi's sleeve, which bulged slightly with fear, "The residual spiritual energy fluctuations in the communication jade talisman in your sleeve are of the same origin as the interfering spiritual energy that dissipated when the node was destroyed!"
Every word struck Wang Laoshi like a hammer blow! The honesty on his face vanished completely, leaving only shock and despair at being exposed! He never expected that his efforts, though so discreet, would be seen through in an instant!
"Search!" Lin Yuan roared.
Two handyman disciples immediately stepped forward and, ignoring Wang Laoshi's struggles, searched his sleeve and found a black communication jade talisman engraved with strange patterns and slightly warm.
The evidence is irrefutable!
"Peak Master, spare me! Senior Sister Feng, spare me!" Wang Laoshi completely broke down, tears streaming down his face. "It was... it was Senior Brother Zhao Hao who forced me! He said that as long as I destroyed a node and investigated the true nature of the formation, he would give me a hundred low-grade spirit stones, and... he even promised to help my brother enter the outer sect! I... I was blinded by greed! Please spare me!"
Zhao Hao! It really was that persistent ghost! Lin Yuan was furious! He couldn't poach him, so he sent someone to sabotage him? Did he really think he was a pushover?
"Master," Feng Qinghuang looked at Lin Yuan with icy eyes, "How should we deal with this?" She once again handed the decision-making power over to Lin Yuan.
All the servant disciples' eyes were fixed on Lin Yuan, filled with anger and a hint of trepidation. How would the Peak Master handle this? This involved Zhao Hao, an elite inner disciple!
Lin Yuan looked at Wang Laoshi, who was crying and begging for mercy on the ground, then at the damaged node and the shattered starstone, and a surge of anger rose to the top of his head. Damn it! I just recruited someone, and there's already a traitor! He almost ruined the foundation of my formation! If I don't make an example of him, how can Starfall Peak survive in the future?
He strode up to Wang Laoshi, and to everyone's astonishment, without using his spiritual power, he swung his fist—which was still sore from practicing the Chain Tempering Technique but was slightly stronger than an ordinary person's—!
"Spare my life? Spare your ass!" Lin Yuan roared, using all his strength to punch Wang Laoshi's tear-streaked face hard!
Bang!
A muffled thud, accompanied by the clear sound of the nasal bone shattering!
"Ah—!" Wang Laoshi let out a shrill scream as he was thrown backward by the impact, blood gushing from his nose and several teeth flying out with blood and foam! He crashed heavily to the ground and immediately lost consciousness!
The entire room fell silent!
Everyone stared in disbelief at Lin Yuan and his fist, which was still in a punching stance and trembling slightly (mainly from exhaustion and pain).
A rare hint of astonishment flickered across Feng Qinghuang's usually cold eyes. With... her fists? A physical attack?
The servant disciples were even more dumbfounded. Peak Master…is he really this fierce? Even though he didn't use spiritual power, his ruthlessness…
Lin Yuan shook his slightly numb fist, looking at the unconscious Wang Laoshi on the ground, finally feeling a bit of satisfaction. He panted heavily, pointed at Wang Laoshi, and roared at Li Tie and the others who were equally stunned, "Tie him up tight! Pour cold water on him to wake him up! Then... hang him on the mountain gate archway! Let everyone who passes by see the consequences of betraying Starfall Peak and slaving on one's own turf!"
"Go to the General Affairs Hall's enforcement team and tell them we've caught a traitor who sabotaged the sect's formations, colluded with outsiders, and plotted treason! We have witnesses and evidence! Let them handle it according to the sect rules! Punish him however they should! Not a penny less!" Lin Yuan's voice was resolute, carrying an undeniable ruthlessness!
"Yes, Peak Master!" Li Tie and the others were infected by Lin Yuan's ruthlessness, their blood boiling instantly. They responded in unison, their eyes filled with awe as they looked at Lin Yuan! The Peak Master usually seems a bit funny, but when he gets serious, he's truly ruthless! Following a Peak Master like this, there's hope for the future!
Feng Qinghuang looked at Lin Yuan's face, slightly flushed from excitement and exertion, then at Wang Laoshi being dragged away by the servant disciples. A faint hint of…appreciation? flashed across her cool eyes. Although the methods were a bit crude, the swift and decisive action, the zero-tolerance attitude towards traitors, surprised and impressed her. In the cultivation world, sometimes, swift and forceful methods are more effective than gentle persuasion.
She walked to the damaged node, extended her slender fingers, and dense star power condensed at her fingertips, transforming into fine threads of starlight. Like the most skillful embroiderer, she began to repair the scratched runes. At the same time, she looked at Lin Yuan: "Master, the node is damaged and needs to be replaced with a star stone. This disciple has none."
Starstone? Lin Yuan immediately thought of the nine array stones in the system space. With a thought, an identical starstone the size of a bowl appeared in his hand (was it a spare from the system array set? Or was it a direct copy? Lin Yuan didn't bother to investigate further).
"Here you go!" He handed it over.
Feng Qinghuang took the Star Stone and skillfully embedded it into the node groove. As she infused star power into it, the dim node regained its soft glow, reconnecting with the entire array, and the flow of star power returned to normal.
Looking at the restored state of the node, then at the traitor being dragged away, and the awe-inspiring yet motivated gazes of the surrounding servants, Lin Yuan let out a long sigh of relief. He rubbed his still slightly sore fist, a surge of pride rising within him: "Hmph! Zhao Hao, huh? Trying to play dirty tricks? I'll play along! Let's see if your claws are harder, or my 'iron fist' is!" Although that "iron fist" was still a bit sore...
He glanced at the system interface and noticed that the progress bar for the [Star Tempering Technique - Qi Induction Chapter] seemed to have jumped forward a small space because of his angry, chaotic, yet all-out punch.
Lin Yuan: "???" Hitting people can increase body refinement progress? This technique... is a bit wild!