Accepting the two hundred Three-Stars Qi Essence Pills from Qing Zhu, Lin Yun made an agreement with her. He would go to the Mysterious Forest after the Yanhuang List competition, and if he successfully retrieved her Clan Treasure, he would personally deliver it to the Capital City after the Green Talent List competition.

Qing Zhu had no objection to Lin Yun’s timeline. Having reached a consensus, she walked him to the entrance of Hundred Herbs Hall.

Watching Lin Yun’s departing figure, Qing Zhu’s form vanished strangely. When she reappeared, she was already on the second floor of Hundred Herbs Hall.

Taking a sip of Cyan Wine, Qing Zhu smiled faintly and said, "Clan Treasure? I suppose you could call it that."

"Miss, do you think he’ll be able to successfully enter the Mysterious Forest?" the maid beside her asked.

Hearing this, Qing Zhu’s smile slowly turned seductive, a complete departure from the pure and refined image she had shown Lin Yun. In that moment, she was like an incredibly dangerous and beautiful serpent.

She smiled and said, "My intuition is never wrong. Go. Wait for him outside the Mysterious Forest. The moment he gets the item, kill him."

Hearing Qing Zhu’s command, the maid beside her acknowledged it. Then, with a flash from the Space Ring on her finger, she donned a Ghost Face Mask.

The Ghost Face Mask. If any soldiers from Yanhuang Country were present, they would have undoubtedly recognized its significance.

With the mask on, Qing Zhu’s maid dissolved into a puff of white smoke and vanished. Only Qing Zhu remained. She sat languidly in her bamboo chair, swinging her flawless, jade-like feet in the air. Taking another sip of Cyan Wine, she murmured to herself, ’If it weren’t for our grand cause, Lin Shan, I really wouldn’t want to kill you. But it can’t be helped. I refuse to lose to those people.’

Lin Yun, who had returned directly to the Wang Family residence, was of course completely unaware of Qing Zhu’s plot. With a plentiful supply of Three-Stars Qi Essence Pills, he was confident he could break through to the Second Layer of the Qi Sea Realm, though reaching the Third Layer would be a stretch.

He resumed his arduous cultivation. With only seven days left until the second round of the Yanhuang List, Lin Yun knew he had to at least break through to the Second Layer of the Qi Sea Realm to have a fighting chance.

His routine remained the same. In the mornings, he cultivated the War God Technique and the Demon Emperor Technique. In the afternoons, he spent four hours comprehending Inch Step and the Qingfeng Body Technique. He used the rest of his time for Refining Body with Demon Beast Essence Blood, and at night, he absorbed Heaven and Earth Primordial Power to break through to the next level of his cultivation.

With the guidance of the Blood Man’s True Intent manifestations, Lin Yun’s understanding of Inch Step and the Qingfeng Body Technique gradually deepened. However, fully grasping their True Intent in such a short period was still impossible; after all, they were Earth Level Body Technique Martial Skills.

’My progress with Inch Step and the Qingfeng Body Technique has hit a bottleneck. I doubt I can make another breakthrough anytime soon.’ He sighed. His comprehension of the two Body Technique Martial Skills had reached a plateau. He could grasp the rudiments of their True Intent but couldn’t fully comprehend it. It felt like something was holding him back, leaving him perpetually one step shy of a breakthrough.

Getting anxious about a bottleneck was pointless. So, Lin Yun decided to set the two Body Technique Martial Skills aside and focus on studying the Red Flame Spear Technique and Wind Thunder Triple Flash instead.

Wind Thunder Triple Flash was also a Profound Level Upper Tier Spear Technique, but Lin Yun was hesitant to use it because of his identity. Too many people had already seen him use it back in the Mysterious City.

Lin Yun’s mastery of these two Spear Skill Martial Skills was already profound. An idea had been forming in his mind: ’Could I merge these two Spear Techniques and create a style that’s entirely my own?’

Creating his own Martial Skill... Anyone who heard such an idea would have called him a lunatic. Even experts above the Primordial Ocean Realm struggled to create new Martial Skills. On the Celestial Spirit Continent, the creator of any given Martial Skill was invariably a legendary, supreme powerhouse.

But Lin Yun wasn’t one to be deterred. Once an idea took root, he acted on it. He immediately began to experiment.

’The Red Flame Spear Technique is of the Supreme Yang, while Wind Thunder Triple Flash is all about the one-hit kill. If I could fuse them, I could have both a decisive final blow and the power to crush opponents head-on...’ The mere thought excited Lin Yun.

Experiment after experiment, failure after failure. Yet, Lin Yun never grew discouraged. Though each attempt ended in failure, he gained significant insight from the hundreds of failed attempts.

Days passed. Finally, on the evening of the sixth day, Lin Yun successfully broke through to the Second Layer of the Qi Sea Realm.

With his cultivation breakthrough achieved and only one day left before the second round of the Yanhuang List, Lin Yun focused all his remaining time on fusing the two Martial Skills.

Leveraging his profound understanding of the Red Flame Spear Technique and Wind Thunder Triple Flash, Lin Yun’s attempts became increasingly refined. Finally, at dusk on the sixth day, he succeeded.

Grasping his Bone Spear, Lin Yun performed the move he had created. The stark white spear was wreathed in dense flames, and around those flames, silver arcs of lightning crackled.

Lightning and flame were two of the most destructive elements in existence. Merged, the aura they radiated was enough to make one’s heart pound in terror.

With a low shout, Lin Yun thrust his spear toward a decorative rockery in Wangcai’s courtyard. Everything in the spear’s path was utterly destroyed by the flames and lightning.

Even the stone pavers were scorched completely black. With a deafening BOOM, the rockery disintegrated into fine dust the instant the tip of the Bone Spear touched it, leaving not even a fragment of stone behind.

And that was with Lin Yun pulling back his strength. The power of this single move was self-evident.

Lin Yun was extremely pleased with the spear move he had created. Gazing at the spot where the rockery had completely vanished, he felt a surge of exhilaration.

’Its power is already comparable to an Earth Level Martial Skill, and that’s when it’s just been created and is still unstable. With more time to polish it, its power will surely increase. It shouldn’t be a problem to reach the level of an Earth Level Middle Tier Martial Skill,’ Lin Yun mused to himself.

’A fusion of the Red Flame Spear Technique and Wind Thunder Triple Flash... I’ll call it Thunderfire Bombardment.’ It was just a single move, but it could now serve as Lin Yun’s ultimate killing technique. He was confident that when he unleashed it, even the top ten prodigies of the Yanhuang List would struggle to defend against it.

With his strength having advanced by leaps and bounds, Lin Yun was in an excellent mood. When Wangcai and the other two returned, they found the courtyard’s rockery had vanished. Only after Lin Yun explained did the trio realize that he had been the one to destroy it.

The second round of the Yanhuang List was to begin the next day, and Wangcai and the other two were deeply worried. They had spent the day gathering information, and according to what they’d learned, Lin Yun’s situation was perilous, with his chances of survival being next to none.

As expected, the Yanhuang List candidates chosen by the Fifth Prince were the ten strongest among all forty-eight.

They were hailed as the ten most likely to make it onto the Yanhuang List.

"This is all my fault," Chen Xin said, full of self-reproach. "The Fifth Prince is targeting you, and it’s definitely because of me."

From the trio, Lin Yun learned that the Fifth Prince had long desired Chen Xin. He concluded that the Prince’s animosity towards him must indeed stem from this, a realization that made Chen Xin feel overwhelmingly guilty.

"Don’t blame yourself, Chen Xin," Lin Yun said reassuringly. "Even without you, a man with the Fifth Prince’s temperament and I were bound to become enemies. It was only a matter of time."