Lin Chen shook his head; there’s no need to rush.

Currently, both he and Jiang Liqian are steadily improving their strength.

Jiang Liqian reached the late Returning Void stage a year earlier than him...

There are still twenty-seven years until the closure of Jiang Country Celestial Ruins.

According to Jiang Liqian, the place where Jiang Country’s Treasure Vault is stored is absolutely safe at the moment.

There’s really no need for them to take the risk and retrieve it early.

Although the resources stored in the vault make Lin Chen envious, he doesn’t lack cultivation resources at the moment.

Over the years, Lin Chen has also accumulated over a thousand drops of Spirit Realm Jade Dew.

However, he doesn’t intend to use them to break through his cultivation; these Jade Dews are for life-saving purposes.

Moreover, when he breaks through the Integration Tribulation in the future, he will need a large amount of Spirit Realm Jade Dew.

For now, he’s buying them bit by bit, to use them when crossing the tribulation where it counts.

Just as Lin Chen was steadily advancing his cultivation.

He suddenly received a voice transmission from Jiang Liqian.

"Senior Brother Lin, could you come over? I’ve discovered something..."

Upon hearing the transmission, Lin Chen raised an eyebrow and his figure flashed, appearing in front of Jiang Liqian’s abode.

The entrance to the abode wasn’t closed, and as soon as he entered, he smelled a fragrant aroma.

It was the scent of osmanthus.

Jiang Liqian seemed to be very fond of osmanthus; she planted an osmanthus tree in the first year of renting this abode.

In over ten years, the osmanthus tree had grown into a big tree, and Lin Chen had tasted the osmanthus cakes made by Jiang Liqian twice.

"Junior Sister, what happened?"

Lin Chen asked.

Jiang Liqian’s expression was grave as she said:

"In the past few months, many unfamiliar cultivators have infiltrated Jiangdu... their cultivation is all above the Divinity Transformation stage."

"I suspect these people have come from outside the Celestial Ruins..."

Lin Chen heard this and asked solemnly:

"Junior Sister Jiang, you mean... these people were sent by the Ten Thousand Laws Tao Ancestor, the people from the Ten Thousand Laws Tao Palace?"

Jiang Liqian shook her head, "Not necessarily from the Ten Thousand Laws Tao Palace. There are too many cultivators coming from Jiang Country Celestial Ruins this time... I suspect there are also people from other forces in the Spirit Realm..."

"But without exception, these people are not easy to deal with..."

"Moreover, they have a clear target, which is Jiang Country’s Imperial Palace... I suspect they have learned through some channels about the location where Jiang Country’s Legacy Vault is stored..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen’s expression changed slightly.

According to Jiang Liqian, the Jiang Country Treasure Vault was placed in an absolutely safe location.

The reason it was said to be absolutely safe was because of its hidden location.

But now it seems that those people have learned that the Jiang Country Treasure Vault is hidden within Jiangdu Imperial Palace.

The location is already exposed, and with those people’s means, stealing it doesn’t seem impossible.

"Alas, the Jiang Country’s Legacy Vault is actually hidden in the back palace of Jiangdu Imperial Palace..."

"In the vast expanse of Jiang Country Celestial Ruins, it was indeed difficult to discover. But the Ten Thousand Treasures Mirror can deduce everything in the world... I suspect it felt the general location of the Legacy Vault..."

Jiang Liqian said softly.

"However, don’t worry Senior Brother Lin... even if they know the location, Jiang Country Imperial Palace is heavily guarded, and they can’t take it so easily..."

"But the problem now is, our positions might have been exposed..."

"If those people come after us, we might have no choice but to run temporarily."

This time entering Jiang Country Celestial Ruins, the cultivators are indeed hard to deal with.

There are no less than a hundred Divinity Transformation cultivators, and several dozen Returning Void cultivators.

Most crucially, there might be a few Integration cultivators.

Thus, in Jiang Liqian’s view, with the strength of the two of them, it is difficult to deal with these people.

At least, they cannot confront them head-on, but must plan cautiously.

But upon hearing this, Lin Chen laughed.

"Run away? Mere Integration cultivators... doesn’t seem to be that pressuring, right?"

Lin Chen may never have dealt with Integration cultivators.

But seven years ago, he and Yue Saint took on a Seventh Tier Demon Beast.

In terms of overall strength, a Seventh Tier Demon Beast is not much inferior to an Integration cultivator.

Furthermore, Lin Chen’s strength has improved exponentially compared to seven years ago.

In the Celestial Ruins, Integration cultivators are greatly suppressed.

Therefore, Lin Chen intends to confront these people head-on.

Thinking of this, Lin Chen said:

"Constantly avoiding is never a solution..."

"Junior Sister Jiang, do you have any way to lure those people out?"

Lin Chen’s tone was calm, and upon hearing it, Jiang Liqian thought of something and asked in astonishment:

"Senior Brother, you mean? You are confident?"

Lin Chen nodded, "Yes, although not absolutely certain, I think we can give it a try..."

Although he has ninety-eight percent confidence, Lin Chen couldn’t fully commit with his words.

Seeing Lin Chen’s determined attitude, Jiang Liqian also gritted her teeth and said:

"Alright, then let’s gamble this time."

"As for how to lure these people out... it’s too simple!"

"As long as the two of us expose our tracks in Jiangdu, those people will naturally follow us by scent."

...

A few days later, outside Jiangdu, eight hundred miles southeast.

Lin Chen and Jiang Liqian were hunting a Fifth Tier Demon Beast in the mountains.

During this era, Demon Beasts were not as rare as in later generations.

In the Spirit Realm, Fifth Tier Demon Beasts are not uncommon.

The two were hunting a Fifth Tier Cold Light Falcon, a Fifth Tier predatory bird Demon Beast known for its speed.

They chased it for hundreds of miles before taking down the Cold Light Falcon.

And after the two successfully killed the Cold Light Falcon and took its blood and material.

Behind them, a hundred miles away, over ten cultivators stealthily followed.

"They’re preparing to act..." Jiang Liqian reminded via transmission.

"Mm, let them get a little closer... This distance is still quite far. It’s uncertain how many people have come... It’d be best to catch them all in one go."

Lin Chen replied, "If we only kill a batch, those who escape will only be more cautious."

"Therefore, even if we can’t kill them all, we must eliminate the majority of their forces so they are powerless to retaliate."

Jiang Liqian nodded slightly, feeling even more astonished internally.

She had hardly ever seen Lin Chen take the initiative to strike and did not understand why Lin Chen was so confident.

Those are dozens, possibly tens, of Returning Void cultivators.

Lin Chen actually intends to eliminate all the lurking enemies in Jiangdu with just the two of them.

But right now, all Jiang Liqian could do was trust.

The two of them didn’t rush back to Jiangdu but continued to hunt Demon Beasts in this wilderness.

...

In a flash, another three days passed.

Three thousand miles southeast of Jiangdu, on the wilderness.

Several dozen figures spread out, each in pairs, separated by hundreds of miles.

"Sir, when should we act? The brothers are almost assembled!"

"A total of eighteen Returning Void cultivators, and twenty Divinity Transformation..."

A cultivator asked in a low voice.

"No hurry, wait for Qingtian to come, then we’ll act together... We must capture the two alive in one fell swoop."

"Mm, the woman must be captured alive; killing the man doesn’t matter..."

The leading cultivator, with an unnoticeable aura, spoke with a calm expression.

"By the way, Nether River... how is the collection of Fierce Ghosts you were preparing?"

"There are quite a lot of Fierce Ghosts in Jiang Country Celestial Ruins... Your gourd should be quite full by now?"

Upon hearing this, a black-robed cultivator raised his head and answered respectfully:

"Master, I have captured three thousand Fierce Ghosts, ready to be used at any time..."

As he spoke, the man revealed an ominous pair of eyes, making others shiver.

"Good, when Qingtian arrives, we’ll capture these two in one swoop."

"Remember, do not let them escape back to Jiangdu... The one in Jiangdu is not easy to provoke..."

"Even though this place is the Celestial Ruins, to him, it’s no different from reality."

...

Meanwhile, in the wilderness outside Jiang Country.

Jiang Liqian glanced at Lin Chen and asked:

"Senior Brother Lin, when will we act? The tails behind us are getting more numerous..."

Lin Chen shook his head upon hearing this, his tone still calm as he said:

"No rush, those coming now are still too few. Wait until they act... better to gather all the people from the Celestial Ruins."

"Then, we can catch them all in one swoop."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Liqian frowned slightly, "But, one Integration cultivator has already arrived... If you have to face two at once, can you handle it, Senior Brother?"