A few hours later.
Lin Xuanhao broke through to the Fourth Stage of Body Forging Realm!
He soon came out to have dinner, and after eating, he stood up to go back to his room and cultivate.
At this moment, Lin Xuanhao's eyelids twitched as he looked towards a certain direction through the window of the house.
He raised an eyebrow as a figure entered his vision. This figure was near the entrance of the village, more than a hundred meters from the place where Lin Xuanhao was, and in the dark of the night, it was practically impossible for normal humans to see him.
However, Lin Xuanhao could clearly see the figure hiding in the bushes. He was already a Body Forging Realm cultivator, and not an ordinary one at that.
What's this fellow up to?
He thought silently.
Just as he was about to take action, the figure slowly moved away from the bushes and secretly ran outside of his vision.
Lin Xuanhao was slightly stunned at this.
Did he figure out that I was looking at him?
No, that shouldn't be the case. It seems he was just spying on the village.
Thinking of this, his lips curved up into a mystifying smile.
"Let's see what are you up to."
Saying this, he went back to his room and sat down cross-legged, preparing to refine the Dao Fragment and cultivate again to breakthrough to the Fifth Stage of Body Forging Realm.
...
A few hours later.
With a cracking sound spreading throughout his body, Lin Xuanhao finally broke through to the Fifth Stage of Body Forging Realm!
He stood up slowly, stretching his body as he looked outside the wooden window only to see the moon already hanging high in the night sky.
He looked around to find the traces of the figure who was spying on the village earlier, but found none.
That fellow really left, it seems.
He didn't put too much thought into it and went back to sleep, completely unaffected.
Since the other party only dared to sneak around like this, they weren't worth his attention and couldn't do anything to him.
...
Some time later.
The sun had yet to rise, the first rays of sunlight yet to descend down into the world.
At this moment, in a cave located amidst many hills and small mountain ranges, 3 figures sat down facing a fire, with two of them sitting besides eachother and the other one on the opposite side.
The figure sitting on the opposite side was none other than the one Lin Xuanhao had encountered sneaking around at the entrance of the Liu Family Village.
Right now, he was sitting like a subordinate before the other two figures.
One of them was the tall, burly middle aged man from before while the other one was also the same old man with beard.
At this point, the tall middle aged man looked at his subordinate sitting in front of him sharply and asked suspiciously, "Is it really true?"
"Yes, Brigade Leader! Otherwise, what would I get by lying to you?"
His subordinate replied fearfully as he hurriedly pressed his forehead on the cold surface of the cave.
The middle aged man turned his gaze to the old man besides him, seemingly looking for a reply.
"It's possible, indeed. There's no explaining those corpses then. Looks like there really is an Immortal hiding in that Liu Family Village."
The old man stroked his beard and turned his gaze to the subordinate kneeling before them, sending a silent signal to the middle aged man.
The middle aged man immediately understood and motioned for the subordinate to leave.
The subordinate stood up, a gratified expression on his face as he bowed slightly before hurriedly rushing out of the cave.
Looking at the disappearing back of the subordinate, the old man stroked his beard as he spoke, "If what that fellow said is true and that Immortal looks young, there's a high chance he is only in the Body Forging Realm at most."
"But those corpses..."
"Yes, he's perhaps a genius who can exert the strength of the peak Body Forging Realm while only being in the later stages? If he was connected to the Red Dragon Mountain Range or the Immortal Sect, master would have notified me before I came to visit you. He must be a Loose Cultivator who accidentally got the inheritance of a Meridian Connecting Realm powerhouse.
With my strength at the peak of Body Forging Realm and your hundreds of men, we can kill him with ease. That is, if he refuses to surrender to us. We will only benefit either ways, after all."
The old man spoke calmly, as if discussing a trivial matter.
On the other hand, the middle aged man's eyes widened in shock at the old man's words.
"Yes, we will only benefit either ways. If he surrenders, then not only will we bring back a genius to master and recieve rewards, I may have a chance to finally enter the Body Forging Realm, while senior brother may even enter the Meridian Connecting Realm. And if he resists, then we can just kill him and search for his inheritance, which will also provide us with various benefits at the very least."
Speaking of this, the middle aged man's eyes revealed a hint of greed.
He had been sent to the secular world because he didn't possess much talent for cultivation, not having even reached the Body Forging Realm even with all the efforts of his master.
He created the Iron Fang Brigade as it was a lot more easier to survive this way, but his master of course didn't question his life choices, and thus, even though their fate as master and disciple had long been severed, the relationship remained more or less the same.
This was why his senior brother often came to look for him.
Coincidentally, his senior brother just came here a couple of days ago when this happened, and he obtained extra help. He could be said to be fortunate, otherwise, he might not have been able to do anything to that Immortal.
Now, a chance to enter the Body Forging Realm had presented itself before him, he would definitely take it.
Who didn't want to pursue longevity?
The old man stroked his beard again, a vicious smile appearing on his face as he nodded.
With that, an agreement was silently made between the two former fellow disciples.
...
A few more hours later.
Lin Xuanhao breathed in deeply, a cracking sound spreading throughout his entire body.
His internal organs clenched and bones turned even more firm, signifying yet another breakthrough.
"Phew, the Sixth Stage of Body Forging Realm."
He slowly opened his eyes and stood up from the bed, stretching lazily.
"It took me more than 3 year originally to reach this level back then. And now, it didn't even take 3 days."
He couldn't help but be reminiscent again, remembering his past and how much hardships he had encountered as a mortal.
He still remembered how much he looked up to Body Forging Realm cultivators back then, and how he had managed to join a Nascent Soul faction that time, which seemed to be so mysterious and powerful to him in the mythical world of Immortals in which he had just stepped into.
These memories were from a bygone past, and many of the highest existences in the Immortal World may not even have survived since then.
One had to know that even before entering seclusion, Lin Xuanhao had lived for billions of Immortal Years, meaning countless normal years.
Not to mention that as an Immortal Emperor, he surpassed space and time, and could either become a relic of the ancient past or a treasure of the faraway future.
But he only counted his actual age, which was also incredibly great.
Pushing these thoughts to the back of his head, he looked outside of the window, the sunlight shining down brightly on him.
He could hear faint sounds coming from outside, meaning that many villagers had ready woken up and got to their work despite the sun having just risen some time ago.
People in rural areas slept and woke up early to do their own things. Lin Xuanhao was naturally aware of this.
At this moment, just as he was about to head outside, he turned his gaze towards the window from where he could see the exact place where he noticed that figure hiding yesterday.
Right now, after breaking through to the Sixth Stage of Body Forging Realm, Lin Xuanhao's senses had become incredibly sharp again.
If he focused, he could clearly see the slight movements within the bushes more than a hundred meters away. This eyesight was comparable to that of Meridian Connecting Realm cultivators.
However, as Lin Xuanhao looked that way, he noticed something odd.
Last night, there was only a single figure sneaking around, but this time, there were more than a few!