```
"What's wrong?" Lin Xin and Wang Chong were somewhat puzzled.
"My cultivation technique has a very strong perception ability..." Xiao Lingling swallowed nervously, "That woman's inner qi... it's at least a hundred times more than the three of us combined!!"
Hiss...
Wang Chong gasped in shock.
Lin Xin's face also changed slightly.
"This isn't a place we should be. Let's go!"
"Right!"
The three of them quickly left. As they moved toward the area where the stone houses became increasingly shorter, passing through the center of the town, they saw a huge stele plunged into the ground, densely packed with inscriptions.
A few people stopped briefly in front of it to look before hurrying away.
The trio stepped forward to take a look.
They saw that it was densely covered with a map of the entire town.
The map was a perfect square, with two-story stone houses on the left, tapering to lower heights towards the right and away from a small river. There were also several small circles, some marked with the word 'market,' others labeled as miscellaneous halls.
Below was the daily schedule.
Every month, there was a sermon where brothers and sisters of the Qi Refinement Realm explained and resolved doubts.
There was also a place marked with the words 'Chi Huang hands,' obviously a medical station.
Then there were the fields, vegetable gardens, and the woodlands for collecting firewood. These were in the mountains near the town but a bit far away.
The characters were all written in traditional script, and they seemed to be unconventional characters. Lin Xin also had some trouble recognizing them. Fortunately, Xiao Lingling had a good foundation and read them out loud for the two of them.
As the three were looking at the stele, Xiao Lingling's recitation attracted two newcomers who also appeared to be new. However, they had no intention of interacting with them and left straight away after listening to the recitation.
"Let's check out the worst stone house first." Lin Xin, being cautious by nature, suggested.
The other two had no objections.
Carrying their bundles, they hadn't walked far when they came face to face with a group of five people walking towards them.
The woman at the front was holding a crude, heavy longsword, her expression coldly fixated on the three of them.
"Newcomers, indeed!"
This woman had bangs hanging down, covering the right side of her face, dressed in a gray-black tight-fitting silk garment, looking like a female ninja.
The rest of the group, dressed similarly, were both male and female, all looking at the trio as if they were seeing little lambs.
"Hand over your food supplies," the longsword-wielding woman said, her sword tip pointing downward, tapping the ground.
The expressions of Lin Xin's group tightened.
"Why should we give our things to you?" Wang Chong challenged without hesitation.
"If you can beat us, you may leave; if you can't, leave behind your things," the woman with the longsword said indifferently.
"Aren't you afraid of breaking the sect rules?!" Wang Chong's face showed apparent panic.
Xiao Lingling's complexion also turned somewhat pale, clearly neither of them had much experience in real combat.
"Sect rules?" The group laughed at the notion.
A man drew his longsword.
"The sect rules didn't say we can't rob people."
Lin Xin glanced around, noticing that other people around the stele were either pretending not to see or were standing aside to watch the excitement.
A man dressed like a wealthy young master in white clothes came out from another path with several people. Seeing the scene, he snickered, shaking the pale yellow folding fan in his hand.
"This Zheng Xiuqin still has no prospects. It would be better for her to obediently follow Wu Lianda. Being a spirit slave for five years could exchange for the right to reside in the best stone houses. Better than robbing newcomers for their food," he said.
"Of all the five women Wu Lianda took interest in the Outer Sect, only she has a strong character. Otherwise, she wouldn't have lasted till now," another person added, shaking his head.
"True that. Let's go, the mission is important," said the wealthy young master as he tucked away his folding fan, leading the others past the stele, heading straight out of town.
On this side, seeing the number of their adversaries, Xiao Lingling immediately sensed that the cultivation of these people was much stronger than any of them.
Knowing that they couldn't rely on Xiao Lingling and Wang Chong, yet unwilling to give up their food supplies, Lin Xin's hand slowly moved towards the hilt of his sword.
"Thinking of fighting?" the woman sneered. "It seems you're not willing to give in."
Clang!
Lin Xin suddenly drew his sword, launching a 'Songyang Needle,' releasing three points of white light aimed at the woman.
Bang!
Just as the three points of white light started to travel, the woman raised her sword and swept them aside forcefully, like a broom sweeping away leaves and dust.
As Lin Xin's inner strength burst forth, it was abruptly interrupted. His longsword was pushed aside, causing a sudden tightness in his chest, and a fleeting sharp pain near his heart.
The gap in cultivation was too vast!
"Here are your things!" He threw his bundle over without hesitation.
The woman caught the bundle, looking towards Xiao Lingling and Wang Chong, whose faces were incredibly unsightly. After hesitating, they too threw their bundles.
```
"Not bad, daring to make a move with just the First Layer of Return to Origin," the woman glanced at Lin Xin.
"I just wanted to test the gap," Lin Xin shook his head. "Are you considered strong here?" he continued to ask.
"Strong?" The woman laughed mockishly, a hint of resentment flashing in the corner of her eyes.
"In Tingjian Valley, there's an external and internal area. I'm just ranked 143rd in the external area, and there are over six hundred people there. Do you think I'm strong or not?"
She quickly had her subordinates take out the items from the bundle and check them, pouring about two-thirds from a wooden vial before placing the vial back in the bundle.
Then, to their surprise, she threw the bundle back to the three of them.
Lin Xin caught the bundle with a slap, looking at the other party somewhat dumbfounded. The law of the jungle was an unspoken rule, and he had already resigned himself to his loss, but what did it mean for her to throw it back?
"I'm leaving you a day's rations. Go find a stone house in the external area to settle down as soon as possible," the woman turned around and led her people away.
Lin Xin and his companions could only stand there and watch her leave.
"I am Zheng Xiuqin, number one hundred forty-three. You're welcome to come and take revenge anytime," the woman even boldly called out her own name.
Lin Xin's face was expressionless as he watched her leave for good, while Wang Chong's face was filled with frustration, and Xiao Lingling looked displeased. For a young lady like her, probably for the first time in her life, she had been so openly bullied.
"We're simply too weak," Lin Xin said softly. "Let's hurry and find a place to stay."
Wang Chong and the other did not speak, all three were at the First Layer of Return to Origin. Facing Zheng Xiuqin and others who were at least at the Second, or even possibly Third Layer, they stood no chance at all.
Hurriedly leaving the stele area, the trio headed towards the stone houses, which became shorter and rougher, and gradually more people appeared on the path. Some were fighting right in the open, entangled in a hard-fought battle, with a few others standing around, pointing and commenting.
Some gathered together, seemingly waiting for more people to arrive, preparing to do something together.
They also saw, aside from Zheng Xiuqin's group, another black-haired and chubby figure leading a group robbing other people.
The rest seemed to take such occurrences in stride. The atmosphere of the entire town was strange; from time to time, one could see swordsmen covered in blood stagger into a stone house. There were also neatly dressed individuals rushing out of their stone houses and sprinting off.
The numbering of the stone houses increased from dozens to hundreds, and then to two, three, four, and five hundred, right up to the six hundredth area.
They had almost reached the outskirts of the town, and beyond it lay a lush, green forest from where came the cawing of crows.
Finally, at the very edge of the outer part, the three found some vacant stone houses.
The trio chose three houses next to each other, with the numbers 670, 671, and 672.
Lin Xin's house was number 670, merely a small room less than three meters long and wide, so small it couldn't be any smaller, containing a rotten wooden bed that looked like it was about to collapse.
Apart from the bed, there was nothing inside. Lin Xin sighed, carried the dilapidated bed out, and took a large forked tree branch from the forest to use as a broom to sweep the stone chamber, making it barely habitable.
By that time, Wang Chong and Xiao Lingling had each cleaned their chambers and quickly went back to practicing and regulating their Inner Qi.
After the recent events, both of them had developed a clear desire for strength, seizing every second to improve.
Lin Xin shook his head and then looked eagerly towards the mountain shrouded in mist above. There, the white stone steps stretched to their end, the actual residence of the inner sect of the Sword Sect, where the official disciples lived and trained.
"Immortality... Longevity? Truly miraculous..." The thought that he, an ordinary man, could have the chance to touch such a legendary realm ignited a fiery passion within him.
Although his talent might not be up to par, his unique ability guaranteed that if he succeeded just once, he could learn anything immediately. Perhaps he could start by checking out the market here, to see if he could find some methods or approaches that would allow him to leverage his special skill.
****************
Deep in the Pine Forest Sword Sect mountains,
"The Demon Path is rampant, and it's said that an extraordinary treasure has emerged in Yuan Country, governed by the Plum Blossom Sect—a potential opportunity for us on the Righteous Path."
Under a grey-white sky, on a dun-colored clifftop, stood a young Taoist priest. He gazed into the empty space before him—there was nothing there, but his expression was extremely reverent.
"Let's put that aside for the moment. The Golden Jade Sect is gathering materials and herbs with all their might to refine the Golden Jade Flower Elixir. Go to the Golden Jade Sect and secure two elixirs for me," an elderly voice suddenly sounded from thin air, reverberating over the cliff.
"This disciple will go at once," the Taoist priest bowed his head in response.
*****************
Outside the cold, grey-white stone walls, a small row of stone houses were lined up side by side, facing the wall.
Some of the stone houses were empty, while others had pieces of cloth hung at the door as shop signs, in colors of yellow and red, with faintly visible black traditional characters.
The streets were eerily quiet, only occasionally would someone emerge from a shop, hastening back to town, or taking a shortcut to head up the mountains outside town. There were only a handful of people wandering the streets.
One of the slightly larger shops had a black flag hanging outside on a stone pillar that read: Jade Light Studio.
Inside the shop, there were all manners of chaotic items arranged haphazardly, colorful as a kaleidoscope—large shells the size of a palm, gourds as tall as a person, and small eggs the size of Copper Coins, along with some oddly shaped bronze utensils.
Piles of items that couldn't fit inside the shop were placed directly on the two steps outside the storefront.
Behind the counter in the shop sat a middle-aged woman wearing a white hat, clad in a red gown, as thick around the waist and legs as a barrel, idly cracking sunflower seeds.
"Wu Niang, have there been no new talismans in recently? Why are it still these old things?" a male swordsman browsing the shop complained dissatisfactorily.
"Things have been scarce from the inside lately; I suppose the materials are limited this time, so there's nothing I can do," the rotund woman replied indolently.
"And the formations? Not a single intact Evil-Slaying Formation to be had, just two damaged remnants," another pair, who appeared to be a couple from the Outer Sect, complained.
Just as Wu Niang was about to speak, she saw a young man dressed as a swordsman of Jianghu enter through the shop entrance.
The man was decked in brownish-black leather attire, and what was peculiar was the belt around his waist, at the center of which was a large skull. The skull was white, hollow, and appeared to emit a bluish hue on the bone surface.
"Young Master of the Bone Heart Sword Estate, what brings you to my humble shop today?" Wu Niang instantly brightened up with a smile and stood up, earnestly welcoming the new arrival, stepping away from the counter.
"The Bone Heart Sword ranked tenth in the Inner Area?!"
The rest of the few people in the shop, hearing the name Bone Heart Sword, immediately showed a change in expression and hurriedly made room, as if they couldn't stay far enough away.
Two who didn't want any trouble left the shop outright, taking off first, while the plump Wu Niang didn't seem to mind.