Chapter 227: Hourglass of Time

In the silent grotto-heaven, as the competition for the supreme treasure ended, Xia Yan and the Female Cultivator, who had given up the struggle, were instantly teleported out. On Lin Jing’s side, it was slightly slower; a Magic Treasure in the shape of a sandglass slowly emerged beside him.

“I’ll call you the Hourglass of Time.” Putting the sandglass into his Storage Pouch, Lin Jing took a deep breath, feeling a bit of a headache.

The treasure was obtained, but now he had to bear the Karma of taking it.

After taking the heavenly treasure, after a period of time, Lin Jing was also teleported out of the grotto-heaven.

West of the Ancient Kingdom, Martial Emperor City.

One of the eight great families, the Feng Family.

Many clan Elders gathered before the towering pillar of light.

“I didn’t expect Feng Ya, this concubine-born daughter, to be chosen by the grotto-heaven. Why did no one discover her potential before?”

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“What use is it? It’s the Treasure Celestial Grotto. We just received a quick report that Lei Zhen of the Lei Family was also pulled into the grotto-heaven at the same time. Based on the records in ancient books about the Treasure Celestial Grotto, if this concubine-born daughter makes a decisive choice, she might still save her life. If she forcibly competes for the grotto-heaven’s Opportunity, she will likely perish.”

“Regardless, being chosen by the grotto-heaven proves her Luck. As long as she comes out alive, she is worth the Family’s full cultivation! Even if she doesn’t want to do Artifact Refining anymore, let her be!” a clan Elder snorted.

The other clan Elders fell silent.

Within the Feng Clan, they had their own clan rules and traditions. The core sword Dao Legacy of the Family could only be Cultivated by the direct line. As for the branch lines, they had to Cultivate the path of Artifact Refining and sword casting according to the clan rules to assist the direct line.

Although this clan rule had always caused dissatisfaction among the branch line disciples, they were powerless in the face of the direct line’s dominance.

Until one branch Family, because their daughter showed good sword Dao talent but was still only allowed to learn Artifact Refining and could not learn the Family’s sword Dao Legacy, expressed dissatisfaction with the main house and left the Family.

If it were only that, it wouldn’t have been enough to move the Feng Clan. What shocked the Feng Clan was that after this branch daughter was taken to the Ancient Kingdom by her parents, her sword Dao talent became increasingly brilliant. She was even taken as a personal disciple by a Void Profound Sword Cultivator of the Ancient Kingdom’s number one sword sect, the Heaven Sword Gate, and was recognized as having Void Profound potential.

Subsequently, she indeed lived up to expectations and became the famous number one Golden Core Prodigy of the Ancient Kingdom. Only then did the Feng Clan realize what a talented disciple they had missed.

To bring this disciple back to the Family, the Feng Clan even rewrote the clan rules, willing to let talented branch members Cultivate the core Legacy of the Family.

And that concubine-born woman was none other than the eldest Senior Sister of the Heaven Sword Gate, the Cold Moon Sword Immortal.

Now another talented concubine-born daughter had appeared. Although her talent might not compare to the Cold Moon Sword Immortal, the Feng Clan would certainly fully exploit her talent and could not afford to miss another talent.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the grotto-heaven dissipated.

The Feng Family’s concubine-born daughter, Feng Ya, walked out of the grotto-heaven in shock, completely unaware that she was surrounded by the high-ranking Elders of the Family.

“She’s out!” Seeing Feng Ya return alive, the clan Elders couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, fearing she would die in the grotto-heaven. “Feng Ya!” a clan Elder called out, and Feng Ya’s consciousness returned as she looked at the clan Elders.

“It seems you gave up the competition for the heavenly treasure—a wise choice. With your strength, you are not yet Lei Zhen’s match. However, the Family will Cultivate you as much as possible from now on. Was that grotto-heaven treasure ultimately taken by that Lei Zhen of the Lei Family?” a clan Elder asked.

“Lei Zhen?” Feng Ya was stunned.

Before she could answer, thunder suddenly roared outside the Feng Clan, with angry lightning howling and continuous booming.

A golden-haired man with a Soul Transformation cultivation base descended upon this branch land of the Feng Clan, looking at the various clan Elders of the Feng Family,

and looking at Feng Ya, who had just returned from the grotto-heaven.

“Lei Qianren, what are you doing here!!” Many clan Elders looked at this man, their auras leaking out as they questioned him.

“My son is dead! He died in the grotto-heaven!” The man named Lei Qianren had a terrifying expression.

As his words fell, several Feng Clan Elders were instantly shocked. This Lei Qianren was precisely Lei Zhen’s father. They knew Lei Zhen’s strength and talent clearly, and he even had several Medium Grade Magic Treasures with him; how could he have died in the Treasure Celestial Grotto?

“It seems your Feng Clan disciple gave up the grotto-heaven Opportunity and saved her life—I ask you, do you know who killed my son?” His face gradually calmed down, but within that calm was an emotion that made one shiver.

The Feng Clan Elders fell silent and said, “Our condolences.”

“Feng Ya, hurry up and explain the matters of the grotto-heaven!” Since it wasn’t a disciple of their Feng Family who killed Lei Zhen, the Feng Clan Elders immediately had Feng Ya describe the events inside the grotto-heaven in detail. They didn’t want to provoke this mourning baleful star too much, and they even forced a smile, thinking, *Good death, good death.*

“Yes, it was an alchemist from Qing Province—”

“I don’t know his origin. I only know his strength is terrifyingly high, and he is skilled in fire Spells. The Spell he used was a white Dragon-shaped beast fire. He only had Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation, but in an instant… in an instant, he took three Foundation Establishment Peaks with battle power comparable to the Golden Core and—”

“Qing Province, alchemist!!! You, draw his portrait!” The Lei Clan Soul Transformation expert gritted his teeth and threw out a scroll.

Meanwhile, the Feng Clan Elders were even more shocked upon hearing this. What Foundation Establishment Middle Stage could instantly kill Lei Zhen?

And he’s an alchemist? Is there such an alchemist??

At the same time.

Qing Province, Taixuan Province, Taixuan Sect.

A Soul Transformation old man looked at his decapitated granddaughter before him, old tears streaming down his face.

“No matter who it is, no matter what person, I will make you pay the price!!”

“Is the killer… also in Qing Province? Good, good!”

On a flying boat heading towards the Tongtian Path.

Xia Yan was also being watched by a group of experts and Alchemy Master Jiegeng, as he recounted the events that occurred within the grotto-heaven.

Upon hearing that the nameless alchemist had also entered the grotto-heaven and even displayed strength sufficient to suppress several ordinary Golden Cores, Alchemy Master Jiegeng showed a look of surprise.

“Return to Tianqing City,” she immediately ordered.

Besides that, outside Qing Province, in the East Sea…

In Tianqing City, Lin Jing had also returned to the outside. At this time, outside the Nameless Pill Pavilion and even the entire commercial street, there were no idle people; all had been cleared by the Qingming Pavilion. Only Venerable Lingquan looked at the returning Lin Jing with a smile and said:

“Good kid, it’s good you’re not dead. But did you give up the competition for the heavenly treasure, or did you achieve the final victory?”

“Seeing how your clothes are spotless, you probably gave up, right? A wise choice. With your cultivation,”

“it might indeed have been too much for you.”

“I was worried you’d die, kid, and no one would return the pills you owe me.”

“Come, tell this old man what the situation was like in that grotto-heaven. I’m quite curious about what happened inside.”

Lin Jing chuckled—

Before he could make up a story, Venerable Lingquan suddenly took out a compass, and a figure appeared on it.

“Venerable, the granddaughter of Taixuan Sect’s Bai Xuan Venerable died in the grotto-heaven. He claims the location of the person who killed his granddaughter, Bai Luo, is roughly in the direction of Qingming Province. There is a Soul Blood tracking mark of his in Bai Luo’s Storage Pouch!”

“Bai Xuan Venerable has commissioned the Qingming Chamber of Commerce to help detain anyone coming out of the grotto-heaven if they are found. The Taixuan Sect will surely offer a heavy reward.”

Venerable Lingquan’s expression changed, and his smile gradually disappeared as he looked at Lin Jing.

“?”

After a moment of daze, Lin Jing unluckily took out a Storage Pouch and found a drop of Soul Blood from it.

Then he reached out and crushed it directly.

“Senior Lingquan, this matter has nothing to do with you. You wouldn’t want the person who owes you pills to be beaten to death, would you?” Lin Jing smiled. “Let’s negotiate. Just pretend you didn’t see me—”

At this moment, Lin Jing was still relatively calm. Although he hadn’t expected that the Green-Skirt Girl would actually have a Soul Blood tracking mark, the situation wasn’t too bad. Venerable Lingquan couldn’t see through his illusion. Even if he wanted to keep Lin Jing here, there was nothing he could do, because Lin Jing only needed to hide in the “Hourglass of Time” to temporarily evade him, then find an Opportunity to sneak out invisibly and still make his escape.