Yet, Old Monster Xu didn’t dare to do anything.
Even if he wanted to, Yan Shenjun wouldn’t have permitted it.
If Yan Shenjun allowed it, Old Monster Xu would still refrain from acting recklessly.
He had a rational mind, as well as a thirst for knowledge. He may not know what this soul-mending technique was, but he wanted to learn it. This desire to possess Lin Jin’s skill had risen to an uncontrollable level.
Perhaps only this mortal ant knew such a technique in this whole wide world. If this mortal ant died, how could he possibly pick up the skill?
Old Master Xu hid this notion in his mind. He continued to observe Lin Jin’s soul-mending process, even though he wasn’t completely sure what was happening.
Time slipped away, bit by bit.
Suddenly, a flaming ball whizzed over their heads like a meteor. As it was approaching them, the fireball spread out to reveal a monk dressed in a fiery kasaya.
The monk had no hair but his eyebrows and mustache were a flaming red color. His gaze was stern, and the prayer beads around his neck resembled fire crystals. They constantly emitted a scorching heat and energy of death, but they were divinely beautiful. Even the most expensive jewel paled in comparison to these beads.
The monk held a crescent edge in his hand. Upon landing, the flames around his body gradually died down, but the fire continued to burn inside the prayer beads that rested on his robes. It was truly a fascinating sight.
“Inferno Monk, why are you here?”
Although surprised, Yan Shenjun knew who their unexpected visitor was, so he stepped forward.
The monk glanced down at the oriole, then at Lin Jin, and finally at Old Master Xu before saying, “I heard your disciple caused an accident and almost killed this female Miao Yan, so I’ve come to see for myself. If she’s dead, our cooperation will end here.”
Then, he turned to Old Monster Xu. “Ugly one, can you treat her? Who’s this brat?”
His voice was resoundingly bright, and his tone was the type that refused to yield to anyone.
Old Master Xu’s fear for the Inferno Monk was revealed in his sheepish smile.
“I’m too unskilled to treat her, but…”
He paused, and just as Inferno Monk was about to lash out at him, he quickly spoke up, “This person can treat her.”
Inferno Monk heaved a sigh in relief. “The next time you pause halfway through your sentence, I’m going to slap your ugly mug to death. Know that if this female Miao Yan dies, our cooperation will end here. That is unless you’re brave enough to capture Miao Yan Zhenren from the Mystery Dao Sect.”
“Calm down, Inferno Monk. Come, I will tell you what happened,” interrupted Yan Shenjun as he led Inferno Monk away to talk in private.
Lin Jin faintly opened his eyes to glance at them and thought it was a pity.
He managed to catch multiple pieces of key information. When combined with what he heard from Yan Shenjun and Old Master Xu’s earlier conversation, he now had a pretty solid idea of what was happening.
Yan Shenjun and Inferno Monk were working together on something.
And the key of this ‘something’ was to have someone to chant the ‘Mantra of Heaven’. Lin Jin didn’t know what a Mantra of Heaven was, but it sounded like only a handful of people in the extraterritorial zone was able to chant it.
So far, only two people seemed to meet this criterion.
One was this oriole, and the other was Miao Yan Zhenren.
These two individuals possessed a unique ‘Dharma voice’ ability.
However, a mishap arose when Yan Shenjun’s disciple hit the oriole too hard, almost killing her in the process.
If this oriole died, no one but Miao Yan Zhenren could chant the ‘Mantra of Heaven’ anymore. That was why Inferno Monk said what he said.
At this point, Lin Jin wanted to know two things. Firstly, what was their motive? Secondly, what is the ‘Mantra of Heaven’?
Lin Jin was silently eyeing Inferno Monk ever since he arrived. More specifically, his eyes were on the prayer beads that hung around his neck. Those crystalline praying beads looked very similar to the nine sun quartz the museum had described.
That concerned Lin Jin the most.
Lin Jin tuned down the abundance of thoughts in his mind before continuing to mend the oriole’s soul. Since he already grasped the situation, Lin Jin came to understand his position here.
By saving this oriole, he was making a huge contribution.
As such, while Lin Jin could simply finish mending the oriole’s soul, he deliberately stopped at ninety-nine percent. After stabilizing her soul, he walked away, feigning exhaustion.
Old Master Xu glanced at Lin Jin with a conflicted expression before examining the oriole carefully.
Finally, he muttered to himself, “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe there’s a skill that can mend souls. Although the process isn’t complete, this is incredible enough.”
Having said that, he looked at Lin Jin again with eyes like a rogue ogling at a pretty lass.
“Brat, what technique did you use to mend her soul?” Old Monster Xu took a step closer to Lin Jin, who was already aware of the former’s intention. Since he had already foreseen this, Lin Jin wasn’t frightened by the old man’s threatening facade. Instead, he responded coldly, “A soul-mending secret art, of course. My energy has been greatly exhausted today, and I need recuperation. I can only continue the treatment tomorrow.”
He didn’t say that only for Old Monster Xu to hear, but also for Yan Shenjun who was coming over.
Lin Jin could tell that Yan Shenjun was the genuine ‘boss’ of their pack.
Old Monster Xu relied on his medical prowess to join their party; his strength was only so-so, placing him at the bottom of the totem pole. Frankly speaking, if he was forced to go one-on-one with the old man, Lin Jin was confident he could defeat him.
There were wretches among immortals after all.
Old Monster Xu wouldn’t give up so easily. He was now dying to learn the soul-mending secret art because it was much too important to him.
If he mastered such a secret technique, no matter what powerful immortal he met, they would have to show him respect. With this in mind, Old Master Xu could barely contain himself.
He had to force Lin Jin to tell him, no matter what.
But soon, he heard a gentle cough from Yan Shenjun. Startled, Old Master Xu had to calm himself down immediately.
He had received a warning from Yan Shenjun. It was unsurprising, since saving the oriole was their top priority. To do that, they had to keep Lin Jin alive.
If the oriole died, they would have to give up their plan, or risk their lives to capture Miao Yan Zhenren.
The problem with this was quite clear – Miao Yan Zhenren wasn’t someone anybody could catch that easily.
To be brutally blunt, even if their entire pack went into action, they couldn’t be sure who would end up getting caught instead. The Mystery Dao Sect’s Miao Yan Zhenren was no easy opponent.
Lin Jin didn’t know about the others, but he knew that Old Monster Xu surely wouldn’t participate in the battle. The old man would get as far away as he could.
So Old Monster Xu couldn’t force Lin Jin now, or Yan Shenjun would never forgive him.
After thinking it through, Old Monster Xu chuckled eerily before stepping back silently. Yet, he continued staring maliciously at Lin Jin.
