Martial Immortality: Starting with the Spirit Beast Scroll

The black mist dissipated. Zhao Lin dragged Song the Third into the cave, not forgetting to bring the three storage bags along.

He threw Song the Third onto the ground and cast a Lighting Skill.

Several streams of Spiritual Light rose, illuminating the inside of the cave.

The Lighting Skill was an unranked technique without levels like novice, proficient, or minor achievement. The more Spiritual Power was injected, the brighter it became, and vice versa.

Zhao Lin sized up the interior. The passage was less than seven feet wide, a bit taller than a man, and stretched deep inside. It was more of a cavern than a simple cave.

"Stop pretending. Get up."

Zhao Lin, having confirmed there was no one else in the cave, spoke to Song the Third on the ground.

Song the Third's eyes were shut tight, and he didn't move a muscle.

"Dead?"

Zhao Lin walked over, brandishing his iron ruler, and muttered to himself, "Ah well, I'll just take his head and collect the reward…"

"Stop!"

Song the Third quickly opened his eyes and scrambled to a sitting position.

He had been awake for a while, secretly trying to circulate his energy. He discovered that several key acupoints in his body were sealed, and the Spiritual Qi in his meridians was in a state of chaos, like a tangled mess. He couldn't recover his Mana anytime soon, and anxiety gnawed at him.

Zhao Lin sat down in front of him and asked in a low voice, "What's your name?"

Song the Third gave a cold smile. "Why should I tell you?"

"Good. Playing tough!"

Zhao Lin said no more. He moved swiftly, striking Song the Third's chest, back, waist, and other areas in a flurry of blows.

"AH! It hurts, stop…"

Song the Third immediately let out a squeal like a stuck pig and began to roll on the ground.

The martial path had many torturous techniques, such as the Tendon-Splitting Finger, Bone-Melting Hand, and Heart-Pushing Palm. Zhao Lin knew the secrets behind them but rarely used them. Today, however, they came in handy.

"Don't worry, it'll stop hurting in a moment. I still have dozens of other methods I haven't used yet."

Zhao Lin comforted him softly.

"I can't take it! Spare me, Ancestor! I'll talk, I'll tell you everything…"

Song the Third begged for mercy at the top of his lungs. In just a short while, he was drenched in sweat, his entire body flushed red like a boiled shrimp.

Zhao Lin watched him with a blank expression for a moment. Deciding he had been softened up enough, he struck Song the Third's chest, releasing the technique.

Song the Third collapsed on the ground, gasping for air, unable to speak a word.

Zhao Lin helped him up. "You will answer whatever I ask. Understand?"

"Understood!"

Song the Third answered hastily. After that ordeal, he had become much more compliant.

Zhao Lin channeled more Spiritual Power into the Lighting Skill, making it brighter. He then focused the light, shining it directly into Song the Third's face.

"What's your name?"

The glare was so bright Song the Third couldn't open his eyes. He instinctively shrank back and answered, "Song the Third."

"And the dead one?"

"Li Daoyou."

"Fellow Daoist Li? You don't know his real name?"

"His real name *is* Li Daoyou. Spelled with the 'you' that means 'to have.'"

Zhao Lin tossed the three storage bags beside him over to the man. "Open the storage bags and wipe your Divine Sense from them."

A flicker of hesitation crossed Song the Third's eyes. "The storage bags belonged to Li Daoyou. I can't open them."

Zhao Lin smiled faintly. "Let's not play games. Are you worried that once you've opened the storage bags and outlived your usefulness, I'll kill you?"

Song the Third lowered his head and said nothing, which was as good as a confirmation.

"Relax. I'm going to hand you over to Qiuyang County. I don't care how they deal with you."

"Really?"

Song the Third's eyes darted around. 'I've committed a lot of crimes, but I've never actually killed anyone. At worst, I'll be sentenced to hard labor. At least I'll keep my life.'

"You have no choice but to trust me. Besides, I can get the bounty for killing you both anyway."

Zhao Lin said in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Fine."

Song the Third sighed. The torture he just endured was worse than death. He didn't want to go through that again.

He did as he was told, opening the storage bags and wiping his Divine Sense from them.

Zhao Lin took them and inspected them one by one.

The first bag was filled with Spirit Rice, weighing about fifty jin. The other bag contained Spirit Stones, at least a hundred and twenty or thirty of them.

The last bag contained a dozen or so assorted items.

A set of clothes, a pouch of Spirit Coins.

Seven bottles of pills, six talismans.

Two worn-out Low Tier magical artifacts.

Zhao Lin took his time, examining the items carefully.

There weren't many Spirit Coins, but a few had high denominations, totaling over five hundred Yuan Spirit Coins.

The pills were mostly common types like Fasting Pills and Blood Replenishing Pills. Only one bottle of Essence Enhancing Pills was of any real value.

The talismans were only Clear Heart Talismans, Stone-Breaking Talismans, and Diving Talismans, two of each. All were low-grade talismans.

'Something's not right!'

Zhao Lin frowned, shaking his head. He grabbed Song the Third and started searching his body.

'A bandit cultivator like Song the Third must have some means of escape, like the Void Trapping Talisman and Concealment Talisman from before. It's impossible that he only has these few low-grade talismans.'

"What are you doing?"

Song the Third's expression changed as he cried out in alarm.

Zhao Lin remained silent, searching him from head to toe, not even sparing the soles of his shoes.

As expected, he found one Concealment Talisman, one Water Talisman, one Wind Riding Talisman, and four used talismans.

Song the Third's face turned ashen. He looked as if he had lost all hope.

He had planned to wait until he recovered some Spiritual Power, then activate a talisman to escape. He never expected Zhao Lin to see through his plan. Now, escape was impossible.

The three talismans were all high-grade. Zhao Lin gave them a glance, set them aside, and curiously picked up the four used ones.

Most talismans turn to ash after use. Usually, only Communication Talismans retain a portion of the text used for the message.

Zhao Lin unfolded one of the used talismans. On it was written: "Fat sheep departing for Yinfeng Valley at 'si' hour. Qi Refining Third Layer."

The other three had similar messages.

"This 'fat sheep' they're talking about... that's me, isn't it?"

Zhao Lin asked, staring at Song the Third. He had felt something was fishy before. Even with the Spirit Bird scouting, the two bandit cultivators' appearance was too coincidental, and they had been too well-prepared. It turned out someone had tipped them off.

"Who notified you?"

Song the Third, recovering his wits, obediently confessed, "It was Heipi and Huang Teng from the Boat Relay."

The image of the dark-faced cultivator from the Boat Relay surfaced in Zhao Lin's mind. He asked, "What do these two look like?"

"One is dark and skinny, the other is a sallow-faced fellow…"

Song the Third described their appearances.

Zhao Lin understood. It really was the two cultivators from in front of the Boat Relay. He then asked, "So the men from the Boat Relay tip you off, and you split the money with them after the robbery?"

Song the Third nodded. "Yes. Those two are incredibly greedy."

Zhao Lin's expression grew solemn, his face slowly darkening.

He had originally planned to hand the bandit cultivator over to the county officials and then enter Yinfeng Valley, but he hadn't expected the people from the Boat Relay to be involved with the bandits.

If he didn't handle this matter properly before rashly entering Yinfeng Valley, it was highly likely he would be ambushed later.

The Communication Talismans weren't enough proof. Even if he reported it to the county, they could easily claim it was a false accusation by a bandit, and maybe even turn the tables on him.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lin asked, "How do you make contact?"

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