This martial saint is too cautious.

The next day.

Xia Mingtang rushed over: "Young Master Lin, good news! The Wei family father and son were assassinated by a mysterious expert last night."

Lin Yan frowned: "Who is the murderer?"

Xia Mingtang: ...

If we knew who it was, would they still call him a mysterious powerhouse?

Xia Mingtang muttered to himself, "It's still unclear, but the head of the Sanshan County Patrol and Inspection Office is furious and has vowed to thoroughly investigate the perpetrator."

Lin Yan's face showed worry: "The Wei family has been targeting us at every turn, and now their entire family has been wiped out. Do you think the patrol and inspection department will suspect me?"

Xia Mingtang: ...

His lips twitched. He really wanted to say, "Young Master Lin, you're overthinking things. You think too highly of yourself."

To be able to wipe out the entire Wei family, even if he wasn't a fourth-level Skin-Refining expert, he was definitely a top-tier expert among third-level Skin-Refining experts.

"Young Master Lin need not worry. The Sanshan County Patrol and Inspection Office should conduct a thorough investigation and will not wrong you," Xia Mingtang could only reply tactfully.

"Then I'm relieved." Lin Yan nodded, looking at the somewhat silent Xia Mingtang: "Is there anything else?"

"No...that's all."

Xia Mingtang quickly shook his head, took his leave, and left. After walking a short distance from the courtyard gate, he spat hard on the ground. This young master Lin really has no self-awareness at all.

The Sanshan County Inspection Office can suspect anyone, but they can't suspect you.

……

Sanshan County Inspection Office.

Xu Feng was also having a headache. The Wei family had offended quite a few people, but the Wei father and son were very clever. Those they dared to offend were all weaker than them, and none of them had the power to destroy the Wei family.

"Chief, among the martial artists in this county, no suspects have been found so far."

Upon hearing his subordinate's report, Xu Feng rubbed his temples. He didn't actually care about the survival of the Wei family. If the Wei family was destroyed, other families would take over their businesses, and he could even take over a portion of it.

His concern was that someone wanted to destabilize Sanshan County as well, and that the perpetrator's target was not only the Wei family, but would also target other martial arts families.

If Sanshan County descends into chaos, it will inevitably affect tax revenue, which he cannot allow.

"Director, could it be that the Tang family sent four groups of skin-sharpening martial artists to do this? According to our investigation, the Wei family has been stealing a lot of medicinal herbs from the Tang family during this period."

Hearing his subordinate's words, Xu Feng glared at him irritably: "The Tang family is too busy taking care of themselves right now, how could they possibly send four-times-skin-sharpening martial artists to Sanshan County?"

The subordinate replied dejectedly, "But apart from the Tang family, I really can't think of anyone suspicious. It can't be Lin Yan, the one the Tang family sent to Sanshan County who just had his skin polished three times. He didn't even dare to negotiate with the Wei family."

"What if it's an act?"

Xu Feng narrowed his eyes slightly: "A barking dog doesn't bite, and a biting dog doesn't bark. Isn't there still a survivor? Bring Lin Yan to the patrol office and let that woman secretly spy on him and see if he is the murderer."

Even though he didn't think Lin Yan could be the murderer of the Wei family father and son, Xu Feng still gave the order.

……

Lin Yan walked out of the gate of the Sanshan County Patrol Office, and Xia Mingtang immediately came to greet him.

"Young Master Lin, are you alright?"

"It's alright. The Wei family father and son were killed, and the inspector general suspected me. He questioned me normally, and now it's been confirmed that I'm not a suspect."

Lin Yan remained calm, while Xia Mingtang couldn't help but mutter to himself: The Sanshan County Patrol Office is doing something unnecessary; I, Xia Mingtang, am more likely to kill them than Lin Yan.

"Young Master Lin is naturally not a suspect."

"Old Xia, from what you're saying, it sounds like you think I'm not worthy. Let me tell you... I just don't want to argue with the Wei family father and son, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of them."

Lin Yan glared at him, and Xia Mingtang quickly smiled apologetically, "Young Master Lin has misunderstood, that's exactly what I meant."

"Let's go, this patrol station is awful."

……

After Lin Yan left, one of the inspectors who had been standing at the entrance of the patrol office turned around and walked inside.

"Director, these are Lin Yan's exact words."

Xu Feng listened to his subordinate's report, then looked at another man: "Jin An, what do you think?"

"Director, Lin Yan should be cleared of suspicion."

The man called Jin'an replied with a smile, "Lin Yan has only just broken through the third skin-grinding stage, so firstly, it's impossible due to his strength; secondly, that woman just hid next door and saw that, according to her, Lin Yan's height is almost a foot shorter than the person who committed the crime last night; and finally, there are the words Lin Yan just said when he went out."

"Could it be that this woman has misremembered?"

"Director, based on my years of experience in investigating cases, it is true that ordinary women like this will have some memory lapses when they encounter such things, but it will not be particularly large. Even if Lin Yan is not a foot taller than the person who committed the crime last night, there is definitely a half-foot difference in height."

"Hmm." Xu Feng nodded. "Strength and height are hard to fake, so it seems Lin Yan is indeed innocent."

Xu Feng nodded. There are indeed techniques in the martial arts world that can change one's physical form, but these techniques are not something that martial artists in the Skin Polishing Realm can learn. He wasn't very suspicious of Lin Yan to begin with, mainly because he couldn't find any other suspects, which is why he investigated Lin Yan.

Intentionally inflating the soles of their shoes to hide their true height?

That possibility exists, but if we analyze it that way, there are too many possibilities for the murderer; any of the four-times-skin-sharpening martial artists in the city could be a suspect.

The murder of the Wei family father and son is not enough to warrant such a thorough investigation from him.

"My lord, in my opinion, could it be an enemy of the Wei family father and son? The Wei family father and son are violent and have many enemies. Perhaps it is an enemy from the past who has increased their strength and returned to take revenge."

"That's possible. Then we should investigate carefully those who have a grudge against the Wei family and have already left Sanshan County."

……

……

half a month later.

The old tree in the yard has lost most of its leaves.

The fifteen Tiger Bone Tempering Pills sponsored by the Wei family have already been used up.

Looking at the height of the martial arts tree in his mind, Lin Yan had to admit that you get what you pay for. The Tiger Bone Tempering Pill was indeed more effective than the Leopard Bone Tempering Pill. The martial arts tree was already close to three feet and three inches tall.

Besides the improvement in his realm, after using up the martial arts fruits provided by the Wei family father and son and the other martial artists in the Wei family, the white veins on the purple leaves evolved from the Jinghong Sword Technique grew even thicker and longer.

The sword intent of the Entangling Silk has been elevated to a new level.

Lin Yan now knows that when the white veins on the leaves fill the entire leaf, it is the time when the Entangling Silk Sword Intent is perfected.

……

"Young Master Lin, there's a letter from Guangping County."

A servant brought a letter outside the courtyard. Lin Yan opened it and took a look, and couldn't help but gasp.

What a grand gesture!

Guangping County is going to hold a martial arts competition, and any martial artist under the age of 30 with a Guangping County household registration can participate.

What shocked Lin Yan was not the Qingwu Competition, but the rewards for the top three.

The first prize is the precious medicine Crimson Blood Golden Lotus. This medicine is extremely valuable. After taking it, the probability of breaking through the skin barrier by 10% will increase by four times. Even if it is not for breaking through the barrier, taking this medicine will have the effect of cleansing the marrow and tempering the bones.

The prize for second place is two bottles of Tiger Bone Tempering Pills, a total of twenty pills, worth two thousand taels of silver.

The third prize was a bottle of bear bone tempering pills, ten in total, worth over a thousand taels of silver.

That's quite a grand gesture.

Why haven't I heard of this before? Is it a new event that started this year?

Lin Yan narrowed his eyes slightly; for a fleeting moment, he even considered participating in the competition.

However, after calming down, Lin Yan gave up.

Participating in the Qingwu Tournament will inevitably expose my strength, and after that, it won't be so convenient for me to carry out secret killings again.

From the earliest destruction of the Qingshui Gang to the later Three Heroes Gang, the Wang family, and now the Wei family, the reason why no one has suspected him afterward is not because he has done a good job of disposing of the bodies, but simply because, in the eyes of outsiders, he does not have the ability to do these things.

Just as Lin Yan decided to put it aside for the time being, he received another letter the next day.

This letter was sent by his master.

After reading the letter, Lin Yan suddenly realized why Guangping County hadn't had a Qingwu Competition before, but suddenly had one this year.

The Qingwu Tournament was jointly organized by the Four Seas Gang and the Patrol and Inspection Division, and the prizes were also provided by these two organizations.

The fact that the two companies jointly organized the Youth Martial Arts Tournament does not mean that they have reached an agreement.

On the contrary, the two sides are now sworn enemies, and fights occur almost every day. Several warriors who have undergone three skin-sharpening techniques have died, and even more have died during the second and first skin-sharpening techniques.

There are only so many skin-grinding martial artists in Guangping County. If the fighting continues like this, neither side can withstand such losses. Moreover, neither the Four Seas Gang nor the Patrol Division has the strength to decisively eliminate the other side.

Rather than continuing this tug-of-war with constant casualties on both sides, it would be better to find a different way to compete.

The four-time skin-sharpening warriors definitely cannot be deployed, otherwise it will be the final battle. So let the young warriors from both sides take the stage. The top three will not only be involved in the rewards, but also in the division of territory between the two sides.

The master didn't know the specifics of how it was divided; only the Four Seas Gang and the Patrol Bureau knew the details.

"It seems my master doesn't want me to participate in the competition either," Lin Yan thought to himself.

Although his master did not explicitly say in the letter that he did not want him to participate in the competition, he told him these inside stories because he did not want him to get involved in the conflict between the two families.

Cannibals are soft and short.

The prizes are all awarded by these two companies. If we really take the top three, how could we possibly escape unscathed?

After writing a reply to his master, indicating that he would not participate in the competition, Lin Yan had someone send the letter out and then put the Qingwu Competition out of his mind.

Compared to the Qingwu competition, he plans to go into the mountains again.

The master of Qingsong Martial Arts School had taken his disciples into the mountains half a month ago, but they found nothing. Therefore, the master of Qingsong Martial Arts School was not even sure that his five disciples had died in Baiyun Mountain Range.

Thinking that even the head of Qingsong Martial Arts School couldn't find his disciple's remains, Lin Yan couldn't help but twitch his lips. If he had known that these people wouldn't even be able to find their remains, he would have just buried them directly instead of wasting time to stage a scene.

Packing his provisions, Lin Yan made no attempt to conceal his whereabouts this time. After exchanging a few words with Xia Mingtang and the others, he entered the mountains openly.

This was done as a last-ditch precaution, to let others know that I, Lin Yan, would not sneak into the mountains and would inform my subordinates beforehand. This way, even if the Qing Song Martial Arts School master later found my disciple's remains, he would not suspect me.