A hundredfold return! My unfilial disciples are all reincarnations of the Empress.

Chu Lingyan flipped her wrist, and the tip of her sword was already pressed against the other person's throat.

"I lost." The other party was quite straightforward, taking a half step back to admit defeat.

All three matches were won, and all three of his apprentices advanced to the round of 16.

That night, Lin Feng sat cross-legged alone in his room.

He spent the entire day observing the disciples of other sects. Besides his three disciples, each sect also had some promising talents.

The matchups for the Round of 16 were posted early the next morning.

Liu Yushu faced a male disciple of the Xuan Yang Sect, Chu Lingyan faced a female disciple of the Cang Wu Sect, and Chi Yao's opponent was from a small sect.

Liu Yushu's match lasted the longest.

The Xuan Yang Sect youth's cultivation was at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, three levels higher than hers, and his methods were strange; the wood elemental power around his body could transform into vines to entangle his opponents.

Liu Yushu's ice domain is not very effective against wood-type attacks, so she can only rely on brute force.

The two exchanged blows on the arena for nearly two hundred moves. Finally, Liu Yushu seized a tiny opening and stabbed her opponent in the shoulder with her sword, causing the young man to concede defeat.

After winning, Liu Yushu returned to the rest area, her forehead covered in sweat and her breathing unsteady.

Chu Lingyan wasn't so lucky.

The female disciple from the Cangwu Sect with the short sword was too fast, and Chu Lingyan couldn't keep up with the pace at all. She was forced off the stage in less than thirty moves.

However, she had a good attitude; she got up, dusted herself off, and happily ran back to Lin Feng's side.

"Master, I lost."

"Yes, go back and practice your movement techniques more."

Chi Yao won that match decisively; her opponent was cleaved off the stage with her sword in less than ten moves.

The quarterfinals.

Liu Yushu faced off against Yan Chen, Chi Yao against a disciple of the Chixia Sect, and Yan Chen against Liu Yushu.

In that battle, Liu Yushu gave it her all, but the difference in their cultivation levels was simply too great. A mid-stage Golden Core cultivator against an eighth-level Foundation Establishment cultivator—a difference of more than one major cultivation level.

She held out for thirty moves on stage before Yan Chen finally pushed her off the stage with a single palm strike.

She landed steadily, her face calm, though her hand holding the sword was slightly pale.

Chi Yao won that match and advanced to the semifinals.

In the semi-finals, Chi Yao faced off against a female disciple of the Cangwu Sect wielding a short sword.

The two fought for more than fifty moves, and Chi Yao was narrowly defeated, being kicked off the stage by her opponent.

Yan Chen ultimately won the championship.

The competition came to an end, and the disciples from various sects gradually dispersed.

Bamboo shadows swayed on Xiaozhu Peak, and the lingering spiritual energy from Wang Xiao's practice still lingered in the air.

As soon as Lin Feng landed, Wang Xiao poked his head out of the kitchen: "Boss! You're back? I made some spirit chicken soup!"

The apprentices' eyes lit up, and they all rushed into the kitchen.

Lin Feng leaned against the pillar outside the bamboo house and took out the jade token from his storage bag, playing with it for a moment.

The matter concerning the Qinglan family was settled, but he still felt that the Demon Clan wouldn't let it go so easily.

"Master," Liu Yushu said, bringing out a bowl of soup and handing it to him. "What are you thinking about?"

"It's nothing."

Lin Feng took the bowl and drank a sip. The soup was sweet and delicious, and the spiritual energy warmed and melted in his stomach.

"By the way, boss, the sect leader said he wants you to come over."

Lin Feng flew straight to the main hall of Qingyun Palace on his sword.

The lights were on in the main hall, and Master Xuanqing sat in the seat of honor with a cup of tea beside him, indicating that he had been waiting for some time.

"You're back?" Master Xuanqing gestured for him to sit down. "I heard about the competition. All three of your disciples made it into the top sixteen. That's good. Especially Liu Yushu, who reached the top eight in the Foundation Establishment stage. That's quite impressive even in the entire Eastern Region."

Lin Feng sat down: "The sect leader summoned me here, not to praise my disciple, is he?"

Master Xuanqing pushed the piece of parchment on the table toward you: "Take a look at this."

Lin Feng took the parchment, unfolded it, and saw that it was a map.

Judging from the handwriting style, it is a hand-drawn version from at least several hundred years ago. The place names marked are somewhat different from those now, but the general direction of the mountain range can still be identified.

"Where is this?"

"Eight hundred li north of Qingyun Mountain, deep within Black Wind Ridge, lies a relic," said Master Xuanqing. "It was found by patrolling disciples a few days ago on the outskirts of Black Wind Ridge; we don't know when it was lost."

He pointed to the circled area on the map: "This place is marked with the character 'water.' Didn't you obtain the Water Spirit Orb's inheritance from the East Sea Ruins? I was thinking it might be useful for your disciple."

Lin Fengzai carefully studied the map twice, memorizing the mountain ranges and stream distribution: "I'll go take a look in a couple of days."

"No rush. Finish what you're doing first."

Master Xuanqing paused for a moment, then said, "There's something else. The Cangwu Sect sent us an invitation, saying they want to hold a sparring match between our Qingyun Palace disciples, scheduled for next month. They specifically requested that your three disciples participate as well."

Lin Feng chuckled, "Alright. Let's have a spar."

He carefully put the map in his pocket and left the main hall.

It was already dark when we returned to Xiaozhu Peak.

Lin Feng returned to his cave and sat down, taking out the map of Black Wind Ridge again to look at it.

On the back of the map were several lines of small writing, the characters very faint, as if they had been repeatedly rubbed, with only a few blurry words still legible: "...Those without water elemental roots are forbidden to enter...Great danger ahead..."

He looked at the map twice and then put it away.

Great danger? He likes it.

Two days later, he went out alone.

Black Wind Ridge is 800 li north of Qingyun Palace, which is even farther than Sunset Mountain Range.

He flew on his sword for more than two hours before reaching the border.

From the air, Black Wind Ridge appears as a continuous, undulating black mountain range covered with dark coniferous forests.

The location marked on the map is in a valley in the middle of the ridge, surrounded by low-lying terrain, as if it had been forcibly pressed down by some force.

He landed on the edge of the depression. Once he stood still, a thick aura of water-like energy rushed towards him.

He walked along the edge of the depression for most of the way and found an entrance on a rock wall partially covered by vines—the crack was about two feet wide, just big enough for a person to squeeze in sideways.

He squeezed into the crevice sideways, walked about a dozen steps, and then the space in front of him suddenly opened up.

A half-collapsed stone palace came into view, its dome mostly collapsed, revealing the grayish-white light of the outside sky.

In the very center of the stone hall is a pool of water, its surface as calm as a mirror.

A half-broken stone tablet stands by the pond. The upper half is broken off, leaving only half stuck in the ground. There are words on the tablet, which are some kind of ancient runes.

He squatted in front of the monument, looking at each character one by one. He couldn't recognize them all, but he could make out the general meaning: the method of cultivation is left here, waiting for the destined person.

There is a shallow groove at the bottom of the base, which is similar in shape to the blue bead he obtained from the East Sea ruins last time.

He took the spirit pearl out of his storage bag and placed it into the slot.

A soft click.

Suddenly, the water in the center of the pool surged, and a pale blue sphere of light slowly rose from the bottom of the water and hovered above the surface.

Faint writing could be seen flowing inside the sphere of light. He leaned closer to examine it; it was a set of cultivation techniques, water-attribute, and of a fairly high grade.

He quickly read through it. Unlike Liu Yushu's Taiyin True Water Technique, it was more supportive, leaning towards defensive spells such as condensing water into shields and turning water into walls.

He read it three times, memorized all the incantations, and then put the spirit pearl away.