The sun had just risen when the group resumed their march toward the mine. The air was crisp, and each step crunched against frost-hardened dirt. Xu Jin walked alongside Lin Shu, yawning as he stretched his arms.
"We'll reach the mine by evening if we keep up this pace," Xu Jin muttered.
Lin Shu nodded silently, but his thoughts ran elsewhere.
"Still no opportunity to slip away… And Han Yi hasn't even looked in my direction once. Was it really just coincidence that she talked to me that day? That she's looking for someone with lightning techniques… and it was never me?"
His brow tightened slightly.
"I should ask Xu Jin—he's the one who told me she was looking for lightning users. But I have to be careful. He knows I use lightning. If I'm not subtle, he might start putting pieces together. And that greedy bastard wouldn't hesitate to sell me out for a technique… or a pouch of gold since i would do that if i was in his place."
A plan formed in Lin Shu's mind. He glanced sideways and said casually, "I talked to that Wen Ping you told me about."
Xu Jin raised a brow. "Oh? That freak?"
"Yeah," Lin Shu said with a faint smirk. "He was exactly as bizarre as you described. I kept asking him about a few things, and somehow, the bastard kept talking about Han Yi. Rambling like he's in love with her or something, even though I never even mentioned her."
Xu Jin snorted. "Heh, well, that's just Wen Ping. Loses track of everything. But… he's never talked that much about Han Yi to me. Maybe he really did catch feelings."
"Well," Lin Shu continued smoothly, "he also said Han Yi was looking for someone. And then he got all worked up, cursing and shouting that 'she's mine' and that he'd kill the guy if he found him. Real obsessive. Honestly, I think he knows something. Maybe the guy she's looking for is someone close to her."
Xu Jin's eyes widened.
"What? So she's not hunting someone she hates, but someone she actually knows?" he asked, frowning. "But that doesn't make much sense… Though, knowing Wen Ping, he probably imagined all that because he's jealous."
"True," Lin Shu agreed with a shrug. "He also told me the whole tournament was a setup. Said she was pissed because she didn't find the person she was looking for."
Xu Jin nodded quickly. "Exactly. If she cared about the guy, wouldn't she at least know what he looked like? Everything she did in the tournament made it seem like she was trying to bait someone out. Which means she didn't even know his face."
"Right," Lin Shu added. "So if she did find him… it probably happened afterward. Quietly."
"Tch," Xu Jin grumbled. "What a waste. I even paid a little to try and find him, you know? If I had found him first and sold him out to her, I could've made a killing."
"Yeah," Lin Shu replied, expression unreadable. "He was basically a walking treasure. Anyone would've tried to track him down."
Xu Jin let out a sigh. "Either Han Yi found him, someone else did… or he got smart and ran off. Bastard slipped through our fingers."
Lin Shu nodded again, his face calm—but inwardly, his thoughts churned like a storm.
"So… she really was trying to lure someone out. And now she's stopped. Either she gave up… or she already found him."
His eyes narrowed slightly, scanning the distant horizon.
"Huh… maybe I was just being overly paranoid from the start," Lin Shu thought, the morning breeze brushing against his face as he walked. "I don't have anything to do with Han Yi, really. And even if she was the one who sold me the Crimson Flow Pill at the institute's auction, it was a mutual exchange. I didn't force her hand. It's highly unlikely she or her master knew I was the one who sold the Infernoheart Salamander King's egg."
His gaze drifted across the horizon, the rising sun casting golden rays over the treetops.
"It must've been a coincidence… nothing more. Maybe I've just been imagining enemies in every shadow."
His shoulders relaxed slightly, the ever-present tension in his chest finally easing.
"So maybe I don't need to abandon the institute just yet. After all, the sect it's tied to is the Stormbreak Sect, and their focus on thunder and lightning sword arts… it aligns with the path I'm forming. My techniques are already leaning toward speed and explosive power. If I go there, I can deepen my understanding of lightning-based combat and continue refining Ivory Dominion slowly."
For the first time in days, Lin Shu allowed himself a deep breath—steady, controlled.
The fear that had been clawing at him—the dread of being hunted down by someone like Han Yi, someone with an entire institute behind her—was still there, but it no longer ruled him. After all, he couldn't even defeat her alone right now, let alone fight her plus the weight of her faction.
"But that's fine," he told himself, narrowing his eyes with resolve. "I'll just make sure… one day, they'll be the ones afraid of me."
He kept walking. Quiet. Focused. Ready.
The group soon reached their destination—a fortress sprawling across the base of a rocky cliffside. Its tall stone walls encircled the mine like a crude belt, stretching over a hundred meters in length and rising just above ten in height. It wasn't built to withstand a serious attack; structures capable of holding up against cultivator-level assaults were far too expensive to build at this scale. This was more of a deterrent than a defense.
They passed through the gates without delay, escorted in by the Vice Dean himself. The guards—students of the institute stationed here for duty—bowed in greeting before leading him toward a large tent near the center of the compound, clearly marked as the supervisor's quarters. Several instructors followed behind, leaving the rest of the group standing near the entrance, waiting for their orders.
Lin Shu's gaze swept across the area. Dozens of tents dotted the interior, forming makeshift rows like a temporary camp. Cultivators moved about, but the ones emerging from the mines weren't students—they were servants. No doubt some of them were enslaved. Their clothes were dirty, faces hollow, but they worked without pause, hauling carts filled with glowing azure crystals. So this was how the institute mined them—servants did the labor, students did the guarding.
"We're finally here, I guess," muttered Xu Jin beside him. "Let's just hope we get a spot inside the mines as guards."
The reluctance in his tone was plain. He clearly didn't want to be stationed outside, where the threat of the Jiang Clan's ambush hung in the air like a blade. Xu Jin would rather fight a nest of frenzied giant worms than deal with poison-wielding cultivators. Not that it mattered—once the Vice Dean issued an order, none of them could refuse.
"I guess we can only hope," Lin Shu replied, keeping his voice even. His mind was already made up. With his doubts about Han Yi slowly fading, he'd decided to remain in the institute. Either she got what she was looking for… or gave up the search. Either way, it no longer concerned him.
"I wonder where that beast is at?" Xu Jin suddenly muttered, half to himself.
He didn't need to clarify. He was clearly talking about the one and only Xie Lang—his dearest friend and most despised headache.
Right on cue, a sharp slap landed on the back of Xu Jin's head.
"Well, well! If it isn't Fatty himself," came a smug voice, laced with amusement.
Xie Lang stood behind them, smirking broadly, eyes full of mischief. Whether he was genuinely happy to see Xu Jin or just pleased to have someone to annoy, it was hard to tell.
"How many times do I have to yell it through your thick skull, you uncivilized bastard? I'm not fat!" Xu Jin barked, rubbing the back of his head. "This is all muscle—pure muscle, a side effect of my body refinement technique! You don't believe me? Bring your face closer and I'll break your jaw!"
"Yeah, yeah," Xie Lang said dismissively, waving him off. Then he turned to Lin Shu. "Haven't seen you in a while, Lin Shu. Why didn't you show up for the tournament? You missed out, let me tell you…"
Without giving him a chance to respond, Xie Lang launched into a rambling tale of his glorious victories, exaggerated feats, and how his loss was due only to misfortune and not lack of strength.
"Can you shut your damn mouth for once?" Xu Jin snapped, cutting him off. "Nobody wants to hear how you got your ass handed to you. Just tell us what's been going on in the mines these past few weeks."
Xie Lang clicked his tongue and cursed under his breath but finally gave in, muttering something about them as he prepared to answer.