Chapter 4007 — The Manual Reappears

The masked man gave a soft laugh. "Nothing much. I took pity on you, so I helped you a little."

"Helped me?" Xu Lingchong pointed in disgust at the mangled lump of flesh on the floor—his own—and ground his teeth. "You call this helping me?"

"Of course. Let me ask you something: do you prefer women, or power?" the masked man said, a teasing note in his voice.

Xu Lingchong froze, and only after a long moment did he slowly answer, "Power."

To a cultivator bent on becoming strong, women were all very well, but set against power—against real strength—they truly counted for little, especially to an ambitious sort like Xu Lingchong.

For years he had pursued Shangguan Lan'er without stint. His desire for her beauty was part of it, but the deeper aim had always been to ride her influence to a higher station. Once he climbed high enough, he could have all the peerless beauties he liked.

"Since it's power you want, why keep scheming to hold on to this thing?" The masked man gave a contemptuous little laugh. "Compared with the childish trick of clinging to a woman's skirts, strengthening your own cultivation is far more solid and dependable. Wouldn't you agree?"

Xu Lingchong had no answer. After a long silence he said glumly, "Even if I wanted to grow stronger, there was no need to make me a eunuch. What the hell does one have to do with the other?"

"They have everything to do with each other." The masked man snapped his fingers, and all at once an ancient book appeared before Xu Lingchong. On its title page were carved four words in dark gold—the Chrysanthemum Manual.

Xu Lingchong's eyelid twitched. At the other's prompting he picked up the book and opened it, and the very first line left him stunned and speechless: "To practice this art, one must first castrate oneself..."

"This Chrysanthemum Manual is a peerless divine art. Once mastered to its depths, its power rivals the five great divine arts so revered on Cloud Terrace Island—nay, it surpasses them. But it has two prerequisites. First, self-castration. Second, hatred that seeps into the very marrow of your bones. You now possess both," the masked man explained.

"This..." Xu Lingchong wavered at once. Whether he could bear to face it or not, he had to accept the truth that he was now a eunuch—and as for hatred, his loathing for Wei Zhao and Shangguan Lan'er had already pierced the heavens.

"With your aptitude and your circumstances, a few months of earnest practice in the Chrysanthemum Manual will bring you a measure of mastery. By then your strength will be at least several times what it is now, and among cultivators of your level you will be invincible," the masked man went on, pressing the temptation.

At these words Xu Lingchong sank into thought. He could sense that this was no baseless talk, but to this day he still knew nothing at all about the masked man before him.

Who was he? What did he want? What was his true design, and why did he insist Xu Lingchong cultivate the Chrysanthemum Manual? All of it remained a question mark, and the man showed no inclination to explain.

After a long silence, Xu Lingchong suddenly clenched his jaw. "As things stand, I have no other choice. This Chrysanthemum Manual—I will take it."

"Good. I judged you rightly—you are indeed a sensible sort who knows the times. From today, you will stay here and cultivate. I will only let you out once you have attained a measure of mastery. As for the muddled affairs outside and in your household, I will settle them for you." The masked man spoke with approval, then with a flicker of his form vanished from Xu Lingchong's sight, as though he had never been there at all.

"This ghost of a trickster—just who is he?" Xu Lingchong stared around the empty chamber, unable to keep from speculating.

The chamber was sealed on every side—walls, ceiling, floor—in airtight bronze, with no way out whatsoever. Even with Xu Lingchong's exceptional eyes, he could find no crack. He could even sense familiar protective formations worked into the walls, their defensive grade so high it was jaw-dropping.

And yet the masked man had vanished into thin air in just such a place, right before his eyes, under his very nose. Such cultivation, such power—even by Xu Lingchong's standards it was staggering, beyond all belief.

Drawing a deep breath, Xu Lingchong sat down cross-legged and began to study the Chrysanthemum Manual. Whether he willed it or not, matters had come to this pass; unless he did as the masked man said and cultivated the manual to a measure of mastery, he feared he would never see the light of day again.

This strange turn in Xu Lingchong's fortunes was, to the unsuspecting Wei Zhao, as good as a great favor done him by proxy.

After all, Xu Lingchong had just suffered a shattering blow; this was precisely the moment he was most likely to go to extremes, and most dangerous to Wei Zhao—and yet all at once this masked man of unknown origin had locked him away to cultivate the Chrysanthemum Manual.

Never mind what the future might hold; for the short term at least, Xu Lingchong could pose no threat to Wei Zhao, who was free to devote himself to cultivation for a while. Nor did Wei Zhao make any effort to inquire where Xu Lingchong had gone. With no news forthcoming, he was content to enjoy the peace.

Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye the day of the auction arrived. As agreed beforehand, Wei Zhao came early and alone to the Hong Merchant Guild to meet Hong Zhong.

This time, however, he appeared in his true form. Hong Zhong already knew his identity, and their association had been seen by everyone at the birthday banquet; rather than keep hiding behind the guise of Lin Er, it was better to be open about it and appear openly as his true self.

This was in fact a kind of psychological gambit. After all, to this day Nan Tianxiong and his lot, however much they might suspect him, still lacked sufficient evidence to confirm that he and Lin Er were one and the same. Faced with Wei Zhao in his true form, that sliver of uncertainty might well become an opportunity—whereas if he appeared as Lin Er, they could strike at him directly, with no doubt at all.

After greeting Hong Zhong and exchanging a few pleasantries, Wei Zhao at once drew a pouch from his robes and handed it to him. "Steward Hong, these are some pills I refined not long ago. Shall I bundle them and sell them to your Hong Merchant Guild?"

Hong Zhong's eyes lit up. He took the cloth bundle and opened it, and there lay a full thirteen pills, every one a Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill. What startled him more was that each pill shimmered with layer upon layer of elixir halos—all of them rare, top-grade goods.

"Thirteen top-grade Foundation Establishment golden pills at one go—Young Hero Lin, this is truly a grand gesture!" Even Hong Zhong, an old steward who had seen his share of the world, could not help exclaiming again and again.