Ooooh—

A muffled horn sound, like a Dragon's roar, echoed as several warships docked along the coast.

Crimson Feather Army soldiers, clad in red armor, disembarked.

Haihe City Lord Sun Kaixuan, with his scribe, had been waiting early on the shore.

Seeing the warships dock, he immediately scurried forward to greet them.

"This humble one congratulates Commander Lin on his triumphant return from suppressing the bandits."

He dropped to his knees with a thud, speaking with utmost respect.

In truth, his official rank did not require such a grand gesture.

But ever since he learned that the Crimson Feather Army had, in less than 10 days, completely wiped out the five major pirate groups that had been entrenched in the near-sea area for some time, he understood that this Commander Lin was far more domineering and ruthless than he had imagined.

He had been the City Lord of Haihe City for so many years and was quite familiar with the Crimson Feather Army and even the Gongsun family.

He was also very clear about the situation of these pirates in the near-sea area.

This time, Commander Lin had clearly completely uprooted the Gongsun family from Haihe Valley.

The Crimson Feather Army soldiers parted, and Lin Sheng strode out confidently, his gaze falling on Sun Kaixuan, a faint smile on his face.

"City Lord Sun is too polite. There's no need for such a grand ceremony. Please rise."

"Thank you, Commander Lin."

Upon hearing this, Sun Kaixuan finally stood up, simultaneously winking at the scribe behind him.

The latter immediately waved to the rear.

Soon, a carriage drove over.

Sun Kaixuan spoke with a beaming smile.

"Commander Lin, these are the Yao Beast bloods this humble one has collected during this period. Please accept them, considering them a small token of appreciation for your efforts in suppressing the bandits."

As he spoke, the scribe had already pulled back the curtain, revealing several jade bottles inside.

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow.

Originally, he had only mentioned it casually, not expecting the other party to actually find Yao Beast blood for him.

With the fat delivered right to his mouth, he naturally had no intention of letting it go, so he immediately stepped forward to the carriage.

These jade bottles were mostly head-sized, seven in total.

He inspected them one by one, and indeed, they all contained Yao Beast vital blood. Although not from the same Yao Beast, it was still quite good.

"City Lord Sun is truly thoughtful. Since that's the case, then Linsheng Pavilion will accept them."

He turned his head and said with a faint smile.

"As long as Commander Lin is satisfied, as long as he is satisfied."

Seeing that the other party showed no unusual reaction, Sun Kaixuan's hanging heart immediately relaxed a lot, and he echoed with a fawning smile.

Although these Yao Beast bloods had cost him a lot of effort and money, compared to his life, they were naturally nothing.

"Alright, Linsheng Pavilion still has military matters to attend to, so I won't stay long."

"Of course. This is the carriage this humble one has prepared for you."

Sun Kaixuan immediately made way, a rather luxurious carriage already parked nearby.

"You're thoughtful."

Lin Sheng was not polite and directly stepped into the carriage, which was almost as large as Moyunzi's carriage had been.

The procession continued forward, and before long, they arrived at the military camp.

Inside the tent.

Lin Sheng slowly opened his eyes, the jade bottles before him already empty.

His gaze fell upon the fifth circular imprint on his chest.

The gray-white imprint now showed a crimson bloodline, but it was still far from completely filling the entire imprint.

With a thought, he brought up his panel.

The activation progress of the fifth imprint was only two percent.

Although he had been mentally prepared, seeing this minuscule activation progress still caused him to frown.

"Indeed, the difficulty of activation is far beyond that of the fourth imprint."

One must know that the quality of the Yao Beast blood in these jade bottles was not low, some even containing powerful Yao Beast vital blood not inferior to that of the Deep Sea Ghost Shark.

Yet, even so, the progress was truly touching.

Shaking his head slightly, Lin Sheng suddenly felt a warmth in his chest.

It was as if a Bottleneck within his body had been broken.

His heart stirred, and he immediately brought up his attribute panel.

【Lin Sheng】

【Realm: Divine Form Realm】

【Strength: 25】 【Physique: 26】 【Agility: 22】 【Perception: 16】 【Spirit: 8】

【Talent: Dragon Elephant Power】

【Talent: Ji Hai Magic Blood】

"My Physique has increased by another point? Not bad."

Looking at the changes on the panel, Lin Sheng's lips curved into a smile.

During his time at sea, he had essentially refined all those Yao Beast blood pearls.

Finally, there was a substantial improvement.

A single point increase in Physique might seem small, but it was quite noticeable in his body.

He could clearly feel the strengthening of his physical body.

He sensed it again carefully. The Qi and blood energy obtained from refining Yao Beast blood within his body, after this improvement, was already running low.

It seemed that even after complete digestion, it might not be enough to increase another attribute point.

After all, his current Strength and Physique attributes had reached an extremely powerful level.

"However, as my cultivation progressed and I entered the Divine Form Realm, the limits of my body also grew. It seems that after returning to the Nanzhao Imperial City, I can once again refine some Yao Beast blood to nourish myself."

This thought flashed through his mind.

He glanced at the sky outside, which had already darkened.

He didn't bother to stay here any longer.

He immediately decided to return to the Nanzhao Imperial City.

With the matter concluded, there was no point in staying longer.

That night, two figures, or more accurately, three figures, sped away from the Crimson Feather Army camp.

The leader was tall and straight, with disheveled hair and distinct facial features. Who else could it be but Lin Sheng?

Behind him was Meng Lie, clad in light armor.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in the camp to oversee things, and instead wish to return to the Nanzhao Imperial City with me?"

Lin Sheng asked indifferently.

"There are no longer any hidden dangers or threats within the Crimson Feather Army. Xie Kui and the others are sufficient. This trip has almost completely purged the Gongsun family. It would be good for your subordinate to accompany the General back and report these matters to Your Majesty."

Meng Lie respectfully replied, holding a figure like a lump of mud in his hand—the only surviving Gongsun Changyue.

The Gongsun family had embezzled military supplies, colluded with pirates, and even secretly communicated with forces from Siro Country.

Especially the latter.

This matter was no longer as simple as controlling the Crimson Feather Army and embezzling military supplies.

"You said this Gongsun family has long been colluding with the underground forces from Siro Country. What is that force called?"

Hearing the other party's words, Lin Sheng nodded, then seemed to remember something and asked again.

After annihilating the Obsidian Stone Pirates, Meng Lie and the others had interrogated many pieces of information from some of the survivors.

The most noteworthy among them was the connection with Siro Country.

"Reporting to the General, that force is called Thorn Heart. Their methods are quite vicious, even using living beings as cultivation nourishment. As far as your subordinate knows, this organization has carried out massacres of cities several times and is quite infamous in Siro Country. Of course, their strength is also extremely powerful, so much so that even though Siro Country is strong and has many experts, they have never been able to eliminate it."

Meng Lie immediately and quickly revealed what he knew.

"Thorn Heart, huh? That's somewhat interesting."

Hearing Meng Lie's words, Lin Sheng murmured a few times.

It sounded like Thorn Heart was somewhat similar to Dark Star, but the two were also quite different.

As underground forces, Dark Star was essentially an assassination organization. As the foundation of the Former Dynasty's imperial family, its primary goal was to overthrow the Northern Yan imperial court.

This Thorn Heart, however, sounded more like a thoroughgoing cult.

Using living beings as cultivation nourishment, this cultivation method was somewhat similar to the Tianluo Sect.

However, being able to commit massacres of cities, it was clearly even more sinister than the Tianluo Sect.

He couldn't help but recall the vines with countless human faces that Steve had when they fought.

Such methods were indeed quite eerie, and their power was not bad.

They possessed extremely strong binding capabilities, and even if one was entangled by them, the circulation of Qi would become extremely difficult.

Even an ordinary Grandmaster of the Second Realm would likely find it difficult to break free if bound by them.

This method also differed significantly from the Southern Qi Holy Spirit Light system he had learned about.

This was clearly a special characteristic of the so-called Thorn Heart.

His gaze fell on Meng Lie.

"You know quite a lot."

"The General jests. In fact, your subordinate only learned about Thorn Heart half a year ago. Because the relationship between Southern Qi and Siro Country has become increasingly close, Thorn Heart also entered our field of vision."

Meng Lie explained with a smile.

"Speaking of which, there was a batch of military supplies from Siro Country destined for Southern Qi that was intercepted by Thorn Heart. It seems that due to the Black Disaster outbreak in Southern Qi, the Thorn Heart organization also has a tendency to leave Southern Qi."

"Now it seems that the Gongsun family was the stepping stone Thorn Heart found."

Meng Lie's expression became more serious as he spoke, glancing at the unconscious Gongsun Changyue in his hand, and said bitterly.

"These damned bastards actually dared to cooperate with Thorn Heart. If they were to gain a foothold in Southern Qi, who knows how many casualties they would cause."

Hearing this, Lin Sheng understood.

This time, the Gongsun family had truly gone too far.

If such a cult-like organization, similar to the Tianluo Sect, were to arrive in Southern Qi, given the current situation where the main forces of both warring nations were on the front lines, Southern Qi would absolutely be unable to spare too much strength for suppression.

If experts were dispatched, it would definitely affect the war. If ignored, who knows how many tragedies would erupt.

After all, an organization that could slaughter cities at will in Siro Country would likely be even more insane in the foreign land of Southern Qi.

Such a matter was absolutely intolerable to Southern Qi.

However, the Gongsun family had been deeply rooted in Southern Qi for a long time, so it remained to be seen how Jing Emperor would decide.

Shaking his head slightly, Lin Sheng asked Meng Lie for some more information about Thorn Heart, then said no more. The two quickened their pace and instantly disappeared into the night.

Nanzhao Imperial City.

Inside the Imperial Palace.

"Gongsun family, how audacious!"

After reading the contents of the communication jade slip in his hand.

Jing Emperor's brows furrowed slightly, then his face darkened.

Clutching the jade slip tightly, he paced back and forth in the great hall.

He seemed to be pondering something.

Suddenly, from the shadows beside him, a gaunt figure slowly emerged.

"Elder Long, you've come."

Looking at the suddenly appearing old man, Jing Emperor stopped and bowed slightly.

"I already know about the matter. What do you intend to do?"

Elder Long's ancient face, covered in wrinkles, showed little expression as he asked softly.

Jing Emperor, however, showed hesitation, as if pondering something, and finally spoke slowly.

"I never expected that old fellow Gongsun Yue to be so incredibly audacious, it truly exceeded my expectations."

He had originally only wanted to reprimand the Gongsun family, but he never expected so many things to be involved.

Now, when it came to how to deal with the Gongsun family, he found himself in a dilemma.

The Gongsun family had existed since the founding of Southern Qi. It could be said that they were founding nobles who had achieved many glorious military feats, otherwise, they would not have been passed down to this day.

Especially the current Gongsun family, even within Southern Qi, was a rather powerful force. This could be considered the left and right arms of the imperial family.

If they were dealt with, it would definitely cause great damage to the imperial family, especially at this time, which made it even more difficult for him.

Elder Long, standing by, snorted at Jing Emperor's hesitation.

"What! Are you still indecisive at this point?"

"The Gongsun family dared to cross the line and go this far. Do you think they still have the imperial family in their hearts? Moreover, this time, almost all of the Gongsun family's younger generation were slaughtered, and even Gongsun Changhai, who secretly entered the Grandmaster Realm, has died."

"There is no room for reconciliation in this matter. Even if there were, the Gongsun family must not be allowed to remain."

Elder Long's voice was low, and his calm tone carried a chilling killing intent.

"I understand, Elder Long."

Jing Emperor sighed, speaking heavily.

He naturally understood this point, but severing a limb was not something everyone could easily decide upon.

"The Gongsun family, this cancerous tumor, must be removed sooner or later. Why prolong it? If things cannot end well, then they must be brought to a complete end."

"Without the Gongsun family, Southern Qi is still Southern Qi. Moreover, there is still Lin Sheng."

Speaking of this, Elder Long showed a complex expression.

"No wonder Mr. Tang actively facilitated Lingyu's marriage with this young man. This young man's talent is indeed unprecedented. This move can protect our Southern Qi for several hundred years."

Hearing the other party mention Lin Sheng, Jing Emperor's face was also full of complexity.

When he saw the information sent back by Meng Lie, compared to the Gongsun family's secret collusion with Thorn Heart, the matter of Lin Sheng slaying a Grandmaster shocked him even more.

Based on the collected information, he had already placed Lin Sheng's strength at an extremely high level, but he never expected that the other party's true strength would far exceed his expectations.

"This time, when Lin Sheng returns, let's proceed with Lingyu's marriage."

Elder Long instructed.

"I was just thinking the same thing."

Jing Emperor nodded in agreement.

"Alright, the Gongsun family probably will receive the intelligence soon. I will go and arrange personnel. Let's settle this today."

Elder Long's hoarse voice sounded, and the next moment, his figure had disappeared from the great hall.

*

Nanzhao Imperial City, Gongsun family mansion.

"Has there been no intelligence back yet?"

Inside the study, Gongsun Yue's voice rang out.

"Reporting to Master, your subordinate has already sent someone to contact them. It shouldn't be long before we receive a reply."

Black River said respectfully, bowing his head.

"Master, there is no need to worry. With Young Master Changhai's strength, the Imperial Guards arranged by Jing Emperor are nothing. Moreover, there are experts from that side, so there will definitely be no accidents."

"That's true."

Gongsun Yue nodded, his expression softening somewhat.

However, for some reason, he always had a vague sense of foreboding in his heart. This feeling had not appeared for many years, and it made him feel somewhat irritable for a time.

And just then, urgent footsteps sounded outside the door.

"Master, this is bad, something terrible has happened…"

A panicked cry sounded from the courtyard.

Above the Gongsun mansion, a lifelike Dragon-shaped phantom emerged.