After leaving the waterfall valley, Fang Lin did not return to Rivercloud City.
He wandered alone near the Rivercloud city.
The Demon Immortal Continent stretched endlessly beneath the sky, filled with mountains, forests, hidden roads, abandoned temples, and dangerous territories marked only by old bones and broken warning stones. The farther Fang Lin traveled, the more clearly he understood that Rivercloud City was only a small stain on a much larger map.
His face changed every few days. Sometimes he looked like a wandering swordsman with a tired gaze. Sometimes he became a young herb gatherer with patched sleeves and mud on his boots. Sometimes he looked like a dull-eyed servant from a minor clan, moving along forgotten paths as if he were escorting goods that did not exist.
Most of the time, his aura remained hidden at Early Qi Conjunction Realm.
Beneath that disguise, however, his true cultivation had already reached Early Spirit Foundation Realm.
Only after truly stepping into Spirit Foundation did Fang Lin understand how vast the difference was between it and Qi Conjunction.
His dantian was no longer a narrow stream that required careful management after every exchange. Qi gathered inside it like a deep pool, steady and far harder to exhaust. His divine sense had expanded greatly, his body and soul had become more stable, and his Qi now carried clearer elemental traces.
Frost(Ice).
Shadow.
Life.
Death.
All of them had taken deeper root.
His current goal was Black Mountain Gate.
The grey-green leaf from Guo Zhen's storage ring had awakened a reaction from the grey seed and pushed the Nine Nether Phantom Body into Greater Mastery. That leaf could not be ignored.
Black Mountain Gate controlled mines, body-tempering resources, and several mountain territories around Rivercloud City. If one leaf had appeared among Guo Zhen's possessions, there might be more. If there were more, Fang Lin had to find them. If the sect knew where the leaf came from, Fang Lin had to learn that as well.
But entering Black Mountain Gate was not simple.
He could not go as Fang Lin.
He could not go as Lin Mo.
He could not go as an ordinary recruited cultivator from the Demon Sealing Ruins.
The three Rivercloud sects were likely still searching for the hidden cultivator who had obtained the underground legacy. Even if they did not know his true face, they would be suspicious of strangers who appeared too suddenly.
Fang Lin needed a better identity.
A real identity.
Someone with access.
Someone whose presence inside Black Mountain Gate would not be questioned.
As he walked through a forested mountain path, his thoughts moved silently.
A disciple identity would be troublesome. Disciples were watched by elders, tested often, and tied to groups.
A servant identity would be too low. Servants could move around, but they could not approach important resource halls, elder records, or inner sect matters.
A merchant identity was possible, but temporary. A merchant could enter outer halls and trade areas, but the deeper places of the sect would remain sealed.
An elder identity would be best.
Fang Lin's eyes moved slightly.
It would also be the most dangerous.
An elder had family, attendants, duties, acquaintances, enemies, habits, records, and past mistakes. If he impersonated one without enough knowledge, he would be exposed quickly.
He needed information.
Not rumors. But Memories.
Fang Lin's footsteps slowed.
A faint pressure appeared ahead.
Heavy.
Earth-like.
Spirit Foundation Realm.
And not weak.
Fang Lin immediately withdrew his aura further. Shadow Breath wrapped around him quietly, and Phantom Transformation changed his face into that of a thin, tired wandering cultivator. He stepped off the main path and hid behind a moss-covered boulder.
Not long after, three figures appeared on the mountain road.
The man in front was middle-aged and wore black-brown elder robes. His clothing was heavier than ordinary disciple robes, with dark stone patterns embroidered along the cuffs. A black mountain crest rested on his chest, and a dark iron waist token hung from his belt.
Black Mountain Gate.
Elder rank.
His aura was hidden, but Fang Lin could sense the depth beneath it.
Late Spirit Foundation Realm.
The man's face was narrow, his eyes cold and slightly sunken. His hair was tied with a dark jade clasp, and his hands were broad, with thick calluses across the knuckles. His aura color was dark earth mixed with iron grey, heavy and stable.
It was not like Guo Zhen's young, forceful mountain pressure.
This man's pressure was deeper and more settled, like an old stone buried beneath many years of weight.
Behind him walked two attendants.
One was a young man in plain brown robes, carrying a medicine box on his back. The other was a young woman in grey-black servant clothing, holding several sealed scrolls. Both were at Qi Conjunction Realm, and neither dared walk too close to the elder in front.
The elder suddenly stopped.
His gaze turned toward the boulder where Fang Lin hid.
Fang Lin's eyes narrowed slightly.
Discovered?
No.
Not fully.
The elder had sensed something, but not his true aura.
"Come out," the elder said coldly.
Fang Lin remained silent for one breath, then walked out slowly.
His appearance was ordinary. His aura showed Early Spirit Foundation Realm, newly broken through and unstable.
That was intentional.
If he hid too deeply, the elder might become more suspicious. If he appeared too weak, the elder might try to kill him immediately without hesitation. Early Spirit Foundation was enough to explain why he possessed some concealment ability, but not enough to threaten a Late Spirit Foundation elder.
The elder looked at him.
His eyes sharpened. "Early Spirit Foundation?"
Fang Lin cupped his hands slightly. "Senior, I was only passing by."
The elder studied him from head to toe.
Plain robes.
No sect emblem.
No clear background.
Young.
Newly broken through.
Alone.
The elder's expression did not change, but greed flickered faintly in his eyes.
A young wandering cultivator who had just entered Spirit Foundation Realm.
Such people usually carried secrets.
Perhaps a fortunate encounter.
Perhaps a hidden inheritance.
Perhaps pills and spirit stones left over after breakthrough.
The elder stepped forward.
His attendants glanced at each other and quietly retreated several steps. From the way they moved, they had clearly seen this sort of thing before.
The elder said calmly, "Which sect are you from?"
Fang Lin lowered his head. "No sect. I cultivate alone."
The elder smiled faintly. "A rogue cultivator entering Spirit Foundation at your age?"
Fang Lin did not answer.
The elder's smile became colder. "Then your luck must be very good."
Fang Lin looked at him. "Senior, I do not wish for trouble."
"Trouble?"
The elder laughed softly.
"You hid beside the road and spied on a Black Mountain Gate elder. That alone is enough for me to take you back for interrogation."
Fang Lin's gaze remained calm. "I did not know Senior was from Black Mountain Gate."
The elder's eyes narrowed.
"That makes it even better."
His aura spread.
Late Spirit Foundation pressure descended like a dark mountain.
The road beneath Fang Lin's feet cracked slightly. For the first time after breaking through, Fang Lin felt the full pressure of a Late Spirit Foundation cultivator.
Heavy.
Deep.
Far stronger than the pressure released by ordinary Spirit Foundation disciples.
Fang Lin's eyes became serious.
So this was Late Spirit Foundation.
A newly broken through Early Spirit Foundation cultivator and an elder who had accumulated strength for years were not separated by a small step. The difference was a cliff hidden inside the same realm.
The elder noticed that Fang Lin did not collapse under his pressure.
His interest grew.
"Good foundation," he said, his voice lowering. "Very good."
He raised his hand, and dark-earth Qi gathered around his palm.
"Let me see what you are hiding."
The palm descended.
Fang Lin moved.
Flowing Wind Steps carried him sideways, and the elder's palm struck the ground where he had stood.
The mountain road split apart.
Stone fragments flew through the air.
Fang Lin landed several meters away. His expression remained calm, but his heart became clearer.
If he had met this elder before breaking through, he would have been in real danger.
The elder looked at him with slight surprise.
"Fast."
Fang Lin said nothing.
The elder's smile widened.
"Movement technique. Concealment technique. Young Spirit Foundation cultivation. No sect background."
His eyes became colder.
"You are worth investigating."
The two attendants had already retreated farther away. The young man carrying the medicine box whispered, "Elder Luo is serious."
The young woman nodded nervously, her fingers tightening around the sealed scrolls.
Elder Luo.
Fang Lin heard the name.
The elder raised his hand again.
"Remember my name before you die. Black Mountain Gate Elder Luo Cheng."
The dark-earth aura around him rose. His robe sleeves moved without wind, the black mountain crest on his chest glimmered faintly, and the dark iron waist token at his belt gave off a heavy spiritual fluctuation.
A true elder of Black Mountain Gate.
Late Spirit Foundation Realm.
Fang Lin's eyes slowly became cold.
He had been thinking about how to enter Black Mountain Gate.
Now, a door had walked to him by itself.
Luo Cheng stepped forward, and the mountain road shook beneath him.
"Do not die too quickly."
Fang Lin raised his hand.
Faint white life force moved beneath his skin, and a thin black shadow spread beneath his feet. Frost Wind appeared silently in his grip.
Luo Cheng's eyes brightened.
"A good sword too."
His greed was no longer hidden.
Fang Lin looked at him calmly. "You should not have stopped me."
Luo Cheng laughed.
"Little brat, do you think breaking into Spirit Foundation means you can do anything to me?"
His palm rose again, and dark-earth Qi gathered into a massive stone hand above him.
"Today, this old man will teach you the difference between a new Spirit Foundation cultivator and a Late Spirit Foundation elder."
The stone hand fell.
Fang Lin stepped forward.
Not back.
The battle began.
The stone hand descended like a falling cliff. Before it even landed, the pressure pressed cracks into the mountain road. Trees on both sides bent under the force, and dust rose in waves.
Fang Lin's eyes remained calm.
He could feel the strength inside the attack.
This was not Guo Zhen.
Guo Zhen's mountain force had been young, fierce, and direct. Luo Cheng's dark-earth Qi was older and heavier. It carried years of accumulation, layered like stone compressed beneath a mountain.
Fang Lin did not meet it carelessly.
Flowing Wind Steps activated.
His figure shifted like drifting wind, passing through the edge of the stone hand's pressure.
The attack struck the ground.
Half the road collapsed.
Fang Lin appeared at Luo Cheng's side and slashed with Frost Wind. A pale-blue frost line cut toward Luo Cheng's ribs.
Luo Cheng snorted.
His sleeve swept outward, and dark-earth Qi formed a stone shield.
Frost Wind struck the shield with a sharp sound.
Cold Qi spread across it, but the shield did not break.
Luo Cheng's eyes flickered. "Frost attribute?"
His other hand moved.
A fist covered in iron-grey earth Qi smashed toward Fang Lin's chest.
Fang Lin raised his left palm.
Wind Break Palm.
Life force strengthened his meridians.
Body force from the Nine Nether Phantom Body surged.
Palm and fist collided.
The shockwave shattered nearby stones.
Fang Lin slid back three steps.
Luo Cheng slid back one.
His expression changed.
A newly broken through Early Spirit Foundation cultivator had taken his fist.
Not only taken it.
He had forced him back.
Luo Cheng's eyes narrowed.
"Body cultivation."
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