"This doesn't make sense..."
The head of the messaging group muttered, "The Prefecture Overseer should be in seclusion behind the waterfall."
Suddenly, he realized something was wrong!
Taking two steps forward, he quickly turned around and stared at the person who had just spoken. "Who are you? Why have I never seen you before?"
Lin Li smiled faintly and replied, "Funny enough, I should thank you."
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known that the damn Prefecture Overseer was hiding behind this waterfall!"
"You dare speak disrespectfully about the Prefecture Overseer?"
The messaging group leader angrily shouted, "Do you have a death wish?"
"Death?"
Lin Li chuckled bitterly. "Had it not been for a stroke of luck, I would've died decades ago."
"You're...?"
A terrifying thought suddenly flashed through the messaging group leader's mind. "You're the son of the rebel leader who killed the current Prince of Changlin, Lin Li?!"
"Quite smart," Lin Li said with a smirk.
The group leader gasped in fear, his face drained of color as he staggered back several steps, trembling. "Wh-what do you intend to do?"
"What do I intend to do?"
Lin Li sneered and shook his head. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Relax. I'm only here for revenge. As long as you cooperate, I won't harm you."
"Now, are you sure the Prefecture Overseer is behind this waterfall?"
"And just so you know, if you lie, I'll be taking your head as compensation."
Gulp!
The messaging group leader swallowed hard, his hair standing on end as he stammered, "Y-yes, the Prefecture Overseer is behind the waterfall."
"Then why didn't he answer earlier?"
"Perhaps... he's at a critical stage in his seclusion?"
"I'm not entirely sure," the group leader said nervously.
"Alright."
Lin Li sighed and said, "In that case..."
"I'll force him out!"
With that, Lin Li drew his Soul-Devouring Spirit Sword, his spiritual energy surging!
"Heaven-Shattering Sword: One Sword to Shatter the Heavens!"
This time, Lin Li used the technique he had mastered when he reached Core Formation in Baixing Kingdom.
Although the Heaven-Shattering Sword wasn't as lethal as the Jinghong Sword in one-on-one combat, it consumed very little energy and was incredibly powerful for general use.
As Lin Li unleashed the Heaven-Shattering Sword, sword winds swept through the air, and the space around them seemed to tear apart under the sword's force!
The sword's blade expanded rapidly with the wind!
In the blink of an eye, it had grown several zhang long, and when it slashed through the waterfall, water sprayed everywhere.
Then, it struck the mountainside behind the waterfall!
Boom!!!
Rocks flew everywhere!
At that moment, an enraged voice erupted from the crumbling mountainside, accompanied by the sound of the cliff collapsing. "Who dares?!!"
"Who dares disturb me at such a critical moment, right when I'm breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage?!"
A blue streak of light shot out from the shattered cliff and waterfall.
It stopped midair.
There stood an elder with graying hair, dressed in a dark blue robe, his face full of fury. He was a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator!
"You're the Prefecture Overseer of Nanping?"
Lin Li raised an eyebrow and asked coldly.
Though Lin Li could sense that this man's cultivation was at the sixth level of the Nascent Soul stage, two levels higher than his own, he felt no fear whatsoever!
Da Jing was a peaceful and prosperous empire. Its cultivators, while typically of higher realms than those in Zhao Kingdom or Baixing Kingdom, were not as battle-hardened.
Thus, despite their higher cultivation, Da Jing's cultivators lacked the combat power of those from Zhao Kingdom and Baixing Kingdom, making their realms somewhat inflated.
Moreover, Lin Li had survived countless life-or-death battles, fighting opponents of higher cultivation in both Zhao Kingdom and Baixing Kingdom. His combat prowess far surpassed that of most cultivators at his level!
Given this disparity, even though the Prefecture Overseer of Nanping was two levels higher than Lin Li, Lin Li saw him as nothing more than an inflated paper tiger, filled with disdain and hatred.
"Indeed, I am!"
The Prefecture Overseer retorted, "And who are you? State your name! If you've dared to destroy my seclusion chamber and interrupt my cultivation, you must have come prepared to die! Hahaha!"
"One doesn't change one's name while sitting or standing: I am Lin Li!"
Lin Li declared.
"Lin Li?"
The Prefecture Overseer frowned in confusion. "Never heard of you."
At this moment, the head of the messaging group quickly explained Lin Li's identity and how he had killed Mo Wentian.
"So, you're Lin Tian's son?"
The Prefecture Overseer exclaimed in surprise. "Lin Tian certainly sired a remarkable son! Who could've imagined that in just a few decades, the child from back then has already become a Nascent Soul cultivator!"
"But alas..."
He began laughing again. "You've been too arrogant!"
"If you'd waited another century or two, with your terrifying cultivation speed, I'd certainly be no match for you."
"But now... boy, prepare to die!"
With that, the Prefecture Overseer began forming hand seals.
The waterfall behind him suddenly shifted, transforming into a massive water dragon!
The water dragon spat out enormous water bullets, each as large as a boulder!
"Water Dragon Bomb!"
The Prefecture Overseer shouted.
The water bombs shot toward Lin Li with terrifying speed.
But Lin Li effortlessly dodged every single attack with a few quick movements.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Behind him, the water bombs blasted several large craters into the ground!
"You've got some skill,"
The Prefecture Overseer admitted. "But... how about this?"
"Water Prison!"
"Annihilation Water Blades!"
"Water Dragon Charge!"
Three more powerful water-based techniques erupted!
A seemingly unbreakable circular water prison formed around Lin Li.
Simultaneously, inside the prison, numerous lethal water blades, powerful enough to instantly kill a Core Formation cultivator, slashed toward Lin Li!
Additionally, the waterfall's water dragon transformed into a giant serpent, charging toward Lin Li inside the water prison!
"This combined technique could easily defeat even a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator!"
The Prefecture Overseer began to laugh, but his laughter abruptly stopped as his eyes widened in disbelief. "Wha—?! How is this possible?!"
Before him, golden sword lights, as brilliant as the sun, exploded outward from within the water prison!
The water prison, which the Prefecture Overseer had been so confident in, shattered in an instant!
Following that was a golden sword arc tinged with a blood-red hue!
The sword arc slashed directly at the charging water dragon!
Splurt...
Splash!
The water dragon was split apart by the golden-red sword arc and disintegrated into nothing but a torrential downpour, soaking the ground completely!
But what shocked the Prefecture Overseer the most...
Was that Lin Li, who had been trapped in the water prison...
Had vanished without a trace!