Sacred treasure.

Whatever treasures could be crowned such a name weren’t ordinary naturally.

For the first time, Lin Xun was well aware that the Amrita Saint Pearl he had obtained by accident bore astounding secrets, which could be perceived from the sudden battle today.

He knew clearly that he had to make the best use of time to recover because the enemies wouldn’t let him go for the pearl.

In other words, the enemies would come to him once again!

Three Barbarian Soldiers with terribly high combat effectiveness showed up this time, but how many of them would appear next time?

At the thought of this, Lin Xun knew that he was in great danger.

...

Having left the Demon-cloud Ridge, Hu Long decided to return to the camp of Reshahar Army first after hesitating for a long time.

It was late at night, but Song Ling wasn’t in bed yet.

He was reading the battlefield report which was sent in just now. It briefly recorded some situations in the Demon-cloud Ridge in an incomprehensive way, and was more about the abnormal actions of the Voodoo-barbarians.

Since the trainees of Bloodthirsty Camp entered the Demon-cloud Ridge for the assessment, such a battlefield report was sent to him every three days.

Its purpose was quite simple, to make the army precautious beforehand in case a sudden danger brought a devastating blow for the trainees.

The assessment was open to death, but the irregular death was not allowed!

Each trainee came from an influential family. Put it this way: they were the elites of the young generation cultivated by the great forces of the empire; their identities, statuses, and potential abilities were the best of the best.

Therefore, losing one of them would mean losing one powerful enough to be the top mainstay of the empire in the future!

Therefore, though the assessment seemed a “training” project for the youth, no one would let down his guard.

When Hu Long called on him, Song Ling just finished reading the report. At first sight, Song knew that the teenager had been sifted out, because he reached the Gang Spirit Realm!

However, Song Ling couldn’t help wrinkling his eyebrows. Being eliminated wasn’t a big deal. As long as Hu Long was alive, the great force behind him would help him to be a leading figure in one region in the future even without the training of the Bloodthirsty Camp.

Hu Long visited him at a late night after being knocked out. Was he unreconciled to the fact?

But soon, Song realized he had guessed wrong upon hearing of what Hu Long told him about the battle today.

“Barbarian Soldiers?” Song Ling’s face became grave.

“The three Barbarian Soldiers have the combat effectiveness higher than that of ordinary ones. We once killed Barbarian Soldiers in the training of our camp, but compared with those, the three ones today are absolutely more powerful and more terrible,” Hu Long’s face was rather serious. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t choose to get to the higher level.”

Song Ling narrowed his eyes, and he knew clearly that Hu didn’t need to lie to him. The problem was indeed serious.

Three Barbarian Soldiers with the exceedingly high combat effectiveness appeared suddenly to ambush two trainees of the Bloodthirsty Camp, which was quite odd. Such kind of force was forbidden in the Demon-cloud Ridge according to the agreement reached by the empire and the Voodoo-barbarian Tribe.

What Song Ling couldn’t bear the most was that Lin Xun was involved in it!

Song had already learned the bloody battle near the volcano days ago and known some rumors about Lin Xun.

He was in charge of the assessment of Camp 39. He didn’t have much impression of Lin Xun, but after that battle, he knew that Lin Xun was definitely as powerful as Bai Lingshi, Zhao Yin, Lee Duxing, and Zhangsun Heng.

The people like Lin Xun were destined to make the world-shaking achievements!

Hearing that Lin Xun had almost been killed, Song Ling naturally felt shocked, and he realized the gravity of the problem.

“Can you judge their identities?” asked Song Ling in a muffled voice after keeping silent for a few moments.

Hu Long was in a daze, and then he seemed to realize something. He said with his face changing slightly, “They are all the Water Barbarians.”

Suddenly, Song’s eyes were full of cold light, “Have you also perceived something wrong?”

Hu Long said with a nod, "The Voodoo-barbarians whom Lin Xun once fought against near the volcano also come from the Water Barbarian Branch.”

Song Ling stood up and said, “This problem is a little odd. You wait here, and I go to visit Commander Wu Shinglie.”

Wu Shinglie!

As the commander of the empire’s Reshahar Army, he had fought on the battlefield for hundreds of years and had been known to every household because of his remarkable military exploits.

Seeing this, Hu Long finally knew that he seemed right to come here.

“Lin Xun, I’ve done what I can do. I don’t owe you anymore...I hope you can leave the Demon-cloud Ridge alive!” murmured Hu Long.

That night, Lieutenant Wu Shinglie, commander of the empire’s Reshahar Army issued an order, dispatching 10 practitioners of Gang Spirit Realm to slip into the Demon-cloud Ridge for clear information.

…

Three days later-

Lin Xun woke up from his meditation.

He consumed most of his elixirs he had plundered.

It left him no choice. All his strength seemed exhausted after he displayed the RFS (Reaching for the Stars) twice in a row.

If he wanted to make a full recovery, he naturally needed to swallow plenty of elixirs.

To his big surprise, one more spiritual star was lit up in the sea of his consciousness when he regained his strength. In other words, his soul power became much stronger.

At the same time, he knew more about the magic of the RFS.

These were the benefits of a real battle. A fiercer battle could arouse a practitioner’s potential to a larger extent. The bonus brought by experiences in war couldn’t be obtained via self-seclusion.

Without further delay, Lin Xun embarked on his journey again.

He became more cautious than before. Although two of the three Barbarian Soldiers were killed, the stronger one was still at large.

In a bid to recapture the Amrita Saint Pearl, the last Barbarian Soldier would take any possible measures.

In the case, Lin Xun couldn’t be more careful.

As time went on, Lin Xun killed Voodoo-barbarians one after another on his road. However, he didn’t meet anyone at the level of Barbarian Soldier all the way along.

The other practitioners would probably think that the stronger Barbarian Soldier had given up his plan, but Lin Xun wouldn’t think so.

On the contrary, Lin Xun became more vigilant. He even doubted that there was a meticulously prepared plot waiting for him!

A dozen days later-

As Lin just killed a dozen Voodoo-barbarians and wanted to find a place for a rest, he suddenly felt something unusual and stopped immediately.

Almost at the same time, a figure as thin as a spear appeared. It was a young man attired in the military uniform of Ziyao Empire with a unique badge on behalf of the Reshahar Army on his shoulder.

The young man was not handsome but looked indomitable, tough, and resolute.

In his hand was a body.

When Lin Xun saw the body, his black eyes immediately narrowed. He felt a little surprised, for the body was the sturdy Barbarian Soldier who escaped last time.

“I’m Song Ran, a Gang-spirit-realm practitioner of the empire’s Reshahar Army.”

The young man briefly introduced himself and continued, “We’ve learned your mishap. Is he the Barbarian Soldier who wanted to kill you?”

Speaking of which, he swayed the body in his hand.

Lin Xun nodded in relief and said, “Did Hu Long tell you this?”

Song Ran frowned and thought for a while. Then, he said with a nod, "It seems to be him, but I don’t know whether that boy is called Hu Long.”

Without more questions, Lin Xun had already made sure that it was Hu Long who helped him. Otherwise, the empire wouldn’t dispatch practitioners at the Gang Spirit Realm to the Demon-cloud Ridge. Moreover, one of the practitioners helped him destroy a big potential threat.

“From now on, you can focus on your assessment in the Demon-cloud Ridge. The Reshahar Army won’t interfere in the battle here, but as soon as the Voodoo-barbarian Tribe sends Barbarian Soldiers here, we’ll kill them immediately.”

At the moment, the coldness and harshness filled Song’s forehead.

“Thanks a lot!” said Lin Xun seriously.

Song Ran, who showed up suddenly, brought him the good news, making him at least not so vigilant as he was a few days ago.

“Pardon me for asking frankly. Do you know why these Water Barbarians persistently target at you only?” asked Song Ran suddenly with his eyes fixing on Lin Xun.

“Perhaps, I’ve killed too many of their fellows,” Lin Xun sighed, but he a little paniced, knowing Song Ran had already suspected something.

However, Lin Xun didn’t plan on leaking the “Amrita Saint Pearl” out.

“Oh,” said Song Ran. After a meaningful glance at Lin Xun, he continued, “Goodbye.”

He turned around and left briskly, which made Lin Xun stunned. Watching him leave, Lin Xun finally said nothing.

Ever since, Lin Xun smoothly got around in the Demon-cloud Ridge. With his combat effectiveness at present, he wouldn’t meet a real menace unless he met some powerful Barbarian Soldiers.

Although Song Ran had already annihilated that sturdy Barbarian Soldier, Lin Xun’s heart always palpitated vaguely as if he was targeted at secretly by an invisible eye.

This feeling was so uncomfortable, and he tried to use different means to find out the cause of the palpitation.

But, he got nothing in the end, which made him not lower his guard. It was not because he was too suspicious, but because he had an instinctive intuition.

Since he practiced the Meditating Magic and lighted up the spiritual stars in the sea of his consciousness, he had possessed an abnormally correct intuition of danger.

He believed his intuition wouldn’t be wrong.

Under the kind of pressure, he lighted up another spiritual star accidentally just when the assessment was about to be over in 20 days.

His soul power got upgraded twice in more than one month!

Thanks to the gains, Lin Xun had been fully aware that the pressure and suffering induced by harsh environments, together with meditation, were the most effective method to practice the Meditating Magic.

When his soul became much stronger, the palpitation that haunted in his heart finally became clearer.

Such a change killed his idea of leaving things to chance, and he completely judged that the threat posed by the Water Barbarian Branch still existed!

Thereafter, Lin Xun changed his action style suddenly, coming to a remote area of the woods, where he built a thatched cottage. No matter day or night, he had stayed in the cottage all the way for a dozen days. Neither did he leave here, nor hunt enemies for collecting military merits.

It felt like he wanted to stay in the thatched cottage in seclusion for meditation.

Click to read chapter 168 on Flying Lines - Purgatory Spiritual Formation