Chapter 732: Twenty Years

An Enlightened Adept's mental will merges with the heavens and the earth, allowing them to accomplish feats far beyond the cognition of ordinary people with a mere wave of the hand.

For instance, standing right there yet remaining unseen by others, using the power of the mental will to create illusions that affect and deceive enemies.

This is merely a method of utilizing the power of the mental will; its pure might is not very great.

Furthermore, an Enlightened Adept driving the power of the heavens and the earth through the power of the mental will—this is the most powerful offensive method of an Enlightened Adept.

It is enough to drive ordinary mortal martial artists to despair.

Do not look at how ordinary Enlightened Adepts tremble in fear before the Great Feng Dynasty.

Yet aside from such a Peak Dynasty, there is almost nothing in this world that can make an Enlightened Adept feel fear or dread.

At the height of the Red Lotus Sect, there were only a dozen or so Enlightened Adepts.

Even so, they stirred up storms across several prefectures.

As for those Dao Entrance Dharma Masters and Enlightened Grandmasters, they were even more transcendent and aloof.

When reaching the level of a Dao Entrance Dharma Master, they simply disdained to participate in rebellions.

As long as a Dao Entrance Dharma Master defected to the Great Feng Dynasty, the benefits and treatment they received…

were almost on par with a prince of the blood.

If they were unwilling to surrender to Great Feng,

they could completely flee into some small countries surrounding Great Feng.

With the strength of a Dao Entrance Dharma Master, their words would be absolute law in those small countries.

To oppose the Great Feng Dynasty? Dao Entrance Dharma Masters were not fools.

Of course, wanting to become an Enlightened Adept…

was also incomparably difficult.

Cultivated uniformly by the Great Feng Dynasty, the resources and guidance were of the absolute top tier.

In the end, the Enlightened Adepts successfully cultivated were still extremely few.

Those in the civilian Jianghu were even fewer.

Right now, the Hunchbacked Old Man saw Lin Yuan's mental will pulling upon the heavens and the earth, knowing this was the sign of becoming an Enlightened Adept.

One could imagine the excitement in his heart.

With Lin Yuan becoming an Enlightened Adept, his self-preservation ability under the imperial court's pursuit would naturally greatly increase.

Coupled with someone like himself, a Peak Jianghu martial artist,

as long as they did not actively walk into certain dangerous or desperate situations,

there probably wouldn't be any major problems regarding their lives.

The reason the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect encountered the imperial court's encirclement and suppression, ultimately falling to his death,

was because he was too high-profile, coupled with the fact that he had long since fallen into the eyes of Great Feng's Town Protectorate.

However, Lin Yuan was different.

The outside world did not know that Lin Yuan had already become an Enlightened Adept.

The pursuit force would certainly not be strong.

"Calm down, calm down."

"The most important thing right now is to protect the Young Lord's Dao."

The Hunchbacked Old Man forced himself to calm down.

Although he was not an Enlightened Adept, he knew some of the taboos among Enlightened Adepts.

For instance, an Enlightened Adept pulling upon the power of the heavens and the earth for the first time could not have any fluctuations in their mind and spirit.

Otherwise, they would be torn to pieces by the violent power of the heavens and the earth.

Thinking of this, the Hunchbacked Old Man immediately patrolled with even greater vigilance.

What the Hunchbacked Old Man did not know was…

even Dao Entrance Dharma Masters had to carefully and cautiously control the power of the heavens and the earth.

Before Lin Yuan, it behaved as docilely as a kitten.

Lin Yuan's Realm was right there; even though all his means were suppressed,

controlling mere power of the heavens and the earth was still effortless.

Speaking of the mastery over the power of the heavens and the earth,

let alone Dao Entrance Dharma Masters, even Enlightened Grandmasters were far inferior to him.

"The enhancement is too little."

Lin Yuan opened his eyes, and the power of the heavens and the earth in all directions gradually calmed down.

The first time entering the Dao, drawing the power of the heavens and the earth into the body, was the time with the largest enhancement magnitude.

Yet such a maximum enhancement left Lin Yuan very unsatisfied.

First was the Physical Body.

At most, it was slightly stronger than before entering the Dao.

In fact, even for an Enlightened Grandmaster, the Physical Body remained a mortal Physical Body.

This cyclical world placed far too much suppression on the Physical Body, being only slightly more lenient in terms of the power of the mental will.

Yet without a powerful Physical Body and physique, one could not nurture a very strong mental will.

For the vast majority of cultivators,

the Physical Body was the foundation.

The Physical Body nurtured everything, nurturing numerous extraordinary powers.

"However, I at least have some self-preservation ability now."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly. With his current application of the power of the mental will, he estimated he could directly rival a Dao Entrance Dharma Master.

Unless a Dao Entrance Dharma Master was foolish enough to go head-to-head with the imperial court,

they would live very carefree lives anywhere.

The imperial court would not overly coerce a Dao Entrance Dharma Master either.

For instance, during this encirclement and suppression of the Red Lotus Sect by the imperial court,

if the Red Lotus Sect possessed a Dao Entrance Dharma Master,

the imperial court's attitude might not necessarily be like this.

There was a certain possibility they would consider recruitment.

As for the rebellious nature of the Red Lotus Sect?

Whether they rebelled or not wasn't it entirely up to the Great Feng Dynasty to decide?

Along with the power of the heavens and the earth falling completely into calm,

the Hunchbacked Old Man also cautiously approached.

"Third Uncle."

Lin Yuan opened his eyes and nodded slightly toward the Hunchbacked Old Man.

In the thousands of future timelines he had just observed,

Third Uncle, the Hunchbacked Old Man, could be called absolutely loyal, sacrificing himself multiple times to create opportunities for Lin Yuan to escape.

"Young Lord, you, have you become an Enlightened Adept?"

The Hunchbacked Old Man spoke with an excited tone. Even though he had long deduced this matter from the changes in the power of the heavens and the earth, he still wanted to hear Lin Yuan's personal reply.

"Hearing of my father's death, my thoughts fluctuated, and I fortuitously entered the Dao."

Lin Yuan casually found an excuse.

Entering the Dao in this world was an extremely mystical matter.

Aside from one's own accumulation and talent, it also had a certain relationship with the external environment.

Stimulation, blows, and so on would all have an impact.

"Good, good, good."

The Hunchbacked Old Man nodded repeatedly.

It was hard to tell whether he felt joy or heartache.

He was joyful that Lin Yuan had become an Enlightened Adept,

and heartbroken that he had lost his father and was being pursued so relentlessly by the imperial court.

"Young Lord, let's set off right now and head to Yongzhou. Utilizing the branch sect there, we might not lack the opportunity to make a comeback."

The Hunchbacked Old Man glanced at the sky, which was gradually growing dark.

If it were daytime, there were too many informants of the imperial court; even deep in the mountains, they would not dare travel.

Only when night arrived,

and with the concealment of night,

could they be even more silent.

The Hunchbacked Old Man had brought Lin Yuan to flee for thousands of miles to evade the imperial court's pursuit,

and what he relied upon was caution.

"Go to Yongzhou?"

Lin Yuan looked at the Hunchbacked Old Man and shook his head, saying, "I don't really like it there."

In the observed future timelines, he learned that the branch Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect in Yongzhou had long surrendered to the imperial court.

Right now, they were just waiting for them to go over, and then coordinate with the imperial court from within and without to wipe out the last remnants of the Red Lotus Sect in one fell swoop.

"You don't like Yongzhou?"

The Hunchbacked Old Man was stunned. "Then what about Chizhou?"

Chizhou's Red Lotus branch sect, although its influence was not as large as Yongzhou's and wasn't the best choice,

was not small either; they could completely go there to stay for a while.

"Chizhou won't do either."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

In another future timeline, the Hunchbacked Old Man had taken Lin Yuan to Chizhou,

only to find that Chizhou's branch sect leader had also defected to the imperial court, and now the entire Chizhou Red Lotus branch sect belonged to the imperial court's people.

The Hunchbacked Old Man thought for a moment and successively named several destinations.

But they were all rejected one by one by Lin Yuan.

These destinations had basically already fallen into the control of the Great Feng imperial court.

Going there himself would be no different from walking right into a trap.

"Third Uncle, what do you think of the Town Protectorate's methods of action?"

Lin Yuan asked in return.

"The Town Protectorate's methods…"

The Hunchbacked Old Man fell into silence, a trace of fear welling up in his eyes.

The Great Feng Dynasty's Town Protectorate had ruthless methods and left nothing to chance in their calculations.

This time, the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect led the majority of the congregation, yet they were wiped out in one fell swoop by the Town Protectorate.

Except for the Hunchbacked Old Man and Lin Yuan, not a single person escaped.

Even the fact that the two of them could escape was the result of the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect disregarding his life.

It was the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect himself who voluntarily gave up the hope of escaping to attract the majority of the Town Protectorate's attention,

creating the opportunity for the Hunchbacked Old Man to bring Lin Yuan out.

"Since the Town Protectorate has acted, they certainly have absolute assurance. Those places you mentioned are indeed safe, but wouldn't the Town Protectorate know about them?"

Lin Yuan said.

In fact, before making a move against the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect, the Town Protectorate had already cut off all paths of retreat.

Those backup measures prepared in various branch sects were actually not prepared for Lin Yuan, but for the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect, an Enlightened Adept.

In the Town Protectorate's scheming, they did not have absolute confidence that they could definitely trap an Enlightened Adept like the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect.

If an Enlightened Adept sincerely wanted to escape, even if they were left behind, a price had to be paid.

The Town Protectorate was unwilling to suffer a mutual destruction with the remnants of the Red Lotus Sect.

That was why they made arrangements regarding the many branch sects of the Red Lotus Sect.

During this imperial court encirclement and suppression operation, even if the sect leader had escaped alive,

he certainly would have thought of making a comeback.

Under such circumstances, he would inevitably borrow the strength and influence of other branch sects.

And the Town Protectorate had long since prepared here, specially waiting for the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect to go over.

"Young Lord, you mean—"

The Hunchbacked Old Man was not stupid; after Lin Yuan's reminder, he immediately associated it with many things.

Given the Town Protectorate's consistent methods, these things were truly likely to happen.

"Every path of retreat you can think of has already been thought of by the Town Protectorate, and traps have already been prepared waiting for us to go over."

Lin Yuan said.

This was also the truth.

This was the conclusion drawn from observing thousands of future timelines.

Once a state apparatus like the Great Feng Dynasty started running, even Dao Entrance Dharma Masters would find it difficult to resist; if they didn't escape, they would die.

If the Red Lotus Sect hadn't only been garrisoned by ordinary Enlightened Adepts, and if the encirclement force dispatched by the Town Protectorate hadn't been relatively weak, Lin Yuan and the Hunchbacked Old Man would never have had the chance to escape.

"Then what does the Young Lord want to do?"

Unconsciously, the Hunchbacked Old Man had handed over the right to make the upcoming decisions entirely to Lin Yuan.

One was because Lin Yuan's analysis was indeed very reasonable, and those considerations left the Hunchbacked Old Man lingering with fear.

The second was that Lin Yuan was now an Enlightened Adept.

Even at the height of the Red Lotus Sect, Enlightened Adepts were weighty figures.

Let alone now.

"Since the imperial court has left backup traps outside, we simply won't go out."

Lin Yuan smiled and said.

"Not go out?"

The Hunchbacked Old Man was stunned.

He raised his head and glanced at the surrounding deep mountain scenery.

"Stay in the deep mountains and not go out?"

The Hunchbacked Old Man couldn't help asking again.

"Third Uncle, do you trust me?"

Lin Yuan did not over-explain, but asked.

"I naturally trust you."

The Hunchbacked Old Man immediately nodded.

Ever since the old sect leader's death, the only person he could trust was Lin Yuan.

"Then listen to me. Don't ask about anything, just follow me."

Lin Yuan said briefly.

In the thousands of future timelines observed,

as long as he walked out of the deep mountains within ten years,

there would inevitably be all kinds of traps waiting for him.

Although with Lin Yuan's strength, he managed to get through most situations,

he still couldn't avoid contacting the Great Feng Dynasty's Town Protectorate in advance.

Conversely, if he hid in these deep mountains, he could peacefully usher in decades of development time.

For Lin Yuan, before his strength reached Major Achievement, he did not like to expose himself.

Especially under the grand premise of the test of 'killing the Great Feng Emperor'.

As a time-loop test trapping countless Twelfth Order Perfection Experts? Yet it was so simple? Lin Yuan naturally dared not be careless in the slightest.

"Alright."

"Wherever the Young Lord goes, I will go."

The Hunchbacked Old Man also figured it out.

At this moment, the confidence in Lin Yuan's words made him instinctively trust him.

"Mn."

Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Deep within these mountains, there is a stronghold named the Black Wind Stronghold, which gathers a batch of bandits. We are going there."

Through more than a thousand future timelines, Lin Yuan planned out a decades-long development process for himself.

First was to continue hiding deep within the mountains.

Of course, not hiding blindly, but occupying the Black Wind Stronghold.

The Black Wind Stronghold was just an ordinary bandit force, unable to attract the attention of the Great Feng Dynasty's Town Protectorate at all.

With Lin Yuan taking the Hunchbacked Old Man to hide there, their days would be very peaceful.

They could also carry out numerous backup arrangements at the same time.

"Black Wind Stronghold?"

The Hunchbacked Old Man thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "I'll listen to the Young Lord."

Several hundred miles away from where Lin Yuan and the Hunchbacked Old Man currently were,

more than a dozen tall men clad in silver armor stood there.

They were precisely the various Experts of the Great Feng Town Protectorate.

"Eldest Brother, are we not continuing the pursuit?"

A bearded man looked at the leading man and asked in a low voice.

"This Black Mountain twists and turns for tens of thousands of miles, how are we supposed to pursue them? Could it be that for a mere few Red Lotus remnants, we should dispatch hundreds of thousands of troops? Or an Enlightened Grandmaster?"

The leading man asked in return.

Regardless of hundreds of thousands of troops or an Enlightened Grandmaster, both were top-tier powers of the Great Feng Dynasty.

Used to garrison a region.

They could not be deployed arbitrarily.

Although the Great Feng Dynasty was currently in its prime,

various prefectures frequently experienced numerous upheavals, and at such times, they had to rely on large armies or Enlightened Grandmasters to suppress them.

An Enlightened Grandmaster's frontal combat power was equivalent to a thousand-man Formation.

Yet no one would equate an Enlightened Grandmaster with a thousand-man Formation.

An Enlightened Grandmaster's strongest method lay in assassination, taking the enemy general's head from amidst a myriad of armies.

"Rest assured, the Sect Leader of the Red Lotus Sect is already dead; the remaining remnants cannot turn up any big waves."

The leading man said in a calm tone, "I have also made multiple preparations outside Black Mountain. As long as those remnants come out of Black Mountain, they definitely won't be able to escape."

After saying this, the leading man turned around and left directly.

The more than a dozen Town Protectorate Experts behind him immediately followed.

The Great Feng Town Protectorate was responsible for suppressing any Enlightened Adepts in the world who harbored rebellious intentions.

The Red Lotus Sect was merely one of them, and a relatively weak one at that.

Now that the Red Lotus Sect had basically been resolved, the Experts of the Town Protectorate naturally rushed immediately to other prefectural boundaries.

Deep within Black Mountain,

a large group of bandits gathered, named the Black Wind Stronghold.

In fact, Black Mountain wound for tens of thousands of miles, and there were over a dozen bandit forces alone.

And right at this moment,

outside the Black Wind Stronghold, two figures, one old and one young, appeared.

"Who comes?"

A patrolling bandit stared vigilantly at Lin Yuan and the Hunchbacked Old Man.

Whether it was Lin Yuan or the Hunchbacked Old Man, neither looked like ordinary people.

"I am here to see the First Chieftain."

Lin Yuan walked out, looking at the bandit with a smile.

Half an hour later,

the seven high-ranking chieftains of the Black Wind Stronghold, including the First, Second, and Third Chieftains, were all kneeling before Lin Yuan, kowtowing incessantly.

No one knew that within a mere half an hour, the Black Wind Stronghold had changed masters.

Time flowed on.

In the blink of an eye, twenty years passed.