The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

Off the coast of Liubo Island, on the surface of the sea, the ships of the Worldwide Business Association gradually sailed into the distance. Lin Yuan stood at the bow, his eyes fixed on the many Profound Vessels in the distance. The habitual smile of a merchant slowly faded from his face, replaced by a cold sneer.

"I’m afraid they’ll go to their graves never knowing what kind of person they’ve offended. How pathetic," Lin Yuan muttered with a soft chuckle, shaking his head.

A Pill King was influential enough to command the wind and rain in the Southern Domain; even a Martial Arts King would do their utmost to befriend one, let alone this group of people. If it were possible, Lin Yuan and the Ancient King would have loved to step in and deal with them on Qin Ya’s behalf. Unfortunately, Qin Ya had made his stance clear: he didn’t need them to act and wanted to handle the matter himself.

Although the Ancient King and Lin Yuan didn’t understand, they could only respect Qin Ya’s wishes.

’Ancient King, you’d better protect this great patron of my Worldwide Business Association,’ Lin Yuan thought, his deep eyes gazing in the direction of Liubo Island.

With a Martial Arts King present, he wasn’t worried about Qin Ya’s safety.

............

"Hm, the Worldwide Business Association’s Profound Vessel."

Inside a cabin on one of the Profound Vessels, a withered old man suddenly opened his cloudy eyes. The next moment, his figure gradually turned illusory and vanished.

At the same time, a similar situation occurred on several other Profound Vessels.

In an instant, four Celestial Human Realm Martial Artists appeared in the sky above the Worldwide Business Association’s Profound Vessel. Yet Lin Yuan, standing at the bow, showed no sign of surprise.

"Vice President Lin, it’s been a while."

The withered old man’s eyes swept across the entire Profound Vessel before he smiled at Lin Yuan.

But Lin Yuan merely gave an indifferent nod, his tone distant as he said flatly, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

The withered old man and the others exchanged a look, somewhat surprised.

This Lin Yuan was the Vice President of the Worldwide Business Association, and his Cultivation was at the Celestial Human Realm, the same as theirs. But true to his merchant nature, he usually greeted everyone with a cheerful smile. His attitude toward them today, however, was rather abnormal.

They didn’t know that in Lin Yuan’s eyes, these few individuals—and even the factions they represented—were insignificant compared to a Pill King. Since they were currently scheming against Qin Ya, he naturally wouldn’t give them a pleasant reception.

He was unwilling to make an enemy of a Pill King over this.

Though the Celestial Humans were surprised, they didn’t dwell on it. Their Divine Thought swept over the entire Profound Vessel, not missing a single small corner. Only after confirming that Qin Ya was not present did they breathe a sigh of relief. For them, if Qin Ya had been hiding on the Profound Vessel, a conflict with the Worldwide Business Association would have been inevitable.

The Worldwide Business Association might have engaged in commerce, but its underlying power was not to be underestimated. Even if their several factions joined forces, they would at best be evenly matched.

"Gentlemen, you’ve gone too far."

Seeing the Celestial Humans brazenly scanning his Profound Vessel with their Divine Thought, Lin Yuan’s brows furrowed slightly. His two long, fiery-red whiskers floated up, though there was no wind.

"Haha, our apologies, Vice President Lin. We were just worried some thoughtless little thief might have run onto your Profound Vessel. If we’ve caused any offense, we will surely visit you another day to apologize formally," the withered old man said with a chuckle.

Then, a burly, broad-shouldered man grinned, revealing a set of chillingly white teeth, and asked Lin Yuan, "Two days ago, a Spirit Pill is rumored to have appeared on Liubo Island. Could Vice President Lin perhaps share the details with us?"

Although they suspected it was Yur Piaoyun, they still wanted to confirm it.

Hearing this, a strange smile flickered in Lin Yuan’s eyes. He said indifferently, "If you want to know who it is, why don’t you go up and see for yourselves?"

Er... The Celestial Humans were suddenly a bit awkward.

The Ancient King’s banquet was already over, yet they were still lingering around Liubo Island. If they went in now, wouldn’t it be a blatant admission to the Ancient King that they were after the Spiritual Artifact?

Of course, this was something everyone tacitly understood.

But they couldn’t be too obvious about it, which was why they hadn’t gone onto the island.

"If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave."

Lin Yuan said indifferently before maneuvering the Profound Vessel to sail into the distance. Seeing this, the Celestial Humans didn’t try to stop him. They simply watched the departing Profound Vessel with puzzled expressions, a faint sense of unease growing in their hearts.

"Don’t you all think Lin Yuan was a bit strange today?"

the withered old man asked the other Celestial Humans, his expression a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

The others nodded and said, "Indeed he was."

"Hmph, a mere merchant dares to act like that. Give him a little face and he really thinks he’s somebody," one of them snorted coldly.

"Forget it. As long as Qin Ya wasn’t hiding on the Worldwide Business Association’s Profound Vessel, it’s fine. This also saves us a conflict with Lin Yuan," the withered old man said flatly.

"But why hasn’t Qin Ya come out after all these days? Could the Ancient King really be tolerating him to this extent?" the burly man asked, confused.

"Could he have left already?" someone said.

"Impossible. During this time, we’ve not only been monitoring with our Divine Thought, but we also have many Martial Artists watching the skies and the seas. Not a single spot has been missed. How could Qin Ya possibly have left?" one of the Celestial Humans said in a low voice.

Hearing this, the others frowned slightly, unable to make heads or tails of the situation.

The events of the past few days were tinged with a strange quality. First, Qin Ya hadn’t left Liubo Island for many days. Then, a Spirit Pill appeared on the island. Finally, there was Lin Yuan’s change in attitude toward them. Could these events be related?

"Let’s wait another two days," the withered old man said faintly.

The temptation of the Spiritual Artifact was too great for them to leave just like that.

Besides, if they didn’t even have this much patience, how could they have cultivated to their current Realm? A normal session of secluded cultivation for them could last a year or more, to say nothing of a period of less than half a month.

Meanwhile, on Liubo Island, Qin Ya was currently selecting a weapon.

Some of these weapons belonged to Qin Ya, while the rest were from the Ancient King’s collection, accumulated over many years. All of these weapons, without exception, were Sword Artifacts.

As a King, the Ancient King was fabulously wealthy. Some of these weapons he had acquired in his younger days, while others were gifts he received after becoming a King.

These weapons weren’t of much use to him. Since Qin Ya had gifted him a Spirit Pill, he wouldn’t have felt any regret even if he gave all of them to Qin Ya.

However, that was not Qin Ya’s goal.

After a long time selecting, he finally chose a Ninth-Grade Long Sword and returned the rest to the Ancient King. Gazing at the long sword in his hand, Qin Ya smiled faintly and asked the Ancient King, "Ancient King, are there any decent Artifact Refiners on this island?"

"I wouldn’t say ’decent,’ but there is a Sixth-Grade Artifact Refiner."

"That’s enough."

Ting Xiao, at his waist, vibrated slightly, and the Sword Spirit said, "Kid, you’ve made your choice."

"I have. This sword is about seventy or eighty percent similar to you. Later, I’ll find an Artifact Refiner to alter its appearance a bit. When the time comes, you just need to carve a trace of your Origin aura onto it, and it’ll be enough to pass for the real thing," Qin Ya said with a faint smile.

"Good one, kid. You’re planning to swap the leopard cat for the prince."

"Heh, you want something? Then I’ll give it to you."

A frigid, icy glint flashed through Qin Ya’s eyes as the corners of his mouth lifted into a cold sneer.