Chapter 156: The Potential of the Lin Family

"Where is that place? As far as I know, the only empire nearby is the East Polar Empire!"

Tianwu couldn't help pressing further, his tone softening a fraction. After all, regardless of whether what Bai Qi said was true or false, anything involving an empire demanded his utmost caution.

Even though he possessed enough confidence to potentially subdue Bai Qi—being a late-stage River Realm powerhouse himself, fearless of anyone at the same cultivation level—this matter was no longer something he could decide on his own.

Therefore, Tianwu secretly transmitted this news via a communication jade talisman to Qi Daolin, the headmaster of Heavenly Book Academy, while patiently awaiting a reply.

Seeing this, Bai Qi realized that Tianwu had misunderstood, but he made no effort to clarify, as far too many complications were involved.

Once he spoke of things pertaining to another world, it would inevitably cause a massive uproar. Not just the Snow Kingdom, but even far higher-tier existences would descend to investigate.

Besides, this matter involved his Lord; naturally, he could not allow his Lord to be placed in danger!

To be honest, he himself did not quite understand what was happening. In his previous life, he had died, yet it felt like a fleeting dream. When he awoke once more, he had arrived in this world and found himself yielding his heart and soul to Lin Fan.

It was a devotion countless times more loyal than the one he had given to Ying Zheng, as if he had been born solely to await this very moment!

"The Great Qin Empire is in an extremely distant place. A cultivation level like mine in that realm is considered merely a common corporal, not even a squad leader. That is all I can say!"

After a moment of thought, Bai Qi still revealed a few details. Indeed, in his past life, his current strength truly corresponded to the rank of a corporal commanding a detachment of troops back then, falling short even of the higher-grade squad leader rank.

However, in his former life, his tier was not called the Stream Realm, but rather the Qi Gathering Realm, which was merely an introductory stage for practitioners.

At that moment, Tianwu's communication jade talisman vibrated. Checking the message, he found Qi Daolin had given only a single instruction: since the man had done nothing detrimental to the kingdom, leave him be. On the contrary, since this Bai Qi had eliminated those individuals for them, sparing them a great deal of effort, they should treat him with courtesy.

At the same time, if possible, they should invite Bai Qi to the imperial capital for a banquet hosted personally by Qi Daolin himself, though he was not to be forced if unwilling!

Upon reading the headmaster's message, Tianwu withdrew his aura, forced a smile, and said, "Oh? The Great Qin Empire truly is a miraculous domain. A cultivator of your caliber can only serve as a corporal? How immensely powerful! I suppose all the empires combined could never hope to defeat your Great Qin Empire!"

"Indeed, every nation in our homeland was ultimately conquered and subjugated by the Great Qin Empire!" Bai Qi nodded without denying it.

A trace of pride flashed in his eyes; when the six states were destroyed, his contributions had been indispensable. However, that pride flickered and instantly faded into gloom as he recalled his own death.

Since ancient times, once the birds are gone, the good bows are put away; once the crafty hares are dead, the loyal hounds are boiled. This realization inevitably left him feeling somewhat disillusioned.

He could understand Ying Zheng's actions, yet he could never bring himself to agree with them.

"Very well then. Our headmaster, Qi Daolin, wishes to invite you to the imperial capital for a visit to discuss martial arts together. I wonder if you would be willing?"

As a late-stage River Realm powerhouse, Tianwu was privy to a vast amount of information and naturally understood that countless formidable empires existed across this continent, where River Realm experts—let alone those surpassing the River Realm—were as numerous as carp crossing a river.

Yet when Bai Qi claimed that the River Realm was merely good for a corporal, he simply refused to believe it. Hearing that his homeland had been entirely conquered by Great Qin only convinced him further that Bai Qi was merely talking nonsense.

He was well aware that above the kingdoms and empires lay terrifyingly powerful entities; major wars could not be declared simply on a whim!

Still, he did not press the matter further. Regardless of how much the man before him loved to boast, there was a saying that one should not strike a person's face. Since the headmaster had already instructed him to return, he naturally wished to avoid trouble. Avoiding extra complications was far better, and he was quite content to enjoy his peace.

Therefore, he laid the matter out plainly, leaving the response entirely up to Bai Qi.

Hearing this, Bai Qi shook his head and replied, "My Lord instructed me to protect the Lin family. Naturally, I will not budge an inch, and I will defend their safety with my life!"

*What a stubborn fellow!*

Tianwu inwardly shook his head, though he kept the thought to himself. Instead, he smiled and said, "Very well, since that is the case, I shall not disturb you any longer. This is my communication jade talisman. Since you are not a subject of the kingdom, if any issues arise in the future, you may notify me; perhaps it will save us both a great deal of trouble."

With those words, Tianwu handed his communication jade talisman to Bai Qi. He asked no further questions regarding Bai Qi's Lord; through their brief conversation, he had roughly gauged Bai Qi's temperament and knew that probing further would yield nothing.

The primary reason he gave his talisman to Bai Qi was because, as a member of the Snow Kingdom's Law Enforcement Department, should Bai Qi ever go on a massive killing spree due to some provocation, he would at least have a direct channel to contact Bai Qi and inquire about the reasons behind it.

Seeing Bai Qi accept his talisman, Tianwu cupped his fists in a salute, cast a glance at the distant experts from the other prominent families of Qingxue County, and soared into the sky with a shake of his head.

He knew that with the insertion of a River Realm powerhouse like Bai Qi into the Lin family of Qingxue County, the political landscape of the entire county was about to undergo a drastic shift. How many people might die in this upheaval was no longer his concern; his only hope was that those various families would have the sense not to provoke Bai Qi.

If Bai Qi was telling the truth—if he truly hailed from the so-called Great Qin Empire and those claims were factual—then the moment those families provoked him, their destruction would be a minor matter. But if their powerful patrons behind the scenes emerged to kill Bai Qi, the resulting fallout would be catastrophically vast!

At the same time, he knew the royal court of the kingdom would undoubtedly initiate an investigation into this affair and issue a series of consequential decrees.

Time flew, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.

The royal court issued a single, absolute decree, which was transmitted directly to the backers of every major faction in Qingxue County: under no circumstances were Qingxue County's factions to provoke the Lin family, and especially not Bai Qi, or they would bear the consequences entirely on their own.

Once this decree was promulgated, those powerful backers immediately relayed the warning to their respective subordinate forces in Qingxue County. Consequently, every faction in Qingxue County made it explicitly clear that no one was to provoke the Lin family or Bai Qi.

None of them were fools. Bai Qi had single-handedly slaughtered two River Realm experts, forty Stream Realm powerhouses, and three hundred Meridian Opening Realm cultivators in a single day. With such terrifying strength, the entire combined forces of Qingxue County put together wouldn't be enough for Bai Qi to slaughter alone! They thanked the heavens simply because Bai Qi and the Lin family hadn't come looking for trouble; how could any of them dare to seek it out proactively?

That would truly be like someone hanging themselves from a longevity star out of impatience to die!

Initially, the factions of Qingxue County had been panic-stricken, fearing the Lin family might suddenly rise to prominence and swallow up the entire county—a concern shared even by the Jiang family.

However, two months had passed, and the Lin family had made not a single aggressive move. Even Bai Qi, after entering the Lin family estate, had never stepped out again, making the events of that fateful day feel almost like an illusory dream!

"This little rascal really knows how to stir things up! Who knows where he dug up such an almighty expert, not to mention all these high-grade martial arts manuals and combat techniques? He has truly set our Lin family up for an absolute rise to power! Once all of them reach the Meridian Opening Realm, that will be the moment our Lin family surges forth to become the undisputed number one family in Qingxue County!"

Lin Batian and Lin Xiong looked out at the hundreds of peak Qi Pulse Realm practitioners in the courtyard practicing martial arts, alongside the fifteen newly minted Meridian Opening Realm experts within the clan, grinning from ear to ear with mouths stretched so wide they could hardly close them.

Their precious grandson and son was simply too capable of creating miracles! Just a few short months had passed, yet he had brought the clan wave after wave of astonishing surprises!

There were miraculous fruits—Body Tempering Fruits, Vital Qi Fruits—along with countless supreme-grade healing pills and Life Essence Pills!

Coupled with various formidable cultivation techniques and martial arts.

Thanks to the robust supply of miraculous fruits, Lin Batian had already broken through to the mid-stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, while Lin Xiong had reached the peak of the early stage. If word of this cultivation speed were to leak out, it would undoubtedly shatter the eyeballs of every observer in shock.

The current Lin family was a true powerhouse. Just the sprawling estate covering hundreds of miles alone showed the vast difference compared to its former self!

Right now, the over two hundred peak Qi Pulse Realm practitioners and sixteen Meridian Opening Realm experts within the courtyard had all sworn binding blood oaths to the Lin family purely for the sake of learning these martial arts. Though the full impact wasn't yet obvious, give it three to five years, and every single one of those two hundred peak Qi Pulse Realm experts would undoubtedly advance to the Meridian Opening Realm.

By then, the faction with the most Meridian Opening Realm powerhouses in all of Qingxue County would undoubtedly be the Lin family, without a shadow of a doubt!

Aside from lacking a River Realm expert, their lineup of other experts already vastly exceeded the reigning top family of Qingxue County, the Jiang family.

Of course, once the time came, the Lin family only needed to wipe out the Liu family; whether or not they contested the title of the premier family with the Jiang family didn't matter, especially since the relationship between the Jiang and Lin families was currently quite cordial thanks to Lin Fan.

The Lin family didn't even care about the title; as long as they steadily developed their strength, that was all that mattered!

However, toward the Liu family—who had hunted down Lin Fan—and the various vassal clans attached to them, the Lin family would show no mercy whatsoever. They intended to exterminate them root and branch.

At this moment, Lin Batian and Lin Xiong felt a surge of unbridled ambition, as if they had been instantly transported back to *that* place—that glorious domain where the Lin family held absolute sway, where a single word from them commanded the submission of countless souls!