Eternal Life: I Can Harvest Demon Beast Talents

Chapter 185: Chapter 161: Tier Two Array, Realizing Their Mistake Before Death

These past few days, visitors had been endless.

Lin Changheng mostly received guests at home, but once evening fell, he was generally left undisturbed.

The Cultivators naturally understood this bit of etiquette.

Meanwhile, Lin Changheng remained intensely curious about the identity and motives of his neighbor, Cui Jianshui, so he often let his Divine Sense drift outside.

And he actually discovered something.

Occasionally, long after midnight, a black-clad, masked Male Cultivator would slip into Cui Jianshui’s Qingyin Cloud Residence. He moved like a blurry shadow, silent and traceless, as if using some sort of Invisibility Skill.

What’s more, he opened the Restriction and entered the residence on his own.

This suggested their relationship was anything but ordinary.

To be trusted this completely, there was a good chance they were dao companions.

Previously, Lin Changheng had inquired through Deng Changsheng but found no information on "Gu Chang’an," as if the person didn’t exist.

Even then, he had suspected that this identity was very likely a fake one, a Disguise.

As for why, a cautious soul like Lin Changheng could easily figure it out:

Either he was hiding a secret and covering his tracks, or he had enemies nearby and feared assassination, or he had done so many evil deeds that his true identity couldn’t see the light of day.

It was bound to be one of those reasons.

But as a Pill Master, what others did, had done, or who they were was none of his business. All he needed to do was accept Spirit Stones and perform Alchemy.

Their mistake, however, was targeting him.

Worse, they had the Sound Master Cui Jianshui use a honey trap to seduce him and secretly plant a Gu.

Although Lin Changheng was sixty years old, he was not old and feeble. He certainly wouldn’t let others bully him. And as for their plan to control him with a Gu, turning him into a cash cow for Alchemy—that, Lin Changheng would never, ever allow.

Admittedly, most of this was Lin Changheng’s own speculation; he had no concrete evidence.

But ever since he caught the woman planting the Gu, evidence was no longer important.

This malice alone was enough reason to eliminate them, root and stem.

Don’t be fooled by Lin Changheng’s usual creed of fostering good relations and avoiding conflict. When it was time to act, he would kill if necessary, with utter decisiveness!

Although the new Array set up around the Qingyin Cloud Residence had the secondary effect of blocking Divine Sense, it was merely a secondary effect. Lin Changheng still managed to eavesdrop on a few secrets.

For instance, Cui Jianshui really was the dao companion of the Male Cultivator with the Bronze Mask.

Upon learning this, Lin Changheng couldn’t help but be taken aback. ’Someone’s actually using their dao companion as bait... What a ruthless character.’

Lin Changheng had overheard their plan: they intended to use a strange Gu to gain initial control over the "old bastard," suppressing his power so he couldn’t even exert thirty percent of his full strength. Then, the Male Cultivator with the Bronze Mask, with his strength at the Peak of Ninth Level Qi Cultivation, would strike and swiftly capture Lin Changheng without a sound.

After that, they would bind him in chains, feed him secret concoctions, and lock him in a basement to perform Alchemy day after day.

This particular Gu was non-toxic; the Male Cultivator had specifically sought it out.

He was afraid that Lin Changheng might possess a Marvelous Pill for detoxification or, from his long years of handling Medicinal Materials, be sensitive to poisons, which would expose their plot.

It was a truly meticulous and profound scheme!

At the same time, the Male Cultivator with the Bronze Mask had consoled his dao companion, telling her to endure it a little longer.

To just play along for a bit.

After this was done, he could wash his hands of his past and go straight. With the resources provided by Lin Changheng’s round-the-clock Alchemy, the two of them could reach Foundation Establishment together and live happily ever after as a divine couple.

...

Lin Changheng was so moved by their love story that he decided to help them on their way.

By playing along, he had orchestrated the events of tonight.

The meticulously arranged plan, for which the man had even sacrificed his wife, was on the verge of a success so close he could almost taste it.

"HUM~"

Inside the room, the mood was fiery, but a soft sound hummed outside. Instantly, a thin, pale layer of misty energy rose up, forming a semi-circular shield of light that enveloped the entire Qingyin Cloud Residence.

This Array was called the Flowing Clouds Covering Moon Formation.

It was a Tier Two Array; who knows where that Male Cultivator had obtained it.

Within the misty energy, all sight and sound were cut off, making it impossible for the Outer World to detect any disturbance within the courtyard or the house.

With the setup complete, a figure wearing a Bronze Mask appeared like a phantom outside the room. Peering through the pink gauze curtains, he saw the scene within. An icy chill emanated from him, yet it was mingled with a sliver of gathering excitement.

Cui Jianshui, who appeared lost in the throes of passion, was in fact keeping a clear head amidst the waves. She had finally received the signal, her eyes meeting a pair of cold, dark ones.

It was time to make her move!

Even though they had rehearsed and planned this, doing such a thing in front of her own dao companion brought a flash of paleness to her flushed, seductive face. Then, the full might of her Ninth Layer Qi Cultivation Magical Power gathered abruptly and she struck at the man on top of her.

Pushing him away was only a secondary objective; grievously wounding him in a single blow was the true goal!

"Hm?"

In the next instant, Cui Jianshui’s pretty face froze, then turned deathly pale.

The man on top of her hadn’t moved an inch. Her immense and Frenzy-like Magical Power had crashed against him as if hitting a wall of solid Gold and iron, dissipating into nothing without effect.

And it had been a surprise attack, completely unexpected.

’How did I fail to injure him? He’s also at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation! And he’s a sixty-year-old man, supposedly old, weak, and on the decline!’

Then, her gaze of incredulous shock met Lin Changheng’s dark, mocking eyes.

"No..."

Shame and fury warring within her, an unprecedented hatred erupted in her eyes. Her lips had just parted to scream when she suddenly felt a ferocious, Giant Strength crash down upon her.

The force was like a collapsing mountain, instantly slamming her entire body hard onto the floor. Her back hit the unyielding ground with a dull thud.

"Urk!"

The searing pain made her vision go black. A metallic, sweet taste rose in her throat, and she immediately lost consciousness, her fate unknown.