Although Mu Lan intended to teach Lin Dong a lesson, she was actually quite measured in her actions. Mostly, she just wanted to make Lin Dong feel frustrated and lose face, without really going all out.
Anyway, it was just them here; the Gu Family people hadn't come along, so there was no need to worry about face.
Then, after casually giving Lin Dong some pointers on his cultivation, Mu Lan didn't linger and left directly. However, before leaving, Mu Lan looked at Lin Dong meaningfully and said with a smile.
"Boy, cultivate hard. Although you've passed my test, there are others waiting for you."
Watching Mu Lan's figure disappear, Lin Dong had a bad feeling in his heart, sensing that the upcoming trials would involve some suffering.
Yan, who had been hiding within Lin Dong's body, didn't say anything. As the spirit of the Ancestral Stone, Yan was very sensitive to auras and naturally knew that Mu Lan's guidance to Lin Dong was influenced by many people.
Yan welcomed this, as Lin Dong had been too smooth sailing in the Chaotic Demon Sea. They needed to find some trouble for Lin Dong to motivate him, otherwise, he would easily become lazy.
Having been beaten up, Lin Dong's earlier high spirits vanished, replaced by a surge of determination. He led Little Marten and the others, plunging headfirst into the Sky Thunder Sea Region.
Several days later, on a vast island in the Sky Thunder Sea Region, Lin Dong and his group, having left the Town Sea Mysterious Whale behind, were rapidly flying towards the center of the island.
In the center of this island was an ancient city, which was now welcoming the clamor of human voices once again.
The moment Lin Dong, Gu Yan, Lin Qingtan, and the others stepped into the city, Lin Dong sensed an unusual movement from the silver tower within his Universe Bag. Following the guidance of that special fluctuation, Lin Dong suddenly looked up towards the only remaining Stone Tower pavilion in the city.
On that most conspicuous pavilion, two figures were sitting peacefully, and the fluctuation was originating from those two people, or rather, from the silver tower they carried.
After confirming the location, Lin Dong didn't hesitate and directly led Mu Lingshan, Little Marten, and the others towards the pavilion.
"Hehe, who would have thought that the owner of the third silver tower key would arrive so quickly from the Sky Merchant Sea Region!"
Just as Lin Dong and the others took a step forward, they heard a faint laugh coming from above the pavilion, amplified by Origin Power, quickly spreading around.
As the voice faded, Lin Dong clearly felt the atmosphere of the entire city ignite instantly, and the surrounding clamor surged like a tide.
It should be known that there were three silver towers in total that could open the Thunder Emperor Cave Abode, and only when all three silver towers were gathered could the Thunder Emperor Cave Abode be opened.
Two of them had fallen into the hands of the Nine Netherworld Gate and the Profound Heaven Hall respectively. These two major forces were famous throughout the Chaotic Demon Sea, and ordinary people didn't dare to target them, so they naturally focused their attention on the third silver tower.
In addition, the Sky Thunder Sea Region was extremely far from the Sky Wind Sea Region. News from the Sky Wind Sea Region was slow to arrive, and many experts had already entered the Sky Thunder Sea Region after the news of the two silver towers had spread, making them insensitive to outside news.
They only knew through the Sky Merchant Sea Region's auction that the owner of the third silver tower was a very young family head, and still a Gu Family with no reputation.
Although they didn't know how this Gu Family had managed to bid for the silver tower, it was clear that compared to powerful forces like the Nine Netherworld Gate and the Profound Heaven Hall, this Gu Family was much easier to bully.
Therefore, upon hearing someone point out that the third silver tower had arrived, countless experts' eyes burned with excitement, and they eagerly said to the man who had taken the initiative to speak on the Stone Tower pavilion.
"Brother Pang Hao, I wonder who this person is. We'll have to trouble Brother Pang Hao to invite this person out. After all, opening the cave abode is everyone's common wish, how can we let one person ruin everyone's plans?"
In mid-air, a burly man with a large knife on his back, who had flown up, cupped his fist towards the black-clothed man Pang Hao. However, although the burly man's words were polite, his scarred face didn't look like a good person.
Many people around recognized him. Firstly, the man's face was very fierce and distinctive, and secondly, the burly man's strength was not weak, and he was considered somewhat famous, so he was easy to recognize. Immediately, many people echoed.
"Yes, please ask the friend from the Nine Netherworld Gate to invite this friend out."
Everyone said "please" on their lips, but the greedy gazes could not be concealed. After all, compared to the two behemoths of the Profound Heaven Hall and the Nine Netherworld Gate, the remaining unknown Gu Family seemed to be the easiest to handle.
Lin Dong, who had just entered the city, listened to the surrounding voices, and his face turned cold. Gu Yan, on the other hand, stared at Pang Hao in the distance with beautiful eyes filled with anger.
Now, Gu Yan, perhaps because of Lin Dong's help, had also made rapid progress in her cultivation, and had also entered the Great Accomplishment of Life Profound Realm. As for Gu Mengqi, whose strength was already better than her, had also reached the realm of Life Profound Realm Completion.
Lin Qingtan wrinkled her delicate nose slightly and muttered unhappily.
"Lin Dong-ge, I want to beat him up!"
Unlike Lin Dong's cautiousness, Lin Qingtan had Bo Xuan and the entire Darkness Hall backing her, so she acted much more domineering and direct. After all, the Darkness Hall's background was there, with three Reincarnation Realm experts sitting in charge. Even the major overlord clans of the demon race and the sea beast race had to give them some face.
"Don't rush, let him jump around for a while. When the time comes, Marten Lord will personally tear him apart. Daring to scheme against Marten Lord, he's tired of living!"
Before Lin Dong could speak, Little Marten responded with a chilling tone.
He was no longer the rash Little Marten of the past. As a married and soon-to-be-father Sky Demon Marten, he had to take care of his family. Therefore, Little Marten listened to Gu Mengqi's advice, kept a low profile, carefully entered the Sky Thunder Sea Region, and planned to reappear only when the Thunder Ancestor Symbol was being contested.
First, create a false impression to make others think Little Marten hadn't come, and then wait for these people to relax their vigilance and forget about Little Marten. This would effectively prevent them from joining forces to deal with Little Marten.
Doing so would not only greatly increase the probability of obtaining the Thunder Ancestor Symbol, but also increase safety. After all, Little Marten had no problem protecting himself, but not everyone in their team had Revolving Wheel Realm combat power. Being besieged by a group of people would still be very dangerous.
As a result, Little Marten, who usually acted high-profile and arrogant, finally kept a low profile for once, sneaking in quietly, only to be pushed to the forefront by that damned guy. He was simply courting death.
In fact, Pang Hao did this because he had his own ideas, or rather, the Nine Netherworld Gate had its own considerations.
As the owner of the third silver tower and the third person to arrive, Lin Dong and Little Marten were unaware that the silver towers had a mutual guidance effect within close range, but Pang Hao was very clear about it.
Moreover, unlike the scattered cultivators around who didn't know much, the Nine Netherworld Gate had good intelligence, at least some understanding of the Gu Family. A small family that could make both Qiankun Cave Heaven and Evil Wind Cave Heaven take a step back must be strange.
Therefore, the Nine Netherworld Gate naturally believed the rumors that the Gu Family's twin beauties were married off at the same time. Moreover, Little Marten's strength should be as rumored, enough to rival the Revolving Wheel Realm.
As a result, the Nine Netherworld Gate directly regarded the Gu Family as the biggest competitor in this trip. Regardless of whether Little Marten came to the Sky Thunder Sea Region or not, the Nine Netherworld Gate had already made plans to eliminate the Gu Family first.
In order to kick Lin Dong and Little Marten's group out of the game in advance, the Nine Netherworld Gate even contacted the Profound Heaven Hall in advance, secretly forming an alliance to deal with the Gu Family, so as to ensure that when the Reincarnation Realm expert's cave abode opened, there would be no competitors that would make them flinch.
"Hehe, is this the famous new Gu Family head? I didn't expect the rumors to be true. The Gu Family not only let a person with a different surname take charge of the family, but also let a young man who is only at the Life Profound Realm hold great power. It's really an eye-opener!"
Pang Hao said with a smile, but his tone was full of ridicule towards the Gu Family and disdain for Lin Dong. As Pang Hao's voice fell, countless people followed Pang Hao's gaze and landed on Lin Dong's group.
Faced with the gazes of countless people around him, a hint of coldness flashed in Lin Dong's eyes. This Pang Hao's methods were indeed good. With one move, he directly made them the target of public criticism, and even directly angered him, wanting him to fight them to the death.
It had to be admitted that Lin Dong was indeed angered, but not everyone was like the Yuan Gate Three Giants, who could make Lin Dong have to endure and even retreat after being angered.
At least, the Pang Hao in front of him was not qualified. Therefore, the price for provoking him would be very high, especially since Lin Dong was very angry at this time!
"Your Excellency has good methods!"
Under the gaze of those fiery and greedy eyes, the anger on Lin Dong's face gradually subsided, and he actually showed a smile, praising softly.
"Hehe, the Gu Family head is also one of the silver tower key holders. Why not come up and sit down, and discuss the opening of the cave abode?"
Pang Hao said with a faint smile, but his eyes were filled with a bit of coldness, and the corner of his eye was also observing the powerhouses around him who had begun to stir.
Although they didn't know much about the true strength of Lin Dong's group, at least it seemed that Lin Dong's group was not very easy to provoke. Each of them had the strength above the Life Profound Realm, and basically all of them were at the Great Accomplishment of Life Profound Realm or above.
Such a team of seven was obviously not a bone that could be gnawed down casually. They were all thinking of waiting for others to go up and exhaust them first, and then they would go up to compete.
At this time, they needed to wait for someone to take the lead to break this deadlock. When the time came, this group of greedy powerhouses would definitely rush forward one after another, for fear of being robbed by others if they were late.
The white-clothed woman sitting next to the black-clothed youth Pang Hao didn't express anything, but silently picked up the teacup and took a sip. However, her gaze also stayed on Lin Dong, with a bit of intriguing meaning in her eyes.
Lin Dong didn't immediately respond to Pang Hao's invitation, but glanced at the people around him with disdain, and then chuckled, saying.
"Just with these people, you want to deal with me? Your Excellency is really whimsical. It's a pity that there is no such Martial Arts. Otherwise, Your Excellency would probably be invincible in the world!"
"Puchi!"
The white-clothed woman couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this, then gracefully stood up, her beautiful eyes swept over Gu Yan, Gu Mengqi, and Lin Qingtan, before she softly spoke.
"To think, the renowned Lin Dong, head of the Lin Family, would have such sharp words; it truly surprises Xiangxuan."
"What, even Liu Xiangxuan of the Profound Heaven Hall can't sit still and wants to join in?"
Lin Dong, his heart filled with rage, was ready to snap at anyone he saw, not caring about having one or two more opponents. Ever since Little Marten showed up, they were bound to have plenty of enemies.
Those Death Profound Realm experts had probably already formed a secret alliance, and these ignorant fools before him were being used.
"Giggle, the Lin Family Head is joking. This is a matter between you men; Xiangxuan is just a weak woman and wouldn't dare interfere. Otherwise, wouldn't I be torn to shreds?"
Liu Xiangxuan gave a charming laugh, her silvery voice causing Pang Hao's expression to change slightly, as he stared at Liu Xiangxuan beside him with a hint of coldness. This was different from what they had discussed before.
But before Pang Hao could open his mouth to question her, Liu Xiangxuan took the initiative to distance herself from him, smiling as she stated.
"Regarding today's matter, my Profound Heaven Hall will give the Lin Family Head some face and not participate. However, afterwards, I hope the Lin Family Head will also give Xiangxuan some face and answer some questions for Xiangxuan, is that alright?"
Answer questions?
Lin Dong was suspicious, feeling that Liu Xiangxuan's motives were impure. However, with the Profound Heaven Hall stating that they wouldn't interfere in their conflict, even if it had the air of 'the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman benefits', it was good news for Lin Dong, at least reducing some pressure.
However, even so, Lin Dong didn't agree immediately, mainly because Liu Xiangxuan's attitude was somewhat abnormal, and there was also the matter of 'answering some questions'. Who knew what those questions would be?
"I must thank Miss Liu, but the questions Miss Liu has, Lin Dong may not know all of them, and may not be able to answer them. If I can't answer them, I hope Miss Liu won't blame me."
"Rest assured, Xiangxuan won't make things difficult for the Lin Family Head. They are all about some news regarding the Lin Family Head's clan, not really secrets, so the Lin Family Head will definitely be able to answer them."
Liu Xiangxuan smiled faintly, responding softly. She wasn't a reckless fool like Pang Hao. Being able to become the Holy Maiden of the Profound Heaven Hall, Liu Xiangxuan was an extremely intelligent woman.
In fact, Liu Xiangxuan could sense that the Profound Heaven Hall Master's purpose in choosing her as the Holy Maiden was impure, so she had to find another backer.
And what backer could compare to the Sword Saint, who had friends all over the world and was known as the strongest expert in the Four Great Mysterious Domains?
Others might not know, but after receiving this news, Liu Xiangxuan had carefully studied it. The Sword Saint's strength was terrifying!