The Peerless Emperor (TPE)

With the help of information from his sect and various signs in Bashan City, Lin Qian confirmed that the Li family had indeed colluded with the Overlord Blade Sect. However, the exact reason why the Li family frequently ventured into Bashan had not been fully uncovered.

The presence of a mole within the Overlord Blade Sect made it easy to obtain information about the collusion. However, the matter of the Li family's expeditions into Bashan was beyond the reach of the mole's intelligence.

After all, Bashan City was a small town under the jurisdiction of the Myriad Image Sect, and sending a disciple to infiltrate one of the city's families was seen as overkill.

Both the Ye and Bai families had spies within the Li family, but those spies were soon rooted out, meeting a grim fate.

Before even arriving in Bashan, Lin Qian knew the reason behind the Li family's activities: a relic.

According to ancient chronicles, the Soul Martial Continent had undergone a massive upheaval in the distant past, causing the earth to collapse and bury many ancient sects. As a result, relics of these ancient sects could be found scattered across the continent.

The discovery of any relic, no matter how small, represented a significant wealth of resources.

In the letter his parents had left behind, Lin Qian's father mentioned the existence of such a relic deep within Bashan.

Upon discovering the relic, Lin Qian's father had not informed anyone. Instead, he had leisurely broken through all the formations and mechanisms within the relic. However, he did not take anything from it, choosing instead to reseal it with a Bloodline Seal.

According to the letter, his father explained his reasoning for sealing the relic: "These things are not of interest to me. Qian'er, you can unseal it if you're bored and play with whatever's inside."

Reflecting on his father's words, Lin Qian couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Even the smallest relic could attract Soul Martialists from all around, who would then scramble to get their hands on the treasure.

Typically, exploring a relic was a task that required considerable strength and caution, often undertaken by teams of Soul Martialists and groups working together.

But Lin Qian's father had single-handedly broken through all the formations and traps in the relic, without suffering any injuries.

It seemed his father had solved the relic's challenges out of boredom, without a scratch on him, leaving the treasures untouched for Lin Qian to play with.

"My parents must be far stronger than I ever realized," Lin Qian thought as he surged deeper into Bashan, channeling his soul power.

Despite unleashing his soul power, the aura surrounding him remained faint.

This was thanks to the Concealment Talisman hidden under his simple white robe.

Lin Qian knew that since the relic in Bashan was sealed by his father and later discovered by the Li family, such a valuable site would surely be guarded. The Concealment Talisman would be crucial for staying undetected.

Thus, Lin Qian had unceremoniously taken the Concealment Talisman from Ye Lin.

Following his father's instructions from the letter, Lin Qian steadily approached the relic's location.

Soul Beasts, wild beasts that, like Soul Martialists, could refine spiritual energy into soul power, were plentiful within Bashan. However, the deeper Lin Qian went, the fewer Soul Beasts he encountered, until there were almost none. The Concealment Talisman made the journey even less troublesome.

It seemed the Li family had cleared out many of the Soul Beasts along the path to the relic.

As the number of Soul Beasts dwindled, Lin Qian slowed his pace. He knew he was getting close to the relic and didn't want to risk running into members of the Li family without being able to react in time.

"Hmm?" Lin Qian suddenly halted, quickly hiding behind a large tree trunk and crouching in the tall grass.

Gathering soul power in his eyes, Lin Qian's vision sharpened, allowing him to easily see what was happening a hundred meters away through the gaps in the grass.

Ahead, at the entrance to a valley, two tall Soul Martialists stood guard.

This area was remote and isolated within Bashan, a place rarely visited by people.

The fact that guards were stationed here confirmed that the valley held something of utmost importance—likely the relic.

Moreover, this valley matched the description in his father's letter.

The valley entrance was flanked by two hills, each covered with towering ancient trees, shading the entrance.

If someone without knowledge of the area tried to approach, they might attempt to sneak in from the hills.

However, Lin Qian noticed that some of the tree trunks on the hillsides showed signs of damage, indicating the presence of hidden sentinels.

"It seems there are lookouts hidden in the treetops," Lin Qian mused. The damaged bark was a clear sign that Soul Martialists had used the trees to gain a vantage point.

If someone naively tried to bypass the entrance by climbing the hills, they would be spotted by the hidden lookouts.

There was only one entrance to the valley, and passing through unnoticed seemed impossible.

But according to Lin Qian's father's letter, this wasn't the only way into the valley.

In fact, the entrance his father mentioned wasn't even here.

Lin Qian had found this entrance by following the trail of dwindling Soul Beasts.

Carefully retreating, Lin Qian circled around to the side of the valley.

The valley wall here was a sheer cliff, and while it wouldn't be difficult for Lin Qian to scale it, the Li family would likely have anticipated this and placed sentinels around the perimeter.

But Lin Qian smiled slyly as he approached a large boulder at the base of the cliff.

The boulder was over three meters tall and two meters wide, roughly the size of a small house.

"Hu!" Standing before the boulder, Lin Qian exhaled, gathering soul power in his hands. His eyes focused as he thrust his hands into the boulder.

Poof!

The boulder, which seemed solid as stone, parted like tofu under Lin Qian's soul-powered hands, which easily pierced through to his elbows.

Then, with a surge of soul power, Lin Qian lifted the massive boulder, raising it off the ground.

Despite the feat of strength, Lin Qian showed no signs of strain, turning around with the boulder in hand.

As he turned, the space where the boulder had been revealed a deep, dark tunnel.

Lin Qian peered into the tunnel, which was about two meters high and one meter wide, its smooth walls clearly indicating that it had been artificially made.

Lin Qian carried the boulder into the tunnel, walking backward until he reached the far end, where he gently set the boulder down to block the entrance, sealing himself inside.

After pulling his hands from the boulder and dusting them off, Lin Qian turned and ventured deeper into the tunnel.

Soul power surrounded him, casting a soft white light that illuminated the tunnel.

"This tunnel was clearly man-made and likely created in one go," Lin Qian thought as he walked, inspecting the surroundings. He envisioned a powerful Soul Martialist driving a spear with spiraling soul power through the mountainside, carving out the tunnel.

Lin Qian recalled that his father used to practice with a flexible wooden spear in the courtyard, though the weapon had disappeared some time ago.

As he pondered this, Lin Qian suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowing as he spotted a broken piece of wood on the ground ahead.

The stick was about as long as his forearm, with its front half completely shattered.

Swallowing hard, Lin Qian shifted his gaze to the end of the stick, where he saw a character etched into it—Qian.

"Sure enough… it's the same wooden spear my father used to practice with," Lin Qian muttered, recognizing the character he had carved himself when he was a child.

Now he was certain: this tunnel, which pierced through the valley's side, was likely his father's handiwork, made with nothing but that wooden spear!

"Father, just how strong are you?" Lin Qian shook his head as he discarded the broken spear handle and continued onward.

He was eager to uncover the true extent of his father's strength.

As Lin Qian's mind raced with thoughts, his expression suddenly hardened. Up ahead, where the tunnel opened into the valley, he saw a light!

According to his father's letter, the tunnel had both ends blocked by boulders, so why was there light up ahead?

"Could it be that the Li family has discovered this tunnel?" Lin Qian wondered cautiously, focusing his soul power in his eyes to peer ahead.

But he saw nothing out of the ordinary—just the scenery of the valley beyond, with no one standing guard at the entrance.

Moreover, he detected no soul power fluctuations near the entrance, indicating the absence of Soul Martialists.

Erring on the side of caution, Lin Qian suppressed his soul power, keeping it ready to unleash at a moment's notice, while channeling the maximum amount of soul power into the Concealment Talisman. He then cautiously advanced toward the tunnel's exit.

As he emerged from the tunnel, Lin Qian found himself in a wide-open space, with a serene lake rippling in the valley and a waterfall crashing down from the mountainside into the lake.

"Was I just overthinking things?" Lin Qian murmured to himself, frowning slightly.

But just then, his pupils contracted, and every hair on his body stood on end as he instinctively rolled out of the tunnel's exit.

Boom!