The Inner Sect Alchemy Examination was the event of the season, marking the sole day every month when Inner Disciples and their powerful mentors left their secluded jade pavilions to mingle with the lower ranks. For Lin Feng, it was the only way to bypass the Yan Family Clan's stranglehold on the spiritual market. He couldn't sell in the Outer Market; he had to sell up.
Lin Feng was now Foundation Establishment Level Seven, but Level Seven alone wasn't enough to withstand the political pressure of Yan Xia. He needed immediate, undeniable market dominance.
He met Han Yue in Elder Bao's garden—the Unholy Garden—at noon. The latest batch of Vitality-Infused Moss was already glowing faintly, a testament to his accelerated cultivation.
"We have one week until the examination," Lin Feng stated, holding up a clump of the brilliant green moss. "If we just sell this raw, Yan Xia can easily claim it's tainted or unstable and use her influence to blacklist us. We must turn this quality into a reputation."
"So, what's the move, Master Alchemist?" Han Yue asked, folding her arms. She was still reeling from the speed of his development, but the sheer profits made her a willing co-conspirator. "We can't enter the Inner Peak ourselves. The security is tight. You have the wrong uniform, and I have the wrong clearance."
Lin Feng smiled, a calculating, predatory look that always sent a shiver of nervous excitement down her spine. "We aren't selling moss, Han Yue. We are selling a Luminous Catalyst Powder. I spent last night refining the process. This moss isn't just a binder; it's a power source."
He gestured to a small, portable brass mortar and pestle he had "borrowed" from the stable's cleaning supply. He took a handful of the Vitality-Infused Moss, placed it inside, and then closed his eyes.
Lin Feng pushed his Level Seven Qi into the brass. He didn't grind the moss; he purified and compressed it. The Wood Qi violently broke down the cellular structure, releasing the hyper-concentrated life essence. The black ring hummed, filtering out all impurities and leaving behind a substance so pure it was nearly liquid light.
When he opened the mortar, the moss was gone. In its place was a fine, shimmering, snow-white powder that sparkled with emerald light. It smelled like a thousand blooming spiritual gardens distilled into a single breath.
"This Luminous Catalyst Powder," Lin Feng explained, carefully scooping the powder into a dozen small, wax-sealed vials. "It is so pure that any alchemist, regardless of rank, will immediately feel the quality. It will boost any standard Foundation Pill recipe by twenty percent potency, instantly."
Han Yue reached out and tentatively touched the powder. She felt an immediate, invigorating surge of energy through her fingertips. "It's incredible, Lin Feng. This is worth more than gold—it's worth breakthroughs. But how do we get it past the Inner Peak guards?"
"The weakest point in any sect is logistics," Lin Feng declared. "Tell me everything about the material handling for the exam. Who moves the ingredients?"
Han Yue immediately went into administrative mode. "The materials are sourced externally, but the final delivery into the Alchemy Hall is done by Outer Disciples. They are responsible for placing the standard supply boxes on the alchemists' benches. It's a job for low-level, distracted disciples—the kind looking for a few copper coins and a chance to glimpse the Inner Peak."
"Perfect," Lin Feng confirmed. "We need a mule. A distracted, foolish mule who is too self-absorbed to notice a subtle switch."
Lin Feng and Han Yue spent the next two days staking out the disciples who usually took on the high-risk, low-reward delivery jobs.
They quickly settled on a target: a young man named Shi Lei.
"Qi Condensation Level Three. Known for having high aspirations but a short attention span," Han Yue reported, looking over her notes. "He dreams of being a sword master but is stuck running errands. He also has a noticeable habit: he chews spiritual herbs to calm his nerves, and he always buys them from the lowest-grade vendor near the East Gate, where the air is dirtiest."
"He is the one," Lin Feng said, a cold edge to his voice. "He is desperate enough to be greedy, but weak enough to be easily manipulated. And he is a customer of our rival."
Lin Feng carefully prepared a single, small package, designed to look like a crude, low-grade spiritual sachet. Inside, he placed a single, unremarkable-looking spiritual herb coated in a microscopic layer of the Luminous Catalyst Powder. It was the bait.
On the morning of the Alchemy Examination, the atmosphere at the Outer Market was electric. Lin Feng, dressed in his dusty stable robes, mingled near the East Gate, blending seamlessly with the poverty-stricken vendors. Han Yue, wearing her green administrator robes, stood at a distance, ready to act as the distraction.
Shi Lei arrived, his face twitching with anxiety over his important task. He fumbled with the few spiritual coins in his hand, clearly headed for his usual cheap vendor.
Lin Feng chose his moment. He "accidentally" bumped into Shi Lei, dropping the crude spiritual sachet to the ground.
"My apologies, Disciple!" Lin Feng exclaimed, acting the humble, clumsy stable hand. "I didn't see you! Please, take this. It's a gift from my master for my hard work, but I fear it's too high-grade for a low-life like me. Use it to calm your nerves before your important delivery."
Shi Lei was instantly suspicious, but the word "high-grade" caught his attention. He looked at the humble stable hand, then at the sachet. It looked pathetic, but the gesture was unusual. Shi Lei was too proud to take charity, but too greedy to refuse potential value.
"You… you dare to bump into a delivery disciple?" Shi Lei blustered, but he picked up the sachet quickly. "Fine. Get out of my sight, filth. But I'll take this trash as compensation for your rudeness."
"Thank you, Disciple Shi! May your delivery be successful!" Lin Feng called out cheerfully.
Shi Lei, feeling a little braver, immediately opened the sachet and popped the coated herb into his mouth. The reaction was almost instantaneous: the Luminous Catalyst Powder, even in a tiny dose, hit his low-level core like a lightning bolt. His eyes widened, his anxiety vanished, and he felt a sudden, profound clarity.
"What was that herb? It felt… transcendent!" Shi Lei thought, his attention now completely stolen by the spiritual effect.
As Shi Lei marched toward the Alchemy Hall, utterly preoccupied with the powerful taste in his mouth, Han Yue moved. She approached the stack of standardized ingredient boxes waiting for transport and waited for Shi Lei to pass.
As Shi Lei strode past the boxes, he was momentarily distracted by the sudden, intense aroma of the incense burning near the hall. At that precise, split-second moment, Lin Feng—watching from 100 paces away—executed his tactical move.
He channeled a powerful, invisible wave of Level Seven Foundation Earth and Wood Qi toward the main supply box that Shi Lei was about to pick up. He used the earth Qi to subtly lift the corner of the wooden lid, and the wood Qi to guide his small wax vials, which Han Yue had hidden on the underside of the lid, to switch places with the Yan Clan's dull, raw moss catalyst.
It was an act of pure, silent spiritual theft and replacement. Lin Feng's movements were not physical, but entirely atmospheric. Only a Level Nine Foundation Master or higher would have noticed the minute shift in the surrounding Qi.
Han Yue watched the flicker of the lid and the immediate snap shut. She gave a single, almost imperceptible nod.
The switch was complete. Shi Lei, feeling energized and completely oblivious, picked up the box containing the Luminous Catalyst Powder and swaggered into the Inner Peak Alchemy Hall.
That evening, Lin Feng sat in the Unholy Garden, surrounded by the three thriving plots of moss. Han Yue had returned, breathless, with the news.
"It was chaos," she whispered, still reeling from the day. "The alchemists—all Inner Disciples, some even Elders—they weren't just using the catalyst; they were fighting over it. Every pill they refined with your powder came out high-grade! They said the quality was unprecedented! Yan Xia's observers were panicking, trying to figure out where the supply came from."
"And Shi Lei?"
"He was questioned, but he swore he just delivered the standard boxes. He thinks the incredible energy he felt came from the free herb you gave him. He's looking for you to buy more of your 'high-grade trash.'"
Lin Feng smiled, a genuine, satisfied smile of a man who had just played a winning move. "Perfect. Shi Lei is now our unconscious hype man. The Inner Sect Alchemists now know that the supply chain is flawed, and they know the quality of the new catalyst. Yan Xia's monopoly on Luminous Moss is broken."
Han Yue sat close to him, the exhilaration of the victory giving her a bold confidence. "We just attacked the most powerful business faction in the Outer Sect. What is their counter-attack going to be? They can't attack me because of my rank, but they'll go after the supposed source of the moss."
"They will go after the weakest link," Lin Feng murmured, looking at the distant, silent stables. "They will go after Elder Bao and the Anonymous Benevolent Cultivator of Sector 9."
He placed his arm around her, a protective, possessive gesture, and kissed her forehead lightly. "But before they find us, we need more power."
He looked down at his own flourishing garden. The rapid acceleration process had strained his core, but it had also purified the spiritual resources in the area. He needed to capitalize on the residual Qi.
"I have two sacks of spiritual weeds left from the stables," Lin Feng said. "I need a continuous spiritual feed now. Han Yue, keep cultivating your Qi Condensation. You need power to protect yourself. I am going to push the boundary tonight."
He began meticulously arranging the spiritual weeds around himself in a small circle, preparing for a night of intense refinement. The cost of running his massive operation was constant, aggressive cultivation.
As the sun sank completely, and the green glow of the moss intensified, Lin Feng pushed his entire Level Seven reservoir into the black ring, drawing the power of the weeds directly into his dantian. The feeling was agonizing, euphoric, and blindingly fast.
The breakthrough was swift and violent, forcing him past a major bottleneck. The chaotic purple-gold light of the Primordial Chaos Art flared momentarily inside the shed, hidden from the world.
When the light subsided, Lin Feng opened his eyes. He felt as solid as a mountain peak. He was no longer battling for control of his energy; he commanded it.
Foundation Establishment Level Eight achieved.
He was now equal in raw power to Yan Xia, the market controller he had just publicly undermined. The game had just shifted entirely.
"The next move is hers," Lin Feng whispered into the dark. "And I will be ready."