Lin Feng spent the next four weeks traversing the desolate Sunderwind Wastes, moving with deceptive speed using the Phantom Flash Footwork. The chaotic energy of the Wastes helped him integrate the turbulent forces of his recent breakthrough.
His destination was the Shifting Sands City, a massive, ungoverned hub built on the borders of three rival kingdoms. It was a haven for mercenaries, rogue cultivators, and all manner of black-market trades—perfect for a fugitive seeking quick gains and obscurity.
He arrived at the city gates, his new Inner Disciple robes intentionally scuffed and plain. The city was a sensory overload: the air heavy with dust, the smell of cheap liquor and exotic spices, and the cacophony of a thousand transactions. Shifting Sands lived up to its name; power here was as fluid and unreliable as the desert beneath its walls.
His first priority was money. The high-grade pills he bought were nearly gone, and the Qi Sea realm required immense resources for stable growth. He needed something valuable to sell quickly.
Lin Feng sought out the largest and most discreet market: the Hidden Pavilion Auction House.
The auction house was a contrast to the rest of the city, its interior plush and silent. Lin Feng approached a stern-faced valuation expert. He presented the man with a small, perfectly preserved vial of Demon Core Essence—a byproduct he had carefully scraped and stored after Mu Qingxue's refinement.
The expert's eyes widened barely perceptibly. This was incredibly pure, high-level material, something that should not exist in the Lower Planes. "Where did you acquire this, young cultivator?" the expert asked, his tone suddenly respectful.
"From a deep mountain spring," Lin Feng lied easily. The Void Furnace had not only refined the Amaranth but had left traces of its incredible purity in the byproduct.
The expert named a staggering price—enough gold and spiritual stones to sustain Lin Feng's cultivation for three months. He chose to take his payment in Pure Spirit Jade and several rare Spatial Herbs, immediately fueling his urgent need for resources.
Lin Feng now had the means, but he still lacked an environment to hone his new skills. He needed a true offensive technique, the Void Cutter Finger, to be flawless, and the market stalls offered nothing suitable for his unique energy.
That evening, as he left the auction house, he felt the familiar, unwelcome sensation of being watched. Three figures in dark leather armor, their cultivation at the Peak of the Body Tempering realm, shadowed him. Clearly, the valuation expert had sold information about the Demon Core Essence.
They cornered him in a narrow alleyway, far from the light of the main streets.
"Hand over the Spirit Jade, boy, and we'll leave your pathetic Qi Sea cultivation intact," the leader growled, drawing a wickedly curved saber.
Lin Feng remained calm. This was his training opportunity. He focused the chaotic power of the Void Seal and channeled it, not into his fist, but into the space around his index finger.
"I won't be giving you anything," Lin Feng said.
The leader charged, bringing the heavy saber down in a blinding arc.
Lin Feng activated the Phantom Flash Footwork. He didn't merely dodge; he blurred, seeming to step into the shadow of the saber's movement, completely bypassing the attack. He reappeared behind the second thug.
With a precision that surprised even him, he unleashed the Void Cutter Finger. There was no brilliant light or loud explosion, just a faint, sickening hiss.
The thug did not scream. He simply staggered, and a perfect, invisible line appeared across his shoulder armor. His left arm, severed by the invisible spatial tear, clattered to the ground before the thug even registered the pain.
The two remaining thugs froze, their bravado evaporating instantly. This was not the work of a typical Qi Sea cultivator; this was monstrous, terrifying power.
"Run!" the leader shrieked, instantly discarding his saber and fleeing into the darkness. Lin Feng let them go. He did not seek to be a killer, only a deterrent. The alley was now silent, save for the gasping of the disarmed thug.
Lin Feng used a basic concealment technique and quickly melted back into the shadows. He had proven the technique was effective, but the execution was messy, consuming far too much of his precious Qi. He needed a mentor or, at least, someone with deeper knowledge of the elements to help him refine the chaos.
He sought out a dingy, hidden compound known for its eccentric residents—the district of rogue alchemists. There, he found his next connection.
The shop was barely more than a soot-stained cave, smelling heavily of sulfur and burned herbs. It was run by a slovenly, middle-aged woman named Elder Ling. Her cultivation was veiled, but Lin Feng could tell she was at least an Origin King, and likely much higher.
"I hear you sell Spatial Herbs," Lin Feng said, presenting a pouch of gold.
Elder Ling, perpetually covered in ash, glanced at him with one half-open eye. "I sell many things. What do you need, young one? Something to help you sleep after murdering your first man?"
Lin Feng ignored the jab. "I need help with a formula. I possess a unique, highly pure energy source. I need an Alchemist capable of utilizing this purity to create a pill that speeds up my spatial perception and aids in the channeling of chaotic Qi. I will pay a heavy price."
Elder Ling finally sat up, intrigued. She took a close look at Lin Feng, specifically noticing the subtle, unnatural distortion of the air near his hand—a residual trace of the Void Seal.
"Chaotic Qi that needs taming, eh? Interesting," she muttered, stroking her soot-covered chin. "I once knew a certain demon who used that kind of energy, long ago. My price is not gold. My price is silence, and you must act as my guinea pig."
She paused, grinning, revealing a surprisingly sharp set of teeth.
"And I need someone capable of gathering rare materials from unstable regions. Regions only a madman with spatial affinity can survive. If you want my expertise, you must enter a contract. We will forge a Pill of Instantaneous Perception, but you will work for me."
Lin Feng had no choice. He had found his resource provider and his demanding, eccentric new teacher.
"I accept, Elder Ling. What is the first ingredient you require?"
"Simple," she cackled, pushing a tattered map across the table. "I need the Crystallized Tears of the Sky Turtle, found only within the Shifting Void Labyrinth. It's a place where space is constantly folding. A place most sane cultivators avoid like the plague."
Lin Feng had his first true mission under the six-month deadline: risk his life in a dimensionally unstable death trap to earn the favor of the rogue alchemist.