Chapter 49: Encounter With An Assassin

“The Buddha’s teachings are boundless. I hope you will contemplate them well.”

The middle-aged monk gently waved his monk robe. Lin Mu was about to say something when he suddenly felt his vision go black. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself still sitting safely in his room.

Everything that happened earlier seemed to be just his imagination. The painting in front of him was still hanging on the wall as ordinary as ever, no different than before.

Although his body felt normal, Lin Mu’s brain was unusually swollen and painful. He was very familiar with this feeling—it was the side effect of having knowledge forcibly transmitted to him.

After checking his body and finding nothing wrong, Lin Mu closed his eyes and concentrated. His mind immediately entered a meditative state.

A bright golden light suddenly burst forth in the room, originating from between Lin Mu’s eyebrows. The moment the golden light appeared, Lin Mu fainted and lost all consciousness.

The unusual phenomenon in the room alarmed the old monk. He quickly entered and, upon seeing the scene, repeatedly chanted the Buddha’s name. He never expected Lin Mu to have such a strong connection with Buddhism that he would receive the Buddha’s blessing.

Turning around, the old monk closed the door and left the room to Lin Mu. Inside, the numerous golden lights were slowly entering Lin Mu’s body.

It wasn’t until the next morning that Lin Mu finally woke up. His first reaction was to touch his forehead, then he checked his body and found everything intact.

However, he was somewhat different from yesterday. While examining his body, he discovered that he had already reached the early Fusion Stage and attained the Spirit Gathering Realm.

Originally, Lin Mu was at the Subtlety Realm. Thanks to a trace of spiritual energy from the Ninefold True Tribulation, his cultivation in the Foundation Building Stage had been very smooth. He had directly entered the Agility Realm at the beginning of the Foundation Building Stage’s Solid Realm, Agility Realm, and Subtlety Realm.

Later, with the refining of his own elixirs, he gradually advanced into the Subtlety Realm. He thought breaking through the bottleneck of the Foundation Building Stage would take some time, but unexpectedly, a chance encounter allowed him to directly break through!

The next stage, the Fusion Stage, was divided into Spirit Gathering Realm, Innate Realm, and Mystical Access Realm. Compared to the Foundation Building Stage, the Fusion Stage was naturally much stronger. Even at the early Spirit Gathering Realm, one’s cultivation power would be several times greater than in the Foundation Building Stage.

Currently, all of Lin Mu’s meridians were extremely clear. The scattered zhenqi had gathered in his dantian, forming a small vortex that slowly rotated continuously. The free spiritual energy around was constantly being attracted by the vortex and gradually entering it.

He never expected that a casual visit to a temple would lead to such a wonderful encounter. Lin Mu felt like laughing heartily, but since this was a quiet Buddhist place, he suppressed the impulse.

Now, he had an additional Buddhist cultivation technique in his mind called the Evil-Slaying Seal. Based on Lin Mu’s past experiences, he could already tell this was a supreme Buddhist cultivation technique.

Unfortunately, activating this technique required an immense amount of spiritual power. At Lin Mu’s current level, he couldn’t even begin to use it.

As for the monk who taught him this technique, Lin Mu couldn’t help but suspect he might be the Arhat Who Subdues Dragons, a truly great figure with immense supernatural powers, a highly virtuous monk famous in the upper realms for a long time.

He just didn’t know how the Arhat Who Subdues Dragons’ scroll ended up on Earth. Having learned quite a bit about this place’s history, Lin Mu knew that Earth had never produced any cultivators.

After pondering for a while and finding no answers, Lin Mu gave up on the thought. He stood up, straightened his clothes a bit, and left the room.

Pushing the door open, a breeze immediately blew toward him. Refreshed, Lin Mu went straight to the main hall from yesterday. Sure enough, the old monk was sitting on the same cushion as before, quietly meditating.

“Lin Mu greets the master.”

Lin Mu respectfully put his hands together and bowed with a smile.

“Benefactor, you have finally awakened.”

The old monk slowly opened his eyes, looking at Lin Mu with great satisfaction.

“Thank you, master, for granting me this opportunity. If you ever need help in the future, please do not hesitate to ask. Lin Mu will definitely not refuse.”

“Amitabha. Benefactor, you are very kind. Before you leave, this old monk will give you one more piece of advice. You are surrounded by worldly attachments. Remember to exercise restraint in the future. Well said, well said!”

“Thank you for your guidance, master!”

Lin Mu put his hands together, sincerely bowed, and then left Lingquan Temple.

Strolling on the street, Lin Mu, now in the early Fusion Stage, saw the surroundings differently. Everything became clearer. With a single thought, the zhenqi inside him slowly began to circulate.

Suddenly, a gaze filled with clear hostility locked onto Lin Mu. Almost instantly, Lin Mu sensed this gaze, but he didn’t turn around. Instead, he continued walking forward, pretending to be completely unaware.

After turning several corners, Lin Mu had switched to another street, but the gaze behind him still closely followed. Now Lin Mu knew someone was targeting him.

Looking around casually, Lin Mu acted like he was shopping, then entered a nearby mall. After glancing at the sign above, he turned into the restroom.

Quietly closing one of the men’s restroom stall doors, Lin Mu flipped like a ghost into the adjacent stall. At that moment, another person followed him into the restroom.

It was a very ordinary-looking middle-aged man, the type you wouldn’t notice in a crowd. However, the man’s eyes showed extreme caution.

Upon entering the restroom, he quickly took in the surroundings, then noticed the stall door Lin Mu had closed. His right hand moved slightly, and a sharp dagger slid from his sleeve into his hand.

Lin Mu, hiding in the next stall, saw this clearly. He never expected someone would come to assassinate him. Recently, he hadn’t offended anyone. After thinking for a while and recalling no one, Lin Mu decided to act.

Just as the assassin was approaching the stall, Lin Mu struck the stall wall with his palm. The wall, made of high-strength synthetic board, was completely smashed away and crashed into the assassin.

However, the assassin reacted quite quickly, dodging backward. Although he looked somewhat disheveled, he wasn’t injured. After all, Lin Mu didn’t intend to kill him but to capture him for questioning.

“You really have some skills!”

Seeing Lin Mu walk out, even the foolish assassin realized Lin Mu had discovered him early and deliberately lured him inside.

“Who are you?”

Lin Mu’s gaze turned cold as he stared at the person before him.

The assassin gave a sinister smile but said nothing. With a flick of his right hand, a cold gleam shot rapidly toward Lin Mu.

However, Lin Mu stood still, merely tilting his body to avoid the cold gleam. At the same time, the assassin threw both hands forward, and instantly five cold gleams in a plum blossom pattern covered all the vital parts of Lin Mu’s body.

Lin Mu’s eyes turned cold. His hands suddenly formed circles and, with a sweeping motion, collected all five cold gleams into his palms. Seeing this, the assassin’s heart trembled. He knew he was absolutely no match for Lin Mu.

Wanting to retreat, the assassin immediately turned and smashed through the restroom’s ventilation window, disappearing outside in a flash. Lin Mu stepped to the window but could no longer see the assassin’s figure.

Looking at his palm, he saw the five cold gleams the assassin had thrown—five ultra-thin daggers without handles. The material didn’t seem like ordinary steel, and the edges were exceptionally sharp.

Pressing against the window frame, Lin Mu applied a little force and easily cut off a large piece of the steel edge. They were actually sharp to this degree.

Returning home, Lin Mu first took a shower. As he washed, he carefully recalled all the events that had happened recently. Today’s incident was enough to make him more cautious.

After all, he was no longer the invincible cultivator who once dominated. At best, he was just a stronger ordinary person. There were many things on Earth that could harm him, so he had to be careful.

Someone wanted him dead. He needed to get to the bottom of this, or he might never have peace again. From the looks of it, the assassin seemed to be from the Li family. To investigate, he should start with that guy Li Guangrui.

As he thought, the figure of Xing Weilong suddenly flashed in Lin Mu’s mind. This guy’s background wasn’t simple either; he probably knew quite a bit. A slight smile curled on Lin Mu’s lips as he formed a plan.

Just then, the sound of the door opening came from outside, along with rustling noises. Someone had bought something and returned. Lin Mu dried himself, put on clothes, and walked out of the bathroom.

He saw Ye Zixi carrying a large bag, changing into slippers as she entered the living room. Lin Mu smiled and greeted her, “Zixi, you’re back? Are you alone?”

“Yeah, I came back first. Didn’t you go out today?”

“I did. I just got back not long ago. When will Yuru and the others return?”

“Their homes are farther away. They should be back soon too. What? You miss them after just two days?” Ye Zixi teasingly winked.

“I miss them, but I miss you too. With just me at home, it feels a bit strange. I’m really not used to it yet.”

Lin Mu said with a slight smile.

These words sounded different to Ye Zixi. She already had some feelings for Lin Mu, and hearing this suddenly made her shy. She handed the bag to Lin Mu and ran upstairs.

“What’s this? For me?”

Lin Mu asked curiously as he opened the bag.

“Yeah, I brought it from home for you to eat.”

Ye Zixi’s voice drifted down from upstairs.

Sitting on the sofa, Lin Mu opened the bag. Inside was a type of fruit he had never seen before, entirely green.

“What is this? How do you eat it?”

Lin Mu took out one fruit and forcefully split it in half, revealing pure white flesh inside. He smelled it; it had a light lemony fragrance. He took a bite and found it quite delicious. The juice that came out was similar to fruit juice.

Getting hooked, Lin Mu ate several in one go before stopping. His mouth was immediately filled with a fresh lemony scent.

“Mmm! It really is quite tasty. What’s this fruit called? Let’s buy some to eat often in the future!”

Lin Mu wiped his mouth contentedly.

After about ten minutes, Ye Zixi came downstairs, clearly having just showered. Her hair was still wet, and she wore simple, loose pajamas. An alluring and seductive aura instantly enveloped her.