Chapter 1268: 661: Gathering

Chapter 1268: Chapter 661: Gathering

In his heart, he truly couldn’t fathom that in just half a year, Wu Chengfeng’s injuries had recovered by seventy or eighty percent.

One must know that Wu Chengfeng had suffered a severe blow back then, with his strength reduced by more than half.

And at Wu Chengfeng’s level, injury recovery was far more arduous than for lower-stage cultivators.

It was like a Foundation Establishment cultivator—no matter how close to death, as long as they had one final breath, with common healing pills, they could recover fully within half a year at most.

But reaching the Late Stage Golden Core level meant that if gravely injured, ordinary healing pills were completely ineffective.

Under normal circumstances, recovering from severe injuries as a Golden Core Stage cultivator was even more challenging and required the aid of rare, precious elixirs.

Otherwise, relying on common pills or self-recuperation would take at least a year and a half or more.

For Wu Chengfeng to recover so quickly, it was highly likely he had consumed some precious elixirs.

However, given Tianqing Sect’s foundation spanning tens of thousands of years and Wu Chengfeng’s status as one of its top-tier experts, coupled with the imminent outbreak of a new round of battle between the two sides…

Under such circumstances, it was only expected that Wu Chengfeng could heal his injuries in this timeframe.

Understanding this, Lin Tianming no longer dwelled on it and instead focused his gaze on the opponent’s lineup.

Among the four people at the forefront of the enemy’s camp, besides the familiar faces of Hua Zhenxing and Wu Chengfeng, there were two others whom Lin Tianming was seeing for the first time.

After examining them carefully, one was an old man with white hair, wearing a blue Taoist robe, and his pupils carried faint traces of somber gray, exuding an incomparably profound aura.

Moreover, the old man’s presence was extremely restrained. Even under the protection of the formation, Lin Tianming could hardly sense any detectable aura from him.

Perceiving this, Lin Tianming already had certain suspicions in his heart.

He knew that this old man was undoubtedly a veteran Golden Core expert who had roamed the Jin Feng Country cultivation world for many years.

Thinking carefully, Lin Tianming recalled various records of this person and eventually confirmed his identity.

“Yang Yinghai!”

According to the information Lin Tianming possessed, Yang Yinghai was a cultivator of the Tianqing Sect.

It was said that two hundred years ago, Yang Yinghai’s name was already renowned throughout the Jin Feng Country cultivation world.

At that time, Yang Yinghai had already reached the Late Stage Golden Core and possessed formidable strength.

But in the past hundred years or so, Yang Yinghai had rarely appeared in public, not even making a single known move.

Over time, there were far fewer traces of him in Jin Feng Country, and no news about him surfaced. Gradually, he faded out of public view.

However, that was only true for those below the Golden Core Stage. To them, Yang Yinghai’s name was still relatively unfamiliar. Most Qi Refining cultivators had almost never heard of his tales.

But among the Golden Core Stage cultivators in Jin Feng Country, and even among some of the Foundation Establishment cultivators nearing the end of their lives, almost everyone knew of Yang Yinghai’s existence.

Some even saw his elegance years ago and witnessed his achievements in combat.

In truth, Yang Yinghai’s reputation was illustrious, and his strength unparalleled.

It was rumored that during his time at the Golden Core Stage, he had repeatedly killed cultivators of the same stage, and the number of demonic beasts that fell at his hands was countless.

Although he had not made any public moves in over a century, his prowess at the Golden Core Stage level within Jin Feng Country remained universally recognized.

Moreover, having risen to fame in his early years and being part of a long-established sect like the Tianqing Sect, he was regarded as the sect’s top expert. Naturally, his status stemmed not only from his exceptional strength but also from his seniority and experience.

Otherwise, even someone as strong as Wu Chengfeng, who stood at the peak of Jin Feng Country, would not have shown such deference to Yang Yinghai.

Realizing all of this, and seeing Wu Chengfeng’s subtle demeanor of retreating into the shadows, Lin Tianming could tell that Yang Yinghai’s strength was undoubtedly terrifying.

In fact, Yang Yinghai’s power even seemed to surpass that of Hua Zhenxing, the Yuanchen Sect’s leader of their cultivators present here.

Lin Tianming knew this was highly probable.

Aside from Yang Yinghai, among the leading four, there was also another figure—a man with the appearance of a bald old monk.

This man had a plump face and ears, wore golden Daoist robes, and gazed at the Liang Family territory with a sly smile, exuding an indescribable sense of malevolence—a truly treacherous and devious-looking scoundrel.

However, despite his lecherous demeanor, the old monk’s aura was also extremely restrained. After scrutinizing him for a while, Lin Tianming discerned that this man was actually a Late Stage Golden Core cultivator.

As for the monk’s origins, Lin Tianming pondered for a long time but couldn’t recall any information related to this bald old monk.

Altogether, there were fewer than ten known Golden Core Stage independent cultivators in the Jin Feng Country cultivation world.

Among these known Golden Core independent cultivators, four had already appeared in the Liang Family territory.

As for the rest, none had a cultivation base matching this old monk’s level, nor did any of them align with the monk’s appearance or other characteristics.

This suggested that the golden-robed monk was certainly not a native of Jin Feng Country.

Furthermore, regarding his origins, no one in the neighboring countries seemed to match him either.

Across the Central and Southern Qingzhou Region, among the nations where Golden Core experts were known to exist, Lin Tianming had, to some extent, read about or heard rumors of these figures.

Yet this golden-robed monk was a complete mystery, without even the slightest mention in rumors or records.