Unlike the Li family, the Ma family's mansion was built in a low-lying area on the outskirts of Yunshan City.

  The reason for choosing this spot was that the Ma family's specialty was formations.

  Formations required favorable feng shui and sufficient spatial area for their arrangement.

  This mountain depression perfectly met their needs.

  The Ma family's formations were different from traditional defensive ones.

  They focused on luring the enemy in first, then neutralizing their effective strength.

  On the surface, the formations seemed full of holes, but these were actually baits to deceive invaders.

  Now, the Ma family was on high alert.

  Ma Yingming, Ma Zhaoyuan's Foundation Establishment uncle, was organizing the final preparations.

  Lin Lin was on a hilltop near the Ma mansion, carefully adjusting his recently crafted telescope.

  Like the microscope before, the lenses for this telescope were also handmade by Lin Lin.

  The outer barrel was made of bamboo.

  The difference was that microscope lenses, once fixed, generally did not move.

  Telescope lenses, however, needed adjustments based on the viewing distance.

  It sounded simple, but was actually quite complex.

  Lin Lin meticulously adjusted the lenses, muttering to himself, "The Ma family is ruthless. They clearly intend to finish off Li Rushi's group."

  Helping Lin Lin were Zuo Yong and Feng Jinbao.

  Hearing this, Zuo Yong stepped forward. "Annihilating a clan is a blood feud. If Li Rushi escapes this time, the Ma family will never have peace."

  "Exactly, that's the situation I want. Both sides suffer heavy losses, and we reap the benefits."

  Lin Lin slowly turned the lenses until the distant scene became clear. "Alright, it's done. Come take a look."

  Zuo Yong and Feng Jinbao peered through, astonished at how clear the distant view was.

  Feng Jinbao examined the telescope body, baffled. "What kind of artifact is this? No spiritual energy, yet it can see for kilometers?"

  "It's called a telescope. Speaking of which, are there techniques or artifacts that grant千里 vision?"

  Zuo Yong frowned, searching his memory. "I've heard rumors, but never seen anything like it."

  "Only rumors..."

  Most rumors about artifacts and techniques in the cultivation world were ninety percent false, one percent true.

  Many cultivators fabricated miraculous techniques just to swindle resources.

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  The cultivation world's literacy was still stuck in a feudal era.

  Lies spread easily, but disproving them was hard.

  Victims could always be told they practiced the technique wrong or used the artifact incorrectly.

  This forced cultivators to only trust their own sect's methods and treasures.

  Further empowering established sects.

  Lin Lin focused, mentally tracing the telescope's optical path.

  The theoretical foundation of applied optics had been laid since Galileo's time.

  So by understanding the optical path, he could roughly imagine the structure of various artifacts.

  A sudden inspiration struck. He drew a simple tube on the ground.

  "Zuo Yong, in the rumors, was there an artifact shaped like this? Transparent in the middle, with a casing outside?"

  Zuo Yong peered at the drawing for a long time before recalling something. "Baiyue City's Clairvoyant Mirror is like that. I don't know about others."

  Lin Lin nodded. So it was Baiyue City.

  It seemed Baiyue City likely possessed technology not of this era.

  He would need to be wary of them in the future.

  Looking at his drawing, another thought struck him.

  Beyond artifacts, what about people?

  Did so-called vision really exist?

  Lin Lin had heard that reaching Foundation Establishment allowed one to see for a hundred miles. Now that he was at Foundation Establishment, he knew it was another lie.

  Ultimately, vision depended on materials and optical structure.

  The eye's lens structure probably wouldn't change much due to cultivation.

  Even if a cultivator's eyes became optical materials, the eye's structure would have to change.

  A curious thought arose.

  He asked Zuo Yong, "In the cultivation world, are there people who look like they're from a二维 world?"

  "Two-dimensional world?" Zuo Yong was puzzled.

  Right, this world wouldn't understand.

  Lin Lin quickly explained, "I mean, people with huge eyeballs. Eyeballs several times larger than normal."

  Zuo Yong thought seriously, then gave an unexpected answer. "I remember reading ancient records. The demon race on the Yellow Springs Plain looks exactly like that."

  "What about their eyesight?"

  "Their eyesight far exceeds normal humans. They say an eagle soaring in the sky appears as if it's right before their eyes."

  "Good. That puts my mind at ease."

  This confirmed that a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Li Rushi probably lacked telescopic vision or artifacts.

  If Lin Lin stayed hidden, Li Rushi likely wouldn't see him.

  But watching from the sidelines had another key point: which tiger was stronger?

  Logically, Li Rushi's Canglong Gang group should be far stronger.

  But was that really the case?

  Lost in thought, Lin Lin noticed several black dots on the horizon.

  They moved in a wild goose formation, slowly approaching the Ma mansion.

  Lin Lin raised his telescope, identified them. "Li Rushi finally arrived. An hour later than I expected."

  Zuo Yong asked cautiously, "Sect Leader, aren't you afraid Li Rushi will turn back and attack Qingfeng Sect?"

  "Afraid, but fear is useless. If Li Rushi attacks Qingfeng Sect, both sides lose. In that case, I'd let him have Qingfeng Sect first." Lin Lin shrugged.

  Keep the people and the land, lose both.

  Keep the people, lose the land, and both are preserved.

  In the cultivation world, people came first.

  Besides, according to the Lei brothers, the Canglong Gang was mobilizing all its forces to seize the five spirit stone mines in the Thousand Li Ghost Yin Mountains.

  Compared to those mines, Qingfeng Sect was a tasteless,弃之可惜 chicken rib.

  Moreover, Li Rushi had his reasons for destroying the Ma family.

  Beyond resources and revenge, he needed to eliminate the Ma family as a threat.

  In this world, more friends meant more paths, all leading to smooth roads.

  More enemies meant walls everywhere, eventually leading to a dead end.

  Li Rushi destroying the Ma family was about tearing down a wall.

  Destroying an empty Qingfeng Sect would only build him a new wall.

  Li Rushi, that old fox, would certainly calculate that.

  Lin Lin patiently explained his reasoning to Zuo Yong.

  A lesson that he thought much further ahead than Zuo Yong's little schemes.

  " wise, Sect Leader." A cold sweat on his forehead, Zuo Yong obediently lowered his head.

  Feng Jinbao carefully watched the Ma mansion.

  Servants moved back and forth, seemingly unaware of Li Rushi's group.

  Perhaps blocked by the terrain.

  Li Rushi's group flew fast. Their clothes were visible through the telescope.

  "I'll run and warn the Ma family." Feng Jinbao rushed to Lin Lin, eager to fight.

  "You'd better warn Li Rushi. The Ma family's formations are designed to kill."

  Lin Lin's tone was sarcastic.

  Anyone could see the Ma family was luring them in.

  The servants moved hurriedly, forced to put on an act.

  But the dense Feng Jinbao didn't get it. "Oh, then I'll go warn Li Rushi."

  "...Get back here, you idiot!"