Behind Dai Gangzi were six or seven martial generals, including one seventh-tier martial general and one eighth-tier martial general, along with more than a dozen protectors, all of whom were at the eighth and ninth tier of martial souls.

  At this moment, Dai Gangzi's face seemed extremely ugly, filled with a hint of hatred amidst the gloom.

  "Vice Sect Master, we need to hurry. It will take about seven days for the two thousand disciples of the Ghost Martial Sect to reach Flying Spirit Gate," an elder of the Ghost Martial Sect said to Dai Gangzi on the back of the flying beast.

  "No matter how many days it takes, Dai Daozi actually dared to pin this matter on me, hmph!" Dai Gangzi said with resentment.

  "Vice Sect Master, if we can successfully destroy Flying Spirit Gate, it will be an opportunity for us. In the next sect master election, it will likely be the vice sect master's turn," said an elder with the cultivation of a seventh-tier martial general.

  "Do you think it's that easy? I heard that there's a powerful spirit commander in Flying Spirit Gate. Dai Daozi must be afraid to act rashly himself, so he used the sect master's command to pressure me. One day, the position of sect master will be mine," Dai Gangzi said through gritted teeth.

  "Vice Sect Master, once we destroy Flying Spirit Gate this time, the old sect master will surely hand over the position of sect master to you," said the eighth-tier martial general.

  "Flying Spirit Gate, I want to see what kind of strong people are really in this insignificant Flying Spirit Gate," Dai Gangzi sneered, clenching his fists tightly, a surge of qi leaking out from his body, creating ripples in the surrounding space, making the flying beast beneath him tremble.

  Inside the secret chamber, Li Lin was enveloped in a faint, invisible, transparent light, and his aura was slowly rising. At this moment, next to the soul pill in Li Lin's mind, an eerie golden knife was nestled on top of the soul pill, rotating with it. The blade began to exude strands of yellow light, absorbing the fine soul energy from the soul pill continuously. The golden knife, like a bottomless pit, kept absorbing the soul force within the soul pill.

  After devouring a spiritual general, two spiritual souls, and two spiritual masters, Li Lin's speed of refining spiritual power was very fast, and his cultivation level was also rising rapidly.

  It's not clear when it started, but the aura around Li Lin filled the entire secret chamber, which was also enveloped in a dense, invisible, transparent light shield.

  At this moment, in Li Lin's mind, the spiritual power was abundant, the soul pill was spinning rapidly, and the invisible, transparent light shield around him suddenly became extremely dazzling. An invisible heavenly and earthly energy also converged from all directions, rushing into Li Lin's body.

  "Bang..."

  With a muffled sound emanating from the space in Li Lin's mind, a massive energy fluctuation arose, and the spiritual power within suddenly compressed, causing the space in his mind to expand by a fold in an instant.

  "Sigh..."

  At this moment, the aura of spiritual power around Li Lin also soared instantly. Indistinctly, within the secret chamber, an omnipresent energy from heaven and earth accompanied it into Li Lin's body. On the spiritual jade bed, a faint light was also surging into Li Lin's body.

  At this moment, Li Lin also benefited greatly, his soul force was nourished in an instant, and the golden knife also absorbed a lot of soul force. The benefits of each breakthrough were astonishing.

  A moment later, the aura around Li Lin calmed down, and by then, Li Lin had reached the third tier of spiritual generals.

  The breakthrough in spiritual power was always a bit slower than the breakthrough in true qi for Li Lin. After all, martial artists were everywhere, but spiritual practitioners were not so easily found, especially now that Li Lin knew he could only devour spiritual generals. Devouring spiritual souls and spiritual masters wouldn't be of much use to him.

  Feeling the spiritual power in his mind at this moment, Li Lin pursed his lips in a smile. Having broken through to the third tier of spiritual generals, he wondered if he could now activate the third level of the knife soul technique. The second layer, knife soul light blade, was much stronger than the first layer, knife soul slash, and the power of the third layer, knife soul void annihilation, must be absolutely terrifying.

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  In a few days' time, having broken through to the sixth-tier martial general and the third-tier spiritual general, Li Lin was quite satisfied. Now, facing a first-tier martial marshal, he should definitely have the strength to compete.

  After tidying up and stretching, Li Lin left the back mountain secret chamber and headed to his living courtyard. It had been six days since he closed himself off for cultivation.

  "Big brother." In the courtyard, Li XinTong was playing joyfully with a little dragon. Seeing Li Lin enter the courtyard, she immediately jumped onto his shoulder.

  "Brother..." Li XinTong fluttered into Li Lin's arms like a butterfly.

  "Little girl, you're a fourth-tier spiritual general?" Feeling the aura on Li XinTong, Li Lin was astonished, almost stunned. Li Lin's strength had reached the fourth tier of spiritual generals.

  "What are you surprised about? XinTong has a natural poison body, and spiritual power is continuously supplied from within the poison body. Breaking through is frighteningly fast," Dong WuMing appeared in Li Lin's view.

  "You've broken through again?" Dong WuMing frowned slightly, sensing the aura on Li Lin, then said, "You're a freak. I really don't know how you cultivate. I've seen fast cultivation, but never as fast as yours."

  Li Lin smiled slightly, touching his nose with his index finger without saying anything.

  "The matters of Tianyi Gate, Jiuhua Mountain, and Qianshan Gate have been buzzing. How do you plan to handle it? Ghost Martial Sect probably can't hold back any longer. Even if they don't know about the existence of the martial hall, it won't be long before the first fire reaches Flying Spirit Gate," Dong WuMing said to Li Lin.

  Li Lin's gaze flickered. Having destroyed the branch of Jiuhua Mountain's Ghost Martial Sect and Qianshan Gate, Li Lin had already anticipated that although Ghost Martial Sect was troubled, they couldn't focus all their attention on Flying Spirit Gate. However, since they couldn't find the martial hall, it was very likely they would vent their anger on Flying Spirit Gate, using it as an example to warn others.

  "Let's wait for their move and then figure out how to deal with it," Li Lin said lightly.

  Then, Li Lin and Dong WuMing discussed the initiation ceremony for Qinghuo Old Ghost and Lushan Old Man. On Dong WuMing's suggestion, considering the strength of Qinghuo Old Ghost and Lushan Old Man, they were also appointed to the position of venerables. Li Lin didn't object to the Old Poisoner's suggestion; after all, it was just a title.

  In the afternoon, Li Xiaobai and Liu Yishou returned to Flying Spirit Gate, and Li Lin learned about the recent situation of Flying Spirit Gate from them. Everything was under his control. Huamen Town was being built, and the flow of people was increasing.

  On the outskirts of the Misty Mountain Range, with the support of several mercenary groups, everything was going smoothly. Some small mercenary groups were willing to join the larger ones. Those who were unwilling had no choice but to leave. After several deterrent actions, no one dared to cause trouble.

  "Master, we have gathered all the materials needed for refining sixth-grade pills, and we've collected most of the materials for fifth-grade pills. The materials for refining first to fourth-grade pills have already been allocated to the mercenary groups for distribution. The prices have quadrupled. Just on these materials alone, our Flying Spirit Trade has made a net profit of one billion gold coins," Li Xiaobai said to Li Lin, becoming more proficient in understanding medicinal materials.

  "A net profit of one billion." Li Lin smiled, indeed not a small sum.

  "Since three days ago, we've been selling medicinal materials at normal prices every day at Flying Spirit Trade. Although there's a limit on the quantity sold, it has caused the prices of medicinal materials to fall back. Once the next batch of medicinal materials from the Misty Mountain Range arrives and we sell them at normal prices, the major powers will become restless. When they start selling off in large numbers, we'll secretly buy them up and raise the prices again, making us another few hundred million gold coins," Liu Yishou said excitedly.

  "Master, although we've made a lot recently, the construction of Huamen Town is consuming a terrifying amount. The development of the martial hall by Huangfu Hall Master and the shadow hall by Ye Hall Master is also consuming a shocking amount," Li Xiaobai said.

  Li Lin frowned. Although they had made a lot recently, the expenses were equally terrifying. Not being a shopkeeper, Li Lin now fully understood that being a sect master was not an easy task.

  Li Lin continued to learn from them that the medicinal materials in the Misty Mountain Range were being picked by the mercenary groups arranged by Li Xiaobai and Liu Yishou. For the auction of Lingfei Sect, Liu Yishou was planning to start a small one, using it as an opportunity to attract more people to Huamen Town, which also increased the tributes to the town.

  After the two left, Li Lin asked Liu Yishou to arrange for the elders and protectors who could return to Flying Spirit Gate to come back, as there was an announcement to make tomorrow.

  After arranging everything, it was nearly dusk. In his room, Li Lin sat cross-legged, thinking about recent events. Although Ghost Martial Sect couldn't find the martial hall, they were likely to act against Flying Spirit Gate soon. With so many incidents happening in Ghost Martial Sect recently, they would definitely find a force to make an example of.

  As for whether Ghost Martial Sect would continue to be wary of the powerful spirit commander in Flying Spirit Gate and not dare to act rashly, Li Lin didn't know. But he estimated that Ghost Martial Sect's patience was limited and they wouldn't keep holding back.