After Being Reborn a Hundred Times, I Refused to Be the Villain - Chapter 42:

Chapter 42: Lin Chuan’s Loss

In Yangshan City, the battle between the Heavenly Dao Sect and the Fang family had completely come to an end.

The Hall of Enforcement Master looked at the wounded disciples before him, his expression dark. Once again, the disciples of the Hall of Enforcement had suffered because of the same old issue—pill usage. After all, it wasn’t realistic to suddenly change the way one used healing pills in such a short time.

At this moment, the Hall Master glanced toward Master Xueyue in the distance, his eyes filled with confusion and relief. In this battle, the most dangerous threat had been the two insane Fang family ancestors. The moment they appeared, they fought with a reckless, life-for-life style, even attacking the younger disciples of the Hall of Enforcement without regard for their seniority. If Master Xueyue hadn’t stepped in and stopped those two maniacs in time, the casualties among the Hall of Enforcement disciples would have been far worse.

Elsewhere, Master Xueyue stood before a pile of ruins, a trace of loneliness on her face. Though she had personally destroyed the ones responsible for Xu Aozi’s death, her heart still felt hollow. So what if the culprits were gone? Her disciple would never return.

“Maybe… maybe I should never have agreed when Xu Aozi asked to leave the sect…” That thought rose in her heart.

But no matter how many times it echoed in her mind, it couldn’t change the fact that her first disciple was gone forever.

With the Fang family wiped out, the Hall Master had no intention of staying any longer. As for rebuilding the ruined Yangshan City, that was the concern of the city lord and the local sects and families.

Moreover, once they returned, news that the Heavenly Dao Sect had discovered the Fang family’s secret crimes and decisively destroyed them would need to be spread. But that was not the Hall Master’s responsibility.

When the disciples heard they were returning to the Heavenly Dao Sect, all of them let out a sigh of relief. The Fang family’s madness had left many of them traumatized, and some had even died. Now that it was finally over, they could finally go home.

“Damn it! Once I’m back, I’ll report this to Master and demand that he confront the Spirit Pill Garden! What instant-healing pills? Total nonsense!” Many disciples were full of resentment. The pills from the Spirit Pill Garden had utterly failed them.

Among them, Lin Chuan’s expression was also sour. He had joined this mission with the Hall of Enforcement not just to build reputation, but more importantly, to gather cultivation resources.

As a major clan, the Fang family didn’t have the deep foundation of a sect like the Heavenly Dao Sect, but they still had plenty of wealth. If he could get even a portion of it, he wouldn’t need to worry about resources at the Origin Spirit Realm for a long time.

But what he hadn’t expected was that the Fang family were ruthless to the core. Their philosophy was: if we can’t use our resources, no one else will. They destroyed a portion of their stores early on. Worse yet, because of his eye-catching performance on the battlefield, he had drawn the attention of many Fang family members, who specifically targeted him in combat.

The result? He didn’t gain much of anything, and even burned through several of his life-saving trump cards. He had suffered a major loss.

“This won’t do. I have to find a way to recover what I lost from the Fang family,” was the first thought that popped into Lin Chuan’s mind.

Wasting trump cards only to gain some reputation was a huge loss in his eyes. And now, the chances of him defeating Qu Feixian in the Ten Sects Grand Competition and washing away his previous humiliation had become even slimmer.

“Right, that sea anomaly!” Suddenly, Lin Chuan recalled the earlier heaven-and-earth phenomenon.

Such a massive anomaly surely signaled the emergence of something extraordinary. Not much time had passed—if he went now, maybe he could still snatch a piece of the pie.

As for the possibility of not getting anything? Lin Chuan never even considered it. He could find precious spiritual essence even by smashing a random stone; if he went to a place tied to such a great phenomenon, surely countless opportunities awaited him.

“Hall Master, I have some personal matters to attend to. I’ll be taking my leave instead of returning with the others.”

Lin Chuan approached the Hall Master privately, expressing his wish to temporarily leave the group.

The Hall Master frowned. Lin Chuan wasn’t a disciple of the Hall of Enforcement but one from the main peak. He had no authority to order Lin Chuan, but at the same time, Lin Chuan had been assigned to the mission by the Sect Master himself. If something happened to him on the way back, the Hall Master would be the one blamed.

“Rest assured, Hall Master. I won’t be away long and won’t cause any trouble for the others,” Lin Chuan quickly added upon seeing his hesitation.

“…Fine. You’re not one of us, so I can’t order you to go back, nor can I stop you from doing what you wish. But remember, your safety comes first. Don’t push yourself. If you need to retreat, retreat.” The Hall Master sighed.

“I will remember that,” Lin Chuan said, cupping his hands in farewell before turning to leave.

As soon as he left, his expression darkened.

“Hmph, that so-called Hall Master isn’t worth much. Tells me to protect myself, yet didn’t even offer me a single defensive artifact. I really misjudged him.”

If the Hall Master could’ve heard Lin Chuan’s thoughts, he’d probably have exploded in outrage.

This entire mission had nothing to do with Lin Chuan in the first place. He had gotten in through the back door and even earned some reputation out of it. Now that everyone was returning, he suddenly wanted to separate from the group—who knew what he was planning?

As for life-saving items, those were far more expensive than ordinary tools. The Hall Master had no personal connection to Lin Chuan—why would he give him something so valuable just because he said he had business to take care of? Who did Lin Chuan think he was?

After leaving the Hall Master, Lin Chuan stepped onto his flying sword and shot toward the direction of the Three Swords Severing Immortal Peak.

His eyes burned with anticipation. A great opportunity awaited—and Lin Chuan was coming for it.