"Prince Su..." Xu Feng nodded. "None but him could do this."
"The prince must have returned, encountered these traitors, and eliminated them."
Just then, a gray-robed elder from the Library Pavilion arrived in a panic: "Your Majesty! The Library Pavilion—ten thousand scrolls lie scattered! Someone ransacked it!"
The Han Emperor paled: "How could someone breach your guard?"
"My failure, Your Majesty."
Xu Feng speculated: "Could Prince Su have searched the Pavilion for cultivation secrets while cultivating in seclusion?"
"True! With Uncle Su back, the dynasty is safe."
...
Unaware of the commotion, Lin Yu spent three years hunting Demon Kings in the Qilian Mountains' forbidden zone. Using the God-Eating Tripod to refine them and practicing the Saint Emperor's Art, his cultivation soared from 6th to 9th-rank Innate, nearing Purple Mansion Realm. Only the craftiest 9th-rank Demon Kings remained in hiding.
One morning, Lin Yu carved a wooden sword in his stone hut, infusing each stroke with Sword Intent of the Wind—a test of control taught by Tripod Lord.
"Third Uncle..." A child's voice called.
Lin Yu opened the door to see an 8-year-old girl, Chu Chu, daughter of his second brother. Her attendants waited at the mausoleum's edge.
"Chu Chu? You're Second Brother's daughter!" Lin Yu realized, recalling she had an illness.
"Father has taken me everywhere for treatment. He'll visit once settled." Chu Chu smiled, but her pale face hinted at frailty.
"Why come to the mausoleum? Running from studies?"
"I... can't cultivate. They say I won't live long. I wanted to see where I'll be buried."
Lin Yu frowned: "What illness?"
"Cold toxin in my body. It flares every half-month, worse each time. Doctors say it will erupt fully within a year, incurable."
"A Profound Yin Body!" Tripod Lord exclaimed in Lin Yu's mind. "A rare cultivation root—like a Peerless Sword Body. Without yang energy to balance it, she won't survive ten. But with the Scarlet Flame Fox in Qilian's forbidden zone, I can harmonize her yin energy."
"9th-rank Scarlet Flame Fox? I'll find it this time."
"Third Uncle, don't worry. It's my fate." Chu Chu tugged his sleeve. "I must go. When I'm buried here, I can stay with you."
"Silly child. How many days till your next flare-up?"
"Seven."
"Come to me then. I may ease your pain." Lin Yu smiled. Seven days would suffice to hunt the fox—for his kind second brother and this gifted niece, he would not fail.