"Young master, Lin Xuan is now considered a talented individual by the Patriarch and the elders. If we make a move against him now, we won't be able to get past the Patriarch!"
The servant explained in a hurry.
"Then tell me, what should we do?" Lin Yao's anger subsided slightly upon hearing this. He didn't dare to cross his father, the Second Elder, or the Patriarch.
However, Lin Xuan had to be eliminated. Otherwise, given their animosity, even if he didn't make a move on Lin Xuan, Lin Xuan would definitely come looking for trouble!
Lin Yao was absolutely convinced of this.
"Young master, we can find the right opportunity. While he is out, we can hire someone to eliminate him."
"As long as we don't act within the clan, we won't be caught red-handed."
The servant proposed this plan.
This method, though seemingly foolish and cliché, was actually used repeatedly because it was effective!
If this method were truly foolish, why would it have been passed down for thousands, even tens of thousands, of years, with people constantly using it for framing and malicious intent?
It was precisely because of its "practicality"!
In the matter of eliminating Lin Xuan, the crucial point was whether they would be caught or not.
This also determined the severity of the situation.
If Lin Yao were to openly eliminate Lin Xuan now,
The Lin family Patriarch would undoubtedly be enraged, the Second Elder and young master Lin Yao would inevitably be implicated, and he himself would surely die.
But if Lin Xuan were eliminated in secret.
For example, in a remote mountain range, using the excuse of encountering rogue cultivators or a beast horde, they could claim that young master Lin Xuan died in the jaws of a demonic beast or at the hands of outside rogue cultivators while he was traveling.
That would be an entirely different matter! The severity of the situation would be completely different!
While the Second Elder was not omnipotent within the clan, he held significant power and prestige, second only to the Lin family Patriarch.
Without concrete evidence, even if the Lin family Patriarch suspected Lin Yao of harming Lin Xuan, he would have no proof!
As long as there was no actual evidence to prove it, the Second Elder could simply deny it, and the Lin family Patriarch could only swallow his anger and not fall out with the Second Elder!
This was because he had no evidence!
Evidence, at times, was crucial, and at times, it was not.
If a servant made a mistake, or if an ordinary direct descendant made a mistake, the Lin family Patriarch, with just a suspicion, could directly execute them without needing evidence!
This was because servants and ordinary direct descendants possessed far less power and status than the Lin family Patriarch, so he didn't need evidence to punish them; suspicion alone was sufficient.
However, the Second Elder held immense power, and Lin Yao, being the son of the Second Elder and a spiritual body genius, was a future hope for the clan's Dao Foundation realm.
Even if the Lin family Patriarch harbored suspicions,
As long as he couldn't obtain proof, he couldn't punish based solely on suspicion!
All of this was a result of power and status.
The servant, despite his humble origins and low cultivation aptitude, was not lacking in intelligence.
The servant's intelligence might not be inferior to Lin Yao's, the spiritual body genius.
Therefore, he directly offered this suggestion, calming young master Lin Yao.
After the servant laid out the entire plan.
Lin Yao nodded repeatedly at the proposal and the plan.
A good idea!
What a brilliant idea!
And a superb plan!
As long as Lin Xuan died outside, who could prove that he, Lin Yao, was responsible?
And without evidence, no one would dare to accuse him based on mere suspicion.
After all, he was the son of the Second Elder!
Do you understand what it means to be the son of the Second Elder?
Within the Lin family, that meant being able to act with impunity!
Hmph! That's how it will be!
Without evidence, let's see who in the clan dares to punish me!
"Excellent!"
Lin Yao's eyes gleamed with boundless malice.
"Go and make arrangements. Monitor when Lin Xuan leaves the clan. Once he departs, contact the rogue cultivators outside and have them deliver a fatal blow!"
"Then, send his corpse to the mountain range and fabricate a death cause, claiming he was killed by demonic beasts!"
"Do you understand!"
The servant quickly replied respectfully, "Young master, I will go down and make arrangements immediately. Once the time is right, we will act!"
"Good!"
Lin Yao's mood had returned.
He began to feel happy again.
"I'd like to see how powerful you, Lin Xuan, truly are!"
"So what if you've risen? Under the hands of rogue cultivators, I want to see how you can survive!"
...
Six months later, in a secret chamber, Fang Ming sat cross-legged, relaxing as he slowly concluded his cultivation session.
"Condensing Meridian, fourth layer. Six months of cultivation, and only this realm?"
Fang Ming murmured to himself as he sensed the four spiritual meridians within his body.
In this world, the cultivation system began by cultivating a spiritual meridian, allowing one's spiritual energy to flow within it, thus reaching the first layer of Condensing Meridian.
Otherwise, even with spiritual energy, without spiritual meridians, one couldn't activate profound techniques, making them not much stronger than ordinary people and not considered cultivators.
This was the situation of the original body, Lin Xuan. The original Lin Xuan had cultivated for seven to eight years. Before his father's demise, he had used a luxurious set of elixirs for cultivation. The elixirs he absorbed were as vast as mountains and seas, far surpassing those of ordinary direct disciples.
With so many elixirs, a considerable amount of spiritual energy had accumulated in his body, especially in his dantian.
However, spiritual energy without spiritual meridians as a foundation could only remain confined within the dantian and could not affect the outside world.
He couldn't cultivate profound techniques, his spiritual energy couldn't reach outside his body, and it couldn't even leave his dantian.
Such spiritual energy was naturally useless.
Therefore, the original Lin Xuan did possess spiritual energy, but because he hadn't reached the first layer of Condensing Meridian and didn't even have a single spiritual meridian, this spiritual energy was as good as nonexistent, as it couldn't be used.
Consequently, he wasn't considered a cultivator but rather a mortal, an ordinary person.
In this cultivation world, only by condensing a spiritual meridian did one qualify to be called a cultivator!
The Condensing Meridian realm was divided into ten layers. Condensing one spiritual meridian was the first layer, two was the second, and so on. Condensing ten spiritual meridians meant reaching the tenth layer of Condensing Meridian!
After condensing ten spiritual meridians, one would then proceed to the Dao Foundation realm. Building the foundation of the Great Dao, one would become a Dao Foundation realm expert.
Fang Ming, through six months of effort, had now condensed four spiritual meridians within his body. His spiritual energy flowed ceaselessly between the meridians, an endless cycle, thus reaching the fourth layer of Condensing Meridian.
If young master Lin Yao were to know of this terrifying progress, he would undoubtedly be greatly alarmed. Even with his spiritual body, it had taken him three years to break through to the fourth layer of Condensing Meridian.
Breaking through to the fourth layer of Condensing Meridian in just six months, what monstrous talent was this!
It was far superior to his own, the spiritual body, by several times!