The Peerless Emperor (TPE)

"Bashan City is controlled by three families. There's no need to mention the Ye family in the south; I'm well aware of them. Zhao Qiang, how about the City Lord's Bai family?" Lin Qian stepped forward, helping the two men up simultaneously as he inquired.

"The Bai family shows no irregularities, just as Brother Bai guaranteed. Moreover, we've gathered more information from the City Lord himself," responded the Myriad Image Sect disciple on the left.

Lin Qian raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Zhao Qiang's answer. "What information? Tell me."

Upon hearing Lin Qian's interest, Zhao Qiang promptly replied, "The Li family in the north of the city, deep within the Bashan mountains, has been making frequent trips into the mountains. To avoid alerting them, the Bai family has refrained from taking any action."

"Refrained from action? It's time to make a move. Bai Ren, that kid, should be returning tomorrow, right? Have him investigate the situation in Bashan before he enters the city. Tell him to delay his return by a couple of days," Lin Qian instructed, punching Zhao Qiang lightly on the chest to emphasize his point.

After giving Zhao Qiang his orders, Lin Qian turned to the Myriad Image Sect disciple standing nearby, Zhao Jian, who was Zhao Qiang's younger brother. "What do you think about the Li family in the north of the city?"

Zhao Jian frowned and shook his head. "Something's off. On the surface, they seem respectful towards us, but their attitude is rather casual, unlike Ye Nanxin, who is very cautious."

Bang!

Before Zhao Jian could finish his sentence, a leg shot towards his abdomen, and with a heavy impact, he was sent flying.

Zhao Jian, who had been kicked by Lin Qian, spun three times in the air before landing on one knee, clutching his stomach as he half-knelt on the ground.

"Gah!" Zhao Jian opened his mouth wide, spitting out a large amount of dark, foul-smelling blood.

"You dare address your senior brother's future father-in-law so casually? From now on, you will call him Uncle Ye!" Lin Qian glared at the slowly rising Zhao Jian, scolding him. "How many times have I told you not to rush your cultivation? These internal injuries might cost you your life when you attempt a breakthrough in the future!"

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Zhao Jian grinned at Lin Qian. "But with Senior Brother Lin's help, these injuries are no problem, right?"

"What's there to laugh about? If you don't listen next time, I'll stomp you to death!" Lin Qian scolded, tossing the storage bag that Ye Nanxin had given him towards Zhao Qiang.

Zhao Qiang caught the bag and, after probing its contents with his consciousness, couldn't help but exclaim, "This is quite generous, Senior Brother. Is this a gift for us?"

"Don't even think about it. My future father-in-law wanted me to use it to curry favor with you two in hopes of securing that special spot. Find an excuse to return it to him," Lin Qian said as he walked towards the courtyard gate. "Handle it carefully, and don't let him suspect anything."

With those words, Lin Qian's figure disappeared around the corner of the courtyard.

"How are you feeling? Still in pain?" After Lin Qian left, Zhao Qiang turned to his younger brother, concerned.

Zhao Jian grinned, albeit with some difficulty. "Of course it hurts. With Senior Brother Lin's strength, how could I withstand a casual kick? But with the internal injuries removed, I'm happy even in pain."

"As long as you're okay. Stabilize yourself and complete the task Senior Brother assigned."

"We've seen the true faces of everyone in Bashan City during this period. Brother, I'm curious, what would they think if they found out that the person they consider trash is actually the inspector?"

"Hmm, I'm curious too."

After leaving the courtyard, Lin Qian headed to the neighboring courtyard, the very place his future father-in-law, Ye Nanxin, had arranged for him to stay.

As he closed the gate behind him, Lin Qian gazed at the familiar scenery of the courtyard, feeling a sense of loss.

His soul had come from a planet called Earth, and he had been reincarnated into this world.

In his previous life, Lin Qian had been born with a congenital disability that left him unable to walk. An orphan, he unexpectedly inherited a massive fortune.

With no other hobbies, he became obsessed with a realistic virtual national war game. Thanks to his immense wealth, he naturally became a "pay-to-win" warrior, successfully dominating the server.

But one day, his virtual reality helmet suddenly overheated, and he found himself unable to log out of the game. His vision blurred, and when he awoke, he discovered he had been reincarnated as a newborn in this world—a world known as the Soul Martial Continent.

This continent was martial in nature, where people absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into their bodies, refining it into soul power. They were born with martial souls, and those who practiced martial arts were called Soul Martialists.

Lin Qian was born into a family that lived as guests in the Ye household. His parents were close friends with Ye Nanxin, and he grew up alongside Ye Xin, Ye Nanxin's daughter. They were childhood sweethearts and had been engaged since they were children.

However, at the age of six, during the martial soul awakening ceremony, it was discovered that Lin Qian had no martial soul, and he was labeled a useless person.

When Lin Qian turned ten, his parents in this life left the Ye family to find a solution to his martial soul problem and never returned.

The entire Ye family looked down on Lin Qian, except for Ye Nanxin, who treated him as before, and Ye Xin, who stayed quietly by his side.

At the age of twelve, the Ye family thought Lin Qian had left without saying goodbye, but they didn't know that he had been kidnapped.

It took Lin Qian three whole years to escape that nightmarish place and join the Myriad Image Sect.

During those three years, the once harmless Lin Qian learned a great deal and fully adapted to this world where strength ruled.

After being away for four years, Lin Qian's eyes welled up as he looked at the familiar courtyard, recalling the days gone by.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan. Reborn in this world, he finally had a family, and Lin Qian cherished that feeling immensely. It was something that no amount of wealth from his previous life could compare to.

"So much time has passed. Where did you go, Mother, Father? Why haven't I heard anything from you?" Lin Qian had hoped to find news of his parents upon returning.

But when he asked Ye Nanxin, he was told that no news had come from them at all.

Staring at the familiar courtyard before him, memories of the past flooded his mind—memories of spending time with his parents in this life. Clenching his fists, Lin Qian swore, "Things have changed. Mother, Father, I will find you, and I will make you proud of the man I have become!"

Without a martial soul, one cannot cultivate. But four years ago, when Lin Qian was taken to that nightmarish place, his martial soul mysteriously awakened, giving him the confidence to survive.

Moreover, his martial soul was extremely peculiar and unique.

In this world, a martial artist's martial soul can take on countless forms, but it always adheres to one principle: it must be a weapon! A Soul Martialist's martial soul is always a blade or weapon.

But Lin Qian's martial soul was a pure white vortex. This vortex continuously generated pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth, which relentlessly tempered his body, making it terrifyingly strong compared to others at the same level.

Furthermore, this vortex-like martial soul had a storage function and would even produce items that Lin Qian found familiar but were impossible to find in this world.

For example, it would produce items that accelerated cultivation speed, things that could be consumed.

However, these consumable items that could boost cultivation speed were not the pills of this world.

They were the experience potions from the virtual national war game where he had once dominated the server in his previous life.

Yes, experience potions!

To this day, Lin Qian still couldn't understand why his martial soul would produce experience potions from a virtual game in his previous life!