In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

Chapter 989 Returning to the Frontier

Another year.

That year, life in the arena was peaceful to the point of being monotonous. Lin Qiye's daily routine consisted of three places: his residence, the training area, and the supervisory office. Occasionally, he would go to the trading area to purchase some cultivation resources and supplements, but he never lingered; he would buy them and leave immediately.

His official status as a deacon had already spread throughout the mid-levels of the arena, and no one dared to provoke him easily. Lei Sha's death was like a flag planted above his head, telling everyone—this man was not to be trifled with.

That year, the three women each gave birth to a child for him again.

Luo Sheng gave birth to a son, named Lin Luochen. The child's birth was quiet, almost imperceptible—he simply opened his eyes, calmly looked at the world, yawned, and then fell into a deep sleep. But when Lin Qiye held him, he could feel an extremely pure primordial power within the child, like a star compressed to its extreme, calm on the surface but containing astonishing energy within.

Shuang'er gave birth to a daughter, named Lin Shuangxue. This girl perfectly inherited Shuang'er's Frost Spirit Constitution; at her birth, the temperature in the entire delivery room plummeted, and a thick layer of ice crystals condensed on the walls. Unlike other babies who cried loudly, she only let out a clear, low whimper, a sound like a gust of wind passing through a crack in an ice field, sharp and clear. When Lin Qiye held her, it felt like holding a piece of thousand-year-old ice, but the chill wasn't harmful; instead, it brought a sense of pure, ultimate tranquility.

The third child born to the Barbarian Princess was a daughter, named Lin Manxing. This girl's birth was the most dramatic—she let out a loud roar, a sound unlike a baby's cry, more like the furious howl of a young beast, shaking the entire room. Her skin glowed with a faint, dark golden light, her limbs were strong, and her small fists were clenched tightly, flailing wildly in the air with such force that even Luo Sheng, standing nearby, was startled.

Three children, three completely different constitutions, three completely different nascent personalities.

The bloodline feedback flowed into Lin Qiye's body like three surging rivers. That power converged, collided, and merged deep within him, ultimately transforming into a new and purer primordial power that sank into the depths of his foundation.

That evening.

Lin Qiye was teaching Lin Luoshen to walk in the yard. The little one was already over a year old, and she walked with a wobbly gait, like a little bird that had just learned to flap its wings. She grabbed Lin Qiye's finger, her short legs trying hard to take steps forward, and she babbled some indistinct syllables.

Luo Sheng sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, holding Lin Luo Chen, who was just a month old, in his arms. He watched the father and daughter take their first steps in the yard, a gentle smile on his lips. Shuang'er was inside coaxing Lin Shuangxue to sleep, while Man Ji, with her flattened belly—she had recovered the fastest after childbirth and had already started stretching in a corner of the yard.

Suddenly there was a knock on the courtyard gate.

The knocking was slow and deliberate, three times.

Lin Qiye handed Lin Luoshen to Luo Sheng, walked to the door, and opened the courtyard gate.

A person stood outside the door—tall and slender, wearing a dark green robe of a supervising director, with a silver token hanging at his waist, and a lazy smile on his face.

It is Mo Yuan.

"Steward Lin, how have you been?" Mo Yuan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting. His gaze swept over Lin Qiye's shoulder and landed on Luo Sheng and Man Ji, who were playing with the children in the courtyard. His smile deepened. "It seems you're living a pretty comfortable life."

Lin Qiye stepped aside to make way for him: "Come in and talk."

Mo Yuan waved his hand: "I won't go in. I'll just say a few words and then leave."

He suppressed his smile and lowered his voice: "The Oversight Council just received news that the harmonic diffusion range of the bone tower deep in the Canggu Mountains has suddenly doubled in the past month. Even the patrol teams outside the arena have reported that they often hear some...unusual sounds coming from the direction of the mountains at night recently."

Lin Qiye's gaze shifted slightly.

Mo Yuan continued, "The higher-ups have decided to send another team into the Canggu Mountains. This time, they will investigate the source of the Bone Tower's anomaly more thoroughly." He paused, looking directly at Lin Qiye, "I will personally lead the team, and you will need to come along."

The air in the courtyard seemed to quiet down for a moment.

Luo Sheng tightened her grip on the child slightly, Man Ji stopped stretching, and even Shuang'er inside the house stopped what she was doing and looked out the window toward the courtyard gate.

Lin Qiye was silent for a moment: "When do we depart?"

"One month from now." Mo Yuan looked at him. "I know you just had a baby, and I shouldn't be calling you at this time. But this mission is more dangerous than the last one, and I need someone I can trust. You came back alive from the Canggu Mountains last time, so you already have a certain understanding of that area. In terms of both experience and strength, you are the most suitable candidate."

Lin Qiye did not answer immediately.

He could feel the worried gazes of the three women in the courtyard fixed on his back, but none of them spoke up to stop him. They all knew that he couldn't easily refuse the orders of the Overwatch Council. Moreover, given Lin Qiye's personality, he wouldn't back down because of danger.

"A month later, when?"

"Meet at the North Gate at dawn." Seeing that he agreed, Mo Yuan's smile returned. "Don't worry, the preparations this time are much more thorough than last time. The Oversight Council has dispatched a batch of high-level source artifacts and assigned several stewards to accompany us, so safety is absolutely guaranteed."

Lin Qiye nodded without saying anything more.

Mo Yuan glanced at him again, his gaze carrying a hint of appreciation, but also a deeper meaning: "Prepare well."

After saying that, he turned and left, his footsteps fading into the distance and soon disappearing around the corner.

Lin Qiye closed the courtyard gate and turned to walk back into the courtyard.

All three women's eyes were on him.

Luo Sheng spoke first, her voice calm but carrying a hint of barely concealed worry: "Again, we're going to the Canggu Mountains?"

"Um."

"Who are you going with this time?"

"Mo Yuan is leading the team, along with several stewards from the Overwatch Council."

Luo Sheng was silent for a moment, then looked down at Lin Luochen in her arms, before raising her head to look directly at Lin Qiye: "Last time you came back alone, this time—"

"Not this time." Lin Qiye interrupted her, his tone calm but firm. "Last time was a reconnaissance mission; we knew nothing about that area. This time, we have experience and are better prepared. Besides, Mo Yuan is leading the team personally; he won't risk his life."

The barbarian princess walked out from the corner of the courtyard, hands on her hips: "You must come back!"

The Barbarian Princess chuckled and said nothing more, but a barely perceptible hint of worry flashed in her bright eyes.

Shuang'er came out of the house, holding Lin Shuangxue, who had just woken up, in her arms. She didn't speak, but just looked at Lin Qiye quietly, her clear eyes filled with a silent trust.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Before dawn, when the sky was fully bright, Lin Qiye had already packed his equipment. A black iron spear was slung across his back, several bottles of emergency pills and Qi-stabilizing powder hung at his waist, and his official token as a deacon of the Oversight Council was tucked into his pocket.

When he pushed open the courtyard gate, Luo Sheng was standing at the door, holding a folded dark gray cloak in her hand.

"I made this in the last few days using the iron-spine camel hide I bought from the trading area last time." Luo Sheng handed him the cloak. "It's quite tough; ordinary claws and fangs can't tear it through, and it can also resist a certain amount of source energy erosion."

Lin Qiye took the cloak; it felt heavy in his hand and carried the distinctive smell of newly tanned leather. He unfolded the cloak and put it on; the size was just right. He moved his shoulders and arms a bit, and it didn't hinder his movements.

Thanks.

Luo Sheng shook her head, took a step back, lingered her gaze on him for a few moments, and said only two words: "Come back alive."

Lin Qiye nodded, turned around, and strode towards the North Gate.

Three figures were already waiting outside the North Gate.

Mo Yuan stood at the forefront, clad in dark cyan light armor, a slender, narrow sword hanging at his waist, its scabbard engraved with intricate runes. His expression was less languid than usual, more focused. Behind him stood a lean, middle-aged man in a grey robe, holding a short staff with a fist-sized blue crystal embedded at its tip—clearly a master of formations.

The other was a young woman with black hair tied in a neat ponytail. She wore a close-fitting black leather armor, with two short daggers and a bulging pouch hanging from her waist. Her gaze was sharp, sweeping over Lin Qiye the moment he appeared, with a professional scrutiny.

"Everyone's here." Mo Yuan nodded when he saw Lin Qiye approaching, then stepped aside to introduce him, "This is Master Xun, a master of array formations, proficient in all kinds of detection and defense arrays. He was specially transferred from headquarters by the Oversight Bureau. This is Ajiu, a scout and pharmacist, skilled in tracking, concealment, and first aid."

Mr. Xun nodded slightly to Lin Qiye as a greeting. Ajiu then spoke directly, her voice clear and crisp: "You're Lin Qiye, the one who came back alive from the Canggu Mountains alone last year?"

"Yes."

"I heard you encountered a mutated rock-armored rhinoceros and a giant bone-armored insect last time? And you both came back alive?"

"Good luck."

Ajiu curled her lip, clearly not satisfied with the answer, but did not pursue the matter further.

Mo Yuan clapped his hands: "Alright, we'll have plenty of time to chat on the way. Let's go."

Without further delay, the four stepped into the gray-white wasteland of bones and headed towards the Azure Bone Mountains.

This time, the team was much smaller than the last, but much more efficient. Ajiu led the way, her footsteps extremely light, leaving almost no footprints on the ash layer, her eyes constantly scanning every corner around her. Mr. Xun was in the center, his short cane occasionally tapping the ground lightly, concentric circles of pale blue ripples spreading from the tip of his cane and disappearing into the ground—he was probing for abnormal fluctuations of source energy underground.

Lin Qiye followed, maintaining a safe distance.

His steps were light, barely making a sound as he trod on the layer of ashes. The power of the Blood Demon circulated silently within him, concealing his aura to almost nothing. His gaze remained fixed on the agile black figure ahead—A-Jiu's scouting skills were indeed professional. Her route avoided any soft ground that might leave a mark, each step precisely landing on rock or hardened bone fragments, even her breathing rhythm subtly synchronized with the surrounding wind.

Mo Yuan and Master Xun walked further back, about twenty feet apart. Mo Yuan's hand rested casually on the hilt of his narrow sword, but Lin Qiye knew that he could draw his sword at any moment within a breath. Every few steps, Master Xun's short staff would lightly tap the ground, the pale blue ripples silently disappearing into the earth, like an ever-expanding detection network, capturing any abnormal fluctuations of source energy deep underground.

The team advanced for about half an hour in this loose formation.

Ahead, the outline of the Azure Bone Mountains drew ever closer. The black rock formations and jagged fossilized bones appeared and disappeared in the grayish-white mist, like the spine of a colossal beast slowly awakening from an ancient slumber. The air grew even more stagnant, the flow of primal energy mixed with that familiar, unsettling fluorescent blue harmonic aura, its concentration several times higher than at the mountain's perimeter.

The resonance within Lin Qiye began to resurface faintly. The call from the depths of the mountains, though weaker than before, was still clearly discernible, like a trembling thread in the darkness, drawing his senses toward the Bone Tower. He suppressed the feeling and focused his attention on the path before him.

Just then, Ajiu in front of them suddenly stopped.

She crouched behind a half-buried rib of a giant beast, her body low to the ground, and slowly raised her right hand—making a fist. It was a warning gesture, indicating that she had stopped advancing and noticed something amiss.

Lin Qiye immediately stopped, naturally turning his body to the side to a black rock, placing himself under cover. He squinted slightly, looking at Ajiu through the crack in the rock. He could see that her shoulders and back were tense, her neck slightly tilted back, a posture of holding her breath. She maintained that posture for about three or four breaths, then slowly lowered her right hand, making a "something's up, come closer" gesture behind her.

Lin Qiye moved forward silently, and in a few leaps, he arrived behind the giant beast's ribs where Ajiu was hiding. He didn't speak, but only questioned with his eyes.

Ajiu's face was pale, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. Her voice was extremely low, almost a whisper: "Something's... not right up ahead."

"What's going on?"

"Strange beasts. More than one kind." Ajiu pointed ahead, his hand trembling slightly. "Behind that patch of black rock ahead, I just climbed up that towering bone pillar and took a look—there are at least four or five different groups of strange beasts gathered together in the valley."

Lin Qiye frowned slightly: "A group? Beasts generally don't live in groups."

"That's why I said it wasn't normal." Ajiu's voice carried a hint of barely concealed fear. "I saw a herd of rock-armored rhinoceroses, at least seven or eight of them, some of which were as huge as mountains. There was also a group of bone-scaled pythons, coiled on the stone wall on the west side of the valley, each as thick as a bucket. Further away were some dark figures, too far to see clearly, but that aura... it couldn't be anything good."

She paused, took a deep breath, and continued, "It seems as if we are being forcibly confined to the same area by something."

Mo Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.

"Are they located on the only route?" Mo Yuan asked.

“If we follow the original route, we have to cross the edge of that valley.” Ajiu shook his head. “But now it’s not a matter of taking a detour anymore—those strange beasts are widely distributed, and the valley connects to three passages leading deep into the mountains. We can feel their lingering presence in each passage. It’s as if they… deliberately blocked these paths.”

It was specifically sealed off.

These four words made everyone's hearts sink.

After listening to A-Jiu's report, Mr. Xun's expression also darkened. The short staff in his hand glowed faintly, as if he were conducting some kind of more precise detection. After a moment, he said in a low voice, "A-Jiu is right. The source energy fluctuations in the valley direction are extremely chaotic, with at least thirty or forty different auras intertwined, and the intensity of some of them... far exceeds the normal range."