"Father!"

As he saw the figure that appeared in front of him, Lin Dong's mood turned slightly joyful and he immediately greeted his father.

"You cheeky fellow. I told you to just stay back and observe. How dare you barge into the manor on your own!" Naturally, the one who had appeared in front of Lin Dong, was Lin Xiao, who had immediately rushed over after he saw the signal. At this moment, he had turned his head and was furiously scolding Lin Dong.

"Third Master, please do not blame young master Lin Dong. If he did not lead us into the manor, I am afraid that this Steel Wood Manor would have been completely devastated by the Lei Family." Qin Ying, who was standing to one side, hurriedly walked over as he pointed at the wrecked forest grounds and explained.

Upon hearing these words, Lin Xiao was instantly shocked. As he turned his head towards the direction that Qin Ying was pointing, he saw a black forested which was filled with a nasty smell. Immediately, his facial expression turned extremely ugly.

"Lin Xiao, though we've lost this Steel Wood Manor to your family, before we officially hand it over, this place still belongs to the Lei Family. To actually dare and invade this place, have you no respect for our Lei Family!"

Just as Lin Xiao's facial expression turned ugly, an angry shout sounded out from nearby. Following which the Lei Ying duo, leading about ten men, rushed over.

"Humph, if I had not barged in, the Lei Family would have completely destroyed the entire Steel Wood Manor!" Lin Xiao icily laughed as he darkly stared at Lei Ying and the rest.

Upon hearing these words, Lei Ying's and Lei Ruo's facial expressions changed. As they stared at the area around the Steel Wood forest district, they furrowed their eyebrows while secretly cursing in their hearts.

"Third Brother, what is going on?"

Right at this moment, Lin Ken also rushed in together with a few skilled practitioners from the Lin Family. Upon witnessing this standoff, he softly asked Lin Xiao.

Lin Xiao briefly explained the events. When Lin Ken heard that the Lei Family were so despicable that they were planning to destroy even the soil from the Steel Wood Manor, though he was usually a calm person, rage instantly filled his heart. After all, this was truly a low blow.

"The Lei Family is truly remarkable. After stalling for so long, you actually plan to completely uproot this area and destroy the land!" Lin Ken coldly stared at Lei Ying and the rest as he icily said.

To one side, the skilled practitioners from Lin Family were now tightly gripping onto the blades and sabers in their hands with steely expressions. They evidently sensed that a huge battle could break out at anytime.

After their ploy was uncovered, the expression on Lei Ying and the rest's faces turned distorted. They decided not to conceal the truth anymore and Lei Ying replied in an indifferent manner: "The Steel Wood Manor is the fruits of our Lei Family's labour. Why should we serve it up to the Lin Family on a silver platter."

Upon hearing these words, Lin Ken and the rest grew even more enraged.

"The Lei Family's character is truly admirable. From now on, this Steel Wood Manor belongs to our Lin Family. If there are any objections, you can raise it up with me!" Lin Xiao threatened as a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"How dare you!"

At these words, Lei Ying's and the rest's faces twitched. However, when they remembered that Lin Xiao had reached Heavenly Yuan Middle Stage, they could only choke back their anger. After all, if they fought now, they will definitely get the shorter end of the stick.

"Heh, since the Lin Family is so obsessed over this Steel Wood Manor, we shall give it to you. However, please take good care of it. In the end, all of this will eventually return to our Lei Family."

Lei Ying stared menacingly at Lin Xiao and the rest before he icily chuckled. Without further ado, he immediately waved his hand and departed with the rest of his crew.

As they looked at Lei Ying and the rest's backs, Lin Xiao and his group's facial expressions hardly improved. After all, with all the damage inflicted on the Steel Wood Manor, the output of Steel Wood had definitely dropped substantially.

"Those god damned bastards!" Lin Ken's face turned red as he cursed them in a low voice.

Lin Xiao also released a soft sigh as he said: "Let's inspect the Steel Tree forest area around the Steel Wood Manor and check the extent of the damage."

"Yes!"

After hearing his words, the guards from Lin Family spread out rapidly and entered the Steel Wood forested grounds.

After approximately half an hour of inspection, they returned to report their finding. Though their reports only made Lin Ken's and Lin Xiao's facial expression worsen.

Standing beside them, Lin Dong also furrowed his eyebrows. There were still several full-grown steel wood trees remaining in this area. However, the biggest loss was that the Lei Family had completely poisoned the soil. Therefore, even if they could still plant steel wood trees in the future, the overall harvest would drop tremendously.

"Sigh, let's inform Father regarding this matter. The old man really valued this Steel Wood Manor. Once he knows about this matter, he will definitely be pissed off." Lin Xiao sighed as he told Lin Ken.

"Yes."

Lin Ken gave a pained smile as he nodded. Right now, this was all that they could do.

As he stared at their expressions which were twisted with rage and disappointment, Lin Dong also sighed inwardly. This ploy by the Lei Family was truly vicious.

...

Once news of this matter reached the Lin Family, in just half a day, Lin Zhentian led a group of men to personally inspect the Steel Wood Manor. As he gazed at the rotten and foul-smelling forested grounds, his facial expression turned horrendously dark.

Lin Dong sat on a cliff and looked down upon a large hall. From that hall, Lin Zhentian's angry roars could be clearly heard. Even though Lin Dong was not seated within the hall, he could not help but shiver a little. After all, this was the first time he had seen Lin Zhentian so furious. Seems like the Lei Family had really crossed the line this time.

"How frightening."

Seated beside him, Qing Tan licked her lips as she softly muttered. This time, she had tagged along with Lin Zhentian and the rest.

Lin Dong forced out a chuckle before he stood up and said: "Lets go walk around. I believe Grandpa's anger will not simmer down any time soon, it would be better to let Father and the rest handle this."

"Ok." Qing Tan nodded her head as she cheekily smiled.

Lin Dong let Qing Tan sit on Little Flame as he led the way into the deeper part of the Steel Wood Manor.

The Steel Wood Manor occupied a huge piece of land and its surroundings were extremely beautiful. If it was not for the faint putrid smell from all around, it would be an exceedingly wonderful summer vacation house.

"Steel Wood Manor has a special dark soil that is necessary to plant Steel Trees. It is said that a long time ago, the area where the Steel Wood Manor is presently located, was a volcano and all the dark soil came from when the volcano erupted. Now that the volcano has vanished, the dark soil is a limited commodity. Since the Lei Family has wrecked large patches of soil, I am afraid that the Steel Wood output will fall drastically in future. That's why Grandpa is so angry." In the serene woods, Lin Dong casually explained to the young lady beside him.

"Oh." Qing Tan gently nodded her head as she looked around and said : "The temperature here is higher than outside."

"Oh?"

After hearing these words, Lin Dong was taken aback. Though he tried to sense it, he realized that he was unable to feel the heat. In a flash of inspiration, he suddenly recalled that due to the terrifying Chilling Cold in Qing Tan's body, she was extremely sensitive to the temperature of her surroundings.

"This moisture content here is rather high, how can it feel warmer?" Just as he figured out the previous question, Lin Dong was again puzzled as he softly muttered to himself. He squatted down and grabbed a handful of black soil with his right hand. Just as his hand touched the black soil, his body suddenly jerked as delight surfaced in his eyes.

"There is a trace of Yang Energy hidden within the land here!"

When Lin Dong grabbed the dark soil, he could vividly feel a suction force emitting from the Stone Talisman embedded within his right palm. Due to this suction force, a faint stream of air was sucked out from the dark soil. Even though it was only a tiny amount, the air felt burning hot like sunlight. This was something that was completely different from Yin Energy!

This type of thing was commonly known as Yang Energy and it was absorbed by all Heavenly Yuan practitioners!

"How can this be?"

Lin Dong was puzzled. As there was only a faint amount of Yang Energy contained within, if he did possess the Stone Talisman, he would have never discovered it. Nonetheless, it definitely existed.

Lin Dong lifted his head and looked further into the depths of this place as his eyebrows tightly knit together. He immediately took a few hundred steps forwards and he grabbed another pile of dark soil.

"As I progress deeper, the Yang Energy in the dark soil gets stronger." After he noticed this change, Lin Dong was even more puzzled. Even though the amount of Yang Energy was rather pathetic, why would there by Yang Energy embedded in this soil in the first place?

"Unless... Below the surface, there is something emitting Yang Energy. Therefore, traces of Yang Energy were mixed into the soil..."

Lin Dong's eyes flashed as he involuntarily prodded the ground below him. Seems like there was a hidden mystery in this Steel Wood Manor.