Nitroglycerin. One of the most unstable explosives on Earth.

  It requires glycerin, nitric acid, and sulfuric acid to produce.

  Back in the day, it took out several members of the Nobel family, forcing Nobel to stabilize it into TNT—and eventually establishing the Nobel Prize.

  The reason Lin Lin risked making nitroglycerin was precisely because of its instability.

  Once those old bastards drank it, any impact would set it off.

  As for why Liu Fenghai's first dose seemed helpful?

  Low-concentration nitroglycerin also dilates blood vessels.

  Liu Fenghai's bottleneck? Caused by blindly swallowing pills until his vessels clogged up.

  The nitroglycerin just happened to relieve some thrombosis symptoms.

  Of course, this wasn't Lin Lin's only plan.

  If the nitroglycerin didn't blow, he had other tricks ready.

  Before transmigrating, he'd grown up in a research institute compound.

  From childhood, he loved experimenting. By middle school, he could extract nitric and sulfuric acids from wild materials.

  But that alone wasn't enough.

  The cultivation world was an ignorant, slave-owning clan society. No ready-made lab equipment existed.

  So Lin Lin had to craft his own apparatus by hand.

  But this didn't stump him. Because he was a genius.

  His father had been an academician and leader at the research institute, heading major national R&D projects.

  His mother had been a senior engineer—the precision of her handmade components surpassed automated machine tools.

  With his father's extraordinary intelligence, Lin Lin modified the extraction process, simplifying the entire production workflow.

  With his mother's unique hands-on ability, Lin Lin achieved extremely precise control, flawlessly executing every process step.

  Thinking of this, Lin Lin couldn't help kneeling and kowtowing in thanks to his parents in the other world.

  They had given him a wonderful, healthy childhood.

  While other kids were trapped in cram schools, endlessly competing, Lin Lin got to pursue what he truly wanted.

  Sure, he hadn't prepared much for the college entrance exam and only got into an ordinary key university. But his parents never blamed him.

  Because a genius is a genius. Needs no diploma, no credentials.

  For now, though, Lin Lin couldn't relax. That explosion must have attracted some curious types.

  He had to prepare quickly.

  Those jars and vats he'd arranged earlier? Time to put them to use.

  Two jars contained apricot blossom wine and clean water.

  Lin Lin stripped, washed the blood off with plain water, then scrubbed himself with the apricot wine.

  Apricot wine masked the scent of blood, preventing sharp-nosed junior disciples from sniffing out anything suspicious.

  Those juniors were at the Qi Refining stage—keen senses. No room for carelessness.

  Lin Lin changed into fresh clothes he'd prepared, grabbed his cane, and exited the secluded chamber, sealing the stone door behind him.

  As he reached the cave entrance, the disciples on guard duty eagerly asked, "Senior Brother Lin, what technique was that? Such a huge commotion! Has the Sect Leader broken through to Core Formation?"

  Another disciple interrupted, "Idiot! Breaking through to Core Formation takes at least a year or two. No way it's that fast."

  Lin Lin cut straight to orders: "In three hours, wake up Zhang Shan, Ma Zhaoyuan, and Li Wangxuan for me. Remember, the Sect Leader has ordered: no one approaches the cave. Even if it's the Young Miss herself, stop her."

  "Yes!"

  "Here, for you." Lin Lin casually tossed each of them three spirit stones.

  "Thank you, Senior Brother Lin!" The three guards were delighted. Qingfeng Mountain was notoriously stingy—usually not even half a stone was ever given as reward.

  "No need. When the Sect Leader breaks through to Core Formation, there'll be even bigger rewards."

  With that, Lin Lin returned to the cave and set up an hourglass to track time.

  His immediate priority: disposing of the four corpses.

  First, he stripped the bodies of valuables and clothing.

  Then he placed each corpse into a vat filled with pre-prepared formalin to preserve them temporarily.

  Why? Because currently, these four were the only Foundation Establishment cultivators in Qingfeng Sect.

  They were precious experimental resources. Destined for future dissection and research.

  Lin Lin had no intention of blindly following the manual like his semi-literate fellow disciples, practicing cultivation by rote.

  He sought scientifically rigorous proof and the truth behind cultivation itself.

  If he could understand the essence of cultivation, he could replicate it at will and instantly become more powerful than any immortal.

  Science. Always the world's most powerful weapon.

  With the bodies stored, Lin Lin began cleaning up the fragments.

  Foundation Establishment cultivators already had the prototype of a golden core. With careful searching, he could find the core nuclei among the gore.

  He painstakingly collected the four core nuclei, but had no time to salvage their organ fragments.

  The sheer force of the nitroglycerin blast had pulverized their internal organs into valueless mush.

  Still, he had to dispose of it all. Otherwise, it would rot.

  He dumped everything into a jar, to be fed to the pigs raised behind Qingfeng Temple later that night.

  Next: the bloodstains on the floor. During his preparations, Lin Lin had specifically instructed the cleaning disciples to leave extra soapberries.

  Plus, there was leftover alcohol from making formalin—useful for disinfection and cleaning.

  To avoid soiling his clothes, he worked naked. Three hours passed quickly amid all this.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Satisfied the chamber was spotless, Lin Lin finally breathed easy and quickly dressed.

  Before leaving, he pocketed the rings belonging to the Sect Leader and elders.

  His next task: stabilizing the disciples of Qingfeng Sect.

  With the Sect Leader and elders gone, Lin Lin was now half the decision-maker in Qingfeng Sect.

  The remaining voice belonged to the three elders' sons: Zhang Shan, Ma Zhaoyuan, and Li Wangxuan—the very ones he'd summoned.

  Among these three, the most influential was Ma Zhaoyuan.

  Exiting the cave, Lin Lin found the three yawning at the entrance.

  The chubby Ma Zhaoyuan asked impatiently, "What, the sky's falling? Had to wake us at this hour?"

  "Gentlemen, let's talk somewhere more convenient."

  Zhang Shan grumbled, "Senior Brother Lin, you're being awfully mysterious tonight. Why move locations in the middle of the night?"

  "Because this matter is crucial—for the three of you."

  Left with no choice, they followed Lin Lin to the guest reception room where Qingfeng Sect's leader entertained visitors.

  Once inside, Lin Lin didn't stand on ceremony. He sat in the Sect Leader's usual seat and produced the rings belonging to the Sect Leader and the three elders.

  "I won't hide it from you. Today, after the Sect Leader and elders drank the Moonlight Wine, their power surged dramatically. But the spiritual energy within the wine was too overwhelming. The three elders had to enter secluded meditation within the training chamber to digest it. This seclusion could take up to three years."

  "Three years!" Ma Zhaoyuan jumped to his feet. "Something this major—shouldn't the Sect Leader have summoned us inside and explained publicly?"

  Lin Lin had his speech ready. Time to activate trickster mode. "Junior Brother Ma, you're mistaken. Precisely because this concerns the sect's very survival, the Sect Leader demands secrecy."

  "Think about it. Usually, when masters break through realms, one breaks through while the others guard. Now, with all four in seclusion, if outsiders learn of it and seize the opportunity to invade, we could face annihilation."

  "Moreover, many Qingfeng disciples have questionable origins. If any disciple is secretly colluding with other sects, we'd be caught between two fronts—Qingfeng Sect would be in grave danger."

  Lin Lin's words were logical and compelling. Ma Zhaoyuan was momentarily speechless.

  The other two also found the reasoning sound.

  Besides, among the three, only Ma Zhaoyuan diligently practiced cultivation.

  The other two were only too happy their fathers would be in seclusion for three years—three years of carefree fun.

  Ma Zhaoyuan racked his brains but still felt uneasy. "Alright, fine. We won't make it public. But surely the three of us can at least see our own fathers or uncles? That should be allowed."

  "No."

  Ma Zhaoyuan jumped again. "You—you're just the Sect Leader's lapdog! Who do you think you are? My father beat you like an dog, and now you're putting on airs with us?"

  Lin Lin smoothly launched into brainwashing mode. "Exactly. Precisely because I'm the Sect Leader's dog, I can enter, and you cannot."

  "Think about it. Suppose one of you went in while everyone was cultivating. You could conspire with your own father or uncle to kill the others. What then?"

  "I believe you all know about the recent tensions between the three elders and the Sect Leader over cultivation resources. If one person harbored evil intentions, what would the other two do?"

  A few sentences, and Ma Zhaoyuan was stunned again.

  He'd heard his father, Elder Ma, complain about Liu Fenghai's greed—how he'd siphoned most of the sect's resources for his own cultivation.

  But Elder Ma had also warned Ma Zhaoyuan never to cross Liu Fenghai or Liu Yueyan.

  The reason the three elders hadn't united against Liu Fenghai was their mutual distrust.

  Who knew if Liu Fenghai had secretly bought off one of them as an insider?

  If the Ma family openly turned against Liu Fenghai, and just one elder switched sides, the whole plan would collapse.

  Besides, Liu Fenghai was petty and paranoid about loyalty—almost insane.

  After seizing Qingfeng Sect, he'd killed every promising disciple except Lin Lin.

  The sole survivor, Lin Lin, had become the Sect Leader's dog.

  If Ma Zhaoyuan now openly defied Lin Lin and barged into the cave, would it implicate his father, Elder Ma?

  After this barrage of half-truths, even Ma Zhaoyuan backed down. "Sigh... alright. We'll listen to you. But on one condition: no one enters except you."

  "Naturally. Now that we're agreed, allow me to announce the Sect Leader's appointments."

  Lin Lin promptly declared, according to the Sect Leader's wishes, that Ma Zhaoyuan, Li Wangxuan, and Zhang Shan would serve as acting elders.

  And he, Lin Lin, would assume the role of acting Sect Leader. All major sect decisions would henceforth be made by the four of them in council.

  Li Wangxuan was only twelve—barely able to speak up.

  Zhang Shan was fifteen, but he loved playing and didn't bother with responsibilities.

  Only Ma Zhaoyuan, at seventeen, could make some decisions.

  This arrangement pleased Ma Zhaoyuan considerably. Not only was he an acting elder, but he was also the primary decision-maker after Lin Lin.

  This meant that if he could just handle Lin Lin, he could steer cultivation resources toward the Ma family.

  So he accepted Lin Lin's proposal.

  With the appointments settled, the four returned to their quarters to rest.

  Lin Lin took some calming herbs and went to sleep early.

  He couldn't relax yet. Next, he needed to focus his efforts on subduing Liu Yueyan.

  The future Liu Yueyan would be his puppet—and the first living subject on his dissection table.