Chapter 100 - - Abolishing His Own Cultivation
Edited by: Butter
Lin Xuanzhi opened his eyes and gave him a faint smile, “Nothing, I just suddenly thought that Ah Hen is going to grow up soon.”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his face, “Yeah, I’m a whole inch taller than I was three months ago!”
It was just one inch. There was still a long way to go before Ah Hen would truly become an adult.
This period in between…felt incomparably long to Lin Xuanzhi.
Yet, Lin Xuanzhi also hoped that Yan Tianhen could always remain the innocent and sincere teenager he was now.
Lin Xuanzhi smiled, “Ah Hen, if you ever like someone in the future, you must tell Dage.”
Yan Tianhen was stunned, then his small face flushed red and he stuck his tongue out, “Dage should be the one telling me when you find someone you like. If I have a sis-in-law in the future, I need to treat her as well as I treat Dage.”
Lin Xuanzhi sighed deep in his heart.
Yan Tianhen’s words really made it seem like he had no interest in him.
“Ah Hen, take care of Ah Bai and Hu Po here. Dage needs to go and rest up for a while.”
Yan Tianhen quickly responded, “Dage should go and have a good rest, I’ll take care of things here.”
Lin Xuanzhi placed his fan in Yan Tianhen’s hands, “This Melodious Wind Fan was a subsidiary fan that I created alongside the Rocking Fan I crafted the other day. The soul force contained inside can compete with cultivators who are at the first layer of their Foundation Stage. Take this for self-defence.” After he said this, Lin Xuanzhi left Yan Tianhen’s room without waiting for a reply and headed back to his own room.
After he closed the door, Lin Xuanzhi quickly walked over to a cattail hassock and sat down on it cross-legged.
Soul Bead spoke leisurely, “Kid, you’re a teal soul second stage craftsman now, that’s equivalent to an elemental cultivator’s Foundation Stage second layer. But, this teal soul second stage of yours was achieved in a short period of time by relying on ten Gathering Qi pills. If you constantly encounter bottlenecks in your cultivation in the future, don’t blame Benzun for not reminding you.”
Lin Xuanzhi closed his eyes, “I am well aware of that.”
“Pei, you’re aware, my ass!” Soul Bead cursed, then continued resentfully, “You have such amazing talent, yet you’re dead insistent on ruining yourself! And you dare say that you’re well aware in front of Benzun?! Are you really trying to force Benzun to thoroughly berate you to wake up your muddled brain!?”
Just based on the fact that he could craft an All-Encompassing Bottle on his first try, Soul Bead was certain that this kid would have unlimited prospects in the future. As long as he was given some time, he would definitely be able to become the new hegemon of a region.
Yet, he stubbornly relied on medicinal pills to advance……
What a waste of Heaven’s gift! What a waste!!
Soul Bead really wished he could possess Lin Xuanzhi’s body right now and replace him, and this impulse of his had never been stronger than it was now!
Compared to the infuriated Soul Bead, Lin Xuanzhi was much calmer.
Soul Bead was stunned, then he suddenly realised what Lin Xuanzhi wanted to do, “You rascal—!”
Lin Xuanzhi’s blood boiled and tumbled through his veins and his acupoints contracted. The soul force that had already broken through 684 acupoints suddenly shrank back, and the acupoints that had been opened up were sealed up once again. However, the meridians that had been expanded remained in their original state.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Xuanzhi spat out a mouthful of blood. Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, his face was ghastly pale and his fingers were trembling slightly. His clothes were actually drenched because of how much he was sweating.
After a moment, he gradually opened his eyes. He picked up a handkerchief to wipe off the fresh blood from the corners of his lips with much indifference, as if nothing had happened.
Soul Bead had been stunned into silence.
“What, did I do anything wrong?” Lin Xuanzhi made light of what had just happened.
“You did the right thing.” Soul Bead only spoke after a long while, then he said with deep meaning, “Benzun has lived for many years and has come across many people, but you’re the only one I’ve seen who dares to abolish your own cultivation this wantonly.”
Lin Xuanzhi laughed lightly, then stood up and smoothed out his unwrinkled clothes and casually said, “I merely abolished two layers, I’m still a Refining Qi stage seven layer cultivator.”
Soul Bead sighed deeply, “How could you bear it?”
“Would there be a better way if I couldn’t bear it?” Lin Xuanzhi asked Soul Bead.
“That…” Soul Bead didn’t know what to say.
There was indeed no other way. But this wasn’t just any ‘two layers’, it was the leap from the Refining Qi stage to a teal soul second layer!
There were so many craftsmen who get stuck at the seventh layer of their Refining Qi Stages and find it impossible to make this jump in their lifetime, yet Lin Xuanzhi abolished it just like that.
Even someone like Soul Bead, who had a wide range of experiences, couldn’t help but be thoroughly stunned — you must know, for cultivators, their cultivation is more important than anything else.
No one would so casually abolish their own cultivation, even if it was just one layer.
Lin Xuanzhi was really ruthless: he wasn’t just ruthless to other people, he was even more ruthless to himself!
Such a person… such a person…
How could you not be afraid of such a person?
Scary, he truly is scary.
“Kid, you’re definitely not a simple character.” Soul Bead eventually said sentimentally.
“Heh.” Lin Xuanzhi smiled lightly. He picked up a teapot that was on the table and poured a cup of tea, then swished it around gently in his hand, “I’m just…more ambitious than the rest.”
In the future, he was going to settle all his debts with those who owed him. So naturally, he wouldn’t leave any latent dangers for his future cultivation because of an unstable foundation at the present time.
In Lin Jiang’s courtyard.
“Si—” Lin Yangzhi sucked in a breath of cold air as he looked at his scratched up face in the mirror, his rage was spilling out of his eyes.
Lin Yaer, on the other hand, had bloodshot eyes, and had obviously cried recently.
She had never made such a big fool of herself before; today was the first time that she had experienced such humiliation. Her self-esteem had been seriously hurt.
“Ge, that Lin Xuanzhi has gone too far!” Lin Yaer said hatefully.
“If he didn’t have that magic tool in his hands, I would’ve definitely taken at least half of his life today!” Lin Yangzhi gritted his teeth as he smeared some spiritual medicine on his face and accidentally tugged on his wound.
Lin Yaer looked at Lin Yangzhi with much uncertainty, “That fan in his hands…what kind of magic treasure is it? It’s so powerful!”
Lin Yangzhi’s gaze turned steady as he put his hand down, “I’ve never seen that kind of magic tool before, but it’s not that much different from a Breaking Sky Fan. They both rely on the spiritual force in their raw materials, as well as the soul force and crafting hand seals of their craftsmen to express the level of their offensive capabilities.”
“But that fan is at least of the Foundation Stage level!” Lin Yaer revealed a frightened expression on her face, “Exactly how many magic treasures of that kind does he have? Don’t tell me… he was the one who crafted that magic treasure?!”
Absolutely impossible.
Lin Yangzhi’s face turned green as he said resolutely, “It is impossible for him to have broken through the peak of his Refining Qi stage to reach the teal soul stage, so the offensive capabilities of the magic treasures he crafts would not be able to reach the realm of the Foundation Stage. I’m afraid that after Lin Xuanzhi became a craftsman, he managed to gang up with many powerful cultivators.”
“But I heard that ever since that Lin Xuanzhi turned into trash, he rarely left the residence. The place he went to most often was the Tyrant Martial Hall.” Lin Yaer frowned.
“Tyrant Martial Hall.” Lin Yangzhi revealed a contemptuous look on his face, “He’s only fit to mix around with that kind of trash.”
Lin Yaer took a deep breath to calm herself, “Dage, ever since we returned to the Lin family, we’ve already been humiliated by Lin Xuanzhi twice. Lin Xuanzhi has Fifth elder as his backer right now and has such an obstinate temper, if we don’t let him suffer a little, I’m afraid that we will have a rough time here in the future.”
Lin Yangzhi thought so too, so he nodded and said, “Lin Xuanzhi is indeed arrogant. But this is the Lin family, we can’t act on our own. Otherwise, the Lin family elders would definitely not sit idly by and ignore it, and father won’t agree to let us find someone to deal with Lin Xuanzhi either.”
“Then what Dage intends to do is…?” Lin Yaer’s heart jolted.
“He, our purpose for coming back here was to obtain a spot for the Hundred Families Gathering anyway.” Lin Yangzhi smiled mysteriously, “In just a few months, we’ll be going on a long journey. By then, even if we wanted to deal with Lin Xuanzhi, no one would be able to hinder us.”
Lin Yaer’s eyes twinkled like she had thought of something, then revealed a complacent and triumphant smile, “That’s right. Dage is an inner disciple of Sky Peak Sect after all. Anyone from Sky Peak Sect could easily crush Lin Xuanzhi to death!”
Lin Yangzhi nodded and looked at his scratched up face in the mirror, then said viciously, “He has a backer, but don’t we have our own backers as well? I’ll write a letter to Shifu now and ask him to dispatch some people over to assist us when the time comes. We definitely need to get rid of that calamity named Lin Xuanzhi while we’re on the road!”
After he finished speaking, he took out a pen and paper and wrote a “letter of complaint”, then clipped it to a spiritual pigeon specially used for transmitting messages to Sky Peak Sect before releasing it.
Lin Yangzhi narrowed his eyes and secretly thought to himself that he’d let that Lin Xuanzhi be arrogant for just a few more days. The moment Shifu dispatches his Shixiong, who had already reached the third layer of his Hardened Body stage, here, he’d really like to see if Lin Xuanzhi could still be as arrogant as he was now!
—
“Ai.” Yan Tianhen sighed again. He propped his face up with one hand and looked extremely sad.
“Lin Xuanzhi walked over and glanced at Yan Tianhen, then looked at the two wounded and withered tiger cubs that were nestled on his bed, “How are Ah Bai and Hu Po doing?”
“We don’t need to worry about their wounds anymore, the medicine was pretty effective. But Ah Bai and Hupo must have suffered a huge setback, so they aren’t as spirited as they were anymore.” Yan Tianhen said worriedly.
“Wuwu…” Ah Bai hung his head dejectedly as he uttered two tiger cries at an abnormal pitch.
Lin Xuanzhi cast a glance at him and nodded, “At least they have a sense of shame, looks like they aren’t that incorrigible.”
Yan Tianhen, “…”
Ah Bai and Hu Po immediately stood up as they exploded at Lin Xuanzhi’s words.
“What? Did I say anything wrong?” Lin Xuanzhi said lightly in a flat tone, “You guys are spiritual beasts, not demonic beasts. Both of you were born with a superior bloodline, so logically speaking, you two should have been at the infant stage seven stars level the moment you were born, which would be equivalent in strength to a Hardened Body first layer cultivator. However, after following Ah Hen for so many years, the two of you are still just infant stage two star beasts. You guys have made no progress at all, and are even this gluttonous too, so who can you blame for being bullied?”
Ah Bai and Hu Po immediately withered and hung their heads again. Their butts faced Lin Xuanzhi as they wallowed in shame.
The two tiger cubs’ expressions and movements were so synchronised that Lin Xuanzhi found it amusing.
Yan Tianhen also felt flustered as he scratched his head, “A spiritual pet conducts itself in the same way as its master. Looks like I’m the one who hasn’t been strict enough with them in the past.”
Lin Xuanzhi withdrew his gaze and smiled, “How could it be Ah Hen’s fault? They’re the ones who aren’t diligently cultivating, so they can only blame themselves.”
Yan Tianhen thought about it for a bit before he said, “During this period, Dage and I both wouldn’t have the time to take care of them, so how are we going to supervise their cultivation progress? Why don’t we send these cubs to the Demonic Beast Institute so that they can study there for awhile.”
Lin Xuanzhi nodded, “I had the same intention as well, but I was worried that Ah Hen would be reluctant to part with them.”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his nose, “I am a bit reluctant, but I heard that the teachers in the Demonic Beast Institute are very strict.”
“A strict teacher produces outstanding students. Three months later, we’ll be travelling to the Middle Continent to attend the Hundred Families Gathering. By then, if they are still infant stage two star beasts, I’m afraid that they wouldn’t even be able to defeat a random demonic beast there.” Lin Xuanzhi said.
“Then let’s send the cubs there now ba.” Yan Tianhen also thought about the impending danger, so he made up his mind.