Chapter 418 - 386: The Turn of the Year
Chapter 418: Chapter 386: The Turn of the Year
"What did I say wrong? Why did he leave?"
The brown-robed cultivator’s face turned grim, his gaze sharp as he stared at Zhao Lin’s retreating figure.
"I don’t think it was anything we said. The man’s just too cautious."
The cultivator with the Mortal Spirit Root said cautiously.
"No, something must have given us away."
The brown-robed cultivator sighed. "What a shame. Such a good opportunity, and he was so close to getting on the boat."
Two cultivators came down from the boat, and one of them asked, "Deputy Hall Master, should we follow him?"
The brown-robed cultivator slowly shook his head. "We’ve all been seen. Let’s go back and get a different group..."
"That was close!"
Zhao Lin’s lips curled. He retracted his ultrasonic senses and walked into the marketplace as if nothing was amiss.
Judging from their conversation, they were most likely from the Li family of Three Mountains County.
’If I had carelessly boarded their boat, this trip would have almost certainly ended in disaster.’
...
The following afternoon, Zhao Lin arrived in Han Chi County.
Stepping into his residence, he felt a wave of relief and muttered to himself, "Finally home!"
After days of exhausting travel, he was feeling rather hungry. He took a small cauldron from a cabinet in the main hall, poured in some Spirit Rice, and began to cook.
Once the rice was cooked, Zhao Lin ate, reflecting on the gains and losses from his trip.
This mission to collect Spirit Pearls had been far more dangerous than his last trip to Yinfeng Valley, and the enemies he faced were much more brutal.
But with great risk came great reward, and his gains had been much more substantial.
Fortunately, the mission was limited to Qi Refining Realm cultivators, and the pitch-black underwater environment allowed him to press the advantages of his superior hearing and sense of smell.
’All in all, I made the right choice.’
After he had eaten his fill, Zhao Lin boiled a kettle of water and brewed himself some Spirit Tea.
Ever since his finances had eased up, he had gradually developed a tea-drinking habit. It not only advanced his cultivation but also calmed his mind. Plus, it was convenient for entertaining the occasional guest.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
A knock came from the courtyard gate.
’I just got back to the county,’ Zhao Lin thought, curious. ’Who could have heard the news so quickly and come looking for me?’
He got up, walked outside, and opened the courtyard gate to find Dean Zhou, Elder Wu, and Elder Nie standing there.
"Greetings, Dean, Elders."
Zhao Lin bowed in greeting. ’Three Foundation Establishment cultivators coming to visit me?’ he wondered. ’What could this be about?’
A moment later, he guessed the likely reason. ’My killing those fourteen Earth Dark Cultivators must have come to light.’
"Zhao Lin, is now a good time?"
Dean Zhou asked, glancing into the courtyard.
"Of course. Please, Dean, Elders, come in!"
Zhao Lin led the three into the main hall and poured each of them a cup of Spirit Tea.
"This is good tea. Not many disciples at the Spirit Dao Institute can afford to drink Spirit Tea."
Elder Wu picked up his cup, took two sips, and said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
"I earned some Spirit Coins on my last mission and decided to feign sophistication like my senior brothers. In truth, I know nothing of the tea ceremony. It’s a case of an ox chewing on a peony."
Zhao Lin said self-deprecatingly.
"You earned a lot on your last mission. I imagine you earned even more this time?"
Elder Nie hinted.
Zhao Lin was now almost certain of their intentions. "Regarding this mission," he replied, "I was planning to file a report with the elders tomorrow..."
"No need."
Dean Zhou waved him off, his eyes fixed on Zhao Lin’s face. "Zhao Lin, you went to Red Tail Island to carry out a mission. How did it go?"
Zhao Lin quickly organized his thoughts and recounted the entire sea voyage, glossing over the specific details of the combat.
"You really killed fourteen cultivators from the Earth Dark Sect!"
After listening, the three of them sighed in amazement. Even though they already knew the outcome, hearing it from Zhao Lin himself still felt incredible.
"As far as I know, the Earth Dark Sect excels at naval combat. The cultivators they send on sea missions have usually achieved mastery in the Water Moon Slash. How did you manage to kill them?"
Dean Zhou didn’t beat around the bush, asking the question on his mind directly.
"I have some basic proficiency in the martial path, so I can move freely underwater without relying on the Water Manipulation Skill. I’ve also practiced an assassination-style Cultivation Technique, which allows me to launch surprise attacks from the seabed."
Zhao Lin gave his rehearsed explanation.
Dean Zhou and the two elders, Wu and Nie, exchanged glances, remaining silent for a moment.
Zhao Lin attributed his success to martial arts, a claim they couldn’t verify. They were merely left wondering what kind of martial art could be so formidable.
Although Dean Zhou was skeptical of Zhao Lin’s explanation, he didn’t press the matter. To do so would turn the conversation into an interrogation.
He immediately chuckled. "Island Master Chu Hongtian of Red Tail Island wrote me a personal letter praising your performance."
"Zhao Lin, you’ve brought great honor to our Spirit Dao Institute!"
Zhao Lin hastily replied with humility, "You flatter me, Dean."
’It was just one mission,’ he thought, puzzled. ’Was it really worthy of a personal letter from the Island Master?’
Dean Zhou seemed to read his mind and explained seriously, "Red Tail Island’s location is strategically vital. Our sect and the Earth Dark Sect have been locked in a constant struggle, both overt and covert."
"However, due to our publicly amicable relations and pressure from suzerain sects, we avoid high-intensity warfare. Instead, both sides dispatch Qi Refining Realm cultivators to vie for supremacy during missions."
"Among the Earth Dark Sect cultivators you killed were two particularly notorious individuals who had previously harmed many of our disciples. You’ve performed a great service."
Zhao Lin said nothing, but he thought, ’Shouldn’t this earn me some extra merit points?’
Elder Nie suddenly interjected, "Zhao Lin, I’ll repeat what I’ve said before: your priority right now should be cultivation. There will be plenty of time for missions later on, do you understand?"
Elder Wu added, "You’ve fallen behind on your coursework these past few days. Catch up as soon as you can."
Zhao Lin bowed his head. "I will follow your advice, Elders."
"Alright, that’s all. You’ve just returned, so we won’t disturb you any further."
After a few more words of advice, Dean Zhou and the two elders left Zhao Lin’s residence.
Zhao Lin saw the three of them to the gate before breathing a silent sigh of relief.
「Three days passed in a flash.」
Zhao Lin fell back into his old routine.
Each day, he attended lectures on the Dao, meditated to refine his Qi, and diligently worked to improve his cultivation.
’This mission made me realize I’m still not strong enough.’
’In a direct confrontation, it would be difficult to defeat cultivators like Qingchi and Shan Nei, who had also achieved mastery in their Magic.’
’To reliably best cultivators of the same level, I need to break through to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer and elevate my Magic to the level of perfection.’
One morning, the Kongzui acupoint on Zhao Lin’s left arm began to throb incessantly as wisps of Spiritual Qi from his meridians seeped into it.
He knew this meant he was on the verge of opening a new Spiritual Acupoint, and he was overjoyed.
Just then, a faint sound came from outside his gate.
Zhao Lin opened the gate and saw a paper messenger crane on the ground.
The message was from the Merit Hall, informing him that his merit points for the Spirit Pearl collection mission had been calculated and were ready to be collected.
Zhao Lin smiled. ’A breakthrough for my Spiritual Acupoints is imminent, and now my merit points are ready,’ he thought. ’It’s true that good things come in pairs.’
Zhao Lin had already roughly calculated the rewards for the mission twice over.
The bounties on the fourteen Earth Dark Sect cultivators were worth 2,800 merit points, and the Spirit Pearls would add another 300-plus.
As for Spirit Stones, the Spirit Pearls could be exchanged for more than two thousand.
The confiscated eyebrow sabers, naginatas, and storage pouches could also be exchanged for Spirit Stones. It was hard to guess the value of the storage pouches’ contents, but the eyebrow sabers alone, even sold just for their materials, were worth two or three hundred Spirit Stones each.
With eleven eyebrow sabers, that would surely amount to several thousand Spirit Stones.
And there was the Grade One Spirit Pearl from Shan Nei, worth two hundred merit points and an additional thousand Spirit Stones.
By a rough estimate, the rewards would total at least three thousand merit points and seven thousand Spirit Stones.
With this windfall, he would have enough to support his cultivation for a year and advance all of his Magic to the perfection level.
When Zhao Lin arrived at the Merit Hall, he was greeted warmly by Steward Hu.
"Junior Brother Zhao, you’re truly incredible! In all my years at the Merit Hall, I’ve never seen a Qi Refining Realm cultivator earn so many merit points in one go."
Steward Hu led Zhao Lin into the hall, took out a Star Origin Brush, and praised him endlessly as his hand flew across the ledger.
Zhao Lin simply smiled without a word. When the steward finished his record-keeping, Zhao Lin took the Body Stone and was startled by what he saw.
The merit points totaled a staggering 4,300—a full thousand more than he had calculated.
Checking the record, he saw that in addition to the points for the Spirit Pearls and the bounties on the Earth Dark Sect cultivators, there was an extra bonus of one thousand merit points.
This thousand-point bonus was a special commendation from Island Master Chu Hongtian himself. The reason cited was that by slaying fourteen Earth Dark Sect cultivators, Zhao Lin had severely dampened the Earth Dark Sect’s arrogance and defended Red Tail Island’s Spirit Pearl resources.
The Spirit Stone payout was 8,500, with practically no deductions.
Zhao Lin understood now. This Island Master Chu was making a gesture of goodwill toward him.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, the day of the Tri-Institute Meet arrived.
Last year’s Tri-Institute Meet was held in Dongyang County, Juyan Province. This year, it was Han Chi County’s turn to host.
When selecting the participants for the competition, Elder Wu directly nominated Zhao Lin.
A third-year disciple objected, "Junior Brother Zhao is a strong combatant, but the rules this year forbid the use of martial arts. Why is he being sent to compete?"
Elder Wu offered no explanation. "Anyone who disagrees is welcome to challenge him to a match."
In the end, three disciples took up the challenge, and Zhao Lin defeated each one effortlessly, without even moving from his spot.
A few days later, the delegations from the Spirit Dao Institutes of the Western Ox Continent and Juyan Province arrived.
Upon learning that Zhao Lin was one of Han Chi County’s combatants, the deans from the other two provinces objected. "Aren’t Martial Cultivators, Sword Cultivators, and Body Cultivators prohibited from participating?"
Only after Zhou Hongfang guaranteed that Zhao Lin would not use any martial arts whatsoever did the two deans reluctantly agree.
When the competition began, Zhao Lin indeed refrained from using any martial arts. Relying solely on his extraordinary proficiency with Magic, he overwhelmed the disciples from the other two Spirit Dao Institutes, leaving them powerless to retaliate, and easily claimed victory.
From that point on, the notion of Zhao Lin as a magical prodigy became firmly entrenched in everyone’s minds—exactly the outcome he had hoped for.
As the year drew to a close, it was once again time for the annual visit home to see family...