After Lin Changâshengâs somewhat clumsy attempts at resuscitation,
the girl in white finally let out a faint moan, opened her eyes, and looked at Lin Changâsheng. She seemed a little weak, her pretty face tinged with a blush, and said, "Thank you, young master!"
"Youâre welcome. How did you end up in the water? Where are you from?"
Lin Changâsheng looked at the girl in white and asked.
"My name is..."
The girl hesitated, then said, "Yu Wenjing. Iâm from upstream. And you?"
"Lin Changâsheng. I live right here on East Street."
"Since youâre all right now, Iâm relieved. Goodbye."
Lin Changâsheng said calmly, and after speaking, turned to leave.
"Young master, wait."
At this moment, the girl in white, Yu Wenjing, called out from behind, "I havenât eaten anything all day. Could you... help me out? Iâll repay you in the future!"
"Here, have this pancake."
Hearing this, Lin Changâsheng took out a still-warm pancake from his chest and handed it to Yu Wenjing.
A blush appeared on Yu Wenjingâs face as she took the pancake and nibbled at it in small bites. She must have been starving, because she ate quickly.
Lin Changâsheng watched Yu Wenjing finish eating, then said no more, turning to leave.
But then, hearing footsteps behind him, he realized Yu Wenjing was following. Lin Changâsheng didnât mind and figured he might as well bring her to East Street.
The two of them, one in front and one behind, soon arrived at East Street.
"Miss Yu, East Street is just ahead. Until we meet again."
Lin Changâsheng clasped his fists to Yu Wenjing.
"Young master, I... Iâm completely penniless and canât walk any further. Would it be possible for me to stay at your place for a while?"
Yu Wenjing said a little embarrassedly.
"Come to my house?"
Lin Changâsheng frowned. He lived alone. Having another woman around would definitely be inconvenient.
"Yes, just for a while. Once I recover, Iâll leave, is that okay?"
Seeing Lin Changâsheng still hesitating, Yu Wenjing looked pitifully at him and pleaded, "Please, Iâm still injured, and really have nowhere else to go."
"....."
Lin Changâsheng hesitated.
"Just for a short time. When my people come to get me, Iâll give you silver. How about that?"
Seeing Lin Changâsheng still unwilling, Yu Wenjing added.
"Youâll pay me?"
Lin Changâsheng blinked, then nodded. "Alright."
"Young Master Lin, this is your house, then?"
Before long, Lin Changâsheng brought Yu Wenjing home. She looked at the bare house and there was a thoughtful glimmer in her beautiful eyes.
"Yeah, I live here alone. You can stay in that room."
Lin Changâsheng settled Yu Wenjing into the left room.
......
Sister Zhenâs Noodle House.
"That bastard Ma Zhankuiâkilled by four arrows?"
"The person who killed him used a bow?"
Yan Zhen sat behind the counter, a thoughtful look in her beautiful eyes.
Ever since Ma Zhankui died,
Her life had become much more peaceful.
A certain figure flashed through her mind, but she shook her head and muttered, "It couldnât have been him..."
.......
Yu Wenjing stayed at Lin Changâshengâs house, rarely leaving her room.
She only came out at mealtimes.
Lin Changâsheng kept to his routineâafter buying groceries in the morning, heâd go out for a run to increase his Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill experience, then cultivate Moonlight Breathing Technique at night.
In the early morning of the third day,
Lin Changâshengâs Moonlight Breathing Technique finally advanced to Great Perfection.
[Detected: (Moonlight Breathing Technique, Sun-Bathing Breathing Technique)âBoth cultivation techniques have reached Great Perfection. You can fuse them into a new technique by spending 10 taels of silver. Proceed with fusion?]
At that moment, Lin Changâsheng saw a red notification pop up on his panel.
"Hm?"
"They can be fused? And it only takes 10 taels of silver?"
Seeing the prompt, Lin Changâshengâs eyes lit up. He didnât expect the system could fuse two techniques once they both reached Great Perfection.
Would that work for martial arts of the same type, too?
Lin Changâsheng had been worrying about not having advanced techniquesâthis fusion function really was a blessing in disguise!
"Fuse!"
Lin Changâsheng confirmed in his mind right away.
He had over 1,500 taels of silverâmore than enough.
[Fusing Moonlight Breathing Technique and Sun-Bathing Breathing Technique... Fusion successful! You have obtained Sun and Moon Breathing Technique!]
[Detected Sun and Moon Breathing Technique. Spend 10 taels of silver to simplify?]
As soon as Lin Changâsheng successfully fused the techniques, another prompt popped up on the panel.
"Simplify!"
Lin Changâshengâs eyes gleamed, full of anticipation.
[Great Dao is Simple: Simplifying Sun and Moon Breathing Technique... Simplification complete. Sun and Moon Breathing Technique = Bathe in sunlight, bathe in moonlight!]
On the panel before Lin Changâshengâs eyes, a red notification appeared.
"So itâs just sunbathing and moonbathing?"
Seeing the notice, Lin Changâshengâs eyes brightened.
At that moment, moonlight from outside the window shone on him. He glanced at the panel, and just in those few breaths of time, the Sun and Moon Breathing Technique gained 8 experience points.
Lin Changâsheng opened his panel in his mind.
[Great Dao is Simple: Level 1]
[Lin Changâsheng: 16/55]
[Cultivation: Second-class Expert (448/2500)]
[Cultivation Technique: Sun and Moon Breathing Technique (Entry Level 8/1000)]
[Martial Arts: Archery (Great Perfection), Iron Sand Palm (Great Perfection), Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill (Great Perfection), Cyan Snake Sword Technique (Great Success 6223/12500)]
[Spend a certain amount of silver taels to simplify cultivation techniques, martial arts, etc.]
[Status: Yin Qi Invasion (Weakened)]
"Sun and Moon Breathing Technique is a bit more advanced than Sun-Bathing Breathing Technique, so it needs more experience points."
Lin Changâsheng looked at the panel, nodding to himself.
As long as he sunbathed and moonbathed, it counted as cultivation.
That was just too easy.
"My cultivation experience is advancing too slowly."
Lin Changâsheng looked at the panel, thinking to himself.
Now that heâd reached the Second-class Expert stage, his cultivation progress had slowed down a lot. He figured there might be two reasons: the first was that his cultivation technique was a bit low-level,
the second was he needed more energyâthat is, the power of elixirs.
If he used elixirs, would that speed things up?
Now that his techniques were fused, it was time to see about getting some elixirs or Qi Blood Soup to help with cultivation.
Lin Changâsheng had gotten over 1,500 taels of silver from Ma Zhankuiâs house. He planned to wait a few days, then bring some out and go to the Hundred Herbs Hall in West City to buy some Qi Blood Soup to try.
........
Three days later, at noon.
Lin Changâsheng came home after buying groceries on East Street.
"Itâs always you cookingâIâm starting to feel bad about it. How about I make lunch today?"
Yu Wenjing offered proactively.
"Sure, sounds good."
Lin Changâsheng nodded and went to check on his little snake cage to gain experience for Cyan Snake Sword Technique.
"Right now, my martial arts include archery, Cyan Snake Sword Technique, Iron Sand Palm, and Flying Eaves and Light Body Skill. Theyâre all different types and canât be fused. If I want to take them to the next level, Iâll need to get more techniques."
"Maybe I should try to get the body technique from Liuyun Martial Arts Hall?"
Lin Changâsheng looked at the little snake in the cage and thought to himself.
Golden Bell Martial Arts Hall has Golden Bell Shield and fist techniques. Liuyun Martial Arts Hall has Liuyun Light Body Skill and Flying Eaves and Light Body Skillâthey should be able to fuse.
"Changâsheng, the foodâs ready."
Just then, Yu Wenjing emerged from the kitchen after a flurry of activity, carrying four dishes and two bowls of rice.
"Uh..."
Lin Changâsheng was taken aback when he saw the dishes Yu Wenjing brought out.
Blackened and burntâthat was the color of todayâs meal.
"Changâsheng, I... I havenât really cooked beforeâthis is my first time, so it didnât turn out well. But Iâll get better..."
When she saw Lin Changâshengâs expression, Yu Wenjing looked embarrassed, rubbing her delicate hands together like a child caught doing something wrong.
"Itâs okay. For a first attempt, this is already impressive! Letâs eat."
Lin Changâsheng glanced overâother than being a bit burnt on the outside, it was still edible inside. He shouldnât waste it, so he picked up his bowl and realized the rice was half raw.
He picked up some greens and put them in his mouthâthen froze.
Salty. So salty it was bitter!