"Oh, I did get held up by something. Please thank Instructor Liu for his concern, and let him know that from now on, I wonât be going to the martial arts school anymore."
Lin Changâsheng said in a low, steady voice.
Now that his Iron Sand Palm had reached perfection, and his Breathing Technique had been fused into the Sun and Moon Breathing Technique, there was nothing left for him to learn at the martial arts school. What he needed now was to go to the Hundred Herbs Hall for alchemy.
Refining elixirs could keep providing him with the resources he needed for cultivation.
"This......."
"Alright, Iâll pass your words on."
Li Yun looked slightly stunned at his words, then nodded and bade Lin Changâsheng farewell before leaving.
Lin Changâsheng got home but didnât hear Yu Wenjingâs usual "Changâsheng, youâre back!". Surprised, he headed into the kitchen.
There he found Yu Wenjing lying on the ground, her eyes tightly shut, blood at the corner of her lips, the greens in the pan only halfway cooked.
"Wenjing? What happened to you?"
Lin Changâsheng was startled, rushing forward to check Yu Wenjingâs pulse, finding it chaotic, and his brows knit instantly. "Weird? How did her condition get worse?"
Lin Changâsheng remembered that when he had rescued Yu Wenjing, sheâd been seriously injured; after all this time nursing her back to health, she had mostly recovered. Whoâd have thought this time it was even worse than before.
Hurriedly, Lin Changâsheng bolted the door, picked up Yu Wenjing and carried her to bed, sitting cross-legged behind her, channeling his first-class inner strength into her body to straighten her meridians.
After a short while.
Yu Wenjing slowly woke up, seeing herself nestled in Lin Changâshengâs arms, a faint blush blooming on her beautiful face as she whispered like a mosquito, "Changâsheng, youâre back!"
"Mm. What happened to your injury?"
Lin Changâsheng gently laid her down on the bed and asked.
"Iâm not sure. When I was exercising my inner strength, I felt a strange force surging out from my Dantian, and then it injured my internal organs."
Yu Wenjing said weakly.
"Do you know where this strange power comes from?"
Lin Changâsheng felt a headache coming on. Just now, as he was soothing Yu Wenjingâs meridians, heâd discovered an eerie inner force inside her Dantian; even with his first-class realm inner strength, it was immediately devoured when it encountered that force.
"I donât know."
Yu Wenjing shook her head. "This strange force showed up when I was 17. Whenever I cultivate martial arts, it rebounds violently, as if its whole purpose is to stop me from training."
"Alright, why donât you get some rest. Iâll go to Hundred Herbs Hall and get some medicine to nourish your body, then figure out how to deal with this weird force later!"
Lin Changâsheng sighed and got up. Even with his cultivation, he couldnât overcome the bizarre inner power in Yu Wenjingâs body. Looks like her identity isnât simple.
Still.
Yu Wenjing didnât volunteer any explanation.
Lin Changâsheng didnât ask.
"Changâsheng......!"
Suddenly, Yu Wenjing called out softly.
"What is it?"
Lin Changâsheng paused at the doorway, turning to look at Yu Wenjing.
"Thank you....."
Yu Wenjingâs eyes lingered on Lin Changâsheng, her expression complicated.
"What are you saying? Just rest well, Iâll be back soon."
Lin Changâsheng smiled warmly, locked the door, and headed off toward Hundred Herbs Hall.
As Lin Changâsheng left, a black-clad old man appeared in the bamboo grove a hundred feet away, his eyes full of poisonous hatred as he muttered, "Smoke from the stove, a womanâs clothes hung out to dry... Could it be... heâs not alone?"
......
At Hundred Herbs Hall, Lin Changâsheng bought three sets of herbs to replenish and nurture Qi, then hurried back.
He set up the stove and began decocting herbal medicine.
Yu Wenjing lay on the bed, watching his busy figure, her gaze full of complexity.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed.
Yu Wenjingâs injuries improved greatly; she could walk on her own again.
Lin Changâsheng didnât slack either. Whenever he had time, he tossed stones and clay balls, watched the little snake in the cage, bathed in the sun and moonlight; all his experience steadily increased.
Early morning.
After breakfast, Lin Changâsheng and Yu Wenjing cleaned up, then headed to the yard to play tossing stones.
[Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (Fragment) (Perfection)]
[Detected: Both Archery and Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (Fragment) martial arts are of the same perfected type. You can spend 20 taels of silver to fuse them into a new martial art. Proceed with fusion?]
Just then, a red prompt popped up in Lin Changâshengâs peripheral panel, with âYesâ and âNoâ buttons.
"Hm?"
"So Archery and Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers hidden weapon technique can be fused? Needs 20 taels of silver?"
Seeing the prompt on his panel, Lin Changâshengâs eyes lit up.
"Fuse!"
Lin Changâsheng instantly tapped the âYesâ button.
[Fusing Archery and Celestial Maiden Scattering Flowers (Fragment)... Fusion successful! Obtained Nine-Star Linked Beads (Arrow/Hidden)!]
[Detected Nine-Star Linked Beads. Spend 20 taels of silver to simplify?]
As soon as the fusion succeeded, another prompt popped up on the panel.
"Nine-Star Linked Beads (Arrow/Hidden)? Does that mean it works for both hidden weapons and archery?"
Lin Changâshengâs eyes brightened, full of anticipation, but he still decided to simplify. "Simplify!"
[Great Dao is Simple: Nine-Star Linked Beads simplifying... Simplification successful. Nine-Star Linked Beads (Arrow/Hidden) = Wasting Money!]
A red notification appeared on Lin Changâshengâs display panel.
"Huh?"
"Wasting Money?"
Seeing the simplified result, Lin Changâsheng couldnât help but blink.
Wasting Money? That was his childhood specialty.
Heâd just pick up a thin tile or a flat stone and toss it across the calm surface of a pondâthe more skips, the better. He remembered he could get it to bounce eleven times in one throw.
"Letâs go train at Jingshui Bay over by the Grand Canal."
Lin Changâsheng mused to himself.
That was where heâd killed Tie Yang; with his current lightweight skill and cultivation, it wouldnât take long to reach it. There was a tranquil bay there, cliffs littered with stonesâperfect for practicing Wasting Money with handy rocks.
"Wenjing, Iâm heading out for a bit. Iâll be back later."
Lin Changâsheng gave Yu Wenjing a heads-up.
"Mm, be careful."
Yu Wenjing nodded.
Lin Changâsheng moved swiftly, arriving in no time at the quiet waters of Jingshui Bay by the Grand Canal. He picked up a flat stone and tossed it onto the river.
"Plip-plip-plip-plip!"
The stone skimmed across the water, bouncing eight times before sinking.
Lin Changâsheng checked his status panel instantly.
[Nine-Star Linked Beads (Arrow/Hidden) (8/1000)]
"Not badâeight skips in one go."
Lin Changâsheng glanced at his experience points and nodded.
He could hit eleven at bestâthat would be eleven experience points.
He kept picking up stones and tossing them across. When he ran out of stones, he used Void-Breaking Palm to blast the cliffârocks splintered off, giving him ample stones. Lin Changâsheng was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Time flew by.
The sun sank toward the west.
"Thatâs enough for today!"
Lin Changâsheng glanced at the fading sunset, ready to head home, when suddenly he looked off into the distance, eyes narrowing, voice steady and cold. "All of you, come out. No need to skulk around."