Ch103 – The Start of Internal Selections

　　Translated by: DMlations/Zryuu

　　Edited by: Butter

　　—

　　The Lin residence.

　　Yan Tianhen hugged his pillow while walking slowly to Lin Xuanzhi’s side and spoke, sounding slightly worried, “Dage, will Ah Bai and Hu Po get bullied at the Demonic Beast Institute?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi thought about it for a bit, “Not likely. After all, Master Golden-Eye is famous for having his way with teaching his students, and no parent has ever lodged a complaint against him before.”

　　Yan Tianhen sighed again, “I miss Ah Bai and Hu Po even though we’ve only been apart for a day. I bought so many demonic delight fruits too, but there are no cubs here who will eat them. I wonder if they’ll be used to not sleeping on beds now.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “……..”

　　He finally knew why those two spiritual tiger cubs had been indulged into their current state.

　　“Ah Hen.” Lin Xuanzhi said.

　　“Ah?” Yan Tianhen looked up.

　　“I’m beginning to feel even more strongly that sending Ah Bai and Hu Po away was the correct choice.” Lin Xuanzhi said lightly.

　　Yan Tianhen, “…….”

　　Heart feels stifled, depressed, and a bit upset.

　　Lin Xuanzhi saw his gloomy face and smiled, “Tomorrow, the family will select the participants for the Hundred Families Gathering. It’s quite late now, so Ah Hen should rest first. Ah Bai and Hu Po will be under Master Golden Eye’s supervision for the next three months, so it’ll be safer for them there than in our family.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded, “Tomorrow I’ll finally be able to see how many amazing characters there are amongst the Lin family’s pupils.”

　　When he finished saying this, Yan Tianhen hugged his little pillow and ran back to his own room with swaying hips. His movements were extremely smooth, and he obviously hadn’t thought of considering Lin Xuanzhi’s feelings.

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “…..”

　　He realised that ever since the two of them moved out of the small courtyard, Yan Tianhen began to increasingly prefer sleeping alone. He never took the initiative to come to his room and sleep on the same bed with him anymore.

　　That’s really not a good sign.

　　He didn’t know if it was because Ah Hen had other considerations because he was growing up, or because…he didn’t have that kind of self-awareness at all.

　　Soul Bead laughed coolly, “Kid, that rascal seems to have no interest in you at all.”

　　“Shut up.” Lin Xuanzhi said coldly, then silenced Soul Bead.

　　Soul Bead, “…….”

　　However, this would not prevent Lin Xuanzhi from cultivating.

　　He sat down cross-legged. He began to form seals with his hand, and his soul force surged through his body as it began to attack the acupoints that had been forcibly sealed off previously.

　　In Yan Tianhen’s room.

　　Without Ah Bai and Hu Po’s company, Yan Tianhen felt like something was missing from his life.

　　He meditated for a short while, then opened his eyes, feeling ill at ease. He got off his bed and walked over the the small cradle that he had set up for that bald bird.

　　Yan Tianhen had made the small cradle himself. He had cut down several bamboo trees in the back mountains and weaved them into a cradle, then spread some soft cotton at the bottom and covered it with a blanket. In the end, he placed the bald bird that had been in a deep slumber ever since it swallowed an earth-level pill in this cradle.

　　If it wasn’t because he could still feel the breath of this bald bird, Yan Tianhen would have begun to suspect that it had already died.

　　“Ai, your big brothers have already been sent away, so only you’re left here.” Yan Tianhen rested his chin on his hand with a melancholic face. The bald bird opened its sharp beak as it dreamt and let out a qiu~, before it turned around and continued sleeping. It even used its bird butt to face Yan Tianhen.

　　Yan Tianhen was suffering from severe blood loss because of the bald bird’s cuteness. He wiped away the suspicious liquid that leaked out from the corners of his mouth, then reluctantly turned around and left.

　　Even though Lin Xuanzhi had already exited his seclusion, Yan Tianhen still didn’t give up his nightly trips to that storage room in their old, dilapidated courtyard to continue his acupuncture treatment for the guy called Chigu.

　　A few days later, Chigu still maintained his soft and fresh appearance.

　　Yan Tianhen’s familiarity with the needles increased day by day. He finished his treatment within 2 hours, then sat beside the corpse in a daze.

　　He thought worriedly: I can’t just prick him with needles. This needle treatment is the simplest and most basic skill in the Imperial Corpse Technique. At most, it could only ensure that the corpse wouldn’t rot, and that its cultivation wouldn’t drop.

　　But if he really wanted to make full use of the corpse, he must first refine it.

　　The basic conditions of refining a corpse would be to gather the ten or so basic materials first — a poisonous scorpion’s tail, the rhizomes of a Tyrannical Poisonous Bacteria, the corpse Qi within corpses, and a sacrificial offering found in tombs.

　　Most importantly, the Imperial Corpse user must have enough Yin Qi.

　　But of course, the most important criteria was coincidentally the one that Yan Tianhen didn’t need to worry about the most.

　　Yan Tianhen looked at the face that was so pale it could frighten people to death and sighed, “I calculated the cost. Just finding those items that could make you move would cost at least 10,000 gold. You’re really good at spending money, aren’t you?”

　　The corpse continued to lie motionless.

　　Yan Tianhen stood up and thought that it was about time for him to earn some money.

　　Early the next morning, the bell that signalled a gathering in the Lin family rang.

　　There were two dark circles under his eyes as Yan Tianhen walked out of his room when he met the spirited Lin Xuanzhi across the corridor.

　　Yan Tianhen ran over and looked at Lin Xuanzhi as he asked, “Dage, I want to ask you a question.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi lifted the strand of hair on his forehead and placed it behind his ear, “What question?”

　　Yan Tianhen asked, “Dage, how much money do we have left now?”

　　“Not much. After taking everything into account, we only have about 200 gold ba.” Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen, “Since you’re asking me that, does it mean you have something you want to buy?”

　　Yan Tianhen quickly shook his head, “I just think that we don’t really have enough money to spend now. Dage requires forged stones to craft, as well as various other kinds of materials. If we don’t think of a way to get some money, we would probably end up in desperate straits.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi felt comforted. He pinched Yan Tianhen’s cheeks and said, “Ah Hen doesn’t need to worry about earning money.”

　　Yan Tianhen thought about it for a bit then said pensively, “That’s right, I should worry about saving money instead. After all, Dage, you’re too much of a spendthrift.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “……..”

　　Does Yan Tianhen not think he’s good enough right now?

　　Lin Xuanzhi decided that he needed to start earning money today. As the master of the house, he definitely couldn’t let his own younger brother worry because of a lack of savings.

　　Today, the Lin family would be conducting an inspection. All the side branch families that were scattered outside of Qing city had also brought their pupils who were of a suitable age to gather at the Lin residence in advance.

　　Due to the amount of spiritual stones that the Lin family would have to consume to test their cultivation level, the Lin family would arrange for a large-scale unified tests that were rarely done.

　　But this time, the Lin family actually took out testing stones and spiritual stones that it had accumulated for five years to conduct the tests for everyone who was of a suitable age in the family. This just goes to show how much importance the Lin family has attached to the Hundred Families Gathering.

　　There was a total of 128 pupils from both the main and side branches who were eligible. Every one of them appeared absolutely dashing, and they were all neatly dressed. Their faces were filled with eager anticipation and self-confidence.

　　When Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen arrived at the testing grounds, it was already crowded with members of the Lin family.

　　Yan Tianhen was frightened by this dense, dark mass of people.

　　“Dage, I didn’t know that there were this many pupils in the Lin family!” Yan Tianhen tugged on Lin Xuanzhi’s sleeve and couldn’t help himself from lamenting.

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s line of sight casually swept over the Lin family pupils that had looked over in their direction, “The Lin family is a large family with a thousand-year-old history after all. Although its place in the Five Continent’s mainlands is far inferior to what it was before in the past hundred years, the Lin family would still have a strong and solid foundation. There are countless people who started their own families, so naturally, there would be more fresh blood than before.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded and said a little excitedly, “I wonder how many cultivators the Lin family can dispatch for the Hundred Families Gathering this time.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi smiled, “Naturally, the more the merrier.”

　　As they spoke, Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen had already reached the line of Lin family pupils at the entrance of the testing platform who were queuing up for their turn. On the platform, Fifth Elder, Third Elder and the Second Elder who had come out of seclusion were sitting in the middle of the observation seats. As they looked at the fresh blood of the Lin family, all of them revealed a gratified expression on their faces.

　　“There are a total of 123 pupils who would be tested this time, this kind of scale is unprecedented in the Lin family ah.” Fifth Elder smiled with a flushed face.

　　Second Elder looked very old. His face was full of wrinkles and he had a grizzled beard. He nodded and stroked his beard, “But I wonder how many amongst this batch of youngsters can truly become talented pillars for our Lin family.”

　　Third Elder looked at the Madam Bai who was seated to his right side, then narrowed his eyes, “Second Brother, the most talented person amongst the younger generation is none other than Lin Zezhi.”

　　Although Second Elder has not paid any attention to worldly affairs for many years, he still had quite the authority to speak up in the Lin family, and his cultivation level far surpasses that of the Fifth Elder, Lin Runru.

　　Second Elder’s clear eyes lit up slightly, “Which one of them is Lin Zezhi?”

　　Third Elder said, “The one standing right in front amongst that group of Lin family pupils.”

　　Second Elder looked at Lin Zezhi.

　　Lin Zezhi was dressed in a black, fitting cultivator robe today, and the family’s insignia was emblazoned on his left chest — a sacred lotus formed with a cluster of five elemental forged fires.

　　The five elemental forged fires consist of five colours — Gold, Teal, Blue, Red and Black. These colours symbolise the five elements: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. The reason they are formed with the flames of the forged fires is because the original ancestor of the Lin family was a craftsman who possessed those five elements.

　　The winds blew on Lin Zezhi’s long hair gently.He looked both dashing and spirited, and with his chin slightly lifted, he appeared rather smug and triumphant.

　　Second Elder narrowed his eyes and scrutinised him for a bit, then nodded his head satisfactorily, “At such a young age, he’s already at the seventh layer of his Refining Qi stage. He is indeed a brilliant talent with a promising future!”

　　Fifth Elder was slightly stunned, then said, slightly surprised, “Zezhi had just broke through to the sixth layer two months ago. I didn’t expect that within a short span of two months, he would manage to break through to the seventh layer. Isn’t that kind of speed rather astonishing?”

　　Third Elder raised his eyebrow and looked at Fifth Elder askance, “Why? Only your direct grandson, Lin Xuanzhi, can charge from a good-for-nothing to the fifth layer of his Refining Qi stage within a few months? But my direct grandson can’t advance to the next layer in two months?”

　　When Fifth Elder heard this, he immediately felt embarrassed, but he smiled without a hint of awkwardness, “What you’ve said is true. But, Xuanzhi did set a precedence of advance through one layer within two months, so even if he tells me that he is a Refining Qi stage sixth layer cultivator today, I wouldn’t think that it was strange. As for Zezhi, although he is a brilliant talent, it was never this astonishing, which was why I thought it seemed unexpected.”

　　Third Elder’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, “In the future, there will be many occasions where our Zezhi would be this astonishing again.”

　　Fifth Elder answered indifferently, “They’re all pupils of the Lin family. No matter whose cultivation improves, I will feel happy for the future of our family.”

　　Second Elder grinned as he touched his beard and nodded, “Fifth Brother is right. As the saying goes, when one man achieves Dao, his poultry and dogs ascend as well. No matter which of the Lin family pupil does well, the ones who are fortunate are those around them.”

　　Second Elder was famous for being a ‘nice person’, he would never try to offend someone else and was very good at mediating situations too. However, Fifth Elder and Third Elder thought in their hearts at the same time, even if they’re both Lin family pupils, their competitive relationship will never weaken. On the contrary, it would only increase as they fight over limited resources.

　　The family resources they shared, therefore, have been a large point of contention for the internal strife within the Lin family. The elders in the family all turned a blind eye to their fights, and might even involve themselves in them because they want to seek material benefits for those in their own faction.