Chapter 19: Senior Sister, Mi Ke'er!
Elder Liu of the Internal Affairs Hall didn't keep anything hidden. He smiled and said:
“You would’ve found out about this sooner or ter, but knowing in advance might help you avoid some detours and losses…”
“There are many things in the sect that can be exchanged with contribution points. Some are quite common, like the Cold Iron Stone you asked about.”
“But others—like Foundation Establishment Pills, Ox-Tiger Pills, and magical artifacts refined by the Elder Artificers—are truly worth exchanging for.”
Elder Liu listed over ten types of sect treasures worth redeeming and expined each to Lin Chen in detail.
Lin Chen listened and nodded repeatedly—being new to the sect, he was indeed unfamiliar with these matters.
For example, the reason Cold Iron Stone wasn’t worth redeeming was that it was abundant in the cold pools near Mount Changchun, making it fairly common.
While the material quality was decent, it required complicated smelting. In the hands of an average artificer, it would only produce inferior magical tools. But in the hands of a master, it could be forged into high-grade artifacts.
Another example: Low-grade Foundation Establishment Pills were usually only found at auctions outside the sect.
Their starting bid was often 1,000 spirit stones, and sometimes they fetched up to 1,500 spirit stones.
So exchanging for them using contribution points was a great deal—even if one didn’t need it, it could be resold at auction.
Lin Chen mentally recorded all of Elder Liu’s advice.
He understood that not every disciple was treated with such patience.
The reason Elder Liu was willing to offer guidance was because he saw Lin Chen’s potential.
Offering help early on could build goodwill for the future.
Lin Chen was happy to accept it.
Although he had the support of the Daxia Kingdom in the high-martial world, he was still building his foundation in the cultivation world.
Making more connections would be greatly beneficial to his future.
Today, he owed the Internal Affairs Elder a small favor. Later, when he returned it, the retionship would grow—and friendships were built through such exchanges.
Though still young, Lin Chen was mature beyond his years and understood these principles well.
After about fifteen minutes of advice, Elder Liu began to quiet down.
Sensing that it was time to leave, Lin Chen bowed and said:
“Thank you for your guidance today, Elder Liu. I will remember it well…”
Elder Liu nodded with a smile, watching Lin Chen depart.
——
That evening, just as the sun was about to set.
Elder Liu gnced at the sky, preparing to leave the sect hall.
At that moment, a figure rushed toward the hall, calling out:
“Elder! Wait a moment!”
The person was none other than Li Zhenqian, a disciple of the Formation Peak.
His face carried seven parts pride and three parts arrogance as he said:
“Elder, I’ve come to cim the reward for being the first to break through to the Qi Refining stage!”
“I should still be on time, right?”
As he spoke, Li Zhenqian activated his cultivation technique, revealing his Qi Refining level one aura.
Elder Liu remained calm.
After all, Lin Chen had already achieved the breakthrough earlier—Li Zhenqian’s breakthrough no longer seemed so remarkable.
So Elder Liu simply took out fifty spirit stones and handed them over.
“Li Zhenqian, this is your reward…”
Li Zhenqian accepted the stones but, after counting carefully, sensed something was off.
He asked:
“Elder, wasn’t the reward for the first breakthrough supposed to be one hundred spirit stones? And a storage pouch, and sect contribution points?”
Elder Liu frowned slightly at that and rebuked:
“You think I embezzled your reward?”
“Truth is, you weren’t the first to break through. Lin Chen already reached the Qi Refining stage this afternoon.”
“You’re the second, so naturally your reward is less…”
Li Zhenqian froze in pce, stunned.
He kept muttering to himself:
“How… how could this be?”
“I have a True Spiritual Root… how could Lin Chen reach Qi Refining before me?”
In that moment, Li Zhenqian lost his composure. He had already considered the first-pce reward as a certainty—he never imagined Lin Chen would snatch it from him!
His mind fshed back to the sight of Lin Chen joining the Pill Peak days ago. Without saying anything further to Elder Liu, he left in a daze.
Elder Liu silently watched Li Zhenqian’s retreating figure, gently shaking his head.
“Li Zhenqian may have a True Spiritual Root, but he can't handle setbacks—his temperament is cking…”
“By contrast, that Lin Chen kid, though only a dual spiritual root, has a firm heart and a thirst for knowledge.”
“Dual roots aren’t necessarily inferior to true roots… In the long run, Lin Chen may very well go farther on the path of cultivation!”
Elder Liu silently thought to himself.
——
At the same time, atop Pill Peak.
After finishing his spirit meal, Lin Chen continued cultivating in his room.
His vitality was nearing the threshold of a mid-level martial artist, and he expected to break through by tomorrow.
At the same time, he had officially completed the first yer of the "Evergreen Manual."
Sensing the wood-attribute spiritual energy gathering in his dantian, a flicker of joy appeared in Lin Chen’s eyes.
“Not bad. I’ve finally stepped onto the proper path of cultivation. As long as I break through to the second yer of the Evergreen Manual, I’ll be a second-yer Qi Refining cultivator…”
“But the mana of an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator is still quite weak. Right now, it’s still the physical strength from martial cultivation that benefits me more!”
Under the daily instruction of Han Jihai, Lin Chen had come to understand the general structure of cultivation stages.
In the early Qi Refining stage—levels one through three—cultivators weren’t nearly as powerful as one might imagine.
At this stage, their mana was weak. Even with spirit tools, their offensive power was limited.
True transformation occurred at the mid-Qi Refining stage (level four).
At that point, a cultivator’s divine sense could extend one zhang (about 3.3 meters) beyond the body.
The spiritual energy in the dantian was also sufficient to cast multiple spells, and the range and duration of spiritual tool manipution increased significantly.
“Once I reach mid-stage Qi Refining, I should surpass martial artists entirely—reaching the level of a warrior!”
Thinking of this, Lin Chen grew even more fascinated by the power of high-level cultivators in the cultivation world.
——
After a night of cultivation…
The next morning, Lin Chen was awakened by knocking on the door outside.
“Little Chen! Wake up! Your senior sister is here to see you!” came a woman’s voice.
“Don’t shout! The kid’s still sleeping!”—that was his master’s voice.
“You old man! You accepted a new junior disciple and didn’t even tell me…”
Han Jihai seemed a little flustered and replied helplessly:
“Weren’t you in seclusion refining pills? I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“Since when can’t I come out of pill refining for a little bit? I should’ve been the first to meet my junior brother!”
Creak—
Lin Chen opened the door with a resigned expression.
Outside stood two figures.
One of them, of course, was his pin-looking master.
The other figure was a tall woman, who appeared to be around 27 or 28 years old.
She had fair skin, delicate features, and foxy eyes tinged with a blush—likely from alcohol.
She wore a loose Daoist robe that barely concealed her curvaceous figure and the fullness of her chest, which seemed ready to burst forth…
Lin Chen was greatly surprised and asked:
“Master, this is…?”
Before he could finish, the clearly tipsy woman staggered forward and fell right onto him.
“I’m your senior sister!”
Lin Chen suddenly found himself enveloped in darkness, struggling to breathe.
After finally managing to break free, he asked in a daze:
“You’re… Senior Sister Mi Ke’er?”
Mi Ke’er barely managed to stand, pulled a wine gourd from her waist, and took a long drink—her face flushing even redder.
“Haha! Good little junior brother… Here’s a gift from your senior sister!”
As she spoke, she gently tossed a finely carved piece of ancient jade into Lin Chen’s hands…
(Lin Chen: So what if it happens again?)(End of Chapter)
