Uncle Liu is Old

After Ah Huang left, Lin Chan waited for a while until dawn, then had Little White sniff out Ah Huang's trail.

Only after confirming Ah Huang wasn't nearby did Lin Chan return to his original body.

Little Li was curled up obediently in the cat nest, snoring loudly.

"Shu Mountain."

Lin Chan muttered the matter the Cat Immortal had entrusted to him.

The Shu Mountains—Lin Chan knew of them, the largest mountain range in Rong Country, where immortal cultivation sects supposedly truly existed.

"Focus on martial arts for now. Once I break through to the Innate Realm, I'll head to Shu Mountain."

Lin Chan had long made up his mind. He called for a servant girl, changed his clothes, and went to find the Guard to train as usual.

As for the [Golden Flower Cat Moon Drawing Method], it was a cat demon's cultivation technique. Since Lin Chan was human, he couldn't practice it—a real pity.

Ah Huang had also mentioned the matter of the Cat Ghost, which piqued Lin Chan's interest, but Ah Huang said there were none around here, so there was no need to dwell on it.

Arriving at the courtyard training ground, Lin Chan followed his routine, tempering his body.

He hadn't been holding a weighted horse stance for long when Uncle Liu came to his side, watching Lin Chan train with a smile.

Lin Chan's lower body was stable, his muscles perfect, his tendons and bones sturdy—nothing about him suggested he was only ten years old.

"Young Master, I think you're almost at the Innate Realm."

Uncle Liu said with a smile as Lin Chan set down his weights.

"Uncle Liu, I'm still far from it!"

Lin Chan replied modestly.

"Not far at all. Your martial arts are complete, your blood and energy are abundant—it's just one step away."

"That one step is the hardest. I still can't sense Qi or condense Inner Qi."

Lin Chan said as he stretched his wrists and ankles.

"When the Master returns in a few days, you can ask him, Young Master. Old Liu here is dull-witted; I never stepped into the Innate Realm in my whole life. I don't know what that scenery looks like."

Uncle Liu said with some emotion. He had been just one step away back then, and failing to reach the Innate Realm was his greatest regret.

Later, as he aged, his blood and energy gradually declined, and the gap grew even wider.

Uncle Liu often regretted that if he had played around less as a child, his life might have taken a completely different path.

But in recent years, he'd had grandchildren and enjoyed the pleasures of family life, so those regrets had slowly faded.

Lin Chan had no such regrets. He wasn't even ten yet, still far from the decline of blood and energy.

In fact, Lin Chan hadn't even reached the peak period of blood and energy growth.

"I'm just waiting for Father to come back soon. Uncle Liu, how about we spar a bit?"

Lin Chan loosened his limbs, feeling the itch to test his skills again.

The strongest fighter in the Lin Family right now was Uncle Liu. Though nearly fifty, he kept himself in good shape—old but vigorous.

"It's been a while since I last sparred with you, Young Master. I'll accompany you for some practice. Please go easy on me and don't break these old bones of mine."

Uncle Liu said with a smile.

"Uncle Liu, you're joking. I'm still far from your level!"

Lin Chan laughed.

His physical condition might be slightly better than Uncle Liu's now, but Uncle Liu had lived nearly fifty years and was rich in combat experience—nothing to underestimate.

They cleared a space, squared off, bowed to each other, and began their bout.

Uncle Liu habitually let Lin Chan strike first, and Lin Chan didn't stand on ceremony. He took a deep breath, his body moving like a shadow, his fist shooting out like a dragon.

As the fist came close, Uncle Liu neither dodged nor blocked. He slid his foot back half a foot in an "Inverted Step," sinking his spine sharply. His left arm pulled back like an ape's limb, then shot forward, the base of his palm colliding with Lin Chan's fist eye.

Feeling the force behind Lin Chan's strike now, Uncle Liu understood—Lin Chan had truly grown up, no longer the Young Master who needed his protection.

"Young Master, be careful."

Even as he sighed, Uncle Liu relied on his experience to neutralize Lin Chan's momentum, then used the force to spin his body, sweeping his right leg like a whip toward Lin Chan.

Lin Chan's reaction speed was faster than Uncle Liu had imagined. Without needing the warning, he twisted his waist, easily dodging, and immediately counterattacked.

Lin Chan was young, quick to react, and despite lacking combat experience, he still held a subtle upper hand.

After several dozen exchanges, Uncle Liu was already outmatched, barely holding on, with none of his former ease. Lin Chan finally landed a punch in front of Uncle Liu's face, the fist wind ruffling his messy white hair.

"Young Master, I lose. I'm old after all."

Uncle Liu sighed, then burst into hearty laughter.

Seeing the Lin Family had a worthy successor, how could he not be happy?

"Uncle Liu, thank you for yielding."

Lin Chan withdrew his stance and bowed to Uncle Liu.

After the sparring session, Lin Chan returned to his room, instructing Xiao Can on the way to fetch some food from the kitchen.

Just after opening the book, Xiao Can and Xiao Si brought over the meal Lin Chan had requested.

"Young master, Little Li is getting more and more out of hand. Last night, she wasted a hundred catties of dried meat in the kitchen, plus some live poultry."

Liu Can said as he took dishes out of the food box.

"Yeah! And she even went after live poultry. Little Li's wildness is growing stronger. Young master, you need to be careful—don't let A Li hurt you."

Liu Si added.

"It's fine. It's just a hundred catties of meat. The Lin Family isn't going to go broke over that."

Lin Chan said, a little guiltily.

Most of the bad things Little Li did were actually done by Lin Chan himself, and Little Li, still sound asleep in the cat bed, was just taking the blame for him.

"Yes, young master!"

Liu Can and Liu Si knew Lin Chan loved cats, so they didn't say more. They arranged the dishes and withdrew outside the room.

Lin Chan picked up his chopsticks and bowl, wolfing down a huge pile of good food.

But unlike Orange Cat Ah Huang, who had divine powers and could stuff a hundred catties of meat into his tiny belly, Lin Chan couldn't manage that.

After eating seven or eight catties, he was so full he could barely walk.

"If only this year's talent could increase my stomach capacity," Lin Chan thought.

Being able to eat was a blessing, especially for martial training.

What's more, Lin Chan's [Deep Sleep] talent required a lot of nutritional consumption.

After eating, Lin Chan chose to sleep for two hours, then get up in the afternoon to train until evening.

These days, he was going all out to break through to the Innate Realm—sleep, train, eat when tired, then sleep again, repeating the cycle until he succeeded.

Lin Chan had slept well the night before, so he wasn't particularly drowsy now.

To ensure his body got the best and fastest rest, Lin Chan called Little White over, touched the dog's head, and his soul left his body, entering Little White's. His own body then fell into a perfect [Deep Sleep] state.

After that, Lin Chan controlled Little White's body and left the room.

First, he wandered around the Lin Family estate, eavesdropping on the servants' gossip to see if anything interesting was happening.

It was all trivial stuff—nothing worth noting. Lin Fangzheng wasn't home right now, so nothing major would come up.

Finding nothing worth paying attention to inside the Lin Family, Lin Chan walked out the gate to explore outside and patrol his territory.

"It's the Lin Family's vicious dog! Run! Don't let it bite you!"

"My neighbor Niu Er got bitten by that Lin Family dog and couldn't get out of bed for days."

"Tsk, tsk, that's rough."

"..."

On the street, when passersby saw Lin Chan swaggering out, they immediately backed off several steps.