Ten Years

"Father! What did you want to say?"

A puzzled look appeared on Lin Chan's face, though he had already made a guess. It was nothing more than the mystery of his origins.

"Chan'er, do you remember how I mentioned the Lin Family Main Line many times?"

Lin Fangzheng spoke slowly.

"I remember."

"You are not my biological child. You were adopted from the main line."

After Lin Fangzheng said it, he felt as though a heavy burden had been lifted. He had hidden this secret for nearly ten years, and now he had finally spoken it aloud.

"What!?"

Lin Chan feigned shock, though he had known this secret long ago.

"When you were born, you did not possess a Spiritual Root. Your biological father therefore struck you from the main line's genealogy. That was why I brought you back to Yulin City and raised you until now."

Lin Fangzheng explained the reason.

Lin Chan was silent for a long while before saying:

"Since the people of the main line did not want me, I will not acknowledge them either. I have only one home, Yulin City, and only one father—you."

Hearing Lin Chan say this, Lin Fangzheng was deeply gratified. Lin Chan had not let down all the years he had spent raising him.

But Lin Fangzheng could not let Lin Chan resent the main line, so he said:

"Chan'er, do not bear a grudge against the main line. They are immortals. With a wave of their hands, they can decide the life and death of ordinary people."

"Father! I understand. I bear no resentment. It is only that from now on, I will have nothing to do with the main line. They gave me life but did not raise me; a severed finger is enough to repay them."

Lin Chan spoke with utter finality.

A severed finger did not literally mean severing a finger. It meant that only the smallest price was needed to repay the debt.

The grace of being raised outweighed the grace of being born.

Yet Lin Fangzheng shook his head and said:

"No! Chan'er, this is your opportunity. As a blood descendant of the Lushan Lin Family, even without a Spiritual Root, if you can break through to the Innate Realm before the age of twenty, you will have a chance to return to the main line to cultivate, acknowledge your ancestors, and return to your clan. Your treatment may be worse, but so long as you cultivate diligently, you will surely achieve great things in the future."

"Father! I do not need to beg them!"

Lin Chan refused without hesitation. Since the Lushan Lin Family did not want him, he would not shamelessly go crawling back.

What acknowledging his ancestors and returning to his clan? He did not need it.

"Chan'er, do not act on impulse. You have always wished to seek the Immortal Dao. This is your opportunity."

Lin Fangzheng said sternly.

Those immortals were not so easy to come into contact with. When Lin Fangzheng was young, friends of his had died on the road of seeking the Immortal Dao.

The Lushan Lin Family, a Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan, was the immortal force Lin Chan could most easily reach at present.

"Father! I want to go to Shu Mountain! I will not go to any main line. The immortals of Shu Mountain are surely far more formidable than those people from the main line!"

Lin Chan said.

"Do you know how vast the Shu Mountains are? There are a boundless hundred thousand mountains, and the Shu Mountain Sword Sect is hidden among them. Without immortal affinity, it is simply impossible to enter the sect and cultivate."

Lin Fangzheng shook his head. He did not believe Lin Chan's path could succeed.

"Father! While you were away, I met an immortal from Shu Mountain. He said Little Li and I had considerable immortal affinity and told me to cultivate under him. I thought that since you had not returned, I should tell you before leaving, so I agreed to go find it in Shu Mountain within a year."

Lin Chan made up a lie that was half true and half false. Still, it was true that Little Li had received a cultivation method.

No matter what, Lin Chan could never return to the Lushan Lin Family. They had cast him aside, so why should he press his warm face against their cold backside?

In his previous life, Lin Chan had also been an orphan. He hated the feeling of being abandoned.

If you cannot find it by searching the book's title, try searching for the author instead. It may simply have been renamed!

Besides, the Lushan Lin Family placed extreme importance on Spiritual Roots. Without one, even if he returned, he would not be valued.

After hearing Lin Chan's words, Lin Fangzheng was so shocked that he could not speak. He had never expected something so momentous to happen while he was away.

At the same time, Lin Fangzheng was deeply moved that Lin Chan had wanted to bid him farewell.

He had not raised Lin Chan all these years for nothing.

Seeing that Lin Fangzheng remained silent for so long, Lin Chan thought he did not believe him and continued explaining:

"That immortal said that since I had not yet entered the sect, he could not pass immortal arts on to me. But that immortal's spirit pet did not care about such things. It passed the Golden Flower Cat Moon Drawing Method to Little Li, allowing Little Li to Absorb Moon and cultivate."

"Chan'er, you have been intelligent since childhood. It was only natural that an immortal would take notice of you. My son has the bearing of an immortal."

Lin Fangzheng excitedly lifted Lin Chan into his arms.

For mortals who practiced martial arts, reaching the Innate Realm already made advancing further exceedingly difficult. Who did not yearn to become an immortal cultivator?

If he could not achieve it himself, it would still fulfill the wish of his youth if his son or descendants could.

Though Lin Chan smiled outwardly, he felt a trace of pressure in his heart.

The immortal had been nothing but a fabrication. If he failed to seek immortality in the future, would he still have the face to return?

Lin Chan quickly cast the matter to the back of his mind.

Even if he failed to take a master, he could still gain a new talent every year.

These talents would only grow stronger and stronger in the future. They would not be much inferior to the divine abilities and spells of immortals.

To celebrate Lin Chan obtaining a chance to enter Shu Mountain, Lin Fangzheng specially sent someone to buy beef.

As for the precise time of departure, allowing for delays on the road, father and son decided to leave next spring.

By then, the weather would be warmer, the roads easier to travel, and they would be less likely to encounter bandits.

During this time, Lin Chan diligently trained in martial arts without relaxing in the slightest.

At last, before turning ten, Lin Chan successfully broke through into the Innate Realm.

Feeling the faint Inner Qi within his meridians, Lin Chan was overjoyed.

Through that Inner Qi, Lin Chan could also clearly sense the thin spiritual power gathered within his body.

Normally, Lin Chan could only sense that this spiritual power nourished his flesh and feel his body growing stronger. He could not truly sense the existence of Inner Qi.

Now, Inner Qi and spiritual power intermingled within his body, allowing Lin Chan to feel them clearly and unmistakably.

He did not know whether this was much or little.

While Lin Chan was improving, Little Li's cultivation also began to show results.

Most noticeably, Little Li had become far smarter than before. It now knew to Absorb Moon and cultivate of its own accord, without Lin Chan needing to force or urge it.

The other cats under its command had also changed to varying degrees. They had become much wiser, sparing Lin Chan far more worry than before.

Because of what had happened with Xiao Mengli, Lin Chan had specifically dispatched many subordinates to gather information at the Xiao household.

Aside from showing off to a few friends who were Innate Martial Artists, Xiao Ming did not reveal Xiao Mengli's departure for the Lingjing Sect to ordinary people.

Thus, Lin Chan only knew that Xiao Mengli was no longer at home. He had been unable to learn anything more about the Lingjing Sect.

The only thing he knew was that the Lingjing Sect lay in a direction completely opposite to Shu Mountain.

In the bitter midwinter of the twelfth lunar month, Lin Chan welcomed his tenth birthday.

At the same time, he faced an important choice.

[You have successfully survived ten years in the world of immortal cultivation. You may choose one talent from the following.]

[Karma Eye: Allows you to see the karmic ties and Karma of living beings—Good Karma, Bad Karma, and Neutral Karma.]

[Corpse Dwelling Dragon Sight: When remaining motionless, wisdom, influence, and other qualities automatically manifest, while strength and pressure continuously grow.]

[Bone Curse Blooming: Carve curses into white bones, causing them to bloom with demonic flowers.]