Dian Mo

Zhou Sheng stared at the iron tokens around the cat and dog's necks, already plotting to remove them in a few days and replace them with his own.

Just then, a gust of wind swept into the small courtyard as Lin Chan and Xu Chang landed one after the other.

Little White, spotting Lin Chan after searching for so long, spun around in excitement.

"Senior Brother! It's them."

Lin Chan pointed at Little Li and Little White.

"Then let's go now! You haven't reached Foundation Establishment yet, so rest early and start training tomorrow."

With that, Xu Chang scooped up Little White, holding the dog in one arm while supporting Lin Chan with the other, and flew off on his sword.

Clamped under Xu Chang's arm, Little White stayed perfectly still, while Little Li clung tightly to Little White's fur to avoid falling.

Before Zhou Sheng could even process Lin Chan addressing a Shu Mountain disciple as "Brother," the two had already vanished into the night.

"Young Master! It seems Lin Chan wasn't taken away for doing something wrong."

Wang Yunxuan remarked, observing the scene.

"No kidding! Do you think I'm blind or deaf?"

Zhou Sheng snapped angrily.

Before long, Lin Chan and the others returned to Xu Chang's cave dwelling.

"Tonight, you two behave yourselves. No noise."

Before resting, Lin Chan gave Little Li and Little White a few instructions.

He didn't want those two night owls causing a ruckus.

After resting for about three hours, Lin Chan woke up early.

Xu Chang conjured a basin of clean water for Lin Chan to wash up, then flew him over to Yaoguang Peak.

This peak was crawling with cats, most of them quite spirited.

"Senior Brother Dian Mo, I've brought a cat and a dog here. I'd trouble you to teach them for a while."

Xu Chang found a white cat in a cat nest and spoke with considerable respect.

The cat was pure white, save for a single black spot at the tip of its tail.

"How much for board and tuition?"

The white cat, Dian Mo, lounged lazily in its nest, flicking its tail and casting a glance at the dim-witted cat and dog.

"Put it all on Tianquan Peak's tab."

Xu Chang said with a smile.

"Fine, leave them here then!"

Dian Mo waved a paw.

Lin Chan gave Little Li and Little White a few parting words before following Xu Chang away.

"Senior Brother! How much is the board and tuition total? I'll pay you back."

On the way, Lin Chan asked.

"Not much. About two Mortal Talisman Coins a year. It's just that Dian Mo is a greedy cat."

Xu Chang said casually.

"Senior Brother, I have talisman coins on me. I'll give them to you later."

Though Lin Chan found it expensive, he still intended to pay Xu Chang.

"No need, Little Junior Brother. Our Tianquan Peak has never been short on talisman coins."

Xu Chang said with a smile.

Lin Chan said nothing, but once back at the cave dwelling, he took out his money pouch from the lining of his inner robe, counted out two talisman coins, and handed them to Xu Chang.

"Senior Brother! This is my own business after all. I can't just dump everything on Tianquan Peak."

Lin Chan said to Xu Chang.

"Little Junior Brother! You're too polite. There's no need. We Inner Sect Disciples get a monthly stipend. Even though you just joined, you'll receive one Mortal Talisman Coin and some pills each month. Once your status is processed in a few days, we'll deduct it then."

Xu Chang pushed the talisman coins back into Lin Chan's hand, refusing to take them.

Hearing Xu Chang's explanation, Lin Chan felt a bit more at ease.

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Still, being an Inner Sect Disciple was pretty nice—just train every day.

Miscellaneous chores were handled by Outer Sect Disciples, and every month there were talisman coins and pills to spare.

Of course, maybe Lin Chan's strength was just too low right now, and he hadn't reached the point where he'd be useful.

Once his cultivation improved, there would be plenty of work for him.

For now, Lin Chan was still in the "feed the army for a thousand days" phase.

Over the following days, Lin Chan studied the [Heart Sword Same Origin Art] under Xu Chang's guidance, but after three days, he still hadn't managed to complete Qi Introduction and circulate it through his own Minor Heavenly Cycle.

He now understood what Tianquan Peak was all about.

Tianquan Peak's main job was casting talisman coins.

The Shu Mountain Sword Sect held the Dao Alliance's minting license, allowing it to cast first-grade Mortal Talisman Coins and second-grade Spirit Talisman Coins, two types of Spirit Pivot Talisman Coins.

No wonder Xu Chang had said earlier that their Tianquan Peak was no less important to Shu Mountain than Tianshu Peak.

And that their Tianquan Peak had no shortage of talisman coins.

They were money printers—how could they be short on cash?

Of course, calling it printing money was a bit much.

The process of making Spirit Pivot Talisman Coins was still somewhat difficult, not as simple as printing money.

Spirit Talisman Coins were an upgrade from Mortal Talisman Coins, made from silver and mid-grade Spirit Pivots. They could already gather a large amount of free-floating spiritual energy in the air, useful for array setups, auxiliary cultivation, artifact refining, and many other purposes.

Their wide range of uses made them quite valuable.

One Spirit Talisman Coin could exchange for about a hundred Mortal Talisman Coins. Their high value and complex production process meant that basically only master artifact refiners dared to take on the task.

So, the cultivators of Tianquan Peak were also quite skilled in artifact refining.

True Person Xuan Chen had quite a few magical tools and treasures on hand, but none of this had much to do with Lin Chan.

A few more days passed, and Lin Chan's identity token, inner sect disciple uniform, and other related items were delivered to him.

The Daoist robe was woven from special silk, smooth and comfortable to the touch, with a special array on it that could self-clean simply and slightly resize to fit the body.

"This Identity Jade Pendant has a communication array built in, but the range is small, only effective within the Seven Peaks of Shushan. Let me save my contact info and Master's contact info for you first. Once you complete Qi Introduction, you can follow the sect manual's method to contact me anytime."

Xu Chang held Lin Chan's Identity Jade Pendant, made some adjustments, and then returned it to Lin Chan.

These days, Xu Chang had fully taught Lin Chan the [Heart Sword Same Origin Art].

Lin Chan only needed to practice breathing daily, try to complete Qi Introduction, circulate his Minor Heavenly Cycle, and then meditate to temper his spirit.

Once he completed Qi Introduction, he could start refining his Destiny Flying Sword.

"I understand, Senior Brother!"

Lin Chan accepted the Identity Jade Pendant.

After that, Lin Chan returned to his cave dwelling and followed the routine to cultivate.

Xu Chang had his own matters to attend to and couldn't keep guiding Lin Chan forever.

Taking his things, Lin Chan went back to his cave dwelling and cultivated step by step.

Lin Chan's daily life was very full. Besides cultivating the [Heart Sword Same Origin Art], he also had to learn Daoist Runes.

These were the common language used in the Dao Alliance, so he had no choice but to learn them.

Fortunately, Lin Chan had Eidetic Memory and picked up these things quickly.

In the blink of an eye, three months passed.

Lin Chan sat still in his cave dwelling, breathing in and out.

Although he had some spiritual energy in his body, barely qualifying as Qi Introduction, every time Lin Chan guided this energy through his meridians, he always fell one step short, missing a little, unable to return it to his Dantian and complete the Minor Heavenly Cycle.

He had almost succeeded once, but that missing bit seemed like a vast gap.

After cultivating for several more hours, Lin Chan stepped out of his cave dwelling to get some fresh air and relax.

Then, he saw a handsome man and woman.

The two looked somewhat similar, but not identical.

"Little Junior Brother, I'm Su Wanqing, and this is my brother Su Ganchen."

The woman introduced herself and the man beside her.

"Little Junior Brother!"

Su Ganchen also nodded to Lin Chan.

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