New Year's Eve

A few days later, when Lin Chan went to Scripture Gorge again, Zhang He repeatedly apologized to him for his drunken antics.

"Daoist Lin, I can't hold my liquor, and I behave badly when drunk. I feel deeply ashamed about what happened that day."

Zhang He said this somewhat shamefacedly.

"Brother Zhang, they were all trivial matters, not worth mentioning."

Lin Chan did not mind in the slightest.

Hearing the words "Brother Zhang," two tears hung from Zhang He's aged face.

From the time he had become a Registered Disciple in his teens, he had always been at the bottom of the heap, never receiving anyone's regard.

Though he had forcibly relied on a jiazi—sixty years—of seniority to slowly grind his way up to the position of Outer Sect Steward, receiving an idle post,

those Inner Sect Disciples and Inner Sect Stewards had never given him so much as a proper glance.

He had never imagined that an Inner Sect Disciple would see him as an equal.

Of course, Lin Chan had always treated everyone equally.

"Brother Lin!"

Old tears streamed down Zhang He's face.

"Brother Zhang, what is wrong with you?"

Lin Chan was utterly baffled.

Of course, he had called Zhang He "Brother Zhang" merely out of respect for an elder.

Now that they knew each other so well, addressing each other by their positions seemed somewhat inappropriate.

But if someone wanted Lin Chan and Zhang He to drink blood wine, swear brotherhood, and make venomous oaths, Lin Chan certainly would not agree.

Old Zhang was already eighty. With no hope of Foundation Establishment, he had at most a few decades left to live.

How could Lin Chan possibly die with him in the same year, month, and day?

Zhang He clearly remembered what he had said while making a drunken scene. It had been extremely offensive to Lin Chan, and he deliberately did not mention it, merely saying:

"I, old Zhang, have muddled through more than half my life. Seeing that I am about to go into the earth, I am happy to have met a true friend like you, Brother Lin!"

"I'm happy too!"

Lin Chan echoed him.

"Brother Lin, you do not understand. You are an Inner Sect Disciple, born with the fate to reach Foundation Establishment. Your life is still long, and your future bright. My aptitude is poor. From the moment I came up the mountain, I was at the very end. Fortunately, I persevered and cultivated diligently until now. Though I have achieved something, I am still only an Outer Sect Steward. Before Inner Sect Disciples, to put it bluntly, I am not even a dog. Only you, Brother Lin, truly treated me as a friend."

Zhang He knew he did not have many years left to live, and many years' worth of pent-up grievances spilled from his mouth.

Though Shu Mountain nominally did not have such rigid divisions of status, Lin Chan could also see the clear boundary between the inner and outer sects.

"Brother Zhang, the senior brothers of the inner sect may not necessarily look down on you. They are simply busy cultivating and handling all manner of affairs, so they have no way to spend time becoming close with you."

Lin Chan offered a word of comfort.

He could also see that those senior brothers and elders had countless matters to deal with every day. Naturally, they could not possibly pour their hearts out to an Outer Sect Steward.

Had Zhang He not taught him spells, Lin Chan might well have been like those senior brothers and said little to Zhang He.

"Enough, Brother Lin. I, old Zhang, will not put on airs anymore. Another day, I will treat you to Spiritual Wine and Monster Beast Meat as well."

Zhang He wiped away his tears and did not continue dwelling on it.

"That would be great."

Lin Chan agreed.

Lin Chan remained there to read some books, borrowed several more, then left.

After that, he cultivated each day as time slowly passed.

Before he knew it, Lin Chan had reached his eleventh birthday.

Lin Chan did not tell many others about it, nor did he celebrate. He simply chose a new talent, counting it as Heaven's birthday gift to him.

[Sword Heart Prototype: While holding a sword, you can produce a faint "resonance," making your strikes more precise and swift and making sword arts easier to comprehend.]

This talent happened to complement his cultivation art, the [Heart Sword Same Origin Art].

With this [Sword Heart Prototype], his cultivation speed would also increase considerably.

Of course, he would have to wait until he obtained his Flying Sword before he could see its effects.

As for Lin Chan's own cultivation progress, he had already polished more than half of the first layer of Qi Cultivation. In a few more months, he would be able to break through to the second layer.

After sitting in meditation for a while within his Cave Dwelling, Lin Chan counted the Talisman Coins in his possession.

He had not spent a single one of the Incense Talisman Coins he had brought from home: twenty-three in total. Counting the Incense and Fire Prayer Power contained within them, they should be worth around one hundred Mortal Talisman Coins.

In addition, though he had spent half a year at Shu Mountain merely cultivating without doing any work, he still received a monthly stipend.

One Mortal Talisman Coin per month. After deducting Little Li and Little White's food expenses and tuition, as well as the one coin he had spent treating others to a meal earlier, he only had three left.

These Mortal Talisman Coins were all newly minted, without the slightest blessing of Incense and Fire Prayer Power. They were worth exactly what they were worth.

It was not that Lin Chan was frugal and had spent nothing at all.

The main reason was that he stayed on Tianquan Peak. He had Bigu Pills for food and a free Cave Dwelling for lodging, so there truly was not much for him to spend money on.

Of course, he could buy some pills to aid his cultivation.

But Sixth Senior Brother Xu Chang did not recommend that Lin Chan consume too many pills. The few Qi Gathering Pills issued by the peak each month were enough, with at most a little extra supplementation.

Every medicine carried some poison. Even pills that aided cultivation contained Pill Toxin.

Small amounts were fine, but if too much accumulated and could not be dispelled, it would become a great obstacle to breaking through future bottlenecks.

Cultivation bottlenecks were already an agonizing matter. Add the obstruction of Pill Toxin, and it could shatter one's Dao Heart.

Everything was like this: going too far was as bad as not going far enough.

Moreover, the cultivation gained through pills was exceedingly insubstantial. How could it compare to what one cultivated oneself?

Thus, Lin Chan saved these things up, intending to buy some magical artifacts later.

Cloud-Treading Boots, for example, which could help increase his speed, were quite good.

Of course, Lin Chan also had to consider bringing gifts back for Lin Fangzheng and the others when he returned home in a few years.

After all, when he had left home, his father had given him the family's accumulated foundation from so many years.

If only my monthly stipend were a little higher.

Lin Chan thought with great anticipation.

The Shu Mountain Sword Sect had clear regulations on this matter. Disciples of every rank received corresponding treatment.

Once he reached the middle stage of Qi Cultivation, his monthly stipend would naturally increase.

Given Lin Chan's current situation, he still had several years to endure.

He could only hope that his master would finish refining his Flying Sword soon, so that he could link sword and heart and speed up his cultivation.

Even by the eve of New Year's Eve, True Person Xuan Chen had not finished refining Lin Chan's Flying Sword.

Though Lin Chan could understand this, he was still somewhat anxious.

Over the past few days, the Shu Mountain Sword Sect had also gone on break.

Those with family at the foot of the mountain could go down and reunite with them.

More than half the outer sect disciples had been recruited from scattered villages and towns below the mountain. Nearly all of them had gone home, leaving more than half the outer sect empty and desolate.

A small number of Inner Sect Disciples whose worldly ties had not yet ended also returned home.

Shu Mountain cultivation pursued Dual Cultivation of Life and Spirit, alongside the cultivation of Merit. It emphasized the natural Dao of Heaven and did not play at preserving heavenly principle and extinguishing human desire.

If one's worldly ties had not ended, no one would force one to sever them immediately or ruthlessly cut away the red dust. Time would simply slowly wear them away.

Time urged people into old age.

When one's close relatives died one after another, those worldly ties would naturally be severed.

Those older Foundation Establishment disciples, for instance, threw themselves wholeheartedly into cultivation and the sect after their parents and siblings had passed away.

Lin Chan greatly approved of this and felt an even stronger sense of belonging to the sect.

After cultivating, Lin Chan prepared to rest. Before sleeping, he intended to see whether anyone had left him a message through the sect's Jade Jue.

Though he had few contacts and they hardly ever communicated,

the mountains were dull, and there was nothing else to do. Lin Chan checked casually, also taking the chance to see whether his master had forged his Flying Sword.

Lin Chan sent spiritual power into the Jade Jue and activated the communication formation.

Lin Chan normally kept this formation shut off.

The reason was very simple: if it suddenly stirred while he was cultivating, would that not force him into cultivation deviation?

Once he activated this function, Lin Chan saw the message Zhang He had sent that afternoon.

It roughly meant that Zhang He was inviting him to spend new year's eve at his home in a mortal town. He had prepared Spiritual Wine and had even specially bought a Phoenix Tail Pheasant with ten years of cultivation from the Monster Locking Pagoda on Kaiyang Peak.

"Leaving everything else aside, I have to go for that fine wine and good meat!"

After hesitating briefly, Lin Chan smiled knowingly and chose to accept.

His home was several thousand li from here, and he could not get back in a short time.

Even using a Thousand-Mile Speed Talisman would take several days, and a round trip would consume more than ten days.

His time was precious now; he could not waste it like that.

He could only wait a few years, until his cultivation had succeeded and he could ride his sword through the air for long periods, before returning home in glory.