Little White

As for Immortal Cultivation practitioners, Lin Chan had only come across mentions of them in Lin Fangzheng's books, never hearing his senior brothers discuss them in casual conversation.

Ordinary people knew very little about cultivators.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Lin Chan eventually asked Lin Fangzheng directly.

"Father! Are there really immortals in this world who eat qi and live forever?"

Hearing this question, Lin Fangzheng was silent for a moment before replying, "How could there not be? The Lin Family Main Line are cultivators themselves, but immortals and mortals are separate—cultivators occupy spiritual lands to train and do not live mixed among ordinary people. Immortal Cultivation requires a Spiritual Root to assist, only then can one achieve anything."

Though Lin Chan was young, he wanted to know, and Lin Fangzheng held nothing back.

However, Lin Fangzheng had one concern: he didn't know how to bring up the matter of Lin Chan's origins.

Lin Chan was still too young now to be told these things.

Lin Fangzheng also wasn't keen on telling Lin Chan about the circumstances of his birth.

Barring any unforeseen events, Lin Chan would likely never have much connection with the main line in his lifetime. Without a Spiritual Root, no matter how hard one tried, the path to immortality was hopeless.

Such was the chasm of talent—utterly despairing.

"Without a Spiritual Root, is it truly impossible to cultivate immortality?"

Lin Chan looked at Lin Fangzheng.

He didn't know if he had a Spiritual Root, but he possessed the Spirit Gathering Physique talent, which he figured couldn't be much worse than a Spiritual Root Bearer.

"Perhaps not," Lin Fangzheng replied.

He himself had no answer to that question.

He was a man without a Spiritual Root and had never been exposed to such cultivation.

Father and son talked for a long time, and Lin Chan learned a great deal, gaining much insight.

His longing for the path of cultivation only grew stronger.

Eternal life without death—this was something craved by everyone from kings and nobles down to the common folk.

It required both longevity and transcendent power to ensure one's survival.

For now, Lin Chan could only focus on martial arts to improve his strength. As for Immortal Cultivation, he would have to wait until he was older before attempting to seek it out.

Daily training in martial arts, reading, and playing games.

Another cycle of spring and autumn passed.

In the autumn wind, Lin Chan executed the White Ape Connecting-the-Spine Fist, his strikes carrying a vivid spirit, as if a white ape were reaching for the moon as he attacked Uncle Liu.

Uncle Liu faced Lin Chan with one hand, only defending, never attacking, and not moving from his spot. He was merely honing Lin Chan's martial skills, easily neutralizing every move.

Lin Chan used all his strength, like a baby suckling at the breast, but still couldn't budge Uncle Liu an inch.

"Uncle Liu! I'm done playing."

Having exhausted every trick and his strength, Lin Chan threw in the towel.

His current strength had reached the Houtian First Layer, training his Skin and Muscle Layer. When his blood and qi surged, his skin and muscle were as tough as cowhide.

The strength in one arm could reach a hundred jin, more than enough to handle an average adult man.

But Lin Chan was still young, not yet four years old. Even if he grew fast, he was only about a meter ten tall—still no match for Uncle Liu.

"Young Master, your Connecting-the-Spine Fist has real spirit to it. You're not far from mastery. When the master hears of this, he'll surely be very pleased," Uncle Liu praised sincerely.

When he was Lin Chan's age, he was still playing in the mud somewhere in some forgotten corner, while Lin Chan had already achieved something.

"Uncle Liu, I'm not the 'Young Master' anymore."

One of Lin Fangzheng's concubines had recently given birth to a boy.

Lin Chan was no longer the only male child in the Lin family.

"You're right, Eldest Young Master. A slip of the tongue," Uncle Liu quickly corrected.

Still, he didn't consider the newborn child any kind of young master of the household—merely a Concubine-born Son.

It was only thanks to the kindness of the main wife, Madam Zhang, that the child was allowed to stay in the home.

If he had encountered a jealous woman like the City Lord's Wife, he would have been driven out long ago.

A concubine's status wasn't necessarily higher than his own as Guard Captain.

A Concubine-born Son might not even grow up safely.

Lin Chan, unaware of Uncle Liu's thoughts, was simply delighted to have a little brother.

This way, with someone at home to inherit the family business, he could freely go out to seek immortality and the Dao without worrying about the Lin family having no successor.

In a few years, he would be able to teach this younger brother martial arts.

Lin Chan was already older, his mind mature, so having a wet nurse look after him was no longer appropriate. Instead, a young maidservant was arranged by his side, along with two young attendants who often followed him around.

The maidservant naturally took care of Lin Chan's daily life, while the attendants' role was to accompany him in martial arts practice and relay messages.

In this era, without any means of communication, friends relied entirely on letters and word of mouth to stay in touch, and various errands needed people to handle them. Thus, it was inevitable to have attendants and servants hovering around.

The closest young attendants by Lin Chan's side were all nephews of Uncle Liu, named Xiao Can and Xiao Si. They were four or five years older than Lin Chan, but their martial arts skills were lacking—neither had broken through to the Houtian realm.

After finishing his martial arts practice, Lin Chan took a short rest, put on his clothes, and walked into Lin Fangzheng's study to find some books to read.

Reading every day had already become a habit of his.

Another month passed, and familiar subtitles appeared before Lin Chan.

[Successfully survived four years in the world of immortal cultivation. You may choose one talent from the following.]

[Eagle Eye: Instantly gain the eyesight of a hawk or falcon, able to see tiny details within a thousand meters.]

[Animal Doppelganger: When touching an animal, your spiritual sense can invade its body, turning it into a puppet doppelganger. Only one animal can be controlled at a time.]

[Stone Skin: Your skin can become tougher at will, doubling your defense.]

Faced with these three options, Lin Chan barely hesitated and chose the second.

The second one had the most functionality and looked like it would be a lot of fun.

He was still too young, and his movements were heavily restricted. Even if he could go to Li Xingxiao's private school to study, his daily life was nothing more than a straight line between the school and home. He simply couldn't see the true face of this world.

With this Animal Doppelganger, he could use the doppelganger to go out and see what the real world outside was actually like.

He could even venture into dangerous places to take risks and search for traces of immortals.

Having obtained the talent, Lin Chan prepared to try it out.

"Xiao Can!"

Lin Chan called for his personal attendant.

"Young master!"

Xiao Can entered the room and looked at Lin Chan.

"Bring me a watchdog from the yard."

Lin Chan said.

"Yes, young master!"

Xiao Can assumed Lin Chan just wanted to play with a dog, so he immediately went to the kennel and picked the gentlest little white dog.

"Alright, you two, go out. I'll play by myself for a bit."

Lin Chan shooed the attendants away, closed the doors and windows, and hid alone in the room to test his new talent.

He reached out and stroked the little white dog's head, and felt as if his soul had left his body. Through the contact of his hand with the dog, he could enter the little white dog's body.

At first, the little white dog stared blankly at Lin Chan, then realized something was wrong and began to resist.

But Lin Chan had a soul over thirty years old, and he quickly suppressed the little white dog, taking control of its body.

The little white dog's innocent soul was squeezed into the farthest corner of its consciousness.

With the little white dog's field of vision, Lin Chan immediately looked at his own body.

At that moment, Lin Chan, having lost his soul, went completely limp, as if he had suddenly died.

Lin Chan was startled and immediately deactivated the Animal Doppelganger, returning to his body.

If his physical body were damaged while his soul was away, and he got trapped in the little white dog's body, that would be a loss not worth the gain.

The little white dog, having experienced being possessed by Lin Chan, now looked at the child-like Lin Chan with utter fear.

Whether it was because it hadn't yet gotten used to its reclaimed body or because of its fear of Lin Chan, the little white dog's limbs trembled but couldn't move.

Lin Chan carefully sensed his own body. It didn't seem to have worsened from his soul leaving it; in fact, it felt a bit better.

A body without a soul actually improving—that was indeed rather strange.

So Lin Chan decided to try again.

Only this time, he would do it on the bed. The floor was too cold.

He looked at the trembling little white dog beside him and reached out to pick it up.

The little white dog was terrified by Lin Chan's move and wanted to flee, but its limbs moved in an uncoordinated, disjointed way, as if they had split apart. It could only let Lin Chan carry it onto the bed.