Earthly Yuan Stage

"Alright, alright, you little rascals have had your fun. Time to head home—this place still has business to do."

The crowd looked up to see a square-faced middle-aged man staring down at them, with over a dozen burly men standing behind him.

"That's Wang Jinze, the overseer of this trade fair," Lin Xia whispered from behind the two of them, letting out a sigh of relief. Since he'd stepped in, it seemed the fight was over.

Seeing Wang Jinze appear, Lei Li furrowed his brow and dispersed the Yuan Power in his palm. He glanced at the Lin Family members and said flatly, "You got lucky today. But don't worry—when the hunt comes, I'll make sure to take good 'care' of you."

With a cold laugh, Lei Li turned and left with Xie Yingying and the others, not forgetting to carry the unconscious Xie Ting and the rest on their backs.

"In a little while, once I break through to the Earthly Yuan Stage, I won't need to worry about Lin Dong alone. Even if Lin Dong, Lin Changqiang, and Wu Yun all come at me together, I'll take them out with ease!" He snorted, clenching his fist.

"Thanks for today," Lin Dong said, cupping his fist toward Wu Yun. Lin Changqiang stood nearby, quietly using a Double Experience Card. Since Lin Dong had bought so many Spiritual Medicines today, he'd be popping pills to level up nonstop in the coming days.

"Heh, no need to thank me. The Lei and Xie Families have already formed a marriage alliance—you can imagine how close they are. If we don't stick together, they'll pick us off one by one." To everyone's surprise, Wu Yun wasn't a hotheaded brute.

They chatted a bit longer before Wu Yun waved with a smile and led the Mad Saber Martial Hall members away. Soon after, the Lin Family lost interest in browsing and returned home.

That night, the moon and stars vied for brilliance, casting cold silver light across the earth like a thin, white veil.

In his room, Lin Changqiang propped his head on one hand, lying sideways on his big bed. Half-asleep, he monitored his personal info until he saw his cultivation progress percentage start climbing at a satisfying rate. Only then did he chuckle softly and drift off to sleep...

Ever since Lin Changqiang taught the Xie Family juniors a lesson and Lin Dong fought Lei Li to a standstill, their standing in the Lin Family had shot up.

Neither of them cared much about the sudden surge in reputation. Lin Dong still spent his days sparring, training in martial arts, and picking new techniques at the Martial Arts Hall. Lin Changqiang stuck to his routine: sparring, sunbathing, sparring, and watching Lin Dong train with Qing Tan...

Under this simple yet fulfilling life, two months slipped by.

During those two months, Lin Dong never stopped cultivating for a moment. With such hard work, Lin Changqiang's cultivation finally broke through to the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering! After using the Inner Demon Trial Card, he even reached fifty-seven percent of the Ninth Layer!

After one sparring session, Lin Dong no longer hid Qing Tan's condition from Lin Changqiang. He told him that Qing Tan barely needed to train, yet her advancement speed was second only to theirs.

Faced with Qing Tan's strange state, Lin Dong looked completely clueless. Lin Changqiang knew the truth but couldn't reveal it.

Qing Tan's physique was called the Demonic Sha Body, a fiercely domineering Yin Fiend Body. His past-life roommates liked to call it the "Samoyed Body."

This Demonic Sha Body constantly absorbed the Yin Fiend Qi from heaven and earth. Only after reaching the Yuan Dan Stage and condensing a Yin Dan could she gradually control the Sha Qi within. Before that, she'd suffer frequent backlash from the Demonic Sha Qi. That's why, since childhood, Qing Tan would periodically erupt with a Yin Fiend Qi that caused her unbearable pain.

So Lin Changqiang didn't envy Qing Tan at all—if anything, he felt sorry for her.

As the hunt drew closer, Qingyang Town grew livelier by the day, with everyone talking about it.

The hunt was another form of competition among Qingyang Town's major powers. Each time, the factions would put up stakes of considerable value. Whoever won would take them all.

In past hunts, the Lin Family and Mad Saber Martial Hall had rarely taken first place. As a result, the Lei and Xie Families had snatched plenty of enviable prizes from them.

This time around, many were guessing who the final winner would be. The Lei Family remained the top pick, since Lei Li was still the strongest among the younger generation in Qingyang Town.

Rumor had it that Lei Li might even break into the Earthly Yuan Stage before the hunt! That gave the Lei Family nearly an eighty percent chance of victory.

Lin Changqiang couldn't care less. No one knew Lin Dong better than him. With Lin Dong's cheat-like speed, the two of them would definitely reach the Earthly Yuan Stage before the hunt.

Sure enough, in the last ten-plus days before the hunt, Lin Changqiang's experience, which had been stuck at seventy to eighty percent of the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, suddenly skyrocketed, jumping straight to eight percent of the early Earthly Yuan Stage!

"That Lin Dong still can't break the habit of patting Qing Tan's head."

Lin Changqiang shook his head helplessly. He knew that when the Ancestral Talisman fused into Lin Dong's hand first touched Qing Tan's head, it would absorb some of her Yin Fiend Qi, knocking her out for a bit. But he couldn't exactly warn Lin Dong. What was he supposed to do—run up and say, "Lin Dong, don't touch Qing Tan"? That'd just make him look like a creep.

Besides, it didn't harm Qing Tan, so he let it slide.

Lin Changqiang sank his mind into his Dantian. This was the first time he'd "seen" it—an icy-blue energy mass, mesmerizingly beautiful. It spun slowly, threads of cold Yuan Power swirling around it, awaiting his command.

Withdrawing his mind from his Dantian, Lin Changqiang closed his eyes. A strange ripple spread from his mind, projecting the environment within dozens of meters into his thoughts in vivid detail.

"Finally," Lin Changqiang rejoiced. Breaking into the Earthly Yuan Stage meant he could finally enjoy the feeling of air conditioning in summer! And the Heavenly Origin Stage, which would let him heat things up in winter, wasn't far off either!

"Dong! Congratulations to the host for advancing to the Earthly Yuan Stage. Reward: three Lottery Draw Opportunities. Reward: Fashion: Ghost Captain (makes you look cooler when worn, increases all experience gained by ten percent, continuously condenses Ninth-grade Yin Fiend Qi)."

"Dong! Congratulations to the host for unlocking the Quest System.

Obtained Main Quest One: Befriend Lin Diao and Lin Yan. For each befriended, reward: three Lottery Draw Opportunities, plus one point of their goodwill toward the host.

Obtained Main Quest Two: Good brother Lin Dong grew up in the shadow of his father being crippled by Lin Langtian. Please assist Lin Dong in killing Lin Langtian. Completion reward: ten Lottery Draw Opportunities, plus three points of Lin Dong's goodwill. Failure penalty: deduct five Lottery Draw Opportunities (if insufficient, goes negative), deduct one point of Lin Dong's goodwill."

"Dong! Congratulations to the host. The second equipment slot has been unlocked. The Equipment Vault now offers equipment worth six hundred gold coins or less."

"Ah~" The string of surprises left Lin Changqiang floating on cloud nine. He collapsed onto the bed, completely relaxed, not wanting to move.

"Both main quests are pretty easy. Even if I do nothing, they'll work themselves out."

"Nothing special about the equipment either. Since I won't be fighting anytime soon, I'll just put the Boots of Swiftness in the second slot."

"But this Fashion..." Lin Changqiang frowned. "It wasn't the best-looking in the game, but it wasn't ugly either. Why does it look like something straight out of a cheap browser game when I take it out?? Is the modeler a spy from another studio?"

That night, Lin Changqiang slept soundly in his Fashion.