Earthly Yuan Stage

"Alright, alright. You little brats have made enough of a fuss. Go home now—we still have business to do here."

Everyone looked up to see a square-faced middle-aged man looking down at them. Behind him stood more than a dozen burly men.

"His name is Wang Jinze. He's the manager of this Trade Fair," Lin Xia quietly said from behind the two of them. She also breathed a sigh of relief. Since he had stepped in, the fight probably wouldn't happen after all.

Lei Li frowned when he saw Wang Jinze appear and dispersed the Yuan Power in his palm. He glanced at the Lin Family members and said coolly, "Consider yourselves lucky today. But don't worry—when the hunt begins, I'll make sure to take good 'care' of you!"

With that, Lei Li sneered and turned to leave with Xie Yingying and the others. Before leaving, they did not forget to carry off the unconscious Xie Ting and the rest.

"Once I break through to the Earthly Yuan Stage, forget one Lin Dong—even if Lin Dong, Lin Changqiang, and Wu Yun came at me together, I could deal with them effortlessly!" He snorted and clenched his fists.

"Thank you for today." Lin Dong cupped his fists toward Wu Yun, while Lin Changqiang, standing nearby, quietly used a Double Experience Card. After all, Lin Dong had bought plenty of Spiritual Medicine today. Over the next few days, he would definitely be swallowing medicine every day to level up.

"Heh, there's nothing to thank me for. The Lei and Xie Families are already joined by marriage, so you can imagine how close they are. If we don't stick together, sooner or later they'll pick us off one by one." Surprisingly, Wu Yun was not merely a brute.

After chatting for a while longer, Wu Yun smiled and waved, then left with the people from Mad Saber Martial Hall. The Lin Family members also lost interest in browsing around and returned to their homes.

That night, the moon and stars shone brilliantly, and cold silver light spilled across the earth like a thin veil of silver-white gauze.

Inside his room, Lin Changqiang lay sideways on his large bed, propping up his head with one hand as he sleepily monitored his personal information. Only when he noticed that his cultivation progress percentage had begun rising at a gratifying speed did he chuckle and drift off to sleep...

Ever since Lin Changqiang had taught the younger generation of the Xie Family a lesson that day, and Lin Dong had fought Lei Li without losing, the two of them had suddenly gained immense prestige within the Lin Family.

Yet neither of them cared much about their abruptly soaring reputation. Lin Dong still sparred every day, practiced martial arts, and went to the Martial Arts Hall to select techniques. Lin Changqiang still sparred, basked in the sun, sparred again, and watched Lin Dong practice martial arts with Qing Tan...

In this simple yet fulfilling life, two months quietly passed.

Over those two months, Lin Dong's cultivation never paused for a moment. Under such diligent training, Lin Changqiang finally broke through to the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering! After using the Inner Demon Trial Card, he even directly reached fifty-seven percent progress through the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering!

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 cultivate, yet her advancement speed was second only to theirs.

Lin Dong was utterly baffled by Qing Tan's strange condition. Although Lin Changqiang knew the reason, it was inconvenient for him to reveal it.

Qing Tan's physique was called the Demonic Fiend Body, an exceptionally tyrannical type of Yin Fiend Body. That was why his roommates in his previous life had liked to call it the "Samoyed Body."

This Demonic Fiend Body constantly absorbed Yin Fiend Qi from heaven and earth. Only after reaching the Yuan Dan Stage and forming a Yin Dan could she gradually control the fiendish qi within her body. Before then, she would frequently suffer backlash from Demonic Fiend Qi. That was why, ever since she was young, Yin Fiend Qi that caused her unbearable agony would erupt from within her body at intervals.

So rather than envying Qing Tan, Lin Changqiang felt more sorry for her.

As the hunt drew nearer, Qingyang Town grew livelier by the day, and more and more people turned their conversations toward the hunt.

The hunt was another form of contest among Qingyang Town's major factions. During every hunt, each faction would put up prizes, all of which carried considerable value. Whichever family won would claim those prizes.

In the past several hunts, the Lin Family and Mad Saber Martial Hall had won first place only a handful of times. As a result, the Lei and Xie Families had taken many envy-inducing prizes from them.

Naturally, many people were guessing which faction would emerge as the final winner of this hunt. The Lei Family remained the favorite, since Lei Li was still the number one among Qingyang Town's younger generation.

Moreover, rumors said that Lei Li would very likely enter the Earthly Yuan Stage before the hunt! Thus, the Lei Family's chances of victory in this hunt were nearly eighty percent.

Lin Changqiang could not have cared less. No one understood Lin Dong better than he did. With Lin Dong's cheat-like advancement speed, both of them would definitely reach the Earthly Yuan Stage before the hunt.

Sure enough, during the final dozen or so days before the hunt, Lin Changqiang's experience, which had been stuck at seventy to eighty percent through the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, suddenly surged dramatically and leaped straight to eight percent of the early Earthly Yuan Stage!

"Lin Dong really can't break that habit of patting Qing Tan on the head."

Lin Changqiang helplessly shook his head. He knew that when the Ancestral Talisman fused into Lin Dong's hand first touched Qing Tan's head, it would absorb some of the Yin Fiend Qi within her body and cause her to faint for a while. But he had no way to warn Lin Dong. He couldn't exactly rush over and say, "Lin Dong, you're not allowed to touch Qing Tan," could he? Lin Dong would think he was a pervert.

Besides, it was not harmful to Qing Tan, so he simply stopped worrying about it.

Lin Changqiang directed his consciousness into his dantian. This was the first time he had "seen" it. The icy-blue ball of qi looked exceptionally alluring as it slowly revolved, strands of chilly Yuan Power circling around it and awaiting Lin Changqiang's command.

His consciousness withdrew from his dantian. With his eyes shut tight, a peculiar ripple spread out from his mind, projecting everything within several dozen meters into his consciousness in extraordinary detail.

"It wasn't easy." Lin Changqiang was overjoyed. Upon entering the Earthly Yuan Stage, he could finally enjoy the feeling of having air conditioning in summer! And the Heavenly Origin Stage, where he could turn on the heat in winter, was not far away either!

"Ding, congratulations, Host, on advancing to the Earthly Yuan Stage. Reward: three Lottery Draw Opportunities. Reward: Fashion—Ghost Captain. (Wearing it makes you more handsome, increases all experience gained by ten percent, and allows you to continuously condense Ninth-grade Yin Fiend Qi.)"

"Ding, congratulations, Host, on unlocking the quest system.

Main Quest One acquired: Meet Lin Diao and Lin Yan. For each one met, reward: three Lottery Draw Opportunities and one point of favorability from that person toward the Host.

Main Quest Two acquired: Your good brother Lin Dong has lived since childhood under the shadow of his father being crippled by Lin Langtian. Please assist Lin Dong in killing Lin Langtian. Upon completion, reward: ten Lottery Draw Opportunities and three points of favorability from Lin Dong. Upon failure, deduct five Lottery Draw Opportunities (may fall below zero) and deduct one point of favorability from Lin Dong."

"Ding, congratulations, Host. You have successfully unlocked the second equipment slot. The Equipment Vault now offers equipment worth six hundred gold coins or less."

"Ah~" The successive surprises left Lin Changqiang floating on cloud nine. He completely relaxed and sprawled across the bed, unwilling to move.

"The two Main Quests are pretty simple. Even if I do nothing, they'll naturally fall into place."

"There's nothing much to say about equipment either. Since I won't be fighting anytime soon, I'll equip the Boots of Swiftness in the second slot for now."

"But this Fashion..." Lin Changqiang was depressed. "It wasn't exactly handsome in the game, but it definitely wasn't ugly either. Why did it become so full of cheap browser-game vibes the moment I took it out?? Was the modeler a spy from another studio?"

That night, Lin Changqiang slept especially soundly in his Fashion.