Mysterious Map
After leaving the Elders Council, Lin Bai knew that unless the Lin family's elders relented, there was no chance of reclaiming the cultivation resources Lin Duo had left for him.
After all, with his current martial cultivation, Lin Bai was not yet strong enough to contend with the Lin family's Elders Council.
"A bunch of bastards! When my father was still around, they didn't even dare fart in front of him. Now they actually dare to seize the cultivation resources he left me!"
Lin Bai returned home, speaking with flames of fury shooting into the sky.
"Lin Bai."
Just then, an aged voice came from outside the door. Lin Bai turned to look and saw a stooped, weather-beaten old man enter the room with a smile.
Lin Bai looked up. "Third Uncle, what brings you here?"
The old man was Lin Bai's third uncle, Lin Yue. He had shared an extremely close bond with Lin Bai's father since childhood.
Many years ago, however, Third Uncle had followed Lin Duo out and suddenly had his dantian crippled by someone. From then on, he had remained in the Lin family and never gone out again.
Lin Yue walked in with a smile. "I heard that the martial soul you awakened wasn't very good, so I came to take a look. I was afraid you might do something foolish."
"Thank you, Third Uncle. Your health isn't good, yet you still went to the trouble of coming to see me." Lin Bai shook his head with a bitter smile.
Lin Yue laughed. "Haha, your father and I are brothers who shared life and death, after all. He isn't in the Lin family now, so if I don't look after you, who will?"
"Lin Bai, although your martial soul isn't very good, don't lose heart. Didn't Big Brother Lin Duo leave you a batch of cultivation resources? You should go retrieve them first and speed up your cultivation. I believe that with your talent, even with a Yellow Rank One martial soul, you can still achieve something great."
Lin Yue encouraged Lin Bai.
When Lin Bai heard about those cultivation resources, he immediately flew into a rage. "That's exactly what I'm angry about! I just went to the Elders Council to reclaim the cultivation resources my father left me, but those bastards from the Elders Council and Lin Zier saw that my martial soul was inferior and refused to give them to me."
Lin Yue said in astonishment, "They dare to swallow Big Brother Lin Duo's things? Aren't they afraid that Big Brother Lin Duo will return and fly into a rage?"
Lin Bai said coldly, "They think Lin Zier's talent is higher than my father's, so they've all gone to curry favor with her!"
"Ah, so that's how it is." Lin Yue's expression grew anxious. "What they're doing is truly outrageous. Lin Bai, what are you planning to do?"
Lin Bai said, "They think that because my martial soul is inferior and I didn't get the cultivation resources, I'll resign myself to being an ordinary person. Just wait and see. I've already decided to go to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range to hunt demonic beasts and exchange them for cultivation resources."
"Lin Bai, you're going to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range? That place is a paradise for demonic beasts. You must be extremely careful." Lin Yue reminded him with concern.
Lin Bai said, "Although the Azure Spirit Mountain Range is dangerous, it's the best place for me to temper myself!"
The Devouring Sword Soul could cultivate by devouring the divine blood of demonic beasts. Thus, to Lin Bai, the Azure Spirit Mountain Range was the perfect cultivation ground!
Lin Yue's cloudy eyes shifted. He reached into his robes, pulled out a sheepskin map, and handed it to Lin Bai. "Lin Bai, keep this. It will be useful when you reach the Azure Spirit Mountain Range."
"What is this?" Lin Bai accepted it and asked curiously.
Lin Yue smiled. "Before my dantian was crippled, I once went to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range. Back then, I discovered a tree bearing Spirit-Bearing Fruit, but unfortunately, the fruit had not yet matured."
"So I drew down the route, thinking I could return and pick them once they matured."
"Who would have thought that before the Spirit-Bearing Fruit could mature, I would be crippled first?"
Lin Yue said with repeated bitter laughter.
"Spirit-Bearing Fruit!" Lin Bai's eyes went wide with delight when he heard the name.
The Spirit-Bearing Fruit was a spiritual herb used to refine second-grade pills. It required thirty years to flower, thirty years to bear fruit, and thirty years to mature. It was considered a supreme treasure among spiritual herbs.
Of course, the Spirit-Bearing Fruit was exactly what Lin Bai desperately needed right now.
Lin Bai said, "Third Uncle, this is too precious."
Lin Yue laughed heartily. "Take it. Your Third Uncle has no children, and now I'm a cripple. This map is useless in my hands anyway. Take it, cultivate well, and don't disgrace your father."
"I'll give you this manual as well. It's called Dragon Emperor's Divine Dragon Arm. Its power is no small matter. Once you master it, it can grant you immense strength in a short period of time!"
"Cultivating Dragon Emperor's Divine Dragon Arm requires a large amount of demonic blood. Since you're going to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range to hunt demonic beasts and temper yourself, you can use the opportunity to cultivate this martial technique properly."
Dragon Emperor's Divine Dragon Arm—just hearing the name made it sound extraordinary.
"Thank you, Third Uncle." Lin Bai accepted the manual and map, expressing his heartfelt gratitude.
"Third Uncle, you've never told me who crippled you."
Lin Yue's eyes grew dazed for a moment when he heard that. He smiled and said, "You little brat, why are you asking about that? What you need to do now is cultivate properly. Go on."
"All right. I'll go to the Armory Pavilion and Martial Arts Pavilion to receive a weapon and choose a martial technique. Then I'll head to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range." Lin Bai said firmly, "Two months from now, I'll make everyone who looks down on me regret it!"
After seeing his Third Uncle home, Lin Bai turned around and headed straight for the Armory Pavilion.
He arrived at the Armory Pavilion!
"Lin Bai, it's not that I don't want to give you a weapon. I truly can't stand up to Lin Taiheng. He and Lin Zier have both sent people to warn me. I don't dare give you a weapon anymore." The elder of the Armory Pavilion sighed helplessly.
The elder of the Armory Pavilion could also see that Grand Elder Lin Taiheng and Lin Zier intended to cast Lin Bai into an abyss of eternal damnation this time!
"Lin Bai, don't blame us. Grand Elder Lin Taiheng and Lin Zier both sent people to speak to us just now. We truly don't dare let you in to choose a martial technique!" The elder of the Martial Arts Pavilion spoke almost word for word like the elder of the Armory Pavilion, and his words crashed heavily onto Lin Bai.
"Lin Taiheng! Lin Zier! Do you think you can defeat me like this? You're far too green!"
"So what if I have no weapon? So what if I have no martial technique? I still have these fists!"
With a trace of cold laughter, Lin Bai walked out through the Lin family's gates.
Lin Bai also understood that Lin Zier and Lin Taiheng wanted to completely strangle him in the cradle.
"Oh? Isn't this our Lin family's famous genius young master, Lin Bai? Why did you come crawling out of the Martial Arts Pavilion and Armory Pavilion looking so miserable?"
Just as Lin Bai was about to leave the Lin family, a handsome young master stepped in front of him.
The newcomer was a disciple of the Lin family named Lin Xuanqing. Three days earlier, he had awakened his martial soul together with Lin Bai. His was a Yellow Rank Seven martial soul, making him one of the Lin family's geniuses, second only to Lin Xuan and Lin Zier.
Holding the precious sword in his hand, Lin Xuanqing smiled provocatively. "See this? I just obtained it from the Armory Pavilion. It's a first-grade spirit weapon called the Spirit Severing Sword. I also obtained a Yellow Rank Nine martial technique from the Martial Arts Pavilion called Blood Weeping Swordplay!"
"Jealous?"
Lin Xuanqing had encountered Lin Bai at the Armory Pavilion and followed him all the way here. His purpose was to flaunt himself ruthlessly in front of Lin Bai while Lin Bai was reduced to eating dirt.
Back when Lin Bai had still been the Lin family's number-one genius, Lin Xuanqing had been green with envy and jealousy.
Now that this genius had finally fallen, Lin Xuanqing naturally had to come looking for a sense of existence!
Spirit weapons were divided into nine grades, from first to ninth. Above spirit weapons, there were supposedly treasures capable of destroying heaven and earth, but Lin Bai had never seen one.
Martial techniques were divided into Yellow, Profound, Earth, Heaven, and Emperor ranks, with each rank further divided into nine grades.
"Get lost. A good dog doesn't block the road!" Lin Bai roared, his face full of Baleful Intent.
Lin Xuanqing's brows knitted together, and then he became furious. "What? You're a cripple, yet you dare speak to me like that? Looks like I'll have to teach you a proper lesson."
"Take my sword!"
With that, Lin Xuanqing thrust his sword toward Lin Bai!
After awakening his martial soul, Lin Xuanqing had yet to cultivate and was only at the first level of the Martial Dao.
Lin Bai, meanwhile, was already at the third level of the Martial Dao!
Seeing the sword come at him with such ferocity, Lin Bai grinned. "Since you've delivered a weapon to me, I'll gladly accept it!"
Lin Bai took one step forward. Immense strength gathered in his wrist as he seized Lin Xuanqing's Spirit Severing Sword and yanked hard, snatching the spirit weapon into his own hand.
Seeing his spirit weapon stolen, Lin Xuanqing's face twisted with rage. "Lin Bai, I warn you—give me back my spirit weapon at once! Otherwise, I'll make sure you suffer! Don't forget, my big brother is Lin Xuan!"
"Lin Xuan? You're Lin Xuan's younger brother? Perfect. I'll collect a little interest from you first!" When Lin Bai heard that Lin Xuanqing was Lin Xuan's younger brother, he flew into a thunderous rage.
"Ha!"
He struck Lin Xuanqing directly in the face with his palm, knocking him to the ground.
Buzz!
At that very moment, a difficult and obscure incantation surfaced in Lin Bai's mind.
"Martial Soul Talent! Soul Search!"
"By casting this technique and pressing it against a martial artist's crown, one can investigate all the memories in his mind!"
"Warning: The target of Soul Search will suffer severe aftereffects. In serious cases, the target will die on the spot; in mild cases, the target will be reduced to an imbecile!"
Lin Bai was dumbfounded. "I've awakened a martial talent this quickly? It isn't swordplay, either. How strange."
Generally speaking, without a great expert imparting enlightenment or an heaven-defying fortuitous opportunity, awakening a talent was as difficult as ascending the heavens.
Likewise, the higher the grade of a martial soul, the faster its talent would awaken, and the greater the power of that talent would be!
Lin Xuanqing's nose and mouth were bleeding after Lin Bai's attack. He roared furiously, "Lin Bai, you cripple, you actually dared hit me! Just wait! I'll go tell my big brother right now. Once he arrives, I'll tear your skin off alive!"
"You're going to tear my skin off?" Lin Bai said viciously.
Lin Xuanqing raged, "That's right! I'm going to tear your skin off! Even if you kneel and beg me now, I won't change my mind. Just wait to die!"
"It seems you haven't understood that your life is in my hands now, yet you still dare run your mouth? Fine. Didn't you say you obtained a Yellow Rank Nine martial technique? I'll gladly accept it."
Lin Bai grinned. "Perfect. I'll use it to test my martial soul talent!"
Lin Bai walked over and stood before Lin Xuanqing, placing his right hand on top of his head.
"What are you trying to do?"
Lin Xuanqing's pupils widened in terror.
"Soul Search!"
Whoosh—
Lin Bai circulated the incantation and activated Soul Search. In an instant, every memory in Lin Xuanqing's mind flashed through Lin Bai's eyes at lightning speed, like a film being played.
In barely a quarter of an hour, Lin Bai had seen every memory of Lin Xuanqing's entire life with perfect clarity!
Among them was the Yellow Rank Nine martial technique he had obtained.
Blood Weeping Swordplay!
After the Soul Search ended, Lin Xuanqing fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth. His entire body convulsed before his aura completely vanished.
"Even in death, you deserved it. If you hadn't made trouble for no reason and tried to kill me, how could I have dealt you a fatal blow?" Lin Bai said calmly.
"I have a weapon and a martial technique. Now it's time to head to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range."
"Lin Taiheng, Lin Zier, wait for me. Once I return, I'll surely overturn this entire sky!"
Carrying the Spirit Severing Sword, Lin Bai left Spirit Rhino City that very night and headed straight for the Azure Spirit Mountain Range, ten thousand li away.
Lin Bai was going to the Azure Spirit Mountain Range mainly to hunt demonic beasts and search for heavenly thunder and earthly fire.