In the forest clearing, the ice covering Lin Yi had completely fallen away, melting into a puddle on the ground.
Lin Yi's tightly shut eyes slowly opened. A streak of icy-blue light flashed past them, vanishing in an instant.
Lin Yi clenched his fists. The strength in his muscles was many times greater than before!
[Ding! The host has successfully advanced to the Earth Yuan Stage and truly entered the gateway to martial cultivation. As an encouragement, a first-rate cultivation manual, Sky Profound Art, has been awarded!]
A first-rate cultivation manual!
This reward had come at exactly the right time!
Once one stepped into the Earth Yuan Stage on the path of martial cultivation, one had to begin cultivating a technique.
The Lin Family's ancestral Azure Yuan Art was merely a third-rate technique.
Now that he had the Sky Profound Art rewarded by the system, he no longer needed to rack his brains searching for a higher-level cultivation technique.
"I never thought I'd break through to the Earth Yuan Stage in this way." Lin Yi did not rush to cultivate the technique. He picked up the unconscious Qing Tan, shook his head, and began walking toward home.
"Mm~"
Lin Yi was still carrying Qing Tan home when the girl in his arms woke up.
"Brother Lin Yi, what happened just now?"
Seeing that Qing Tan had awakened, Lin Yi set her down and shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure either. It seems the cold energy in your body erupted again, but it was somewhat different from the previous eruption."
Qing Tan said guiltily, "I caused you trouble again, Brother Lin Yi."
Lin Yi raised a finger and flicked her forehead. "We're family. Why are you saying such things? Besides, you didn't cause me any trouble this time. You actually helped me a great deal."
"Really?" Qing Tan asked doubtfully.
Lin Yi smiled. "Of course. Originally, I would still have needed quite some time to break through to the Earth Yuan Stage."
"But just now, the cold energy in your body surged into mine and actually helped me break through to the Earth Yuan Stage ahead of time. I'm an Earth Yuan Stage expert now!"
After saying this, Lin Yi changed his hand seals. From the icy-blue mass of energy in his dantian, streams of icy-blue Yuan Power rapidly shot out and quickly gathered in his palm.
Brilliant icy-blue Yuan Power enveloped Lin Yi's right palm. Cold energy rose from it, lowering the surrounding temperature considerably.
"Bang!"
His changing hand seals suddenly froze. Lin Yi took a step forward and slammed his palm into a large tree beside the road.
"Boom!"
In the next instant, the tree exploded, turning into countless splinters that shot in every direction.
Frost had even gathered around the broken section of the trunk.
"Wow, Brother Lin Yi, you're amazing!" Qing Tan cried out in delight. "It looks like first place in this Qingyang Town Hunting Tournament definitely belongs to you!"
Lin Yi returned to Qing Tan's side and affectionately rubbed her head. "So you see, our Qing Tan not only didn't cause me any trouble, but actually helped me greatly. You could even say you helped the Lin Family."
"Hehe, that was still thanks to your own hard work, Brother Lin Yi."
After confirming that she had truly helped Lin Yi, Qing Tan was extremely happy. Then her dark eyes turned, and she said sweetly, "Since that's the case, shouldn't you reward me, Brother Lin Yi?"
"Tell me, what reward do you want?" Lin Yi asked casually.
Qing Tan looked at Lin Yi expectantly and blinked. "It happens to be the end of the month these days, and the Trading Guild in Qingyang Town is especially lively. Would you accompany me there for a look, Brother Lin Yi?"
"Sure. I'll accompany you," Lin Yi said with a smile and nodded.
"That's wonderful! Thank you, Brother Lin Yi. Let's go quickly..."
When Qing Tan heard Lin Yi agree, she was overjoyed. As she spoke, she naturally linked her arm with his.
The girl was lively by nature and loved bustling places. At the same time, she especially wanted Lin Yi to accompany her.
However, she was very considerate and normally would not disturb Lin Yi's cultivation just to play.
Today, Brother Lin Yi had saved time on his breakthrough to the Earth Yuan Stage with her help, so he could naturally take a break and relax.
That was what Qing Tan thought.
Lin Yi smiled and let Qing Tan pull his arm as they hurried out of the Lin Family.
The Trading Guild was located at Qingyang Town's northern plaza.
That place happened to be where many factions intersected. Because there were too many disputes and no one could swallow it alone, the Trading Guild had come into being.
The Trading Guild contained industries belonging to all the various factions, forming a peculiar balance.
When Lin Yi and Qing Tan arrived at the Trading Guild's entrance, the entire area before them was packed with a dense black mass of people. The clamorous, boiling noise rang without end.
People had to speak even louder just to be heard here.
"So lively." Qing Tan excitedly tugged at Lin Yi's arm.
There were simply too many people. If they did not hold hands, they might well be pushed apart.
"Let's go in." Lin Yi smiled faintly, pulled Qing Tan's little hand back, and squeezed into the Trading Guild with her.
By the time Lin Yi and Qing Tan finished strolling down one street, they were already sweating heavily from being jostled.
Qing Tan's spirits, however, were exceptionally high. Her delicate little face had flushed with excitement, making her look especially adorable.
At last, the two stopped before a magnificent pavilion at the end of the street.
This was considered one of the more upscale areas in the Trading Guild. The Lei and Xie families, the Mad Saber Martial Hall, and even the Lin Family all had shops here.
The goods sold inside the pavilion were of a higher grade than those on the streets outside. Naturally, the prices were also more expensive.
After Lin Yi led Qing Tan into the pavilion, he first exchanged two Yang Yuan Stones for a sum of gold and silver before continuing to browse.
Whenever they came across something Qing Tan liked, Lin Yi bought it for her without hesitation.
Qing Tan kept saying that he should not spend money, but she was extremely happy inside.
After they had browsed for a while, a familiar figure suddenly approached them. It was actually Lin Shan.
At this moment, Lin Shan's face was bruised and swollen, and his hair was disheveled, making him look rather miserable.
Lin Shan also spotted Lin Yi and Qing Tan. His expression shifted several times, but he still steeled himself and walked over, calling out to Lin Yi, "Brother Lin Yi."
"Is something wrong?" Lin Yi glanced at him and asked indifferently.
Lin Shan's face flushed as he said, "We ran into those bastards from the Xie Family, and then Sister Lin Xia was bullied. So we fought with them..."
"All right, lead the way. Tell me as we go." Before Lin Shan could finish, Lin Yi already understood what had happened and waved to interrupt him.
No matter how the younger generation of the Lin Family competed among themselves, when facing the Lei and Xie families, they naturally had to stand together against outsiders. Not to mention that Lin Xia, who had a good relationship with their little family, was also there.
Lin Shan was somewhat surprised that Lin Yi had agreed so readily, but he quickly recovered, nodded heavily, and hurriedly turned around to lead the way.
Holding Qing Tan's little hand, Lin Yi followed behind Lin Shan, striding forward.
As they hurried along, Lin Shan recounted the entire matter.
Upon learning that Lin Xia had been ambushed and slapped, Lin Yi frowned. Qing Tan was also puffed up with anger. Among the members of the Lin Family, aside from their little family, Lin Xia was the person closest to her.
"Hurry up." Lin Yi urged Lin Shan, then quickened his pace considerably.
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