Accumulation and Transformation

The next morning, bright and early.

Lin Lin began cultivating. He first practiced the Cold Plum Swordplay several times to consolidate this newly learned sword art.

Then he began cultivating Immovable as a Mountain.

This martial art drew upon the core intent of mountains remaining tough and upright despite enduring wind, sun, rain, and snow. Once mastered, one could stand immovable as a mountain, withstand external impacts, and emerge completely unscathed.

The cultivation process not only required special methods of exerting strength and channeling force, but also unique medicinal ointments to temper the body during the initial stages.

Furthermore, the practitioner had to remain in a state of calm composure, neither arrogant nor impatient.

Lin Lin had cultivated the Boulder Skill before, and his mastery of it was quite high, having already reached the level of consummate mastery.

Immovable as a Mountain was the advanced evolution of the Boulder Skill. Lin Lin could directly inherit part of the latter's cultivation results, allowing him to skip the step of cultivating his Heart Realm, tempering his body with ointments, and building his foundation.

Lin Lin immediately began practicing the methods of channeling force and tempering the body contained within this protective art, using a series of strange postures to guide the flesh, muscles, bones, and Inner Force throughout his body in refining his physique. Before long, he felt heat spreading through his entire body as his surging blood and qi nourished his flesh.

Ordinarily, Lin Lin should have focused his attention on swordplay. Once the Cold Plum Swordplay reached the level of minor accomplishment, he could apply it in actual combat before practicing other Superior Martial Arts.

However, in order to bring the Cold Plum Swordplay to the level of minor accomplishment, he needed to open the many acupoints corresponding to the sword art. Otherwise, he could not continue practicing it.

Although Lin Lin had begun working toward this since yesterday, it would likely still take a long time before he succeeded.

Under such circumstances, forcing himself to practice the sword art would only be wasted effort.

Rather than that, he might as well use this free time to practice other Superior Martial Arts. Thus, Lin Lin chose to cultivate Immovable as a Mountain first.

By around evening, relying on the foundation he had built through cultivating the Boulder Skill, Lin Lin successfully brought Immovable as a Mountain to the level of initial insight. Then he encountered the same problem as with the Cold Plum Swordplay: without opening the required acupoints, he could not continue cultivating it.

However, Lin Lin did not waste a moment. That evening, he began learning the internal art Hundred Flowers True Qi and the Forbidden Martial Art Hundred Flowers Wither from his mother, Zhang Fei, who had prepared to teach him.

As the subsequent advanced technique of Hundred Flowers True Qi, the entry requirement for Hundred Flowers True Qi was to open eighty-four acupoints throughout the body before one could cultivate it.

Therefore, Lin Lin's studies at present were merely to first grasp this Inner Power Cultivation Method in theory. Actual practice would have to wait until he had cultivated Hundred Flowers True Qi to the pinnacle of perfection.

Learning the Forbidden Martial Art Hundred Flowers Wither, on the other hand, went much more smoothly. It was divided into several stages. At the level of minor accomplishment, its circulation route involved only thirty-six acupoints. Only upon reaching mastery would it require the complex qi circulation route through all one hundred and twenty-eight acupoints of the body.

Naturally, the temporary increase in combat strength provided by this Forbidden Martial Art was strongly related to the complexity of its circulation route.

For the sake of his own life, although Lin Lin had mastered this Forbidden Martial Art, which could forcibly enhance his combat strength, through repeated practice, he had never once completed its activation. Each time, at the very last moment, he calmed the boiling blood, qi, and Inner Breath within his body.

However, this did not hinder Lin Lin from gradually mastering the Forbidden Martial Art. Through repeated practice, he reduced the time needed to activate it to the absolute minimum.

It was at this time that Lin Lin's father, Lin Yue, finally returned home after completing his assignment.

At first, he had been happy simply because he had once again completed a mission successfully. When he learned that his son Lin Lin had become an Elite Disciple and had even brought back valuables worth more than thirty thousand taels during this outing, he became even happier.

In his delight, Lin Yue got drunk for the rare occasion.

Then, while wandering around outside, he ran into an acquaintance in Hundred Flowers Valley. No matter what the other person said, he walked right up and blurted out, "What? You already know that my son Lin Lin became an Elite Disciple?"

As a result, the deeply reclusive and extremely low-key Lin Lin unexpectedly became a popular topic throughout Hundred Flowers Valley.

Many Hundred Flowers Valley disciples who had previously known nothing about him also learned that there was such a youth in the sect—a prodigal son who had turned back, worth more than gold.

They learned that half a year ago, Lin Lin had still been a troublesome youth who had been punished by Elder of Teaching Skills Ji Yun and sent to Yin Wind Gorge to reflect on his mistakes for failing to cultivate diligently. Yet half a year later, through his own efforts, he had made astonishing progress in martial arts and become an Elite Disciple.

Such an inspiring story made Lin Lin a goal for many confused Hundred Flowers Valley disciples who had been muddling through their days without any sense of direction.

Many people stopped feeling lost and began devoting more of their time to cultivation and study.

Under these circumstances, Lin Lin's reputation within the sect steadily rose.

Lin Lin found this rather speechless. He had never expected his father to have such a childish side.

But then Lin Lin thought of his former immature self. His father must have endured no small amount of pressure over the years because of such an unpromising son.

Now that he had finally been able to hold his head high for once, Lin Lin let him show off as much as he liked.

In any case, whether people outside praised or criticized him had no effect on him now. His mind was calm, undisturbed by external matters, and wholly focused on cultivation.

The day after Lin Yue returned, Lin Lin learned the final movement technique he had yet to master from him: Azure Lotus Sway.

This movement technique transformed the carefree, unrestrained, and elusive posture of an azure lotus swaying in the wind into footwork. Once used, it greatly enhanced both evasion and pursuit, while making the user's figure nimble and ethereal, like an exiled immortal.

Lin Lin compared it to the Lotus Steps he had already cultivated to mastery and found that it was indeed far stronger.

Simply bringing Azure Lotus Sway to the level of minor accomplishment would make it comparable to Lotus Steps at the mastery level.

If he cultivated Azure Lotus Sway to mastery as well, even Lin Lin could not clearly imagine just how fast his movement technique would become. He could only say that it would be extremely powerful.

Thus, Lin Lin successfully finished learning and mastering five Superior Martial Arts, completely restructuring his Martial Arts System and upgrading it all into Superior Martial Arts.

All he needed to do next was cultivate step by step and bring every Superior Martial Art he possessed to mastery. At that point, looking across the entire martial world, he could be considered a truly accomplished expert.

During the intervals between cultivating these five newly acquired Superior Martial Arts, Lin Lin also attended a lesson organized by Elder of Teaching Skills Ji Yun.

Besides asking about and resolving some of the doubts he had accumulated while practicing Superior Martial Arts, Lin Lin also gained much martial knowledge he had never previously considered from the questions and answers exchanged between his fellow senior brothers and sisters and Elder of Teaching Skills Ji Yun. This greatly enriched his martial arts foundation.

Of course, Lin Lin had not forgotten to read every day during this period. Gaining a little knowledge each day made him happy.

Amid such a fulfilling life, time passed as swiftly as a galloping white horse.

Before long, the day arrived for Lin Lin to take up his post as supervisor at the Cold Iron Mine.