Level 50? You Think This Is a Game?! Master Yuan Yi!

Lin Chen shook his head. If the fatty really had encountered something evil, there would definitely be traces of its aura left on him. But there wasn't a trace of any other cultivator's aura on the fatty.

As far as Lin Chen was concerned, he'd killed who knew how many ghosts. Evil?

No matter how evil you are, I'll turn you to ash!

Master Yi Jie looked at the fatty and said calmly, "I think this benefactor has simply been having bad luck lately."

Some people had periods when their fortune ran low, when even a drink of water could make them choke. Master Yi Jie had heard of such things before, so the fatty's situation didn't surprise him much.

The fatty looked at Master Yi Jie and hurriedly cried, "Master, save me!"

At that, Lin Chen's face immediately darkened. He glared at the fatty. "Shut up!"

Before his words had even faded, Lin Chen turned to Master Yi Jie and said calmly, "Master, this is my friend. You can figure out what to do with him!"

Master Yi Jie's mouth twitched. Damn, is that how you ask someone for help?

By this point, he knew exactly why Lin Chen had come: he was clearly here to ask for an amulet. Such things were most commonly made by Daoist and Buddhist sects, yet Lin Chen had simply told him to figure it out. It was easy to imagine how frustrated he felt.

Still, Master Yi Jie wasn't angry. After all, Lin Chen had saved his life and done a great favor for Vajra Temple as well. So this small request was nothing he would refuse, and certainly nothing to get angry over.

"Lin, how can you talk to the master like that?" The fatty looked at Lin Chen indignantly.

Lin Chen looked at the fatty before him, utterly speechless. "Good grief. When you need me, you call me your godfather. Usually, it's Old Lin. Now you're calling me Lin? Is that really appropriate?"

"Besides, the only reason you get to meet this guy is because of my connections. Otherwise, you think you'd get to see him, let alone get an amulet?" Lin Chen rolled his eyes at the fatty.

Wu Hongbin had assets worth tens of billions, and he'd donated who knew how much incense money before he got an authentic amulet. Without some influence, getting a real one was impossible. Otherwise, you could just buy one outside for thirty or fifty yuan and take it as a little comfort.

The fatty froze, then looked at Master Yi Jie as if asking whether Lin Chen's words were true.

"Benefactor Lin speaks the truth. Vajra Temple does owe him a great favor." Master Yi Jie nodded slightly, then continued, "And Benefactor Lin's strength is far greater than ours. He simply isn't skilled at making things like protective amulets."

The methods for making such amulets were almost all closely guarded secrets of the various factions. After all, they were one of the foundations on which those factions relied to survive.

"Old Lin, you're that strong?" The fatty stared at him in disbelief.

"What did you expect?"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes at the fatty, then looked toward Master Yi Jie. Seeing this, Master Yi Jie didn't hesitate and immediately took out a protective amulet.

"This is an amulet from our temple. It can keep first-order anomalous creatures from harming you. If a second-order anomalous creature approaches, it will grow hot as a warning. But it won't work against anomalous creatures of the third order or higher," Master Yi Jie explained.

"Don't you have anything more powerful?" Lin Chen pressed.

Master Yi Jie's expression turned solemn. "We do, but those aren't amulets for ordinary people. They're spirit talismans used by cultivators in battle."

Lin Chen didn't ask for one. Spirit talismans used by cultivators in battle were beyond price.

Although Vajra Temple owed him a favor, the temple had already paid him for his help. The payment had simply been money, as Lin Chen himself had requested. Given their friendship and the favor owed, providing the fatty with a protective amulet was already a considerable kindness. Lin Chen naturally couldn't ask for more.

After all, ordinary people weren't even qualified to get one of these amulets unless they spent a huge amount on incense offerings!

"Fatty, aren't you going to thank the master?"

The fatty immediately replied with heartfelt gratitude. "Thank you, Master!"

"No need to be so polite!"

Master Yi Jie smiled calmly. Although protective amulets were precious, Vajra Temple could make them itself, so the cost wasn't especially high. Giving the fatty one for Lin Chen's sake was no big deal.

"Benefactor Lin, as for your second reason for coming..." Master Yi Jie looked at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen turned to Master Yi Jie and spoke slowly. "I've been cultivating lately, and I feel like I've hit a bottleneck. So besides asking for a protective amulet for my friend, I also wanted to take this opportunity to exchange pointers with the experts at your temple."

A bottleneck?

An exchange of pointers?

Master Yi Jie was briefly taken aback, but he soon understood. Lin Chen was capable of killing a fifth-order corpse ghost, which meant he was at least a sixth-order cultivator. With such strength, he certainly qualified to exchange pointers with the temple's experts.

Master Yi Jie looked at Lin Chen with an utterly serious expression. "I'll report this to my master and the others. What they decide, however, is beyond my control."

A cultivator of at least the sixth order, and possibly even the seventh, had come to exchange pointers. Deciding how to handle this was no longer something a third-order cultivator like Master Yi Jie could determine.

Master Yi Jie immediately arranged for Lin Chen to rest in a meditation room, then went to report the matter himself.

"Old Lin, you're so impressive that you can exchange pointers with Master Yi Jie's master?" The fatty stared at Lin Chen in astonishment.

"Of course! I told you ages ago that I'm strong!"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes at the fatty, then continued, "The ranks of cultivators are simple, too. From weakest to strongest, they go from first to ninth order. I should be a seventh-order cultivator now!"

"Seventh Order? Aren't you almost max level?" the fatty cried.

"Max level?"

Lin Chen's face darkened. He looked at the fatty, speechless. "You think this is a game where you level up?"

"It feels pretty much the same," the fatty muttered weakly.

"Pretty much the—"

Lin Chen was about to argue, but after thinking it over, it did seem pretty similar. He killed monsters, gained their essence, then strengthened and improved himself. Wasn't that basically the same as grinding monsters to level up?

The only difference was how it worked. Now that he thought about it, it really was a lot like playing a game!

Not even close!

If you lost in a game, you wouldn't actually die. In the Cultivation World, if you weren't strong enough, you really could end up dead!

"Benefactor Lin!"

Just then, the door to the meditation room swung open. Master Yi Jie entered with an old monk.

Hmm?

The moment he saw the old monk, Lin Chen's expression turned grave. He sensed a faint threat from him. Clearly, even if the old monk wasn't as strong as he was, he couldn't be far behind!

The old monk looked at Lin Chen and pressed his palms together. "Benefactor Lin, this old monk is Yuan Yi."

"Master Yuan Yi!" Lin Chen nodded slightly. This was a venerable monk, and his strength might well have reached the seventh order!

Master Yuan Yi looked at Lin Chen and said with a faint smile, "I already know why Benefactor Lin has come. Why don't we head to the training ground and exchange a few moves first, then talk?"

"Aren't monks not supposed to fight?" The fatty stared at Master Yuan Yi in bewilderment.

Lin Chen hadn't even asked to exchange moves yet, and Master Yuan Yi had already brought it up himself. The fatty wasn't the only one surprised—even Lin Chen found it unexpected.