Get Stronger! Get Stronger! Get Stronger!

Looking at the dilapidated earthen house before him, Lin Yi's eyes became somewhat vacant, his mind wandering.

Actually, his family hadn't lived this miserably before.

His father in this life, Lin Haichuan, was a Peak Eighth Rank martial artist in a remote county town under Guangling Commandery. His strength wasn't the strongest, but he was a notable figure in the county town. He ran a Martial Arts School with dozens, even hundreds, of disciples learning martial arts under him.

Every year, not to mention other income, just from tuition fees, after deducting costs, the net profit was two to three hundred taels of silver. Adding various other earnings, his annual income could reach at least four hundred taels of silver, which was forty to fifty times that of an ordinary person.

His mother, Ji Xuan, was the daughter of an old Juren Scholar. Although she wasn't a scholar herself, she was literate and could write, making her quite different from the village women.

Such a family, while not wealthy, was definitely upper-middle class in the county town.

But everything changed two years ago when Lin Yi displayed his talent and was admitted to Guangling Martial Academy in the Commandery City.

The Commandery City was the absolute core of Guangling Commandery for a thousand miles around, and living there was not easy.

Not to mention daily necessities like firewood, rice, oil, and salt, even the monthly rent for an ordinary house was nearly ten taels of silver.

Furthermore, Lin Yi practiced martial arts daily. Although the academy didn't charge tuition fees, strengthening his qi and blood, taking medicine, and refining his body, along with his Swallow Gold cheat, all required money!

There was no other way. To support his son's martial arts training, Father Lin had to give up his comfortable life as the head of the county Martial Arts School and become an escort in the Commandery City, braving wind and rain daily, living on the edge of a knife, just to earn an extra one to two hundred taels of silver a year.

His mother also scrimped and saved, gradually transforming from a lady who never touched dirty water into a housewife skilled in all household chores.

However, even so, the family's annual expenses still exceeded their income, forcing Lin Yi's family's quality of life to decline, and their residence changed three times in two years.

Initially, they settled in the relatively prosperous "Shizi Market" in the Commandery City. Just half a year later, they moved to the farther and more remote "North Gate Alley."

More than half a year ago, they moved to "Liuer Street," a slum famous throughout the Commandery City, living in a leaky earthen house by a stinking ditch, suffering from the stench day and night, all to save two taels and five qian of silver in monthly rent!

Of course, during this time, there were also prominent families in the Commandery City who noticed Lin Yi's talent and wanted to provide financial assistance.

But because Lin Yi's saber technique talent was high, his physical cultivation talent was truly poor, with obvious hard limitations, their conditions were extremely harsh, almost equivalent to selling himself.

Lin Yi had a cheat, so he naturally wouldn't agree, and his parents also disagreed. Thus, they could only suffer together.

"Sigh!"

With a sigh, looking at the dilapidated wooden door just within reach, Lin Yi quickly put away the slight bitterness on his face. Then, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and after forcing a smile, he approached the house and pushed open the door.

But the next moment, a smell of blood suddenly assaulted his nostrils.

"Dad! What happened to you!"

Seeing the scene inside the house, Lin Yi's expression changed.

In the dilapidated living room, the pungent smell of medicine and blood filled his nostrils.

He saw his father, Lin Haichuan, sitting in pain on the bed where the couple usually rested. A terrifying knife wound stretched from his chest to his abdomen on his strong body, flesh and blood turned outward, almost splitting him open from chest to belly.

His mother, Ji Xuan, had red and swollen eyes as she applied medicine to his father.

Seeing Lin Yi return at this moment, both of them instantly stopped the pain and tear tracks on their faces.

Lin Haichuan even forced a smile onto his face and said:

"Yi'er is back. Don't worry, I'm fine. I just ran into those bandit scum from the White Horse Bandits on the escort route."

"Hmph! These petty bandit scum dare to block our Zhenyuan Escort Agency's escort cart. They must be tired of living."

Speaking of this, Lin Haichuan seemed to be showing off, or perhaps trying to reassure his son. With a proud look on his face, he said:

"So, under the leadership of Chief Escort Lin, the White Horse Bandits were utterly defeated by our Zhenyuan Escort Agency in one battle. And your father here gained great face in this battle. Not only did I fight three against one, but I also won!"

"Don't mind that my injuries seem serious. These are all superficial wounds. Those three bandit scum who fought me were far worse off!"

"One had half his head cleaved off by me and died on the spot. Another had a leg broken and was later killed by other escorts from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency."

"The last one, although he escaped, also lost an arm. His martial arts are probably more than half ruined. He's much worse off than me, cough cough..."

As he spoke excitedly, Lin Haichuan seemed to have aggravated his wounds, and he couldn't stop coughing.

Seeing this, Lin Yi quickly patted his father's back to help him breathe, and at the same time, his heart felt a pang. He forced a thumbs-up and smiled, praising:

"Dad is amazing! He truly is Lin Yi's dad!"

"Haha! That's right! That's right! Cough cough! Cough cough!!!"

Lin Haichuan laughed heartily, then coughed again, drawing a scolding from his mother.

Seeing this, Lin Yi's heart felt even more sour. He simply took over his mother's task, applying medicine to his father while looking at his father's horrific wounds and secretly worrying:

"No! I can't let Father continue working at the escort agency. If he gets injured today, and then again tomorrow, who knows when he might suffer a severe injury or even lose his life."

"The only way forward is for me to gather enough silver as soon as possible and see if I can evolve a talent that enhances physical aptitude."

"Even if I can't evolve a Crimson Grade Talent, as long as I evolve a Pure White Grade Talent, I'll have a chance to pass the Martial Arts Imperial Examination and become a Martial Scholar within half a year. Then our family's life will be much better."

The Martial Arts Imperial Examination was a way for the Tianshan Sect to recruit powerful martial artists within the territory. It was divided into three tiers: Scholar, Juren, and Jinshi.

A Martial Scholar, although the lowest tier in the Martial Arts Imperial Examination, was like a carp leaping over the dragon gate for ordinary people!

Not only did they have privileges such as not needing to bow to officials, exemption from taxes, and immunity from severe corporal punishment, but they also received fifty taels of Martial Arts Subsidy Silver for free each month.

Fifty taels a month, that's six hundred taels a year!

Considering that Lin Haichuan, as an escort of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, lived a life on the edge of a knife, his annual income was hard-pressed to reach this amount. This showed the nobility of being a Martial Scholar.

Of course, with so many benefits for passing the Martial Arts Imperial Examination, the requirements were naturally not low.

Generally, a comprehensive combat power reaching the Peak Seventh Rank is required to pass steadily, and having reached the Late Seventh Rank offers a certain hope of passing.

"And the Late Seventh Rank?"

Lin Yi's eyes flickered with light.

"Although this level seems to have a huge gap with me, as long as I evolve a talent that enhances physical aptitude, then the Late Seventh Rank won't be far off!"

One must know that although Lin Yi's current cultivation is low, his Martial Skill technique realm is extremely high.

The Sixth-Rank Martial Art Bright Moon Saber Art at the Great Accomplishment level is sufficient to rival a Seventh-Rank Martial Art at the Perfection level in terms of Martial Skill technique realm!

What's more, Lin Yi is at the peak of this level, which makes him even more formidable. If judged solely by Martial Skill technique realm, many Peak Seventh Rank martial artists, and even a few Sixth-Rank martial artists, are inferior to him.

It is precisely because of this that Lin Yi, with his Eighth-Rank Early Stage cultivation, can fight on par with ordinary Early Seventh Rank powerhouses, and easily severed one arm of the Eighth-Rank Martial Artist "Lustful Woman" Yan Ji during the day.

If in a few months he can break through the Bright Moon Saber Art to the Perfection level, then even most Sixth-Rank martial artists will be inferior to him in terms of Martial Skill technique!

In this way, as long as he evolves a talent that enhances physical aptitude, allowing Lin Yi's cultivation to reach the Late Eighth Rank within half a year.

Then his comprehensive combat power will naturally soar directly to the Late Seventh Rank level, and he will even be considered strong among the Late Seventh Rank. This would naturally give him confidence in being admitted as a Martial Scholar.

"So, the only difficulty now is the 68 taels of silver needed to evolve the talent."

Thinking of this, the joy that had just arisen in Lin Yi's heart dissipated considerably.

68 taels of silver, this sum of money was neither a lot nor a little for him.

If he could be as lucky as he was today in the coming days, catching a few more criminals like the Lustful Woman Yan Ji, then he could gather 68 taels of silver in just a few days.

But if he were unlucky and couldn't catch any criminals, relying only on his family's support, it might delay him for one or two months or even longer.

And based on Lin Yi's experience, the latter possibility was even greater.

After all, Guangling Prefecture City was the absolute core of the thousand-mile radius of Guangling Prefecture, and its public security was quite good. Where would there be so many criminals for him to catch?

"Forget it! I'll do my best and leave the rest to fate!"

With a slight sigh, Lin Yi then carefully applied medicine to his father and planned to return to his room to systematically review the Criminal Investigation Knowledge he had learned in his previous life, so that he could find some criminals as quickly as possible in the coming days and accumulate the 68 taels of silver needed for the panel's recharge.

However, as he got up, his father Lin Haichuan called out to him.

"Hey! Yi'er, don't rush off."

"Huh? Dad, what's wrong? Did I miss something just now?"

Hearing this, Lin Yi stopped in his tracks and asked with concern.

"No! My son is a genius of Guangling Academy. How could there be any mistakes in your application of medicine? It's practically more effective than those legendary Miracle Elixirs!"

Lin Haichuan said proudly, while his hand fumbled around on the bed.

After a short while, several large silver ingots appeared in his hand, and he grinned at Lin Yi:

"Heh heh! I was so focused on healing just now that I forgot to tell you. I made a contribution to the escort agency during the big battle, so Chief Escort Lin of the agency specifically granted me ten days of leave at home to recuperate properly."

"And he paid me my wages for this month in advance. Plus the reward for helping the agency repel those bandit scum and the money for my injuries, it's a total of eighty-five taels and seven qian of silver. Heh! It's almost as much as my wages for the previous two months."

"You keep five taels and seven qian of the odd change for your mother for daily household expenses. You can have the remaining eighty taels."

"Dad! I..."

Looking at the four bright, dazzling silver ingots in his father's hand, Lin Yi felt his eyes blur.

At this moment, he didn't feel much excitement about receiving the silver. Instead, only one thought occupied his mind:

Become stronger!

Become stronger!

Become stronger!