Training Beyond Home

More than a month passed, and it was almost time for this year's Family Annual Meeting.

Over the past month, with the aid of the Flame Gold Flame and the Three-Fire-Mouth Cauldron, Lin Ming became increasingly adept at refining Second-Grade Pills. A few days ago, he raised his success rate for refining Ice Heart Pills to over ninety percent, then went on to refine other Second-Grade Pills: the Pulse Origin Pill, which could repair damaged meridians; the Potency Pill, which could temporarily increase strength by thirty percent but had severe side effects, leaving one bedridden for five days after its effects wore off; the Bone-Regenerating Pill, which possessed even stronger healing properties; and so on. Lin Ming's success rate in refining Second-Grade Pills was now over seventy percent across the board, an exceptionally high rate.

This year's Family Annual Meeting began as usual. The difference was that Lin Ming no longer needed to go up and have his cultivation tested. Those required to undergo testing were children above ten and below sixteen whose cultivation had reached Dou Qi, or those who had reached Dou Qi Stage Seven or above by the age of ten. Lin Ming had already become a Dou Zhe during last year's Family Annual Meeting, so he did not need to be tested today. Looking at the orderly proceedings, he felt a little strange at having changed from one of the participants into a spectator.

The Family Annual Meeting continued until the sun reached the horizon, at which point it drew to a close. Before long, as everyone departed, this year's Family Annual Meeting officially ended.

After the meeting, Lin Ming sought out Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan, Grandpa Liu, and Master Toso.

Inside a room, three elderly men sat watching a youth speak.

"Clan Leader, Grandpa Liu, Master Toso. Xiao Ming has decided to go out and train for half a year after the New Year, then participate in this year's Jia Nan Academy recruitment." Lin Ming spoke to the three old men.

"Training? I have no objection to you going to Jia Nan Academy in half a year, but forget about this training. You are a dignified Alchemist—why risk your life fighting those warriors? What if something happens? I don't agree. If you stay in the clan and refine pills for the next six months, even if you don't definitely reach the level of a Third-Grade Alchemist, you can at least take a major step toward it." Unexpectedly, Master Toso was the first to object. Lin Ming had thought Grandpa Liu would be the first to oppose him. After all, he was the Lin Family's last bloodline.

Just as he was thinking that, Grandpa Liu spoke as well. "Xiao Ming, why don't you reconsider this training? Grandpa Liu won't stop you from going to Jia Nan Academy in half a year, but I still think it's a little too early for you to go out and train now."

Only Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan looked at Lin Ming before asking, "Have you decided?"

Facing Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan's question, Lin Ming nodded seriously. "Yes, Clan Leader. Xiao Ming has already thought it through."

"Good! You're already fourteen. In another two years, you will be an adult. Since you've made up your mind, then go do it! Just remember, before you do anything, that there are still three old fellows at home worrying about you, and that the clan still needs you to lead it to its peak. Don't take unnecessary risks." Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan spoke to Lin Ming.

"Clan Leader?" Master Toso called out.

"Enough, I know what you want to say. But a young eagle must always fly out before it can grow. It cannot mature while remaining under the clan's protection. This matter is settled!" Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan said to Master Toso. Hearing this, Grandpa Liu swallowed the words he had been about to say.

Mittel Tengshan's Storage Ring flashed, and a transparent mask appeared in his hand. "This is a mask made from the hide of a Thousand Illusions Fox. Wearing it can alter your appearance, and even I would not be able to detect anything unusual. Take it with you during your training. Change your appearance to avoid being discovered and assassinated by the clan's enemies."

"This is great. Then I'll accept it. Thank you, Clan Leader." Lin Ming happily accepted the mask. He had been preparing to ask whether the clan possessed anything capable of changing one's appearance, but Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan had given him one in advance. This would make it much easier for him to take that Tou She Ancient Emperor Jade fragment from the Xiao Family in the future. Once he changed his appearance and used a Water Attribute, who could connect that person to Lin Ming? Heh heh, he laughed inwardly.

"Ah! Xiao Ming, come find me tomorrow as well. I'll give you a High-Grade Movement Fighting Skill. That way, if you can't win, you can at least run away." Grandpa Liu sighed and spoke to Lin Ming.

"Before you leave, come by the Medicine Refinement Hall and take some pills with you." Master Toso said with a grim facial expression.

Looking at the people who cared for him, Lin Ming once again felt that he was not alone. There were people in the clan who cared about him. He then said, "Please rest assured! Xiao Ming will definitely be careful when I'm out there. If something exceeds my abilities, I'll retreat immediately."

"Mm. Good! Remember what you said. We old fellows will wait for you to return in the clan. If there's nothing else, go prepare." Mittel Clan Leader Tengshan said.

"Then Xiao Ming will take his leave." Lin Ming gave the old men a deep bow before walking out the door. After Lin Ming left, the people in the room seemed to discuss something. Only after a long while did they depart one by one.

The afterglow of the setting sun slanted across the earth as a youth who appeared to be in his twenties, dragging a long shadow behind him, arrived before two towering stone horse statues. Looking at the two massive stone horses, the youth knew that he had reached his destination: Stone Horse Town. It was a town beneath the Monster Mountain Range, named after the two tall stone horses standing before it.

This youth in his twenties was Lin Ming, disguised with the Thousand Illusions Mask, and Stone Horse Town was his destination this time. After half a month of travel, he had arrived here. Of course, he had not traveled entirely on foot; he had ridden horses along the way. But when he neared Stone Horse Town, he sold his horse and continued on foot. Riding all the way into the town would have been too conspicuous and did not suit his plans.

Lin Ming had come to train in the Monster Mountain Range. This mountain range spanned several empires and did not have only the Green Mountain Town entrance that Xiao Yan used in the original story. Stone Horse Town was also one of its entrances, and there were many others like it. Lin Ming had merely chosen this one at random, a half-month journey away.

As for why he did not go to Green Mountain Town, find the Cave Mansion, take Xiao Yi Xian with him, and seize the opportunity there—Lin Ming could only say, what time was it now? He was only fourteen. According to the timeline established earlier—Chapter Seven had explained the age differences between Lin Ming and certain people from the original story—Xiao Yi Xian was only eleven. It was uncertain whether she was even in Green Mountain Town yet. As for the Cave Mansion containing the Pure Lotus Demonic Flame Fragment Map, Xiao Yi Xian would only discover it shortly after Xiao Yan's Coming of Age Ceremony, when he was about to leave for training. Xiao Yi Xian did not even know about it now. As for having Lin Ming search for it himself, all he could say was, heh. There was a saying: "A mountain in sight can still exhaust a horse." Even reaching a visible mountain peak took tremendous effort, let alone a place whose exact location was unknown, with only the information that it lay beneath a cliff. There were countless such places in the Monster Mountain Range. If he searched them one by one, he did not know whether he could find it in two years. Besides, even riding a Flying Magical Beast from the Imperial City to Green Mountain Town would take two months, while his training trip was only half a year long. He could not spend all his time traveling. He only needed to obtain the Pure Lotus Demonic Flame Fragment Map slightly before Xiao Yan set out. There was no need to waste so much time on it now. Lin Ming did not lack the resources inside that Cave Mansion anyway.

After entering Stone Horse Town, Lin Ming found an inn and selected a medium-grade room for the night. Tomorrow, he would enter the Monster Mountain Range.

That night, after eating the food delivered by the waiter, Lin Ming began cultivating the meridians required for the Movement Fighting Skill. As for the Movement Fighting Skill, it was the High-Grade Movement Fighting Skill Grandpa Liu had told Lin Ming to collect the day after he proposed going out to train: the Profound Tier High-grade movement Dou Technique, Star-Stepping Steps. When Lin Ming first received Star-Stepping Steps, he had been so excited that he could not sleep all night. He kept reading its description, which went as follows.

Star-Stepping Steps. A Profound Tier High-grade movement Dou Technique. Its creator observed the stars filling the sky and developed a desire to comprehend them, one that lingered for a long time. One night, he fell asleep beneath the starry sky and dreamed of bathing in starlight, stepping upon countless stars and roaming among them. Upon awakening, he could not forget that feeling, so he created the movement Dou Technique, Star-Stepping Steps. After creating it, he immediately circulated Dou Qi to test it. Although it could be used at close or far range and changed in countless ways, as though one step crossed the distances between different stars, its speed and range were only stronger than ordinary High-Grade movement Dou Techniques. It barely reached the Quasi-Earth Tier and could not even compare to an Earth Tier Low-grade technique, falling far short of the Heaven Tier movement technique its creator had envisioned. After repeated experiments, its creator found that its speed could increase by ten percent at night beneath the light of the stars, but it was still far from the Heaven Tier. The creator speculated that using Star Power to activate it might achieve the expected Heaven Tier movement technique, but he had no method of cultivating or using Star Power.

Seeing that description, Lin Ming could only say that people at different levels truly thought differently. Its creator had developed a movement technique that reached the Quasi-Earth Tier and was still dissatisfied because it failed to meet his expectations. What level had that expert reached? He had to be at least a Dou Zong, perhaps more likely a Dou Venerate. After all, he was someone who had wanted to create a Heaven Tier movement technique. Lin Ming knew that the Pill Tower in the Middle Continent possessed an ownerless Heavenly Flame formed from condensed Star Power—the Three Thousand Burning Flame. If that expert's speculation was correct, and activating Star-Stepping Steps with Star Power could raise it to the level of a Heaven Tier Dou Technique, then once Lin Ming refined the Three Thousand Burning Flame, it would be virtually impossible for anyone below a Dou Sheng to keep him. Thus, he stopped thinking about such matters and began cultivating it immediately. After half a month of training, he had already opened most of the meridians. At most, another ten days should be enough to open them all, allowing him to put it into practice officially.

The night passed in cultivation. Lin Ming checked out of his room and headed toward the Monster Mountain Range beneath the rising sun.