An Unexpected Turn

Time slipped by little by little.

As the pill was steadily absorbed and refined, Chen Lin felt his long-stagnant cultivation stir back to life. Even the barrier that had seemed like a heavenly chasm began to loosen slightly.

He immediately accelerated the circulation of his cultivation technique, repeatedly battering the bottleneck.

Suddenly.

Chen Lin's body shuddered, and a faint pop seemed to sound within him.

He felt his accumulated mana find an outlet, surging through the breach in the bottleneck. A sense of freedom and exhilaration welled up inside him.

The third layer of Qi Refining-I did it!

Feeling the mana within him, nearly twice as abundant as before, Chen Lin could scarcely believe it.

The bottleneck that trapped this body's original owner for nearly twenty years was broken just like that?

Was it the pill, or did my transmigration change this body somehow, making it less hopeless?

Unable to figure it out just then, he simply stopped thinking about it.

Whatever the reason, breaking through was all that mattered. He was one step closer to his goal of the mid Qi Refinement realm.

Excited, Chen Lin immediately took out his talismancrafting materials, bent over the table, and began making Fireball Talismans.

After his brush danced across the paper like a dragon and serpent, the talisman paper went up in a puff with a bang, reduced to ashes.

He had failed.

Yet Chen Lin was not discouraged. Instead, satisfaction showed on his face.

Just as he had expected, after reaching the third layer of Qi Refining, his mana had become more abundant and purer. Drawing Fireball Talismans now took hardly any effort.

That would greatly shorten the time required, allowing him to make more talismans each day.

Although he had successfully refined Chuyuan Pills, he did not want anyone to know.

If someone who had never tried pill refining suddenly became capable of making pills, even a fool would know something was wrong. Once word got out, he was certain to attract unwanted attention, and it hardly took any imagination to know that would end badly.

He still had to rely on his old trade, making talismans to earn spirit stones.

Putting aside his stray thoughts, Chen Lin continued talismancrafting.

A long while later, he used up one portion of spirit ink.

He had two finished talismans in hand.

Joy lit up his face.

Good things really did come in pairs. Not only had his cultivation broken through, but his ability to make Fireball Talismans had improved as well.

With his Ten Attempts One Hit ability added in, he could now get two Fireball Talismans out of every ten attempts!

That earned far more than making Vigor Talismans, and his success rate could still rise as he grew more proficient.

If my success rate reached thirty percent, or even forty percent...

Just imagining that prospect excited Chen Lin.

Soon, however, he calmed down.

Distant water could not quench an immediate thirst. Even an improvement in his talismancrafting could not resolve the urgent crisis burning at his heels.

His most important task now was to raise his cultivation to the mid Qi Refinement realm and leave this place as soon as possible.

He could not delay, much less reach for lofty goals beyond his grasp.

Suppressing his restless excitement, Chen Lin took out a pill, swallowed it, and immersed himself in cultivation.

Whether the Chuyuan Pills were exceptionally effective or his transmigration had altered this body's aptitude, Chen Lin's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds with the pills' assistance.

But just as he was basking in the pleasure of his growing cultivation, something happened that filled him with terror.

That night, after the Bronze Bell in the corner rang, he went to the window as usual to watch the bizarre scene outside.

This time, however, something new happened.

As countless red lines shot into the sky, an enormous, hazy shadow suddenly appeared overhead.

The instant that shadow appeared, a sense of danger that made his hairs stand on end enveloped him.

Before he could do anything, a red line descended from the sky and attached itself to him.

Immediately afterward, he felt as though something inside him was flowing away endlessly along that red line.

No matter how he moved or what method he tried, he could not shake it off.

Suddenly, scarlet light flared from Chen Lin's body, and his entire bearing changed, becoming deeply sinister and unnatural.

At the same time, an exaggerated expression of wild arrogance appeared on his face.

A quarter of an hour later, the hazy shadow in the sky slowly dispersed, and the thin red lines filling the heavens vanished along with it.

Chen Lin's body returned to normal as well.

"The moon is so round tonight!"

Looking at the pitch-black sky, he inexplicably voiced that sentiment, then returned to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Morning came.

Chen Lin felt unusually refreshed that day.

It was not merely because his cultivation had broken through. There was also some change he could not put into words.

He opened the door and stepped into the courtyard, discovering that the snow had stopped.

The entire city was clad in silver-white, and the curling wisps of cooking smoke wove a graceful scene around it.

"As expected of the Immortal Cultivation World. It really does feel different!"

Taking a blissful breath of the spiritual qi between heaven and earth, Chen Lin felt utterly satisfied with his transmigration.

"Now that I've reached the third layer of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment won't be a problem with my Golden Finger. Then I'll marry eight or ten female cultivators and become the founder of this city's sixth great lineage!"

"No, I can't settle for Foundation Establishment. I'm a transgressor-I ought to aim higher. At the very least, I need to reach Golden Core and unite Kaiyuan City, or I'll disgrace the name of transgressors!"

While Chen Lin was reveling in his own fantasies, the door opposite him suddenly opened.

The Sallow-Faced Female Cultivator stepped out.

Seeing her, Chen Lin immediately cast her a sidelong look and sneered. "Old woman, you see me and don't even take the initiative to greet me? Looks like you're asking for trouble!"

Anger appeared on the female cultivator's face, and she was about to retort, but her expression immediately turned to astonishment.

"You... you actually broke through!"

Chen Lin found her reaction deeply gratifying and said airily, "How could a mere third layer of Qi Refining possibly stand in my way?"

The female cultivator pressed her lips together, envy appearing on her face.

"How did you do it? Did you manage to buy pills? Could you introduce me to whoever supplied them?"

They all lived in the same courtyard and knew one another's circumstances perfectly well. It was no secret that Chen Lin had been stuck at the second layer of Qi Refining for nearly twenty years. The female cultivator did not believe for a moment that he had broken through naturally.

Thus, her eyes were filled with anticipation.

She, too, had been stuck at the peak of the third layer of Qi Refining for countless years. If she could buy pills that increased her cultivation, she could absolutely break through to the mid Qi Refinement realm. That would open up a whole new world!

"How could that be? Where would I find a supplier for pills?"

Chen Lin waved his hands repeatedly.

The matter of the pills absolutely could not get out, or he would be in serious trouble.

But before she could speak, he gave her a sidelong look and sneered. "Mere pills-why would I need to buy them? I can just..."

At that point, Chen Lin's voice stopped, and he froze in a daze.

"You can just what? Listen, Chen Lin, we've been neighbors for years. Don't keep all the good things to yourself. If you want something in return, I can always give you a good time."

The female cultivator grew anxious.

Chen Lin remained in a daze.

Then, without saying another word, he turned and left the courtyard.

"You old bachelor! What's so impressive about breaking through to the third layer of Qi Refining? Look at you, putting on airs! Once I reach the mid Qi Refinement realm, I'll chop you up and make soup out of you!"

The female cultivator flew into a thunderous rage, her curses rising in wave after wave.

Chen Lin seemed not to hear her at all. He merely walked on with his head lowered.

His brow remained tightly furrowed as he walked.

He had noticed something abnormal about himself.

Previously, he would never have behaved so ostentatiously. Not only had he flaunted his breakthrough, but he had even nearly revealed that he could refine pills himself. That was completely at odds with his cautious, low-profile way of doing things.

He also realized that he seemed to have forgotten something.

But he could not remember exactly what he had forgotten.

Forget it. There's no need to worry about so much. Keeping my head down and quietly growing stronger is still the right path.

After thinking for a long time without figuring out what was wrong, he simply stopped dwelling on it and headed straight to the Market.

After purchasing a large batch of materials, he hurried back.