Body Tempering One (Thanks to Moon Knight Moon Alliance Leader)

Lin Hui froze for a moment, then reached out to take the black object and examined it closely in his hand.

It was an irregular lump, resembling a briquette, yet also like some sort of black iron ore.

Its surface bore obvious gray-black fractured gaps. There was no telling which part of a Mist Zone monster it had broken off from.

"All right, I'm leaving this afternoon. I've packed everything already. Once I'm settled with the Zhao Family, I'll write to you when I have the time!" After handing over the item, Chen Zhishen turned, waved, and strode away.

A trace of melancholy unconsciously appeared on his face as he faced away from Lin Hui. That thing had been far harder to obtain than he had made it sound, but Lin Hui had looked after him for so long and helped him so much. This was the only small thing he could do for him.

"Safe travels." Lin Hui watched his retreating figure from behind and offered his sincere blessing.

At Qingfeng Temple, three years was the maximum time allowed to practice the Seven Section Fast Sword, while most trainees who successfully mastered the full set did so in around two years.

Chen Zhishen had been practicing for over a year, and his speed was only average. But he was loyal and righteous, with a clean background and easy to keep under control. That was presumably the main reason Second Senior Brother had taken the initiative to recruit him.

Only after Chen Zhishen's figure had completely disappeared did Lin Hui withdraw his gaze and return it to the black object in his hand.

Out of habit, he focused his attention and opened the Blood Seal, intending to inspect and identify the relevant information.

Hiss.

After a faint sound by his ear, a line of blood-red text swiftly emerged at the bottom of his vision.

"Withered Sealing Bug Egg."

"Hm?" Lin Hui was taken aback. An insect egg? Sealing?

The fragments he had picked up before had all been labeled as remains of some unknown species. Aside from external descriptions, the information only gave rough hints about whether they were hot or cold in nature, or poisonous.

But this thing seemed...

"Not a fragment?"

Lin Hui carefully read on.

"Withered Sealing Bug Egg: This insect egg was once used to seal a certain special Mist Zone creature. After the Mist Zone creature broke free, the egg went without its designated nourishment for a long time, gradually withering until it died. Its internal structure contains a certain powerful sealing pattern. Evolvable branches: 4."

"So many evolution branches!?" Lin Hui's heart tightened. Other items almost never had more than three evolution branches. This was the first item he had seen with as many as four.

Clearly, this was no ordinary thing!

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Hui tapped the evolvable branches.

With a swish, four evolutionary paths appeared.

"1—Demon-Sealing Array."

"2—Artifact-Sealing Array."

"3—Evil-Sealing Array."

"4—Sealing Array."

The abundance of branches left Lin Hui slightly stunned.

Just from their names alone, he could tell these branches were anything but simple. Anything called an array was likely far beyond what someone at his level could come into contact with in this world.

And anything extraordinary often meant it would take longer.

Without hesitation, he opened each branch one by one.

"1—Demon-Sealing Array: Can use special toxins to form a combined array and seal intangible special magical energy.

Required resources: a small amount of magical energy, one set of natural sealing patterns, 10 years of stored vitality, 10 years of stored mental energy.

Required time: 10 years."

Lin Hui's heart trembled. Ten years!? At that rate, his children might be old enough to buy soy sauce before it finished evolving. Besides, he had no idea what magical energy even was.

He closed that entry and looked at the next. Its time requirement was the same as the one above, only the thing it sealed had changed to artifact power, something he had never even heard of.

The third was the same as well, except it sealed so-called Evil Energy.

The required time was also extremely long—at least around ten years.

Left with no choice, Lin Hui looked at the last one.

The fourth was a pure Sealing Array.

"Sealing Array: Can use special toxins to seal the consciousness of ordinary creatures. It is a natural three-dimensional toxin originating from Sealing Bugs."

"Required resources: one month of stored vitality, one month of stored mental energy."

"Required time: one month."

There were no additional requirements whatsoever—only a month needed for the evolution.

Lin Hui pondered it. This seemed to be the fastest evolvable item he could currently access.

Just one month. He could afford that much time, and it would be good for testing the effects of the Blood Seal strengthening other things.

Besides, once Body Tempering began, he would not be in a hurry to learn a new sword technique. His body also needed to be repeatedly tempered with the Seven Section Fast Sword until it reached its limit.

"It's just that this thing couldn't have been as easy to obtain as Chen Zhishen claimed. I've gone out so many times and never encountered one even once... It definitely isn't something found around here..."

Lin Hui could tell that Chen Zhishen had definitely gone somewhere else to find this item.

Perhaps it was some dangerous place... After all, he had visited and wandered through plenty of ordinary places, yet none of them had this thing.

Putting away the insect egg, Lin Hui sighed inwardly and turned, quickly returning to the communal sleeping quarters.

He lifted the plank of his bed. Beneath it sat a wooden chest. Unlocking it and opening the lid, he found a small pile of assorted washed-clean fragments inside.

He had picked up all these fragments while wandering around aimlessly in his spare time. Picking up one piece, Lin Hui focused his attention and activated the Blood Seal.

"Unknown fragment: a shattered piece of outer shell shed from some creature. Evolvable branches: 1."

"1—Synthesize large fragment."

This was the evolutionary answer given by most of these fragments.

They could evolve from fragments into large fragments, nothing more. And the evolution time was likewise measured in years. Extremely long.

"Perhaps continuous evolution and enhancement can eventually restore it, but that isn't what I want. Spending the Blood Seal's time on this would be more loss than gain. I have to find a way to increase the Blood Seal's evolution speed."

He placed the newly acquired insect egg into the chest, then closed and locked it again.

"Once the final evolution is complete, I'll start trying."

Of everything he had come into contact with, this insect egg had the shortest evolution time. It also seemed to involve a supernatural ability beyond martial arts.

Faced with such a special ability that exceeded his understanding, Lin Hui felt somewhat expectant.

After putting the bed plank back in place, he became a little more concerned about the privacy of his living quarters.

"I need to find a way to live alone... After Body Tempering, once I pass the assessment and become a formal disciple, I should be assigned a private room. Soon. Very soon..."

As he walked out of the communal sleeping quarters, two young men entered from the opposite direction. Both were unfamiliar faces. Those who had left naturally had their spots filled by new trainees.

But that also brought security risks. Personal belongings being stolen was no rare occurrence here.

"Senior Brother Lin," the two greeted Lin Hui in turn.

"Mm." Lin Hui nodded in response as he brushed past them.

Chen Zhishen had left.

Over the following days, Lin Hui found sword practice somewhat troublesome. Before, he could immerse himself completely in training, because whenever something came up, Chen Zhishen would take the initiative to tell him.

But now, he was gone.

Lin Hui was solitary by nature and had no one else to support him. He always preferred to train alone in a quiet corner.

Huishen, who had once treated him fairly politely, now acted as though he did not exist at all.

Lin Hui could only change to another place to practice his sword, training bitterly while waiting for the final evolution to be completely finished.

Only by completing Body Tempering and becoming one of those twenty-odd formal disciples could he improve his life. When the time came, he intended to take in a junior brother to handle errands and such for him.

As for now, he did not yet have enough value for anyone to support or attach themselves to him.

Time slowly passed.

In the blink of an eye, a month went by.

Chen Zhishen had gone to the Zhao Family. To Lin Hui's surprise, a month later, he really did send a letter back, along with some local specialty from that town. He had bought it with his first month's wages.

It was a portion of peanut jujube cake, sweet and fragrant.

Lin Hui tried one piece himself and delivered the rest to his mother.

In the letter, Chen Zhishen mentioned that the Zhao Family treated them very well, providing the best of everything. His current duties consisted of occasionally escorting merchant caravans, while the rest of the time, he took turns with the others instructing the Zhao Family's ordinary guards.

What left Lin Hui most speechless was that Chen Zhishen mentioned in the letter that he had met a senior sister who was also a guard over there. The two had fallen in love, and they were already living together.

What white flower, what Xie Li—how could either compare to a hot-bodied senior sister!

Chen Zhishen lavished praise upon that senior sister named Zhang Tingfang in the letter, claiming she was one of a kind and perfectly suited to his tastes.

The letter had been written by someone else on his behalf. There was no signature from Chen Zhishen at the end, only his red handprint. The print was even crooked, leaving Lin Hui both speechless and amused.

Putting away the letter, he once more threw himself wholeheartedly into training.

Xinyu Town.

Looking utterly exhausted, Lin Shunhe quietly kept close to the shadows along the wall, slipping soundlessly through a hole and into his own courtyard.

He looked up at the sky. It was nearly evening, but the fog had yet to form. Only then did he let out a breath of relief.

Money was not so easy to earn.

Especially for an old man like him with a stained record. Even his wife had been implicated and nearly dismissed. If not for her many years of work and the connections she had built up, Yao Shan might have been fired by now as well.

And even so, Yao Shan's employer had taken the opportunity to withhold most of her earnings.

The only reason Lin Shunhe could still make money now was because he had entered the gray market.

Using his old connections, he had joined a black-market gang specializing in fencing stolen goods. The income was decent, but he was constantly dealing with all sorts of dangerous people. The risks were considerable.

Fortunately, things would soon get better. Once he had saved enough money, he could open his own shop. Opening a small general store and being able to make a living would be a good start.

Knock, knock, knock.

All at once, the courtyard gate was knocked upon.

Lin Shunhe had just been about to enter the inner room when he heard it and turned his head.

"Who is it?"

"Mr. Lin Shunhe, right? We're from the Fortune Peace Gang. The storefront you applied for earlier has been approved. You can open the shop, but the rules must still be followed," came a rough, booming male voice.

Lin Shunhe quickly stepped forward, letting out a breath of relief as he opened the gate.

Three broad-waisted, thick-armed brutes stood outside, dressed in gray sleeveless jackets and black shorts, each with a thick wooden club planted against the ground.

Seeing the gate open, the burly man at the front clasped his fists. "I am Xu Dao. Mr. Lin, you still remember the rules, yes?"

"I remember, I remember. Once the shop opens, half the earnings must be handed over on time every month. Don't worry, I remember it all." Lin Shunhe nodded hurriedly. The Fortune Peace Gang was the largest gang in Xinyu Town. Back when he had handled affairs for that important person, naturally no one had dared come to collect money from him. But things were different now.

"Good. When you open the shop, go register at one of our nearby gang offices. If you run into any trouble in the future, you can invoke our name." Xu Dao nodded.

"Oh, right. If your earnings are too low—or you even lose money—you must still make up a minimum of three thousand coins. Remember that." As though suddenly recalling something, he added one more sentence.