But now, Lei Lin's strength, background (the Wild Thunder Guard), and talent were all among the best in the Fenlai Kingdom. To avoid a shortage of resources for cultivation, he naturally took advantage of every opportunity to help the family prosper.
In fact, because the family had developed so quickly and accumulated wealth so fast, they had even deliberately launched several long-term projects that burned through money, to keep others from coveting their riches.
For example, they funded in-depth education for the children of their family's subjects, allowing those who excelled at the Qi-Nurturing Method to join the family guard and learn more advanced combat techniques, or even battle qi.
They also established various vocational academies, where children who didn't do well at cultivating with the Qi-Nurturing Method could learn a trade like smithing, weaving, or animal husbandry.
Those with good looks or particular talent were even given the chance to study high art forms such as music, painting, dance, and stone carving.
They also reduced agricultural taxes in their lands and abolished the various complicated, petty levies, such as the poll tax and stove tax.
From time to time, they held events and skill competitions to enrich their subjects' spiritual lives, encourage commercial activity in the lands, and identify all kinds of talent, giving their subjects opportunities to distinguish themselves and rise in the world.
They even contacted the Pharmacist Guild to experiment with optimized cultivation methods for high-value medicinal herbs in their lands. They also compiled information on common illnesses among their subjects and sought cheaper ingredients for the relevant medicines, so more people could afford them.
In just a few short years, the five territories under the Zi'ao Family had undergone tremendous changes. The population had grown considerably, and everywhere was full of life, with all things thriving.
All these changes had come from the family's young lord, Lei Lin!
That's right—Lei Lin was already the head of the Zi'ao Family.
Though he rarely involved himself in day-to-day matters, offering only general guidance for the family's development and the production methods for things like soap and spicy strips, the Family Elder Council, led by Jinli'an, handled the actual implementation.
But since Lei Lin spent most of his time cultivating and gaining experience, he was still the family head!
After all, as Sa'er's disciple, he was the one best suited to uphold the family's reputation!
When Lei Lin returned from his training in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, the family members, who had been waiting for him for a long time, greeted him with warmth and concern.
Lei Lin exchanged only a few pleasantries with them. After telling his parents about his experiences in the Magic Beast Mountain Range, he went to the cultivation grounds the family had specially built for him.
A sturdy-looking man was already waiting there.
It was Sa'er, Lei Lin's master. Frowning at the magical items and alchemical tools on Lei Lin, he said, "Lei Lin, you're still wasting your talent!"
"Your average elemental affinity won't take you far as a mage. With your talent in spiritual power, you might achieve something as an Alchemist."
"But so what?"
"On this continent, strength is everything. Only strength can give you a firm foundation!"
"You have a great talent for being a warrior. You shouldn't waste it!"
Lei Lin smiled sheepishly. "Master, I haven't neglected my warrior training, have I?"
Lei Lin respected Sa'er quite a bit. Sa'er had been serious and responsible in teaching him, and he was also the Zi'ao Family's protective umbrella.
Without Sa'er, who knew how many nobles jealous of the Zi'ao Family would have made a move against them? The family's development would never have gone so smoothly, and Lei Lin's path of cultivation would have been full of countless more twists and turns.
Sa'er's expression turned helpless. "Yes, yes, you haven't neglected your warrior training. But if you'd put all the time and effort you've spent on magic into training as a warrior, you'd probably have already broken through to Level Seven!"
"Level Seven! A fifteen-year-old at Level Seven would be a major figure in the kingdom, even as a warrior. You might even be able to join the Radiant Church and become a Holy Knight."
"But you... sigh."
At that, Lei Lin's mouth twitched slightly. Thanks to the sliver of the Law of Lightning he had comprehended through the Telecommunication Gu, he was already Level Seven.
And that wasn't just as a warrior. He had also reached Level Seven as a mage.
Though he had only comprehended a sliver of a law, that meant he had already fulfilled all the prerequisites for entering the Saint Realm: the "force," unity between heaven and man, and everything else.
After all, comprehending force and achieving unity between heaven and man were meant to lay the groundwork for understanding the laws. If someone couldn't even manage those steps, they could forget about comprehending a law.
Lei Lin had cheated. He had understood a law first, then used that understanding to study the more fundamental concepts in reverse. Naturally, none of that had been difficult.
The only thing he lacked was time to build up his reserves!
Once he had accumulated enough battle qi and magic power, he would naturally break through to the Saint Realm!
He had actually reached Level Seven some time ago. But worried that advancing before Lin Lei might disrupt the story, he had kept training in the Magic Beast Mountain Range to avoid affecting the plot.
After all, in the original story, Lin Lei becoming a Level Seven Mage at seventeen was undoubtedly an important turning point. If Lei Lin announced that he had reached Level Seven before Lin Lei did, who knew what kind of butterfly effect that might cause?
But things were different now. His small tests over the years hadn't affected Lin Lei's growth at all, so he planned to try something bigger.
That bigger test was announcing his breakthrough to Level Seven!
After all, he had already decided to get closer to Lin Lei and Beibei. If he didn't figure certain things out now, he was afraid that testing them later, when Lin Lei had grown stronger and was surrounded by high-level monsters, might get him into serious trouble.
As for testing things early, Lei Lin thought the only tests with enough impact would be stealing Alice away from Lin Lei or reaching Level Seven ahead of time and claiming the title of the second most talented mage in Magnolia Continent's history...
No, he should say the first in history. The current record-holder for the youngest Level Seven Mage had been sixteen when he broke through, while Lei Lin was only fifteen!
Of course, there was also the option of randomly choosing someone close to Lin Lei—someone like Reynolds or Hillman—and killing him to see what happened.
But the consequences of that kind of test would be too severe and irreversible. He was afraid he'd be slapped to death by some enormous hand reaching through time from the future, so he gave up on the idea.
Besides, Alice hadn't ended up with Lin Lei anyway, and he was confident he could handle the difference in benefits between being the second- and third-most talented person in Magnolia Continent's history.
After thinking it over for a long time, he finally decided to use his breakthrough to Level Seven as the test.
Seeing that Lei Lin seemed to have drifted off, Sa'er's expression turned stern. He snorted. "Looks like your wings have grown strong, brat. You even dare to zone out while talking to your teacher."
"Come on, let's spar. I want to see how much you've improved during your time training in the Magic Beast Mountain Range!"
Lei Lin immediately snapped out of his brooding over the unknown consequences of testing Lin Lei. He smiled faintly. "Then I'll do my best, Master!"
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