Lin Chen slammed into the ground outside the courtyard and nearly spat up blood.
Clutching his chest, he struggled to his feet and looked toward the courtyard.
Fortunately, that Violent Savage Rabbit hadn't chased him out.
Lin Chen summoned his Flying Sword and walked step by step to the gate.
A sneak attack!
With a whoosh, the Flying Sword shot straight toward that hateful rabbit.
A deafening bang rang out.
The rabbit was barely affected, but the Flying Sword bounced back.
Lin Chen was dumbfounded.
That was a Top-grade Magic Tool, yet it couldn't even hurt that hateful rabbit.
What in the world was this thing?
Attacked, the Violent Rabbit let out an angry roar, locked onto Lin Chen again, and charged at him in a frenzy.
This time, Lin Chen had learned his lesson. He flew a hundred meters into the air.
Looking down from the sky as the creature leaped about, trying to hit him, he took out another Flying Sword.
It was a resource issued to Inner Disciples—a Top Grade Magic Tool.
"Let's give this a try."
He split his attention, controlling the Flying Sword beneath his feet to keep him airborne while trying to control the other one to attack.
His powerful mental strength showed its worth at that moment.
In just a short while, he actually managed it.
"Heh heh, little rabbit, let's see how wild you are now!"
Lin Chen lowered himself until he was hovering just beyond the Violent Rabbit's reach when it jumped.
"Go!"
He formed a sword seal with his hand, and the Top-grade Flying Sword became a streak of light, shooting straight toward the hateful rabbit.
This time, the rabbit raised its fists to fend off the Flying Sword.
Lin Chen didn't press the attack. Instead, he aimed straight for its weak points.
At first he was clumsy, but he gradually grew more adept.
The man and rabbit fought until nightfall.
For some unknown reason, the rabbit went poof and turned back into a cloth doll, dropping to the ground.
Lin Chen was exhausted, too.
He had spent a full nine Spirit Stones fighting the rabbit.
Now he had only forty Spirit Stones left in his pocket.
He slowly descended, then used his long sword to lift up the Rabbit Doll.
Only after confirming that it really wasn't fighting back did he finally relax.
"What in the world is this thing?"
It bit him if he didn't feed it Spirit Stones, and beat him up if he did. Was it crazy?
Lin Chen picked up the Cloth Rabbit and examined it for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what it was.
Wait!
Second Senior Sister was a sword fanatic who spent all day fighting.
Could the thing she gave him be a Training Puppet?
Lin Chen thought that was very likely.
It was something to help him train in combat.
"No wonder!"
Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it wasn't a Ghost.
But at his current level, this thing was far too strong.
This wasn't training—it was just asking to get pummeled.
And, most importantly, wasting Spirit Stones was such a shame.
There was no need for that.
But it was a gift from Second Senior Sister. He couldn't just give it back.
"Ah, I'll get some sleep first. When I have time, I'll see what tasks I can take on."
He was already at Qi Condensation Layer 5, so he could take Outer Sect Tasks and earn Sect Contribution Points and Spirit Stones.
He'd heard that Sect Contribution Points were worth even more than Spirit Stones. When he had a free day, he'd go check them out.
Lin Chen put down the Cloth Rabbit and yawned his way off to bed.
He slept terribly that night.
One moment, the rabbit monster was chasing him and beating him until he was covered in bruises.
The next, that Ghost was after him, trying to strangle him and claim his life.
With those two around, the pair of purple eyes had gone quiet instead and never appeared all night.
The next morning, Lin Chen made breakfast with dark circles under his eyes.
The Sect Master and his three senior disciples arrived. When they saw him, they all looked astonished.
"Lin Chen, what happened to you? Did you go into cultivation deviation... Qi Condensation Layer 5—" Qi Ruming had been joking at first, but then he shouted in surprise.
Ming Bufan and Jian Rushuang put down their chopsticks, too, staring at Lin Chen like he was some kind of monster.
If they remembered correctly, Lin Chen had still been at Qi Condensation Layer 3 when they left yesterday at noon.
They hadn't seen him for one afternoon and one night, and he'd advanced two whole levels.
Even when they'd first joined the sect with reputations as geniuses, they hadn't cultivated at such a monstrous speed!
Rising a whole level in a day—perhaps only Han Bingxue, who had been taken away by the Ancestor, could manage that.
The only one there who wasn't surprised was Zhao Qingshan.
He had observed Lin Chen the day before.
Seeing everyone else so shocked, he felt a little smug.
Not a single one of the disciples he'd brought back was ordinary.
This one, with his Five Elements Root, was even more impressive.
He cooked delicious food, had great comprehension, cultivated quickly, and could even get his hands on storybooks...
He hadn't expected that one passing thought of his would bring back such a monster.
Ahem!
At that thought, he gave a light cough. "From what I've observed, Lin Chen may have a Five Elements Root, but his comprehension is excellent..."
Ming Bufan and the other two looked awkward. That was stating the obvious. They already knew.
Zhao Qingshan ignored them and turned straight to Lin Chen.
"You might have another hidden talent: Devouring."
Devouring?
Everyone looked confused.
Even Lin Chen froze in place.
The Sect Master really could come up with an explanation for anything!
But when he spent Spirit Stones to exchange for cultivation, didn't it look like devouring to other people?
That was a pretty reasonable explanation!
For a moment, Lin Chen looked at Zhao Qingshan with newfound approval.
He scratched his head sheepishly. "I never thought the Sect Master would see through it. It's true, I have a hidden Devouring Talent.
"I didn't dare reveal it because I was afraid someone with ulterior motives might find out..."
He didn't say the rest, but everyone present understood.
Such a talent was terrifying.
He could get stronger simply by devouring.
If the Devilfolk found out, they would surely abduct him.
Even without stripping him of his talent and turning him into a killing machine, just raising his strength at breakneck speed would already be terrifying.
Hearing Lin Chen admit it himself, everyone—including Zhao Qingshan—felt extremely fortunate that they had brought him here.
In their eyes, they had clearly averted a disaster.
"Lin Chen, what can you devour? Can you devour all things and turn them into cultivation?" Qi Ruming asked curiously.
Lin Chen smiled shyly. "At the moment, I can only devour Spirit Stones to increase my cultivation."
"Isn't that just like the little rabbit I gave you? It's a Gold Devouring Beast, too," Jian Rushuang chimed in.
Lin Chen's face darkened. Lady, if you knew that, why did you give it to me?
"I raised it for a long time. Lin Chen, you have to treat it well." Jian Rushuang looked at the Cloth Rabbit hanging on Lin Chen, reluctant to part with it.
Seeing her like that, Lin Chen swallowed all the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.
"Lin Chen."
Zhao Qingshan stared at him intently. "Are you cultivating the Extreme Dao Realm?"
Could he really tell?
Lin Chen blinked, putting on a puzzled expression. "Sect Master, what is the Extreme Dao Realm?"
"Extreme Dao means the Extreme of Body, the Extreme of Technique, the Extreme of Power, and the Extreme of Dao... Whatever can be cultivated, cultivate it to the utmost. That is the path."
Zhao Qingshan explained, "But this method of cultivation was lost long ago, and besides, the current cultivation environment won't allow it.
"If anyone is discovered cultivating the Extreme Dao, they'll be treated as an evil being and hunted down by everyone."
Good grief!
Lin Chen was startled.
But his mental strength was powerful, allowing him to control his emotions at will.
He hastily waved his hands in fright. "Sect Master, I'm not cultivating the Extreme Dao. I really am not."
"Good."
Zhao Qingshan nodded, then swept his gaze solemnly over everyone. "Only the five of us can know about this. You mustn't let anyone else find out. Also..."
He flipped his hand and produced a small pouch. "Set aside some resources for Lin Chen, as much as you can spare."
Hearing this, the other three each took out a small pouch and pushed it toward Lin Chen.
"This... isn't right, is it?" Lin Chen smiled shyly, then gathered all four pouches into his arms.
"Sect Master, Senior Brothers and Senior Sister, I'll count all this as a loan. Once I'm able, I'll pay you back double."
"Hahahaha..."
The four of them laughed together.
"I thought you'd at least pretend to be modest. That part of you is just like me," Zhao Qingshan joked.
But his eyes showed that he approved of what Lin Chen had done.
"Let's eat!"
After breakfast, while everyone was leaving, Lin Chen hurriedly called out, "Second Senior Sister, please wait."
Before you continue