A Full Measure of Care

"What is it?" Jian Rushuang stopped in her tracks.

Lin Chen pointed at the Rabbit Doll hanging from his waist. "Second Senior Sister, is there any way to stop it from hitting me?"

"It's already bitten you, hasn't it?"

Jian Rushuang glanced at Lin Chen. "If it has, then it's already acknowledged you as its master. For the rest of its life, it will only ever hit you."

Lin Chen stood there, dumbfounded.

What kind of crappy toy was this, actively attacking its own owner?

"It can imitate all kinds of enemies to fight you—like nighttime ambushes, hidden assassins, violent body-tempering cultivators, powerful sword cultivators, and so on. It will attack you relentlessly, regardless of the time..."

As she spoke, Jian Rushuang pulled out a pile of dolls.

"If you think it's not strong enough, I have more here..."

"Second Senior Sister, it's enough, more than enough. I really like it." Lin Chen hurriedly stopped her.

Only then did Jian Rushuang put away the other dolls. "The little rabbit is good. You need to treat it well."

Lin Chen could tell that Jian Rushuang wasn't lying.

Her eyes were full of reluctance.

He immediately nodded solemnly. "Second Senior Sister, rest assured. I will."

Jian Rushuang nodded, turned, and walked away.

Lin Chen stood alone in the courtyard for a long time.

Finally, he let out a sigh and began tidying up and cleaning.

Two hours later, he sat back down at the table, where four small pouches were laid out.

These were the Spirit Stones that Zhao Qingshan and the others had just given him; he hadn't had a chance to open and check them yet.

He opened the first pouch and swept his spiritual sense over it. Inside were neatly arranged 6,000 Spirit Stones.

The second was also 6,000.

The third, 6,000.

The fourth, 10,000.

This was what his senior brothers and sisters had saved up by going without food or drink for an entire year!

Were these Spirit Stones?

No, this was overflowing care!

The 10,000 was from the Sect Leader.

Although they hadn't formally confirmed their master-disciple relationship yet, at this moment, Lin Chen already regarded Zhao Qingshan as his master.

"I'll definitely honor him well in the future, and I'll repay my three senior brothers and sisters too."

After making up his mind, Lin Chen began to calculate.

He now had 28,040 Spirit Stones.

If he hadn't been cultivating the Extreme Dao, he could have definitely broken through to the Return to Origin Realm.

But he couldn't. Not only did he need to advance his cultivation to Qi Condensation Ninth Layer, he also had to train five techniques to the Minor Achievement stage and perform Spirit Attachment five times before he could advance to Return to Origin.

The Spirit Stones required for that were no small amount.

But right now, the biggest threat was that pair of Purple Eyes.

He didn't want to end up as crazy as He Yiliang.

So, those 5,000 Spirit Stones were a must.

That left 23,040. He didn't know if that would be enough.

"Forget it. System, exchange for cultivation. Advance the Soul Forging Art to Minor Achievement."

[Ding, deducting 5,000 Spirit Stones. Exchanging for cultivation. Soul Forging Art advanced to Minor Achievement. Sea of Consciousness expanded tenfold. Seven Souls condensed. Spiritual Sense born. Resists illusions, suppresses inner demons, transmits sound across distances, and inspects others' cultivation.]

Hearing all this, Lin Chen knew those 5,000 Spirit Stones were absolutely worth it.

Immediately after, a roar echoed in his mind.

It was like the creation of heaven and earth.

Lin Chen actually saw his own Sea of Consciousness.

Inside, clouds of mist churned, radiant colors streamed, and light blazed in all directions.

He watched as the mist wildly receded, the space within the Sea of Consciousness growing larger and larger.

Until finally, the space shook violently.

A golden light mass, only the size of a fist, appeared at the center of the space.

At this moment, with his eyes closed, Lin Chen could clearly sense everything within a hundred meters around him.

A blade of grass on the ground sprouted a tender shoot. An ant crawled over it with a soft tap tap tap.

Before, he could only sense the existence of spiritual energy while cultivating.

Now, he could clearly "see" the tiny specks of colorful light flickering in the air.

He felt that he had ascended from perceiving the surface of things to seeing their essence.

Even that cloth bunny rabbit was no longer mysterious.

He could clearly see its internal structure.

It was a treasure forged from precision components combined with various runic arrays and formations.

Earlier, Jian Rushuang had said she couldn't control it.

But now, he felt that wasn't the case.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for making the correct choice. Initial Sea of Consciousness, Gather Spiritual Sense, Awaken Wisdom. The Spirit Stones consumed for cultivating any technique or Dao art are reduced by thirty percent. If cultivated to Great Achievement, the reduction increases to fifty percent.]

Haha...

Lin Chen laughed out loud in delight.

He hadn't expected there to be a hidden surprise.

[If the host exchanges for cultivation now and advances the Five Elements techniques, from Initiation to Minor Achievement, only 330 Spirit Stones are needed per technique, 1650 for all five.]

"Advance!" Lin Chen spoke only a single word.

In an instant, a continuous stream of ding sounds echoed in his mind.

In just a few breaths, all five techniques reached Minor Achievement.

Before Lin Chen could even savor the experience, the system spoke again.

[Ding, does the host wish to fuse the Eternal Spring Art and the Wood Element Art? After fusion, the technique will automatically advance to the Yellow Grade High-level Wood Element Eternal Spring Art. At that time, each advancement will add an additional ten percent to lifespan.]

An effect like that?

Faced with such a huge temptation, Lin Chen wasn't swept along by the rhythm. He pressed further, "How many Spirit Stones does the fusion require?"

[Not many, 390 is enough.]

Lin Chen did the math. After deducting these 390 Spirit Stones, he would have exactly 21,000 left.

"System, are you rounding me off, or are you trying to fool me?" Lin Chen asked warily.

[Host, how can you think of the system that way? The system is fair, just, and transparent...]

"Stop, stop, stop. Exchange it, but I want a complete list of all exchange items, with the exchange tier and required Spirit Stones clearly written."

[Uh... this requires a massive amount of computation. The system needs to be upgraded to achieve this.]

"Upgrade? How do you upgrade?" Lin Chen immediately seized on the key point.

[This generation of hosts is getting harder and harder to fool... Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo! Harder and harder to serve.]

[Alright, I'll tell the truth. The system upgrade also requires Spirit Stones. I did skim a little off the top, but after the system upgrades, the benefits are far greater. Doesn't the host want to have that?]

Finally telling the truth.

"You dog of a system, if you'd told the truth from the start, would I have refused? Hiding and sneaking around, is that fun?"

[Wuwuwu... The system knows it was wrong. Does the host wish to exchange?]

"Exchange!"

What else could Lin Chen do?

He'd already taken in the little rabbit; what was one more system?

Since everything was out in the open, he stopped calculating and spent directly.

Sword Control Art, buy!

Straight to Minor Achievement.

With the aid of his spiritual sense, the upgraded Sword Control Art not only greatly increased in power but also became completely effortless to control.

He could even manipulate five flying swords simultaneously.

"I should also buy a flying magic tool when I get the chance. That way, I can control the flying swords and fight in the sky."

Remembering the time he bombarded that rabbit wildly from the sky, a crooked grin spread across Lin Chen's face.

Moving on.

Body Forging Art, buy!

Straight to Minor Achievement.

Rumble!

His physical body roared.

Every muscle, every blood vessel, every tendon and bone came alive.

Cells continuously split, multiplied, and increased in density. His body not only became tougher but also heavier.

"Now I have thirty thousand jin of strength. Top-grade Magic Tools can hardly harm my body."

Lin Chen never imagined the Body Forging Art would be this formidable.

As for the Flame Primer, he had no intention of upgrading it.

After all, it was a Spirit-grade auxiliary technique; he could always cultivate and integrate it later after advancing to the Return to Origin Realm.

"System, raise my cultivation to Qi Condensation Layer 9 Peak." Lin Chen issued another command.

[Ding, deducted 400 Spirit Stones...]

[Ding, deducted 800 Spirit Stones...]

[Ding, deducted 1,600 Spirit Stones...]

[Ding, deducted 3,200 Spirit Stones, exchanged for cultivation, advancing to Qi Condensation Layer 9 Peak]

Lin Chen watched as the Spirit Stones on the table continuously vanished.

By the time it ended, they had dwindled to fewer than 5,000.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

Immediately after, a series of thunderous roars erupted from within his body.

His cultivation realm surged upward, layer after layer.

Auras rippled, waves of spiritual power stirring gentle breezes that swept outward in all directions.

Lin Chen's robes billowed, his black hair streamed in the wind, and the spiritual power within him churned like colossal waves, rolling with the force of thunder.

In the distance, Zhao Qingshan and his three disciples had not left.

They had long since activated their isolation array and watched without blinking.

"Those Spirit Stones on the table vanished in an instant, and his cultivation keeps climbing—this really is the Devouring Talent!"

"And that's not all. Earlier, he emanated soul and blood qi; now it's cultivation qi. He's walking the Triple Path Cultivation!"

"Master, he's already at Qi Condensation Layer 9, and his physical body is probably tough enough that even a Top-grade Magic Tool would struggle to break through. If outsiders ask, how should we explain?"

At that moment, Zhao Qingshan appeared calm, but inwardly he was already overjoyed.

The Ancestor had kicked his backside and snatched away Han Bingxue, yet he had stumbled upon Lin Chen.

He wondered what expression the Ancestor would wear three months from now, when Lin Chen pinned Han Bingxue down during the Newcomer Competition.

Just thinking about it felt exhilarating!

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