Appeasing the Elders

Is this even a human?

Qi Ruming's face alternated between pale and green.

He had just been bragging in front of the kid.

And then, with a single swing, the kid completely crushed him—this old hand who'd been mining for thirty-eight years.

What kind of skill was this?

One pickaxe strike, and the ground split open in a wide arc.

Even if he mined for a hundred years, he could never train to that level!

Qi Ruming simply couldn't figure it out.

But Lin Chen didn't give him the chance to dwell on it. He grabbed his pickaxe and charged out.

Ore fragments scattered everywhere.

Thump, thump, thump...

The more Lin Chen swung, the more energy he had.

By the time Qi Ruming snapped back to his senses, the entire area around them had been cleared.

He walked over, and Lin Chen had already finished collecting the ore into his storage pouch.

"Third Senior Brother, total of thirty thousand eight hundred and seventeen pieces. Is that enough?"

Lin Chen held out the storage pouch to Qi Ruming.

Qi Ruming touched the pouch, feeling like he was dreaming.

Ha ha ha ha...

After a long moment, he burst into laughter.

"This will last me a good long while." He weighed the pouch in his hand, then grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Little Junior Brother, you're the best. Come on, let's head back to the sect."

The two of them walked back to the sect with their arms slung over each other's shoulders.

It sparked another round of heated discussion.

This time, Lin Chen was thoroughly famous.

After turning in their task and returning to Sect Leader Peak, they immediately saw a large crowd of elders gathered there.

"What's going on?" Qi Ruming glanced at Lin Chen, a bit confused.

Lin Chen had no idea either. Before he could answer, a group of elders had already surrounded him.

"Lin Chen, have you taken a master yet?" Elder Liu, who was in charge of assessments, stepped forward first to ask.

Lin Chen looked down at his own robes and nodded blankly.

"Ah! How could you take a master already? You're so young, what's the rush?"

"I heard you're even cooking for them and cleaning up. What kind of Inner Disciple does chores like that?"

"Exactly, exactly. Why don't you sever your master-disciple relationship and come to our Scripture Depository? I guarantee you can do whatever you want all day."

"What's so great about the Scripture Depository? Come to my Alchemy Hall..."

"Nonsense! If you're going anywhere, it's our Artifact Refining Hall..."

The elders bickered and jostled, pulling at each other.

Lin Chen was tugged back and forth among them.

Qi Ruming, meanwhile, was pushed to the side, watching the spectacle with great amusement.

After a moment, he secretly pulled out his Token and sent a message to Zhao Qingshan.

"Master, a whole bunch of elders are fighting over your little disciple. It's getting intense."

He even attached a recording, then continued standing by to enjoy the show.

By now, the elders were red-faced from their argument.

Some had even started shoving each other physically.

"Elders, hear me out!"

At the critical moment, Lin Chen let out a loud shout, finally stabilizing the situation.

The elders all glared at one another, snorted coldly, and backed off.

Seeing this, Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief. "Elders, I am deeply grateful for your goodwill, but I have already taken a master at Sect Leader Peak, and I will never commit an act of abandoning my teacher and betraying the Dao.

If I did such a thing, would any of you dare to trust me?"

His question calmed the elders' anger.

"To be honest, I'm still in the sect—I'm not going anywhere. What are you all worried about?"

He straightened his robes. "What you elders really want is for me to join your halls. And how is that any different from now?"

The elders were left speechless.

"The main thing is, my cultivation is too low right now. Even if I went to your place, I wouldn't be of much use."

Hearing this, the Scripture Depository Elder refused to let it go.

"That's not the same. What we need here is brains, not brute force like them. If you come to me, ask for anything and you'll get it."

"You're full of shit! Since when do we use brute force here? Runes, formations—which one doesn't require brains? Which one doesn't rely on talent?"

"Exactly. Old thing from the Scripture Depository, watch your mouth. Alchemy also needs talent."

"So what? I said it. What are you gonna do about it?"

"Oh! Old thing, your skin's itching for a tightening, huh? Beat him!"

In an instant, the scene erupted into chaos again.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Lin Chen stood in the middle, doing his best to hold them back.

Faced with a group of elders like this, he was truly speechless.

The main thing was, they all meant well for him.

If any other disciple had this treatment, they'd have gone crazy with joy long ago.

But he was deeply troubled.

Watching the elders about to start fighting again, his eyes suddenly lit up as an idea struck him.

"Esteemed elders, I have a thought."

Lin Chen shouted loudly, "Everyone stop for a moment. Hear me out."

Finally getting the elders to calm down again, Lin Chen quickly spoke.

"How about this: when Master returns, you discuss it with him, and let me have time to come to your places and do some part-time work?"

Part-time work?

The elders heard this term for the first time and didn't quite understand what it meant.

Lin Chen had to explain, "What I mean is, without delaying matters on Sect Leader Peak, I can find time to go to each elder's place to learn and work. It's just a pity about my spiritual root..."

"Don't worry about that. We'll find Heavenly Treasures ourselves to make up for your foundation."

"So, are we agreed on this?" Lin Chen looked at the elders.

The elders glanced at each other, and in the end, could only nod.

Lin Chen also breathed a sigh of relief.

This was just a delaying tactic for him.

Whatever changes might happen later, he'd deal with them then.

After seeing off the elders, Lin Chen let out a long breath. "Being too outstanding makes you sought after wherever you go."

"Oh, cut it out!" Qi Ruming came up and punched him in the chest.

It rang out with a solid thud.

He looked at Lin Chen in surprise, then punched him a few more times.

The feeling was still the same.

"What kind of battle armor are you wearing? Did Master give you another treasure?"

As he spoke, he felt around Lin Chen's body.

"What treasure?"

Lin Chen jumped back in one step. "My Body Forging Art has reached minor success, so my physical strength has increased. Right now, a Top-grade Magic Tool can't hurt me."

"You're a freak!" Qi Ruming thought back to when he first joined the sect, and compared to Lin Chen, he was far inferior.

Add in the mining experience from before, and he was about to go into seclusion from frustration.

Lin Chen seemed to see through his thoughts. "Third Senior Brother, having a junior brother like me—are you proud or not?"

"Hahaha... I'm proud!"

Qi Ruming immediately figured it out. No matter how impressive Lin Chen was, he was still his junior brother.

Thinking of this, he cheered up again.

The two walked side by side up Sect Leader Peak.

"Little Junior Brother, do you know what mission Master and the others went on? It's been half a month, why haven't they come back yet?"

Halfway along the path, Qi Ruming suddenly asked.

Lin Chen glanced at him and answered casually, "If Third Senior Brother doesn't know something, how would I?"

"True."

The two went their separate ways.

Lin Chen returned to his room and began to count the Spirit Stones on him.

Previously, I had obtained one hundred nine thousand, plus the remaining four thousand-plus, making it one hundred thirteen thousand-plus.

Advancing to Spirit Attachment sixth layer cost sixty-three thousand.

That left just over fifty thousand.

Adding the Spirit Cores from today's Mine Beast kills and the spoils from that Raksha Sect member I killed.

All together, it came to fifty-one thousand Spirit Stones.

"Not enough!"

Spirit Attachment seventh layer needed sixty-four thousand Spirit Stones—still over ten thousand short.

"I wonder how much reward Master and the others will give me when they return this time?"

Lin Chen took out the captured Raksha Sect token and the black token his father had left behind.

The two tokens looked very similar from the outside.

Lin Chen examined them closely and soon spotted the differences.

The grooves in the Raksha Sect token were dark red, giving off a bloody scent.

The grooves in his father's token were golden yellow, with a faint, pleasant fragrance.

He remembered that when Qi Ruming had inspected the Iron Box before, he had also seen this token left by his father.

He hadn't said much about it.

Could this token represent something else?

"Little Junior Brother, I've opened the Iron Box!"

Just as he was focused on studying the tokens, Qi Ruming came running over.