Kekkei Mōra

"Big brother, you..." Lin Li stared in shock at Lin Qin, who had been sent flying, his face full of disbelief. His brother had clearly been dominating the fight, beating Lin Chuan back. How had things turned around in an instant? And how had his brother been sent spitting blood by a single strike from those soft, seemingly powerless fists?

"Take your brother and get out! If there's a next time, I'll kill you!" Lin Chuan said in a calm voice.

Since Lin Qin had helped him perfect his Gentle Fist, Lin Chuan hadn't gone for the kill. Otherwise, with that final punch, he could have shattered Lin Qin's internal organs and ended his life in one blow!

Call him kindhearted or cowardly, but Lin Chuan, who had only just arrived in this world, truly couldn't bring himself to kill without a shred of feeling. Especially when his opponent was only about ten years old. Still, he showed no mercy to anyone who tried to kill him. After taking that barrage of Gentle Fist strikes, Lin Qin wouldn't be getting out of bed for at least a month or two.

Injuries to the internal organs and meridians were far more terrifying than external wounds, and no one knew how much longer they would take to heal.

Lin Li and the other boy gazed at Lin Chuan's white eyes, his veins bulging around them, and felt as if they were looking at the most terrifying monster in the world. That icy gaze and utterly unruffled expression made them feel he wasn't a nine-year-old child at all, but a ruthless monster who had been cultivating for who knew how many years.

Daring not to say another word, the two boys dragged the gravely injured, unconscious Lin Qin out of Lin Chuan's room, stumbling and crashing into things as they went. They never wanted to see that Byakugan monster again. The image of Lin Chuan with his Byakugan became the most horrifying nightmare buried deep in their hearts.

After the three of them had left, Lin Chuan sat on the edge of his bed and began replenishing his chakra while calculating his gains and losses.

Based on Lin Qin's strength, Lin Chuan figured he could currently handle cultivators at no higher than the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage. Anything beyond that was too much. Even if the Byakugan let him see through his opponent's movements and predict the force behind their attacks, his reflexes couldn't keep up. In other words, he wouldn't be able to dodge effectively.

Lin Chuan had just personally experienced the power of a cultivator's attacks. They were definitely much stronger than his own, so he couldn't afford to get hit. Otherwise, he would suffer serious injuries.

And the Gentle Fist had to land repeatedly to be effective. Landing a hit once in a while would have some effect, but it would be extremely limited, so it couldn't be used as a move to take both fighters down.

"Making another breakthrough in a short time will be difficult. But I do have another way to rapidly increase my strength in the near term: cultivation!" Lin Chuan thought.

Whether or not his speculation about Sage Mode was correct, following the cultivation methods of this world, where cultivation was widespread, would certainly let him grow stronger quickly. He had another reason, too: to conceal his strength.

He had already tested it. People in this world could sense the presence of spiritual energy inside others, but they couldn't sense chakra. In other words, once Lin Chuan began cultivating, the strength he displayed to others would be his strength with the chakra portion excluded. They would definitely underestimate him, which would actually work in his favor.

Besides, if someone with no spiritual power yet immense strength appeared, they would surely attract attention from all sides. Getting taken away and treated like a lab rat would be no fun, so Lin Chuan decided to start cultivating.

"There are five days until the Lin Clan Assessment. I wonder if I can reach the first level of the Qi Refining Stage by then. Never mind. I'll go test my Spirit Root tomorrow first." With that thought, Lin Chuan yawned, flopped onto his bed, and went to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, Lin Chuan got up and headed for the Lin Clan's Artifact Pavilion. From his old memories, he knew that the place had a magical tool specifically for testing cultivators' Spirit Roots. Disciples could go there anytime to test their Spirit Root attributes and strength.

"In Naruto, they have Chakra Paper to detect a ninja's chakra attributes. This cultivation world has special magical tools for testing Spirit Roots. The two worlds really do complement each other!" Lin Chuan muttered as he walked.

After eating the Fruit of the God Tree, there was no need to test his chakra attributes. He definitely had all seven: water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, yin, and yang. If his Rinne Sharingan had awakened, every technique Lin Chuan used should have been a Kekkei Mōra technique.

And since Kekkei Mōra came from combining all seven Chakra Nature Transformations, Lin Chuan theoretically possessed every Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta as well. Kekkei Genkai were formed by combining two Chakra Nature Transformations, so if all seven could be combined, then combining two was naturally no problem. The same logic applied to Kekkei Tōta, which were formed by combining three Chakra Nature Transformations.

It was just that Lin Chuan was weak right now and couldn't fully absorb the Fruit of the God Tree, so naturally, he couldn't use any of these abilities for the time being.

"I'm really looking forward to it. Even if I can't use Kekkei Mōra, the power of Kekkei Genkai is more than enough to get me excited. I just don't know how long I'll have to wait before I can use them!" Lin Chuan shook his head, putting away the eager excitement in his eyes.

When Lin Chuan arrived at the Artifact Pavilion, quite a few people were already there. Though the place was called the Artifact Pavilion, it only sold the lowest-grade magical tools, which had nothing to do with true artifacts. It was said that the Lin Clan's central grounds were the only place with a real Artifact Pavilion.

Some people came here to buy magical tools, while others, like Lin Chuan, came to have their Spirit Roots tested.

That was because a single test couldn't accurately determine someone's Spirit Root. They had to be tested multiple times before adulthood.

This wasn't because Spirit Roots could grow out of nowhere. On the contrary, their attributes and number were decided at birth. They simply manifested at different times as a person grew.

So quite a few people kept testing their Spirit Roots, hoping to become geniuses overnight. Perhaps one day they would discover they had a dual-attribute Spirit Root or a mutated Spirit Root, and then they would soar straight to the heavens as a genius, with every major clan and faction clamoring to cultivate them.

But the odds of that happening were obviously very low—perhaps about one in a million. Mutated Spirit Roots were about as rare as dual Spirit Roots. They were exceedingly uncommon, and anyone who had one was a genius among geniuses.

When Lin Chuan stepped into the Artifact Pavilion, he drew a wave of sidelong glances. His white hair and white eyes were simply too striking, and Lin Chuan had already been handsome to begin with. Now, with his unforgettable appearance, he immediately attracted the attention of a crowd of young women.

Ignoring them, Lin Chuan headed straight for the room where Spirit Roots were tested. Quite a few people were already there, and his entrance drew another wave of attention, though nothing like the commotion outside.

"Here to test your Spirit Root?" a clerk asked with a frown. "What's your name?"

"Lin Chuan!"

The clerk checked the old records. They clearly stated: Lin Chuan, Mortal Grade Low-Tier Spirit Root, extremely poor aptitude! But the test hadn't been done at the Lin Clan; it must have taken place before he joined them.