The door to Magpie Nest slowly swung open.
A thick, pungent stench of blood rolled into the house on the night wind.
Thump, thump, thump!
Everyone hurried down the stairs. Before they even reached the first floor, Sister Hua stumbled, her face turning green as she covered her mouth and nose.
Her pupils contracted as she stared fixedly at the tall figure in the doorway.
In the flickering candlelight, the young man's handsome face was half in shadow, half in light, and weariness lingered in his eyes.
But his clothes clung wetly to his skin, soaked through with blood, making him inexplicably chilling to behold.
"Ah!"
The girls crowded on the stairs, and a few timid ones couldn't help letting out a soft cry.
That glaring scarlet brought the scene they had just witnessed surging back into their minds.
It was a terrifying sight that would still give them nightmares months from now.
The young man had fought his way from one end of the alley to the other with nothing in his hands, leaving no survivors... and scarcely a single body intact.
He had carved a way to live for them with sheer force!
"M-Master Lin?"
Sister Hua let go of her hand and called out in a trembling voice.
Only after he nodded did she struggle to her feet on the stairs and turn to roar at the people behind her. "What are you standing around for, you empty-headed fools? Hurry up and get Master Lin some bathwater!"
It sounded like a scolding, but it brought the girls back to their senses.
The relief of surviving the ordeal filled the house with scattered sobs.
"You worthless lot! You didn't cry when you were about to die, so why are you wailing at Master Lin now, like someone's funeral is being held?"
Sister Hua sighed helplessly. She turned back around, and alongside the fear in her eyes, a deep reverence had appeared.
Good Fortune Martial Hall was indeed rich and powerful, strong enough to make both sides of the law clear a path for them.
But Master Lin hardly needed anyone else to back him up. Killing those men had been easier than killing chickens!
Besides, when it came to influence...
Everyone along Green Willow Alley had seen the young man slap that old constable!
By the time dawn came and the news spread, even the most violent desperadoes probably wouldn't dare come make trouble at Magpie Nest again.
"All right, it's fine."
Lin Shu glanced at the old cripple in front of him, whose eyes were red and whose lips trembled with excitement.
He was genuinely afraid the man would charge up and start feeling him all over again.
Old Yang had been ordered to guard the door, and he had really stood there holding two kitchen knives, looking ready to die.
He neither went out to cause trouble nor cared how ridiculous his shabby weapons looked to the disciples of Good Fortune Martial Hall.
"I'm a little tired. I'll go upstairs and rest."
"..."
Old Yang watched Lin Shu go upstairs, still refusing to let go of the kitchen knives in his hands.
Compared to the young man's easygoing manner, he had keenly sensed that something was wrong.
A faint weakness emanated from the other man.
It was just like back at the South Suburb Opera Troupe, when Lin Shu had seemed moments away from dropping dead.
At the thought of it, a rare flash of ferocity flickered in the eyes of Old Yang, who was usually accustomed to keeping his head down.
After Lin Shu went upstairs, he walked to the foot of the stairs and sat down, gripping the ridiculous kitchen knives.
The old cripple closed his eyes. Like a stone post, he guarded the way upstairs.
Inside the room.
Lin Shu took off his bloodstained clothes and leaned back in the chair, naked.
He closed his eyes and carefully felt the sensation of his vitality slowly draining away, as though he had aged considerably.
For a young man in the prime of his life, it was a rather novel feeling.
"Interesting."
Lin Shu crooked the corner of his mouth and opened his eyes to look at the two kinds of coins in his hands.
He wasn't too nervous.
If the mist within him was his bargaining chip, then Lin Shu had done his utmost to win as much as he could.
Someone else might not have done any better.
As for whether he could successfully extend his life, he would leave that to fate.
"Come on."
Lin Shu looked down at Little Wolf over his heart, then waved and summoned that pair of "chicken wings."
The Ghost Moon Bone-Splitting Hand was certainly powerful, but he was like a clever housewife with no rice to cook. No matter how strong this Immortal Method was, he couldn't use it now.
He gripped the smooth White Jade Coins and tossed them into the pair of azure wings.
[Consumed eight Virtue Coins. Immortal body not yet formed. Bestowed an opportunity for enlightenment]
At the prompt before him, Lin Shu froze for a moment.
As the Virtue Coins were spent, the Azure Qi gradually became complete, taking the shape of a small, indistinct sparrow.
Then it suddenly beat its wings and shot straight into the space between Lin Shu's brows.
At the same time, densely packed words unfurled in his mind, like a scroll of paintings.
[Qi Refining, Eighth Grade. Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art: Not yet initiated]
"..."
As he contemplated those densely packed words, Lin Shu's mind felt as if it were exploding.
Earlier, he had managed to keep silent even while being whipped.
Now, his face twisted with pain, and he couldn't help letting out a muffled groan.
The Azure Sparrow had dissolved after entering the space between his brows.
In its place, a long Feather drifted lightly down onto Lin Shu's leg.
"Did you take shape from this Immortal Method?"
Lin Shu's head was splitting with pain. Without a second thought, he fed the remaining jade coins into it.
As white light surged into the Feather, the obscure words in his mind suddenly broke apart, transforming into vivid scenes.
An Azure Sparrow landed on a branch and sang toward the sea of clouds.
Its song rang clear and crisp, and wisps of swirling white mist gradually appeared across the sky.
In an instant, Lin Shu felt as though his five senses had been unblocked anew.
He could see the white mist drifting around him, and even smell a faint sweetness.
A powerful urgency rose in his heart.
He wanted to draw all of it into himself!
One after another, the jade coins turned into light, and the prompt gradually changed.
[Qi Refining, Eighth Grade. Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art: Minor Mastery]
All twelve Virtue Coins had not only pushed this Immortal Method past the initiation stage and straight to minor mastery, but were also helping Lin Shu call forth the white mist around him.
"Whew."
Unlike when he had fed the Evil Coins earlier, Lin Shu felt no agitation at all.
He only felt his exhaustion swiftly wash away.
Centered on the White Wolf's phantom, the remaining thirty percent of the gray mist sustaining his life seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand, then kneaded into a wisp of denser qi.
"Is this the Spiritual Power that woman mentioned?"
Lin Shu extended a fingertip and lightly touched the wisp of white qi, delight gradually rising in his eyes.
According to the Immortal Method, the manifestation of this wisp of Spiritual Power meant he had officially crossed the threshold of cultivation.
He had become a cultivator in the early stage of Qi Refining!
The lingering effects of the Virtue Coins were still at work. Spiritual Power rapidly gathered from the surrounding world, condensing into new wisps of qi.
Only after he had gathered ten wisps did Lin Shu begin to feel he could barely control them, and the Spiritual Power around him finally began to disperse.
"So that's how it is."
He closed his eyes and continued digesting the information contained in the Immortal Method.
The sensation of aging had long since vanished. Now, Lin Shu felt light all over, as if his entire body had undergone a transformation.
"I've extended my life, but it's a pity I'm only Eighth Grade."
He sighed, somewhat dissatisfied.
Immortal Methods were divided into the Upper Three Grades, the Middle Three Grades, and the Lower Three Grades.
The Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art belonged to the last category.
All Lower Three Grades methods were for the early stage of Qi Refining. Seventh Grade methods could absorb thirty wisps of qi, while Eighth Grade methods could absorb fewer, with a limit of only twenty.
But his cultivation method had only reached minor mastery, so ten wisps were his limit.
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