Embarking on the Path of Cultivation

The heavy doors of the Magpie Nest were pushed open slowly.

A thick, pungent stench was carried into the room on the night breeze.

Thump, thump, thump!

The group hurried down the stairs, but before they even reached the ground floor, Sister Hua stumbled, her face turning pale as she covered her nose and mouth.

Her pupils constricted, fixed firmly on the tall, slender figure standing in the doorway.

In the flickering candlelight, the young man's handsome face shifted between light and shadow, a hint of weariness lingering in his eyes.

Yet, the clothes clinging to his skin, soaked through with blood, sent an inexplicable chill down everyone's spine.

"Ah!"

The girls huddled in the stairwell, and the timid ones couldn't help but let out a soft cry.

The blinding crimson brought the scene they had just witnessed flooding back into their minds.

It was a horrific sight that would haunt their nightmares for months to come.

The young man had walked from one end of the alley to the other with his bare hands, killing everyone in his path, leaving no survivors... and rarely even a whole corpse.

He had carved out a path to survival for them with sheer force!

"M-Master Lin?"

Sister Hua released her grip and called out tremulously.

Only when he nodded did she struggle to stand up from the stairs, shouting angrily at the people behind her, "What are you all standing there for, you brainless things? Hurry up and prepare bathwater for Master Lin!"

Though it sounded like a scolding, it snapped the girls back to their senses.

The relief of surviving a disaster filled the room with the sound of sobbing.

"A bunch of wretches! You didn't cry when you were about to die, so why are you wailing for Master Lin now!"

Sister Hua sighed helplessly. She turned back around, her eyes now filled with a deep sense of awe alongside the fear.

The Good Fortune Martial Hall was indeed wealthy and powerful, capable of making both the underworld and the authorities clear a path for them.

But Master Lin had no need for others to back him up; killing those people had been easier for him than slaughtering chickens!

Besides, even when it came to influence...

Everyone in Green Willow Alley had seen the young man slap that old constable!

Once dawn broke and the news spread, even the most violent outlaws would likely never dare to act recklessly at the Magpie Nest again.

"It's fine, it's over."

Lin Shu glanced at Old Cripple, whose eyes were red-rimmed and whose lips were trembling with excitement.

He was genuinely afraid the man would rush up and start pawing at him again.

Old Yang had been ordered to guard the door, and he had truly stood there clutching two kitchen knives, looking as if he were ready to die for the cause.

He hadn't gone out to cause trouble, nor did he care how ridiculous his pathetic weapons looked to the disciples of the Good Fortune Martial Hall.

"I'm a bit tired. I'm going upstairs to rest for a while."

Old Yang watched Lin Shu head upstairs, still refusing to let go of his kitchen knives.

Compared to the ease the young man displayed, he had keenly sensed that something was wrong.

A faint trace of weakness emanated from the man.

It was as if he had returned to his time at the South Suburb Opera Troupe, that feeling of being on the verge of death at any moment.

At this thought, a rare glint of ferocity flickered in Old Yang's eyes, which were usually accustomed to humility.

After Lin Shu went upstairs, he walked over to the foot of the stairs and sat down, gripping his ridiculous kitchen knives.

Old Cripple closed his eyes, sitting like a stone statue, guarding the path to the upper floor.

Inside the room.

Lin Shu stripped off his blood-stained clothes and leaned back in his chair, naked.

He closed his eyes, carefully experiencing the sensation of his vitality slowly draining away, as if his entire being had aged significantly.

For a young, strong man, this feeling was quite novel.

"Interesting."

Lin Shu tugged at the corner of his mouth and opened his eyes to look at the two coins in his hand.

He wasn't overly nervous.

If the mist on his body was a wager, then Lin Shu had done his absolute best 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."

Lin Shu looked down at the small wolf cub against his chest, then waved his hand to summon that pair of "chicken wings."

The Ghost Moon Bone-Splitting Hand was formidable indeed, but he was currently a clever housewife unable to cook without rice; no matter how powerful this immortal art was, he could not execute it.

He gripped the warm, smooth white jade coin and cast it into the pair of cyan wings.

[Consumed 8 Virtue Coins. Immortal body not yet condensed; granting a moment of epiphany.]

Seeing the prompt before him, Lin Shu was taken aback.

As the Virtue Coins were consumed, the cyan energy gradually became complete, transforming into a blurry little sparrow.

Then, it suddenly flapped its wings and dove straight into the center of Lin Shu's brow.

At the same time, dense rows of text unfolded in his mind like a scroll.

[Qi Refining 8th Grade. Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art: Uninitiated]

"..."

Contemplating those dense characters, Lin Shu felt as if his brain were exploding.

He had been able to remain silent even while being whipped earlier.

But at this moment, his face twisted in pain, and he could not help but let out a muffled groan.

The cyan sparrow dissolved after crashing into his brow.

In its place, a long, slender feather drifted down and landed lightly on Lin Shu's lap.

"Are you the manifestation of this immortal art?"

Lin Shu felt as if his head were splitting, yet without a second thought, he fed the remaining jade coins into it.

As white light surged into the feather, the obscure text in his mind suddenly broke apart, transforming into vivid, lifelike images.

A cyan sparrow landed on a branch, chirping toward a sea of clouds.

The chirping was crisp, and wisps of surging white mist gradually appeared in the firmament.

In an instant, it was as if Lin Shu's five senses had been reopened.

He could see the white mist drifting around him and could even clearly smell a hint of sweetness.

A profound sense of urgency was born within his heart.

He wanted to draw these things into himself!

The jade coins turned into light one after another, causing the prompt to gradually change.

[Qi Refining 8th Grade. Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art: Minor Success]

A full twelve Virtue Coins had not only allowed this immortal art to bypass the entry level and reach the stage of Minor Success, but they were also helping Lin Shu summon the surrounding white mist.

"Hoo."

Lin Shu felt none of the agitation he had experienced when feeding the Evil Coins earlier.

He only felt the fatigue in his body being rapidly washed away.

With the White Wolf phantom as the center, the remaining gray mist that had been sustaining his life was gripped by an invisible hand and kneaded into a more solid stream of energy.

"Is this the spiritual power that woman spoke of?"

Lin Shu extended his fingertip to gently touch this stream of white energy, joy gradually rising in his eyes.

According to the immortal art, the manifestation of this strand of spiritual power meant he had officially stepped across the threshold of cultivation.

He had become an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator!

The lingering effect of the Virtue Coins was still active, and the spiritual power from the surrounding heaven and earth gathered rapidly, condensing into new streams of energy.

It wasn't until ten strands had accumulated and Lin Shu felt he could barely control them anymore that the surrounding spiritual power slowly dissipated.

"So that's how it is."

He closed his eyes, continuing to digest the information contained within the immortal art.

The previous sense of aging had long since vanished; now, Lin Shu felt light all over, as if his entire body had undergone a transformation.

"My life is extended, but it's a pity it's only 8th Grade."

He sighed with a hint of dissatisfaction.

Immortal arts were divided into the Upper Three, Middle Three, and Lower Three Grades.

The Blue Bird Qi-Guiding Art belonged to the latter.

The Lower Three Grades were all methods for the early stage of Qi Refining; among them, the 7th Grade could contain thirty strands of Qi, while the 8th Grade was less, with a limit of only twenty.

But since his cultivation method was only at Minor Success, ten strands were his limit for now.