Revealing Talent

After Lu Lin withdrew, it was not long before he saw Fang Hong and Lan Zhu.

"Junior Brother Lu, has the Immortal Master finished giving her instructions? Come, we'll take you to your quarters first and get you settled." Fang Hong came forward with a smile.

"Thank you for the trouble, Senior Brother and Senior Sister." Lu Lin cupped his fists, his tone sincere.

Their gazes swept inadvertently over the slightly ancient-looking wooden box and booklet in Lu Lin's hands. Though curiosity flashed in their eyes, they were very measured and did not ask a single extra question, merely leading the way ahead in tacit understanding.

After passing along several quiet paths and circling around a few rockeries and streams, before long, the three stopped before an elegant, detached courtyard residence.

White walls and blue tiles, a clean entrance, and above the lintel hung a small wooden plaque clearly carved with a number: Twelve.

"Junior Brother Lu, from now on, you'll live here." Fang Hong pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped aside to let Lu Lin enter.

The moment he stepped inside, Lu Lin's view suddenly opened up.

The courtyard was several hundred square meters in size. It was not empty at all; instead, many flowers and plants had been planted in an orderly, picturesque arrangement.

A light breeze brushed past, carrying a faint fragrance that calmed the mind. At the far end of the courtyard stood a spacious house, with blue-brick paving, green tiles covering the roof, and bright windows and clean tables, possessing a distinctive charm rich with ancient elegance.

"This... I live here alone?" Lu Lin was somewhat surprised.

"Of course. The Immortal Master's exclusive guards all have separate courtyard residences of their own." Fang Hong smiled and nodded.

Warmth could not help but stir in Lu Lin's heart.

After all, he had long since grown sick of the communal sleeping platform where a dozen people lived together, with snores and teeth-grinding never ceasing.

"Junior Brother Lu, you've had a tiring journey. Rest for today. If there are any miscellaneous matters or questions, you may come find me or Lan Zhu at any time." Fang Hong's tone was gentle. After saying this, he took his leave together with Lan Zhu.

After closing the courtyard gate, Lu Lin paced alone through the courtyard for a long time.

He carefully walked through every corner, his fingers brushing over the stone table and bamboo chairs, then pushed open the doors to inspect the bedroom and quiet room. At last, he let out a long breath and fell back into the reclining chair woven from old bamboo in the courtyard.

"I never thought that in this world... I'd get to live in a 'villa' too." He closed his eyes, letting his body sway gently with the chair.

The afterglow of the setting sun fell across his shoulders, the breeze blew softly, and the clean fragrance of grass and trees could be faintly sensed.

At this moment, his mind emptied, his worries temporarily forgotten. It was actually a rare stretch of peace since he had crossed over.

Only when the sun sank west and the sky gradually darkened did Lu Lin open his eyes, their depths now completely clear.

"It's time to cultivate. This is the Demonic Sect, after all. I can't slack off here." He smiled to himself, rose, and stepped into the house.

After seating himself in the quiet room, he took out the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art and began reading it with focused concentration.

The entire cultivation method had ten levels in all. Though its contents were far more profound than what he had learned before, with his current cultivation and comprehension, he finished reading it through in less than two hours.

"Back then, I only cultivated the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art to the sixth level before stopping, and I'm still some distance from the peak of the sixth level. If I want to break through to the seventh level, I first have to raise it to the peak of the sixth... Unfortunately, I've already used up all the Tendon Refining Pills on hand. I'll have to make another trip to Lingyuan Pavilion." He secretly planned in his heart.

Early the next morning, Lu Lin went to find Fang Hong.

"Senior Brother Fang, may I ask whether we, as the Immortal Master's exclusive guards, are free to go to Blood Baleful City?"

"Of course." Fang Hong answered, "As the Immortal Master's exclusive guards, our status is vastly different from ordinary menial martial artists, and our comings and goings are relatively free. You may travel to and from Blood Baleful City as you please, but remember, you must not go beyond a hundred li from Blood Baleful Demon Mountain. Otherwise... it will be treated as defecting from the sect." By the end, his tone had turned solemn.

"I understand. Many thanks for your reminder, Senior Brother." Lu Lin cupped his fists solemnly.

After bidding farewell to Fang Hong, he headed straight for Blood Baleful City.

The Jiuqing Peak where he now lived was more than eighty li farther from Blood Baleful City than the previous Black Iron Vein had been, but with Lu Lin's current foot speed, he still reached the city gates before too long.

When he entered Lingyuan Pavilion again, the shopkeeper recognized him at a glance and could not help saying in surprise, "Honored customer, you only took away a large batch of pills the day before yesterday. Why have you come again today..."

"Shopkeeper, I've come today to buy another batch of Tendon Refining Pills." Lu Lin stated his purpose directly.

"Still settling with spirit stones?"

"Yes."

"How many do you want?"

"Three hundred."

"Three hundred..." A troubled look appeared on the shopkeeper's face. "The shop definitely doesn't have enough today. If we make every effort to transfer stock, the fastest would still take seven days."

"Then seven days it is. In addition, I also want two hundred Bone Refining Pills. I'll collect them together then," Lu Lin added.

Although he should be able to receive the three hundred Bone Refining Pills bestowed by Luo Siqing before long, these pills were consumed extremely quickly. Preparing more was never a bad thing.

"You also want two hundred Bone Refining Pills? This... Very well, I'll do my best to gather them." The shopkeeper gritted his teeth.

For the sake of spirit stones, he could only delay other families' orders for now.

As usual, Lu Lin paid ten Inferior Spirit Stones as a deposit, then turned and left.

Out of old habit, he also made a round through the market.

Unexpectedly, this time he actually did gain something. He found a damaged bronze cup with faint spiritual energy remaining inside. Once exchanged, it yielded six years of cultivation time.

At this point, his remaining cultivation time had already reached one hundred and thirty-one years.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

Lu Lin stepped into Lingyuan Pavilion once more, paid the remaining one hundred and two Inferior Spirit Stones, and took away three hundred Tendon Refining Pills and two hundred Bone Refining Pills.

"I only have a little over a hundred Inferior Spirit Stones left, and I can't mine anymore. Life really is getting harder and harder..." He sighed softly.

Fortunately, he still had seventy-one Low-grade Spirit Stones on him, enough to hold out for some time.

After returning to his residence on Jiuqing Peak, Lu Lin did not rest for even a moment and went straight into the quiet room. He swallowed a handful of Tendon Refining Pills, then drew upon his cultivation time, pouring it into the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art like a surging tide.

With only three years consumed, along with one hundred and twenty Tendon Refining Pills, he pushed the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art to the peak of the sixth layer.

After that, he did not hesitate at all. He swallowed Bone-Protecting Pills and began assaulting the seventh layer.

A month and a half later, the art broke through with a boom, advancing into the seventh layer.

"This time was even faster than last time." Joy appeared on Lu Lin's face.

Last time, breaking through with the Iron Elephant Body had taken two months. This time, perhaps because the Iron Elephant Body had already reached the eighth layer, making his bones stronger and the threshold of qi and blood entering the bones easier to break through, along with ample pills, his progress had been astonishingly swift.

"Twenty Bone-Protecting Pills were used up, and eighty remain. I shouldn't need to buy more for a while." His heart settled slightly.

Carefully sensing the changes throughout his body, Lu Lin frowned faintly. "The increase in strength really has diminished again."

The Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art's breakthrough from the sixth layer to the seventh should have increased his strength by two thousand jin, yet now it had only added sixteen hundred jin. The degree of reduction was obvious.

"Looks like twenty thousand jin of strength is another threshold. From here on, increasing it will only get harder and harder... Forget it. I'll cultivate to the limit first!"

He stuffed another handful of Bone Refining Pills into his mouth, drew upon his cultivation time, and continued attacking the eighth layer of the Demonic Ape Blood Qi Art.

Five years passed, one hundred and eighty Bone Refining Pills cycling through him, and the eighth layer was finally broken through successfully, increasing his strength by another eight hundred jin.

Including the twenty he had left from before, he only had forty Bone Refining Pills remaining, clearly not enough to support a breakthrough to the next layer.

"I'll stop for now. Once those three hundred Bone Refining Pills are in hand, I'll continue." Lu Lin reined in his qi and blood, ending this round of cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, a full month had passed since Lu Lin moved into Jiuqing Peak.

He took the initiative to request an audience with Luo Siqing and reported his cultivation progress.

"You've already broken through to the seventh layer of Body Tempering?" For the first time, a ripple appeared on Luo Siqing's always cool and distant face, and a trace of surprise flashed through her beautiful eyes.

She had given Lu Lin a two-month deadline, never expecting that he would come to report back after only one month.

"It was entirely thanks to the Bone-Protecting Pills bestowed by the fairy that this subordinate was fortunate enough to break through," Lu Lin replied respectfully.

The reason he had reported in advance was still out of the same consideration: to display his talent, raise his own value, avoid becoming cannon fodder, and fight for more resources...

Now that he was a personal guard, in a certain sense, he was already a private possession of an immortal master. He had long heard that some great Foundation Establishment cultivators would spare no effort in nurturing several guards of the Innate Blood Aura Realm to handle important matters on their behalf.

"Circulate your qi and blood. Let me have a look," Luo Siqing instructed.

Lu Lin did as she said and circulated the Iron Elephant Body. Qi and blood surged throughout his body, faintly forming a thin layer of blood mist over his skin.

"Not bad. It is indeed the seventh layer of Body Tempering." She nodded slightly, then asked, "The first killing move of the Iron Elephant Body—what level have you trained it to?"

Lu Lin pondered briefly, then answered truthfully, "Perfection."