Fusion, Nine Stars Linked

"Oh, something did indeed hold me up. Help me thank Instructor Liu for his concern, and tell him that I won't be going to the martial arts hall anymore."

Lin Changsheng said in a deep voice.

His Iron Sand Palm had already reached the Perfect Stage, and his Breathing Method had fused into the Sun-Moon Breathing Method. There was nothing more for him to learn at the martial arts hall. What he needed to do now was go to Hundred Herbs Hall and refine pills.

Refining pills would provide him with a steady supply of the resources he needed for cultivation.

"This..."

"Alright, I'll pass on your words."

Li Yun froze for a moment, then nodded and bid Lin Changsheng farewell before leaving.

When Lin Changsheng returned home, he did not hear Yu Wenjing's usual, "Changsheng, you're back!" He stood stunned for a moment before walking toward the kitchen.

There, he found Yu Wenjing lying on the floor with her eyes tightly shut, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. The greens in the pot were only half-fried.

"Wen Jing? What happened to you?"

Lin Changsheng was startled. He hurried forward and checked Yu Wenjing's pulse, only to find it chaotic. He immediately frowned. "Strange. Why have her injuries worsened?"

Lin Changsheng remembered that when he had rescued Yu Wenjing, she had been gravely injured. After resting and recuperating for this period, she had nearly recovered. Yet this time, her condition seemed even worse than before.

Lin Changsheng quickly bolted the door, carried Yu Wenjing to the bed, then sat cross-legged behind her. He circulated his First-Class Realm inner force, sending it into her body to smooth out her meridians.

Not long after.

Yu Wenjing slowly awoke. Seeing herself lying in Lin Changsheng's arms, a blush surfaced on her stunningly beautiful face. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum. "Changsheng, you're back!"

"Yes. What is going on with your injuries?"

Lin Changsheng laid her properly on the bed and asked.

"I don't know either. When I was circulating my power, I felt a strange force burst out from my dantian. Then it injured my internal organs."

Yu Wenjing spoke weakly.

"Do you know where this strange force came from?"

Lin Changsheng felt a terrible headache coming on as well. When he had just smoothed Yu Wenjing's meridians, he had discovered a strange inner force in her dantian. Even his First-Class Realm inner force was instantly swallowed the moment it encountered that force.

"I don't know."

Yu Wenjing shook her head. "This strange force first appeared when I was seventeen. Whenever I cultivate martial arts, it strikes back. It seems its purpose is to prevent me from cultivating."

"How about this? Rest first. I'll go to Hundred Herbs Hall and get you some medicine to nourish and regulate your body. Then we can think of a way to deal with that strange force."

Lin Changsheng sighed and rose to his feet. Even his cultivation could not withstand the strange inner force within Yu Wenjing. It seemed her identity was far from simple.

However.

Yu Wenjing had not taken the initiative to tell him.

And Lin Changsheng did not ask.

"Changsheng...!"

Suddenly, Yu Wenjing spoke softly.

"What is it?"

Lin Changsheng had reached the doorway. He turned to look at Yu Wenjing.

"You've worked hard..."

Yu Wenjing looked at Lin Changsheng with her beautiful eyes, her expression complicated.

"What are you saying? Get some proper rest. I'll be back early."

Lin Changsheng smiled warmly, locked the door, and headed for Hundred Herbs Hall.

As Lin Changsheng left, a black-clad old man appeared in the bamboo grove a hundred zhang away. Malice filled his eyes as he muttered, "There is cooking smoke from that thief's house, and a woman's clothes are hanging out to dry. Could it be... he isn't living alone?"

At Hundred Herbs Hall, Lin Changsheng bought three doses of medicinal ingredients to replenish qi and nourish his foundation, then hurried home.

He lit the stove and decocted the medicine.

Yu Wenjing lay on the bed, watching his busy figure with a complicated expression.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Yu Wenjing's injuries had improved greatly, and she was able to get out of bed and walk.

Lin Changsheng had not been idle either. Whenever he had time, he threw stones and crude pellets, watched the little snake in its cage, and bathed in the light of the sun and moon. His various experience values steadily rose.

Early in the morning.

After Lin Changsheng and Yu Wenjing finished eating and cleaned up, they went into the courtyard to play at throwing stones.

[Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers, Remnant (Perfect Stage)]

[Detected two Perfect Stage martial arts of the same type: (Arrow Technique, Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers, Remnant). You may spend 20 taels of silver to fuse them into a new martial art. Fuse?]

At that moment, Lin Changsheng saw a red prompt appear on the panel at the corner of his vision, with buttons marked "Yes" and "No."

"Hmm?"

"Arrow Technique and Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers' concealed weapon technique can be fused? It requires 20 taels of silver?"

Seeing the red prompt appear on the panel before him, Lin Changsheng's eyes lit up.

"Fuse!"

Lin Changsheng immediately reached out and tapped the "Yes" button.

[Arrow Technique and Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers, Remnant are fusing... Fusion successful! Obtained Nine Stars Linked (Arrow/Concealed Weapon)!]

[Detected Nine Stars Linked. Spend 20 taels of silver to simplify it?]

The instant Lin Changsheng's fusion succeeded, another prompt popped up on the panel.

"Nine Stars Linked (Arrow/Concealed Weapon)? Does that mean it works with both concealed weapons and arrows?"

Lin Changsheng's eyes shone, and anticipation filled him. Still, he decided to simplify it. "Simplify!"

A red prompt appeared on the panel before Lin Changsheng.

"Uh?"

"Skipping stones?"

Seeing the simplified result, Lin Changsheng could not help blinking.

Skipping stones had been what he was best at as a child.

It meant taking a roof tile or a flat stone and throwing it across the still surface of a pond. The more skips it made, the better. He remembered that he could make a stone skip eleven times in one throw.

"I'll go cultivate at that quiet-water bay by the Grand Canal."

Lin Changsheng thought to himself.

It was the place where he had killed Tie Yang before. With his current Lightness Skill and cultivation, it would not take long to get there. There was a calm bay there, and the cliffside was covered in stones—perfect for gathering materials on the spot for skipping stones.

"Wen Jing, I'm heading out for a while. I'll be back later."

Lin Changsheng gave Yu Wenjing a reminder.

"Alright. Be careful."

Yu Wenjing nodded.

Lin Changsheng was fast. Before long, he arrived at the quiet-water bay by the Grand Canal. Gathering materials on the spot, he picked up a flat stone and threw it across the river's surface.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The stone Lin Changsheng threw kept bouncing across the water. After leaving eight circular ripples behind, it fell into the river.

Lin Changsheng immediately looked at the panel.

[Nine Stars Linked (Arrow/Concealed Weapon) (8/1000)]

"Not bad. I can make eight skips in one throw."

Lin Changsheng looked at the experience value and nodded.

At most, he could make eleven skips, which meant eleven points of experience.

He continued picking up stone flakes and skipping them across the water. Whenever he ran out of stones, he blasted the cliff with his Void-Piercing Palm. The rock wall collapsed, leaving him no shortage of stone flakes. Lin Changsheng enjoyed it so much he never tired of it.

Time flowed on.

The setting sun gradually sank westward.

"That's enough for today!"

Lin Changsheng glanced at the lingering clouds of sunset on the horizon and prepared to go home. Suddenly, he looked into the distance, narrowed his eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Come out, all of you. Why hide and skulk about?"