The Wind Rises, Part One

The status panel changed again. The cultivation of the Minor Returning Origin Art abruptly rose another notch.

'Minor Returning Origin Art—Seventh Layer. (Completion: 32%)'

"From 22 to 32... it jumped by a full 10%." For the second time, true delight welled up in Lin Xin's heart. The last time he had felt this way was when Xiao Lingling had been healed by Strange Man Senior.

"This time, I only did two things. First, I picked up the Demon Talisman Seed. Second, I killed a Long Waist Man. One of these two things must be connected to the increase in my cultivation."

Lin Xin analyzed the matter.

Sitting cross-legged in the carriage, he regulated his breathing for a while, then swallowed the Qi Transformation Pill in one gulp.

He felt the carriage come to a stop again, and the door opened.

Once more, he saw the familiar courtyard of his own manor.

Jumping down from the carriage, he looked around. It was still the Inner Courtyard he had left behind.

Beyond the manor lay pitch-black darkness, like roiling masses of gray clouds encircling the entire estate.

The red full moon in the sky carried a faint trace of strangeness and bloodshed.

"This place... isn't like a dream, nor is it like reality. Yet it can bring things from reality inside."

This time, he did not immediately leave this place and wake up. Instead, he had the leisure to wander around this familiar yet unfamiliar courtyard.

This gloomy Inner Courtyard was indeed exactly the same as the courtyard in reality, even down to the smallest details.

But the only difference between this place and reality was that it seemed as though no one had ever lived here. Only the buildings and furnishings were identical.

After making a circuit of the courtyard, he discovered that this place and the real courtyard were entirely separate locations, separate spaces.

None of the traces left by people living in reality existed here. There were only lifeless furnishings and furniture.

When he reached the bedroom, he looked toward the bed. Xiao Lingling was still nowhere to be seen.

He sat in meditation and regulated his breathing for about half a shichen before finally feeling a wave of mental dizziness.

Opening his eyes, he found himself lying in the bed in reality once more, his arm wrapped around the soundly sleeping Xiao Lingling beside him.

Staring up at the canopy overhead, Lin Xin looked once again at the status panel beneath his field of vision. After confirming that his inner cultivation had truly increased, he finally let out a long breath of relief.

"After being stalled for so long, there's finally hope..." He glanced at the faint fish-belly white beyond the window. "I'll try again tonight and see which one actually raised my cultivation."

Outside the bamboo forest of Spirit Heart Mountain Manor.

A man and a woman dressed like wanderers of the martial world stood beside the road outside the bamboo forest. Like ordinary sightseers, they gazed from afar at the tall, conspicuous white manor within the grove.

Guards stood watch at the manor's gate archway, and the ox carts entering and leaving with goods were inspected with great rigor.

The gate guards checked everything meticulously. Several people who tried to bribe them with silver coin were turned away outright.

"This manor's defenses are quite tight. Not bad." The man looked into the distance and stroked his chin in appraisal.

"There are faint traces of an array inside. It may be a warning array unique to suppression points. It seems we cannot simply force our way in. Otherwise, even the two of us may not be able to escape unscathed," the woman said calmly.

"A mere small suppression point. The Manor Lord, who isn't even at Qi Refinement, is the strongest one there. What do we have to fear?" the man said dismissively.

"I'm not afraid of this manor. I'm afraid of the people who will come hunting us after we break the array—that is the key. We are not leaving after succeeding once. Our primary mission is our true objective," the woman said sternly.

"That's true." The man considered it. "It's impossible that no one ever leaves this manor, is it? Our target can't possibly have no important people around them. As long as we seize one or two of them and threaten the target, wouldn't that solve things nicely?"

"That was my thought as well." The woman nodded. "The mission period is long anyway. We can wait slowly and treat this as a trip to rest and relax."

"We'll stay in the nearby town, so we can also keep track of what happens here at any time." The man nodded.

"It would be best if we can settle this without breaking the array." The woman smiled, turned, and headed toward the town not far from the manor.

The man hurried after her.

"I heard there's been a problem at the Agricultural Canal Dam. I intend to go take a look myself."

In the side hall of the manor, Lin Xin was handling official documents while chatting with his elderly father, Lin Zhiwen.

"Didn't Father just go to White Buddha Hall? You fulfilled your vow and spent more than ten days sightseeing besides. Aren't you tired yet?" Lin Xin asked helplessly.

"Am I not going to inspect the situation?" Lin Zhiwen argued. "It's not like I'm going sightseeing."

"You're not sightseeing? I had people inspect the Agricultural Canal Dam not long ago. There was nothing wrong at all." Lin Xin exposed him without mercy.

Lin Zhiwen's old face reddened.

"So your old man can't even go out and have some fun now? You have to control that too? You've grown up and your hide is itching—you don't even believe your old man's words anymore?" He immediately began stubbornly digging in his heels.

"I only mean... Father, you should take it easy... Mother's side..." Lin Xin sighed helplessly. He knew that his father had secretly taken another younger concubine. He spent every day making eyes at her and traveling about everywhere, likely neglecting his mother, Zhao Yuniang. He wanted to advise him, but Lin Zhiwen was an ordinary man, not a cultivator. He was not bound by the cultivator rule of having only one Dao Companion; he could marry freely and take many concubines and younger concubines, as long as his principal wife agreed. This was also the custom among mortals in this world.

So he could not easily say anything.

"Her? You mean her? Don't mention it. Your mother has become obsessed with that Nonexistent Flower. She's cultivating flowers to the point of going astray, rising early and sleeping late every day. She doesn't even care about this old man anymore." Lin Zhiwen grew angry at the mention of it.

"Anyway, Father, just don't give me too many more brothers and sisters..." Lin Xin said helplessly.

"I know, I know. Oh, right—your second and third siblings will be coming to the manor soon. Remember to arrange for people to receive them properly. Don't get so caught up in cultivation that you forget again," Lin Zhiwen reminded him. "No matter how poor your relationship used to be, they are still your younger brother and sister."

"I understand."

Lin Xin immediately thought of his three siblings. His second younger sister, Lin Xinyue, was still holding her own in Wan Xin City and had already opened her fifth shop. His third younger brother, Lin Xinhu, had been transferred to the Stone Gate Mountain military camp and commanded several hundred men. He could be considered to have made something of himself.

He did not know what the two of them were coming for this time. By rights, they had already become a Branch Family and had their own affairs to manage. Who would travel such a great distance and brave all the dangers along the way unless they had business here?

Lin Zhiwen went on to nag about several more manor matters before finally rising and slowly making his way out.

As he left, he glanced at Xiao Lin Zhen practicing swordsmanship outside. The manor's Attendant, Daoist Lu Suo, and Lin Xinyuan were guiding him through the basics of swordsmanship. Shaking his head, he looked back at Lin Xin, who was bent over his desk, then slowly departed.

No sooner had Lin Zhiwen left than a white-haired woman clad head to toe in tight crimson clothing strode into the main hall. Her white hair was tied into a high ponytail that swayed behind her. A black curved dagger was strapped to each side of her thighs. Even her stride carried a decisive, chop-nail-and-cut-iron air.

"Ou Yinghong." A voice called from behind the woman. A bald, muscular man with a knife scar across his brow entered, bare-chested and wearing loose tiger-skin trousers, swaying as he walked.

"Fei Shi. Why are you back?" the Red-Clothed Woman asked with a frown. "Didn't the Manor Lord send you to suppress the unrest in Flying Fox City?"

"It was just a matter of cutting through tangled hemp with a swift knife." The burly man chuckled. "Come on, let's go see the Manor Lord together." His gaze lingered suggestively on Ou Yinghong's full, slender thighs.

"I am not familiar with you." Ou Yinghong replied blandly and strode into the side hall.

The burly man's expression stiffened, and a flash of coldness crossed his eyes.

"Hong'er." Lin Xin had already heard the conversation outside. Raising his head, he smiled at the two of them. "How did things go?"

"Reporting to Manor Lord. This year's goods have already been delivered. The people over there asked whether the Manor Lord could increase the quantity." Ou Yinghong entered, dropped to one knee, and answered respectfully.

"Increasing the quantity is impossible." Lin Xin shook his head. "The manor itself does not have enough to use. It seems the situation is somewhat far from optimistic."

"Manor Lord, the matter in Flying Fox City has been resolved. Three hundred were beheaded, and not a single disciple of the manor was injured." The bald burly man likewise dropped to one knee.

The two of them had both been saved later by Zen Master San Yuan and Daoist Lu Suo respectively, then brought into the manor. Each had also brought a force under their command, with several hundred capable men. Over the past few years, they had formed two branches of the manor and maintained the stability of Yuefu Territory.

"Hong'er, among this batch of children, are there any promising seedlings worth noting?" Lin Xin asked casually, picking up a scroll.

"Reporting to Manor Lord, we did find several promising ones. We originally planned to train them properly before reporting to you." Ou Yinghong lowered her voice.

"They passed the temperament test?" Lin Xin was taken aback.

"They passed..." Ou Yinghong's expression was also complicated. "Out of the several thousand children sent from Yuefu Territory, only several dozen were selected as having the aptitude to cultivate Inner Qi. Of those, fewer than twenty truly passed the temperament test. This subordinate has already separated them out and formed them into a team." She herself did not possess the aptitude of the Inner Family, so seeing so many children qualified to cultivate Inner Qi inevitably left her with mixed feelings.

But Spirit Heart Mountain Manor was now the suppression point of Yuefu Territory, and naturally bore the duty of selecting disciples for the sect and supplying outer disciples. Thus, every child in Yuefu Territory with even a little aptitude would be sent here.

This was equivalent to gathering the finest among countless children, selected layer by layer from a population of several million throughout Yuefu Territory. In truth, many of those children's parents might themselves have been people of the martial world, giving their children a strong foundation in this area from a young age.

"How many are there in total?" Lin Xin pressed. "As long as those who leave Spirit Heart Mountain Manor can establish themselves in the sect and independently complete one mission, the manor can provide a certain quantity of runestones, weapons, Jade Coin, and other resources each month as support."

He had now also divided the benefits into several tiers.

First-tier: the simplest Minor Flame Yang Runestone and Minor Sweet Rain Runestone.

Second-tier: Lucid Runestone.

Third-tier: Clear Talisman Sword and Flame Yang Talisman Sword.

"The Manor Lord is benevolent!" Ou Yinghong and the other man flattered in unison.

"It is not benevolence, merely investment. They are disciples who have gone out from Spirit Heart Mountain Manor. Outside, they naturally represent Spirit Heart Mountain Manor and the future of Yuefu Territory." Lin Xin spoke calmly. He did not care whether the two of them understood the word investment.

"Also, have you found any trace of my martial uncle, Bo Yunzi?"

"Uh... not yet." The burly man, Fei Shi, hurriedly answered.

Lin Xin let out a long sigh.

"Enough. You may leave."

"Yes."

The two rose. As Ou Yinghong was leaving the side hall, she suddenly hesitated.

"Manor Lord, if we encounter children burdened by great vengeance, who come to the manor only to escape calamity, learn cultivation, and seek revenge, how should they be handled?" (To be continued)