Choosing a Martial Art

Elsewhere, Lin Chen left the courtyard but did not head straight back to his room. Instead, he turned toward the Lineage's Martial Pavilion.

The Martial Pavilion stood at the heart of the Lin Residence, a solemn three-story building with sweeping eaves.

Its first floor held mostly basic texts, such as the Body Tempering Method, the Demon Beast Illustrated Guide, and Introduction to a Hundred Herbs. They helped disciples new to martial arts broaden their horizons and build a solid foundation of knowledge.

Before he began practicing martial arts, Lin Chen had often read here, accumulating knowledge of the martial path.

The second floor was his destination today. It housed the many Spirit Grade manuals the Lin Family had collected over the past century, including the Thunderlight Sword Technique he had practiced before.

Several young disciples were moving between the shelves on the first floor, and some were copying notes. Lin Chen did not linger. He went straight up the stairs.

The second floor was slightly smaller, but its furnishings were more refined. Its shelves were made of rosewood, and the texts displayed on them were far fewer—and far more precious.

Lin Chen swept his gaze over the shelves. It soon settled on a volume with a blue-green cover: the Evergreen Art.

His interest stirred, and he reached out to take it down.

He opened the scroll. It began with an overview:

The Evergreen Art, a mid-tier Spirit Grade cultivation method. Inspired by the evergreen pine and cypress, it did not seek supremacy for a moment, but endurance through the years. A practitioner's spiritual power would grow deep and mellow, like an ancient tree in a vast forest, with firm roots. It was especially suited to prolonged battles, growing steadier the longer one fought...

...Should the practitioner later find a higher-grade cultivation method, switching to it would present almost no obstacle. It was an excellent choice for building a firm foundation.

As Lin Chen read carefully, his eyes lit up.

He practiced the Thunderlight Sword Technique.

That Sword Dao martial art was swift and fierce. Its attacks were powerful, but they consumed a great deal of energy and were difficult to sustain.

The Evergreen Art's deep reserves of spiritual power would make up for precisely that weakness.

It would let him last longer in a fierce fight!

"It really does suit me."

Murmuring to himself, Lin Chen kept the Evergreen Art manual in hand, though he did not decide just yet.

Choosing a cultivation method was no small matter.

He intended to look through the Martial Pavilion's other Spirit Grade methods, compare them, and then make his choice.

Lin Chen moved to the other shelves and began flipping through them.

He passed over lower-tier Spirit Grade methods such as Blazing Sun Force and the Dark Ice Formula, but none satisfied him.

Then he picked up the Golden Vajra Body.

Golden Vajra Body: a mid-tier Spirit Grade cultivation method that trained both body and spirit, tempering the flesh until it was like metal. Its practice, however, was painful and enormously costly...

Reading on, Lin Chen discovered that, promising as it seemed, it required several times the resources of other methods at the same grade. It was practically a bottomless pit.

Isn't this just a watered-down Ancient Desolate Sacred Body...

Lin Chen shook his head inwardly.

He was firmly of the school that prized cultivation level.

Rather than mastering some ultimate martial art to challenge opponents above his level,

Lin Chen had always believed cultivation was what mattered most. Overwhelming others with a higher realm was much more to his taste.

For him, practicing this method simply was not worth the cost.

"I've seen just about every Spirit Grade method here. It looks like the Evergreen Art really is the best fit for me."

Lin Chen murmured to himself.

There were only three mid-tier Spirit Grade cultivation methods on the Martial Pavilion's second floor. One focused on assassination and concealment, which did not suit him.

Of the other two, one was the Golden Vajra Body before him, and the other was the Evergreen Art in his hand.

Lin Chen made up his mind. The Evergreen Art would be his primary cultivation method!

He put away the Evergreen Art manual.

He did not leave immediately. Before heading to the Herb Garden, he intended to choose a movement martial art as well.

After all, judging by his current idle cultivation gains, reaching the tenth level of the Spirit Martial Realm would likely take more than a decade.

No matter how cautious he was during that time, he could not guarantee he would avoid a fight. An exquisite movement technique would greatly improve his chances of survival, whether he was pursuing, fleeing, or dodging.

Lin Chen examined one manual after another. After comparing several, he finally chose the Swimming Body Step:

Swimming Body Step: a mid-tier Spirit Grade movement art inspired by a fish playing in water. Its footwork flowed freely through turns and shifts within the smallest space. Especially suited to dodging at close range, it could, once mastered, let its practitioner move through a crowd of attackers like a fish in water, without so much as a leaf touching his body...

"This movement art is both clever and practical."

Lin Chen nodded slightly and took the Swimming Body Step as well.

He was about to leave when something on the lowest shelf in a corner caught his eye.

The shelf sat against the floor, hidden in shadow. Several old books lay scattered across it, seemingly untouched for years.

A dust-covered rosewood box had been set carelessly atop those books, nearly blending into the gloom around it.

"What's this..."

A familiar scene from the novels Lin Chen had read in his previous life came to mind: in just such a forgotten corner, the protagonist would often discover a peerless manual buried beneath the dust.

Could this be a stroke of fortune?

His interest stirred. He crouched, swept away the dust, took out the box, and opened it carefully.

Inside lay a scroll of dark-gold beast hide. Its edges were neatly stitched with some kind of black thread, and three ancient characters coiled across its center like dragons and snakes, carrying a faint but imposing presence:

Jiaolong Breath Method

Lin Chen unrolled the hide and infused it with a wisp of spiritual power. Writing appeared at once. He read it carefully, and his heart jolted. This was a high-tier Spirit Grade cultivation method!

It even included Jiaolong Fist. The method and fist art complemented each other, and if mastered, their power would approach that of a lower-tier Profound Grade martial art!

But by the time Lin Chen reached the end, his interest had vanished. The Jiaolong Breath Method no longer appealed to him at all.

Practicing it had a prerequisite: he had to gather the inner breath of a spirit jiaolong and merge it into his Qi Sea!

Only then could he grasp its true essence and master it.

Lin Chen's mouth twitched.

Now he understood why this high-tier Spirit Grade martial art had been abandoned here, ignored by everyone.

Find a jiaolong and gather its inner breath?

Jiaolongs were powerful demon beasts second only to True Dragons. Even the weakest adult jiaolong was comparable to an Earth Martial Realm warrior.

If he had that kind of ability, why not skip straight to a Profound Grade or Earth Grade cultivation method?

"More trouble than it's worth."

In the end, that was his verdict.

Granted, with the supreme power of Attribute Allocation, he could still master it if he put in the effort.

But when he checked the panel, he saw that without a jiaolong's inner breath, mastering it would cost him an extra three thousand experience points.

That was enough for him to break through four or five minor levels in succession.

Lin Chen could only sigh. He quietly rolled up the beast hide, returned it to the box, and turned to leave.

A manual that precious was best left for future generations to enjoy!

With the Evergreen Art and Swimming Body Step manuals in hand, Lin Chen left the Martial Pavilion.

Over the next half month, Lin Chen began practicing the Evergreen Art.

When he mastered it, the aura around him was calm and enduring. The light in his eyes was restrained, and his spiritual power carried a faint blue-green sheen, with a long, steady vitality hidden within.

"The cultivation method is mastered, and my Life-Bound Divine Artifact advanced after devouring a piece of Spirit Grade equipment."

"Everything is ready. It's time to head to the Herb Garden."

Lin Chen looked toward the northwest and murmured to himself.