The next day.
He went to pay his respects to his master and master's wife.
His main intention was to see if any choices would pop up.
Just at that moment, he ran into Shen Xiaojie again.
"Hmph! Jiang Tianlin, don't get cocky. I've already written to my parents. Soon, they will come here in person!"
Jiang Tianlin wanted to ignore her, but the System's voice rang out:
"Ding! A mission is now available. Please make a choice:
First, remain silent. Reward: Random.
Second, slap Shen Xiaojie in public. Given that Shen Xiaojie's cultivation is higher than the host's, it is recommended that the host run fast after hitting her! Reward: Taixuan Nine Chapters technique.
Third, mock Shen Xiaojie. Reward: Perfect-grade Marrow Cleansing Pill × 1.
Fourth, ignore her completely and turn away. Reward: Random."
"Oh? Options?"
"Two randoms, one technique, and one Marrow Cleansing Pill. While the technique is very tempting, no one is going to help me out right now."
"I choose three, mock her."
"Huh? Are you talking to me?"
"Hmph!"
"Hahaha, Shen Xiaojie, do you really think you look like a fairy?"
"Aren't I?"
"Hilarious. Are you as pretty as Wang Zhaojun, better looking than Diaochan and Xishi, or more charming than Yang Guifei when she turns her head? Get real. In my eyes, you're just a toad trying to eat swan meat. You're utterly hideous, yet you think so highly of yourself. Oh, excuse me, even a toad looks better than you."
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission. Reward: one Marrow Cleansing Pill."
"Time to slip away."
"Jiang Tianlin, how dare you mock me?! Who even are Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan, Xishi, and Yang Guifei? Why should I be prettier than them? Jiang Tianlin? Jiang Tianlin? Where did Jiang Tianlin go?"
"..."
Meanwhile, in the main hall of Vermilion Bird Academy.
"Disciple greets Master and Master's Wife!"
"Hmm!" Bai Jiang nodded.
Han Wu stood to the side with a dark expression.
"Thank you, Master's Wife!"
"Master, what's wrong?"
"Disciple, now that your dantian has been destroyed, what are your plans for the future?" Han Wu finally spoke up.
"Th-This..."
"Ahaha, when we reach the mountain, there will be a way through."
"Hmph! You said the exact same thing three months ago. And look at you now!"
"..."
At this point, Bai Jiang interjected, "Alright, alright, Tianlin, your master and I will find a way to solve this for you."
"Thank you, Master's Wife! I'll take my leave now."
"Sigh!" Bai Jiang sighed and said, "If we had known it would come to this, we shouldn't have let Tianlin go retrieve those pills in the first place."
"Useless. He only held the position of head disciple in name."
"Alright, alright, say less."
On his way down the mountain, he ran into Shen Xiaojie once again.
"Talk about a small world!" he thought to himself.
Shen Xiaojie saw him too and called out, "Jiang Tianlin, so you were here."
"Yep, I'm right here," he replied, chewing on a lollipop.
"You—stop right there!"
"Something the matter?" he asked, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"When are you going back to the Lin Family? Let's call off our engagement."
"Ding! A mission is now available. Please make a choice:
First, agree. Reward: Random.
Second, slap Shen Xiaojie in public. Given that Shen Xiaojie's cultivation is higher than the host's, it is recommended that the host run fast after hitting her! Reward: Taixuan Nine Chapters technique.
Third, say nothing and turn away. Reward: Movement technique Fish-Dragon Dives and Leaps.
Fourth, return to the Lin Family right now. Reward: Random."
"Oh, choices again?"
After a brief moment of thought, he marched right up and slapped Shen Xiaojie across the face.
Shen Xiaojie was left completely dazed by the blow.
"Is this what they call milking a sheep for all its wool? This is exhilarating!"
Returning to his room, he immediately began cultivating.
He had heard every word his master and master's wife had said. For the first time in his life, he felt utterly helpless—even more so than when he was an orphan in his past life.
"System, is this technique really that powerful?" Jiang Tianlin asked again.
"Of course, Host. This technique is actually formless, but..."
Techniques on Purple Star are ranked from low to high as unranked, Huang-grade, Xuan-grade, Di-grade, Tian-grade, Saint-grade, Divine-grade, and Formless. Both Divine-grade and Formless techniques possess a spirit of their own (such as an artifact spirit).
"Great! I want to cultivate. I want to increase my strength."
"Hehehe, does the host confirm learning?"
"???"
Though he had no idea why the System suddenly chuckled, strength was the foundation of everything.
"Confirm!"
Then, he heard the System say: "Beginning to consume the Marrow Cleansing Pill and learn the Taixuan Nine Chapters technique."
"Ow! My head hurts like hell! System, what are you doing? Is this what you call learning?"
Three hours later, the process was finally complete.
"System, you treacherous piece of junk! Why didn't you warn me that learning a technique would be this agonizing?"
"Ding! I already told the host, but the host didn't wait for me to finish speaking. Also, learning the Taixuan Nine Chapters technique requires erasing all previous cultivation and starting over from scratch. However, since the host's cultivation was already destroyed, this step is waived. Hehehe, doesn't it feel great, Host?"
Jiang Tianlin finally understood. The rest of that sentence meant that learning the technique was extremely painful. He never expected such a domineering cultivation method to exist.
"System, open personal status panel."
"Understood, Host."
"Not bad at all, hahaha! I've broken back into the Awakening Realm." Jiang Tianlin was overjoyed.
The so-called Awakening Realm is the stage where cultivators guide external spiritual Qi to clear the nine major apertures within their bodies. Upon reaching the Ninth Layer of Awakening Realm, a cultivator must complete the opening of a total of nine apertures, divided across the "three dantians" (upper, middle, and lower dantians), the "three passes" (Weilu, Jiaji, and Yuzhen passes), and the "three cavities" (yin, yang, and zhonggong cavities).
This represents the transition from mortal to cultivator. Entering the Awakening Realm makes one a true cultivator, though they still need to eat regular food; it is only upon reaching the Dao-Entering Realm that eating becomes unnecessary.
At the same time, somewhere in the sky, a sudden spatial fluctuation appeared and then vanished just as quickly.
"Ugh, so stinky." He had been so caught up in his joy that he completely forgot about the Marrow Cleansing Pill's effects. He needed to wash up.
Thinking this, Jiang Tianlin returned to his room, prepared a tub of hot water, and took a thoroughly satisfying bath.
An hour later, he put on his clothes and picked up a sword he had borrowed from Xiao Muyu the previous night. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he muttered to himself, "I've gotten even more handsome. Too bad this still doesn't solve my current problems. Being taken care of by a woman... sigh! In my past life, I was an orphan with no attachments on Blue Star, but I don't feel any sense of belonging here either. Whatever, time to go make dinner." With that, he headed outside—he was completely out of spiritual rice.