"Lad, I've just thought it over. That Grand Wood and Earth Scripture suits you best. Once mastered, all wood and earth in heaven and earth will be at your disposal, so you should practice the Grand Wood and Earth Scripture." Inside the desolate realm, Old Jian offered his advice.
He was also eager to test whether the cultivation chant taught to Lin Feng by Zhong Qing could really allow a first-tier good-for-nothing to successfully cultivate.
Of course, as for the contents of the chant, he sensibly refrained from asking.
"Understood!"
Lin Feng solemnly answered, then opened the Grand Wood and Earth Scripture and began trying to cultivate according to its instructions.
At the same time,
He silently recited the chant Zhong Qing had taught him in his heart.
Give a damn about nothing, just open the cultivation manual and go for it!
In the courtyard hall, Zhong Qing opened his perception and glanced at Lin Feng, very satisfied.
Then he silently communicated with the system in his heart and activated the hundredfold amplification of the good-for-nothing bond.
As for the chant,
Zhong Qing really didn't mean to be so sloppy.
He had wanted to come up with something catchy, domineering, or defying the heavens.
Failing that, he should have at least come up with something rhyming, or Three Hundred Tang Poems.
But heaven knows that after transmigrating for so many years, the knowledge he learned in his past life had long since been almost entirely forgotten.
With no other choice, he could only casually cobble together a line to muddle through.
Fortunately, this chant was merely a catalyst and did not affect the actual effect.
With Zhong Qing activating the hundredfold amplification, Lin Feng, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, quickly saw results.
Heaven and earth spiritual Qi began to circulate and surged toward his entire body.
Almost in an instant, Lin Feng, who had never been favored by spiritual Qi, found his limbs and bones suddenly filled with spiritual Qi.
It was just like a dried-up riverbed being flooded with a massive amount of clear spring water.
One could say that
the hundredfold amplification combined with the effect of an Emperor Tier cultivation manual meant Lin Feng's cultivation speed was simply incomparable to that of those so-called geniuses.
The next moment,
Lin Feng began his breakthrough.
Body Tempering First Layer.
Body Tempering Second Layer.
Body Tempering Third Layer.
Before long, Lin Feng's cultivation realm smashed through all obstacles and reached the Houtian Realm.
"Master, it worked! I really did it!"
Feeling the power surging within his body, Lin Feng, sitting cross-legged on the ground, rushed excitedly to Zhong Qing and couldn't help cheering with excitement as tears streamed directly from his eyes.
He had longed for this day for God knows how long.
Old Jian within the desolate ring was equally emotional.
Lin Feng treated him like a father, and how could he not view Lin Feng as his own child?
Although he had already paved a path of using strange flames for Lin Feng, which could also allow him to ignore his good-for-nothing physique and begin cultivation, not to mention the dangers of searching for strange flames, this unorthodox path of the sword was a narrow escape with nine deaths for every life of survival.
Unlike now, where cultivation began so effortlessly.
And within just a short moment, he directly broke through to the Houtian Realm.
"I wonder what kind of heaven-defying chant that is. Not only can it ignore a good-for-nothing physique, but it also grants such terrifying cultivation speed. It is simply terrifying beyond belief!"
Old Jian couldn't help but sigh in shock.
Zhong Qing simply kept refreshing the upper limit of his understanding over and over again.
Such a masterstroke, such methods—even in the prime of his past life, he had never heard of them.
"Didn't I tell you I wasn't fooling you?"
Zhong Qing looked at the tearful yet joyful Lin Feng before him, patted his head, and smiled softly: "From now on, you must work even harder and not let me down."
"Yes, Master! This disciple will definitely not let you down!"
Lin Feng said with a firm voice.
Having said that, Lin Feng excitedly took his leave and hurried toward his own cave dwelling.
After all, the cave dwelling was blessed with array formations, which could speed up his immortal cultivation even faster.
Watching the excited Lin Feng, Zhong Qing was equally happy.
Because as Lin Feng's cultivation level increased, he could also clearly feel his own cultivation improving at a terrifying rate.
A thousandfold cultivation feedback was truly terrifying!
Time passed slowly.
With Lin Feng's diligent cultivation, Zhong Qing felt his cultivation improving every single moment, and in just a few days, he had broken through a minor realm within the Star Profound Realm.
I'm afraid it won't be long before he breaks through to the Moon Profound Realm, which countless people dreamed of.
This day.
At Old Jian's behest, Lin Feng temporarily came to the mountains a hundred miles away from Mufu Peak.
With a single punch, a fierce beast two zhang in length collapsed dead at his feet.
"Phew!"
Lin Feng looked at his trophy, filled with satisfaction.
Just a few days ago, he was still a good-for-nothing who couldn't cultivate, yet in just a few days, he could kill such a fierce beast with a single punch.
"If I were to use the Mo Knife, I could cut down a fierce beast two tiers higher with a single strike," Lin Feng couldn't help saying.
"Remember, lad, when your master is present, you can turn the world upside down and it won't matter. But when your master is not around, and before your strength has grown, you'd better not use the Mo Knife unless it's a critical moment."
At this moment, Old Jian's disciplinary voice came from the desolate ring.
"Understood, Old Jian, I understand."
Lin Feng nodded humbly.
"Alright, after going through a round of combat, the foundation of your rapid breakthrough earlier can now be considered consolidated. Continue to circulate your cultivation manual, and practice right here according to the chant your master taught you. After breaking through a few more realms, find another fierce beast to fight," Old Jian said again.
"Yes."
Acknowledging the command, Lin Feng sat down cross-legged on the spot.
While circulating the Grand Wood and Earth Scripture, he silently recited in his heart: Give a damn about nothing, just open the cultivation manual and go for it, quickly entering a state of cultivation.
Just a moment after sitting cross-legged, Lin Feng broke through once more.
Houtian Seventh Layer.
Two hours later.
Houtian Eighth Layer.
Half a day later.
Houtian Ninth Layer.
Another day later, Lin Feng stepped directly into the Xiantian Realm.
Watching Lin Feng break through, Old Jian within the desolate ring had long since grown numb.
If not for fear of overstepping his bounds, he really wanted to know what that cultivation chant was to possess such terrifying effects!
Because relying solely on an Emperor Tier cultivation manual, this cultivation speed was simply impossible.
Which was enough to show that the real reason Lin Feng possessed such terrifying cultivation speed still stemmed from that chant.
At the same time, beneath a scenic waterfall in the deep mountains where Lin Feng was located, a woman in white opened her eyes.
"To think there is a teenage genius in this world who cultivates so rapidly."
"Such a youth must be taken under my wing!"
Chapter 9: A defective weapon of the eighth grade, and you dare to come and try to match me?
The woman was also cultivating in this mountain.
With her cultivation level, everything happening within a radius of dozens of miles was entirely within her perception.
As early as when Lin Feng killed the fierce beast, it had already caught her attention.
But she had merely glanced at it.
A youth in the Houtian Realm was not yet worthy of causing any major ripples in her.
However, when she discovered that Lin Feng had broken through directly from the Houtian Seventh Layer to the Xiantian Realm within a mere day or two, she could no longer remain calm.
What kind of concept was this?
This was a path that those with white talent could not finish walking in a lifetime.
Even blue-talent disciples, the backbone of major sects, would take ten years to reach such a realm.
And even heaven's chosen ones like her, who possessed purple talent and whose cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds daily, would find it impossible to break straight through to Xiantian without a year or two.
Yet this youth broke through as easily as eating and drinking.
How could she possibly remain calm?
She, who had never once entertained the thought of taking on a disciple, was completely moved at this moment.
Without a second word, she stepped into the void, covering ten zhang with a single step, and arrived beside Lin Feng before long.
Lin Feng, who had just broken through to Xiantian, was just preparing to follow Old Jian's instructions and find a Xiantian-tier fierce beast to consolidate his cultivation when he suddenly noticed a woman standing before him.
The woman was dressed in white like snow and was exceedingly pretty.
Yet Lin Feng's gaze was filled with vigilance.
Because the woman was looking at him with a gaze bordering on fervent heat.
"May I ask who you are?" Lin Feng asked warily.
"Little fellow, let me introduce myself first. I am Su Wenjiu of Zhaoxia Valley, a holy land of the Eastern Region. I've come here for just one question: are you willing to take me as your master and become my disciple?"
The woman in white stood floating in the air, her white clothes fluttering as she looked down at Lin Feng from above and asked.
"Take you as my master?"
Lin Feng was stunned. Recovering his senses, he hurriedly refused, "Apologies, Senior, but I already have a master."
"Already have a master?"
Su Wenjiu's brow couldn't help but furrow. Such a heaven-defying genius actually already had a master?
"Then may I ask where your master's lineage is?" Su Wenjiu asked, unwilling to give up.
"My master and I live in the Xianjiang Sect a hundred miles away," Lin Feng stated bluntly.
"Xianjiang Sect?"
Su Wenjiu was somewhat surprised.
She had assumed Lin Feng's master was some remarkable and formidable figure, yet he came merely from the Xianjiang Sect?
As far as she knew, this Xianjiang Sect could only be considered a second-rate force throughout the entire Eastern Region.
Such a tiny second-rate force—even its Sect Master was not worthy of catching her eye. What right did they have to possess such a heaven-defying disciple?
A disciple like this was only worthy of coming from a holy land like hers.
"Little fellow, the Xianjiang Sect is merely a second-rate minor sect in the Eastern Region. With your talent, you should have better prospects rather than holing up in a second-rate sect."
Su Wenjiu directly offered an olive branch, saying, "My Zhaoxia Valley is one of the holy lands of the Eastern Region. As long as you nod, I can take you away right now."
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
Lin Feng once again bluntly refused.
Seeing that the youth remained completely unmoved, Su Wenjiu couldn't help feeling somewhat annoyed as she said, "Could it be that you don't know the power of a holy land?"
"I know."
As for this knowledge, Old Jian had already lectured him on it long ago.
"You know, and yet you still refuse..."
Su Wenjiu frowned as she looked at Lin Feng, still unwilling to give up as she said, "As long as you are willing to become my disciple, cultivation resources, advanced cultivation manuals, weapons, and magical treasures will all be yours to choose from."
It seemed mere verbal offers were not enough to convince Lin Feng.
As she spoke, a fiery red long sword was drawn from her sleeve.
As her hand danced, sword Qi crisscrossed the long sword, firelight flashed across mid-air, and dazzling sword flowers dazzled the eyes.
With a single slash of her sword, a cliff not far away was cleanly sheared in half.
Her might was overwhelmingly fierce!
Putting away the long sword, Su Wenjiu gently stroked the sword body, raised her red lips, and said leisurely, "This is Huowu, a divine weapon of the eighth grade, and one of the proudest works of Zhaoxia Valley's premier weapon refiner."
"As long as you nod, this Huowu can be given to you right now."
With that, she raised her head to look at Lin Feng once again.
In her anticipation, Lin Feng would surely be so dazzled by the utility of Huowu that he wouldn't be able to look away.
Not to mention that an eighth-grade item was undeniably a rare treasure; although Lin Feng's cultivation talent was heaven-defying, his age and strength were right here—how high could his horizons possibly be?
However,
Lin Feng remained expressionless.
He didn't even spare the Huowu in her hand a single glance.
"Senior Female, I've already said before, I already have a master, so please don't say anymore. I will not agree."
Lin Feng refused with a solemn expression.
Let alone a tiny holy land in the Eastern Region, what if it were a holy land of this entire continent?
Could anything they gave him possibly compare to what Zhong Qing had given him?
Of course,
even if someone truly could offer something more precious than what Zhong Qing gave right now, Lin Feng would still not agree.
As for a master, he only recognized Zhong Qing nowadays!
And within the desolate ring, Old Jian was almost laughed to death.
Since when did a crappy eighth-grade sword dare to come and try to match him?
In the eyes of that person on Mufu Peak, a crappy eighth-grade sword probably wasn't even qualified to be used as firewood.
To put it without exaggeration, even the slightest bit overflowing from Zhong Qing's fingernails was more than what this so-called holy land had to offer.
Watching Lin Feng leave right after speaking, Su Wenjiu stood holding Huowu, dumbfounded on the spot.
A wave of anger surged from her chest.
She had actually been ignored by this brat.
However, considering Lin Feng's talent, she smoothed down her heavily rising chest, managing to suppress her anger.
"It's probably because this little fellow hasn't seen much of the world and doesn't know what the difference between a holy land and a second-rate sect represents."
"And judging by this little fellow's words, he seems quite devoted to his teacher."
"That can be considered a good thing, his character is still rather decent."
"Since I can't handle you, little fellow, I'll just handle your master directly."
In Su Wenjiu's view, it was merely a second-rate sect; even if Lin Feng was the Sect Master's personal disciple, it was nothing much.
If she sought them out personally, appealed to their emotions and reasoned with them, and then promised some benefits that would seem astronomical in their eyes, winning over this disciple shouldn't be difficult.
As long as Lin Feng's master had Lin Feng's best interests at heart, he would know that becoming her disciple was actually for Lin Feng's own good.
Under her tutelage and Zhaoxia Valley's resources, Lin Feng would inevitably be able to go further in the future.
Thinking of this, she temporarily put aside her annoyance and followed not far behind Lin Feng.
After leaving, Lin Feng found several Xiantian-tier fierce beasts in the mountain forest to battle.
After a round of combat, his freshly breakthrough cultivation became incomparably solid, and he also gained a considerable amount of practical combat experience.
Seeing that this trip had been a complete success, Lin Feng did not linger any longer and hurried back toward Mufu Peak.
A distance of a hundred miles.
For the current Lin Feng, it didn't take much time at all.
Before long, Lin Feng had returned to Mufu Peak.
And in the sky above Mufu Peak, Su Wenjiu stood floating in the void, taking in the entire Mufu Peak at a glance.
"Is this where that little fellow's master resides?"
With that, she stepped into the empty air.
When she reappeared, she had already arrived atop Mufu Peak.
Chapter 10: A Pond You Can't Walk Out Of
"Why is this peak deserted and so quiet?"
"The scenery isn't bad, though."
Upon landing, Su Wenjiu looked around.
She wasn't in any rush regarding taking a disciple; after all, now that she had arrived, the person couldn't possibly run away.
She would inspect the surroundings first, and through observing traces, she could gain a preliminary understanding of Lin Feng's master.
For instance, she could figure out the master's personality through the layout style.
Or she could discern the master's strength through certain array facilities.
That way, there wouldn't be any unexpected complications during the negotiations later, and things would go much more smoothly.
It was also because she valued Lin Feng so much.
Otherwise, normally, who would be worth her going to such lengths? She would usually just casually toss out some benefits—whether you were willing to give up this disciple or not, you'd better be willing.
"Aside from the scenery, this place seems completely unremarkable."
After a casual inspection, Su Wenjiu couldn't help muttering, "The master is most likely just an ordinary cultivator with nothing particularly special about him."
"Very well, I'll just go straight to him and get straight to the point."
"If things really don't go smoothly, faced with such a talented disciple, perhaps resorting to some forceful means will be unavoidable."
Having made up her mind, Su Wenjiu was just about to activate her divine sense to locate Zhong Qing's exact position when, the next moment, something deeply attracted her.
It was a small pond, no more than two zhang in both length and width.
At the edge of the pond, thick snow had accumulated.
Whether the water in the pond was turbid or due to some other reason, it looked pitch-black and bottomless.
And right in the dead center of the pitch-black water floated a snow-white lotus flower.
The lotus had nine petals in total, and set against the backdrop of the dark water, it looked like the bright white moon on the fifteenth night of the lunar month.
Su Wenjiu's gaze was deeply drawn by this white lotus flower.
In the dead of winter, for a white lotus flower to be floating in the center of a pond was already a rather astonishing matter.
Yet the lotus itself emitted no unusual aura at all, looking like nothing more than an ordinary plant.
Even so, it still made Su Wenjiu feel an instant fondness at first sight, making her want to pluck it.
She couldn't help walking toward the edge of the pond, her pair of jade feet wrapped in thick profound Qi as she stepped directly onto the surface of the water.
As her toes touched the water, the pitch-black pond water immediately rippled in concentric circles.
Thus, stepping on the pond water, she approached the lotus step by step.
However,
after taking a few steps, she felt something was amiss.
The entire pond was no more than two zhang in length and width, and from the shore to the center of the pond was merely one zhang—a distance of one zhang that even a child could cross in ten steps.
Yet she had just taken several steps, and she hadn't gotten any closer to the lotus; on the contrary, visually, the distance between her and the lotus looked no different than when she had viewed it from the shore.
"Huh?"
Su Wenjiu furrowed her brow slightly.
She simply tapped her jade feet lightly against the water's surface, her entire body rising into the air as she darted toward the lotus.
However,
when she landed once again, she discovered that she and the lotus were still at that exact same distance.
Before she even had time to be surprised, she suddenly discovered that she could no longer see the opposite bank of the pond!
Glancing around her once more, not only was the opposite shore out of sight, but the shore behind her where she had come from and the shores on both sides were also completely gone.
Aside from the white lotus flower that remained within her field of vision yet was forever untouchable, there was only boundless black water as far as the eye could see, vast and endless, as if she had been placed right in the middle of an ocean.
"An illusion array?"
"Interesting."
Seeing this scene, a playful smirk formed at the corner of Su Wenjiu's lips.
"Let's see how I break your illusion array."
Unflustered and calm, Su Wenjiu simply sat down cross-legged on the water's surface, entering a state of calming her mind and body.
Faced with an ordinary illusion array, one only needed to keep their mind unaffected and as still as water, and it would naturally collapse on its own.
After briefly entering a state of self-forgetfulness, Su Wenjiu reopened her beautiful eyes.
She had expected the illusion to be broken upon opening her eyes, only to find herself still trapped in the boundless black water, with nowhere to the horizon except for that dazzling white lotus flower.
"Not bad."
Su Wenjiu's expression turned slightly more serious.
"Since it can't be broken that way, brute force is my only option."
Su Wenjiu was extremely confident in her strength.
Although she belonged to the younger generation, she was the number one figure of the younger generation in Zhaoxia Valley's history, having already become a Moon Profound Realm expert a year ago.
"Hah!"
Accompanied by a low cry from her, abundant primordial Qi coiled around her jade palms.
Then, she delivered an earth-shattering palm strike downward onto the water's surface.
"Boom!"
In an instant, the water's surface where she stood churned into massive, monstrous waves, the rolling ripples of water sweeping out for dozens of miles.
With her full-force strike as a Moon Profound Realm expert...