Cultivation begins with earning spirit stones

Chapter 19 First Probe

silence.

The person outside the door seemed to hesitate, or perhaps they were listening to what was happening inside the room.

Zhang Lin remained motionless, his heartbeat controlled at an extremely low frequency during normal sleep.

The bolt was silently pulled open, the door was pushed open a crack, and a dark figure slipped in.

Moonlight shone through the crack in the door, casting a narrow shadow on the floor.

The shadowy figure crept to the bedside and pulled back the covers.

empty.

The shadowy figure froze.

Just then, a cold voice rang out behind him.

"What are you looking for?"

The shadowy figure suddenly turned around and saw that Zhang Lin had appeared behind him at some point, holding an iron sword horizontally in front of him, the blade gleaming with a cold, silvery light under the moonlight.

Those eyes were cold and calm, without a trace of sleepiness, as if they had been waiting for him all along.

"You..." The shadowy figure's pupils contracted sharply, and it instinctively tried to back away.

Zhang Lin did not give him a chance.

With a tremor of the iron sword, a silvery-white sword light slashed out like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for the throat of the dark figure.

The shadowy figure reacted extremely quickly, leaning back to narrowly avoid the sword strike.

At the same time, he flipped his right hand and slid a low-grade magic weapon short knife out of his sleeve. It spewed out three inches of sword energy, which condensed and did not disperse, and stabbed towards Zhang Lin's abdomen.

The moves are ruthless and leave no room for error.

Zhang Lin dodged to the side, and the short sword, carrying sword energy, grazed his waist, leaving a shallow white mark on his blue scale armor.

The defensive power of a mid-grade magic weapon cannot be broken by another mid-grade magic weapon.

The shadowy figure clearly realized this as well, a look of horror flashing in its eyes. It suddenly darted towards the door, trying to escape.

With a wave of his left hand, Zhang Lin unleashed an invisible wind blade that shot out silently, as fast as a startled swan.

The shadowy figure had just reached the doorway when it suddenly felt a chill on its right leg, followed by a sharp pain.

He looked down and saw a deep, bone-revealing wound on his right calf, from which blood was gushing out, and his entire leg instantly lost its strength.

"Ah—" He groaned and fell to the ground, the short knife flying out of his hand and landing with a clatter.

Zhang Lin walked over, stepped on his back, and pressed the iron sword against the back of his neck.

"Who sent you?"

Zhang Lin's voice was calm, without anger or urgency, only a chilling calmness.

The shadowy figure gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Zhang Lin wasn't in a hurry. He applied slight force with the tip of his sword, piercing the skin, and a drop of blood slid down the blade.

"I don't like asking a second time."

The shadowy figure felt the chilling killing intent emanating from the back of his neck, trembled, and finally spoke, his voice hoarse: "It's...it's Master Xiong...Master Xiong sent me to probe your strength..."

A knowing glint flashed in Zhang Lin's eyes.

really.

His debut in Qingyun Town was even more successful than he had anticipated.

The Black Wind Society has already set its sights on him.

"What are you trying to find out?" Zhang Lin continued to ask.

"Master Xiong said... that a disciple from the Danxia Sect has come to town and has some good medicine... so I've come to see if it's true..."

"and then?"

"If it's true... then I'll keep an eye on you, and when you leave Qingyun Town... I'll make my move on the road..." The shadowy figure's voice grew softer and softer, filled with obvious fear.

Zhang Lin was silent for a moment, then asked, "Where is Master Xiong now?"

"In...in Black Wind Mountain north of the town...there is a small spiritual spring there...Master Xiong lives there year-round..."

Zhang Lin nodded, making a mental note of each of these questions.

"One last question," his voice remained calm, "What's your name?"

"Liu...Liu San..." Zhang Lin didn't ask any more questions.

With a swing of the iron sword, a flash of light appeared, and Liu San's body twitched slightly before going still.

Zhang Lin sheathed his sword, squatted down, and searched Liu San's body.

A cloth bag containing more than twenty low-grade spirit stones.

A short sword, a low-grade magical artifact, made of better material than an iron sword, which can be enhanced for personal use.

A wooden plaque with the character "Bear" engraved on it serves as the Black Wind Society's identity token.

Zhang Lin carefully put away the spirit stones and the short knife, and casually tossed the token aside.

He stood up, looked at the corpse on the ground, and remained silent for a moment.

Black Wind would be bolder than he anticipated.

I thought they would at least observe for a few days, but to my surprise, they sent people to investigate that very night.

It seems that Master Xiong is extremely greedy for this Danxia Sect disciple, no longer caring about his identity, only coveting the good medicine in his possession.

This kind of mentality is the easiest to be exploited.

Zhang Lin dragged the corpse to the backyard, cast a fireball spell, and instantly burned the corpse to ashes.

He then fetched water to wash away the bloodstains in the room, closed the doors and windows, and sat cross-legged on the bed again.

He didn't fall asleep immediately, but instead planned out the next steps in his mind.

His eyes were closed, his breathing was steady, and his expression was normal, as if the brief but dangerous fight had never happened.

But Liu San's last words kept echoing in his mind.

"Black Wind Mountain in the north of the town...there is a small spiritual spring there..."

A small sacred spring.

Zhang Lin opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

A spiritual spring is a concentrated form of a spiritual vein.

Spiritual veins, like tree roots, lie underground, stretching for tens or even hundreds of miles, from which spiritual energy slowly seeps out, nourishing the land and water.

A spiritual spring, on the other hand, is a spring on the surface of a spiritual vein, with a spiritual energy concentration several times or even dozens of times higher than that of an ordinary place.

Cultivating by the sacred spring yields twice the results with half the effort.

The reason why Shangqing Temple was built in this mountain is because there is a miniature spiritual vein in the back mountain.

It is called a spiritual vein, but it is actually just a few thin streams of spiritual energy, barely enough for more than twenty Taoists to cultivate. The quality is mixed and the concentration is limited.

Even the lowest grade of small spiritual springs has a spiritual energy concentration far exceeding that of micro spiritual veins.

For cultivators in the Qi Refining stage, it was practically a paradise.

Zhang Lin took a deep breath, suppressing the burning desire in his heart.

Small-scale spiritual springs are indeed a rare resource.

However, the Black Wind Society had been entrenched there for five or six years, and Master Xiong was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator with at least seven or eight mid-stage Qi Refining henchmen under his command.

With his current strength, going to their door alone would be tantamount to suicide.

This needs to be considered in the long term.

He took out the short knife he had seized from Liu San, held it in his palm, and examined it closely by the moonlight.

The short sword is about twelve inches long, with a dark iron-gray blade and a sharp edge that subtly gleams. The handle is carved from ebony and wrapped with silver wire, providing a comfortable grip and excellent balance.

Two tiny characters, "破风" (Po Feng), are engraved on the blade near the guard.

It's a low-grade magic weapon, but its quality is still a bit better than his iron sword.

Zhang Lin subtly activated the system light screen.

"Wind-Breaking Blade (Low-grade Magic Weapon): Made primarily of refined iron with a small amount of black copper added, it has moderate sharpness and moderate toughness."

"Can be enhanced. Consumes 50 spirit stones. Enhancement effect: Mid-grade magic weapon, sharpness greatly increased, blade aura speed increased by 30%, cuts through the air silently."

Fifty pieces.

Zhang Lin pondered for a moment, then did not rush to strengthen it.

He has no shortage of offensive methods. His wind blades are invisible and intangible, his Heavenly Flame can burn true qi, and although his iron sword is only of low grade, its power is already considerable when combined with the true qi of the mid-stage Qi Refining Realm.

Adding another mid-grade magic weapon short sword would be icing on the cake, not a lifeline.

The most urgent task is to get the Azure Scale Armor.

Mid-grade magic artifacts are already considered rare items among mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators, but they are still far inferior to those at the late stage of Qi Refining.

If Master Xiong were to really attack him, he would definitely go all out. As a veteran late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, he might even possess a high-grade magic weapon.

He needs a piece of armor that can withstand a full-force attack in the late game.