And once Xiao Lin said that, he clenched his hand into a fist and sent it out towards the bandit's chest.
Bang!
Immediately the fist struck him in the chest, he was sent flying into the distance where he smashed his body into one of the many trees in the Blackheart forest and caused numerous cracks to appear in the structure of that particular tree.
The instant Xiao Lin did that, he looked into the distance at the place where the bandit crashed into and said, "So full of disappointment. I thought you would have also gotten stronger."
Then once he said that, he said further "Then what qualification gives you the audacity to test me when you can't even withstand a punch from me? You had better give up the ghost there and die."
After looking for sometime and seeing that the bandit did not stand back to his feet, Xiao Lin shook his head and then turned around to begin to walk back to the castle. And on his way back to the castle, he met a few other bandits who were looking at him with expressions that he couldn't really understand. However, he wasn't frightened of them, or more precisely, of their abilities, since he knew how strong he was even for his 1st-layer Mortal Spiritual stage.
Not long, he arrived in front of the castle's gate and went in, after politely nodding his head in greeting to his other colleagues who he met at the training ground that was just in front of the castle.
And as soon as he went in, he headed straight for Nine Calamities' room.
Knock!
The instant he got there, he knocked on the door with Nine Calamities's voice instantly ringing out, "Bloodfang, come in lad."
Xiao Lin nodded his head and then opened the door to go in.
Then once he entered, he closed the door behind them and then bowed with a polite expression appearing in his face. Then after bowing for a few seconds, Xiao Lin straightened himself back and then clasped his hands on front of Nine Calamities.
"Master Nine Calamities, I am back from my training." Xiao Lin said.
"Good." Nine Calamities said calmly.
He then continued, "And I can see that your training has yielded a lot of fruit. You are now in the first-layer Mortal Spiritual stage. Well done, Bloodfang"
"Thank you Master" Xiao Lin said.
He then said further by asking, "So, do I need any catching up on anything that has happened so far in this town since I left, Master?"
"Nothing has happened, Bloodfang. Everything has been the same since since you left." Nine Calamities said with a smile.
He then said further with one of his brows furrowing, "But I can't tell about you. Has anything happened to you since you left?"
"Yes Master, when I broke through into the first-layer Mortal Spiritual stage, my body got a bit stronger to be able to resist the sickening and damaging effect of the sun rays on my body." Xiao Lin mentioned.
He then continued, "So, what that basically means for me is that I have gotten slightly immune to the sun and won't experience that sickness which I told about that will always occur to me whenever I enter the sun."
"Really?!" Master Nine Calamities asked in shock.
"Yes, master" Xiao Lin replied with a slight, single nod of his head.
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." Nine Calamities said delightedly.
He then said further with that roiling joy brimming within his heart, "This calls for a celebration, lad. Congrats"
Xiao Lin only smiled.
"So, now that this has happened when I needed someone to go execute a mission for me, then I guess I would have to select you for that mission, Bloodfang." Nine Calamities said as he gazed at Xiao Lin.
"Alright Master" Xiao Lin said.
He however hurriedly spoke further before Nine Calamities could say anything else, "But master, I just arrived. Could Master please give me a few days to rest before going for the mission that you have selected me for?"
"Hmm. Alright then." Nine Calamities said.
He then said further with a pondering look in his face, "I will give you only three days to rest, lad. After three days, you must report back to me."
"Yes Master" Xiao Lin said reverently and with a nod of his head.
He then questioned when something appeared in his mind, "Uhm.. Master Nine Calamities, if you don't mind me asking, what mission is that which you have chosen me for? Could you tell me few details about it so that I can prepare myself in time?"
"Hmm. Alright. I will tell you" Nine Calamities said.
He then answered by saying, "I will send you to an unguarded hidden place that some of my men told me about after making a lot of findings about it."
"That place acts a treasure storage house for a particular decorated vase that contains a powerful half-sized pill that is believed by men to have come from any of those higher continents."
"So, that's where I will send you to go help me retrieve the pill" Nine Calamities said while Xiao Lin nodded his head in full understanding.
"So, when you report back to me for the mission in three days time, I will give you more details about it. Therefore, for now, go relax. See you in three days time"
Xiao Lin nodded his head and then turned around to go back to his room.
Then on reaching his room, he came across some of his colleagues who simply nodded at him, with him simply reciprocating their actions.
And once he arrived before the door of his room, he opened it and went in to go relax.
Now seating relaxedly and in the cross-legged position on the ground, he produced all the Jade Pill boxes that Li Chuang gave him which contained the Spiritual Aura bestowing pills and then began to open them one after the other to greedily inhale the thick, highly fragrant mists that immediately began to waft out of the jade-colored boxes in front of him.
With a smile appearing in his face as he felt the revitalizing and energizing effect of the mists that he inhaled within his body, he began to think of what to do next with the pills.
"Should I cultivate my body? Or my Spiritual Energy?" He asked with a deeply perplexed expression in his face as he looked at the glowing pills within the Jade Pill boxes.
He then said further within himself, 'If I try to cultivate my body to take it to another body-cultivation stage, my Spiritual Energy will suffer. But same also goes for my Spiritual Energy. If I try to cultivate it and leave my body's cultivation behind, it will tremendously suffer.'
'Ugh! What do I do now?' Xiao Lin asked as he stared at the pills before him.
Then after pondering for a long time about it, Xiao Lin decided to count the number of pills in the boxes and divide them into halves equally, in which one half would be meant for the cultivation of his Spiritual Energy, and the other half for his body cultivation.
After feeling that he had made the right decision, he set out to do what he had in mind.
So, he took out all the pills from their containment boxes and placed them on a large piece of cloth on the ground before him.
Then immediately after he did so, he began to count them.
Not long after counting them, where he arrived at a figure of seventy Spiritual Aura bestowing pills, he quickly divided them into halves, where he now got forty pills for the cultivation of his Spiritual Energy, and forty other pills for the cultivation of his body to make it ascend to the Mortal-Surpassing Silver body.
Seeing what he had done, he nodded his head with a satisfied smile appearing in his face.
"Now that I have divided the pills equally for the cultivation of both my body and Spiritual Energy, none of them would suffer or be left behind." Xiao Lin uttered.
He then continued, "And judging from the amounts of Spiritual Aura bestowing pills before me, I should be able to use them to break though into the second-layer or hopefully, third-layer Mortal Spiritual stage for my Spiritual Energy, and then the Mortal-Surpassing Silver body for my body cultivation after I am able to possibly activate five thousand ordinary spiritual energy revolutions across my entire body."
Then after mentioning these, Xiao Lin prepared to start his body cultivation first since he needed to increase his body's durability and hardness to the level where Spiritual Energy attacks launched at him by fifth-layer or sixth-layer Mortal Spiritual stage cultivators, won't be able to really deal any part of his bodily flesh any form or degree of damage.
So, still seated relaxedly in that cross-legged position, he took one of the pills from the halves that he reserved for the cultivation of his body and immediately imbibed it, after preparing his body for the large amount of Spiritual Energy that would instantly appear in his body and begin to seethe about.