In the pavilion at Qinglian Pool, the afternoon passed as Lin Shiming completed two Grand Circulations.
Lin Xianzhi nodded frequently, offering advice from time to time, but his complexion was not good. Although Lin Shiming's initial mistakes were acceptable, he later sensed something amiss.
"Shiming, your method of refining spiritual energy is already proficient enough. If you maintain this, there is hope that you will successfully refine spiritual energy within four years and achieve Foundation Establishment by the age of thirty!"
As soon as these words were spoken, even Lin Xianzhi couldn't help but nod in shock, praising Lin Shiming profusely.
Even Lin Shijie, who had a double Spirit Root, couldn't match this speed. He was now thirty-two years old and only hoped to achieve Foundation Establishment before turning thirty-eight.
"Seventh great-uncle flatters me. Shiming still has much room for improvement." Lin Shiming wasn't proud. With such a system and so many extraordinary encounters, even someone with an ordinary quadruple Spirit Root wouldn't be slow.
"By the way, seventh great-uncle, Shiming has a question, though I'm not sure if it's appropriate to ask."
Lin Shiming hesitated for a moment before speaking seriously.
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"Speak freely!" Lin Xianzhi, seeing Lin Shiming being so cautious for the first time, also became very serious.
"I always feel that there is a flaw in the Purple Wood Heart Sutra. There is a part where reversing the flow actually feels smoother."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xianzhi also became silent instantly. There was anger in his eyes, but it disappeared in the next moment.
He turned around, gazed at the lotus flowers, and looked at the lotus seeds.
His eyes were sometimes distant and sometimes close.
Suddenly, filled with emotion, he uttered a phrase that Lin Shiming found somewhat perplexing.
"Work hard, Shiming. Your seventh great-uncle cannot step out of this chessboard, cannot leave this Spirit Pool. However, I look forward to the day—to see you transform from a carp into a dragon!"
After saying this, Lin Xianzhi left without further discussion.
Lin Shiming also felt a sense of helplessness at this moment. What if they had given him a fake cultivation technique? Could it be that one should confront a Purple Mansion cultivator, or even a Golden Core True Person, about it?
At the same time, he understood that there must be other dealings between his seventh great-uncle and the Zi Xuan Hermit.
He saw a deep ambition for the Immortal Path in Lin Shijie's eyes, on Lin Houyong's person, and on Lin Shiming's as well.
Only in his late-Stage Foundation Establishment seventh great-uncle, he did not see it.
"Thank you, seventh brother!" Lin Shitao's little face blushed, even happier than before.
After chatting with Lin Shitao for a few more moments, Lin Shiming returned to his cave dwelling.
Inside the cave dwelling, he had newly excavated three stone chambers; one for the Red-haired Demon Monkey, one for the Golden Winged Mantis, and another for the Golden Luan Eagle.
The Red-haired Demon Monkey and the Golden Luan Eagle, both spirit beasts, often left the cave dwelling to enter the mountains behind Fangmu Mountain. The Golden Winged Mantis, however, Lin Shiming had never seen leave the cave even once.
Lin Shiming went to the stone chamber of the Golden Winged Mantis, which was prone against the wall of the chamber. Upon seeing Lin Shiming enter, it instantly transformed into a beam of golden light, aiming to perch on Lin Shiming's shoulder as it had done in its youth, only now it was even larger in size than Lin Shiming.
After being patted on the wings by Lin Shiming, it ultimately chirped and prostrated itself in front of him.
Lin Shiming took out the Barrier-Breaking Demon Core. The demon core looked no different from an ordinary elixir, but it carried an additional faint demonic aura. In fact, the Barrier-Breaking Demon Core shared a remarkable similarity in function with the Barrier-Breaking Pill.
The former was for cultivators in the later stages of Qi Cultivation to break through their bottlenecks, whereas the latter was for demonic beasts, though the Barrier-Breaking Demon Core was clearly stronger.
"Chirp chirp chirp!" The Golden Winged Mantis chirped even more joyously, rubbing its big head vigorously against Lin Shiming's chest.
Finally, after consuming the Barrier-Breaking Demon Core, it went to a corner and surprisingly closed its eyes.
The surrounding spiritual energy suddenly began to converge out of nowhere, carrying streaks of sharp metallic essence.
Seeing this, Lin Shiming quickly sealed the formation; this breakthrough from the Second Rank to the Third Rank would certainly not be accomplished in just a few days.
Almost at the same time as he closed the formation, the Spirit Talisman in the distance buzzed again.
This time it was from Lin Shizhong. Lin Shiming opened the formation and saw the naive and dark-skinned young man, Lin Shizhong, grinning at him.
"Seventh brother, Great uncle sent me to deliver a magic artifact!" he said, passing a Storage Bag to Lin Shiming.
Seeing this, Lin Shiming also smiled and accepted the Storage Bag; since he had given Lin Shitao a magic artifact, he then took out the Profound Water Heavy Mountain, that small mountain-shaped magic artifact.
Since the Red-haired Demon Monkey acquired the Thousand Layer Mountain, it was no longer fond of the Profound Water Heavy Mountain, which Lin Shiming was now happy to give to Lin Shizhong.
However, Lin Shizhong was still at the fourth layer of Qi Cultivation. It likely would not be needed for the next five or six years.
"Thank you, seventh brother!" Lin Shizhong accepted the magic artifact from Lin Shimo and was overjoyed, especially after sensing that it was a superior grade artifact.
"Your cultivation level is not high enough yet. I'm giving it to you now so that you can take it for adventures and take on guard duties when you're a bit older!" Lin Shiming offered his advice and after talking for a while, he returned to his cave dwelling.
At this point, he couldn't help but be interested in the Third Rank magic artifact that Lin Yutie was refining for him.