Xiaohanshan Zonghoushan.
The sun shines brightly, and the wind rustles through the treetops.
The boy sat cross-legged, meditating and cultivating. Suddenly, a stone was thrown from behind him, but the boy's body remained as steady as a rock, without trembling at all.
"Hey, you, Lin Che, you good-for-nothing, stop cultivating! No matter how much you cultivate, you'll never be able to compare to Mu Xue. I really don't know why Elder Lin would choose a piece of trash like you!"
A teenager's shout rang out, and Lin Che frowned but remained motionless.
Ten years is a very special milestone. My master said that after ten years, I need to practice continuously for a month and meditate like this every day in order to see results. If I disturb my mind because of something at this time, all my previous efforts will be in vain and I will fail at the last minute.
Seeing that Lin Che didn't move, the boy became furious.
"Lin Che, who do you think you are? You're just a piece of trash. You haven't improved at all over the years. If it weren't for you, Mu Xue would have become a core disciple of the sect long ago."
Lin Che clenched his fists upon hearing this, but still held back. This was the most important moment, he comforted himself.
"Xu Long, is this the place where you can shout?"
Just as the boy was shouting, an old, decrepit voice came from the doorway.
The newcomer was an old man. Although he looked old, his voice was as loud as a bell, loud enough to pierce Xu Long's eardrums.
Upon seeing that the person was Lin Tianran, Xu Long had no choice but to abandon his insults and looked at the old man with a forced smile.
"Old Lin, I came to see Mu Xue. Since she's not here, I'll be leaving now."
Lin Tianran narrowed his eyes and looked coldly at Xu Long. Based on his years of experience in judging people, he obviously looked down on this kid. But his granddaughter was getting very close to him. As the girl grew up, he, as her grandfather, obviously couldn't control her too much.
Xu Long naturally knew that Lin Tianran didn't like him, so he chuckled awkwardly and slunk away.
Lin Che glanced at Xu Long, his expression still blank. Over the years, Xu Long had caused him no shortage of trouble, and he was already used to it. The "Mu Xue" he mentioned was the old man's granddaughter, who could be considered half a "sister" to him.
Lin Che and Lin Muxue were both raised by Lin Tianran. The difference is that Lin Muxue is Lin Tianran's granddaughter, while Lin Che is an orphan. They usually only address each other as master and apprentice.
What's puzzling is that Lin Tianran favors this disciple even more than his own granddaughter. He not only frequently guides Lin Che's cultivation personally, but also always gives him precious spiritual medicines that can cleanse the marrow and refine the essence.
Unfortunately, despite receiving all the favor, Lin Che's cultivation progressed very little over the past ten years, while Lin Muxue became a genius disciple of the sect, with her cultivation rising steadily. This became a source of amusement among the sect's disciples.
After a long while, Lin Che let out a long breath and slowly stood up. At this moment, the spiritual energy on his body was obviously vastly different from before.
Lin Tianran looked at Lin Che with satisfaction and gently patted his shoulder with his large hand.
"It's done?" Lin Tianran asked with a smile.
Lin Che nodded, feeling the circulation of the cultivation technique within his body, and murmured, "This technique is truly miraculous. My cultivation has not progressed for ten years, but after mastering the first level today, I immediately felt the immense spiritual power!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Tianran stroked his beard and smiled without saying a word. His cloudy old eyes looked at Lin Che, with a faint glimmer of expectation.
At this moment, a young woman in a yellow dress walked over with a displeased expression. Her beautiful eyes seemed to be filled with frost. She did not even glance at Lin Che, but went directly to Lin Tianran and glared at him angrily.
"You gave him the qualification for the sect competition?" The girl bit her lip, pointed at Lin Che, and glared at Lin Tianran as she questioned him.
Lin Tianran frowned slightly, then explained, "Muxue, your strength is enough, but your temperament is still lacking. Besides, you are still young. You can participate next time. This time, Lin Che is more suitable than you."
Upon hearing this, Lin Che was taken aback. The sect competition of Xiaohanshan Sect was no joke. It was a stage for the sect's top geniuses. It was not only an opportunity for a fish to leap over the dragon gate, but also an extremely cruel martial arts arena!
Upon hearing this, Lin Muxue stared blankly at her grandfather, her eyes instantly reddening and welling up with tears.
"Why!" Lin Muxue's voice trembled slightly. "Why should you give all the benefits to this good-for-nothing!"
"Shut up, Muxue!"
Upon hearing the word "trash," Lin Che paused slightly, but he didn't say anything. Lin Tianran, however, interrupted her sharply.
Lin Muxue's body trembled slightly, and the grievances she had held in her heart over the years instantly turned into a burning anger.
Although Lin Tianran was somewhat angry, she did not back down at this moment. Instead, she stared at Lin Tianran with her bloodshot eyes.
"Even if you've forgotten that I'm your own granddaughter, you shouldn't forget how my parents died!" Lin Muxue said, word by word, before turning and running out of the back mountain, leaving only two lines of tears falling into the wind behind her.
Lin Tianran looked at her with some heartache, but could only shake his head and sigh bitterly.
"Teacher, Mu Xue is your granddaughter after all. Why treat her like this?" Lin Che, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly asked.
Although Lin Muxue had always been unkind to him, the two had grown up together since childhood, and Lin Tianran had indeed been too biased towards him and unfair to her.
Upon hearing this, Lin Tianran gazed at the sky and said softly, "You are the chosen one of destiny. You will understand all of this in the future."
"The Chosen One?"
Lin Che scratched his head. What does "chosen one" mean? Why couldn't he understand it at all?
Seeing Lin Che's half-understanding look, Lin Tianran smiled and reached out to stroke his head. "It's alright, silly child. When the time comes, you'll know. How was your cultivation today?"
His voice was still loud and clear, but it had become much gentler, a stark contrast to how he had treated Lin Muxue.
Lin Muxue, who was at the entrance of the forest behind the mountain, witnessed this scene. She couldn't understand what she had done wrong to deserve such injustice.
The usually proud and strong-willed woman choked back tears, her reddened eyes filled with not only resentment but also a deep sense of disappointment. From that moment on, she vowed from the bottom of her heart that she would never return to this home.
The two returned to their room, where a table full of delicious food had already been laid out.
Lin Che looked at the empty seat next to him, then turned to look at Lin Tianran with some concern. The latter obviously guessed what he wanted to ask and took the initiative to say, "Don't worry about her, she's just being a little temperamental."
Although Lin Che was a little worried, he nodded and started eating.
"My cultivation today has already shown some promise. I can now be considered to be at the mid-stage of Qi Refining. However, I can feel that I cannot yet use the lunar spiritual power within my body freely."
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Lin Che patted his belly contentedly and turned around to earnestly report his cultivation results for the day to his teacher.
"Of course," Lin Tianran said nonchalantly, staring intently at Lin Che, a strange glint in his eyes.
"The Crimson Moon Divine Descent Technique is a Saint-level cultivation method. If you can master even half of it, even a Sealed Emperor Realm expert will be nothing more than an ant in your presence!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Che's eyes widened in shock. "A...a Feng Emperor? The sect leader of the Little Cold Mountain Sect only has a Spirit Vein, right? Is this technique really that powerful?"
He asked, "The first ten years were the initial stage of this cultivation method. I have almost never felt that the method has brought me any benefit. On the contrary, it has disrupted my cultivation and made my current cultivation level so low that it is outrageous."
Even with the tireless guidance and help of Elder Lin Tianran every day, he has only barely reached the mid-stage of Qi Refining today. Keep in mind, Lin Muxue, through her own hard work and talent, had already reached the late-stage of the Tendon Transformation Realm!
However, Lin Tianran did not comment much on his reaction, but simply smiled and remained silent.
Elder Lin.
While the master and apprentice were chatting, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a man dressed in black walked straight in, addressing them respectfully.
"Could this be the genius young man you've been praising who's participating in this sect competition?"
He glanced at Lin Che, whose mid-stage Qi Refining realm didn't impress him, but since Lin Tianran had recommended him, he naturally dared not underestimate him.
However, the hint of disdain in his eyes was truly reflected in Lin Che's eyes; he was all too familiar with this kind of emotion.
For the past decade, he had endured countless scornful looks. Simply because his mentor was an elder of the sect, while he was a "waste" with only the early stage of Qi Refining.
Especially Xu Long, Lin Muxue's suitor, this young master from a prominent family has caused Lin Che no shortage of trouble.
Lin Tianran looked at the newcomer and nodded with a smile, "It is indeed my disciple Lin Che."
The newcomer hesitated, then said, "Elder Lin, if I may be so bold, the sect competition is no child's play. The competition among the talented disciples is fierce, and this lad is no match for your granddaughter." He then looked around, adding, "Where is your granddaughter?"
Elder Lin glanced at him and said, "Mu Xue and I had a little argument, and she ran away."
The newcomer gave an awkward laugh and didn't dare to mention Lin Muxue again. Instead, he changed the subject: "Since this little brother wants to participate in the sect competition, may I spar with him? If he can't even beat me, according to the rules, he can't participate in the sect competition."
This has always been the rule: newly recruited contestants in the sect competition must first compete against the sect member who recommended them. The recommender will keep their strength below the average strength of the sect competition participants. Only if the contestant defeats the recommender can they become a formal participant and join the sect competition.
Lin Tianran nodded in agreement, which was in accordance with the rules.
Then he turned to Lin Che and said, "Ten years of hard work, today is the time for you to test your strength. In the past, the highest cultivation level in the sect competition was only the late stage of Yi Jin, so the guide will compress the spiritual power to around the early stage of Yi Jin."
As long as you remember my instructions on the techniques, you will definitely not lose. Remember how to use the power of the Moon Spirit, and you must have faith in yourself.
Lin Che looked at his teacher with some doubt. Could he really do it?
After all, in the past ten years, others have not dared to confront him directly because the teacher is an elder. In fact, he has not fought many times in the past ten years. Today, the teacher actually believes that he can defeat this ferryman.
But seeing the encouraging look from Lin Tianran, Lin Che inexplicably chose to believe his teacher.
So he and the ferryman went outside, and he clasped his hands in a respectful bow to the ferryman, saying, "Then please guide me from now on!"