After Lin Changqiang and Lin Hong left the stage, Lin Dong refrained from challenging again. Lin Guangjiang, at the sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm, knew he was no match for the others, and so the clan competition quickly concluded.
The final result, naturally, was Lin Changqiang first, Lin Xia and Lin Hong tied for second, Lin Dong third, and Lin Guangjiang fourth.
In a large hall in the Lin family's backyard, several figures sat. Sitting at the head of the table was a smiling Lin Zhentian. Below him sat Lincoln, Lin Xiao, and Lin Mang. Finally, it was Lin Changqiang and his companions who had secured the top five spots in the clan competition.
"Today, my Lin family has a double celebration." Lin Zhentian stroked his beard cheerfully, his eyes narrowed. "First, Xiao'er's strength has recovered to the Tianyuan realm, and now Changqiang and Ah Hong have shown outsiders and certain people the true meaning of brotherhood."
With a look of disappointment, he looked at his second and third sons, Lin Mang and Lin Xiao. Lin Mang turned his head away awkwardly, and Lin Xiao stood aside, grinning bitterly.
Lin Changqiang and Lin Hong, on the other hand, tacitly feigned deafness and dumbness, not daring to interrupt their elders.
"Back in the Lin clan competition, Xiao'er was defeated by Lin Langtian in a single blow, leaving him half-crippled and ending our Qingyang Town branch's hopes of regaining our clan..." At this point, Lin Zhentian couldn't help but sigh, as if he'd aged a bit. He only displayed this attitude in front of his own people. "But at that time, Xiao'er was already our branch's most outstanding talent. If he couldn't, would you?"
Under Lin Zhentian's gaze, Lin Mang lowered his head slightly, his breathing becoming heavier. Lin Xiao and Lin Dong, father and son, clenched their fists even tighter.
"It's okay for outsiders to vent their anger on Xiao'er, but how can you blame him? He's also causing the younger generation to become hostile to each other. He's your brother, we're family!" He then glared at Lin Xiao, who was standing beside him, with a sullen look. "Not to mention you, such a stubborn idiot, actually believed the same thing and gave up on treatment. I nearly died of anger back then!"
Lin Xiao could only smile wryly and nodded.
"No matter what, just cheer up. From now on, you two should learn from Changqiang and Ah Hong well. If anyone dares to cause trouble again, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
After explaining this, seeing that Lin Xiao and Lin Mang didn't object, Lin Zhentian nodded with satisfaction. Then, with a kind look at Lin Changqiang and the others, he said with a smile,
"Grandpa is happy today. All five of you will share in the rewards for the clan competition, and Lin Changqiang's share will be doubled. Also, the family martial arts academy is free for you to browse from now on. If you need anything, just let Grandpa know. Strive to make a breakthrough before the hunting trip in Qingyang Town. That way, my Lin family will be able to gain more influence in Qingyang Town."
Upon hearing that they could freely browse the family martial arts academy, the eyes of Lin Dong and the others who had been sitting there lit up almost instantly. Seeing Lin Dong and Lin Hong's eyes light up, Lin Changqiang's heart was filled with joy.
Late at night, the moon hung high in the sky like a mirror, its soft moonlight bathing the earth.
"Hunting event? If I remember correctly, Lin Dong's future good brother, Xiao Yan, made his first appearance during this event." Lin Changqiang sat cross-legged on his bed, trying to recall the events.
The triennial hunting event was the busiest time of year in Qingyang Town, drawing crowds from even outside the town.
Speaking of hunting, one cannot help but mention the three major factions of Qingyang Town: the Lei family, the Xie family
, and the Crazy Blade Martial Arts School. The Lei and Xie families were the native families of Qingyang Town, possessing the richest heritage and the most exclusive of the Lin family and Crazy Blade Martial Arts School.
Crazy Blade Martial Arts School, though established only a dozen years ago, had grown in strength by leaps and bounds, forcing neither the Lei nor the Xie families to underestimate it.
Below these three major factions came the Lin family, but that was before. After Lin Xiao's recovery to the Tianyuan realm, the Lin family, with four Tianyuan realm masters, barely qualified to stand on equal footing with the other three. After all, even the Lei family, with its strongest heritage, only possessed five Tianyuan realm masters.
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The triennial hunting event was jointly organized by these major factions. Ultimately, it was a training for the younger generation, and another form of competition.
Thinking of this, Lin Changqiang smiled and pulled out a brocade box. Inside was his reward for this clan competition: four third-grade spiritual herbs!
"I only noticed the benefits of supplementary training before, but I didn't realize it also had a flaw."
Indeed, while the system described it well, allowing one to choose a martial art each day to gain martial arts experience, or a technique to gain twelve hours of perfect training, the Body Tempering Realm relied on tempering the body to gain experience...
This meant that before reaching the Earthly Origin Realm, he couldn't increase his cultivation through supplementary training at all, and could only focus on martial arts. Fortunately, there was still the means of absorbing spiritual herbs, otherwise his progress would be significantly slowed down.
"System, absorb all spiritual elixirs."
"Ding, absorption successful. Converting to energy. Estimated conversion time: twelve minutes."
"Huh, comfortable." Lin Changqiang stretched lazily with satisfaction, glancing at the slowly increasing experience points. "Although the energy converted isn't as much as the ancestral stone, I don't have to spend time slowly absorbing it, nor do I have to suffer the excruciating pain like Lin Dong did. It's a win-win situation, I guess."
Suddenly, Lin Changqiang's eyes flashed, as if remembering something. He quickly glanced at his backpack.
"System, use a double experience card!"
"Ding, double experience card used successfully. For seven days, experience gained from any form, except 'Inner Demon', will be doubled. Remaining double experience time: six days, twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-two seconds."
Seeing the system notification, Lin Changqiang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost forgotten about the double experience card, but thankfully he remembered it in time, only losing a small amount of experience.
A few minutes later, the system notification sounded again.
"Dong, the elixir conversion is complete. Congratulations to the host, your cultivation has reached the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm (22% improvement)."
"If Lin Dong knew this, he'd start questioning his life again," Lin Changqiang smiled, as if he saw Lin Dong's look of astonishment. "From now on, just enjoy freeloading on other people's experience. Once you reach the ninth level of the Body Tempering Realm, use a Heart Demon Experience Card to ascend directly to the Earth Origin Realm!"
Lin Changqiang had considered asking Lin Zhentian directly for the Qing Yuan Gong. But firstly, he remembered that cultivation techniques seemed impossible before reaching the Earth Origin Realm. Secondly, Lin Zhentian might think he was being too ambitious and not necessarily give it to him.
After much deliberation, Lin Changqiang decided that instead of shamelessly asking for it, it would be better to focus on cultivation first and then seek other methods after breaking through to the Earth Origin Realm.
Having made up his mind, Lin Changqiang stopped sitting there and, after washing up, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep. Although Lin Changqiang can now sleep without rest due to the restorative effect of Holy Light Guardian, for some reason, he always feels irritable and listless if he doesn't sleep for a long time.