Chapter 160: Going Home to Rest
After a ten-day journey, Shi Lin and his group finally returned to the Shi family manor.
As the carriage entered the Shi family manor, Flender and his entourage all breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm finally back." Shi Lin sat in the carriage, looking at the familiar Shi family manor, let out a long breath, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
Flender and his companions were also exhausted, having been on the road for the past few days without a proper rest.
Soul bones are valuable, but they're also a ticking time bomb, coveted by too many people.
After entering the Shi family manor, the group returned to their respective courtyards to rest. Throughout the journey, everyone had been on edge, their hearts pounding in their chests.
Now I can finally relax.
With the help of his servants, Shi Lin returned to his courtyard and went straight to his bedroom without lingering.
Without taking a shower or changing clothes, he lay down on the bed, intending to take a nap first.
...
"Young Master, the Patriarch requests your presence."
"Young Master, the Patriarch requests your presence."
A servant stood outside Shi Lin's bedroom and spoke loudly to Shi Lin inside.
Shi Lin was forcibly awakened just as he was drifting off to sleep.
"Dad's really something, he won't even let me get a proper rest," Shi Lin muttered irritably, picking up a pillow and covering his head.
However, after lying in bed for a while, although he was very tired, Shi Lin still struggled to get out of bed, stood up and walked towards Shi Zhen's courtyard.
A dozen minutes later, Shi Lin arrived at Shi Zhen's courtyard.
Besides Shi Zhen, Shi An and Fu Gui were sitting in the courtyard, with the torso soul bone that Shi An had obtained at the Heaven Dou Royal Auction on the table.
"What's going on?" Shi Lin asked, his face full of confusion.
"Young Master, this soul bone is far too valuable, so I want to hand it over to our family." Shi An stood beside Shi Zhen and whispered to Shi Lin.
Shi An appeared somewhat uneasy and nervous, extremely nervous about such an expensive soul bone.
Shi An felt that he was not worthy of such an expensive item.
"Hand it over? Hand it over what? Brother An, this soul bone is yours, no one will take it from you." Shi Lin was stunned for a moment, then said to Shi An in an annoyed tone.
Shi An was honest and simple, but he was, after all, a slave bought by Shi Zhen, so he had a deep-seated inferiority complex.
Shi Zhen and Shi Lin knew that despite their efforts to cultivate him, Shi An still struggled to overcome his inferiority complex, even though he was the strongest fighter in the Shi family back then.
"Did you hear that, Xiao An? We don't have any money to hand over. Just put the soul bone away in peace." Shi Zhen stood up and said to Shi An earnestly.
Shi Zhen and Shi Lin were really good to Shi An.
"Brother An, if you really want to hand it over, that's fine too. I should be able to get a stronger soul bone in the future. A thousand-year soul bone isn't very valuable to absorb, and it can't be replaced. We can wait a bit longer to absorb it."
"As for this soul bone, keep it with Brother An. If you can't find a suitable soul bone, then Brother An will absorb this one." Shi Lin picked up the soul bone, examined it carefully, and then smiled at Shi An.
Shi Lin has now cultivated century-old soul beasts. With the increasing variety of Gu worms, the speed of cultivating soul beasts will be even faster in the future. Therefore, obtaining some high-quality soul bones will not be difficult for Shi Lin.
If Shi An absorbs this thousand-year-old soul bone, and Shi Lin obtains a higher-level soul bone in the future, Shi An will no longer be able to absorb it.
"Young Master, this soul bone is so rare, please take it and absorb it," Shi An said earnestly to Shi Lin.
Upon hearing Shi An's words, Shi Lin simply smiled and shook his head.
"Brother An, you don't know this, but soul bones also have attributes. This soul bone came from a defensive soul beast, and the soul skill obtained after absorbing it is also defensive. So the cost-effectiveness of my absorption is not high. In our family, you are the most suitable person to absorb this soul bone." Shi Lin explained to Shi An with a smile.
After hearing Shi Lin's explanation, Shi An nodded, indicating that he understood. However, Shi Lin glanced at Shi An's expression and knew that Shi An still wanted to absorb the soul bone.
"Yes, young master, I will listen to you," Shi An nodded and said.
"Alright, Brother An, take the soul bone back with you. If I can't get another soul bone later, you can absorb it." Shi Lin said to Shi An with a smile.
Next, Shi Lin took out a box, put the soul bone inside, and then handed the box to Shi An.
"Yes, Patriarch, Young Master, I'll head back now." Shi An nodded, then put the box into his soul tool and turned to leave.
"Master, young master, I'll head back now." Fu Gui bowed to Shi Zhen and Shi Lin, then left the courtyard.
At this moment, only Shi Lin and Shi Zhen remained in the courtyard.
"Was the trip smooth? Did you encounter any trouble?" Shi Zhen looked at Shi Lin with loving eyes and asked in a gentle voice.
Seeing how thin his son had become, Shi Zhen felt a pang of heartache.
"It went relatively smoothly, except that An Ge's discovery of the soul bone was a bit unexpected. But even if An Ge hadn't made the soul bone, we would still be back. This training is basically over." Shi Lin shrugged at Shi Zhen and said.
Shi Zhen nodded as well.
Although Shi Zhen has been a soul master for less time than Shi Lin, he still has experience from those years and knows how precious treasures like soul bones are.
They also knew how nervous Shi Lin and the others were.
"Alright, it's good that you're back. Get some rest. I'll take care of things at home. Whatever you want to do, your old man will support you." Shi Zhen stood up, patted Shi Lin on the shoulder, and said with a smile.
"Dad, how long until you break through level 20?" Shi Lin suddenly looked up and asked Shi Zhen.
Shi Lin remembered that before he went out to train, Shi Zhen had already broken through to level 18, and now he should be close to breaking through to level 20.
Although Shi Zhen lacked talent for cultivation, with the blessing of Shi Lin's wine Gu, his cultivation speed was faster than that of most geniuses with innate full soul power.
"I've already broken through. I originally planned to hunt soul beasts while you were away," Shi Zhen shrugged and sighed.
Shi Lin was stunned for a moment after hearing Shi Zhen's words, and then he realized what was going on.
Shi Zhen's soul power level broke through too quickly, so he was worried that Flender and the others would find out.
After all, this secret is just too intriguing.
Therefore, when Flender and the others returned this time, Shi Zhen and Fu Gui did not show up. Otherwise, with Flender's and Zhao Wuji's cultivation levels, they would definitely have been able to tell that Shi Zhen had broken through.
"Dad, it looks like you'll have to wait a while. After some time, the advanced Soul Master Academy will be allowed to enroll students. At that time, Dean Flender will return to Shrek Academy. Then we can go hunt soul beasts again and try not to be discovered by others," Shi Lin said to Shi Zhen after thinking for a moment.
"That's all we can do now. I was planning to absorb the spirit ring before you guys came back, but I didn't expect you to come back so suddenly," Shi Zhen said with a smile to Shi Lin.
Shi Zhen couldn't suppress his cultivation level just because he was breaking through too quickly. After all, Shi Zhen was already quite old and needed to seize every opportunity to improve his cultivation.
"Uncle Fu Gui is about to break through too, right?" Shi Lin nodded and said.
"Yes, Fu Gui will break through level 20 in a few days, and the admissions for the advanced academy will begin soon. They probably won't have time to linger at our house," Shi Zhen said to Shi Lin with a smile.
After hearing Shi Zhen's words, Shi Lin nodded silently.
"Alright, that's all. You look a bit dazed, you must have had a long journey. Go back and get some rest." Shi Zhen patted Shi Lin on the shoulder and said with a smile.
"Okay, I'm going back to rest now." Shi Lin said with a wry smile, his eyelids almost glued shut.
The journey had been bumpy and arduous, and Shi Lin and his companions were already exhausted.
Just as he was about to rest, Shi Zhen woke him up again. Now, if you give Shi Lin a bed, he can fall asleep right away.
"By the way, there's a room for you in the botanical garden. Go and rest there; the environment is nice," Shi Zhen said, pointing down to Shi Lin.
"Okay, Dad, we'll talk about the rest after I wake up," Shi Lin said to Shi Zhen, rubbing his eyes.
"Go to sleep now." Shi Zhen shook his head helplessly as he looked at Shi Lin, who was drowsy.
Shi Lin waved his hand, then walked down into the ground. After entering the botanical garden, he found the courtyard with his sign, and then, still a little dazed, pushed open the door and went in.
Lying in bed, covered with a blanket, Shi Lin tilted his head and fell asleep immediately.
...
Shi Lin didn't know how long he had slept before he slowly woke up.
Perhaps because he had slept for too long, Shi Lin felt dizzy and struggled to get out of bed. He then took out a glass of juice and drank a couple of sips.
The sweet taste stimulated his taste buds, making Shi Lin feel like he had come back to life.
After regaining consciousness, Shi Lin glanced around at his surroundings.
The Shi family is indeed wealthy; their rooms in the botanical garden are incredibly luxurious.
The room is entirely constructed of solid wood, with expensive carpets covering the floors and antique paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls, along with numerous intricate carvings…
"Extravagant…" Shi Lin muttered to himself.
After resting on the bed for a while, Shi Lin got up, changed his clothes, and then walked outside.
As soon as he opened the door, Shi Lin saw that there were many more people in the botanical garden.
These people, dressed in thick clothes, are weeding and fertilizing the medicinal herbs...
"Greetings, young master." Lin Yu approached Shi Lin, smiled, and bowed to him.
"Sister Lin Yu, who are these people?" Shi Lin pointed to the people working in the botanical garden and asked Lin Yu.
"These people are the families of children who have received special training. Having them work here is to ensure that those children have no worries about their families," Lin Yu explained to Shi Lin with a smile.
Upon hearing Lin Yu's explanation, Shi Lin remembered that before he left, he had asked his father to select some suitable children from the Shi family to form contracts with top-grade wine Gu, forcibly training them to become soul masters.
If this plan succeeds, the Shi family will have the opportunity to dominate the entire Douluo Continent.
Currently, it's just a simple test. If all goes well, the Shi family can start training soul masters in batches.
"Sister Lin Yu, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now. I need to talk to my dad about something. I've been away from home for so long, I need to find out what's going on," Shi Lin said with a smile to Lin Yu.
"Everything is fine in the botanical garden, nothing else is wrong, so you can rest assured," Lin Yu said with a smile, looking at Shi Lin.
Shi Lin looked at Lin Yu, smiled and shook his head, then waved to Lin Yu and turned to walk out of the botanical garden.
Soon, Shi Lin arrived on the ground, ready to go find Shi Zhen.
Upon arriving at Shi Zhen's study, Shi Lin saw Shi Zhen reading a book.
"Dad," Shi Lin greeted Shi Zhen in a low voice.
"You're awake? Dean Flender has returned to Shrek Academy. We're setting off for the Soul Hunting Forest in the next couple of days. Do you want to come with me?" Shi Zhen put down the ledger in his hand, looked up, and asked Shi Lin.
"Go ahead, Brother An and I will go with you and Uncle Fu Gui." Shi Lin's eyes lit up, and he said to Shi Zhen.
Shi Lin didn't expect Flender to return to Shrek Academy so quickly. It seems that the enrollment for the advanced soul master academy is not far away.
"By the way, what are your plans for the future? Is there anything I can help you with?" Shi Zhen looked at Shi Lin and asked with a smile.
"I'm planning to upgrade some commonly used Gu worms to the second tier," Shi Lin said with a carefree smile as he sat down opposite Shi Zhen.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Shi Zhen asked Shi Lin again.
"I may need to purchase a large batch of materials, a lot of them, and it will cost a lot of money." Shi Lin gave Shi Zhen an awkward smile.
Shi Lin needs to build at least ten Gu Insect Manors. Each Gu Insect Manor requires a large amount of building materials and resources. Shi Lin estimates that each Gu Insect Manor will cost at least 10,000 gold soul coins.
Moreover, these Gu Insect Manors are currently unable to produce anything and can only be maintained by consuming a large amount of gold soul coins. In the future, some simple products may be taken out of the Gu Insect Manors for sale, which would be considered a profit.
The initial costs were enormous, and only the currently powerful Shi family could afford to cultivate such a family.
"No problem, you draw up the list, I'll approve the approval, and the Shi family's resources will be tilted towards you!" Shi Zhen agreed to Shi Lin's request without hesitation.
"Thank you, Dad. By the way, when are we leaving?" Shi Lin asked Shi Zhen with a smile.
"We'll be leaving early the day after tomorrow. It'll just be the four of us this time," Shi Zhen said with a smile and a nod.
"Dad, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now," Shi Lin said to Shi Zhen as he stood up.
"Go back, don't overwork yourself." Shi Zhen nodded.
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[end of the chapter]