Chapter 50 Return to Huai County

He took out the jade bottle from the storage bag, poured out two soul-enriching pills, put them into his mouth, and then closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing.

Three days later, Xiao Lin woke up from his meditation. He felt that the injuries in his body had healed a lot, and a relieved expression appeared on his face. However, the loss of blood and qi could not be replenished all at once, so his face still looked unusually pale.

He stood up, came to the sapling, thought about it, and then gently flicked the tender leaves on it. Then, he appeared in the cave again.

He stood in the cave, pondered for a moment, and then sat cross-legged again. Xiao Lin did not plan to leave now. If the two people were still staying nearby, if he went out rashly and ran into them, he would really fall into a trap. The reason why he was still alive was because they did not understand his strength. Now his trump card was exposed to the dark man and the scholar monk. If he ran into them again, he would not be so lucky, so he planned to practice here for a while and go out after making sure that the two had left.

Xiao Lin suddenly thought of something. He patted the storage bag on his waist, and then a storage bag appeared in Xiao Lin's hand. This storage bag was small and exquisite, and it exuded a faint fragrance. It was obviously something used by women.

This storage bag was obtained by Xiao Lin after he killed the enchanting woman. Originally, the silver hairpin was also a mid-level magic weapon, but he had no time to pick it up at the time. He directly turned the bag mouth downward and poured out all the things inside.

Suddenly, several things appeared in front of Xiao Lin.

A small green metal shield, a book, a jade slip, and a jade box with a yellow talisman attached, and then several refining materials and dozens of low-grade spirit stones.

Xiao Lin picked up the green metal shield casually. It was unknown what metal this small shield was made of. The overall color looked green and gold. If you look closely, you can see golden light spots flashing on it. The moment Xiao Lin picked it up, a hazy green light actually surged out, covering his palm.

"It's actually a high-level magic weapon?" Xiao Lin's face showed surprise. He finally understood that the enchanting woman wanted to sacrifice this magic weapon before she died, but she was killed by him before she had time. This made Xiao Lin feel very fortunate. If the enchanting woman had sacrificed this magic weapon at the beginning, it would not be so easy for him to kill her.

This was also because the enchanting woman saw that Xiao Lin was only at the sixth level of Qi training and was too careless. After all, in her eyes, the sixth level of Qi training and her ninth level of Qi training were not a little different. However, she never dreamed that Xiao Lin, a mid-level cultivator at the sixth level of Qi training, would actually practice all four basic spells to the state of great perfection. This is why he was careless and died.

Xiao Lin showed a happy expression on his face. His ebony spirit shield was completely destroyed in this battle, making him lose his only defensive magic weapon. Now with this green gold shield, it is enough to make up for his loss.

Xiao Lin did not pick up the book. The cover had the words [Tu Yuan Gong] written on it. He did not need to read it, as this method was the main method of the enchanting woman. Xiao Lin then picked up the jade slip, placed it in his palm, closed his eyes, and carefully browsed through it.

This browsing took more than two hours. When Xiao Lin opened his eyes, he showed a surprised expression on his face.

It turned out that the jade slip recorded a part of the map of the third floor of the cave. The distribution of monsters and the route map of the third floor map were recorded in great detail, and even marked several places where purple spirit flowers might grow. The only pity was that this map was obviously incomplete, only a small part of the third floor.

But this was enough to surprise Xiao Lin. He wanted to go further on the road of cultivation. The only way was to join one of the five major sects. Regardless of his spiritual root talent or family background, he only had the cave trial as a way out.

The cave trials are extremely cruel. You should know that there are four or five fairy cities like Wuyin Fairy City in the Tianlu Mountains, and there are millions of low-level casual cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage. Even if 10% of the cultivators can enter the late stage of Qi Refining, it is still a very large number, not to mention that there are many cultivators who have reached the great perfection of Qi Refining.

Many of these people are like himself, without amazing spiritual root talents, and without the support of a large family. For casual cultivators who have cultivated to the late stage of Qi Refining or even the great perfection, the only way out is the cave trials if they want to go further on the road of cultivation.

The cave trials, which are opened only once every thirty years, have made the caves a Shura field on earth. Without experiencing the test of blood and fire, without experiencing the tempering of life and death, it is impossible to stand out in the cave trials, and naturally there is no qualification to join the five major sects.

Xiao Lin had no confidence in the opening of the underground cave in two years. He was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Even if he could break through to the seventh level, he would not have any advantage over the many cultivators entering the underground cave. His only reliance was the four basic spells of the Great Perfection level and the only two remaining primary talismans.

With a soft sigh, Xiao Lin's body and mind were undergoing a transformation after several years of practice. The intrigues and deceptions among the cultivators were even far beyond those of ordinary mortals. Once upon a time, the stories about immortals that he had heard from the old people in the village were completely broken by the reality he saw.

Who says that immortals are there to help the poor and the needy, and save the people from disasters? In the eyes of a true "immortal", mortals are just a group of ants. Who would be sad for a long time, or even cry bitterly, if they stepped on an ant to death?

Now that he has a partial map of the third floor of the cave, Xiao Lin undoubtedly has a better chance of survival in this cruel trial.

With a sigh, Xiao Lin picked up the jade box again. The jade box was only about two inches long, and a soul-sealing talisman was attached in the middle.

Uncovering the soul-sealing talisman, Xiao Lin gently opened the jade box. Inside was a five-leaf grass. This grass exuded a strong aura, and the five tender leaves were fan-shaped, which looked very strange. In the middle of this five-leaf grass, there was also a branch, but there was no leaf on the top of this branch, but a red fruit, only the size of a bean, with a faint blush.

Xiao Lin looked at the spiritual herb in surprise, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure out what it was used for. He could only cover the box again and stick the sealing talisman on it, thinking that he would plant the spiritual herb next to the sapling in the spiritual wood space when he had time in the future, and then study its use later.

As for the refining materials, Xiao Lin basically didn't know them, so he just threw them into his storage bag. The last few dozen low-grade spiritual stones were also thrown into the storage bag without even looking at them.

Although he was ambushed by three high-level Qi-refining cultivators this time and was seriously injured, it seems that he didn't suffer a loss now. Just that one high-grade defensive magic weapon is basically equivalent to one of his primary talismans.

And talismans are disposable consumables after all, unlike magic weapons, which can be reused.

After that, Xiao Lin began to take the soul-enriching pill and continued to practice.

Soon, a month passed, Xiao Lin opened his eyes from his meditation, and he breathed a sigh of relief. More than half a month ago, he found that the two dark-skinned men and the scholar monk who had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining had not left, and had been searching for him nearby. This made him feel lucky that he did not leave immediately after his injury improved, otherwise, he would have bumped into the two of them.

Now more than half a month has passed, and the two have not appeared again. Xiao Lin came out of the cave carefully, and then used the Wind Control Technique and the Flowing Cloud Light Body Technique to head towards the periphery of the Tianlu Mountains.

A few days later, Xiao Lin came to the Qingshui Lake Mine. He looked at the familiar scene in front of him and felt nostalgic. It was here that he accidentally got a copy of the [Dry Water Sutra] and embarked on the road of cultivation. He thought of Fu Lao in the grocery store, but when he came to the grocery store again, he was surprised to find that Fu Lao had disappeared and was replaced by a man in his forties.

What surprised Xiao Lin was that the familiar faces in the entire Qingshui Lake Mine were gone. The helmsman Wu Lian was not here either. He was not seen with several of his former outer disciples of Bailian Hall. All of them were replaced by unfamiliar faces.

Half a day later, Xiao Lin quietly left the Qingshui Lake Mine. With his current wind control technique and the flowing cloud light body technique, those ordinary warriors could not even catch his shadow.

......

Huai County, located in Nanzhou, is one of the three most prosperous counties in Nanzhou. The reason is that it is backed by the Tianlu Mountains and faces the Huai River to the east. It connects the north and the south. It is the hub of trade between the north and the south of Yuxi State. It is also because of this that Huai County has become the focus of competition among the Jianghu gangs.

One day, a young man of eighteen or nineteen years old appeared at the gate of Huai County. He was wearing a coarse cloth gown and a bamboo hat. He walked into Huai County. This man was Xiao Lin who came out of the Tianlu Mountains.

Xiao Lin looked at the shops on both sides of the street and the pedestrians coming and going, and a smile appeared on his face. He recalled the days a few years ago when he followed his father and sister to escape from famine, and their destination was the prosperous Huai County. At that time, his idea was very simple, just for a job that could make a living, but who could have thought that fate would play tricks on him, and now he has become a "fairy" in the eyes of mortals.

In the past few years, although he has been in hard training, he has never forgotten his father and younger sister. The voice and smile of his younger sister Xiao Zhi still remain in his mind. He thought of Xiao Shi again, this childhood friend who grew up with him. I don’t know how he is doing in Bailian Hall? But with his martial arts talent, he is at least a helmsman like Wu Lian now, right?

It is precisely because of Xiao Shi’s martial arts talent that he has refined the second level of Bailian Heart Sutra in just a few months, which also makes Xiao Lin feel relieved about the situation of his father and younger sister.

With Bailian Hall's dominant position in Huai County, and his father and younger sister being taken care of by Xiao Shi, he thought they would be fine.