Martial Universe (Wu Dong Qian Kun)
chapter-27

As he slipped back into his room, Lin Dong immediately locked his door before he collapsed against it and heaved a sigh of relief. Soon after, he walked towards his table and opened up the embroidered box.

When he opened the embroidered box, sitting atop of the red silk lining were two stalks of blood-red elixirs, which looked like they were on fire. Meanwhile, a seductive aroma filled the room.

“Flaming Crimson Reishi.”

As he gazed at these two stalks of reishi, a look of delight surfaced on Lin Dong’s face. After all, he knew that these were pretty costly elixirs.

“These two Flaming Crimson Reishi probably costs more than a thousand taels of silver…” Lin Dong gasped. He had never seen such a huge sum of money before.

As Lin Dong gleefully rubbed his palms, he retrieved the Stone Talisman from his chest and gently brought it towards a stalk of Flaming Crimson Reishi.

Upon contact, the stalk of Flaming Crimson Reishi was rapidly drained dry as all the Ling Qi contained was completely swallowed by the Stone Talisman.

Soon after the stalk of Flaming Crimson Reishi was completely drained, three flaming-red pills fell from the Stone Talisman and were instantly scooped up by Lin Dong.

A lukewarm sensation filled his palm as he grabbed the pills. The smile on Lin Dong’s face widened as he realized that the potency of the Flaming Crimson Reishi was much stronger than the Crystal Vermillion Fruit that he encountered by chance previously.

After this bountiful harvest, Lin Dong proceeded to feed the Stone Talisman his other stalk of Flaming Crimson Reishi. In the end, the two stalks of Flaming Crimson Reishi were refined into six flaming-red pills.

Lin Dong nodded in satisfaction after keeping these six pills into a bottle. As he sat down on his bed, he took out two other bottles hidden under his pillow. In the first bottle, were two pills refined from the Crystal Vermillion Fruit, while in the second, were ten white Yin Pearls. These Yin Pearls were obtained over this period of time when he used the Stone Talisman to suck out and tame the Chilling Cold in Qing Tan’s body.

According to Lin Xiao, these Yin Pearls were extremely precious as the Yin Energy contained within, was very crucial for any Earthly Yuan practitioners. Therefore, Lin Dong planned to save these Yin Pearls for his own consumption when he advances to the Earthly Yuan level.

As he gently held the bottle with the Crystal Vermillion Pills, Lin Dong carefully tipped it over and retrieved one pill. Gritting his teeth, he immediately popped the pill into his mouth. Even though he felt a heavy pinch of regret, knowing how valuable these items were, he decided that it was more important to raise his strength before anything else.

As the pill entered his body, Lin Dong could vividly feel a stream of pure and potent medicinal power explode within his body.

As the pill took its effect, Lin Dong’s body became like a hungry ghost. His muscles and internal organs fervently devoured the pure medicinal effect.

As his body hungrily gorged itself, the Yuan Power Seed that was flowing within his body’s inner channels also released a suction force, as it gradually grew while consuming a part of the medicinal effect.

This situation continued for approximately ten minutes. After which, the potent medicinal effect began to weaken. Another half an hour later, Lin Dong finally opened his eyes slowly.

“Such a potent medicinal effect…”

As he opened his eyes, Lin Dong could feel the vigorous energy flowing through his channels and the growth of the Yuan Power Seed. A look of uncontrollable excitement surfaced in his eyes.

This was his first time consuming a pill refined from a Grade 3 Elixir, and its effects were beyond his expectations.

In general, most elixirs would supplement one’s body, however due to various reasons, they also lead to unexpected side-effects. However, the pill that Lin Dong just consumed, did not have any side-effect. It was almost as if the Stone Talisman had removed every impurity and flaw in the elixirs during the refining process.

As such, one was now able to fully absorb and benefit from the elixirs consumed.

Therefore, the efficiency of just one particular pill far surpasses that of its respective elixir.

As there was no wastage during the absorption process, the benefits from one pill probably equaled to that of multiple stalks of elixirs from the same grade.

“My Yuan Power Seed is expanding. At this rate, it will not be long before I can advance into Tempered Body 8th Layer.”

Excitement surfaced in Lin Dong’s eyes. When he first heard that Lin Xiao and the rest had placed such high expectations of him for the Qingyang Town Hunt, it would be a lie to say that he did not feel any pressure. However, he knew that the Lei and Xie Family had the advantage in terms of resources. Furthermore, it was said there were several capable members among the current younger generation in their families. Therefore, Lin Dong knew that if he wanted to catch up to them, he must work extra hard.

As part of the Lin Family, he knew that he also had to think about the big picture. If he could achieve a good result at the upcoming Qingyang Town Hunt, it would greatly bolster the reputation of the Lin Family and improve their standing. Enabling the Lin Family to become like the Raging Blade Dojo, able to stand toe to toe with the Lei and Xie Family in the future.

“I have already thoroughly mastered Penetrating Fist and Eight Desolations Palm. Tomorrow, I will visit the family’s Martial Arts Library and see if I can learn any powerful martial arts to boost my fighting potential.” Lin Dong muttered to himself. After all, his advantage lay in having a glowing shadow as a mentor, allowing him to bring the potential of any martial arts to its peak. Therefore, he could not forsake this advantage.

As he reached this decision, he kept his bottles carefully and fell into a deep sleep. Today’s intense battles had completely drained him.

The next day, just after Lin Dong finished his training regime, he immediately fled to the Lin Family Residences. On his way, many unfamiliar faces instantly greeted him as he passed by. Their overly friendly demeanor caused Lin Dong to feel uncomfortable and he casually dismissed them and carried on.

The Martial Arts Library was located in the Lin Family’s backyard and it was considered as an important place in the Lin Family. Without permission, one would not be able to enter.

At the entrance of the Martial Arts Library stood a few guards. However, they clearly recognized Lin Dong as they jovially welcomed and ushered him into the premises.

As he stepped into the Martial Arts Library, the scent of musty books immediately assaulted him. As Lin Dong scanned the surroundings, he realized that this facility was quite huge. Within the facility, were rows of red bookshelves filled with martial arts manuals.

This was the first time Lin Dong saw so many different martial arts manuals. Immediately, a fire lit up inside his heart, he knew that the Lin Family must have spent an exorbitant sum in order to build up such a vast collection.

As he leisurely strolled in the library, glittering manuals were reflected in his constantly darting his eyes.

Level 1 Martial Arts, Landslide Punch.

Level 1 Martial Arts, Whirlwind Kick.

Level 2 Martial Arts, Wandering Palm.

Lin Dong was dazzled as his eyes soaked up all the different varieties of martial art manuals available. However, most of these martial arts were Level 1 or Level 2. Thus far, he had yet to discover any Level 3 martial arts.

“All the Level 3 martial arts are located at the deepest part. You will not find them out here…” Just as Lin Dong furrowed his brows, a sweet voice suddenly echoed behind him. He hurriedly turned his head, only to see Lin Xia leaning on a bookshelf with her arms folded across her chest, looking at him with a smile.

“Oh Lin Xia-jie. You are here as well.” Lin Dong returned a smile upon seeing Lin Xia.

“Lin Dong-biao-di, it seems like still water runs deep…” Lin Xia commented, a sweet smile on her pretty face as she approached Lin Dong.

Upon hearing these words, Lin Dong could only reply with a dry laugh.

“Come, let me take you to where our Level 3 martial art manuals are. However, Grandpa once said that if one had not reached Earthly Yuan level, it would be unwise to train in Level 3 martial arts or higher.” Lin Xia gently scoffed as she brushed past Lin Dong. Her slim and elegant figure appeared especially alluring.

Lin Dong put down the Level 2 martial art manual in his hand and followed her with a chuckle.

After following Lin Xia for a few minutes, they walked into a area with fewer bookshelves. Finally, Lin Xia stopped at a bookshelf hidden right at the end and said: “These are all the Level 3 martial art manuals that the Lin Family possess.”

Lin Dong curiously tilted his head forward only to see ten old manuals that had faded yellow with age on the bookshelf. Beside each manual, was a wooden block explaining each martial art in detail.

“Level 3 martial art, Velvet Hand of Returning Air.”

“Level 3 martial art, Shadowless Claw…”

“……”

Lin Dong’s eyes brightened as his eyes swept across these ten wooden blocks. Based on their names alone, he could sense that these martial arts were indeed more powerful.

“You can’t be thinking about learning Level 3 martial arts?” Lin Xia, who was standing right next to him, grumpily commented as she saw Lin Dong’s expression.

Lin Dong chuckled as he casually picked one of the martial art manuals. However, his vision suddenly turned towards the corner of the bookshelf as he realized that hidden there, was a dark-colored martial art manual.

“What is that?”

Lin Dong walked over with a puzzled look as he kept his eyes peeled on the wooden block beside it.

Level 3 martial arts, Wonder Gate Seal, incomplete.

Note: a tael is a unit of measurement for $.$