13: Hui people

Time flew by like an arrow; the rugged reefs of Black Reef Island remained silent amidst the rising and setting sun, but the lamp inside the stone house burned brightly without cease.

Since that terrifying night, Lin Feng’s life seemed to have been put on fast-forward, yet it settled into an extreme routine.

He was like a precisely wound machine, squeezing every minute of time to its limit.

Cultivate!

The operation of the Qi Refining Art became a natural instinct, like breathing.

Each breath and exhalation absorbed the sparse Spiritual Qi, coupled with the pure energy feedback from slaying Yao Beasts, making the Spiritual Power in his Dantian and Qi Sea increasingly robust, steadily advancing towards the Middle Stage of Qi Refining Five.

The Jade Slip of the Solid Foundation Method, obtained from the rogue Cultivator, was repeatedly studied by him, every word and sentence imprinted in his heart.

Although he had not yet reached the Perfection Realm of Qi Refining, making it impossible to truly practice the Heaven-Defying method of “Dissipating Qi and Condensing Yuan.”

However, the concepts of Spiritual Power tempering and refining, removing impurities, had subtly integrated into his daily Cultivation, giving his Spiritual Power Foundation, which was originally slightly unstable due to his four Spiritual Roots, an imperceptible but solid feel that was difficult for ordinary Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivators to achieve, but Lin Feng still needed an Advanced Cultivation Technique.

Swordsmanship!

The reef area became his fixed training ground.

The azure light of the fenshui sword flickered and danced among the rugged rocks, sometimes like a spirit snake spitting its tongue, cunning and ruthless; other times like angry waves crashing on the shore, powerful and heavy.

The natural restraint aura brought by the passive Demon Slayer could now be freely integrated into every move of “Qingfeng Slash.”

The fenshui sword, which had once unleashed a world-shocking sword strike and had a cracked sword spine, became increasingly handy in his grasp, as if it were an extension of his arm.

Months of arduous Cultivation, sweat drenched countless robes, leaving countless deep or shallow sword marks on the reefs.

The Lin Family’s basic sword technique, “Qingfeng Thirteen Forms,” finally reached the Minor Achievement Realm naturally!

As the sword light flowed, it could now draw in faint wind spirit Qi, greatly increasing its power.

Movement!

The essence of “Treading Wave Step” was thoroughly grasped through countless life-and-death battles.

Coupled with the insights brought by the Light Body Talisman, his movement was no longer just evasion but also incorporated the rhythm of attack.

The slippery surface of the reefs became a natural training ground; he moved as if on flat ground, his figure flickering unpredictably like a ghost.

Although he had not achieved Minor Achievement, he had entered the inner sanctum, and it was now difficult for ordinary Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivators to easily lock onto his figure.

Talisman!

The desk in the stone house was piled high with self-made Talisman paper and prepared Talisman ink.

The tip of the green bamboo Talisman brush danced tirelessly under the lamp.

The consumption was still astonishing, and piles of discarded Talisman ashes were swept into the corner, but Lin Feng’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his hand became steadier and steadier.

Pfft… Failure.

Buzz… Success!

One after another, Talismans shimmering with faint Spiritual Light were born under the brush tip.

The violent aura of the Fireball Talisman gradually became contained, the sharpness of the Ice Spike Talisman became more refined, the Spiritual Light of the Light Body Talisman flowed more smoothly, and the heaviness of the Vajra Talisman began to take shape.

The success rate, which was initially unbearable, slowly and steadily improved.

When he placed the one hundredth successful “Vajra Talisman” into the specially made Jade box, an indescribable sense of accomplishment welled up in his heart.

Although they were still only the most basic first-grade Elementary Talismans, the accumulation of hundreds of Talismans was already a force to be reckoned with in his hands.

Hunting and Planting!

The consumption of Divine Power for “Gather Beast” and “Rain Prayer” was strictly rotated by him in a rhythm of “one day Gather Beast, one day Rain Prayer.”

The reef area became a slaughterhouse for Low-Grade sea Yao Beasts.

The passive Demon Slayer, combined with his Minor Achievement swordsmanship and Advanced movement, doubled his hunting efficiency.

The harvested Materials were quickly processed, becoming new raw Materials for Talisman paper and Talisman ink, or stored away.

And each successful slaying, that wisp of pure energy feedback, was like the sweetest nectar, nourishing his Dantian and Meridians.

Inside the Spiritual Field, life was vibrant.

fire pattern peppers hung full on the branches, red like fire; jade marrow mushrooms were like carved white jade, exuding a warm luster; the frost patterns on the frigid mist grass leaves were clearly visible, with traces of coolness permeating the heart.

And what Lin Feng looked forward to the most was the crimson flame jujube pear tree that had already grown to more than one person’s height!

Two months ago, when the twentieth Rain Prayer nectar fell, this Spiritual Tree, which had consumed twenty points of Divine Power, finally welcomed its first flowering and fruiting!

Crimson-red flowers like burning stars dotted the branches, eventually condensing into twelve longan-sized, entirely crimson fruits covered with profound fire patterns—the crimson flame jujube pear!

Lin Feng carefully picked the first one.

The fruit was slightly warm to the touch, exuding a peculiar sweet and fiery aroma.

He sat cross-legged under the tree and put the jujube pear into his mouth.

The pulp melted instantly upon entering his mouth, transforming into a warm current with a hint of scorching heat, which did not flow into his Dantian but directly rushed to his Sea of Consciousness in his glabella!

Buzz!

An indescribable sense of coolness instantly permeated his mind, as if drinking ice spring water on a hot summer day, invigorating his entire spirit!

His perception, which was originally like being covered by a thin veil, seemed to become a little clearer.

This feeling was fleeting, and if his Divine Sense had not been inherently keen, he would have barely noticed it.

“It really works!” Lin Feng was slightly pleased, but not satisfied.

He consumed one fruit daily, carefully experiencing its effects.

When the warm current from the tenth crimson flame jujube pear once again surged into his Sea of Consciousness, that sense of coolness suddenly became obvious!

He clearly “saw” that his Divine Sense range, which was originally the size of a pond and had almost stopped growing, had expanded outward ever so slightly, yet truly and undeniably!

Although it was only a tiny bit, perhaps equivalent to perceiving one more mosquito’s distance, this was enough to make Lin Feng ecstatic!

Divine Sense growth!

This was something countless Cultivators dreamed of but found difficult to achieve!

It usually only happened with Realm Breakthroughs or by consuming extremely rare Heaven And Earth Treasures!

And this crimson flame jujube pear actually had such a miraculous effect!

Although the effect was weak and required large quantities for accumulation, for Lin Feng, who possessed the Rain Prayer Divine Ability, this was no problem at all!

He carefully collected the remaining jujube pits, full of anticipation, and planted them again, immediately casting Rain Prayer.

However, after several days, the soil where the pits were buried showed no movement.

Lin Feng frowned, his Divine Sense meticulously probing, and found that the faint vitality within the pits, under the impact of the abundant vitality spurred by Rain Prayer, was like a flickering candle in the wind, extinguished in an instant!

“How could this be?” Lin Feng was astonished.

He suddenly remembered a book he had stumbled upon in a corner of the Family’s library, “Records of Strange Spiritual Plants,” which seemed to mention: ordinary Spiritual Fruit trees, the seeds contained within their fruits, require the mother plant to grow to a considerable age, hundreds or even thousands of years, absorbing enough Heaven and Earth essence, for their seeds to contain sufficient vitality and possess the ability to propagate.

For a first-grade Advanced Spiritual Tree like the crimson flame jujube pear, the harshness of its seed gestation probably required the mother tree to be thousands of years old!

“Seeds from a mother tree thousands of years old…” Lin Feng looked at the jujube pear tree in front of him, which was only “twenty days old,” and shook his head helplessly.

Theripening Divine Ability could accelerate growth and fruiting, but it could not conjure up thousands of years of accumulated heritage out of thin air.

These remaining jujube pits were temporarily useless.

However, he was not discouraged, his gaze turning to the lush crimson flame jujube pear tree.

“Rain Prayer once every two days, accelerating growth once is equivalent to one year’s growth… thousands of years of age, it’s only a few years after all.”

For immortal Cultivators, who often count in decades or centuries, a few years pass in the blink of an eye.

He adjusted his plan, shifting the focus of Rain Prayer back to the Spiritual Plants with short maturation cycles and the jujube pear tree itself, and his Gather Beast hunting became more targeted.

Days quietly passed in this intense and fulfilling routine of Cultivation, hunting, drawing Talismans, and tending to the Spiritual Field.

When a sea breeze carrying the scent of ripe grains swept over Black Reef Island, and when the last batch of ordinary Spiritual Rice in the Spiritual Field, which had not been accelerated, also drooped its plump ears, the Lin Family token at Lin Feng’s waist, which had been silent for a long time, vibrated slightly.

A steady but undeniable message entered his mind:

“The Family harvest season has arrived.

Cultivators stationed on all islands are required to escort this year’s tribute and station reports to the Azure Wave Island Deacon Hall for handover within ten days!

Severe penalties for overdue!”

The Family’s summons had arrived.

Lin Feng stood at the door of the stone house, looking at the land he had completely transformed.

Within the mist-shrouded Spiritual Field, Spiritual Plants flourished, and the scent of medicine faintly wafted; in the warehouse, one hundred and twenty bundles of top-quality Spiritual Rice, tied with special Spiritual Plant ropes, were neatly stacked, several times more than in previous years, but under his deliberate control, still within a “reasonable” range.

In his Storage Pouch, lay quietly over three hundred successful first-grade Elementary Talismans (including Fireball, Ice Spike, Light Body, Jingang, and Cleaning), the fruits of his months of arduous training, and one of his greatest sources of confidence for this trip.

Ten azure jade spiritual peaches and the remaining two crimson flame jujube pears were sealed in Jade boxes by him and hidden in the deepest part of his Storage Pouch.

He changed into a clean, standard Lin Family grey robe, still suppressing his Cultivation to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining Four, though he was actually at the fifth stage, and activated the “Turtle Breath Qi Concealment Art” to make his aura even more obscure and ordinary.

The fenshui sword with the cracked spine hung at his waist, and the newly acquired green bamboo Talisman brush was hidden close to his body.

Finally, he walked to the Azure Jade Spirit Peach Tree, picked two Spiritual Peaches that looked the most “normal” and had slightly unstable Spiritual Qi, carefully baked them with Spiritual Power to give their skins a naturally ripe color and slight wrinkling, then placed them in an ordinary wooden box—these were the “local specialties” prepared to “pay respects” to the Deacon of Azure Wave Island, to silence any gossip.

Everything was ready.

Lin Feng came to the shore and conjured the dilapidated Lin Family flying boat.

This time, he embedded a full twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

The flying boat emitted a louder hum than usual, swaying as it ascended, carrying him towards Azure Wave Island, where the Lin Family’s core resided.

Ahead lay the Family’s responsibility and an unknown scrutiny.

He turned back for one last look at the mist-shrouded reefs, his eyes calm and deep.

There, his secret of rise was buried, and his ambition for longevity was entrusted.

“Azure Wave Island… I’m back.” Lin Feng murmured, controlling the flying boat, facing the rising sun, becoming an inconspicuous grey dot between the sea and the sky.