6: Gentle breeze rustling the willows

"Outer Sect Minor Competition?"

"Someone hopes I'll become a stepping stone, huh."

Lin Feng's lips curled into a cold sneer.

Between his brows, that wisp of stolen Sword Intent, guided by his will, repeatedly polished his Meridians and the barrier of his cultivation.

After consuming the last qi condensing pill, its medicinal power was forcibly compressed by the Sword Intent, attempting to break through the barrier to the Second Level of Qi Refining.

"Crack."

A crisp sound, audible only to him, came from the depths of his Dantian, as if some shackle had been shattered.

Stronger Spiritual Qi surged through his sluggish Meridians; the chirping of insects and the rustling of wind outside were now clearly audible.

Lin Feng opened his eyes, the filth within his body having been forcibly expelled, forming a thin layer of grime on the surface of his skin.

Second Level of Qi Refining? Success?

On the straw mat beside him, Ye Yuner was awakened by the fluctuation of Spiritual Qi, rubbing her eyes drowsily: "Senior Brother Lin...?"

"Yuner, I seem to have had a Breakthrough."

Ye Yuner instantly woke up, her eyes widening, and then a brilliant smile bloomed on her face: "Really? That's wonderful. Senior Brother Lin."

She gave a soft cry, lunged over, and hugged him tightly.

He lowered his head, smelling the maiden's fragrance, and seeing her slightly parted, glistening lips, opened in surprise.

His heart warmed, and he instinctively lowered his head.

"Mmph..." Ye Yuner's body suddenly stiffened, her pupils dilating slightly.

But soon, she began to respond awkwardly, her arms wrapping around his neck, her cheeks flushing like rosy clouds, her breathing gradually becoming rapid and hot.

After a long while, their lips parted.

Ye Yuner buried her burning cheeks deep into the hollow of his neck, muttering in a small, breathless voice: "...We still have to go to the Minor Competition venue for the draw tomorrow..."

Lin Feng hugged her slender waist tighter and chuckled: "Mm, I know. Just celebrating."

The venue for the Outer Sect Minor Competition was set on an open bluestone plaza; it was crowded, but the atmosphere was not lively, instead permeated by an eerie dullness.

The truly capable Outer Sect Disciples were all busy preparing for the Outer Sect Grand Competition and had little interest in such a Minor Competition with its meager rewards.

Therefore, most who came were Disciples below the Fourth Level of Qi Refining who knew they had no hope of being promoted to the Inner Sect, or those who wanted to try their luck and earn a meager reward.

More still were Menial Servants like Lin Feng, as well as some idle bottom-tier Outer Sect Disciples.

"Look quickly, Zhang Hu is here too!"

"Isn't he Senior Brother Li Yi's cousin? Why is he still participating in the Minor Competition?"

"I heard he's been stuck at the Peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer for half a year, waiting to place in this Minor Competition so he can ask Senior Brother Li for Medicinal Pills."

A few Utility Disciples were whispering in the distance, their voices just happening to reach Lin Feng's ears.

Lin Feng looked up. Zhang Hu was standing alone on the side of the field, his face gloomy, and the Spiritual Qi fluctuations around him were indeed much stronger than those of ordinary Menial Servants.

When several veteran Outer Sect Disciples passed by him, they all nodded politely.

Steward Wang walked quickly to Zhang Hu's side, whispering something, glancing toward Lin Feng's side from time to time.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Hu sneered, his gaze sweeping over Lin Feng like a knife.

Lin Feng looked up at the sky and looked back calmly.

The rules of the Minor Competition were simple and brutal: draw lots to determine opponents, duel on a stone platform, until one falls off the platform or concedes.

In the first round, Lin Feng's luck in the draw was "excellent," as his opponent was none other than Zhang Hu.

Zhang Hu leaped onto the stone platform, cracking his wrists and neck with audible pops, and looked at Lin Feng, who was slowly walking onto the stage, with a sinister smile: "If you concede now, you can still save some face."

Lin Feng was expressionless as he slowly drew the ironwood sword issued by the Sect, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground, his stance the starting posture of the Basic Sword Technique.

"You don't know what's good for you." A cold light flashed in Zhang Hu's eyes, and his figure suddenly moved. He pointed his fingers like a sword, aiming straight for Lin Feng's face.

This finger strike was as fast as lightning, with Spiritual Qi condensed at the fingertip; it was actually the Jade-Shattering Finger, a technique only Outer Sect Disciples could Cultivate.

The crowd below immediately erupted:

"Zhang Hu actually mastered the Jade-Shattering Finger."

"Under this finger, I'm afraid even those at the Fourth Level of Qi Refining would struggle to take it..."

Lin Feng felt the sharp Qi rushing toward him, and in the critical moment, the Sword Intent in his Sea of Consciousness burst forth. His body instinctively turned to the side, and he thrust out his ironwood sword following the momentum.

With a "pssh" sound, the tip of the sword precisely tapped Zhang Hu's wrist pulse.

Zhang Hu's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly changed his move.

But Lin Feng's sword momentum had already begun, like a breeze brushing willows, continuous and unending.

Every sword strike precisely cut off Zhang Hu's Spiritual Qi circulation, forcing him to retreat step by step.

"This sword technique... it's clearly the Basic Sword Technique, how can it be so fierce?"

"Is this the Breeze Brushing Willows?"

Some sharp-eyed Outer Sect Disciples below saw the clues and couldn't help but exclaim.

Amidst the surprised and suspicious gazes of the crowd, Lin Feng's sword momentum suddenly changed. The ironwood sword turned into a stream of light, piercing straight toward Zhang Hu's Dantian.

With a muffled "poof," Zhang Hu staggered backward, his face as pale as paper. He stared fixedly at Lin Feng, his eyes full of shock and rage.

The whole arena was silent.

Second Level of Qi Refining, using the most basic introductory sword technique, completely crippled someone at the Peak of the Qi Refining Third Layer?

The smile on Steward Wang's face completely froze, his small eyes widened into circles.

Several Outer Sect Disciples who were originally indifferent and just there to watch the fun finally put away their contempt, their gazes focusing on Lin Feng, beginning to re-evaluate the youth wearing the Menial Servant attire.

Lin Feng slowly sheathed his sword, didn't even glance at the completely crippled Zhang Hu on the ground, turned around, and walked off the stone platform with a blank expression.

In the end, Lin Feng did not place in this Outer Sect Minor Competition; he only received a small Spirit Stone reward.

As his mastery of the heaven-stealing vine became more exquisite and proficient, his control over his own field and the medicinal field he secretly helped Ye Yuner tend grew with each passing day.

The growth of the Spiritual Spirit Grass was shockingly good, and by selling these Spiritual Plants in batches at the market, they finally accumulated a considerable amount of Spirit Stones.

The first thing Lin Feng did was to find Steward Wang.

He slammed a cloth bag filled with Spirit Stones onto the table in front of the Steward with a crisp "thwack," neither too lightly nor too heavily: "Steward Wang, count it. Principal and interest, only more, not less."

Steward Wang's expression shifted; he opened the bag and looked at the sparkling Spirit Stones inside, saying nothing more.

However, the speed of earning Spirit Stones still could not keep up with the consumption of Cultivation.

"As expected, once you start popping Medicinal Pills, no amount of Spirit Stones is enough."

No matter how you look at it, the improvements in recent times all started from that moment of enlightenment at the Preaching Cliff.

Organizing his thoughts, in the following days, whenever he had a chance, he would look for opportunities to go to the vicinity of the Preaching Cliff to clean, attempting to get close to those Inner Sect Disciples again.

But Inner Sect Disciples were usually on higher platforms or in exclusive Immortal Caves with better environments, and the activity range of Utility Disciples was strictly limited, making it very difficult for him to find a suitable opportunity to get close.

Finally, he heard that an Elder would be conducting a public lecture on the Outer Sect martial arts arena today for the vast number of Outer Sect Disciples. Although the main target was the Outer Sect Disciples, convention did not strictly forbid Utility Disciples from listening from a distance.

Lin Feng's heart stirred, and he immediately mingled into the crowd and arrived at the martial arts arena.

He found the most marginal, inconspicuous corner and squatted down.

Staring at the Elder in the center of the arena, whose hair and beard were white and whose aura was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea, his eyes gleamed.