49: Azure-level talent - Heart as Pure as Ice

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Soon, outside the private courtyard where Lin Yi lived at the Dongshan Martial Academy.

Wan Hai, the Eldest Master of the Wan Family, found Lin Yi with a face full of smiles. Beside him was Wan Yong, who was dragging his heavily injured body and kneeling obediently on the ground, not daring to make a sound.

"And you are?"

Seeing the wretched-looking Wan Yong and the unfamiliar middle-aged man before him, Lin Yi frowned slightly and asked.

"Young Master Lin Yi."

Upon seeing him, Wan Hai took the initiative to answer with a chuckle:

"My name is Wan Hai. I am the Head of the Wan Family's first branch in the Prefecture City, and also the father of this little beast, Wan Yong."

"Oh, so it is Master Wan."

Lin Yi nodded upon hearing this and said:

"I have long heard of Master Wan's prestige; you are quite famous throughout the entire Dongshan Prefecture City."

"However, I wonder why Master Wan has come to find me today? Could it be to seek revenge for your son?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare! Young Master Lin has misunderstood."

Hearing this, Wan Hai shook his head repeatedly and explained with a smile:

"Young Master Lin Yi's talent is Heaven-Defying. My Wan Family cannot wait to befriend Young Master Lin; how could we dare to offend you?"

"Furthermore, regarding what happened between you and Wan Yong at the Martial Arts Arena today, it was this little beast's fault for provoking you without cause despite his lack of strength, which ultimately led to this outcome."

"So, after he returned, I scolded him severely. Upon learning that he lost five thousand taels of silver to you at the Martial Arts Arena, I didn't dare to delay and immediately rushed over with the silver to deliver it to you, Young Master Lin Yi."

"Moreover, to show our apologies, my Wan Family has decided to give Young Master Lin Yi an additional fifteen thousand taels on top of the five thousand, making it a total of twenty thousand taels of silver. I hope Young Master Lin Yi will not hold a grudge against my Wan Family because of this matter in the future."

As he spoke, Wan Hai pulled a thick stack of Silver Notess from his robe.

"Twenty thousand taels?"

Looking at the large-denomination Silver Notess in Wan Hai's hand, each worth a thousand taels, Lin Yi was shocked, and his mind went a bit blank.

Good heavens! He had just been worrying about how to scrape together sixteen thousand taels of silver! In the blink of an eye, this Wan Hai had delivered a full twenty thousand taels to him.

With twenty thousand taels, he could evolve a talent and still have four thousand taels left over.

Those four thousand taels could be saved or 'deposited' directly into the attribute panel to wait for the next Talent Evolution.

In short, this twenty thousand taels was definitely timely help for him!

At this thought, a smile appeared on Lin Yi's face:

"Master Wan must be joking. That business with Wan Yong was just a small matter."

"I, Lin Yi, have never been one to hold grudges. How could I take such a trivial thing to heart?"

"However, since Master Wan intends to settle this matter with twenty thousand taels of silver, it would seem a bit unreasonable of me if I didn't accept it."

"Fine! I'll take these twenty thousand taels! As for the matter between me and Wan Yong, it ends here!"

With that, Lin Yi immediately reached out and took the twenty thousand taels in Silver Notess from Wan Hai's hand, tucking them into his robe.

Seeing this, Wan Hai breathed a sigh of relief and then smiled at Lin Yi:

"Seeing Young Master Lin Yi be so magnanimous, I can rest easy. As for this little beast, how does Young Master Lin Yi intend to punish him? Should I break one of his hands? Or one of his feet? I, Wan Hai, would have no objection even if you killed him!"

"What! Father, I..."

"Shut up!"

Seeing his son's terrified expression, a flash of heartache passed through Wan Hai's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by logic and coldness.

There was no other way! This Lin Yi's talent was truly too high; even his Family had no way to deal with him.

If he didn't let Lin Yi completely vent his anger now, and Lin Yi remembered this once he grew up in the future, then the Wan Family would be finished!

Compared to the entire Wan Family, a mere son could be sacrificed if necessary.

"Forget it!"

Looking at the Wan father and son who were staring at him nervously, Lin Yi shook his head slightly and smiled:

"Since I said I won't pursue this matter, then I won't."

"Let this Wan Yong kneel here for one night! Send someone to pick him up tomorrow morning!"

"Yes! Young Master Lin Yi is merciful!"

Hearing this, Wan Hai was instantly overjoyed.

"Yes! Thank you, Young Master Lin Yi!"

On the ground, a smile also appeared on Wan Yong's face as he breathed a heavy sigh of relief, even feeling a bit of gratitude toward Lin Yi in his heart.

"Mhm!"

Seeing this, Lin Yi nodded slightly and then turned back toward his courtyard.

To be honest, he also found this a bit strange. After all, although he had some talent, he hadn't grown up yet. In the eyes of the Wan Family, which possessed several Third Rank experts, he shouldn't be much, right?

Was it necessary for them to be so respectful to him, even willing to sacrifice Wan Yong to appease his anger? There was likely something going on behind the scenes that he didn't know about!

However, whatever the reason, Lin Yi knew one thing: when your strength is inferior to others, even if you seem to have the upper hand, it's best not to push the other party too hard if you can help it.

Otherwise, if the other party is truly driven to desperation and decides to kill you at any cost, then you'll be completely finished.

"Back to evolving a talent!"

At this thought, Lin Yi immediately cleared his mind of these trivial matters. Once he returned to his room and closed the door, he immediately thought to the attribute panel in his mind:

"attribute panel, charge sixteen thousand taels of silver and help me evolve a talent!"

"Whoosh!"

Inside the martial arts cultivation room, as Lin Yi's command fell, sixteen one-thousand-tael Silver Notess in his robe instantly vanished into thin air.

Immediately, the charging number on his attribute panel began to jump rapidly.

1%

10%

20%

...60%

...80%

...On the attribute panel, the numbers rose rapidly, reaching 100% in an instant.

Then... *rustle rustle!*

The originally transparent attribute panel suddenly changed, transforming in an instant into a vast scroll of the starry sky.

Within the starry sky scroll, the familiar white, red, yellow, azure, purple, and gold stars were still flickering.

But this time, the number of white stars was no longer the highest, only occupying about 30% of all the stars in the entire sky.

Next, the red stars were actually more numerous than the white ones, accounting for about 35%.

Additionally, the yellow stars had increased significantly, making up about 25%.

Of course, the most significant increase was in the azure stars, which had jumped from less than 3% to 9%, even approaching 10%—more than a threefold increase, turning the entire starry sky somewhat azure!

"I didn't expect the azure stars to increase so much this time. It seems I really have a high hope of pulling an Azure-level Talent!"

Seeing this, Lin Yi's eyes lit up.

A 10% probability wasn't exactly high, but it wasn't low either.

If he got lucky this time, it was truly possible to get it in one go and pull his first Azure-level Talent.

Lin Yi waited with immense anticipation.

The next moment... *shoo!*

Within the starry sky scroll, as the scroll fully unfurled, a star suddenly plummeted from the scroll, about to fly out of it.

Seeing the color of this star, Lin Yi's eyes instantly brightened, filled with an endless light of excitement:

"Azure! I actually pulled it!"

...An Azure-level Talent, this was a peerless talent that only one in a billion people could possess!

Such a talent was something that likely only a few among First-Rank Martial Artists possessed; it was absolutely rare and terrifying!

Since he was able to obtain such a talent this time, as long as it wasn't a Physical Body Aptitude type, no matter what type it was, he would have hit the jackpot. How could this not make him feel wild joy in his heart?

As his thoughts turned, the azure star from the starry sky scroll flew out and merged into the space between Lin Yi's eyebrows.

He immediately sensed a wondrous feeling rising from his body and even his soul.

That feeling was so wondrous that Lin Yi himself couldn't describe it.

But there was one thing Lin Yi could be certain of: his talent had, once again, become stronger!

——————

【Talent: Heart Like Pure Ice】

【Rank: Azure-level】

【Description: Heart Like Pure Ice, unmoved even if the sky falls; though ten thousand things change, the spirit remains tranquil and the Qi clear.

You are born with an incomparably calm and powerful mind. When encountering difficulties, desperate situations, or even life-and-death crises, not only will you not be afraid, but you will become even calmer, thereby stimulating the truly terrifying potential contained within your body!】

——————

"What! Becoming even calmer in times of crisis and stimulating the terrifying potential truly contained within the body? Isn't this the talent of all the protagonists in web novels from my past life?"

When he saw the text description on the attribute panel, Lin Yi was stunned, and then he was once again shocked and overjoyed!

The standard talent of a web novel protagonist—did the strength of such a talent even need to be stated?

After all, this was the talent that carried the heavy responsibility of allowing a protagonist to achieve a Heaven-Defying Breakthrough in a desperate situation and then kill powerful enemies.

If this talent could fully erupt, Lin Yi felt that during that brief period of eruption, the boost it gave him would probably be even more terrifying than some mystic purple rank talents!

Before such terrifying strength, even if this talent had the small flaw of needing a desperate or dangerous situation to erupt, it was still among the top tier of Azure-level Talents.

"I really didn't expect my luck to be so good this time."

Thinking of this, Lin Yi smiled:

"Not only did I pull my first Azure-level Talent in one go, but it's even such a high-quality one."

"With this talent, in the future when I have succeeded in my Martial Dao and return to Guangling Prefecture, even if I encounter some danger on the way, with this talent, I'm not only likely to turn danger into safety, but I might even have a Breakthrough in the heat of battle!"

"This survival ability is much stronger than that of Martial Artists at the same level."

"Well, I'll just wait for it to show its power at a critical moment in the future."

Filled with immense satisfaction, Lin Yi then resumed his hard cultivation... Thus, under Lin Yi's powerful talent, the large number of notes from the Dongshan Martial Academy, and Zhao Haihong's careful guidance, Lin Yi's strength and Realm began to improve rapidly.

Just five days later, his Full Moon Star Saber, which was already at (Major Achievement, 92%), completely filled the remaining 8% gap and broke through from Major Achievement to the Perfection Realm.

Eighteen days later, his martial cultivation broke through again, rising from the Sixth Rank, Late Stage to the Sixth Rank, Peak.

Twenty-eight days later, his strength Realm also broke through, from Minor Achievement in Extreme Strength to Major Achievement.

Afterward, Lin Yi and Zhao Haihong spent their first New Year since arriving at Dongshan Prefecture City at the Dongshan Martial Academy.

At the same time, he easily defeated Lin Tianqing in the year-end competition, completely becoming the number one person at the Dongshan Martial Academy, shocking the entire Dongshan Prefecture and obtaining more cultivation time in the Red Dragon Pool.

With the help of more cultivation time in the Red Dragon Pool, Lin Yi's martial cultivation improved even more rapidly, charging toward the Martial Dao Fifth Rank level.

Then, another month passed under Lin Yi's frantic improvement... Dongshan Prefecture, Wangwu Mountain. This was the largest mountain range in the entire Dongshan Prefecture.

It covered an area of thousands of miles, with complex terrain and dense forests, making it a stronghold that was easy to defend but hard to attack.

Therefore, it had long attracted countless large and small Bandits and outlaws who occupied it and caused trouble.

The Qingfeng Stockade, located in the east of Wangwu Mountain, was a first-rate stockade among the countless ones in Wangwu Mountain.

The master of the stockade was named Lu Chong, whose cultivation reached the Martial Dao Third Rank Peak level and who was skilled in using Sun and Moon Twin Sabers.

Once in battle, the twin sabers would rotate and shift with extreme speed, their shadows covering the Void Realm as if he had six arms attacking simultaneously, much like the legendary Nezha. Thus, people in the Jianghu gave him a nickname: Six-Armed Nezha!

At this time, in the Hall of Loyalty of the Qingfeng Stockade, the tall, dignified, and rugged-looking stockade master, Six-Armed Nezha Lu Chong, was sitting on the main seat of the hall.

To his left was a scholar who looked to be about thirty years old, with a handsome and refined appearance, waving a feather fan.

To his right was a young man with a face like jade and eyes like stars. He was much more handsome than Lu Chong, but a closer look revealed that his eyes and brows bore some resemblance to Lu Chong's.

Below Lu Chong sat various stockade leaders of different appearances—some handsome, some terrifying, some strange—sitting on the left and right sides, quietly waiting for Lu Chong to give orders.

"Everyone!"

Seeing that many important figures of the stockade had arrived, Lu Chong slowly spoke from the main seat:

"A few days ago, I received news that in one month, an ultra-large-scale auction will be held in the Baichuan Prefecture City near Dongshan Prefecture."

"This auction is extraordinary; even in the Baichuan Prefecture City, it is only held once every three years. And this time, I heard that a 'wuxin pill' will appear as the finale treasure of the auction!"

At the mention of the words 'wuxin pill,' Lu Chong's breathing suddenly became a bit hurried, and a thick sense of longing flashed in his eyes.

"What! A wuxin pill!"

"This, Big Boss, this is simply an Opportunity bestowed upon you by heaven! You must seize it!"

Everyone present cried out in alarm and excitement.

The wuxin pill was a rare Medicinal Pill that could only be refined by a First Rank Alchemy Great Master in the Nine Provinces!

Once taken, it could greatly enhance the user's Comprehension Ability in a short period. Although it couldn't compare to the legendary Epiphany, its effect was still excellent.

Lu Chong was already an expert at the Martial Dao Third Rank Peak and First Level of Limit Breaking Perfection, only a step away from breaking through to the Martial Dao Second Rank by comprehending Second Level of Limit Breaking.

If he could obtain the wuxin pill this time and break through to the Martial Dao Second Rank, it would lead their entire Qingfeng Stockade to become the top stockade in Wangwu Mountain. How much benefit would they all receive then?

"Yes, the wuxin pill. I also know that this is my Opportunity to break through to the Martial Dao Second Rank."

Lu Chong's eyes were full of heat:

"It's just that this Medicinal Pill is too precious; even ordinary First Rank Medicinal Pills are quite inferior to it."

"For example, five years ago in Dongyang Prefecture of Chu Province, a wuxin pill appeared and eventually sold for a high price of 3.82 million taels of silver. This time, it might even be more."

"But even if I do my best now, selling many treasures that are extremely important to me and using some silver that doesn't affect the stockade's operation, I can at most barely come up with two million taels of silver. How can I compete for this wuxin pill?"

"That's why I've summoned all you brothers here today, to see if you can help me come up with a plan."

"This..."

As Lu Chong's voice fell, the excitement on the leaders' faces immediately vanished, and their eyes flickered.

Although they were all experts of the Fourth or even Third Rank, if they joined forces and gritted their teeth, they could scrape together those 1.8 million-plus taels of silver.

But everyone had their own selfish interests. They were only Lu Chong's sworn brothers, not his father. Why should they give up their entire net worth to let him break through?

Furthermore, even if they gave the money and Lu Chong successfully bought the pill, he might not necessarily break through. Wouldn't their money be wasted then?

After all, they didn't believe that Lu Chong would pay them back when the time came.

Thus, everyone remained silent until a moment later, when the refined scholar beside Lu Chong rolled his eyes, suddenly thought of something, and spoke with a faint smile:

"Big Boss, I have a plan! Perhaps it can bring you several hundred thousand taels of silver."

"Oh, several hundred thousand taels of silver?"

Lu Chong's eyes lit up:

"May I ask, sir, what is the plan?"

Hearing this, the refined scholar smiled slightly and then slowly uttered a name:

"Dongshan Martial Academy, Lin Yi!"