Chapter 125 – Masochistic Cultivation
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The deacon senior apprentice brother was totally confused; were there monsters inside of the Violent Wind Tunnel?
No, that was impossible. The Violent Wind Tunnel was used daily; how would there be monsters inside? Or had he made a mistake with the difficulty level? He turned around and looked at the array formation’s panel board; it was indeed the seventh level of difficulty.
But, why would Junior Apprentice Brother Lin’s appearance be so shabby? What happened inside?
Could it be that Junior Apprentice Brother Lin’s footwork technique was not steady?
That was also impossible. He remembered on the martial stage that Junior Apprentice Brother Lin had been steady like a towering mountain. It was impossible for there to be anything wrong with his footwork technique.
In this case, Lin Ming simply couldn’t explain. He said, “Senior Apprentice Brother, could I trouble you to reduce the difficulty by a level, and open up the sixth level of difficulty.
At the seventh level of difficulty, the wind velocity was just too fast. The time Lin Ming was airborne for was too short. Just as he was about to feel the origin of the wind, he would immediately smash into the wall.
So he hoped to reduce the difficulty by a bit. To comprehend the concept of wind, he did not need to resist the strength of the wind. The force of the wind also did not matter.
“You want to reduce the difficulty?” The deacon senior apprentice brother was becoming a bit paranoid, but he hadn’t figured out how to open his mouth and ask Lin Ming.
Lin Ming once again entered the wind tunnel, and through numerous trials, he began to feel like he was starting to be able to sense the concept of wind. He wanted to use this opportunity to step into the threshold of the wind concept in one fell swoop.
After his 8 hours of practice time had ended, Lin Ming had already hit the wall at least ten thousand times. If it wasn’t for the top-quality injury medicine he had brought, the impact of so many hits would have already left him with several internal injuries.
At this point, there wasn’t a single spot on Lin Ming’s body that wasn’t bruised. When he swapped clothes and stepped out of the tunnel, the deacon senior apprentice brother was completely confused.
Standing by the deacon was a disciple of the Heavenly Abode. He didn’t recognize Lin Ming in his current ragged condition. He only thought, ‘Which wonderful low-order disciple is this? You couldn’t even think to open up a low level of difficulty? Was there a need to be so masochistic in your practice?’
“Junior Apprentice Brother Lin, what in the world were you doing in there?” The deacon senior apprentice brother asked.
“Practicing.” Lin Ming faintly smiled. Having given a perfunctory answer, he didn’t wait for the deacon to ask him another question, and left.
The disciple that was still waiting there asked, “Junior Apprentice Brother Lin? Which Lin? Lin Wu? That’s not right, although Lin Wu is a little weak, he’s not that bad.”
The deacon sent an ill-humored look at the disciple and snappily said, “Junior Apprentice Brother Lin Ming!”
“Lin Ming? Haha, Senior Apprentice Brother, your joke is too funny. If that Lin Ming can actually end up like that in that level of difficulty in the Violent Wind Tunnel, then I’ll walk in reverse from now on.”
“You can walk however you want to. Next time if you don’t believe then look yourself.” The deacon senior apprentice brother was disinclined to bother with the disciple. He began to close the formation array; it was about time for him to get off work.
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After Lin Ming returned to his cabin that night, he prepared a boiled bathtub full of medicinal herbs. As soon as he stripped his clothes, he jumped in and soaked inside the bathtub for two hours. The wounds on his body began to slowly mend themselves. As he sat in the tub and mediated for the night, by the next day his flesh had absorbed the potency of the medicinal herbs and his bruises had disappeared.
The cost of that bathtub full of medicinal herbs was around 7000 taels of gold. Before, the amount of gold that he had spent on raw materials would have been enough for him to practice for 7 or 8 years. But presently, that bathtub of medicine had already been completely used up. This caused Lin Ming to sigh with emotion. If one wanted to cultivate martial arts but didn’t have money, then no matter what talent they had it would be useless.
Yesterday, he had gone through 8 hours of masochistic practice. Lin Ming had finally touched upon the concept of wind, but still hadn’t managed to cross the threshold. He was still far from being able to grasp that wind concept.
With such an esoteric and profound ‘Golden Roc Shattering the Void’, Lin Ming hadn’t expected to be able to cultivate it within a short time. Still, just practicing it a little was infinitely enjoyable.
Today, Lin Ming did not go to the Violent Wind Tunnel. He needed a period of time to let his body fully assimilate the experiences he had obtained yesterday.
Therefore he lit a sound transmitting talisman and passed a message to Wang Yuhan. Today, he would be going to the Inscription Association.
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In the past few days, a modest affair had happened in Sky Fortune City. The Zhu Family had announced that because Zhu Yan had violated the family rules, his punishment was that he had been expelled from the family. Not only that, but the Tenth Prince, the Cloud Prince, had drawn a distinct line between him and Zhu Yan.
This matter had been dealt with in a very low-profile manner. However, all the major powers had taken note of this event. Everyone knew that Zhu Yan and Lin Ming had a grudge between them, and some of the even more informed ones knew that this was related to Lan Yunyue.
According to some reliable sources, Zhu Yan and Lin Ming were deep love rivals involved in a messy love triangle. They had many small battles, and their conflict became increasingly intense. At this point, the Zhu Family had expelled Zhu Yan from their ranks, and the Tenth Prince had drawn a line with Zhu Yan. Just what was the meaning of this?
Many people thought that the Zhu Family and the Tenth prince had done this in order to show a measure of good will towards Lin Ming. In order to woo Lin Ming to their side, they had directly expelled a talented person from their main family. But wasn’t this just too crude and reckless?
Although Lin Ming was amazingly strong, he was obviously close to the Crown Prince and on his side. If the Tenth Prince was unable to win over Lin Ming and had still expelled Zhu Yan, then wasn’t this double penalty simply giving an enemy one’s own wife as well as losing one’s own soldiers?
What was the reason behind the Tenth Prince’s actions?
After Lin Ming heard this news, he also felt it somewhat incomprehensible. Did the Tenth Prince make this decision in order to show good will? Was it necessary?
“Zhu Yan was expelled from the family and he also left the Seven Profound Martial House. I must be careful of him. He is living a gloomy life but he knows how to bear the suffering. This would greatly strengthen his toughness. Later, he will certainly try go against me somehow. My strength is growing and I am not afraid, but my parents are in Green Mulberry City. I must inform the Lin Family about this and have my parents protected.
“Unfortunately I did not kill him when I could on that stage, and now I’ve left a future trouble!”
A cold chill crept into Lin Ming’s eyes. Although he had not bothered pursuing when Wang Yigao and Wang Yanfeng had tried dealing with him using cruel methods, but that did not mean he was a soft-hearted person, especially when faced with the possibility that something could endanger the safety of his loved ones.
Thinking this, Lin Ming sent out a sound transmitting talisman to Sky Fortune City’s Lin Family branch, exhorting them about his parents’ situation.
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That afternoon, Lin Ming had decided to go to the Inscription Association, which was why he had made an appointment with Wang Yuhan.
As he was walking down the road, Lin Ming suddenly stopped. He had run into a person. Lin Ming already had an impression of this person; he was a Pulse Condensation Period martial artist who worked under the Crown Prince – Liao Wenyuan.
The Crown Prince had helped Liao Wenyuan in his career and had shown him kindness. Before Liao Wenyuan had gained fame and fortune, a young Crown Prince had helped him. That stroke of graciousness and been unforgettably valuable.
That was why even though Liao Wenyuan now had a title and a rapidly advancing career, he had still decided to enter into the turbid waters of the struggle over the throne, and was willing to assist the Crown Prince in ascending the throne.
“Mister Lin.” Liao Wenyuan cupped his fist in a polite greeting towards Lin Ming.
“Senior Liao is too polite; this junior should be the one bowing to Mister Liao.” Lin Ming cupped his fist and returned a courtesy bow towards Liao Wenyuan.
Lin Ming didn’t find it surprising that he met Liao Wenyuan here. These days, he had felt eyes on him as he walked down the streets, as if people were intentionally or unintentionally following him. But, these people did not have any murderous or dangerous intent; they were obviously sent by the Crown Prince.
Lin Ming’s status was extremely sensitive. As soon as he took even one step out of the Seven Profound Martial House, there would be people immediately following him and protecting him in the shadows. It could be said that if the Tenth Prince wanted to kill him in Sky Fortune City, it wouldn’t be much easier than killing the Crown Prince himself.
The Crown Prince was apparently aware that he was often visiting the Inscription Association these days.
“Haha, I didn’t think that Mister Lin would know my name. To be truthful, I am a rather crude person and a I’m not too comfortable with these courtesies. If you don’t mind, I will be rude and call Mister Lin, Brother Lin instead.”
Lin Ming smiled, “Brother Liao’s words are frank and straightforward. Truth be told, I also do not like etiquette and honorifics.”
“Haha, that’s great! Brother Lin, today I came to especially look for you. You may or may not know, but Zhu Yan has been expelled from the Zhu Family.” Liao Wenyuan had sent these words via true essence sound transmission.
“Mm.” Lin Ming nodded, and also changed to speaking with true essence sound transmission.
“You must be careful of Zhu Yan.”
“I know, but I also find something strange. Why was the Zhu Family so ruthless?”
“This ruthlessness is because of Brother Lin. You have a possibility of becoming a Seven Profound Envoy or the Martial House Master. With that status, whether it is the Zhu Family or the Tenth Prince, they do not dare to annoy you. But to them, Zhu Yan will at most be a Pulse Condensation Martial artist in the future. A Pulse Condensation Period martial artist is an acceptable loss, so they drove him out. Later, Zhu Yan will hate you and try to assassinate you. If this happens, then Zhu Yan will take the blame and the Zhu family and the Tenth Prince will not be implicated.”
“So it’s like that… well, when it comes to the internal struggles of the large families and royal powers, not even family will be spared.” Lin Ming had no interest in things like the royal power struggle and large family interests.
“Yes, that’s why since ancient times a ruler must be crafty, otherwise it would be impossible for them to accomplish anything.” Liao Wenyuan paused and sighed. He was thinking of the humanity and righteousness of the Crown Prince, who unfortunately had insufficient determination.
“Ah, that’s right, Brother Lin, you had previously asked His Highness the Crown Prince to look for some materials, we have already begun to search for them. However, there are some things that the Sky Fortune Kingdom does not have. The Crown Prince has already sent people to the neighboring countries to look. The Huoluo Nation’s trade fair has things from all around, it should be possible to find some materials there. But to collect all the materials, it will take a long time. As for the matter of the manor that Brother Lin wishes to return, His Highness the Crown Prince has said that he has already gifted the land to Brother Lin, how could he take it back? Brother Lin, please feel relieved about that matter.”
Huoluo Nation was one of the larger countries under the governance of the Seven Profound Valleys. Regardless of military forces, or the number of masters they had, all of it surpassed the Sky Fortune Kingdom. Huoluo Nation’s trade fair was famous and very well-known within the surrounding area of 100,000 miles. It was only that it was too far from the Sky Fortune Kingdom. Even if one rode a Snow Dragon Horse that could cross 2000 miles in one day, it would still take a dozen or so days to arrive there.
With the time it took to get to Huoluo Nation, coupled with the time it took to find the materials, and the fact that some materials couldn’t necessarily be bought, it was wrong to depend solely on the Crown Prince to obtain the complete list of materials for the body inscription symbol.
Lin Ming said with heartfelt appreciation, “Please thank the Crown Prince for me. I, Lin Ming, will always remember this favor.”
“Haha, Brother Lin is far too polite. As soon as I ran into Brother Lin, I knew that Brother Lin was a man worth knowing. Rest assured, the Crown Prince has some savings that he’s accrued over the years. He can easily bear the burden of buying some materials. But the one who has a burden is really Brother Lin. Brother Lin not only has amazing martial arts skills, but also has a thorough understanding of inscription technique. This really makes anyone feel disbelief! Brother Lin, you really make me want to throw away what I thought the word genius meant.”