Retirement begins with summoning Yuan Tiangang

The mountain road winds and twists, like a yellow ribbon that has been casually tossed onto the ridge.

Lin Feng walked on the belt, his steps uneven, some deep and some shallow.

The burden on my back wasn't heavy, but after walking for a while, my shoulders still ached a bit.

He shifted his shoulders, his left hand unconsciously touching the short knife at his waist, a gift from Qinglong. The leather scabbard was polished to a shine, and the handle already had a patina.

"Kid."

A voice suddenly rang in my mind.

Lin Feng was used to it; the old man would show up every now and then to make his presence known.

"Hmm?" he responded in his mind.

"I suddenly remembered something."

Master Yu Yuan's voice had a belated realization quality.

"Your Uncle Azure Dragon... Hmm, judging from his aura, he should be at the peak of the Grandmaster level."

Lin Feng paused for a moment.

Grandmaster? Uncle Mo Wen once said that a Grandmaster can briefly fly through the air and lives for eight hundred years.

Uncle Qinglong...is he that powerful?

"However,"

Master Yu Yuan abruptly changed the subject, his smugness returning.

"In the past, I could have easily taken down dozens of them with one hand."

Lin Feng couldn't help but laugh.

This old man never even thinks before he brags.

"Really?" he asked deliberately.

"Are you really that strong?"

"Of course!"

Master Yu Yuan seemed to have had his tail stepped on.

"I am a seventh-grade alchemist! Seventh-grade! Do you know what that means? There are no more than three in the entire Central Courtyard! And the people who ask me to refine their pills..."

"They lined up to the border of the Yuan Dynasty."

Lin Feng chimed in, saying that he had heard the old man say this at least ten times.

Master Yu Yuan choked for a moment: "...You brat, you've gone astray."

Lin Feng chuckled and continued walking forward.

The trees along the mountain path are getting denser, mostly pines and cypresses, but also some miscellaneous trees whose names I don't know.

In late autumn, the leaves turn yellow and red, rustling in the wind, with a few occasionally drifting down and swirling onto the road.

"How is it?"

Master Yu Yuan spoke again, this time with a more serious tone.

"You'd like to become my disciple. I mean it. I've got a lot of skills, and I need to find someone to pass them on to. You've got good potential, and you're not bad-tempered either. You're a bit stubborn, but you're not too stupid."

Lin Feng did not answer immediately.

He thought of his father, Uncle Qinglong, and all the people he had met along the way.

The path of spiritual practice is indeed difficult to walk alone.

"Okay," he said.

"Huh?" Master Yu Yuan was stunned.

"I said okay."

Lin Feng stopped and looked around. A small stream flowed not far ahead, its waters gurgling gently.

"Is a formal apprenticeship ceremony required?"

"Yes, yes!"

Master Yu Yuan's voice rose eight octaves, filled with disbelief—unbelievable that this kid had agreed so easily.

"Kowtowing! You must kowtow! Three times! Not one less!"

Lin Feng walked to the stream.

The stream was crystal clear, and you could see the pebbles at the bottom, white, gray, and brown, all rounded by the water.

There is a large rock by the stream, about half a person's height, flat and smooth, as if it were specially made for people to sit on.

He put down his bundle and dusted off the stones.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

"Alright, alright, alright!" Yu Yuanzhen replied.

"Hurry up!"

Lin Feng stood up straight and straightened his clothes. There wasn't much to straighten; it was just a worn-out coarse cloth shirt, the cuffs of which were frayed from days of travel.

But he still smoothed out his clothes and patted the dirt off his knees.

"Master, please," he cleared his throat, "your disciple Lin Feng..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Master Yu Yuan interrupted him.

"Make me show myself! Otherwise, what's the point of you bowing to thin air?"

As soon as he finished speaking, ripples appeared in the air in front of Lin Feng.

A faint white light drifted out from the silver ring in his pocket, condensing in mid-air to form the same white-bearded old man, wearing a wide white Taoist robe, with a face full of wrinkles, and eyes that shone as if they contained two small flames.

The old man floated in front of the stone, his hands behind his back, trying his best to look like a wise and otherworldly being.

"Alright," Master Yu Yuan stroked his beard.

"We can begin."

Lin Feng knelt down and respectfully kowtowed three times.

My forehead hit the stone; it was ice-cold.

"The ceremony is complete!" Master Yuyuan waved his hand and spoke in a loud voice, startling several sparrows drinking water by the stream.

Lin Feng stood up and patted the dirt off his knees.

Looking at the semi-transparent old man in front of him, he had an indescribable feeling. So... he has a master?

Master Yu Yuan was also watching him.

After watching for a while, the old man suddenly sighed.

"Kid," he said.

"Once you become my disciple, we're family. If anyone bullies you in the future, just mention my name, even if no one remembers it. But that's okay. I'll teach you real skills so you won't need to mention anyone's name to get revenge on your own."

Lin Feng nodded: "Thank you, Master."

"No need to thank me."

Master Yu Yuan waved his hand, but the corners of his mouth were clearly turned up.

"Um... put on the ring first. Yes, the silver one. Wear it on the left ring finger."

Lin Feng took out a small cloth bag from his pocket and poured out a ring. The silver ring gleamed softly in the reflection of the stream water.

He slipped the ring onto his left ring finger; it was a little loose, but after turning it around, the ring automatically tightened and fit snugly at the base of his finger.

"This means they have accepted their master."

Master Yu Yuan explained,

"From now on, this ring is bound to you. Unless you voluntarily remove it, no one else can take it away."

Lin Feng touched the ring; it felt cool to the touch.

"And then this,"

Master Yu Yuan raised his hand, and a faint light emanated from his fingertips.

The halo of light swirled and transformed into a thin booklet, which floated to Lin Feng's front.

The booklet cover is dark blue, the paper is yellowed, and the corners are somewhat worn.

The cover features three large characters: "Boundless Jump".

The handwriting is... a bit ugly.

It's crooked and messy, like something a drunk person would scribble on.

"This is……"

Lin Feng took the booklet and turned to the first page.

Inside were diagrams of the human body, drawn with red and blue lines, and marked with acupoints and meridians.

The drawing wasn't very good either; the human figures were crooked and distorted, but the meaning was still understandable.

"A superior-grade Yellow-level cultivation technique."

Master Yu Yuan said, with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Don't underestimate this Yellow-level technique. Its practicality is even greater than that of a typical Profound-level technique."

Lin Feng continued flipping through the pages.

The booklet isn't thick, only about a dozen pages. There's not much text inside; it's mostly pictures.

He glanced at it briefly and roughly understood that this technique was about how to use someone else's force against them.

Each attack can borrow the opponent's recoil, the external force of the environment, and even the residual force of one's previous move, and stack it into the next move.

As you stack them up layer by layer, the blows become heavier and more powerful.

"The principle is simple."

Master Yu Yuan floated to his side and pointed to the diagram, saying...

"But it's difficult to practice. You have to grasp the timing, the force, and the angle. If you're even slightly off, the borrowed force might backfire on you. So this technique demands an extremely high level of control from the practitioner."

Lin Feng closed the booklet and carefully tucked it into his pocket—he was going to put it in his bundle.

"etc,"

Master Yu Yuan called out to him, glancing at the cloth strip on his shoulder.

"You're going to use this?"

"Ah," Lin Feng nodded.

"What's wrong?"

Master Yu Yuan rolled his eyes, though the semi-transparent white of his eyes wasn't particularly intimidating.

"You are my disciple, Master Yu Yuan! Using a rag to wrap your cultivation technique? Aren't you ashamed?!"

He raised his hand, and another halo of light appeared.

This time, the halo coalesced into a ring, dark silver in color, with a smooth surface and no patterns.

"Storage ring".

Master Yu Yuan tossed the ring to Lin Feng.

"It's forty square meters inside, that's enough for you. Only inanimate objects can fit; live things can't go in. Don't even think about stuffing rabbits or pheasants in there, they'll suffocate."

Lin Feng accepted the ring.

It feels slightly heavy in hand, heavier than it looks.

He wore it on the ring finger of his right hand, just like before.

The ring also tightens automatically.

"Use your divine sense to probe inside,"

Master Yu Yuan provides guidance.

"Concentrate and think about going inside to take a look."

Lin Feng did as instructed.

He closed his eyes and concentrated.

At first, he didn't feel anything, but soon he "saw" a space, not big, square, like an empty room.

It was completely empty inside; there was nothing there.

With a thought, the booklet "Boundless Jump" in his hand disappeared.

With another movement, the booklet reappeared in his hand.

"Fun, isn't it?" Master Yu Yuan chuckled.

"Back in the day, I could make a dozen or so of these things in one batch. But then I found it too much trouble and stopped. This is the last one in stock, so you're lucky."

Lin Feng tried a few more times.

He packed the items out of the bundle one by one: clothes, dry rations, water pouch, and the short knife that Qinglong had given him.

Finally, they even packed up the bundle.

With a swipe of the right hand, something appears; with another swipe, it disappears.

It was like magic.

"Use it sparingly."

Master Yu Yuan reminded,

"Although the space isn't large, it's enough for you right now. Remember, don't flaunt your wealth; even a storage ring counts as wealth."

Lin Feng nodded, feeling quite pleased with himself.

He looked at his hands: a silver ring on his left and a storage ring on his right.

I feel like I... am pretty much like that?

"Master,"

He suddenly remembered something.

"You just said that the 'Limitless Leap' is a high-grade Yellow level technique. How are skill levels classified?"

"Heaven and earth are mysterious and chaotic."

Master Yu Yuan casually remarked,

"Yellow is the lowest, and Heaven is the highest. Each major level is further divided into three grades: upper, middle, and lower. However, this is just a general classification; the actual effectiveness depends on the characteristics of the cultivation method itself. Some Yellow-level cultivation methods, if mastered, are more effective than Xuan-level ones, like this one."

He paused, then said, "You're currently at the second level of the Acquired Realm, which is perfect for practicing Yellow-level techniques. Once you reach the Innate Realm, I'll give you something even better."

The two, or more accurately, one person and one soul, started chatting by the stream.

It was rare for Master Yu Yuan to be serious. He explained the basics of cultivation to Lin Feng, such as how to distinguish between good and bad cultivation techniques, how to choose the right martial arts for oneself, and how to combine elixirs. Lin Feng listened attentively and asked a few questions from time to time.

The sun slowly climbed overhead, casting dappled light through the leaves.

The stream gurgled and flowed, and occasionally a fish would leap out of the water, flash silver, and then "plop" fall back down.

After chatting for about half an hour, Lin Feng's stomach started growling. He was about to take out his dry rations when suddenly...

"Bang!"

A dark shadow fell from the sky and crashed straight into the stream.

Water splashed high, soaking Lin Feng completely.