This martial saint is too cautious.

Chapter 89 Sword Qi (Please Subscribe)

Dengzhou.

The Lin residence, the inner quarters.

Qin Yin was sitting on a soft couch by the window, flipping through the household's income and expenses ledger for the month.

The pure white dress draped softly along the curve of her waist, outlining a slender and graceful figure.

The wintersweet outside the window is mostly in bloom, and its cool fragrance seeps in through the window cracks, mingling with the warmth of the charcoal fire inside, creating a rare and pleasant feeling in winter.

Qin Yin is indeed living a very comfortable life now.

Since Lin Yan went to Qingzhou, the business at the manor has not only not suffered a blow, but has been even smoother than before.

The current patrol and inspection department has two deputy directors who are both disciples of the Yang Family Martial Arts School, not to mention that the Yang Family Martial Arts School is already the number one martial arts school in Guangping County.

Because of Lin Yan's influence, no major family in the city dared to make any more moves against their own family. Even the uncles and elders in the clan who had previously had reservations about her taking charge of the family all wisely kept quiet.

"Laba Festival is coming soon, and I should visit Aunt Lin Yan's house then."

When Lin Yan went to Qingzhou, she was of the same generation as her husband, who addressed her as "sister-in-law." Therefore, Lin Yan's aunt was essentially her aunt.

For the past six months or so, she has visited him every holiday.

"Madam! Madam!"

The shouts interrupted Qin Yin's thoughts.

Before long, the steward hurriedly stepped across the threshold, disregarding etiquette. He held the letter high in his hand and shouted impatiently before even reaching the front, "A letter has arrived from the Qingzhou Prefecture's main family! It's fantastic news!"

"What good news?"

Qin Yin stood up, but before she could even sit up straight, the steward couldn't help but say, "The master's letter said that Young Master Lin Yan has broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm."

"What? Say that again?"

Qin Yin's eyes were filled with disbelief. It wasn't that she hadn't heard clearly, but that she couldn't believe it.

"Young Master Lin has broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm. The master has sent good news, saying that our Lin family of Dengzhou has done a good job in educating people, and has specially awarded him 10,000 taels of silver."

"Suddenly—breakthrough to the Blood Transformation Realm?"

This time, Qin Yin was sure she hadn't misheard, but she still couldn't quite believe it. She quickly took the letter from the butler, her almond-shaped eyes widening as she read it word by word, afraid of misreading it.

After reading it, his excitement was barely concealed; he kept patting his chest, his eyes gleaming with pride: "How could it be a blood transfusion—it was a blood transfusion?!"

"Madam, isn't it a good thing that Young Master Lin had his blood transfusion?"

The steward was somewhat puzzled. Young Master Lin's breakthrough to the Blood Exchange Realm was a great thing for the manor.

During this period, the major families in the county did not interfere with the business of the mansion, mainly out of respect for the Yang family martial arts school, ultimately relying on the influence of outsiders.

But Young Master Lin is different. From the moment the Lin family went to Xinzhou, he was already bound to the Lin family.

"It's a good thing, I'm just a little—a little hard to accept for now."

Qin Yin looked bewildered because she was thinking about the scene of meeting Lin Yan at the Zhao residence last year.

At that time, Lin Yan had only undergone two rounds of skin retouching and was not conspicuous in the crowd. It took me asking many people to find Lin Yan's location.

Who would have thought that the young man who stood in the corner of Zhao Family Garden and was ignored by everyone would become a Blood Transformation Realm expert in just over a year?

A boy from an ordinary family has now reached the pinnacle of a county town. What level of martial arts will he reach in the future?

The more Qin Yin thought about it, the more excited she became, and her delicate body couldn't help but tremble.

"Madam, you were right to have foresight back then, recognizing Young Master Lin's potential. Now that he has broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm, who in the entire Guangping County would dare to covet our family?"

Seeing his mistress's excited expression, the butler assumed she was thrilled by his wife's discerning eye in recognizing talent, and smiled as he flattered her.

"what!"

The butler's words made Qin Yin exclaim "Ah!" She hadn't been thinking about what benefits Lin Yan's attainment of the Blood Exchange Realm would bring to the manor; all she was thinking about was Lin Yan's future path in martial arts.

When Qin Yin regained consciousness, a barely perceptible blush appeared on her pretty face, and her almond-shaped eyes held a touch of charm, but when she looked up again, she had returned to normal.

"You said the master also rewarded him with ten thousand taels of silver? Please take that ten thousand taels back to Lin Yan—wait, also take three thousand taels from the manor and have the messenger take it back with you."

"Yes."

The steward had no objections, and he believed that the clan elders would not dare to voice any dissent.

"No rush. First, arrange for the messenger from the main family to rest at home. I'll go to my aunt's house to tell her the good news. Maybe she'll write to Lin Yan. I'll send that letter along with the messenger's letter. Also, arrange for someone to send a message to the Yang Family Martial Arts School. We need to tell Master Yang the good news as soon as possible."

Qin Yin gave her instructions methodically, taking everything very seriously. As someone who could manage a family, she was not just a pretty face.

The main hall of the Zhou family.

After the Sihai Gang incident, the Zhou family was also implicated and lost its former glory.

"Shu'er, you're married now, so you can't be so childish anymore. Although the Sun family can't compare to our Zhou family, and they've only just moved from the town to the city, they have great potential and will rise to even greater heights in time." Zhou Cang took a sip of his tea and began his usual spiel.

"Father, don't worry. I'm not an unreasonable person. Besides, Sun Yang is very good to me and has great potential in martial arts. He's confident that he can break through to the third level of skin polishing within three years."

Zhou Shu smiled and spoke, while her elder brother Zhou Xu, sitting on the chair to her left, couldn't help but mutter softly, "Three more years?"

Three years later, Lin Yan will probably have undergone four rounds of skin retouching.

"Boss, shut up."

Zhou Cang glared at his eldest son, then looked at his daughter's somewhat unpleasant expression and sighed inwardly.

He didn't know if Shu'er had truly let go of her feelings after rejecting Lin Yan, but this matter remained a thorn in his side.

In the eldest brother's heart, he always felt that if Shu'er hadn't rejected Lin Yan back then, and Lin Yan had become the Zhou family's son-in-law, the Zhou family wouldn't have been implicated in the Sihai Gang's affairs. Instead, they would have risen to a higher level. Just look at the Lin family now.

"Lin Yan has already left Guangping County, so there's no need to mention him again."

"Does Lord Taishan also know about this?"

Just as Zhou Cang finished warning his eldest son, footsteps came from outside the door, and a young man strode in.

"What is it you're referring to, son-in-law?"

Zhou Cang narrowed his old eyes slightly. The fact that the head of the Yang family martial arts school had asked someone to act as matchmaker was being kept secret by the family, and his daughter was still unaware of the marriage.

"Taishan doesn't know? It's that Lord Lin Yan. Just now, news came from the Yang Family Martial Arts School that Lin Yan has broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm in Qingzhou."

Sun Yang was very excited. He didn't notice the strange expressions on his wife's, brother-in-law's, and father-in-law's faces, assuming that they were also shocked by the news.

"This Lord Lin has only been training at the Yang Family Martial Arts School for less than three years, yet he has already reached the Blood Exchange Realm in just three years. Such talent is truly astonishing. It's a pity that our family only entered the city this year, and we are ashamed to even meet this Lord Lin."

In the end, Sun Yang looked regretful.

Seeing the regret on her husband's face, Zhou Shu's pretty face turned pale and then flushed, and she clutched her handkerchief tightly behind her back.

A simple courtyard in the city.

Li Yu, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, brandished a long sword.

Since the Lantern Festival, she has refused the marriage arranged for her by her family, quarreled with them, and now lives in a small courtyard with her maid.

The courtyard gate opened, and a maidservant came in carrying a vegetable basket and headed towards the kitchen.

After a short while, Li Yu sheathed his sword, looked at the maid picking vegetables by the well, and asked, "Is your family giving you trouble again?"

No—no.

Qingzhu shook her head. Li Yu walked towards the well. Seeing Qingzhu's eyes, which dared not meet his gaze, he said in a deep voice, "Qingzhu, you've been with me since you were little. If you didn't have something on your mind, you wouldn't be like this. If you still won't tell me, then let's go back to the manor."

"Miss, please don't—I—I'll tell you." Qingzhu quickly raised her head: "No—it's not about the manor, it's just that I overheard someone saying—about—it's about Young Master Lin."

"Young Master Lin?"

Li Yu was taken aback at first, then realized who the young master Lin that Qingzhu was talking about was. The only person who could make Qingzhu so wary in front of him was Lin Yan.

She knew Lin Yan had left Guangping County, but she didn't know where he had gone.

So Lin Yan has returned to Guangping County?

It shouldn't be just that. If he had simply returned, there's no way the news would have reached Qingzhu's ears. Qingzhu went to the pharmacy to get medicine for him and contacted the pharmacy owner or the like. These pharmacy owners wouldn't be specifically keeping an eye on whether Lin Yan had returned to the city or not.

"Lin Yan has broken through to the fourth level of skin refining, right? What's wrong with telling people this? I've already recovered from the blow."

.

Li Yu smiled wryly. She had indeed recovered from the blow and understood that relying on self-promotion was ultimately just a mirage, and once it shattered, it meant nothing.

A person can only rely on themselves.

This is also why she refused the marriage arranged by her family and chose to live alone and practice martial arts.

"Miss—" Qingzhu's voice was a little weak. She thought that she should just let the young lady misunderstand, but then she thought that this was such a big thing. Even the pharmacy clerk knew about it. The young lady would find out sooner or later. There was no way to hide it from her.

"What's wrong? Was my guess wrong? Lin Yan didn't have four rounds of skin smoothing?"

"Young Master Lin has not only undergone four skin resurfacing sessions, but it is said that he has already entered the Blood Transformation Realm."

Li Yu: ————

The Bai family in Qingzhou Prefecture.

"Lin Yu from the second branch is quite good; he was the first to break through to the Blood Exchange Realm."

"What's the use of speed? It's about potential. Lin Yan is only twenty years old, but his potential is much higher than Lin Yu's."

"I have a higher opinion of Lin Xiao from the fifth branch. It is said that he has already mastered the sword intent. The reason why he is slower than Lin Yu may be because he has accumulated more qi and blood."

"Don't forget Lin Yujing from the eldest branch. Don't be fooled by the fact that Lin Yujing hasn't reached the Blood Transformation Realm yet. That's because he's been undergoing four rounds of skin refining and blood nourishment. Once he breaks through to the Blood Transformation Realm, he will absolutely crush those others."

Bai Jingxing sat at the head of the table, listening to the argument among his women. He coughed and said, "Cough cough, stop arguing, Ruo'er, you speak."

-

-

Faced with her father's nomination, Bai Ruo rested her chin on her hand and analyzed, "I think Lin Chi from the fifth branch is the most suitable."

"Why Lin Xiao?"

"Lin Yu of the second branch is the first branch clan member to break through to the Blood Exchange Realm. Among the many families like our Bai family that are dependent on the Lin family, there must be quite a few who are eyeing him. If we don't show enough support, it won't have much effect."

"Yes, Ruo'er, please continue." Bai Jingxing nodded, acknowledging his youngest daughter's statement.

"Lin Yan of the third branch broke through to the Blood Exchange Realm at the age of twenty, making him the youngest among the branch members this time. However, the grudges between the third and fourth branches run too deep. If our Bai family shows goodwill to Lin Yan, it may provoke dissatisfaction from the fourth branch. As for Lin Yujing of the first branch, although he has great potential, our Bai family wants practical benefits and there is no need to wait."

"Therefore, Lin Xiao is the best choice for our Bai family. As for the others, we can also send them a small gift."

"Ruo'er is so thoughtful. The rest of you should be like Ruo'er, think things through more when you encounter problems, and don't just spend all your time chasing after women."

Bai Jingxing's last two sentences were directed at his two sons. Seeing their sullen expressions, he snorted in annoyance.

There are many families in Qingzhou Prefecture that are dependent on the Lin family. For example, the Bai family owes their existence to the fact that their sister married a member of the Lin family.

This time, the Lin family summoned a group of branch disciples back. They usually don't pay attention to ordinary branch members, but after entering the Blood Exchange Realm, their status is equivalent to that of the main Lin family members, which is why they need to take them seriously.

Families like theirs, which depend on the Lin family, rely on the Lin family for their livelihoods. Take the Bai family for example, they run the Shili Lake fishing grounds. Every year, 70% of their catch is handed over to the Lin family, and the remaining 30% belongs to the Bai family. But even this 30% is enough for the Bai family to train several fourth-level skin-grinding martial artists.

Every one or two years, the Lin family will send a Blood Transformation Realm expert to oversee the fishing grounds, ostensibly to guard them, but in reality to monitor them.

He hadn't thought too much about it at first, but after learning that the other major families all wanted to befriend these Blood Exchange Realm experts from the branch, he couldn't sit still any longer.

If everyone stays put, then there's nothing to worry about.

If one company makes a move while the others don't, wouldn't that make you seem stingy and offend people?

These martial artists who climbed up from the branches to the Blood Exchange Realm might not remember which family gave them gifts, but they would definitely remember which family didn't.

If someone were to be assigned the task of guarding the fishing grounds and deliberately target the Bai family, their lives would definitely be difficult.

However, compared to the other families who simply gave gifts, Bai Jingxing had a different idea. Since he was going to give gifts anyway, why not take the opportunity to befriend one of them?

The Blood Exchange Realm experts of the Lin family's main branch might look down on them, but the few from the branch branches, lacking sufficient foundation, are being given martial arts resources by the Bai family at this time. If they can rise to prominence in the future, even if they don't reach the True Qi Realm, as long as they can enter the fourth stage of Blood Exchange, the Bai family will have made a profit.

"Ruo'er, I'm leaving this matter to you. If you need any money, just go to the accounting office and ask."

Bai Ruo said with a confident expression, "Father, don't worry, I will definitely handle things properly."

Lin.

They moved to a new home, which was three times larger than the courtyard where the disciples lived. The original small courtyard had been transformed into a two-section courtyard.

Lin Yan glanced around, put his clothes away, and then took two martial arts manuals to the backyard.

Instead of rushing to learn the Four Phases Condensing Qi Sword, Lin Yan carefully studied the "Eight Desolate Dragon Elephant Force".

The Eight Desolate Dragon and Elephant Force involves continuously refining the Qi and blood within the body. When the blood shadow of the dragon and elephant appears, it signifies that one has entered the first stage of mastery.

After memorizing the incantation for the technique, Lin Yan took off his shirt, walked to the center of the courtyard, spread his legs, and slammed them onto the ground like an old tree taking root.

Next, he began to adjust his breathing according to the Dragon Elephant Force. The refined and pure blood and qi in his body were slowly mobilized, starting from the dantian and pushing outward along the first meridian of the eight extraordinary meridians.

Wherever the Qi and blood flow, a faint reddish trail can be seen slowly spreading under the skin.

The difficulty in mastering the Dragon Elephant Strength lies in insufficient Qi and blood, but this is not a problem for Lin Yan.

His body felt like it was being slowly stretched open as his blood and qi circulated.

From the shoulder blade to the elbow joint, and then to the wrist, the fascia of the entire arm feels as if it is being pinched by an invisible hand and then slowly pulled apart.

The feeling was extremely strange, as if countless extremely thin strings were tied inside my body, and now they were being plucked and tightened one by one.

First the hands, then the feet — and then all parts of the body.

"Dragon and Elephant Strength, Eight Meridians Open, One Turn, One Heaven."

"1

Lin Yan silently recited the incantation, focusing his mind on his body.

He could clearly feel his fascia being gradually soaked and stretched by the blood and qi.

The process was not fast, but it was exceptionally solid. Every slight widening was accompanied by a faint tingling sensation deep within the muscles and bones.

It's unclear how much time passed, but a blood-red phantom appeared above Lin Yan's head.

The moment the blood-red phantom appeared, Lin Yan opened his eyes and threw a punch.

This punch was 30% more powerful than the one he threw earlier in the stone chamber.

Lin Yan withdrew his fist and looked inward at the martial arts tree, where a new bud appeared.

Dragon-Elephant Strength, beginner level!

Lin Yan was not surprised at all that he had mastered the Dragon Elephant Force so quickly. He had broken through to the point of perfecting his Qi and Blood after four rounds of skin polishing. It was extremely compatible with the Eight Desolate Dragon Elephant Force. It would have been an unexpected surprise if he had needed the Martial Dao Tree as a safety net to even begin to learn it.

Feeling a surge of energy within his body, Lin Yan smiled.

In martial arts, choosing the right technique can indeed make all the difference.

Half an hour later, Lin Yan stopped, walked to the stone table, and picked up the Four Phases Condensing Qi Sword.

The core of the Four Phases Condensing Qi Sword lies in the word "fusion". It integrates sword intent into blood qi, transforming the blood qi, which could only protect the body, into an indestructible sword qi.

However, the fusion of sword intent is not unlimited; at most, three sword auras can be fused during a single blood exchange.

Just like mixing two substances, blood essence is the solution, while sword intent is the solute, and there is a ratio for full dissolution and absorption.

It was only after seeing the Four Phases Condensing Qi Sword that Lin Yan realized that any cultivation technique, once mastered to the point of profound understanding, would leave a mark within the body, though one would not usually be aware of it.

In Kendo, the place where sword intent is stored is called a sword pellet.

The sword pellet is invisible, but it truly exists.

With his mind focused, Lin Yan began to circulate the incantation for the Four Phases Condensing Qi Sword, and soon he sensed the sword intent within his body.

What he needs to do now is to extract a strand of the entwined sword intent from the sword pellet, introduce it into his dantian, and merge it with his blood essence.

This process is extremely dangerous; if one is not careful, the sword intent will go out of control in the meridians and backfire on oneself.

Lin Yan carefully separated a wisp of entwined sword intent from the sword pellet and let it slowly sink down along the meridians.

Wherever the sword intent passed, a faint, needle-like pain emanated from the inner walls of his meridians. Fortunately, his meridians had been tempered by both the Thunder Sound Technique and the Dragon Elephant Force, making them far more resilient than those of ordinary Blood Exchange Realm martial artists. This pain was nothing to him.

When that wisp of sword intent finally sank into his dantian and collided with the blood energy, an extremely low muffled sound came from within his dantian. Lin Yan even let out a muffled groan, and his face instantly turned pale.

That fucking hurts!

Despite the pain, Lin Yan continued to circulate the energy according to the incantation, forcibly mixing the sword intent with the blood energy.

The pain was like someone holding a sword and repeatedly stabbing at his dantian.

Sure enough, sword cultivators are destined for misfortune; even their cultivation is a form of self-harm.

Lin Yan could only find humor in his suffering to distract himself from the pain, until he finally became completely numb.

After an unknown amount of time, a very subtle change suddenly appeared in the surging blood energy within the dantian: a wisp of silvery-white light, so faint as to be almost invisible, was slowly taking shape.

After a while, Lin Yan slowly raised his right hand, and a thin silver-white energy appeared at his fingertips.

This thin, silvery-white energy, though as thin as a hair, exuded a chillingly sharp aura.

This is sword energy!

Lin Yan suddenly opened his eyes and made a sweeping motion in the air with his right hand.

As the sword energy shot out, a horizontal branch of a pomegranate tree five zhang directly in front of them suddenly fell off, its cut surface as smooth as a mirror.

Lin Yan looked down at the sword energy on his fingers, his eyes shining brightly.

His suffering was worthwhile; the power of the sword aura was indeed extraordinary. And this was only a wisp. Once he fully integrated the entwined sword intent into the blood aura, its power would be terrifyingly enhanced.

Not to mention, he still has a second Flowing Cloud Sword Intent that he hasn't refined yet. Once he successfully refines it, its power will be far more than just one plus one.

Strike while the iron is hot!

Keep practicing!

At this moment, Lin Yan no longer felt the unbearable pain he had experienced before.

The power of the sword aura is worth it!