Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

Lin Ran remained silent, only staring at Lin Zhiyao for a few seconds with a playful smile.

"What are you looking at?" Lin Zhiyao felt a little uncomfortable being stared at.

Why am I looking at you instead of anyone else?

Lin Zhiyao paused slightly: "I..."

"You see, you actually understand everything."

Lin Ran withdrew his gaze, picked up a piece of green vegetable and put it in his bowl: "You know very well why Sun Jingyao specifically chose to cause trouble for me."

"Even if the other party provoked you first this time, it can't cover up your past misdeeds!" Lin Zhiyao's voice rose a few decibels.

"Actually, I'm very curious," Lin Ran put down his chopsticks, "Where did you hear about those misdeeds you mentioned?"

Lin Zhiyao subconsciously tilted her head slightly in Lin Haozhe's direction, then quickly looked away.

"What business is it of mine where I heard that? Do you think I'm wronging you?"

Lin Ran leaned back in his chair and said, "I've been an orphan since I was little. If I don't get a scholarship, I won't be able to continue high school. I'll have trouble even getting food, so how could I have time to do the things you mentioned?"

"This..." Lin Zhiyao was speechless for a moment.

Song Yishu, standing beside her, had slightly red eyes: "My good child, you've suffered so much these past years."

"Don't misunderstand." Lin Ran waved his hand. "I didn't mean to seek comfort; I was just stating the facts."

Lin Hongbo gently patted Song Yishu's arm and turned to look at Lin Zhiyao.

"I have already had someone investigate. Lin Ran's grades have always been excellent, and he has been bullied for a long time at Xinhai No. 3 Middle School."

At this point, his gaze swept across his three daughters' faces: "So, don't bring up those things about his bad character again."

"But……"

Before Lin Zhiyao could say anything more, Lin Haozhe spoke up first: "Third sister, Dad has already had someone investigate, there's definitely no mistake. Just like this time, I saw Sun Jingyao provoking Brother Ran with my own eyes."

"Hmph." Lin Zhiyao turned her head away and said no more.

After dinner, the servants cleared away the dishes.

Lin Hongbo pulled a document out of his briefcase and pushed it across the coffee table.

"The paternity test results are in, take a look."

Lin Ran casually picked up the document, opened it, and jumped directly to the last line.

Based on the analysis of all gene loci in this test, the test subjects Lin Hongbo and Lin Ran have a biological father-son relationship with a parentage probability of >99.99%, which is consistent with the genetic laws of biological offspring.

I had expected it, so I wasn't surprised.

After all, he does look very similar to Lin Hongbo.

"Now that your identity has been confirmed, just stay at home and don't keep thinking about moving out."

"Let's see." Lin Ran put the document back on the coffee table.

He couldn't empathize with this blood relationship.

After all, the soul is not the same one as before.

Compared to the kinship with the Lin family, he was now more concerned about what Sun Jinghuan's true intentions were.

He couldn't remember having any dealings with any young lady in his past life.

Whether the so-called emotional entanglements are real or not is unknown.

He learned from Bai Ruolin that he and Sun Jinghuan had become rivals in love.

Thinking of this, Lin Ran stood up: "I'm going upstairs."

Song Yishu quickly asked, "Would you like some fruit?"

"No need, I'm full."

Back in his room, Lin Ran locked the door and drew the curtains tightly.

He took the pale red crystal core out of his pocket and examined it in his palm.

The cluster of flame patterns inside the crystal core was still slowly flowing, quite eye-catching.

He sat cross-legged on the bed and began circulating the "Myriad Treasures Spirit Forging Technique".

The spiritual energy in the dantian travels upward along the meridians and gathers in the palm.

The spiritual energy enveloped the crystal core and began to extract the energy contained within it.

A surge of pure fire-attribute spiritual energy flowed into the meridians from the palm of his hand, causing a slight burning sensation wherever it passed.

It felt like a stream of scalding water was flowing through my meridians.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the Xuanhuang Cauldron trembled slightly, and the cloud patterns on its body glowed faintly.

The fire-attribute spiritual energy was absorbed into the Xuanhuang Cauldron, and after being transformed by the cauldron, it became docile and peaceful.

The continuous flow of spiritual energy permeated his limbs and bones, eventually merging completely into his dantian.

The flame patterns inside the crystal core first pulsed violently, then slowly dimmed.

A moment later, a fine crack appeared on the surface of the crystal nucleus.

Click!

Fine lines spread rapidly, covering the entire surface of the crystal nucleus in the blink of an eye.

Lin Ran slowly opened his eyes, looked at the crystal core that had turned into powder in his palm, and was slightly lost in thought.

The total amount of spiritual energy in his dantian increased significantly, roughly equivalent to what he had gained from several days of arduous cultivation.

He exhaled a breath of stale air: "Phew...it seems this method really works."

At his usual cultivation pace, slowly absorbing the spiritual energy dissipating from the air, it might take him decades to advance from the first level of Qi Refining to the peak of Qi Refining.

However, if one can continuously absorb crystal cores for cultivation, the efficiency will increase by at least a hundredfold.

In other words, with enough crystal cores, he might be able to reach the peak of Qi Refining in less than a year.

However, according to Sun Jingyao, this crystal core is worth 200,000.

In the early stages of Qi Refining, each layer consumes thirty to forty crystal cores; in the middle stages, each layer consumes sixty to seventy crystal cores; and in the later stages, each layer consumes more than one hundred crystal cores.

Reaching the pinnacle of Qi cultivation requires consuming thousands of crystal cores.

If one wants to break through by absorbing crystal cores, the amount of money required would probably be in the hundreds of millions.

Lin Ran leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling.

In my previous life, I toiled for half my life but didn't save much money.

I never imagined that after transmigrating and already cultivating immortality, I would still have to worry about money.

The next day, the sun rose as usual, and Lin Ran went to school as usual.

The driver took Lin Ran and Lin Haozhe to school, where most of the students had already arrived at the classroom.

Zhao Meng was sitting in the back row, with his legs propped up under the table, flipping through a martial arts magazine. When he saw Lin Ran come in, he raised his hand and waved.

"Brother Ran, over here."

Lin Ran walked over and put his schoolbag on the table.

Zhao Meng closed the magazine and moved closer to Lin Ran.

"You scored 1,500 points in the virtual simulation yesterday. Even my father heard about it and told me to learn from you."

"I already said, it's just luck. What's there to learn?"

"Heh... a few hundred points might be luck, but how could a thousand points be luck? There's no such thing as luck!"

Just as Zhao Meng was about to continue, the homeroom teacher, Zhou Zhengping, pushed open the door and came in, followed by a girl wearing the standard uniform of the martial arts class at Xinhai No.1 Middle School.

Her long, flowing hair was styled into a single ponytail, and her large, expressive eyes seemed to speak volumes.

She has a sweet face, a stunning figure, and long legs that are just as beautiful as Bai Ruolin's.

Lin Ran frowned slightly; he recognized the person who had come.

The little girl who had spent ten years in the same orphanage as him, always following him around and calling him Brother Lin Ran.

She was later found by the Chu family and became the eldest daughter of the Chu family, changing her name to Chu Xining.

She had previously attended Xinhai No. 3 Middle School, but Lin Ran was in the regular class while she was in the martial arts class.

The two occasionally crossed paths, but the original owner always deliberately avoided her.

Because the original owner felt that he and Chu Xining were no longer from the same world.

It must be said that although the original owner's behavior was somewhat sensitive and cowardly, it was also a wise move.

If Lin Ran hadn't transmigrated, even if the Lin family had come looking for him, they probably would have only found a corpse.

The rumors Bai Ruolin mentioned earlier, combined with Chu Xining's transfer to another school, make Sun Jinghuan's reasons for targeting Lin Ran quite clear.

One is the eldest son of the Sun family, and the other is the eldest daughter of the Chu family; they are a perfect match.

However, these were truly undeserved misfortunes for the original owner of this body.

Zhou Zhengping stood by the podium and gestured towards Chu Xining: "This is Chu Xining, the new transfer student. Please welcome her."

The applause was sporadic, interspersed with a few whispers.

"Chu Xining? That one from the Chu family?"

"Why are there so many transfer students this year?"

"She's so beautiful! I wonder if I'll ever have a chance."

"You should save your breath. A person of high moral character knows their own limitations."

Chu Xining's gaze had already fallen on the back row by the window.

Zhou Zhengping adjusted his glasses: "Chu Xining, please find an empty seat."

"Okay, teacher." Chu Xining nodded and walked straight to the back row.

Zhao Meng was stuffing martial arts magazines into the table when he saw her walking over, and his movements slowed down a beat.

Chu Xining stopped at the table next to Lin Ran and gave Zhao Meng a polite smile.

"Excuse me, could I switch seats with you?"