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

Lord Xuan Chen said awkwardly, "I'm just trying to make things clear first, otherwise you'll blame me later."

"Tell me, what exactly is the drawback?" Lin Ran asked casually.

"I wish to practice this skill..."

"Wait a minute!" Lin Ran quickly interrupted, "Lin Zhixia is a woman; she can't castrate herself!"

The Lord of Xuan Chen was slightly puzzled: "What do you mean by self-castration?"

"It's alright, please continue."

"To practice this skill, one must also combine it with the Azure Dragon bloodline; otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve success."

Lin Ran frowned slightly: "In this day and age, where do you expect me to find any Azure Dragon bloodline?"

After all that talk, it's like saying nothing at all.

"Wait, I haven't finished yet."

"Can you finish your sentence at once?" Lin Ran asked, sounding slightly impatient.

The Lord of Xuan Chen sarcastically remarked, "Isn't it because you kept interrupting me?"

"Okay, go ahead, I won't interrupt you."

"If you don't have the Azure Dragon bloodline, you can use the bloodline of other wood-type demon beasts as a substitute."

Lord Xuan Chen paused briefly: "However... the effect will be somewhat weaker, and the personality may be affected by the bloodline."

"How much difference?" Lin Ran couldn't help but ask.

The key issue is the effectiveness of the cultivation technique; as for its influence on bloodline, that's not important.

"It should be limited by the bloodline of the demon beast." Lord Xuan Chen wasn't entirely sure either: "The stronger the bloodline, the better the effect."

Lin Ran seemed to be deep in thought. After a moment, he spoke again: "Can this bloodline be gradually replaced?"

Upon hearing this, the Lord of Xuan Chen was slightly taken aback.

We may not find the Azure Dragon bloodline now, but we might find it in the future.

As long as the cultivation technique is still viable, one can simply replace it with a more powerful bloodline later.

"From this perspective, this drawback isn't so serious after all."

So, the Lord of Xuan Chen raised his hand and formed a hand seal, passing on the cultivation technique to Lin Ran.

The cultivation method has twelve realms, from condensing bloodline to achieving the Golden Immortal status, and can be divided into four volumes.

The first volume covers the realms from the Innate to the Profound. Lin Ran revised the names of the realms, transcribed them, and included them in the Nine Heavens Pendant.

I plan to give it to Lin Zhixia when I see her tonight.

Then, Lin Ran took out the sixth-order crystal core from his spatial storage and examined it closely.

It is about the size of a fist, with a pale golden luster and fine golden patterns flowing inside.

Such a single crystal core is equivalent to thousands of third-order crystal cores; it is truly mysterious.

After playing with it for a while, Lin Ran put away the crystal core and then took the Jinghong Sword out of the sword box.

He channeled his spiritual energy into the sword, causing its light to flicker erratically.

With a sharp weapon in the body, the murderous heart starts from the beginning.

Tonight, he's planning to pull off a big heist.

Sun Kaiyuan intercepted him halfway, but because he still had to take the martial arts exam, he did not fight him directly.

Now that the martial arts exam is over and the Nine Heavens Pendant is in hand, it's time to settle accounts with the Sun family.

However, we still need to make some preparations before that.

Sword control is one of his strongest killing moves.

Sun Kaiyuan's ability to escape from the flying sword shows he does possess some skill.

If Lin Ran wants to solve the problem once and for all, he naturally needs to make thorough preparations.

The Lord of Xuan Chen released an illusion that could trap Sun Kaiyuan and prevent him from escaping, but it was hard to guarantee that he wouldn't resort to desperate measures and unleash some unexpected moves in his final stand.

Moreover, one must not leave any clues after committing murder.

The last time I killed that martial artist at the Tongxuan Realm in Kyoto, it prompted the Special Affairs Bureau to investigate the whole process.

If it weren't for the illusion created by the Lord of Xuan Chen and his own superb acting skills, things probably wouldn't have ended so easily.

Therefore, we cannot repeat the same mistake this time.

"Are you planning to make your move tonight?" The voice of the Lord of Xuan Chen interrupted Lin Ran's thoughts.

"Not bad." Lin Ran nodded. "Sun Kaiyuan failed last time, and he's probably still waiting for me to leave Xinhai again. He definitely doesn't expect me to take the initiative to go to him."

Do you know where the Sun family lives?

"You don't understand, do you? I have technology!"

After saying that, Lin Ran turned on the holographic bracelet, entered "Xinhai Sun Family Ancestral Residence" in the search box, and several location information popped up quickly.

"I just need to follow the directions on this map, and I'll find it eventually."

In the evening, the restaurant in the Lin family villa was brightly lit.

The long table was laden with dishes: steamed grouper, garlic prawns, braised pork hock, crab roe tofu, and more than a dozen other dishes in total.

Lin Zhiwan returned from the group early, and Lin Zhixia also arrived half an hour earlier than usual.

Lin Zhiyao was the last to enter the house after school, and she went straight to the dining table as soon as she put down her schoolbag.

She reached out to pick up a garlic shrimp, but Song Yishu slapped her hand: "Go wash your hands."

"I'll just have a bite," Lin Zhiyao said, pouting.

Song Yishu rolled her eyes at her: "Go wash your hands!"

Lin Zhiyao reluctantly went to the restroom, and when she returned, Lin Ran happened to be coming downstairs.

He changed into dark casual clothes, walked to the dining table, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

Song Yishu immediately served him a bowl of soup: "Today's meal is specially to celebrate Xiao Ran's birthday."

Lin Hongbo picked up his wine glass and raised it towards Lin Ran.

"The national martial arts exam champion, the first in Xinhai's history. Your mother is overjoyed."

"Here we go again, as if you're not happy with yourself?" Song Yishu added from the side.

Lin Hongbo coughed, pretending not to hear, and continued to hold up his wine glass.

"Come on, let's have a drink together."

Everyone raised their glasses, and Lin Ran also picked up his glass and clinked it with everyone else's.

"Congratulations, Brother Ran," Lin Haozhe said first, sounding quite sincere.

Lin Zhiwan smiled and said, "Keep up the good work and strive to become the first Martial Saint in Xinhai in the future."

"Thank you!" Lin Ran replied casually.

Song Yishu kept piling food onto Lin Ran's plate, and soon the bowl was piled high with food.

"That's enough, you won't be able to eat any more," Lin Ran quickly advised.

While gnawing on a rib, Lin Zhiyao mumbled indistinctly, "Mom, you're so biased."

"Your younger brother got first place nationwide this time, what place did you get?"

"He's already at the Innate Realm, while I'm only at the Opening Aperture Realm. How can we be the same?"

"You know things are different now?" Song Yishu smiled. "I'm just happy for your brother."

Lin Zhiyao poked at the rice in her bowl, indignantly saying, "Hmph! You're just being biased!"

"Hehe... Okay, okay, Mom will put some food on your plate too. You're such a big girl, yet you act like a little kid..."

After dinner, everyone went to the living room.

Lin Ran took out the pre-written cultivation technique from the Nine Heavens Pendant, placed it on the coffee table, and pushed it in front of Lin Zhixia.

At the very front, in the center, are the words "Azure Dragon Sacred Body Technique," with "Volume One" marked in smaller print next to it.

"This cultivation technique can fuse with the bloodline of mutated wood-type creatures, enhance affinity with wood elements, and thus accelerate the cultivation speed."

A look of joy flashed in Lin Zhixia's eyes. She put down her water glass, picked up the paper, and glanced at it.

Before she could even speak, Lin Zhiyao, who was standing next to her, became anxious.

"What about me?" She looked at Lin Ran with a hopeful expression.

Lin Ran shrugged: "You probably can't use wood-based techniques."

"You have ice-type techniques and wood-type techniques, but you don't have water-type techniques?" Lin Zhiyao looked incredulous.

Lin Ran nodded and said calmly, "That's right, that's exactly it."

"You're clearly targeting me!" Lin Zhiyao said indignantly.

Lin Ran gave a playful smile: "Why would I target you?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiyao opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Since Lin Ran returned to the Lin family, she has been targeting him. Now that Lin Ran dislikes her, it seems reasonable.

She stammered several times, finally managing to squeeze out, "Anyway, you're just targeting me."

Seeing this, Lin Hongbo spoke up at the right time: "Alright. After you graduate, Dad will buy you a cultivation technique that suits you."

Lin Zhiyao immediately moved closer to Lin Hongbo, hugged his arm with both hands, and said coquettishly, "Daddy still loves me the most."

After saying that, she turned her head and glanced at Lin Ran, raising her chin and revealing a smug look.

"Hehe..." Lin Ran ignored Lin Zhiyao and turned to Lin Zhixia: "This is only a part of the whole set of techniques."

"Once you reach the Profound Realm, I will give you the rest."