Zombie World: Starting as an apprentice of the Thunder King

That day, he sat by a stream, meditating to recover his magical power. After he had fully recovered, Lin Bei felt a surge of emotion.

He has been in this secret realm for nearly three years, and his gains have been absolutely astonishing!

Not only has his lightning magic improved rapidly, and his cultivation level has broken through to the mid-stage of mage, but his body refinement has also reached the mid-stage of Iron Bone!

Lin Bei held the jade token and looked around the secret realm where he had stayed for two years.

"That's about enough." Lin Bei stood up, dusted off his robe, and said, "It's time to go back. There's no point in staying any longer. We won't be making any major breakthroughs anytime soon."

He took a deep breath, channeled his magic into the jade tablet, and then squeezed it hard.

With a crisp crack, the jade pendant shattered, and the fragments transformed into a beam of white light that enveloped him. Then, Lin Bei felt a dizzying sensation before his eyes, and the next moment he found himself in a wide valley.

In the valley, ten guardian elders sat cross-legged on a stone platform, meditating with their eyes closed. Sensing his aura, they all opened their eyes and looked over.

The leading elder nodded slightly to him: "You're out? Your cultivation has improved quite a bit, not bad."

Lin Bei quickly bowed and said, "Disciple Lin Bei thanks all the elders for their protection over the past three years."

"You're welcome! I hope that in the future you will become a pillar of Maoshan and not let the sect leader down!"

The elder waved his hand, "Go, the sect leader is waiting for you."

As soon as Lin Bei stepped out of the forbidden area of ​​the valley, he heard Qingwei Zhenren's voice transmission: "Little fellow, come to Jiuxiao Wanfu Palace."

"Your disciple obeys!"

Lin Bei strode through the courtyards and corridors, encountering many Maoshan disciples along the way. When the disciples saw him, they all cast curious glances at him, and some of the bolder ones even whispered among themselves.

"Is that Senior Brother Lin Bei, the disciple of our Grandmaster Uncle Shi Jian?"

"I heard you've been in the secret realm for almost three years; your cultivation must have increased significantly by now, right?"

"The aura he exudes... I feel it's even stronger than my master's?"

"Um... your master seems to be at the True Person realm, right? Is Senior Brother Lin Bei really that strong?"

Lin Bei ignored the discussions and kept walking. He soon arrived at the main hall of the Nine Heavens Palace, pushed open the door, and went inside.

Inside the main hall, Master Qingwei sat on a futon in the center, his beard and hair were all white, his face was kind, and he held a whisk in his hand.

Shi Jian stood beside him, his gray Taoist robe impeccably tailored, his face bearing that unchanging, cold expression. But Lin Bei noticed a hint of barely perceptible concern deep in his eyes.

"Disciple Lin Bei greets Grandmaster and Master!" Lin Bei knelt on both knees and respectfully kowtowed three times.

Master Qingwei raised his hand, and a gentle force lifted him up: "Get up, get up, let your grandmaster take a good look at you."

Lin Bei stood up and stood straight in the center of the hall.

Master Qingwei looked him up and down for a while, his eyes gradually brightening: "Mid-stage mage? And with a solid foundation and abundant magical power, not bad, very good."

"You were only at the mid-stage of the Daoist Master realm before entering the secret realm, and you broke through to the mid-stage of the Mage realm in just three years. This cultivation speed is among the best in the history of Maoshan disciples."

Shi Jian nodded slightly beside him, though he didn't say anything, but the satisfaction in his eyes was evident.

Master Qingwei then asked, "Did you encounter any danger in the secret realm? Did that dragon... cause you any trouble?"

Lin Bei shook his head: "No, Senior Jiaolong took good care of me and even gave me three drops of thousand-year-old stalactite."

"A thousand-year-old stalactite?" Master Qingwei was slightly taken aback, then stroked his beard and smiled, "That old fellow is unusually generous. It seems your patriarchs have had quite a few exchanges with him."

"Um...Grandmaster, what do you mean by that...?"

Master Qingwei laughed heartily: "Little fellow, the ancestors of that secret realm left behind many methods and opportunities. You received quite a bit of care from them while you were inside!"

Lin Bei suddenly realized, "No wonder! That explains why I've always managed to escape death when I encountered powerful monsters. It turns out... it was our ancestor helping me!"

Lin Bei smiled wryly. He had always thought he was incredibly lucky. But then again, having the ancestor looking after him was really great; he couldn't even die if he wanted to.

"When you broke through to the Mage level, did you feel anything was wrong? Did you experience any unusual sensations in your dantian?" Master Qingwei asked with a smile.

Lin Bei was taken aback, scratching his head: "Wrong? There's nothing wrong with it, it's just... a little more difficult than I imagined. It took me four months to break through."

Master Qingwei and Shi Jian exchanged a glance.

Master Qingwei shook his head and smiled, "For ordinary cultivators, it takes three to five days, or at most half a month, to break through from the Daoist Master realm to the Dharma Master realm. You took four months to complete your breakthrough. Did you have any special feelings during that time?"

Lin Bei thought for a moment and answered truthfully, "I feel that the magic power in my dantian is condensing into a fake pill very slowly. It seems that it takes much more spiritual energy than expected to condense a fake pill. There were several times when I didn't have enough spiritual energy and almost failed."

"Fortunately, the spiritual energy in the secret realm was abundant, and several patriarchs secretly helped us, so we barely managed to survive."

Master Qingwei frowned slightly, slowly stood up, and walked to Lin Bei: "Little fellow, a cultivator's fake core is usually golden or silver, these are the two most common forms."

"However, a very small number of people may condense fake pills of other colors. Do you know what color the fake pill in your dantian is?"

Lin Bei blinked, looking completely bewildered: "This disciple really doesn't know what's so special about it. The fake core I've condensed... is purple."

"Purple?" Master Qingwei was taken aback, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. "Are you sure it's purple?"

"This disciple confirms that it is entirely purple, with some faint runes flowing across it."

Master Qingwei frowned deeply and remained silent for a long while; the hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Shi Jian stood to the side, his expression also becoming serious.

After pondering for a long time, Master Qingwei finally spoke: "Little fellow, your grandmaster wishes to examine your dantian. Are you willing?"

Exploring the dantian is a taboo subject among cultivators, as it is equivalent to handing over one's life to someone else. However, if the other party is a trusted elder or master, then it is a different matter.

Lin Bei nodded without hesitation: "This disciple is willing."

Master Qingwei extended three fingers and gently placed them on Lin Bei's wrist, a gentle stream of magical power traveling along his meridians into his dantian.

A moment later, Master Qingwei's gaze suddenly froze.

Lin Bei's dantian was much larger than he had expected. For ordinary mage cultivators, the dantian space is about the size of a small pond, but Lin Bei's dantian space is at least five times larger than that of an ordinary mage, which is astonishingly vast.

In the very center of the dantian, a fake dantian, entirely purple in color, slowly rotated, emitting a warm purple halo.

The surface of the fake pill was covered with fine runes, which vaguely formed some kind of mysterious pattern, making it clear at a glance that it was not an ordinary product.