Lin Xi woke up in Meteor City.

Previously, he was far too tired… Moreover, this type of fatigue mostly came from mental pressure and strong emotional fluctuations. That was why when he saw the tent above his head, it was a bit difficult for him to realize what happened.

He moved aside the tent curtains with a bit of a blank expression, and saw the night shrouded Meteor City. He saw many Yunqin soldiers show him sincere and respectful military salutes when he walked out from within the tent. Then, he suddenly recalled everything, he remembered that the great battles which decided the lives and deaths of many civilians behind South Tomb Province had already come to an end.

He saw Gao Yanan who was standing not far from this tent.

After returning a greeting to those Yunqin soldiers who were bowing towards him respectfully, he then walked up to her side. He whispered towards her side profile that was still a bit pale, “Did I sleep for a long time?”

Gao Yanan shook her head. “Not that long, only a larger half of a day.”

Lin Xi nodded. He looked towards his arms that were still stained with a lot of blood and didn’t seem all that clean.

He forcefully clenched his hands, and then let go. His body’s limp, painful and powerless feeling of fatigue still flooded his entire body, not scattering. However, there was a type of extremely strange feeling that lingered about his body center, as if his body underwent some type of transformation, yet he couldn’t exactly say just where this change took place.

“What is it?”

Gao Yanan saw Lin Xi’s brows furrow, asking, “Is there anything wrong?”

“I feel a bit strange, not sure if it has anything to do with Shentu Nian’s pearl.” Lin Xi’s brows furrowed. “But I just can’t figure out what part it is that feels off.”

“This is something that is extremely crucial.” Gao Yanan’s expression suddenly changed. “How about we immediately have General Gu and the others come and take a look?”

“There’s no rush. Even though I cannot say exactly what is off, I just feel like this doesn’t seem to be any bad transformation.” Lin Xi raised his head, shaking it, his brows instead furrowing together tighter. It was because previously, when he saw Gao Yanan, she appeared a bit gloomy. He thought it was because the battle before was too grave, but now, he who understood Gao Yanan extremely well instead saw many other types of emotions.

“What’s wrong?” His heart suddenly sunk.

“My father faced Wenren Cangyue, his injuries are extremely serious.” Gao Yanan’s body trembled slightly. “His cultivation might worsen by the day. In the future, he might not be able to fight ever again.”

Lin Xi became quiet. He gently patted Gao Yanan’s trembling back, not saying any excessive words of consolation.

It was because he understood extremely clearly that even if it was someone like Grand Secretary Zhou who originally didn’t wish to fight, as a powerful cultivator who could injure Wenren Cangyue, once he lost the strength that could protect himself and others, it was still an extremely painful matter.

Gao Yanan’s taut and trembling body slowly relaxed.

“I’m fine, just that I am worried about my father… However, if I speak some selfish words, this is also fine. He doesn’t have to always be like other Sacred Experts, always continuously fighting his whole life, all the way until he dies.” Gao Yanan raised her head, looking at Lin Xi. “Right now, the most important is you… You must not be careless, we have to first understand clearly exactly what part of you isn’t quite right.”

“It’s good that you can think this way. I can feel much more at ease.”

Lin Xi nodded. He looked at her in an inquiring manner, “How about I first carefully examine myself? If I cannot find any issues, we’ll then ask General Gu and the academy’s teachers to come and take a look?”

Gao Yanan nodded.

She knew that the calmer a cultivator’s mental state was, the clearer their perception would become. As such, she also knew what she had to do right now.

She tightly gripped Lin Xi’s hand.

Then, she walked back towards that tent with Lin Xi.

She stood outside the tent, waiting for Lin Xi.

…

Lin Xi was extremely moved. Her calm and collected presence made him calm down.

He closed his eyes, silently sensing the activity around his body. After filtering out all of his body’s stiff, numb and powerless feelings of exhaustion, his perception of his blood energy and soul force circulation become more clear, some of his body’s minor details became more and more clear in his perception.

This type of feeling was just like he could see some plant root systems in more detail, moreover able to sense that many areas seemed to have become more robust and stronger than before.

He didn’t feel too much shock, knowing that after experiencing this great battle, his body and mind exceeded the limit many times, which was why his cultivation increased faster than normal.

If he described it through Green Luan Academy’s cultivation reasoning, when one is at their limit, the body would secrete some substances that normally wouldn’t be secreted, making cultivators unable to help but make some advancements… Meanwhile, if he used the simplest reasoning most cultivators in this world could understand, cultivation was just like a tree. After going through more wind and rain, being cut down a few more times, the branches and trunk would become sturdier.

These changes to his body, including the advancements of his perception, were just the normal response of cultivation advancement, not the source of his vague strangeness.

Soon afterwards, he noticed that what was a bit strange still came from the radiance of that roulette-like green radiance in his head.

Actually, this radiance was just like a picture deeply engraved within his mind.

This radiance itself didn’t show much changes, but when Lin Xi sensed it, he only felt as if his mind became a bit clearer than before, without any obstructions. It was as if a fog was removed, the impurities within his mind eliminated.

However, this type of consciousness level issue really was elusive. Lin Xi just felt like there was some type of tangible transformation that happened to his body, which was why he felt a bit strange.

Was it to his mind?

Soul force could also be considered spiritual force, will power, right?

His body immediately shook slightly, thinking of a certain possibility.

He took a deep breath, calming himself down. Then, he quickly entered meditation cultivation.

The amount of time it took for him to enter meditation cultivation was extremely short, enough for most cultivators to feel shock. After just a dozen or so breaths of time, his breathing entered a type of special rhythm, some vital energy only cultivators could vaguely sense began to slowly merge with him.

Regardless of whether it was Tong Wei or Xu Shengmo who didn’t wish to see Lin Xi right now, their requirements towards Lin Xi when he was cultivating in Green Luan Academy were both extremely high.

Lin Xi was also always pursuing being able to enter meditation cultivation anytime on the battlefield. In reality, he was already extremely close to this level. During the South Tomb Province wandering battles, Gao Yanan had seen him quickly enter meditation cultivation after just four or five breaths. That was why Gao Yanan didn’t feel much shock towards Lin Xi being able to enter meditation cultivation this quickly. What left her shocked and nervous, as if something strange happened, was that the amount of time Lin Xi spent in meditation cultivation was extremely short.

After just a couple dozen breaths of time, Lin Xi already concluded this instance of meditation cultivation.

…

Lin Xi opened his eyes.

He finally knew why he felt that something was strange. His eyes were first a bit hazy, but then they filled with shock and joy. His body also began to tremble slightly.

At this time, Gao Yanan moved aside the tent’s curtains. She saw his eyes, also seeing his slightly shaking body.

“What exactly happened?” Lin Xi’s expression left her stunned.

Lin Xi looked at her seriously, his voice a bit difficult, carrying a bit of sorrow as he chuckled, saying quietly, “I can no longer be considered Lin Second… might be at least Lin Third. At the very least, I can be considered normal, no longer that inferior.”

Lin Second? Lin Third?

Gao Yanan was already extremely used to Lin Xi’s way of speaking, to the extent where she already began to understand some of Lin Xi’s ‘nonsense’. However, right now, she still didn’t understand what Lin Second and Lin Third meant. When she heard Lin Xi’s latter half, saying that he wasn’t inferior, only then did her eyes slowly flicker with even greater shock and disbelief. “You are talking about your cultivation aptitude?”

Lin Xi looked at her beautiful face, nodding and saying with a sigh of sorrow, “Yeah.”

Gao Yanan was completely stunned.

When Lin Xi was in Deerwood Town, he was called Young Master Lin Second because he loved to always call people ‘second’. Meanwhile, the people of Deerwood Town felt like there was something wrong with his brain, that he was a bit dumb, that he wasn’t normal.[1]

When he was in Green Luan Academy, there was also a Lin Second nickname, but that was because his cultivation aptitude during Green Luan Academy’s entrance examination Spirit Summer Lakeside was two.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Five, four, three, two, one, this world’s cultivation aptitudes were divided into five levels.

Three was normal, two is extremely inferior, one was basically crippled, couldn’t be described as cultivation at all.

Lin Xi’s cultivation aptitude was two. For all cultivators, this was extremely inferior, discriminated against… Reality was also like this. His soul force cultivation’s speed of increase was indeed extremely slow.

“Your cultivation aptitude really has reached three? You couldn’t sense anything else different, just that you are sure of this type of transformation?” Gao Yanan knew that Lin Xi definitely wouldn’t speak lies about himself, but she understood extremely clearly what this type of change represented for cultivators. She couldn’t help but look at Lin Xi, still filled with shock as she asked this.

Lin Xi calmly looked at her, and then forcefully nodded his head.

He could sense that his soul force cultivation speed wasn’t that high, that he was basically changing from someone with poor aptitude to a normal person.

However, even this type of change alone was already enough for him to feel pleasant surprise and shock.

“This… really is a good thing.” Gao Yanan also entered a mysterious shaken state. She was someone who watched Lin Xi cultivate and fight, knowing that the reason why Lin Xi’s cultivation speed looked like it was faster than most people was only because Lin Xi suffered more than normal people, he paid too much of a price for improvement. When she thought about the things Lin Xi experienced before, thinking back to those life and death battles the two of them went through together, and thought about what Lin Xi had to pay, her nose felt a bit sore. She looked into Lin Xi’s eyes, saying, “This means… that this can at least let you reach Sacred Expert level a bit faster.”

“Yeah.” When Lin Xi saw her appearance, his nose also felt a bit sore. “Even a year or two sooner is a good thing.”

The night gradually grew thicker.

These two youngsters on the city gate tower were deeply moved because of each other.

1. Second can be slang for calling someone a bit slow