Chapter 124: Talent

The celebration banquet for the Jiang Province Martial Competition ended on a high note.

Lin Yuzhi had personally attended the banquet and bid farewell to Zhao Shenyan, Xiao Yunfeng, Liu Tiandao, and the other Martial Saints before returning to his car.

Not long after, Xue Manshan caught up to him.

Others might not have noticed, but as Lin Yuzhi's trusted aide, Xue Manshan knew that a key figure had been absent during the seemingly ordinary celebration—Li Pin.

He didn't turn up. This alone spoke volumes.

"Chairman, I just received news that Li Pin spent the entire afternoon teaching at the Astral Hall. His lesson is mainly focused on practical combat. Perhaps—"

"Enough," Lin Yuzhi interrupted Xue Manshan. His face was calm, making it hard to tell if he was pleased or displeased. "It's normal for young people to be ambitious. As elders, we should be more understanding."

"Chairman, do you mean...."

"The martial society has a recommendation slot for any promising Martial Saint or martial artist competing in the World's Top Martial Competition. I plan to offer this slot to him," Lin Yuzhi elaborated.

Xue Manshan was stunned.

Xue Manshan knew that Lin Yuzhi had intended to reserve this slot for his granddaughter, Lin Nianru, the champion of this year's youth category.

He was actually willing to give it up now?!

Xue Manshan thought to himself.

Snapping out of it, Xue Manshan quickly responded, "Chairman, your generosity is truly admirable. By setting aside past grievances and offering this recommendation slot as a gesture of goodwill, Li Pin will surely be grateful."

"Go to him personally tomorrow morning and deliver my message."

"Yes."

Moving on, the two discussed some matters related to the martial society before Xue Manshan took his leave.

The car's engine came to life, and Lin Yuzhi soon arrived at the martial society. However, he didn't head to his office. Instead, he went to a rarely-visited display room in a corner of the society.

By the time Lin Yuzhi arrived, someone was already waiting in the shadows within the display room. Anyone familiar with the Solar Vermillion Sect would recognize the person inside immediately.

The man in the shadows was Zhang Hengqiu, an Aura Cultivation Grandmaster of the Solar Vermillion Sect stationed in the capital city. He had not even returned for Qiu Chufeng's funeral yet he was here now.

"Chairman Lin, Li Pin is beyond my ability to handle. With the Solar Vermillion Sect gone, continuing to fight him could be fatal for me as well. Therefore, this matter—"

"You don't want to do it?" Lin Yuzhi interrupted Zhang Hengqiu.

Zhang Hengqiu continued slowly, "I don't wish to dwell on the details of this matter. The circumstances force me. Though I am somewhat confident in my strength, I may not necessarily defeat my master, Qiu Chufeng. But Li Pin... he killed my master in a one-on-one confrontation and then publicly killed Vice Chairman Chi Xingyu. He has proven his strength with bloodshed."

As he spoke, Zhang Hengqiu bowed slightly. "Chairman Lin, I won't refuse if it's your order, but fighting Li Pin is no different from seeking death."

"When did I say you should seek revenge on Li Pin alone?" Lin Yuzhi smiled slightly. "Revenge has its reasons, and debts have their payers. Li Pin's current status is exceptional.

"Using unconventional methods like sneak attacks or assassination would prompt an Astral Cultivator wielding astral equipment to appear and use special methods to trace him. Therefore, we must have a legitimate reason to deal with him."

Zhang Hengqiu was puzzled. "And that would be me seeking revenge for the Solar Vermillion Sect? So that would just be a facade, and in reality, you will send your people to do the deed themselves?"

Lin Yuzhi nodded. "You could initiate a revenge application first, then act immediately. By surrendering afterward, the main charge would shift from killing Li Pin to violating the regulation that requires a three-day waiting period before enacting revenge. Considering that you will surrender, you might only face a few years in prison."

Zhang Hengqiu fell silent.

A few years in prison...

Lin Yuzhi added, "I will arrange for you to serve in the Shadow Forest. If all goes well, you would only need to stay there for two or three years before you can leave smoothly."

The Shadow Forest was different from the Death Valley. Since the most dangerous areas weren't in the Taibai Kingdom, it offered reasonable safety for a grandmaster. Some hunting teams and bounty hunters would even venture into the Shadow Forest to train, take risks, and hunt ferocious beasts.

However, Zhang Hengqiu remained silent for a long while. Eventually, he took a deep breath. "What's in it for me?"

Lin Yuzhi heard this and immediately broke into laughter.

***

At home, Li Pin was signing for the medicinal herbs Zhao Yuan delivered.

Shortly after receiving the package, Li Pin combined the herbs according to the formula for the Pill of Rebirth.

"The Pill of Rebirth is one of the martial society's most precious pills. It can be used to recover from Blood Core Eruption and severe injuries. It could also be used to replenish primordial qi to an impressive degree.

"Over the years, many institutions have tried to study it, only to find that while the herbs are valuable, the key lies in the refining method. It involves the use of Astral Crystals and the techniques of Astral Cultivators."

Li Pin spread out a set of documents in front of him. They contained the formula for the Pill of Rebirth. After realizing the importance of Astral Crystals and Astral Cultivator techniques, many institutions ran out of options and abandoned their attempts to replicate this enticing pill. In a seemingly retaliatory move, they publicly released the formula.

Li Pin had Zhao Yuan help him collect all the materials described in the formula.

As for the refining technique... I'll experiment with it slowly.

He processed the herbs according to the formula and consumed them directly. Then, recalling the time he took the Pill of Rebirth, he guided the medicinal power and refined it into primordial qi.

Half an hour later, he concluded,

The effect is equivalent to 7.4% of the Pill of Rebirth. Could it be because I am missing the Astral Crystal?

Li Pin took out an Astral Crystal, ground it into powder, and added it to the herbs before consuming the mixture again.

This time...

"The effect increased to 13.1%. The herbs and Astral Crystal I used were of lower quality than those used to make the Pill of Rebirth. Furthermore, the cost was less than four million."

Li Pin spent the entire night experimenting with different combinations of Astral Crystals and herbs. Eventually, he found the optimal ratio. The result was a pill with 14.5% of the Pill of Rebirth's effectiveness, costing only 4.2 million.

"This will do," he said.

Li Pin then refined the rest of the herbs into pills for convenience; they would be easier to carry this way.

"I have successfully imitated the Pill of Rebirth. Let's call this the Lesser Rebirth Pill."

The Lesser Rebirth Pill was the result of his attempts to replicate the Rebirth Pill according to his body's feedback.

However, it wasn't easy to direct it accurately to the stomach for absorption. Also, the Innate Qi-Nurturing Technique was needed to convert the pill's medicinal power. Add to that individual physique differences and other people would find the pill much less effective than when it was in Li Pin's hands.

Nonetheless, considering how difficult it was to obtain a Pill of Rebirth, these Lesser Rebirth Pills were still highly valuable.

Li Pin eagerly prepared the herbs. "With the Lesser Rebirth Pills ready, the next step is to make the Heart Essence Pills to assist with organs-tempering and Blood Renewal."

Despite spending large sums of money, his progress in nurturing Qi and Blood Renewal was visibly accelerating. Moreover, with the help of the top trainers and skilled students at Astral Hall, the Internal Aura cultivation he had anticipated would take nearly a year was advancing rapidly.

At this rate, he estimated he would complete the Blood Renewal stage in four to five months, standing on the threshold of becoming a Martial Saint.

***

Lin Yuzhi took the Jiang Province elites and left for the national competition.

With no interruptions, Li Pin's life transitioned smoothly into a rare period of tranquility.

Meanwhile, the Astral Hall was teeming with activity. With grandmasters one after another launching practical combat classes, Li Pin initially felt a weight lift off his shoulders. At its lowest point, attendance dwindled to a mere thirty-three students.

However, this was short-lived. Within half a month, the situation changed.

Without Li Pin paying attention, the number of students vying to attend his classes increased to seventy or eighty per session.

Not all grandmasters could easily launch practical combat classes. With Li Pin as a precedent, he had directly raised the threshold for all the students, forcing those who followed to start at a hellish difficulty level.

***

"What's going on? I thought they said Mr. Li was done for? How come I couldn't get an appointment today?"

Lian Ying was puzzled. He had manifested his Force again yesterday. This was the fourth time in half a month he had done so in practice with Li Pin. He felt he was getting closer to mastering his Force and developing Overt Force. It felt like he just needed one more push to break through.

Because of this, the part he most anticipated in his day was the sparring session with Mr. Li. Those matches were painful but exhilarating.

"Don't get me started. I couldn't get an appointment either," Zhang Shan said, puzzled. "I heard many students at the Astral Hall were boycotting Mr. Li's appointment system, hoping he'd leave after a month. I made sure to be first in line every day when the slots opened, afraid of missing out on such a great teacher's classes. And now... this is what their boycott has led to?"

"I didn't get a slot either. What should we do?" Zhao Si asked helplessly.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"What can we do? We'll have to check with other teachers," Zhang Shan replied, picking up his phone. "Master Yu Chijie also offers practical combat classes from three to six. We should be able to make it if we go now."

Lian Ying nodded. "Looks like that's our only option. Different teachers might offer different perspectives. Their experience could also be valuable to us."

As the three spoke, they glanced back at the Sixth Education Building with some regret and reluctantly headed toward the Third Education Building.