Chapter Ten: Golden Jade Branch

  Looking at Lin Hong and the others leaving in the distance, Lin Xia walked towards Lin Dong and a few others, smiling: "Lin Dong, are you okay?"

  "En, thank you Lin Xia sister." Lin Dong nodded, Lin Xia and her father had been quite good to him since he was a child, so their relationship was still pretty good, it's just that in recent years Lin Xia had been diligent in her cultivation, and they hadn't communicated as much as when they were younger.

  "I saw you fighting with Lin Shan just now, should have reached the fourth level of Tempering Body, right?" Lin Xia said somewhat astonished. She knew that Lin Dong's cultivation time was less than a year, and in less than a year, he had already reached the fourth level, which was quite fast.

  "It's lucky." The fourth layer of Quan Ti was not easy to hide, after all, this was the outermost part of the body, so Lin Dong nodded without hiding it.

  "It seems that your father's cultivation talent has been inherited by you." Lin Xia smiled and then said seriously, "However, the current you is still far behind Lin Hong. As far as I know, he probably reached the sixth level of Qingti three months ago and generated a Yuan force seed in his body, so it's best not to collide with him head-on, lest you suffer."

  "Alright, I understand." Lin Dong didn't pretend to be strong now. He was indeed not a match for Lin Hong yet, but he had the confidence to surpass him!

  "Hehe, then you'd better work harder, I'm going back too. The clan competition is coming soon, you must put in more effort! Your father is placing great importance on this competition." Lin Xia smiled and patted Lin Dong's head, then bid farewell to Qing Tan and the others before turning around and walking away with a swaying ponytail.

  "Hey, Lin Xia is really impressive. Even Lin Hong doesn't dare to be arrogant in front of her. Grandfather really likes her too, sometimes he even teaches her martial arts personally." Lin Changqiang said with a hint of envy as he gazed at Lin Xia's slender figure.

  "It's just that you're lazy." Lin gave him a white eye, then didn't stay any longer, led Qingtan and turned to leave. Lin Changqiang followed for a distance, seeing the sky getting dark, and reluctantly left.

  "Lin Dong, I'm sorry...I won't secretly go pick herbs again..." The two walked onto the mountain path back home, Qing Tan tugged on Lin Dong's sleeve, pitifully saying.

  "Don't worry, once I get stronger, no one will dare to bully you." Lin Dong was about to scold her, but seeing the girl's pitiful appearance, his anger dissipated. He shook his head helplessly and patted his chest, laughing.

  "I also want to cultivate now." Qing Tan said suddenly, twitching her cute nose.

  "Aren't you afraid that cultivation will make people ugly?" Lin Dong asked with a smile.

  "Where is it? Look, Lin Xiaojie is still so beautiful, if I can be like her, then Lin Hong will not dare to bully Lin Dongge." Qingtan spat out a small pink tongue, and suddenly said in a lovely way.

  Lin Dong smiled and shook his head, tapping his forehead with his finger, saying: "Don't mention today's events after you go back, got it?"

  "Oh..." Qing Tan scrunched up her small face, her drawn-out voice echoing on the mountain path.

  …

  Although Lin Dong and Qing Tan had never mentioned anything about the afternoon, it was clear that this had not successfully concealed the past.

  "Did you fight with Lin Shan's brothers again this afternoon?" asked Lin Xiao, putting down his bowl and chopsticks during dinner.

  Upon hearing this, Lin Dong and Qing Tan's bodies tensed up at the same time, while Liu Yan shook her head helplessly and shot them a reproachful glance.

  "Dad, it has nothing to do with Lindong Ge, it's me..." Qingtan said timidly.

  Lin Xiao glanced at the two of them and his face didn't show much fluctuation, his gaze was fixed on Lin Dong as he said: "I heard that you defeated Lin Shan?"

  Lin nodded silently with a wry smile.

  "Give me your hand." Seeing Lin Dong nod, a ripple of excitement flashed in Lin Xiao's eyes. He stretched out his broad palm and directly grasped the former's arm, lightly tugging it. A hint of joy that couldn't be concealed appeared on his calm face: "Fourth level of Tempering Body?"

  "En." Lin Dong nodded again, steeling himself.

  "Haha, great!" Having gotten confirmation, Lin Xiao finally burst out laughing, his laughter filled with delight and joy.

  Looking at Lin Xiao who was laughing so happily, Lin Dong also let out a sigh of relief in his heart, it seemed that he wouldn't be scolded...

  Next to Liu Yan, seeing Lin Xiao laughing freely, couldn't help but curve up the corners of his mouth and gaze at Lin Dong with affectionate eyes. In his heart, he understood how much effort Lin Xiao had put into Lin Dong. He believed that back then, he had caused the Lin family to lose a genius and buried their hopes. So, with his somewhat stubborn personality, all these years he had been wanting to return a genius to the Lin family. And the one he most looked forward to being that genius was naturally Lin Dong.

  "You broke through to the third layer, it's only been about ten days or so? How can this be so fast?" Lin Xiao suddenly asked with a hint of doubt amidst his joy. Ten days was the time it took to go from the third layer to the fourth layer, and that speed was extremely swift, but without relying on any spiritual medicine, how could Lin Dong have achieved such a rapid pace?

  "I don't know either... Ever since I ate that red ginseng last time, I feel like my usual cultivation has been much more effective." Lin Xiao asked about this, and Lin Dong's heart skipped a beat. After hesitating for a moment, he still managed to remain calm and composed, but he couldn't help feeling that Shi Xuan's secret was better left unexposed, or else disaster might strike.

  "Oh?" Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao also furrowed his brow. Chi Can was only a first-grade spiritual medicine, how could it possibly have such a huge effect?

  "Is it because the young master's body has an exceptionally strong absorption of spiritual medicine? I've heard that some people are naturally gifted, their bodies absorbing spiritual medicine at a rate several times stronger than ordinary people."

  "En, or perhaps it's because of this reason." Lin Xiao also nodded his head, he had also heard of such things, but if Lin Dong really possessed such an unusual physique, then with this cultivation speed, it wasn't entirely impossible.

  "It seems that in the past, I was indeed neglectful. If Dong'er really has this talent, it's not impossible for him to achieve good results in the clan comparison." Lin Xiao smiled with relief, rummaged through his sleeves, and took out a roll of cloth, carefully spreading it on the table, instantly releasing a fragrance that wafted through the air, revealing a single branch with a light golden color.

  The withered branch is entirely golden, yet within that gold, a faint green can be seen slowly flowing through it, like jade marrow.

  "This is... a second-grade spiritual medicine, Golden Jade Branch?" Seeing the golden withered branch, Liu Yan suddenly covered his mouth and exclaimed in surprise.

  "Is this a second-grade spiritual medicine?" Lin Dong was also curious, took a look at the golden withered branch, and then slightly raised the corner of his mouth. This thing seemed extraordinary, but the spiritual energy it contained seemed to be inferior to that mysterious aura that seeped out from the stone symbol.

  "Heh heh, I went to the mountains yesterday and had a pretty good luck. I met this thing, Liu Yan. Tomorrow, I'll get Jin Yu to make it into a soup for Dong Er." Lin Xiao said with a smile, but before long, his face turned slightly pale and he let out two violent coughs.

  "Dad, I don't need it, you'd better take the medicine yourself." Lin Dong hastily said.

  "It's nothing, I just ran into a troublesome beast while picking herbs and got my blood flowing. It doesn't matter, and besides, Father's injuries are from so many years ago, these spiritual medicines won't have much effect anyway." Lin Xiao waved his hand and said: "There are still several months until the clan comparison, during this time you should focus on cultivating, I'll think of a way to deal with the spiritual medicine."

  Looking at the smile on Lin Xiao's face, which was usually quite stern, Lin Dong's eyes were slightly red, and he didn't say anything else. He nodded lightly and then muttered to himself in his heart: "Dad, don't worry, I won't let you down."

  "It's getting late, go rest first, still need to cultivate tomorrow." Lin Xiao waved his hand and said.

  "Alright."

  Lin Dong responded with a sound, then sat down at the table with Qing Tan. After walking out of the room, he could still hear Lin Xiao's bright and cheerful laughter coming from inside. It had been a long time since they had heard such a laugh...

  Fists clenched lightly, Lin Dong slightly turned his head, just about to let Qingtan also go back and rest, but saw that at this moment the latter's face, which was as delicate as carved jade, suddenly turned pale. A thread of cold air visible to the naked eye slowly seeped out from her body, causing the ground nearby to be covered with fine ice shards.

  "Oh no...the cold air is acting up again!"

  Seeing Qingtan's sudden change, Lindong's face also changed suddenly.