Chapter 113: Little Qian

Wei Ruoxue, hearing that Lin Yi intended to kill her, hurriedly begged for mercy: "Mr. Lin, please don't kill me. I am the head of the Wei family, and my grandson is a powerhouse on the Heaven and Earth Ranking."

"And so what?"

As soon as Lin Yi finished speaking, a flash of sword light cleaved Wei Ruoxue in two from head to toe. She died instantly, not even managing a single scream. She could never have imagined that Lin Yi would act with such decisiveness. After all, her grandson was among the top hundred on the Heaven and Earth Ranking; barring any accidents, he was destined to reach the Half-Step Spirit Venerable stage, and perhaps even had a sliver of hope for the Spirit Venerable realm.

Terrifying! Decisive!

That was Granny Qiu's first impression. Having been unconscious when Lin Yi slew Ruan Zhen, she now witnessed it with her own eyes. Even though she had weathered countless storms in her life, she was struck with extreme horror. No wonder Lin Yi was capable of killing a Spirit Venerable; such power was enough to make one tremble.

"Take care of yourselves," Lin Yi said calmly.

"Sending off Mr. Lin."

Granny Qiu bowed her head, while Yu Xiaoyu looked on with longing eyes.

Lin Yi and Angel did not linger in the North Province, as the area was close to the border and the general environment was chaotic. Upon returning to Lancheng, Lin Yi shut himself in his room. His gains from the Sanqing Sect were immense. First was the Nirvana Fire, one of the ten primal fires. Second was the innate treasure, the alchemy furnace. Third were the over one hundred thousand technique-transmitting jade slips. Fourth were the flying vessel that could change size and the top-grade spirit stones. Finally, there were various low-to-medium grade spirit stones, rare minerals, and medicinal pills.

Lin Yi took out the jade bottle containing the Nirvana Fire. With a flick of his finger, he broke the seal on the bottle's mouth. This wisp of Nirvana Fire was extremely weak; if not absorbed immediately, it would likely extinguish within twenty-four hours. Not daring to hesitate, Lin Yi carefully wrapped the Nirvana Fire in his spiritual sense. Relying on his robust true essence to protect his body, Lin Yi was bold enough to open his mouth and swallow the Nirvana Fire directly.

Boom.

As the Nirvana Fire entered his body, Lin Yi felt a wave of warmth, leaving his entire body feeling comfortable and cozy. However, he immediately noticed the Nirvana Fire growing dimmer. Lin Yi hurriedly used his spiritual sense to guide the flame into one of his golden cores. As the Nirvana Fire entered, the fire within his golden core proactively enveloped it to nurture it.

For all these years, Lin Yi had only heard descriptions of the ten primal fires and had never seen anyone use one. Thus, for the moment, he wasn't sure if he could count this as having mastered the Nirvana Fire. He dared not use it yet, fearing that overexertion would cause it to extinguish.

"Can look, but can't use," Lin Yi murmured, shaking his head. He didn't feel much disappointment, as encountering one of the ten primal fires was a matter of luck. He didn't force the issue regarding the others.

After settling the Nirvana Fire, he took out the alchemy furnace. A good furnace significantly enhances an alchemist's performance. Even with his current skill, using this furnace would improve his alchemy results by at least thirty percent.

Lin Yi cast a thread of spiritual sense into the furnace and was immediately met with strong resistance. At the same time, a crisp voice echoed in his sea of consciousness: "Who are you? Where is old man Qingxu?"

It was the furnace's artifact spirit, appearing as a little girl of eight or nine years old with braided pigtails, wearing a red bellyband embroidered with the golden character for "Alchemy."

Old man Qingxu? Lin Yi recalled that the former leader of the Sanqing Sect was named Qingxu; it seemed this furnace belonged to him.

"He is no longer here," Lin Yi replied via his spiritual sense.

"You're lying," the little girl retorted, glaring at him.

"You must have felt the restrictions of this realm long ago. The higher the cultivation, the stronger the suppression," Lin Yi said.

The little girl fell silent. Although she was an artifact spirit, she could cultivate independently. It was indeed as Lin Yi said; the suppression this world exerted on cultivators was severe. Over the millennium, her strength had barely reached the Foundation Establishment stage; had she not been an artifact spirit, she would have long since perished.

"Who are you? How do you know about old man Qingxu? And your strength... why can't I see through it?" the girl asked.

"I am like you; I have lived for thousands of years, surviving the great upheaval of this world," Lin Yi said with a profound gaze.

"That's impossible! If old man Qingxu is dead, how could you still be alive?" the girl found it hard to accept.

"I'm not sure myself," Lin Yi shook his head. Even he couldn't explain the mutations his body had undergone; the ironclad rules of the cultivation world simply didn't apply to him. A normal cultivator had only one golden core, and even the most talented individuals had at most two. It was an iron rule that had stood for millennia. Yet, Lin Yi had broken it; to date, he had formed eleven golden cores. This was unheard of—even an Infant Transformation monster one level higher than him would be like an ant in his eyes. As for the limits of his strength, even Lin Yi wasn't entirely sure.

Having rarely met a "person" from a thousand years ago, Lin Yi was in a good mood; at least he wasn't so lonely.

"Are you willing to acknowledge me as your master?" Lin Yi asked. Having an artifact spirit meant that even if he did nothing, he could simply hand over the herbs, and the spirit would refine them for him.

The little girl pouted and remained silent. Lin Yi didn't want to force her; if he truly wanted to, his spiritual sense could erase her consciousness in an instant. But he hoped she would agree of her own volition.

"By the way, did you take the Nirvana Fire from inside the furnace?" the girl changed the subject.

"Yes," Lin Yi admitted frankly.

"That was meant for my advancement! Give it back!" the girl said indignantly. Back when the great change occurred, old man Qingxu had sealed her along with the Nirvana Fire. She had intended to consume it upon waking, but now it was gone, and she had been transported to a strange environment.

"Impossible. The Nirvana Fire has already been fused into my golden core," Lin Yi replied. Furthermore, even if he hadn't fused it, once something reached his hands, there was no way he would give it away.

"You... you're crazy! That's a primal fire! Aren't you afraid of exploding?" the girl stomped her feet. Even if the Nirvana Fire was gentle, it was still one of the ten primal fires, beyond the control of human strength. Who would have thought this man would fuse it into his golden core? Was he tired of living?

"I'm fine. I feel great. By the way, you haven't answered whether you're willing to acknowledge me as your master," Lin Yi asked again. The girl puffed out her cheeks and sat there, refusing to speak.

"If you acknowledge me as your master, should we encounter other divine fires of the world in the future, I will let you choose first," Lin Yi tempted her.

"Really?" The girl stood up immediately. Divine fires were usually impossible for ordinary people to tame and could only be collected using innate treasures.

"Really," Lin Yi said calmly.

"Fine then, I'll acknowledge you as my master for now," the girl said with a haughty air.

Lin Yi smiled slightly and sent out a thread of spiritual sense. This time, the girl did not resist. As the sense entered her forehead, Lin Yi felt an immediate connection with her.

"By the way, do you have a name?" Lin Yi asked.

"Yes, old man Qingxu gave me a name. It's Xiaoqian," she said with a smile.

Lin Yi nodded, then took out a large pile of herbs and placed them beside the furnace. "Help me refine these into Peiyuan Pills."

Xiaoqian pouted in dissatisfaction, muttering, "I just acknowledged you as master, and you're already making me work."

Lin Yi pretended not to hear. After a moment's thought, he took out a bottle of Spirit Marrow Liquid. "Here, take this too. Refine as many as you can."

"Got it," Xiaoqian waved her hand with disdain, clearly unhappy about being treated as child labor.

The alchemy furnace contained its own space. With a wave of her small hand, the herbs in the room turned into streams of light and entered the furnace. Xiaoqian was worthy of being an artifact spirit of an innate treasure; her refining speed was incredible. In less than ten minutes, she had refined all the herbs into Peiyuan Pills. There were three hundred and ten in total, all of them nine-patterned pills.

"Not bad." Lin Yi was very satisfied with Xiaoqian's efficiency. He then proceeded to dump all the herbs he had on him to her, feeling perfectly at ease. Seeing the mountain of herbs, Xiaoqian's face turned sour. Not only was he exploiting child labor, he had absolutely no bottom line!

Well, such was her fate for ending up with a master like this.

After leaving the alchemy tasks to Xiaoqian, Lin Yi took out the flying vessel. It was the best mode of transportation for a cultivator, bar none. He sat cross-legged and attached a strand of his spiritual sense to the vessel. Compared to an experienced artifact spirit like Xiaoqian, the one in the flying vessel was pitifully weak. Since it was in an ownerless state, Lin Yi easily imprinted his spiritual sense upon it.

Having never experienced the flying vessel, Lin Yi went outside and injected his true essence into it. With a hum, the vessel, which had been the size of a palm, instantly expanded to the size of a speedboat. Lin Yi leaped onto it.

The main power source for the vessel was spirit stones. Having obtained quite a few from the Sanqing Sect, Lin Yi didn't skimp, inserting one hundred jin of medium-grade spirit stones.

"Go!"

With a thought from Lin Yi, the vessel turned into a streak of light, appearing several kilometers away in an instant. This speed was far faster than any airplane. However, in terms of accessibility, the flying vessel was far less common.

After enjoying the thrill of the flight, Lin Yi put the vessel away. Suddenly, his phone rang. He checked the number; it was the man who had sold him the ginseng.

"Hello, is this Mr. Lin?" The man's voice sounded excited.

"Yes," Lin Yi responded.

"I've caught that ginseng that runs away. Let me know when you can come over," the man asked.