Li Wushuang was momentarily stunned, holding the Qingyue Sword in her hand and watching Li Lin walk away. She followed him, filled with confusion.
"Li Wushuang, next year I will show you who is stronger," Yang Man watched Li Wushuang, a coldness flashing in her eyes.
"Lin'er, why did you buy the Qingyue Sword? It's too expensive. How will you..." Once outside Tianbao Sect, Li Wushuang expressed her worry to Li Lin. The Qingyue Sword cost 8,600 gold coins, not a small amount, and even she couldn't afford it.
"Sister Wushuang, I will find a way. Last time you lent me fifty gold coins, now I'm giving you the Qingyue Sword, consider it a repayment. Don't worry about me; if you like the Qingyue Sword, that's good enough." Li Lin smiled faintly. He had vowed to repay the favor of the fifty gold coins Li Wushuang lent him, but although he appeared calm, he felt helpless inside, now in debt for over eight thousand gold coins.
"But it's too..." Li Wushuang looked at the Qingyue Sword in her hand, then at Li Lin, happy but unable to stop worrying about him.
But Li Lin's assurance that he had a way eased Li Wushuang's worry somewhat, as she knew her cousin had become a spiritual practitioner, no longer the incompetent young master he used to be.
"Sister Wushuang," Li Lin interrupted her, "Were those two just now from the Wang and Yang families?"
In his memory, Li Lin recalled that Wang Liang and Yang Man were from the Wang and Yang families in Qingyun Town, families comparable to the Li family in terms of influence.
"Yes, they are from the Wang and Yang families, and now they're also disciples of the Yunyang Sect. After the New Year, I will return to Yunyang Sect, and it will be a long time before I can come back again," Li Wushuang said.
"Yunyang Sect..." Li Lin pondered, with only a vague impression of Yunyang Sect in his mind. He knew it was the largest sect in the region, and even Qingyun Town was under its domain. Families like the Li, Wang, and Yang had to pay a substantial amount of gold coins to Yunyang Sect every year.
"Lin'er, after the New Year, there will be a martial contest in the clan following the ancestral rites. Will you participate?" Li Wushuang asked softly.
"How can I participate? Besides, I don't qualify," Li Lin replied with a slight smile. The Li family held a sparring contest among the young members after the New Year, an opportunity for outstanding performers to receive special care. However, Li Lin had no interest in participating, preferring to cultivate on his own and avoid revealing his strength.
"Let's go inside; we're home," Li Wushuang sighed lightly, reminding herself that her cousin didn't seem to want to reveal his status as a spiritual practitioner, so she would pretend not to know.
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"Okay," Li Lin responded. They had reached the Li family's main gate.
Looking at the thick gate of the Li family, Li Lin smiled and then returned to his courtyard. It was still early, just past midday.
"Swoosh..."
A pale yellow snake crawled out from the sleeve of Li Lin's arm, its round eyes watching him, tongue flickering.
"Little dragon, you're hungry again, huh? Alright, I'll find you something to eat," Li Lin said, watching the small snake he had named Little dragon, which at least sounded more imposing.
Little dragon seemed to understand Li Lin's words, nodding slightly and affectionately rubbing against his palm.
Taking Little dragon with him, Li Lin went to the back mountain. Little dragon was picky and wouldn't eat dead animals, only live ones, so Li Lin had to take it to the back mountain to hunt.
"Go on." Reaching the back mountain, Li Lin placed Little dragon on the ground. Despite its small size, the snake was incredibly fast and disappeared in an instant.
Knowing that Little dragon would return after feeding, Li Lin wasn't worried. He found a secluded spot to sit cross-legged and took out an Infusion Pill.
"Refine." Since his Yin-Yang Lingwu Technique couldn't be cultivated normally, Li Lin had to rely on pills to enhance his cultivation.
Swallowing the pill, it transformed into energy spreading throughout his body. Li Lin circulated his Yin-Yang Lingwu Technique to refine the energy from the Infusion Pill.
After breaking through to the Martial Warrior level, Li Lin felt that the impact of the Infusion Pill on him had diminished significantly, and its effectiveness had also greatly decreased.
Refining the energy into Qi and storing it in his dantian, Li Lin spent only two hours, but the increase in Qi hardly made any significant improvement. He was still at the first level of Martial Warrior.
"Sigh..." Li Lin exhaled turbidly from his dantian, opening his eyes with a hint of frustration. The Infusion Pill, worth fifty gold coins, was now of little use to him.
Li Lin had anticipated that after reaching the Martial Warrior level, he would need higher-grade pills for further progress. However, this meant needing more gold coins, and now he also owed Tianbao Sect 8,600 gold coins. His future seemed filled with hard work.
"Swoosh swoosh..." A rustling sound approached, and Little dragon appeared from behind Li Lin, curling up affectionately in his palm.
"Are you full?" Li Lin asked, noticing faint blood traces on Little dragon's mouth, indicating it had just eaten.
Little dragon nodded, then crawled back into Li Lin's sleeve, coiling around his arm.
After tidying up, Li Lin left the back mountain, planning to sell the remaining Infusion Pills he had the next day. They were of little use to him now. Then, he would try to refine second-grade pills, as only those could be effective for his current level. However, having never made second-grade pills, he wondered if he could succeed.
Returning to the courtyard from the back entrance, he noted that his mother, who usually returned from the laundry room by this time, hadn't come back yet, which puzzled him.
"Let's go check." Li Lin decided to visit the laundry room and fetch his mother. Thinking of her still working there made him feel pained. He longed for the day he could free her from such labor.
The Li family's laundry room was in the back courtyard's left corner. All the clothes from the front courtyard were washed there. With over two hundred people in the front courtyard and only ten workers in the laundry room, the work there was relatively harder.
"Luo Lan, you must wash Young Master Shao Hu's robe thoroughly. If you don't clean it well or damage it, you'll be in trouble," a haughty maid said to Luo Lan, who was squatting and scrubbing clothes on the ground.