Chapter 8: The Gift of My Adopted Father

  Remember in one second

  Lin Heng looked at the old man who had just saved him, and saw that his hair was dry and white, his body was thin and bony, and there were no wounds or bloodstains on him. However, his eyes were dull and lifeless, and a deathly aura surrounded his entire body, making it clear that he would soon meet his end.

  The old man was also studying this young man who had saved his life with the "Mystical Void Great Fortune" technique. It had been over half a year since then, and he could hardly remember Lin's facial features... Such a poor young man from a remote mountain village, without any backing from a sect, had stepped into the third rank in less than a year through his own cultivation. This really made this old man with extensive experience feel unbelievable.

  Such a miracle is even difficult for those powerful and influential sects to achieve.

  "I was right, someone with 'Mystical Abyss Great Luck' indeed isn't an ordinary person."

  Lin Heng saw his lifesaver. Lin Heng didn't say a word and knocked three loud heads on the ground sincerely.

  Firstly, I am grateful for the great kindness of saving my life by giving up most of their cultivation. Secondly, they have exhausted their energy and are on the verge of death, which is also a necessary ritual for a junior to show respect to a senior.

  Lin's parents and others all went outside, leaving only the old man and Lin alone in conversation.

  The old man finally spoke after he finished kowtowing: "You and I are destined to meet, so this old man will accept your three bows."

  The old man looked at him more and more, his life was flying with color, the thick death energy seemed to fade away.

  "It's no wonder that he is a person with great luck and fortune. In less than a year, without relying on any sect, he was still able to achieve third-grade success."

  I have lived for over 300 years, and this is the first time I've met someone like you. With your talent, this place is too small for you; the outside world is where you should be soaring. Although it's full of twists and turns, complexities and dangers, it's also full of wonders, and it's the best place for you to hone your skills."

  "What's going on with the mysterious aura?" Lin Heng was completely bewildered.

  Judging from the meaning of the words, it seems to be what those superstitious fortune tellers in my past life said, such as Wenqu Star and Zhēn Lóng Tiān Zǐ, which are all empty and illusory things.

  "This thing is complex and complicated, your foundation is not enough now, it's hard to understand." The old man waved his hand and said: "The great air operation of the mysterious abyss, the destiny of a person, has a unique affinity with the skills I have learned. My remaining time is not much, last time because of saving you, I exhausted my heavenly energy. Originally wanted to find a secret place to rest for half a year, and then come back to pass on my lifelong learning to you. Who knew that a month ago, was secretly calculated by an opponent, won't live long, had to come ahead of schedule."

  "Besides this matter, I have another important thing to entrust you with."

  He took out a thing wrapped tightly in oilcloth from his bosom and placed it on the table.

  "I've told your parents that I'm the Guest Elder of the 'Tui Yin Zong', ... well, the Tui Yin Zong isn't very famous and is also hundreds of millions of miles away from here, so you might be extremely unfamiliar with it."

  Lin Heng had indeed never heard of the Ti Yin Sect. He had come to this world not long ago and had read quite a few books, knowing that there were three major sects in the Han country: Mo Tai Jin Sect, Xuan Tian Sect, and Cang Yu Men, or slightly smaller but very famous sects like Gan Lü Bei Sect and Ban Zhong Sect.

  As for this Weixianzong, there hasn't been much literature introducing it.

  "... Ten years ago, the former master of the 'Dui Yin Sect', Xie Ping, gave me a task and I walked out to find this thing." The old man pointed at the oil paper package and continued: "In these ten years, I traversed the entire Han country until four months ago, when I finally found it at great cost. This trip to find you is to ask for your help in sending this thing back to the 'Dui Yin Sect' and personally handing it over to the current master of the 'Dui Yin Sect'."

  Lin Heng did not expect such a task, the distance from here is hundreds of millions of miles away. That means he has to be sleepless and restless, driving the "Nine Volume Cloud Chasing Brocade" day and night. It would take at least seven or eight months to arrive. Moreover, driving the "Nine Volume Cloud Chasing Brocade" day and night requires exhausting his energy without rest, which is beyond his ability.

  He merely cupped his hands and said, "Senior, please be at ease. Lin Huar will definitely hand this object over to the Sect Master of the Zhiyan Sect."

  This was the old man's last will, although it was difficult, but he himself had been deeply grateful for his life-saving grace, if such a request were to be ignored, it would indeed be too much.

  The old man nodded in satisfaction and said, "I spent ten years searching for this thing, starting from the northwest and traveling through all the big and small towns of the Han country, even sneaking into neighboring countries several times. I've gone through great hardships and dangers to find it. Now, I'm letting you take it, which is also fraught with danger, but it's also a great blessing for you. Back then, the master of the Hidden Sect promised me that if I could find this thing, he would give me one of the three treasures of the Hidden Sect as an exchange. This treasure is now useless to me, so I'll pass it on to you."

  The old man was able to pull Lin Huan back from the brink of death that day, which shows his extraordinary skills. Being able to make him give up ten years of cultivation time and travel over mountains and rivers, the treasure of the Tiwei Sect that moved his heart must be incredibly precious, even a fool can guess that much.

  He let Lin Huan make this trip, indeed giving Lin Huan a great benefit. Lin Huan thanked him: "Thank you, senior, for your kindness."

  "This is what you've worked hard for." The old man's frail body swayed several times, clearly reaching the end of his tether.

  Lin Heng hastily went forward to support him and immediately sensed that his body was gradually losing its vital energy, with his hands and feet becoming icy cold.

  "I asked your father earlier, and I know that although you've made rapid progress, you've always relied on basic secret manuals like the 'Xiu Shen Xin Fa' and 'Xiu Xi Xin Fa' to support your martial arts training. I had another purpose in sending you on this trip - at my residence in the Wei Yin Sect, I have a copy of an ancient internal cultivation manual called the 'Xuan Yan Qi Duan Ao Jue'. That was something I obtained thirty years ago, after nearly dying nine times over in an ancient secret land. Originally, I had planned to cultivate it myself, but my foundation is too deeply rooted, making it difficult for me to meet the unique requirements of this internal cultivation manual."

  "I have inscribed the location of my residence and the place where I hide my books on this spirit symbol. When the time comes, you can follow my method to find it naturally. In that cave mansion, there are also a large number of elixirs and crystals, which you can use to cultivate and study martial arts. This is a huge benefit for you... This is my compensation for not being able to teach you martial arts in person."

  Lin Heng was deeply moved, he didn't expect the other party to think of him so much, and even put his lack of high-level internal repair secrets in mind, and generously gave away his treasured collection.

  "Cough, cough... Ah yes, after talking to you for so long, I almost forgot to mention my name. My name is Li Zhongwang, a name that hasn't been mentioned in nearly a hundred years, even I almost forgot... forgot... Perhaps, you are the last person in this world to hear this name."

  His breath grew weaker, and Lin Huan held him in his arms, letting him fade away with the last shred of strong dignity.

  He seemed to have something more to say, struggling against the god of death, and said in a low voice: "I... I still have a daughter named Li Mei Qin, who has not seen her for over 100 years. If you can meet her in the future... it's best if you can take care of her for me... and tell her that I owe her an apology... and her mother..."

  "Definitely! As long as I, Lin Huan, can meet her, I will definitely use my life to protect her for a lifetime..."

  Li Zhuwang's face revealed a relieved smile, and with a wave of his hands, all vitality was extinguished.

  Lin Huan's parents listened to Lin Huan's account and heard that he was going to a distant and unknown "Ti Yin Zong". Although they were worried, they all nodded in support.

  They are all sympathetic and reasonable people. The old man gave up his whole body's energy to pull Lin Huan back from the underworld, which is why they have their current glorious life. It is said that knowing gratitude and repaying kindness is equivalent to rebirth, saving a great kindness. This time, Lin Huan only escorted things on a trip to go out of town, if this is not allowed, it's too ungrateful.

  Moreover, the old man's words: Qili Gou is a small place, after all, it's not a place for Lin Huan to soar. Let them be extremely pleased. Lin Huan goes out to experience the outside world and see this world, which is absolutely a good thing. The road from Tuiyin Zong to Qingniu Town is far away, and there will inevitably be risks along the way. However, Lin Huan is currently in the middle of the third rank, and he has more than enough power to protect himself.

  Lin Heng returned to the noisy and angry Qingniu Town, and came to that ironwork shop again.

  That short and stout blacksmith was just coming out of the inner room, and he still remembered him: "You're here to return the axe, I knew it would be like this. You've had it for a long time, this axe is returned within a month every time it's sold."

  The blacksmith plunged the red-hot knife blank into the water, and it hissed and emitted a burst of white steam.

  Lin Heng was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "This is such a good heavy axe, how could I retreat? I'm here to forge an 'equipment wrapping' for it."

  This was unexpected for the blacksmith, Lin Heng said it wasn't a return, which didn't matter much, as he had only symbolically accepted one or two gold coins from him initially, and most warriors wouldn't quibble over such a small amount. However, Lin Heng said he wanted to have a "scabbard" made for his heavy axe, which was beyond his expectations.

  "Qì guǒ" is a package for holding weapons, which means putting the weapon inside. Simply put, it's like a scabbard for a sword. The difference from a scabbard is that Qì guǒ is made by casting with space crystal and special stone liquid through a casting master, and a thumb-sized "Qì guǒ" can hold an ordinary-sized weapon without any weight burden.

  It's also because of this that "weapon wraps" are convenient to carry and deeply welcomed by martial artists. After all, who can stand carrying swords, sabers, axes, hammers, and spears on their backs all day, it's extremely tiring.

  A "weapon sheath" regardless of its internal volume, can only hold one weapon and must be tempered by a casting master. Once the tempering is done, this sheath will never be able to hold anything other than that specific weapon for the rest of its life.

  Due to the rarity of Starstone, it is quite common for the crafted "wrappings" to be worth more than the weapon itself.

  The blacksmith was astonished when he heard that he had made a "tool sheath" for this broken axe.

  Is it because your brain is flooded with too much money and you're wasting it?

  "Do you really want me to re-forge it?" The blacksmith took the discarded axe from him and checked it again.

  Lin Heng nodded affirmatively, his current greatest strength originated from this axe, and with several major battles, he became more and more spiritually connected to the axe. This trip out, carrying such a heavy axe, was tiring and also too showy.

  "Fifty thousand taels of gold." The blacksmith estimated the volume and said slowly.

  For this little money, Lin Hong naturally didn't mind: "I'll quit within ten days."

  The blacksmith nodded and said, "No problem."

  "He couldn't help but ask: 'Can you wield this heavy axe?'"

  It's a broken axe that has been lying in the corner for over 200 years, with no one able to use it. Lin Heng is now going to create an "instrument wrapping" for it. Can Lin Heng really use it?

  Lin Heng smiled and took the heavy axe, accumulating strength with a "trembling rhythm" before swinging it at the wall in front of him.

  "Thwack!" The flat wall was left with a sunken axe mark.

  The blacksmith's eyes widened in surprise, and it really worked? How did this person manage to do it?

  Although he was full of curiosity, he knew that asking further would be prying into others' secrets and swallowed it back.