Chapter 321:
North State, the farthest north land.
Inside the underground cave, the medicine received nourishment and grew even better, looking exceptionally pleasing.
"Dad, I’m going crazy, I really am."
"If you’re going crazy, just kill yourself quickly."
"Boohoo, am I still your good big brother?"
Small Shadiao hugged Lin Jiang’s thigh and cried, with snot and tears running down. He was really going insane. He hadn’t left home for hundreds of years, and even a happy bird like him was becoming melancholy.
"I also want to go out, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist meddling in the Lin family’s affairs."
Lin Jiang sighed. He had been hiding in the cave for over four hundred years, but he definitely couldn’t outlast people like Lin Batian. Lin Batian, who had achieved Void Achieving cultivation, could live for five thousand years.
He struggled to make up his mind and abandon everything, but once he went out, Lin Jiang felt that he would fail for sure.
With his current strength in the early stages of Nascent Soul, there was not much difference from a few hundred years ago. If he interfered, it would be a death sentence, at most just receiving an extra sword strike from the enemy.
"Why don’t we just stay away from the Lin family? We could go to Liang State, or to Zhongzhou, Nanzhou, and even explore the wilderness in various places. The world is so big, and there are many places we have never been to."
"Otherwise, what if we hide for another five hundred years? We could make it a round number and hide for one thousand years?"
"Father, can we really make it a round number? Please don’t! I won’t live as long as you. After you hide for ten thousand years, you will still have plenty of life force, but I won’t. I am a bird with ambitions. My future belongs to the sky, and my wings want to soar in every corner of the cultivation world..."
Little Shadiao immediately launched into a speech. He didn’t know how long Lin Jiang could live, but he sensed that Lin Jiang didn’t lack life force at all. Not to mention the fact that the Burning Life Secret Method had already consumed several thousand years of life force.
Little Shadiao’s speech was mostly nonsense, but it still struck a chord with Lin Jiang. Yes, his life force was limitless, and he could easily live for hundreds of thousands of years. But what about the people around him?
Even if he had severed ties with his past acquaintances, that wasn’t the case for Little Shadiao. If Little Shadiao was confined to this small cave for the rest of his life, it would be unfair to him.
"Stop, don’t say any more."
"Dad, let me keep talking. I haven’t said as much in the past ten years as today."
"If you shut up, I can consider taking you to a restaurant on my thousandth birthday."
"One thousand years, wait, Dad, you agreed to go out, right?"
"Yes, I agreed."
"Um, Dad, how much longer until your thousandth birthday?"
"One year and eight months."
"Wow, great! It’s only one year and eight months away."
Little Shadiao jumped up directly, literally jumped up, and now life had hope again, and birdlife had hope again.
You State, a small town.
Lin Jiang went to the best restaurant in this small town and ordered a private room. Then he went through the menu and ordered hundreds of dishes. It took an hour just for the dishes to be served.
"Save some for me, I paid for it."
"Woo woo."
Small Shadiao couldn’t reply with his mouth full, he desperately stuffed food into his mouth. Lin Jiang shook his head, thinking it was a waste of delicious food, just like how Zhu Bajie ate the immortal fruits, it was a waste of all these dishes’ flavors.
"Hoo hoo."
Two hours later, Small Shadiao lay on a chair, rubbing his round belly and making humming noises.
"It’s been over five hundred years, over five hundred years without eating anything, dad, next time you go into seclusion, remember to bring more food."
"All that food in the storage bag, you ate it all."
Lin Jiang rolled his eyes. He never ran out of food in his storage bag, but Small Shadiao ate it all while he was in seclusion and had the nerve to complain.
"Dad, when will the second round begin?"
"What second round?"
"Father-son battle!"
"Get lost! Go back to sleep!"
"Please, Dad, you can’t leave me at this time."
"You useless bird! You kept talking about wanting a daughter-in-law when you were inside, but now that you’re out, you won’t even visit her family."
Lin Jiang cursed loudly. Small Shadiao was really useless. He kept saying he wanted a daughter-in-law, but he didn’t even bother to take a look.
"It’s been so long, they’re probably already dead. Snow Demons don’t live very long."
"In the world of martial arts, this thing is not invited. You pay for it yourself. Also, don’t go to the same place as me."
"Just spend the money. We’re not broke."
Small Shadiao pouted. After hundreds of years, his feathers and claws had molted several times. Even a casual sale would bring in money. This amount of money is just a drop in the bucket.
"Meet by the city gate tomorrow at noon. Don’t be late."
After Lin Jiang paid the bill, he left with a pat on his butt.
They strolled until they reached a building in this city, then they freely fired bullets. After more than five hundred years, there were too many accumulated bullets.
Lin Jiang was so busy that night, he couldn’t spare any time.
The next day at noon, Lin Jiang, holding his waist, met Small Shadiao, also holding his waist, at the city gate. The father and son exchanged smiles, then Lin Jiang threw out a flying boat and they both boarded it.
"Dad, where are we going next?"
"Zhongzhou, Zhongzhou is the safest place, and there hasn’t been a big war for many years."
"Great, Zhongzhou is the most prosperous and has the most fun things."
"Remember, from now on, I’ll be called Li Changsheng, and you’ll be called Li Dan, don’t get it wrong."
"Can we change the last name?"
"What last name do you want?"
"Wang, like the neighbor next door, hehe."
"Go away, if you dare to be so creepy again, I’ll kick you out."
Lin Jiang gave him a smashing blow to the head, this kid is really misbehaving, calling himself the neighbor next door, who’s your neighbor next door? It’s him, Lin Jiang. Are you looking for trouble?
"Give me a break, stop hitting my head all the time."
"What about spanking?"
"Forget it, let’s go for a headbutt instead. My head is as hard as copper and iron, tofu waist. Hehe, it won’t hurt."
"That’s describing a dog, are you a dog?"
Lin Jiang sighed. Is his bird head hard? Next time, I’ll smash it open and take a look.
They played and joked all the way until they arrived in Zhongzhou. There were many large cities in Zhongzhou, and Lin Jiang chose Tianxian City of Danxia Sect. Tianxian City is one of the few large cities in the world, and it has abundant medicinal resources because of the Danxia Sect.
Lin Jiang didn’t have many spirit stones left, so as soon as he entered the city, he started selling things. He sold all the miserable golden core things from those three unlucky guys before, but they were all poor. Lin Jiang still had to provide some money himself.
Lin Jiang didn’t bring those elixirs with him. They are still left in the far north to continue growing because they haven’t matured yet. He’ll collect them back in a few hundred years.
Lin Jiang planned to stay in Tianxian City for a long time, so he directly bought a house instead of renting. Renting a house is like working for the landlord, but Lin Jiang has always had others working for him. He can’t stand that.
"Don’t remove your disguise. Be low-key from now on, understand?"
Lin Jiang reminded Small Shadiao that he had spent hundreds of years specializing in the art of disguise, taught to him by Lin Batian.
One of the techniques was extremely advanced, enabling Lin Jiang to alter his bones and muscles, similar to a martial arts skill. Now Lin Jiang looks completely different than before, but no one can recognize him. Even the people closest to him wouldn’t know it’s him by just looking at him.
Lin Jiang dedicated a full 150 years of practice to master this secret skill. He believes in his hard work.
"Understood, Father of Longevity."
"Good boy, so grown up."
Lin Jiang laughed heartily and waved his hand, allowing Small Shadiao to go out and play by himself.
Lin Jiang sat down and planned his future. He decided not to open a store as it would be too troublesome. Dealing with all the relationships and making little profit is not enjoyable, and making too much profit would attract unwanted attention. Now that Lin Jiang has lost his support, relying on himself and Small Shadiao is not enough.
Lin Jiang decided to continue his study of creating magical symbols. He could become a master of spiritual talismans in the future. Additionally, he could try his hand at alchemy, spellcasting, and crafting, as he has plenty of time.
In truth, Lin Jiang feels much more relaxed after letting go of all the grudges and entanglements with the Lin family. He no longer has to carry the burden of vengeance or engage in manipulative tactics.
So from now on, Lin Jiang’s main focus is to live a good life and take care of himself. He has already matured and developed a certain ability to protect himself. As long as he is careful and considerate in his interactions with others, it will be difficult for him to offend anyone. The key is to prioritize the quality of life.
"Life is too long. If it’s just empty and meaningless, it’s even worse than death. So live a fulfilling life, for yourself."
Lin Jiang made a plan for himself. From now on, he will live a good life for himself and stay away from any conspiracies and backstabbing.
After becoming more familiar with Tianxian City, Lin Jiang bought the materials for making a fourth-grade spiritual talisman from the shop. The materials for a fourth-grade spiritual talisman are scarce and expensive.
First, there are fourth-grade talisman papers. To make fourth-grade talisman papers, you need to use fourth-grade spiritual flax, which requires a high-quality spiritual land. However, it’s more profitable to use the spiritual land that can grow fourth-grade spiritual flax to grow other spiritual herbs. That’s why there are very few spiritual lands capable of growing fourth-grade spiritual flax. Many cultivators would use spiritual jades as substitutes, but they are not as affordable.
As for the other tools like the talisman brushes, they are also treasures and quite expensive. After gathering all the materials, Lin Jiang felt like he had become penniless again.
"Third grade and fourth grade are not on the same level. Each grade after fourth grade is like entering a new gateway. The road to cultivation is really long and challenging."
Lin Jiang sighed and said, regardless of Pills, Talismans, Items, or Formations, the higher the grade, the fewer people can master them. Sometimes, it’s not about talent but about one’s background. Ordinary people can’t afford the cost of trial and error. A few failures could ruin them. That’s why those independent cultivators with humble origins are even more admirable.
Lin Jiang’s talent has never been outstanding, and he doesn’t come from a good background. What he does have is time. Wealth can accumulate over time, and that is his greatest advantage.

Comments

Loading...