The main door of the Magpie’s Nest was slowly pushed open.
A thick, pungent stench of blood, carried by the night wind, swirled into the building.
STOMP STOMP STOMP!
Everyone rushed down the stairs. Before they even reached the first floor, Sister Hua stumbled, her face turning pale as she covered her nose and mouth.
Her pupils contracted as she stared intently at the tall, slender figure in the doorway.
In the flickering candlelight, the young man’s handsome face shifted between light and shadow, his eyes holding a hint of weariness.
But his clothes, soaked in gore and clinging wetly to his skin, were inexplicably chilling.
"Ah!"
The girls crowded onto the stairwell, and the more timid among them couldn’t help but let out a soft cry.
The glaring crimson brought the scene they had just witnessed flooding back into their minds.
It was a terrifying sight, the kind that would haunt their nightmares for months to come.
The young man, empty-handed, had slaughtered his way from one end of the alley to the other, leaving no one alive... He’d rarely even left a whole corpse behind.
He had carved a path to survival for them with his bare hands!
"Master... Master Lin?"
Sister Hua lowered her hand and called out, her voice trembling.
Only after he nodded did she struggle to her feet on the stairs and shout angrily at the people behind her, "What are you all standing there for, you brainless fools? Hurry up and prepare a bath for Master Lin!"
It sounded like a scolding, but it snapped the many girls back to their senses.
The relief of surviving the ordeal filled the room with the sound of sobbing.
"You bunch of wretches! You didn’t cry when you were about to die, so why are you wailing like you’re at a funeral for Master Lin now!"
Sister Hua sighed helplessly. She turned back around, and in her eyes, a deep sense of awe now mixed with the fear.
The Hongyun Martial Arts Hall was indeed rich and powerful, able to make both the righteous and the lawless give them a wide berth.
But Master Lin didn’t need anyone else to back him up. Killing those people was easier for him than killing chickens!
Besides, even when it came to influence...
Everyone in Cyan Willow Lane had seen the young man slap that veteran constable!
After daybreak, once word of this spread, even the most violent outlaws would probably not dare to cause trouble at the Magpie’s Nest again.
"Alright, it’s fine."
Lin Shu glanced at the old cripple before him, whose eyes were red-rimmed and whose lips were trembling with emotion.
He was genuinely afraid the man would rush up and start feeling him all over again.
Old Yang had been ordered to guard the door, and he had done just that, standing guard with two kitchen cleavers, looking as if he was ready to face death.
He hadn’t gone out to cause more trouble, nor did he care how ridiculous the crude things in his hands must have looked to the disciples of the Hongyun Martial Arts Hall.
"I’m a little tired. I’m going up to rest for a bit."
Old Yang watched Lin Shu go upstairs, still refusing to loosen his grip on the cleavers.
In contrast to the young man’s relaxed demeanor, he had keenly sensed that something was wrong.
The man faintly exuded an aura of weakness.
It was just like back in the theater troupe in the South Suburbs, that feeling of being on the verge of death at any moment.
At this thought, a rare, fierce glint flashed in Old Yang’s habitually humble eyes.
After Lin Shu went upstairs, he walked to the top of the stairs and sat down, clutching the comical cleavers.
The old cripple closed his eyes and, like a stone block, guarded the way upstairs.
Inside the room.
Lin Shu took off his blood-soaked clothes and leaned back, naked, in the chair.
He closed his eyes, carefully experiencing the sensation of his life force gradually draining away, as if his entire being had aged considerably.
For a young and vigorous person, this feeling was rather novel.
’Interesting.’
Lin Shu tugged at the corner of his mouth and opened his eyes to look at the two types of coins in his hand.
He wasn’t too nervous.
If the Fog on his body was his bargaining chip, then Lin Shu had already done his best to win enough in return.
Someone else might not have been able to do any better.
As for whether he could successfully extend his life, he would leave that to fate.
’Let’s do this.’
Lin Shu looked down at the small wolf on his chest, then waved his hand to summon the pair of "chicken wings."
The Gloomy Moon Bone Splitting Hand was certainly powerful, but right now he was like a clever housewife who couldn’t cook without rice—no matter how strong the Immortal Technique was, he couldn’t use it.
He grasped the warm White Jade coin and tossed it into the pair of cyan wings.
[Consumed eight Merit Coins. Immortal Body not yet condensed. Granting a chance for enlightenment.]
Seeing the prompt before him, Lin Shu froze for a moment.
As the Merit Coins were invested, the Cyan Qi gradually became whole, transforming into a blurry little sparrow.
Then, it suddenly flapped its wings and flew straight into the space between Lin Shu’s eyebrows.
At the same time, a dense cluster of text unfurled in his mind like a scroll.
[Qi Cultivation Eighth-grade. Cyan Bird Qi-Introducing Formulas: Entry-level]
Visualizing the dense text made Lin Shu’s head feel like it was about to explode.
He hadn’t even made a sound when he was being whipped earlier.
Now, however, a pained look crossed his face, and he couldn’t stop a muffled groan from escaping.
The Cyan Sparrow dissolved after crashing into the space between his eyebrows.
In its place was a long, slender Feather that drifted lightly onto Lin Shu’s lap.
’You’re the manifestation of this Immortal Technique?’
Lin Shu felt his head was about to split open and, without a second thought, fed the remaining jade coins into it.
As white light surged into the Feather, the once-abstruse text in his mind suddenly broke apart, transforming into vivid images.
A Cyan Sparrow landed on a branch, chirping toward a sea of clouds.
Its cry was crisp and clear, and wisps of surging white mist gradually appeared in the sky.
In that instant, it was as if Lin Shu’s five senses had been unblocked.
He too could see the white mist drifting around him, and could even clearly smell a hint of sweetness.
A deep urgency was born in his heart.
A desire to absorb these things into himself!
The jade coins turned into light one after another, causing the prompt to gradually change.
[Qi Cultivation Eighth-grade. Cyan Bird Qi-Introducing Formulas: Minor Success]
A full twelve Merit Coins had not only allowed this Immortal Technique to bypass the entry-level stage and reach the Minor Success Realm, but were also helping Lin Shu call upon the surrounding white mist.
"Haaa."
Lin Shu felt none of the agitation he had experienced when feeding the Sin Coins earlier.
He only felt the fatigue in his body being swiftly washed away.
Centered on the phantom of the White Wolf, the remaining thirty percent of the gray mist that sustained his life was seemingly grasped by an invisible hand and rolled into a much more condensed stream of qi.
’Is this the Spiritual Power that woman spoke of?’
Lin Shu extended a fingertip and gently touched the wisp of white qi, a look of joy gradually appearing in his eyes.
According to the Immortal Technique, the manifestation of this wisp of Spiritual Power meant that he had officially stepped over the threshold of Cultivation.
He had become an Early-stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator!
The residual power of the Merit Coins was still in effect. Spiritual Power from the surrounding world rapidly gathered and condensed into new streams of qi.
It continued to replenish until there were ten wisps. Only when Lin Shu felt he was starting to lose control did the surrounding Spiritual Power slowly dissipate.
’I see.’
He closed his eyes and continued to digest the information contained within the Immortal Technique.
The earlier feeling of decay was long gone. The current Lin Shu felt light all over, as if his entire body had undergone a metamorphosis.
’My life has been extended, but it’s a shame it’s only an Eighth Grade technique.’
He sighed, slightly dissatisfied.
Immortal Techniques were divided into the Upper Three Grades, the Middle Three Grades, and the Lower Three Grades.
The Cyan Bird Qi-Introducing Formulas belonged to the last category.
The Lower Three Grades were all techniques for the Early-stage Qi Cultivation. Among them, a Seventh Grade one could absorb thirty units of qi, while an Eighth Grade one was less, with an upper limit of only twenty.
But since his Cultivation Technique was only at the Minor Success Realm, ten wisps was his current limit.

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