Chapter 2 : Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Family and the Transcendent
Neither his mother, Wang Xiu, nor his sister, Lin Su, seemed surprised to see him. Wang Xiu even turned to Lin Su and joked,
“See? I told you your little brother would rush back the moment he heard you were home.”
As she spoke, she beckoned to Lin Bai.
“Come here. Your sister’s been telling me interesting things about the commandery city. Come listen as well. Who knows? After your awakening, you might end up going there too.”
While Wang Xiu was speaking to Lin Bai, Lin Su was also sizing up the younger brother she had not seen for nearly half a year, and she asked after him as well.
“Xiaobai’s grown taller again. Mother said you’ve already finished all the lessons at school.”
Lin Bai really had grown quickly. At fifteen, he was already nearing the height of one meter eighty from his previous life. He was right in the middle of his growth spurt, so perhaps he might even shoot up to one meter ninety and become a truly tall man.
As for the school’s lessons, they were nothing more than teaching literacy and some common knowledge of cultivation, principles, and laws.
Lin Bai was not an actual child, after all, and he could not sit still for long. He had finished learning all of it very quickly.
“Big Sister, enough about me. How have things been for you in Yunmeng City?”
“Your sister’s been quite impressive,” Wang Xiu said from the side, and her pride in her daughter was plain to see. “Not only did she become a junior alchemist in just three years, she even took a very formidable master.”
Wang Xiu was not some ignorant housewife who understood nothing. Her own maiden family was in Yunmeng City. Otherwise, she would never have dared let her daughter go off to the commandery city alone at the age of fifteen.
“Mother, stop praising me. It’s only because Master taught me well. Besides, my speed was actually considered slow. Some geniuses manage it in a single year.”
“One year? That’s monstrous!”
Even Lin Bai could not help marveling at that. Alchemists were much like doctors in his previous world. It was not merely a matter of studying knowledge; practical hands-on skill mattered even more.
Lin Bai listened as his sister recounted the interesting happenings in Yunmeng Commandery City. The three major gangs had started fighting again, and dozens were dying every day. The main branch of the Yin-Ghost Liu Family, one of the commandery city’s great clans, had even been stripped of power by one of its collateral branches.
Lin Bai had never expected Yunmeng City to be even more chaotic than Anning County. Compared to the commandery city, Anning County truly was peaceful. After all, the interests in Anning County had already long since been carved up, while Yunmeng City still seemed to be in the midst of fierce struggle.
“These are only minor disturbances,” Lin Su said. “Benevolent Heart Hall, where I work, still opens and does business as usual every day.”
About half an hour later, one of the household maids came to report that dinner was ready, and Father Lin was already waiting for them in the dining room.
After the family finished eating, they moved to a small courtyard to enjoy the evening air. The rooms were somewhat stiflingly hot, and only the courtyard offered a trace of cool breeze.
After Lin Ye had the servants prepare tea and pastries, he began speaking. This time, however, the focus of the conversation was Lin Bai.
Two days from now would be Lin Bai’s fifteenth birthday, as well as his Awakening Day. That was also the reason Lin Su had hurried home.
Father Lin and Mother Lin had already made all the necessary preparations. They had obtained a Spirit-Awakening Stone and a Stabilizing Origin Pill. Together, the two items had cost roughly fifty taels of gold.
That was exactly how they had prepared for Lin Su back then as well. Just preparing these things for the two siblings had cost the family a full hundred taels of gold. That was enough to let an ordinary family live in food and clothing without worry for a lifetime, and even for the Lin family it was no small sum. It took about half a year of profit from both the shop and the estate to cover it.
Moreover, these were not things that money alone could simply buy. Just like the two clerks at the rice shop, even after they had successfully awakened their spiritual talents, they still could not find even the most basic cultivation method.
The Stabilizing Origin Pill was comparatively easy to obtain. One only needed to spend enough money. The difficult part was the Spirit-Awakening Stone. Lin Ye had only managed to get one through the connections of an old comrade-in-arms.
What the four of them were discussing now was the item Lin Su had brought back: a Spirit-Nurturing Pill, a pill that could increase a person’s spirituality at the moment of awakening.
The cultivation system of this world was simple in principle: open one’s spirituality, awaken one’s talent, absorb energy, and step onto the path of evolving oneself.
The root of cultivation was spirituality. Spirituality was spread throughout every part of the body. The flesh, the soul, and the true spirit all contained it. Before awakening, however, it merely remained dormant.
Then how was one to step onto the path of transcendence?
Still through spirituality.
The spirituality awakened at the beginning was like a sponge, absorbing energy and thereby transforming the self, strengthening the very foundation of one’s life.
That meant the amount of spirituality one possessed determined not only the speed of one’s cultivation, but also the difficulty of breaking through bottlenecks and even one’s ultimate limit.
And the Spirit-Nurturing Pill could increase a person’s spirituality at the moment of awakening. Even if it was only a slight increase, not enough to produce a higher-level qualitative change, and even if it came with all sorts of restrictions, such as rejecting any other pills that enhanced spirituality during awakening, it was still enough to drive people mad with desire.
The Stabilizing Origin Pill that cost dozens of taels of gold could only shorten the time needed to condense a talent anchor, while the Spirit-Awakening Stone shortened the time it took for spirituality to go from dormancy to awakening.
The effect of both was simply to increase the probability of a successful awakening. However difficult they might be to obtain, they still fell within the bounds of what money could buy.
But the Spirit-Nurturing Pill was something people only heard of by name and never saw in person. Even if one measured it in wealth, selling off the entire Lin family fortune still would not have been enough to exchange for a single one.
When Lin Ye and Wang Xiu heard their daughter say that this was a Spirit-Nurturing Pill, they were stunned speechless.
The value of the Spirit-Nurturing Pill did not lie merely in the fact that it was a sixth-rank pill. It was said that its main ingredient was a strange flower that waited a hundred years to bloom for a single night. The pill refined from it inherited that very trait: three months after its completion, it would lose its efficacy.
“A few days ago, Master had an old friend whose grandchild was also due to awaken around this time. He sent over the medicinal ingredients and hoped to obtain a Spirit-Nurturing Pill from her. When Master opened the furnace, she produced five pills in total. Of those, only one was of high quality. The rest merely met the minimum standard.”
“Other than the high-quality pill, Master rewarded the remaining pills to us fellow disciples. Eldest Senior Brother received two, while Second Senior Sister and I each received one.”
“After I got mine, I immediately thought of my little brother. In another month, it would be his Awakening Day. By then, only a month and a half would have passed since this pill was refined, so it would still be effective.”
As Lin Su explained how she had come by the Spirit-Nurturing Pill, Lin Ye and Wang Xiu nodded again and again. Lin Bai was excited as well, because that pill was meant for him.
After listening to Lin Su finish, Wang Xiu turned her head and looked sternly at Lin Bai.
“This is the kindness your sister has shown you. I hope you will never forget it. If you prove exceptionally gifted in the future, remember to repay your sister.”
“I will never forget Big Sister’s kindness today.”
Lin Bai swore it firmly and without hesitation, because that was only proper.
After confirming his sincerity, Father Lin stepped in to break the somewhat solemn mood. He walked over to Lin Bai and rubbed his head.
“You little brat really are lucky. You’ve been quick-witted and clever since childhood. Your spirituality probably won’t be low.”
What Father Lin said was really a kind of imperfect induction. Children who were sharp from a young age and had good constitutions often possessed decent talents as long as they successfully awakened their spirituality.
After obtaining the Spirit-Nurturing Pill, the entire Lin family felt much more at ease.
There were many things that could only be arranged after Lin Bai’s talent and spirituality had been confirmed. Otherwise, if the awakened talent proved unsuitable, or if his spirituality was too low, all of those preparations would be wasted.
Not until the silver disk in the night sky had risen directly overhead did the family finally end their idle conversation. Lin Bai and Lin Su walked along the bluestone path illuminated by moonlight, and Lin Bai spoke softly.
“Big Sister, I won’t let you down.”
Lin Su turned back to look at this younger brother of hers, who had always been unusually mature since childhood, and shook her head.
“You don’t need to put so much pressure on yourself.”
Then she turned fully around to face him.
“There’s no need for the two of us, as brother and sister, to say such things. Naturally, I want you to do better. If one day you came into possession of something even more suitable for me, or for Father and Mother, would you be reluctant to give it to us?”
“I would definitely think of all of you.”
“Then that is enough. Go back and sleep well. Build up your strength.”
Back in his room, Lin Bai lay down, then tossed and turned from side to side, unable to fall asleep. In the end, he could only look out the window. For some reason, the stars were much brighter than usual tonight.
As he thought over the events of the day, mixed with his longing for the transcendent, Lin Bai stared at the stars outside the window, and his thoughts began drifting farther and farther afield.
As he kept thinking, his eyes gradually closed, and amid his hopes for the future, he drifted off to sleep.
The realms in this book: Transcendent-Mortal, Transcendent, Ascendant, Rebirth, King, Emperor, Venerable, Dao Ancestor. There will not be endless realm-stacking; Rebirth is already the level of a major powerhouse.