Chapter 265 - 254: Observing Qi
The third day of his breakthrough seclusion.
Zhao Lin slowly opened his eyes, which now shone with a vibrant light. He could feel the Primordial Qi surging within him; it had more than doubled in just a few days.
’I’ve finally stabilized my cultivation in the Innate Second Realm.’
He exhaled the last of the turbid air from his body, rose to his feet, and walked toward the cave entrance.
After a few steps, he felt a sticky sensation all over his body. Looking down, he saw that his skin and clothes were covered in a thick, black filth.
He knew these were the impurities expelled during his body’s metamorphosis. He immediately stripped off his clothes, picked up the wooden bucket from the stone platform, scooped water from the large jar, and poured it over his head.
After rinsing himself several times, he felt much cleaner and more refreshed.
Putting the bucket down, he happened to glance at the water jar. In the faint light filtering in from outside, the water’s surface reflected a bald man with a composed expression and well-defined features.
The eyes, nose, mouth... they were definitely his. But his hair, eyebrows, and beard were all gone!
’Is this... me?’
Zhao Lin stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly laughed to himself. ’Tendon-changing and bone-altering, hair-shedding and marrow-cleansing... it really lives up to the name!’
He checked the rest of his body and found it was the same—not a single strand of body hair remained.
Hair could always grow back, so Zhao Lin didn’t mind. He circulated his energy to dry his body, changed into the clean clothes Lu Chaohuan had given him, and strode out of Yunjian Cave.
The afternoon sun was blazing, and he immediately squinted his eyes.
"Ah, you’re finally out!"
"Congratulations on safely completing your seclusion."
"Wonderful! The Xingyun Sect has produced another Innate Realm martial artist!"
"A Grandmaster at thirty-one! Excellent!"
"No hair, no eyebrows... Yang Lin, is this your long-lost brother?"
The elders all came forward to congratulate him. With no disciples present, some even started joking around.
Zhao Lin gave everyone a deep bow. "Thank you all for serving as my Guardians!"
Although he was also an elder, he was the youngest among them in both age and seniority. Grateful for their protection, he deliberately adopted the etiquette of a junior.
By now, his eyes had adjusted to the outdoor light. He looked up at the crowd, and the sight before him made his heart skip a beat!
He saw a faint white aura floating around the heads and shoulders of the Sect Leader and the elders. It resembled the afterimage one sees after staring at a light for too long and then closing one’s eyes.
Seeing this, Zhao Lin thought the sun was just playing tricks on his eyes. He immediately closed them, waited a moment, and then opened them again.
Nothing had changed!
’What’s going on?’
Zhao Lin observed them silently. The intensity and color of the white light above each person’s head were different.
The oldest, the Elder of Discipline, had a faint white light above his head, with a subtle layer of gray energy at its center.
Yang Lin and Lu Chaohuan, who had the deepest cultivation, had bright and richly colored white auras.
As for himself... Zhao Lin couldn’t see the top of his own head, but when he glanced at his shoulder, he saw a faint layer of azure energy covering his body.
Judging by everyone’s expressions, they clearly couldn’t see these auras.
’Is this... the art of aura-gazing?’
A thought flashed through Zhao Lin’s mind. In the legends of his past life, Feng Shui masters could see the qi of the earth’s veins, and fate readers could perceive a person’s destiny and fortune.
The auras he was seeing seemed to be neither of those things, but rather related to cultivation level.
’I just broke through to the Innate Realm, and now I can see these auras,’ he mused. ’Could this be a unique ability of the Innate Realm?’
The elders saw Zhao Lin’s dazed expression and assumed he had exhausted too much energy during his breakthrough, so they refrained from disturbing him.
After a while, when clarity returned to Zhao Lin’s eyes, they began to ask their questions:
"Zhao Lin, what level of the Innate Realm are you at now?"
"Your seclusion was quite long. Did you encounter any dangers?"
"Now that you’ve entered the Innate Realm, how much has your cultivation deepened...?"
Zhao Lin smiled faintly, suppressed the doubts in his heart, and answered their questions one by one.
They talked for quite some time before the elders finally dispersed.
Zhao Lin also bid farewell to Lu Chaohuan, preparing to head home for a visit.
Before his seclusion, he had prepared for the worst. Now that he had succeeded in his breakthrough, along with his joy came a sudden, urgent desire to go home and see his family.
Lu Chaohuan readily agreed. "As you should. Please go home and rest, Elder Zhao."
However, after Zhao Lin left, he let out a soft sigh.
As the Sect Leader of the Xingyun Sect, he knew more secrets than others. He knew that historically, most Grandmasters from the sect who reached the Innate Realm seemed to eventually leave, and a faint worry grew in his heart.
Zhao Lin didn’t head down the mountain right away. Instead, he first returned to his residence to retrieve a black headdress.
As a Duke, protocol dictated he wear a formal headdress when traveling. Zhao Lin usually didn’t bother with such formalities and rarely wore one, but now his head was completely bare, which looked rather unseemly. A headdress would at least cover it up a bit.
As for his eyebrows and beard, there was nothing he could do but wait for them to grow back.
On his way down the mountain, Zhao Lin passed by some sect disciples. He observed that they also had auras clustered around their heads, but their color was grayish, with only the center showing a hint of white light.
As for ordinary people who didn’t practice martial arts, their auras were entirely gray.
Zhao Lin gradually came to understand that the auras likely represented a person’s Qi and Blood, their life force.
A martial artist’s Qi and Blood was vigorous, so their life force was naturally abundant, while ordinary people were far inferior in this regard.
Entering Yongning City, he found the streets bustling with people, and countless auras floated before his eyes.
As Zhao Lin scanned the crowd, he became even more certain of his hypothesis: the young and strong had light gray, condensed auras, while the old and frail had dark gray, dispersed ones.
He returned to the Duke’s Mansion and knocked on the main gate.
The gatekeeper came out and looked Zhao Lin over. "My lord, you are...?"
Zhao Lin stepped closer. "Take another look. Who am I?"
The gatekeeper’s eyes widened. He stared at Zhao Lin for a long moment, then suddenly flinched. "Your Grace?"
Zhao Lin nodded. "It’s me."
The gatekeeper immediately moved to kneel. "Forgive me, Your Grace! This servant didn’t recognize you."
Zhao Lin waved his hand. "It’s fine. Open the gate and let me in."
"Yes!"
The gatekeeper pushed open the main gate and shouted into the mansion, "The Duke has returned!"
Tian Dabang hurried out to greet him. He was startled at first by Zhao Lin’s appearance, but his expression quickly returned to normal.
"Lord Zhao, you’ve returned. I’ll inform the kitchens to prepare some of your favorite dishes."
Zhao Lin nodded to himself. ’This man has spent years navigating the martial world,’ he thought. ’He knows what to ask and what not to ask.’
"Serve dinner early tonight!"
He had been in seclusion for three days, drinking only water. He was starving now, so he made sure to add the special instruction.
Tian Dabang acknowledged the order and, with a few commands, the entire mansion sprang into action.
Zhao Lin walked straight to the rear courtyard to pay his respects to his mother.
As he approached his mother’s room, he deliberately made his footsteps heavier.
A surprised and happy voice soon came from within the room—it was Mrs. Zhao. "Is that Lin’Er, back already?"
A smile spread across Zhao Lin’s face. "Mother, it’s me. How did you know?"
Mrs. Zhao chuckled. "I’ve been listening to you and your brother’s footsteps for decades. How could I not recognize them?"
As she spoke, a maidservant helped Mrs. Zhao out of the room.
Zhao Lin stepped forward, took his mother’s hand, and placed it on his face.
Mrs. Zhao was blind, and she always felt at ease after touching Zhao Lin’s face whenever he visited.
"My son’s skin is so nice and smooth," Mrs. Zhao said with satisfaction.
’With no beard or eyebrows, how could it not be smooth?’
As the thought crossed Zhao Lin’s mind, he looked up and was startled by what he saw.
The dark gray aura above his mother’s head was splitting into hundreds, even thousands, of threads that were wrapping around him.
His own body was also emitting azure threads, which intertwined with hers.
Zhao Lin stood stunned for a long moment before a sudden realization dawned on him.
’Is this the bond of kinship?’