Chapter 196 - 27: Cultivation Technique
"Congratulations, Brother Yan."
"Congratulations, Brother Yan, on reaching the Blood Exchange Realm."
Lin Yu raised his hand, intending to pat Lin Yan on the shoulder, but stopped halfway and lowered it. When they were all at the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing, they could afford to be less formal. In fact, from his perspective, since he had reached the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing earlier than Lin Yan, it was almost like he was befriending someone beneath his station.
But now that Lin Yan had reached the Blood Exchange Realm, his status was completely different. They could no longer treat him as an equal.
"Is your Qi Blood past the halfway mark?"
"Yes, it is."
Hearing Lin Yan’s reply, the smiles on the faces of the other Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists stiffened. The last shred of hope in their hearts vanished.
They had previously thought that since Lin Yan was so eager to break through to the Blood Exchange Realm, perhaps his Qi Blood hadn’t passed the halfway mark. If that were the case, his lead over them would be nothing to envy.
"Old Yu, I’m going to head back and wash up. I still need to go to the Third Branch."
Lin Yan could see the complicated emotions on everyone’s faces and decided to take his leave.
Lin Yu pursed his lips. "You used to call me Brother Yu, and now I’m ’Old Yu’."
"I could call you that, but would you dare accept it? Alright, stop messing around. We’ll talk later."
It wasn’t that Lin Yan was being snobbish by changing the address term; he had just noticed that Lin Yu was acting a bit reserved around him.
Although Lin Yu was a bit of a chatterbox, he was a good guy. Lin Yan had only said that to ease the formality that had crept up between them.
"Alright, you go on ahead. I’m definitely going to make you treat me to a huge meal later."
Lin Yu did seem to relax a little. Lin Yan didn’t linger; he nodded to the others and headed toward his courtyard.
"I never would have thought that Lin Yan would be the fourth one among us to reach the Blood Exchange Realm. Before he came here, he was only at the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing."
After Lin Yan was a good distance away, someone couldn’t help but speak, their tone filled with a mix of awe and regret.
"See? I’ve got a good eye for people. I could tell at a glance that Lin Yan was a dragon among men, so I made sure to befriend him early. Didn’t you see? Even Lin Yan has to call me Old Yu."
Lin Yu, back to his usual self, resumed his talkative and boastful persona. "Back when Lin Yan defeated Lin Wang from the Fourth Branch, I could already see he was no ordinary person. You know how I figured it out?"
"How did you figure it out?"
Everyone asked curiously. Lin Yu smiled mysteriously. "Each of you transfers fifty Contribution Points to me, and I’ll tell you."
The others: ...
...
...
「Third Branch, Lake Heart Pavilion.」
"You’ve broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm. Not bad."
The moment Lin Yan stepped off the bridge and into the pavilion, Lin Minghai spoke first.
After his encounter with Lin Yu, Lin Yan wasn’t surprised that Brother Hai already knew he had reached the Blood Exchange Realm.
’Even Lin Yu managed to find out where I was,’ Lin Yan thought. ’Brother Hai has people at the Disciple’s Quarters specifically for gathering information, so he must have known I went to the Library Pavilion.’
"I got lucky and succeeded in my breakthrough."
"Enough with the modesty. Luck has nothing to do with the Blood Exchange breakthrough. Which Cultivation Technique did you choose?"
"Dragon Elephant Force."
When he heard Lin Yan mention the Dragon Elephant Force, Lin Minghai sized him up carefully but didn’t attempt a physical inspection.
Once a person reaches the Blood Exchange Realm, it’s impossible to gauge their Qi Blood level without a real fight.
"Among the Six Main Techniques, Dragon Elephant Force is unusually difficult. It seems you’re very confident in your Qi Blood."
Lin Minghai made a single remark on the matter and didn’t press further, quickly changing the subject. "Now that you’ve entered the Blood Exchange Realm, you’re qualified to be added to the clan’s genealogy. Will you continue to use the name Lin Yan, or will you take the name Lin Mingyan?"
To be entered into the genealogy was to join the "Ming" generation.
"Brother Hai, can I keep my name? I’m just used to it."
"Of course you can. It’s your decision. However, the ’Ming’ character will be added to your name in the genealogy."
Lin Minghai’s attitude didn’t change at Lin Yan’s reluctance. A name was just a label; as long as he bore the Lin surname, that was all that mattered.
"Besides being added to the genealogy, the clan provides three Bodhi Pills every month to every disciple in the Blood Exchange Realm. You can go to the Martial Arts Vault to collect them."
"Brother Hai, what do these Bodhi Pills do?"
"They harmonize and purify your Qi Blood." Seeing Lin Yan was still a bit confused, Lin Minghai put it bluntly: "If it would normally take you three years to go from the First Transformation to the Second Transformation, taking Bodhi Pills will cut that time by at least half."
HISS!
’It cuts the time in half! What a treasure!’
"Of course, the clan doesn’t provide them forever—only for the first year. After that, you’ll have to exchange Contribution Points for them. Otherwise, even a family as large and prosperous as our Lin Family couldn’t sustain that kind of expenditure."
"I understand."
’Bodhi Pills that can cut the Cultivation Time for the Blood Exchange Realm in half must be incredibly valuable. That’s no small expense.’
’If a clan member reaches this realm in their twenties, and the clan supplied them continuously until they broke through to the True Gang Realm... what if they never broke through? They’d have to be supplied until they were sixty. No matter how deep the Lin Family’s coffers were, they’d be drained dry.’
"The branch competition is in five days. Now that you’ve broken through to the Blood Exchange Realm, I can tell you about the prize. First place will earn the right to choose a Spiritual Weapon from the Martial Arts Vault."
"Spiritual Weapon?"
"Ordinary weapons are practically useless to us now. Only Spiritual Weapons can withstand our Blood Gang Power, and only a Spiritual Weapon can unleash our true strength. Out in the world, a finished Spiritual Weapon would cost thirty thousand taels at a minimum. If you gathered the materials yourself and commissioned a smith, it would be cheaper, but it would still take a year or more to forge."
Hearing Brother Hai’s explanation, Lin Yan came to a realization. ’Looks like I really have to participate in this branch competition after all.’
"Prepare well and strive for a good ranking in the branch competition. Even if you don’t get first, there are rewards for placing in the top five."