This Martial Saint is Too Cautious

"Ruo’er, is there something you wish to say?"

Bai Jingxing looked at his youngest daughter. After the banquet for Lin Yan, the day’s business was concluded, but his daughter had asked them all to stay. She clearly had something on her mind.

"Father, I want to increase the Contribution Points we’re sponsoring Lin Yan with to ten thousand."

"Ten thousand? Have you lost your mind, little sister?"

Before Bai Jingxing could speak, his eldest son, Bai Feng, couldn’t hold back any longer.

Ten thousand Contribution Points was worth 150,000 silver. The Lin Family’s other vassal families would be fighting over it.

The Martial Arts Resources one could buy for a hundred thousand silver could also be exchanged for ten thousand Contribution Points in the Lin Family. But the resources available for ten thousand Contribution Points couldn’t necessarily be bought for a hundred thousand silver.

"Little sister, you said it wasn’t a sponsorship but a loan, so we didn’t say anything. How did the three thousand Contribution Points we agreed on suddenly turn into ten thousand?"

Her second brother, Bai Fei, wasn’t as agitated as their eldest, but he frowned nonetheless. Ten thousand Contribution Points was the Bai Family’s entire savings from the last five years. If they gave it all to Lin Yan, how could they possibly explain it to the clan?

"Second Brother, calling it a loan instead of a sponsorship is just semantics. But a loan implies a personal favor, whereas a sponsorship is a transaction. We sponsor Lin Yan, and in return, he protects our interests within the Lin Family."

Bai Ruo explained, but she kept one selfish reason to herself.

’By calling it a "loan,"’ she thought, ’I can use my status as a so-called "creditor" as an excuse to get closer to Lin Yan later. If it was just a sponsorship, it would be the same as any other great Martial Arts Clan sponsoring a promising Martial Artist.’

"As for why I’m proposing we give Lin Yan ten thousand Contribution Points, it’s because his potential in Martial Arts may be even greater than what he’s revealed."

"Ruo’er, what do you mean by that?"

Bai Jingxing’s old eyes narrowed. He trusted that his youngest daughter wouldn’t make baseless claims.

"Today, Lin Yan asked me to help find his biological uncle. A few years ago, his uncle was performing mandatory labor service in Deng State, but for some reason, he was eventually dispatched here to Qing State."

Bai Ruo looked at her father, confident he would understand the implication of her words.

"Ruo’er, you mean to say that Lin Yan’s branch of the family in Deng State has fallen to the very bottom of society."

Bai Jingxing understood his daughter’s meaning almost instantly. Members of Martial Arts Clans were exempt from mandatory labor service; only the common people were required to do it.

’And if Lin Yan came from such a common background, yet managed to cultivate to the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing by age twenty, it proves his Martial Arts potential is incredibly high.’

"Father, I’ve carefully thought about Lin Yan’s situation since he joined the Lin Family," Bai Ruo continued. "He was only at the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing when he arrived, but in less than a year, he broke through the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing to reach the Blood Exchange Realm. This proves his talent. Back in Deng State, he must have been constrained by his family’s circumstances, finding it difficult to obtain Martial Arts Resources. That’s why it took him until age twenty to reach the Third-Time of Skin Smoothing. If he had been given the resources of a Lin Clan Member... or even one of our own Bai Family disciples, he likely would have reached the Fourth-Time of Skin Smoothing by age eighteen."

For a moment, the main hall was silent.

The two brothers, Bai Feng and Bai Fei, considered the validity of their younger sister’s analysis.

SLAP!

Bai Jingxing slammed his weathered hand on the table, his old face filled with resolve. "We’ll do as you say, Ruo’er. Sponsor Lin Yan with ten thousand Contribution Points. Even if his talent isn’t as great as we speculate, at the very least, we’re keeping it all in the family."

As he finished, Bai Jingxing gave his daughter a meaningful look.

Bai Ruo’s face flushed red. She knew her father had seen through her ulterior motives, but she offered no explanation.

...

「Two days later.」

Lin Yan made his way to the Hidden Technique Pavilion.

The Bai Family had loaned him ten thousand Contribution Points. To be honest, he had been stunned when Bai Ruo told him the amount the day before.

Ten thousand Contribution Points!

If the Bai Family had wished, they could have easily exchanged it for more than a hundred thousand silver; there were plenty of other vassal families who would have been eager to trade.

’This has to be the largest sponsorship I’ve ever received.’

With the Contribution Points in hand, he decided to visit the Hidden Technique Pavilion and exchange for the five remaining Top-grade Swordsmanship manuals.

Upon entering the Hidden Technique Pavilion, Lin Qinghe saw Lin Yan and smiled. "I hear you’ve formed Sword Gang. Well done."

"I was just lucky. The breakthrough was a fluke."

Lin Yan bowed humbly. Lin Qinghe didn’t pursue the topic, instead asking, "Are you here to choose a Swordsmanship technique?"

"Yes."

"Same rules as always. Go ahead."

Lin Qinghe watched Lin Yan head upstairs. ’The young man’s words are humble,’ he thought, ’but his actions betray him.’

’If he truly thought it was a fluke, why would he come to pick out a new Swordsmanship technique?’

Advancing a Cultivation Method Realm from Great Success to Perfection might seem like just one final step, but that last step is often harder than all the previous ones combined.

In such a situation, choosing to cultivate a new Swordsmanship technique was the correct decision. The insights from an additional technique might one day lead to an epiphany, allowing him to reach Sword Intent Perfection.

Besides, even if this method didn’t lead to Sword Intent Perfection, cultivating another Swordsmanship technique to the level of Sword Intent Mastery was still easier than struggling to achieve Perfection in just one.

With two different Sword Intents, the power of his Four-Phase Condensing Gang Sword would increase significantly.

A short while later, Lin Yan came down from upstairs and placed several bamboo slips on the desk. "Grand-uncle, please help me exchange for these."

"You want to exchange for five Swordsmanship techniques at once?"

A rare look of shock appeared on Lin Qinghe’s face. ’I thought you were here to pick a single Swordsmanship technique. Are you trying to clear out all the Top-grade Swordsmanship manuals in the Hidden Technique Pavilion at once?’

"Yes, I should have enough Contribution Points."

’Is this really a question of whether you have enough Contribution Points?’

Lin Qinghe tried to persuade him. "If you don’t know which Swordsmanship technique is the best fit for you, you can exchange for and cultivate them one by one. It just means making a few extra trips. The Contribution Points you save can be exchanged for Bodhi Pills. Your Four-Phase Condensing Gang Sword is powerful, but your cultivation Realm is still the foundation."

"What you say is reasonable, Grand-uncle, but that would be too much trouble. Besides, I plan to cultivate all of these Swordsmanship techniques eventually, so I might as well exchange for them all at once."

But Lin Yan politely refused. Lin Qinghe shook his head slightly, not pressing the matter further, and turned to pull five manuals from a drawer behind the counter.

"Take them."

This time, Lin Qinghe didn’t even bother reminding Lin Yan of the rules for returning the manuals. He was done talking.

After taking the manuals, Lin Yan bowed politely once more. He then left the Hidden Technique Pavilion and headed for the Martial Arts Vault. Leaving himself with only five hundred Contribution Points, he used the remainder to exchange for thirty Bodhi Pills all at once.

There was a minor hiccup. The person at the Martial Arts Vault in charge of registration didn’t immediately give Lin Yan the Bodhi Pills.

Although the chance of Lin Yan running off with the Bodhi Pills was minuscule, thirty pills were worth nine thousand Contribution Points—not a small amount. The person in charge made a point to check the balance on Lin Yan’s Identity Token before handing over the elixirs.

’Thirty Bodhi Pills,’ Lin Yan thought. ’One pill can sustain my cultivation for two days. Combined with the ones from the Third Branch and the clan’s regular stipend, I won’t need to worry about elixirs for the next three months. I’ll use this time to cultivate intensely and strive to reach the Blood Exchange Second Transformation.’

’When I take a Bodhi Pill, my cultivation speed is five times that of others. Three months for me is equivalent to fifteen months for them.’

’Going from the Blood Exchange First Transformation to the Second Transformation in fifteen months is not an outrageous feat.’

...

「Five days later.」

On Lin Yan’s Martial Arts Tree, the branch that held the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques and the Jinghong Sword Technique had sprouted five new tender leaves.

「One month later.」

These five tender leaves had fully matured, turning a brilliant gold.

Sky Splitting Swordsmanship, Spirit Snake Swordsmanship, Heavy Mountain Swordsmanship, Shadowless Sword, and Rain-Covering Swordsmanship.

He had developed Sword Momentum in all five of these Swordsmanship techniques.

’Limited by my current Realm, the Four-Phase Condensing Gang Sword can only fuse three Sword Intents at the Blood Exchange First Transformation. Which Sword Intent should I infuse to raise it to Perfection?’

Sky Splitting Swordsmanship: Unstoppable momentum.

Spirit Snake Swordsmanship: Unconventional and unpredictable.

Heavy Mountain Swordsmanship: Artless and overwhelming.

Shadowless Sword: Unrestrained and imaginative.

Rain-Covering Swordsmanship: Pervasive and inescapable.

’If it were possible, he would have raised them all to Perfection!’

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Yan chose Heavy Mountain Swordsmanship. It wasn’t that the other four techniques were inferior; it was simply that the characteristics of Heavy Mountain Swordsmanship were a better fit for his Abyssal Heavy Sword.

When practicing the five techniques with his Abyssal Sword without using a Martial Arts Fruit, his progress in Heavy Mountain Swordsmanship was already slightly faster than the others.

’Infuse!’

Lin Yan whispered the command in his mind, his inner eye fixed on the Martial Arts Fruit.