Lin Hao scoffed at Lin Xiao's arrogant grin, but he didn't lose his confidence. In his mind, his plan had worked perfectly, and his opponent's arrogance only enhanced the outcome.
"Are you ready? I can let you make the first move, since your cultivation is less advanced"
His voice sounded loud and arrogant as he assumed a firm fighting stance, clenching his fists tightly.
And the spectators watched with anticipation, causing to converse amongst themselves to focus their attention on the fight.
"How virtuous you are, my cousin, the fourth uncle must be proud to have such a righteous son..." Holding the sword in his right hand, he formed a seal with his left, also establishing a fighting stance.
Since both were cultivators of the Body Refinement realm, neither of them could externalize their Qi, only using it to strengthen their muscles.
This made it seem like a fight between mortals, where on one side Lin Hao appeared to be the most muscular, while on the other, Lin Xiao was the only one with a sword.
Lin Mei looked on apprehensively, her hands clasped nervously together, almost praying for her friend's safety.
"Then I won't refuse your kindness!" Lin Xiao charged forward toward his opponent, making a vertical slash towards his chest.
Even though Lin Hao was annoying and had tried to corner him earlier, there was no reason to make the fight serious, so he didn't try to strike any vital points.
Lin Hao dodged to the side, avoiding the sword's blade touching his body, but a confused expression appeared on his face when he noticed a thin cut on his chest, from which a drop of blood dripped, falling to the ground.
'I thought I had completely dodged it...' The cut was very superficial, he wasn't even feeling any pain, but it was surprising.
Lin Xiao noticed the cut and knew it wasn't the blade that caused it, but his Sword Intent, which made him smile.
"Lin Xiao truly deserves to be the genius of our family; I couldn't completely dodge his attack. But now it's my turn to strike!" Lin Hao shouted, before lunging forward with a powerful punch.
Although not very different from any other punch, there was a technique being used, a Martial Arts Technique.
It was probably an Upper Mortal Grade Technique, which allowed him to increase the force of his punch.
Seeing the fist coming towards him, Lin Xiao scoffed 'Using techniques in a friendly dispute?'
As soon as he sneered in his mind, his sword rose with full force "Ascending Slash!"
Blood dripped onto the floor as Lin Hao desperately pulled his arm back, howling in pain "ARGHHH!!"
A series of gasps of surprise rang out as the spectators watched the deep cut on Lin Hao's right hand, which began between his fingers and extended almost halfway down his palm.
Lin Xiao quickly lowered his sword, causing the blood on the blade to splatter onto the ground.
He looked at Lin Hao seriously and said "Out of respect for the Fourth Uncle, I'll let it pass that you used an Attack Technique when we were prominently having a friendly dispute"
"You!" Lin Hao snorted, both angry and in pain "You also used an Attack Technique and an Earth Grade Technique!"
Lin Xiao raised his sword again, pointing it at Lin Hao "What did you expect? That I'd let you hit me? You're a stage above me; that blow could have left me with internal injuries. How would I participate in the sect selection process that's happening soon?"
"Do you think I'm blind and can't see through such an obvious plot? You're so ridiculous; instead of putting more effort into farming, you wanted to jeopardize my future just to come out on top."
"But you know what? Even if your plan worked, you joined a sect and I stayed here, then in a few decades you'd be expelled for being too old to be a disciple, then you'd come back here and find me, with a higher level of cultivation than yours... What do you think would happen to you?"
The cold tone in Lin Xiao's voice and his penetrating gauze made it easier for everyone to imagine the scene.
An internal injury would prevent Lin Xiao from joining a sect, but in less than a year he would be back cultivating, filled with hatred for those who had hindered him.
Lin Hao would join a sect, but he would only be one of the outer disciples and would eventually be kicked out for not evolving and being too old for cultivation.
Upon returning to his family, he would find Lin Xiao, who by then would be an elder or even the head of the family, filled with pent-up resentment.
Anyone who thought about it carefully would come to a similar conclusion: "Death would be a favorable outcome for Lin Hao"
Lin Xiao slowly lowered his sword once more, then said "Your hand should heal before the sects begin recruiting. I hope your cousin will be accepted and help strengthen the family"
Then he turned his back on Lin Hao and left the raised platform.
Despite being an extremely short contest, the excitement among the young people who were watching was intense.
With the exception of a few girls who were certain of Lin Xiao's victory simply because he was hailed as a genius, the vast majority of those young people thought it highly unlikely he would emerge victorious.
Prolonging a fight would already be surprising given the difference in skill level between the two; a draw would solidify his status as a genius in the minds of the young people there, but to win so easily?
"Lin Xiao must be the greatest genius in all of Blue Moon City, whether it's that girl from the Chun family or the son of the city lord, in terms of talent he must be the greatest!"
"I didn't expect Lin Xiao to be so strong already, maybe he really is the next leader of the family"
Hearing the murmurs, Lin Xiao let out a subtle laugh 'The current leader just turned 130 years old; that old man could still remain leader for another 50 years. By then, I'll be too strong for this small town'
Even if the leader could simply pass the command to him in the future, before he even got really old, Lin Xiao certainly wouldn't accept it.
Perhaps he would have accepted it before the system came into effect, but now it was impossible for him to stay solely in Blue Moon City to take care of the Lin family.
He walked towards Lin Mei and said in a soft rumble "Didn't I tell you there was nothing to worry about?"
With a small gesture, he beckoned her to follow him as he walked slowly toward the main mansion, where he had been headed before being challenged by Lin Hao.
Moving away from the crowd with the girl, he continued "Lin Hao was very unlucky to use an Attack Technique; if it were a fight with only our strength, he would have the advantage"
Whether cultivation techniques or combat techniques, a strong understanding was fundamental for advancement; someone with a low level of understanding would take years to master even the lowest-level technique.
In the Lin family, there was no information about testing comprehension talent; they simply believed it was fully connected to cultivation talent, which wasn't entirely wrong, but it wasn't entirely right either.
Because Lin Hao possesses a Red Talent, his comprehension level is not expected to be high, therefore it would take him a long time to master his Upper Mortal Grade Technique.
While Lin Xiao was mastering a Lower Earth Grade Technique, the difference in the techniques' grade was enough to switch sides to an advantage.
"Anyway, it was amazing that you won! Now I doubt anyone would disagree that you're the genius of our family!" Lin Mei said with a wide smile.
Lin Xiao shrugged and said "That doesn't matter to me. By the way, congratulations on reaching the 3rd stage of Body Refinement. You should be able to reach the next stage before the sects start recruiting"
There were just over three months left until the event. Lin Xiao himself took two and a half months to go from the 3rd to the 4th stage, so it would be a tight timeframe for Lin Mei, who had less talent than him, but it was still possible with effort.
He probably could have done it much faster if he had dedicated himself enough, but he spent a lot of time enjoying his second life, going out in the city, spending time with Lin Mei, and practicing with his sword.
If he had been a cultivation maniac and taken advantage of his father's resources, he probably would have already reached stage 7 by now, but he felt no remorse whatsoever.
Thanks to this, he had managed to awaken Sword Intent much sooner than expected, he had a strong friendship with Mei Mei, and he had made good use of his quiet time.
"Thank you!" Lin Mei said, delighted that he had noticed her progress even without her telling him.
"But I don't know if I can evolve that quickly... I really wanted to join a cult with you, but I guess I'll have to wait for the next recruitment..."
Lin Mei was turning 16 that year, so in the next recruitment she would still be under 20, which was the age requirement to be recruited.
Seeing the girl's somewhat disheartened expression, Lin Xiao reached inside his cloak, pulled out a small blue stone, and offered it to her.
Lin Mei picked up the stone in her hand in confusion, but then her eyes widened. "This is..."
"A spirit stone" 'Lower' He said the last part only in his mind.
"Did your father give you a spirit stone!?" The girl's voice was full of surprise "I heard that a single one of these costs about 100 gold coins!"
It was important to know that a single gold coin was worth more than a mortal earned in a month; 100 gold coins were enough to buy a house in Blue Moon City.
And all this fortune was being casually given into Lin Mei's hands.
Lin Xiao had received five lower spirit stones upon completing the mission and had decided to give one of them to the girl.
And that wasn't even his greatest gain. Spirit stones might be valuable to him now, but the increase in his talent was something that would always be far more useful.
{Status}
Lin Xiao
Cultivation: 6th stage of Body Refinement
Cultivation Talent: Upper Orange
Perception Talent: Lower Profound
Current Cultivation Technique: Lin Family Qi Absorption Secret Art (Intermediate Earth Rank)
Dao: Intent of the Sword (Rudimentary)
He hadn't even cultivated yet, but he could already feel the difference in his perception of Qi. It was thanks to this improvement that he noticed Lin Mei's evolution so quickly.
"Use this spirit stone for cultivation; it will save you a lot of work, making it easier to evolve to the 4th stage of Body Refinement in time"
Spirit Stones are essentially small reservoirs of Qi, dense and pure; absorbing Qi from them was much more efficient than simply absorbing it from the surrounding environment.
An analogy for this is trying to fill a bucket with water; without a spirit stone, it would be like collecting only rainwater, while with a spirit stone, Instead of depending on rain, there would be a well.
Of course, it wasn't something that could be absorbed in a second; it depended on the cultivator's talent and their current realm.
According to Lin Mei, a single spirit stone would take a whole month to absorb all the Qi within it.
Throughout this entire month, the benefits of his cultivation would be doubled. Lin Xiao would absorb it faster, but his gains would be practically equivalent.
It wasn't an exact science, but the fact was that using spirit stones would save a lot of time. Having four of them and adding to that the improvement in his talent, he was quite confident of advancing at least one stage before recruitment.
While the girl was still in shock with the small stone in her hand, Lin Xiao said "Make good use of it and don't tell anyone I gave it to you. I don't want them to think I'm handing out fortunes"
With a wave of his hand, he quickened his pace and entered the large main mansion.
"Lin Xiao..." Mei Mei gripped the spirit stone tightly, then ran to her cultivation room, determined to live up to the trust placed in her.