Chapter 27: A Visitor

Wang Lin looked at Zhang Hu's retreating figure, sighed after a long time, and gripped the yellow paper in his hand. He felt sad; Zhang Hu was his first friend at the Hengyue School, but now, something like this had happened.

"This Immortal Talisman is the root of the trouble!" Wang Lin glanced at the yellow paper in his hand, his expression changing. He immediately noticed the difference. Although the yellow paper looked identical to the Immortal Talismans used for visiting family, the Spiritual Qi contained within it far exceeded all the visitation Immortal Talismans. Furthermore, a dangerous aura emanated from it. Wang Lin was startled. Although he didn't know what it was, it was definitely a treasure.

After a brief hesitation, Wang Lin put away the yellow paper. Looking at the corpse on the ground, he sighed inwardly. If he didn't dispose of the body, given Zhang Hu's speed, he would likely not escape the School's pursuit.

Fortunately, the space inside the Storage Pouch was large enough for a corpse. After tidying the room and wiping away the bloodstains, Wang Lin quietly left. He found a mountain stream in the hills, threw the corpse down, and then cautiously returned to his room.

After a moment of reflection, he stopped thinking about Zhang Hu's situation. Instead, he took out the Immortal Talisman and began to study it carefully.

At first glance, this Immortal Talisman seemed no different from the ones Named Disciples used for visiting family. However, upon closer inspection, Wang Lin realized that both the material and the vermillion brushstrokes on it were far superior to the former.

Wang Lin pinched the Immortal Talisman and pondered for a moment. He wasn't sure of the talisman's specific function. Ever since he had rashly drunk the Mysterious Dew that day and nearly died, he had become highly wary of items belonging to Immortals and dared not use them carelessly.

Coupled with the faint trace of danger emanating from the Immortal Talisman, he became even more cautious. After a moment of hesitation, he placed the Immortal Talisman inside his Storage Pouch, saving it for future study.

Having finished this, he took out the Mysterious Bead and entered the Dream Space.

This time, he didn't focus all his energy on breathing exercises; instead, he set aside some time to practice the Gravity Spell.

After using the Gravity Spell on Senior Brother Liu previously, he found it quite practical, so he made a firm decision to practice it continuously.

He first used a Gourd as his practice target, casting the Gravity Spell to grab it from a distance. The Gourd was very light. After several attempts, he finally managed to grab it. Seeing his success, Wang Lin immediately stopped the Gravity Spell and started over.

Wang Lin's idea was simple: he believed that the Gravity Spell must be performed flawlessly, succeeding ten out of ten times. Otherwise, no matter how powerful it was, if he couldn't use it at a critical moment, it would be useless.

He calculated that in his current state, he could only succeed three or four times out of ten, far short of his own requirements.

Time flew quickly inside the Dream Space. Before Wang Lin knew it, the tearing sensation arrived, and he returned to reality. He didn't waste time. The moment he opened his eyes, he drank several large mouthfuls of Spring Water and began meditating and performing breathing exercises again. Once his entire body was filled with sufficient Spiritual Qi, he took a deep breath, his eyes flickering as the content of the Qi Condensation Three Chapters echoed in his mind.

Besides the Mind-Cultivation Technique for each layer, the Qi Condensation Three Chapters also recorded two extremely crucial Incantations!

This Incantation was the true key to Qi Condensation. The Qi Condensation stage had a total of fifteen layers. Except for the first layer, which could be Cultivated naturally, the remaining fourteen layers all required their respective activation Incantations.

For example, he had already finished Cultivating the first layer of the Qi Condensation stage. Without the Incantation to activate the second layer, even if he mastered the Mind-Cultivation Technique for the second layer, he would be unable to Cultivate to the second layer and could only linger in the first.

Wang Lin silently chanted the Incantation in his heart, and the Spiritual Qi throughout his body immediately began to change. This change was subtle at first, but the longer it went on, the more intense it became, eventually surging through his body like boiling water.

Gradually, the Spiritual Qi became clearly insufficient, intermittently dispersing throughout his body. Sourness, numbness, itchiness, and pain—all sorts of sensations arose throughout his body. He had the illusion that his body was riddled with holes, and Spiritual Power was the source of it all.

The Qi Condensation Three Chapters prominently highlighted one sentence.

The activation Incantation for each layer is not guaranteed to succeed every time; aptitude, Spiritual Qi, opportunity, and other factors all play a crucial role. Some people may succeed on the first try, while others may require ten or even a hundred attempts… After a long while, the various sensations slowly faded. Wang Lin was drenched in sweat, and the Spiritual Qi inside his body had completely vanished. However, Wang Lin understood from the Qi Condensation Three Chapters that this dissipation was only temporary and could be restored with a single session of meditation. Although he failed to successfully activate the second layer, Wang Lin was not discouraged. This time was merely an attempt, and the facts proved that the Spiritual Qi currently within his body was insufficient to open the second layer.

After all, he had only just finished Cultivating the first layer. He wasn't anxious. Since he had the Spring Water Gourd, he could simply continue Cultivating the first layer until he reached the limit of the first layer's Spiritual Qi, and then try activating the second layer again. This way, the success rate would naturally increase significantly.

With this plan in mind, Wang Lin began Cultivating day and night once more. The Spiritual Power within him gradually accumulated, and the success rate of his Gravity Spell slowly improved.

He also attempted the Incantation to activate the second layer multiple times during this period, but unfortunately, they all failed.

Half a month later in reality, and three months later in the Dream Space, Wang Lin was performing breathing exercises that day, waiting for the interval time before entering the Dream Space. Seeing that it was still early, he hesitated briefly, then immediately chanted the Incantation to activate the second layer silently, preparing to try one more time.

He no longer remembered how many times he had attempted it. Each time resulted in all the Spiritual Qi in his body dissipating, and he never succeeded.

An hour later, Wang Lin tiredly raised his head, all the Spiritual Qi in his body having vanished. He gave a wry smile and muttered, "Failed again. Activating this second layer is truly too difficult!" Suddenly, his expression changed, his eyes flickering as he stared at the door.

"Junior Brother Wang, come out and see me!" A cold voice came from outside the door.

The voice sounded familiar. Wang Lin got up, pushed open the door, and saw a cold-faced young man in his late twenties, dressed in Black Clothes, standing outside.

"Black Clothes!" Wang Lin's heart tightened. He recognized the person; it was the youth surnamed Zhang who had brought him, Wang Zhuo, and Wang Hao to the Hengyue School that day. It was also this person who had taken Wang Lin's father to find him at the bottom of the cliff.

However, Wang Lin remembered that the person was wearing White Clothes back then, but now, only a few months later, he had actually been promoted to Black Clothes! He suddenly recalled that during the test down the mountain, the Third Senior Brother who took Wang Hao as a Medicine Boy had mentioned that the youth was at a crucial point in his Cultivation, and the Sect Leader feared affecting his Cultivation, so he was arranged to conduct the test instead.