Back in his room, Lin Xun began to count today’s gains.

“Small Sumeru Ring” was an extinct treasure, with its inner space big enough to hold a mountain of about 333 meters in height. And it owned wonderful functions of purifying the heart, nourishing the spirit and regulating Qi of the wearer.

Lin finally rested assured after making sure the ring was not rigged with careful checks. And then he moved all his belongings in it.

What was rare was that the “Small Sumeru Ring” was of austere style, with its whole body like a piece of black jade. It was hard for a person who was not a connoisseur to recognize that it was an extinct treasure.

In addition to the “Small Sumeru Ring”, Lin gained 54 imperial gold coins, the total reward for his three spiritual weapons on consignment and two spiritual-weapons of refining tasks. Of course, it was the final amount after 10% of the original had been drawn by the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists.

It had already been a very handsome income to earn 54 imperial gold coins a day, which was equivalent to 5,400 imperial silver coins.

At last, it was the 10 credits given by the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists. Lin had learnt that such a credit, which could be redeemed for 3 imperial gold coins, was very valuable.

Lin would certainly not redeem his credits for money. The credits could be redeemed for other treasures such as spiritual weapons, gear and spiritual materials, and this was the privilege of spiritual tattooists only.

After counting all these, Lin took a deep breath, abandoned all thoughts and began to cultivate.

The purpose of making money in the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists was to better maintain his own cultivation. Lin Xun would not neglect the essentials just because of earning money.

In addition, the signing-up for Province Test would start in about ten more days. Lin had intended to use the time to polish his cultivation.

...

At the same time Lin cultivated, Chu Feng sat quietly, cross-legged, in the deepest sanctum on the second floor of the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists.

Everyone in the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists knew that this sanctum was a forbidden area which no one except Chu Feng could set foot in.

However, a delicate and slender figure was sitting cross-legged across from Chu Feng right now.

The room was dark. It was only faintly discernible that it was a young girl with beautiful profile and comely facial features.

Cross-legged, she sat there silently, with her hands down on her knees.

The scene that Chu Feng sat face to face with a young girl in silence in the dark sanctum appeared a little bit weird and mysterious.

After a long time, Chu Feng broke the silence by saying, “I must have a try no matter what will happen. There’s only one chance and I can’t afford to miss it again.”

His voice was low, lacking the usual warmth.

“Ar Qing, I can’t forget things of the past. I can’t forget about the pains those guys have brought to us for a single moment all these years!”

There was coldness seen on Chu Feng’s expression.

Ar Qing let out a sigh and said, “Brother, do you think this teenager can be relied on?”

Chu Feng laughed instantly, and with Lin’s figure back in his mind, he said with a touch of wonder, “You can’t judge a person by his look. You don’t understand it, Ar Qing. A teenager like him is destined to become the empire’s chosen one as long as he grows up!”

With sparkling eyes, Chu Feng said fanatically, “I’ve been studying on spiritual tattoos all these years and have seen all kinds of geniuses. But it was only after I met Lin Xun that I realized all the geniuses I’ve seen before are just a group of trash!”

Ar Qing was shocked at the rare fever that Chu Feng who was generally calm showed. And she couldn’t help but wonder if that lad was truly out of the ordinary.

“It’s true that he’s still too young and lacks enough power and strength. But I can wait for him to grow stronger step by step!”

Chu Feng took a deep breath and said with determined eyes, “I believe that he will definitely make the great leap step by step and become an influential big spot by means of his minds and endowments in the future!”

Speaking of this, Chu Feng, with a touch of tenderness in his eyes, looked at the girl across from him and said, “By then, there will be hope for our revenge, and Ar Qing, you’ll no longer have to hide in the dark as you do now.”

Ar Qing seemed a little excited. But instantly, she had a bitter smile, “Brother, I’m afraid that the lad will be a different person by then. Are you sure he will still help us?”

Chu Feng was in silence for a moment, and then he said, “What else can be done even if I’m not sure? This is our only chance. If we don’t grasp it this time, the situation will only get more and more dangerous for us later on...”

Ar Qing couldn’t help but say, “Brother, why don’t you directly tell him all of this?”

Chu Feng shook his head, “It’s not the time for now. If I tell him now, it will only make him watch out for me. We are now strangers to him after all. Do you think he can agree to help us if we make this sudden request?”

Flooded with thoughts, Ar Qing heaved a long sigh.

“Ar Qing, you don’t have to think about this. I’ll take care of it all. In my opinion, our request will be no big deal to him when he truly becomes an influential big shot.”

Chu Feng tried to appease her with a smile.

Ar Qing nodded, “Brother, I still feel it very bad to deceive others. You... you promise to confess to him someday. Excellent lads like him will surely dislike being deceiving.”

After letting out a sound of consent, Chu Feng immediately stood up, “Ar Qing, you get a good rest. I need to deal with some matters.”

He pushed the door open and left, leaving the young lady alone, whose delicate figure faded in the dark sanctum.

The moment he walked out of the sanctum, Chu Feng restored his elegant and graceful manner, radiating a demeanor of easiness and grace in every gesture.

Before long, Chu Feng walked into another sanctum.

There were already some people waiting here, including a skinny old man, a seemingly simple and honest but sturdy young man and an enchanting but seemingly flirtatious woman.

When seeing Chu Feng come in, the three all stood up, with a hint of respect on their faces.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Elder Diao, Xiong San and Yan Mei.”

After greeting them with a smile, Chu Feng then said, “I have one thing to trouble you by summoning you here this time.”

The old man, who was called Elder Diao, nodded, “Dude, just say it. Your business is also our business.”

Chu Feng said, “Then I will say it directly. I need you to help me protect a person this time and keep his identity from being known by others.”

“To protect a person?”

Elder Diao, Xiong San and Yan Mei were all surprised. They had expected it to be something dangerous, but only to find that they were simply asked to protect a person, which couldn’t be easier.”

“Yes, the key is to make sure that his life is not disturbed by others.”

Chu Feng said with a serious look, “This matter is very important to me, so I ask you to put your shoulder to the wheel.”

Elder Diao said, “So we must act secretly without direct intervention in his life even if we are going to protect him.”

Chu Feng applauded, ‘Exactly.”

“Well then, leave it to us!’

Elder Diao promised after thinking about it for a moment.

...

Lin led a tranquil life in the following days. He went to the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists in the morning and would come back home to cultivate after finishing two tasks of refining spiritual weapons.

But for the Commune of Spiritual Tattooists, it had been bustling with life with a large number of practitioners being attracted here every day recently since “Master Xun” got famous.

It was unfortunate that Lin Xun only took two refining tasks every day and he only refined middle-grade spiritual weapons of Human-rank, which made many practitioners disappointed.

But many practitioners keenly found that tasks taken on by Master Xun would be successfully accomplished with no failure. Moreover, all the spiritual weapons refined by him were unique, with higher power than the similar spiritual weapons sold on market.

Thus the status of “Master Xun” grew nobler in many practitioners’ hearts. And the identity of “Master Xun” also became one of the heatedly discussed topics.

Someone swore that Master Xun was a prominent figure who had acted as a teacher in the imperial Green-deer School earlier years and the reason why he came to the Mist City was because of his close relationship with Chu Feng, director of Commune of Spiritual Tattooists.

There was also someone arguing by saying that “Master Xun” was in fact a big shot from one of the three aristocratic families of spiritual tattooists in the empire and his coming to the Mist City this time was to meet Liu Qingyan, the famous artistic practitioner.

Of course, this statement was more absurd. It was known by all in the Mist City that Liu Qingyan wouldn’t arrive in the Mist City until two or three months later, after all.

All in all, discussions about the identity of “Master Xun” went on in various versions. It was hard to say which one was real.

This was exactly the influence.

When Lin heard of these rumors, he couldn’t help laughing. Such reputation was absolutely a burden to him. He would rather earn money quietly than acknowledge any relations with “Master Xun”.

Lin Xun also felt it odd sometimes that he had recently led a very tranquil life. It didn’t appear to be what Shue Jin had told him—that there would be people sparing no effort in nosing around for his identity.

But after thinking about it carefully, Lin realized that maybe Shue Jin had made his move in secret and helped resolve a lot of unseen spies for him. So, he could lead a tranquil life now.

When returning home today and seeing Shue Jin sleeping soundly in the corner, Lin couldn’t help asking, “Hey, Jin, these days...”

Shue Jin, who was sleeping, suddenly gave a loud belch and interrupted Lin, “It’s enough for you to focus on your cultivation. Why do you worry yourself about this?”

Hearing this, Lin laughed. He was finally sure that he owed this tranquility to Shue Jin.

Shue Jin suddenly added, “That Chu Feng did really take care of you in every possible way. He also sent three persons to protect you secretly. But they were all driven away by me. They will surely be unhelpful with their little power when the strong ones come.”

Lin Xun was stunned, and then said after thinking for a moment, “It turns out there’s such a thing.”

“This is exactly a favor,” Shue Jin gave an exclamation, then turned over and continued to sleep.

Lin said thoughtfully, “Buddy, have you suffered for favor?”

Shue Jin didn’t seem to have heard Lin’s words. He slept soundly, with his snores loud as thunder.

But Lin noticed that Shue Jin’s body unnoticeably stiffen when he spoke out his question.

“It seems that this guy is also a person full of stories.”

Lin gave an exclamation in his heart, then turned around and waked into his room.

The signing-up of Province Test would start in Mist College tomorrow. Lin needed to make some preparations in advance.

Click to read C200 - Mist College and more on Flying Lines ahead!