Chapter 40

In the residence where Lin Tian was staying, Su Shu's cheeks were flushed, and she stared at Lin Tian with wide eyes.

"This was an accident, a misunderstanding."

Lin Tian looked somewhat embarrassed.

How could he have known that Su Shu would spend the entire night with Lin Xi, and that her sleeping posture would be so restless?

"An accident? A misunderstanding?"

Su Shu clenched her teeth, her eyes blazing with fury, as if she wanted to devour Lin Tian.

Lin Tian: "..."

At this moment, keeping silent was the best choice.

For a while, the atmosphere in the room became even more awkward.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Shu finally calmed down, but she still glared at Lin Tian with her big eyes. "Why didn't you come back last night? Where were you fooling around?"

Lin Tian: "..."

Why did she ask such a twisted question?

"Um, practicing martial arts at Qingfeng Ridge."

Lin Tian said.

"Practicing martial arts for a whole night? Weren't you worried about Lin Xi?"

Su Shu was somewhat skeptical.

"Practiced too seriously and lost track of time." Lin Tian said without a hint of embarrassment, and he added a small compliment, "Besides, with a kind and beautiful girl like you here, I'm not worried at all. I believe you would definitely come to accompany Little Xi and take good care of her!"

Lin Tian had a serious expression on his face.

Su Shu's cheeks turned red, and she coughed dryly. "Hmm, your intuition is pretty good, not bad."

"Alright."

Lin Tian smiled.

It seemed that Su Shu was finally in a better mood.

She huffed and stared at Lin Tian, her expression suddenly becoming serious. "By the way, get ready. In two days, the Martial Mansion will organize a ranking trial for the outer mansion disciples, and the trial will take place at Qingfeng Ridge."

"Ranking trial?"

Lin Tian was taken aback.

He had never heard of this before.

"You've been in the Martial Mansion for a month now. The Martial Mansion is divided into the outer mansion and the inner mansion, which you should know. Every year, after new disciples enter the Martial Mansion, the mansion will hold a ranking trial for the outer mansion disciples at an appropriate time. The top thirty will receive rewards, and this is to encourage the disciples to practice."

Su Shu explained.

Lin Tian asked, "What's the content of the trial? Do the disciples fight each other?"

"No." Su Shu shook her head and said, "Qingfeng Ridge is full of beast monsters, and these monsters usually have beast cores in their bodies. The trial is simple: kill the beast monsters, take their cores, and the final ranking will be based on the number and grade of the cores each disciple obtains. The higher the score, the higher the ranking."

"I see, that's a pretty simple rule." Lin Tian nodded, thought for a moment, and then frowned. "The beast monsters in Qingfeng Ridge should be quite fierce. Isn't the Martial Mansion worried that the disciples might be killed by the monsters?"

Su Shu couldn't help but roll her eyes at Lin Tian's question.

"Disciples often go to Qingfeng Ridge to hone their skills. If the Martial Mansion were to worry about disciples being killed by monsters, wouldn't it be like being their parents? This is the Martial Mansion, and the mansion only forbids disciples from killing each other. If someone is killed by a monster in Qingfeng Ridge, it only proves that they are weak."

Su Shu said.

Lin Tian nodded. Although it sounded a bit harsh, it made sense.

"Are you participating?"

Lin Tian asked Su Shu.

Su Shu rolled her eyes. "Of course, or else Old Mu would say I'm not ambitious."

Lin Tian was speechless. This girl called Old Mu so casually, without any respect.

"Can we form a team? How about we go together?"

He said.

Su Shu blinked, then giggled, tiptoed, and patted Lin Tian's shoulder, saying with a reassuring look, "Of course, no worries, big sister will protect you!"

"We are the same age!"

"Really? Then, Senior Sister will protect you."

Lin Tian: "..."

After basically understanding the details of the trial, he paused and suddenly thought of someone. "By the way, the outer mansion has a ranking trial every year. Where does Zhou Hao rank in the outer mansion?"

It's better to ask about the enemy.

Staring at Lin Tian, Su Shu was somewhat surprised. "You don't know?"

"I don't." Lin Tian shook his head, thought for a moment, and added, "I've been too busy lately and haven't had time to inquire."

This time, it was Su Shu's turn to be speechless.

"Zhou Hao, the son of the commander of Fengjian City, is eighteen years old, at the ninth level of Body Tempering, and ranks... first in the outer mansion."

Su Shu said.

Lin Tian nodded. "Oh."

"Oh?"

Su Shu stared at Lin Tian.

"What's wrong?"

"Aren't you worried at all?!"

"Worried about what?"

"First in the outer mansion, ninth level of Body Tempering, in two months, you will have to fight him, and it will be a life-or-death battle!"

Su Shu was speechless. Was this guy not the least bit nervous?

Lin Tian rolled his eyes. "If worrying were useful, why would I bother to practice hard?"

"That's true, but you're taking it too lightly."

Su Shu was speechless.

"Relaxing helps you practice faster."

Lin Tian smiled.

"Is that so..." Su Shu pouted, somewhat teasingly. "You've been relaxed for a month. What level of cultivation have you reached? How far have you progressed with the Shadow Fire Fist and the Gale Wind Sword Technique?"

Lin Tian couldn't help but smile. This girl was trying to mock him.

"Sixth level of Body Tempering, Shadow Fire Fist perfected, Gale Wind Sword Technique perfected."

He said with a faint smile.

Hearing this, Su Shu's eyes widened again.

"What?"

Originally, Su Shu had planned to tease Lin Tian, but she didn't expect to hear such a response.

Sixth level of Body Tempering, Shadow Fire Fist perfected, Gale Wind Sword Technique perfected.

What did this mean?

The Shadow Fire Fist was one thing, but reaching the sixth level of Body Tempering in a month was understandable. However, the Gale Wind Sword Technique being perfected in a month? No one, not even her master Mu Qing, had ever reached the peak of this technique. How could Lin Tian have perfected it in just a month?!

Was his nine-star talent really that monstrous?

"Don't lie to me!"

Su Shu glared at Lin Tian.

"Do you want me to demonstrate my sword intent or my cultivation?"

Lin Tian asked.

"Yes!"

Su Shu nodded repeatedly, unwilling to believe it.

Lin Tian was speechless. Was he that unbelievable?

Without hesitation, he first demonstrated his cultivation, then the third level of the Gale Wind Sword Technique's sword intent.

"You..."

Su Shu's mouth dropped open.

Mu Qing had only reached the second level of the Gale Wind Sword Technique. The third level Lin Tian demonstrated clearly had a stronger sword intent than Mu Qing's second level, indicating it was indeed the third level of the Gale Wind Sword Technique. As for his cultivation, she could tell it was the sixth level of Body Tempering, which was slightly lower than hers.

"Believe me now?"

Lin Tian shrugged.

Su Shu glared at Lin Tian, her teeth clenched.

"You're such a..." The word "monster" almost slipped out, but she remembered the earlier incident, blushed, and corrected herself. "You're such a prodigy!"

"Prodigies are just young people who don't waste their talents."

Lin Tian laughed.

Hearing his laughter, Su Shu was furious, kicked Lin Tian, and ran off.

"Two days from now, meet at the stone gate leading to Qingfeng Ridge."

A voice came from afar, sounding irritated.

Lin Tian smiled and shook his head.

"Outer mansion ranking trial, huh? Well, there are two days left, so I can make some preparations." He muttered to himself.

After a brief rest, Lin Tian went to the top floor of his residence, took out the materials he had bought, and prepared to engrave some fusion martial pattern scrolls of the Gale Wind Sword Technique. Since it was an outer mansion trial, whether for the sake of performance or personal safety, it was always better to be well-prepared.

...

Two days passed in a flash.

On this day, nearly three hundred people stood densely in front of the stone gate leading to Qingfeng Ridge. These were all outer mansion disciples of the Nine Yang Martial Mansion, who would head to Qingfeng Ridge to complete the outer mansion ranking trial, which would last seven days.

"I wonder what the rewards for the top thirty are, it's really exciting."

"What are you excited about? You just entered the Martial Mansion and you want to be in the top thirty?"

"Can't I dream?"

In front of the stone gate, many people were whispering.

Lin Tian arrived and looked around.

"Lin Tian, over here."

Su Shu waved at Lin Tian. Originally, she called him "Little Tian," but after several protests and corrections from Lin Tian, she finally changed it.

"Coming."

Lin Tian ran over quickly.

"Ready?"

Su Shu asked.

"Yep."

Lin Tian nodded. He was wearing a white robe, with a beautiful long sword tied to his back, and he had several fusion martial pattern scrolls of the Gale Wind Sword Technique hidden in his arms.

"Good, you look spirited."

Su Shu smiled.

"Of course."

Lin Tian also smiled.

In front of them, three instructors of the Nine Yang Martial Mansion, all at the initial stage of the Divine Pulse realm, were standing in front of the huge stone gate, addressing the outer mansion disciples. Their words were mostly about boosting morale.

"Alright, the trial begins!"

After half an hour, one of the three instructors finally shouted. As the sound fell, the stone gate to Qingfeng Ridge opened, and a dense aura of beast monsters rushed out.

The group of three hundred, though not particularly grand, moved orderly through the stone gate under the guidance of the Nine Yang Martial Mansion. However, once they passed through the gate, many people immediately shouted and rushed out. These were mostly new disciples, who were very excited.

Lin Tian and Su Shu walked calmly in one direction.

"Su Shu, you should be very familiar with Qingfeng Ridge, right?"

Lin Tian asked.

Su Shu nodded proudly. "Of course."

Lin Tian immediately felt reassured and followed Su Shu. Soon, they were a thousand feet away from the stone gate, completely out of sight.

"Roar!"

"Growl!"

The roars of beast monsters echoed, and the air was filled with a much denser aura of beasts.

"This is the territory of first-level beast monsters. Most of the monsters here are first-level, but occasionally, second-level or even third-level monsters may appear. If you go three thousand feet deeper into Qingfeng Ridge, that area is dominated by second-level monsters. Deeper still, it's the territory of third-level and fourth-level monsters. With our current cultivation, we can only enter the second-level monster area. Entering the third-level monster area would be dangerous."

Su Shu explained.