Chapter 8

"Absolutely not, we can't use your money!"

"How can we use your money!"

As soon as Lin Yiming opened his mouth, the villagers immediately waved their hands in refusal.

"Yiming, your money is for building a house and getting married in the future. We can't use your money."

"That's right, Yiming. Now that you're a warrior, your money should be used to buy supplements to help you train. Your money can't be spent recklessly."

The villagers all knew that using Lin Yiming's money to buy food could help them through the current crisis, but they would not use his money.

"No, everyone, listen to me." Lin Yiming said sincerely, "Back when my sister and I wandered into this village, even though I was young, I knew that my sister, who was only a few years older than me, could barely take care of herself, let alone support me. If it weren't for the uncles and aunts in the village, my sister and I would have starved to death long ago."

"Now, I'm just contributing some money. If the money is gone, I can earn it back. But if we lose our lives, we lose everything. Please don't refuse my money, otherwise, how can my sister and I have the face to stay here!"

Lin Yiming remembered very clearly that when he and his sister were young and came to the village, the old village chief took them in. His sister had a strong personality and didn't want to live in someone else's house, relying on others.

So the villagers spontaneously built them a thatched hut. Whenever someone hunted wild game, they would always send a little over, saying it was for the whole village.

In reality, that little bit of wild game couldn't possibly be enough for the whole village.

Even the clothes Lin Yiming wore as a child were mostly made by the village women.

The kindness the village showed to him and his sister, he remembered very clearly and would never forget in his life.

With Lin Yiming speaking so sincerely, the villagers couldn't refuse, but they wouldn't accept it completely.

In the end, all the villagers decided unanimously that they would take the money, but it would be a loan. When the village's situation improved, they would definitely pay it back.

Seeing that the villagers finally accepted his offer, Lin Yiming finally felt relieved and a smile returned to his face. "Since that's the case, I'll take the money early tomorrow morning, and we'll set off together."

"Set off together? Are you going too, Lin Yiming?" The villagers were surprised.

"Of course, I'm going. Buying grain in town will take about seven to eight days. The journey isn't peaceful, with bandits and mountain robbers. Since I'm a warrior, I can protect everyone's safety if we encounter robbers."

When Lin Yiming finished speaking, everyone became even more worried. Lin Yiming was only sixteen, in the prime of his youth.

If they didn't encounter bandits, it would be fine, but if they did, and Lin Yiming got into a fight and something happened to him, they would feel guilty for the rest of their lives.

"No, Lin Yiming, you can't go." Uncle Chen waved his hand. "You should stay and teach the village children. As for buying grain, we can take the official road. The official road is built by the government, and there are many people on it, so bandits are rare. We'll just pay some tolls and carriage fees, but our safety will be guaranteed."

Lin Yiming thought about what Uncle Chen said and found it reasonable, so he didn't insist.

The next morning, the people going to town to buy grain set off, while Lin Yiming stayed at home, continuing to use the dagger to dig into the mysterious immortal energy space for training, and teaching the village children.

Two days passed in a blink.

"Condensation Phase! I actually broke through!" Lin Yiming stood up from the ground with a look of surprise. He had broken through, and he had done it so easily. From the start of his training to now, it had only been six days. In these six days, he had progressed from the beginning of the Spirit Induction Phase to the Condensation Phase, a major realm! This training speed was simply terrifying!

In the Condensation Phase, one can absorb the spiritual energy of the world, and there is also spiritual energy within the body. If one can use the spiritual energy absorbed from the world to activate the spiritual energy within the body, they enter the Condensation Phase.

Both inside and out, the spiritual energy within the body and the spiritual energy of the world change, which is considered true cultivation. After entering the Condensation Phase, the spiritual energy within the body condenses into primordial energy, stored in the qi sea. When using techniques or fighting, the primordial energy surges out, transforming into spiritual energy to attack.

After the Condensation Phase comes the Spirit Lock Phase.

Even if one absorbs spiritual energy, it cannot remain in the body indefinitely. Even if one immediately cultivates after absorbing it, some of the spiritual energy will still dissipate.

The Spirit Lock Phase is like a lock, completely sealing the spiritual energy within the body to prevent it from dissipating.

After the Spirit Lock Phase comes the Martial Spirit Heart.

In the Shuiyao Sect, there are many people who have been in the Spirit Induction Phase for over ten years without breaking through to the Condensation Phase. Generally, in the Shuiyao Sect, those who can break through to the Condensation Phase within ten years are considered very talented. Those who can break through within five years are considered outstanding disciples within the sect.

Those who can break through within three years are all considered geniuses by the sect.

As for breaking through to the Condensation Phase within six days, even the most favored geniuses in the sect, who are trained by experts with innate spiritual energy, cannot achieve such a rapid cultivation speed.

With innate spiritual energy, breaking through within a year is already extremely rare.

In six days, if others knew that someone could break through to the Condensation Phase in just six days, they would be shocked to death. This immortal energy is truly from the immortal realm, too powerful and terrifying!

Lin Yiming clenched his fists in wild joy and swung them fiercely in the room. With this immortal energy, what was he afraid of?

He couldn't guarantee other things, but with the immortal energy, he could definitely aim for the Martial Spirit Heart.

"Knock, knock..."

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded, followed by Xiaohu's voice: "Big brother, a strange person has come to the village to appraise something. Go take a look quickly."

"Strange person?" Lin Yiming was taken aback for a moment, then he walked out of the room and headed towards his appraisal room. After entering the Condensation Phase, his vision was clearly much stronger than that of ordinary people.

Not far from his house, he saw a massive creature standing outside his appraisal room.

"Strange beast!"

Lin Yiming's eyes suddenly narrowed. In this world, there are many very powerful fierce beasts, many of which are stronger than warriors, and these fierce beasts are called strange beasts.

In the Shuiyao Sect, he had seen three strange beasts, but the three strange beasts in the Shuiyao Sect were clearly not as powerful as the one in front of him.

This strange beast looked as big as a fully grown tiger, with strong limbs full of power.

Its body was like a lion, strong and powerful, and it had a head similar to a deer, with a pair of horns on top...

At first glance, this strange beast looked somewhat like the legendary "four不像" (four不像 is a term for a mythical creature that looks like a mix of four different animals), but upon closer inspection, it was clearly different.

Lin Yiming searched his memory but found no description of this strange beast in the books he had read in the Shuiyao Sect.

On the back of the strange beast sat a middle-aged man with a thick beard covering most of his face.

But even with this beard, Lin Yiming felt a sense of inexplicable danger... Although he couldn't gauge the man's strength, he knew this person was not simple!

He must have the strength of a true disciple of the Shuiyao Sect.

Lin Yiming quickly walked up to the man and greeted him with a smile, "Sir, are you here to appraise something?"

"What? You call me sir!" The man on the strange beast stared down at Lin Yiming, his face instantly filled with helplessness: "Brother, do I look that old? I'm only a few years older than you. I just grew up quickly. I'm only in my early twenties, not even twenty-five, and you call me sir!"

Lin Yiming was stunned. This guy wasn't much older than him. But he looked like he was in his thirties. Could it be... premature aging!

Embarrassed, Lin Yiming coughed and paused before smiling, "Brother, are you here to appraise something? Please come in..."

"Alright."

The man jumped off the strange beast and followed Lin Yiming into the room. From his attire and demeanor, it was clear he was no ordinary person. However, compared to the warriors from the Sanguan Sect, the bearded man didn't have an air of arrogance and was very calm.