Chapter 102: Chapter 98: Sparrow’s Essence Soul

Zhu Huaishan knew the other man was likely skeptical. After all, the Liuhe Sect was located in a small place like Qinghe County, and its resources were far inferior to the Xingyun Sect’s.

Training a martial artist to refine their tendons before the age of twenty was incredibly difficult, to say nothing of the fact that Zhao Lin was only sixteen.

Honestly, if their roles were reversed, he wouldn’t believe it either.

With this in mind, he said with a smile, "Since Senior Brother Pan has his doubts, we can just wait for Zhao Lin to return this afternoon. You’ll know with a single glance."

"But there is one thing I should inform you of, Senior Brother Pan. I haven’t yet publicly announced his breakthrough to the Qi Realm."

"The Moisturizing Pill is a rarity in Qinghe County, and I don’t want outsiders coveting it."

The white-robed elder waved his hand. "Don’t worry, Junior Brother Zhu. I understand your concerns and will keep this a secret."

...

Zhao Lin returned to the Liuhe Sect carrying a birdcage. A newly enrolled apprentice, Wu Dun, walked over and said, "Senior Brother Zhao, Master said to go find him in the backyard as soon as you got back."

"Alright."

Zhao Lin assumed his master was calling him to practice, so he didn’t give it much thought and headed for the backyard after acknowledging.

As he passed through a corridor, he ran into a servant woman and handed her the birdcage. "Help me put this away. I’ll need it later."

The servant woman lowered her head, took it, and asked, "Should I pluck it now? Stir-fried or deep-fried?"

Zhao Lin grimaced and instructed, "We’re not eating it. Keep it alive. Put it in the woodshed; I’ll deal with it myself."

He walked into the backyard and saw his master, Zhu Huaishan, sitting under a tree with a white-robed elder. A young man stood respectfully at their side.

"Master."

Zhao Lin stepped forward and bowed.

"Let’s talk in the study."

Zhu Huaishan gave him a meaningful look, then stood and headed toward the study.

Zhao Lin stepped aside and gestured for the guests to go first, following behind them. ’Why are there so many strangers visiting lately?’ he wondered.

"This is Dean Pan from the inner court of the Xingyun Sect."

Zhu Huaishan made the introduction once they arrived in the study. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"This junior, Zhao Lin, greets Senior Pan." Zhao Lin bowed deeply.

"Mm." The elder surnamed Pan only gave a slight nod.

Zhu Huaishan cleared his throat and said, "Dean Pan would like to see your cultivation to confirm whether you’ve entered the Qi Realm."

Zhao Lin was slightly taken aback, feeling it was strange.

’It’s a long way from Yan Province to Ying Province. Did this Elder Pan really travel all this way just to check my cultivation level?’

’Could it be that he sees my talent and wants to take me as his disciple?’

But he immediately dismissed the idea. The youth beside the elder was even younger than him and bore a striking resemblance to the old man. He was likely a junior relative, so there was no need to travel so far just for him.

Zhao Lin noticed his master’s expression, and a thought struck him: ’The Moisturizing Pill!’

’That pill is a highly sought-after item even in the Xingyun Sect. Could they have come for that?’

’If that’s the case, the pill’s already in my stomach, so there’s nothing to worry about.’

A secret passage connected the training room to the study. Zhu Huaishan opened the hidden door, and they filed into the underground area.

"I’ll begin then."

Zhao Lin silently activated the Sea Return Skill, drawing the Jin energy from his body and channeling it through his meridians into his Qi Sea.

In less time than it takes to eat a meal, as the Jin energy flowed through his meridians, Zhao Lin’s Qi and Blood grew more abundant, and a powerful force began to radiate from him naturally.

The elder surnamed Pan lowered his gaze and let out an imperceptible sigh.

The youth, however, didn’t look disappointed; he just sized up Zhao Lin with curiosity.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Zhu. You’ve taken on a fine disciple."

Dean Pan composed himself and cupped his fist towards Zhu Huaishan. "When your disciple comes to the Xingyun Sect in the future, he is sure to accomplish great things. We shall take our leave for today."

Zhu Huaishan returned the gesture. "You’re too kind, Dean Pan. I’ll have to ask you to look after him then."

"But of course..."

After a few more pleasantries, Zhu Huaishan saw Dean Pan and the youth off. Zhao Lin was in the middle of circulating his energy and couldn’t move, so he could only listen as their footsteps faded into the distance.

It took him nearly four hours to fully restore his Qi Realm cultivation. He seized the opportunity to gather his Jin energy and assault a new acupoint...

By the time he broke through the acupoint and dispersed the Jin energy back into his body, the training room had grown dark, indicating that night had fallen outside.

"Master."

Zhao Lin walked into the study and saw Zhu Huaishan reading. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "That Dean Pan who came today..."

Zhu Huaishan put down his book and smiled. "Let me test you. Why do you think they came?"

"It couldn’t have been for the Moisturizing Pill, could it?"

"Precisely. But since you’ve already taken it, he has no other designs. It’s late. Go on back."

"Yes."

Zhao Lin left the study. As he was about to head back to the county yamen, he suddenly remembered the sparrow. He walked to a corner of the courtyard and pushed open the woodshed door.

CREAK...

By the light of the moon and stars, Zhao Lin saw the bamboo cage with the sparrow resting on a bundle of firewood.

He opened the cage, reached in to grab the sparrow, and tucked it into his sleeve before leaving the Liuhe Sect.

The night was cool, the sky full of stars.

A few strands of silver light coalesced around the sparrow’s Essence Soul, floating in mid-air.

Zhao Lin stared at the sparrow’s body in his hand, his face etched with confusion.

As expected, the Spirit Beast Scroll in his mind began to tremble again.

’Looks like it wasn’t that the sparrow from this morning was special. I can absorb the Essence Soul of any sparrow!’

’How strange.’

He couldn’t wrap his head around it. This completely overturned his understanding of the Spirit Beast Scroll, which he thought could only absorb the Essence Souls of existing abilities, like strength or speed.

If an ability required growing new organs, it couldn’t be absorbed—for example, flight or spitting silk.

He had thought he’d figured out how to use the Spirit Beast Scroll, but now he was confused again.

When he arrived at the county yamen, Liang Song was still awake. Zhao Lin asked him a question, "Brother Liang, what kind of special abilities do you think sparrows have?"

Liang Song was taken aback for a moment, then said with some amusement, "A common house sparrow? What kind of abilities could it have?"

But seeing Zhao Lin’s serious expression, he wiped the smile from his face and thought for a moment. "Well, if you had to name one notable skill, I suppose it would be flight."

"Mm, that’s what I thought too."

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just asking."

Zhao Lin mulled it over. Compared to other animals, a sparrow’s only real specialty was flight.

’If I absorb its Essence Soul, will I really be able to fly?’

’How would I fly?’

Zhao Lin reached back and felt his own spine. It was flat and solid. Forget wings, there wasn’t even a bump.

’But given how the Spirit Beast Scroll is reacting, it can’t be that absorbing it would have no effect, right?’

But then again, if it was useless, it wasn’t like he could go argue with the Spirit Beast Scroll.

’Better to be cautious.’

The Spirit Beast Scroll currently had six empty slots. While that was plenty, he couldn’t just use them carelessly.

Rather than adding a useless ability, it would be better to absorb the Essence Soul of a snake or a Fragrant Mink. At least then he could gain thermal tracking and a superior sense of smell.

After thinking it over and over, Zhao Lin suddenly came up with a plan.

Since he wasn’t sure if the sparrow’s Essence Soul granted flight, he could try a different kind of bird. If the Spirit Beast Scroll still reacted, it would prove that he really could absorb the Essence Souls of avian creatures.

He made up his mind and lay down to sleep, but he just tossed and turned, unable to rest.

"I really can’t rest easy until I figure this out."