Chapter 454

"After you get back, remember to drink plenty of hot water, maybe add some brown sugar—it helps stabilize your spirit. By the way."

Su Lin stood before the portal in a white lab coat, skillfully filling out a form and handing it to Jiangshan, then said slowly: "Don't eat spicy or greasy food."

Jiangshan nodded blankly, standing motionless and silent, clutching the form, until Song Shuhang, trembling with fear, finally gathered the courage to approach.

"Senior." Song Shuhang asked tentatively: "Are you alright?"

Jiangshan turned his gaze toward Song Shuhang; his unfocused eyes bore no sign of life.

"The weight of the Law is still too strong," Su Lin sighed, scratching his head in frustration: "No choice—this interview will have to wait until next time. Go rest; you'll likely return to normal in about three days."

"It's just a pity—you probably won't remember anything by then."

Jiangshan nodded again, flapping his wings of sacred light particles and departed.

"The Dao is hard indeed—the blue sky may still be climbed, but the Dao cannot be scaled," Su Lin gazed at the fading light on the horizon and murmured:

"Awareness and passion alone aren't enough; only by grounding yourself and accumulating strength can you wait for the moment to soar."

Song Shuhang: "."

Are you talking about the Dao to a cultivator in angelic form?

Reason told Song Shuhang he should avoid probing what had happened to the other in that world—even though less than half an hour had passed.

"Three days… he'll return to normal, right?" Song Shuhang worried for Jiangshan.

Su Lin was confident: "Of course—he's forgotten everything completely. Now, he retains only a trace of muscle memory."

"Even the wings are muscle memory?" Song Shuhang stared blankly: "Senior, I've read a lot—don't fool me."

"Wings? Those wings have nothing to do with me," Su Lin thought for a moment and said: "It seems they formed when something inside him called a 'demon of the heart' solidified into physical form."

Since it didn't seem harmful, Su Lin left it be—considered it Jiangshan's fortune. Otherwise, if he returned from his Dao quest with no gains at all, wouldn't people laugh at him, Su Lin, for being stingy?

Su Lin departed; he still had to go to his library to distribute prizes and lead the top three contestants to collect their rewards.

Only Song Shuhang remained still—he suddenly felt as if his feet were filled with lead, and only then did he remember one thing:

When he activated his Dream Entry talent, faced with Su Lin Senior's two timelines, he didn't choose fortune—he chose the distance between "life" and "death."

In this realm, the demon of the heart is formless and intangible, shifting endlessly, approaching the nature of a conceptual thought.

You said those wings were the demon of the heart?

What the hell kind of demon of the heart!

Song Shuhang thought if Su Lin Senior went to Jiuyou, he'd thrive spectacularly.

"Thank you, Senior Su Lin, for granting this cultivation technique!"

Many ordinary cultivators clutched the techniques in their hands, bowed with smiles, and took their leave.

Not particularly valuable techniques, but useful for reference—after all, they'd only joined the Handcart Race as an afterthought, yet even the participation prize was so generous.

Those who had been on track to enter the top fifty but were dragged down and failed still felt regret—the new system lay right before them, yet they could only halt in place.

Still, looking at the technique in hand, their hearts felt slightly better.

It was like receiving a red envelope during the New Year—you didn't expect much cash inside, but the joy was real enough.

"Su~Lin~Senior~" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan slapped Su Lin on the shoulder, somehow producing a cigarette and shoving it into Su Lin's mouth, then snapped his fingers to light it:

"Look, everyone's been distributed their rewards—what about us?"

Su Lin, who had no habit of smoking, pulled the cigarette out and turned it into ash, then turned to the two Blood Tribulation Immortals whose eyes burned with eagerness and excitement.

He opened a jade gate adorned with mysterious patterns; white mist flowed out, followed by blinding light.

The Avatar of the God of Light materialized from the air and walked ahead. "Come in. Choose only one."

Having received Su Lin's permission, the two thanked him and hurried after.

"The wind today is unusually noisy."

A breeze brushed past; Su Lin turned the ash in his hand into a white dove and released it into the sky: "By the way, Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan, why are you still here? The Heavenly Dao Library's gates are already open for you."

"You tell me," Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan pointed to the circle of friends behind him and smiled: "Begin your performance—I want something of equivalent value to the Immortal Wine."

Tsk.

Hard to fool.

Su Lin looked at Song Shuhang and said: "Teach me your technique for projecting memory as images and text."

Song Shuhang nodded, took a memory transmission crystal from his storage pouch, and engraved the technique's runes onto it.

"Let me be clear—what do you want?" Su Lin asked Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "A demonic fire? A technique? Or a grandpa? To be blunt: once a teacher, always a father—disobedience is unacceptable. Just exchange for resources."

"More importantly, the budget I've allocated for you is insufficient—you can only pick something like a temporary power-up, Super Saiyan, or red-horned triple-speed boost."

"I've been away from modern society too long—I was still in the era of emo hairstyles and blocky computer screens when I crossed over. Please speak in terms I can understand," Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan said, baffled but not interested in any of those things.

Recalling his life before crossing over, internet cafes still had blocky CRT monitors, everyone wore side-swept bangs covering their eyes, and even when he occasionally lived in the modern world, his internet surfing intensity couldn't match Lu Mingfei or Zhou Mingrui's dead-end obsessions.

"It's been a while—I'm curious what good things you have there," Ye Fan said.

Ye Qingxian was applying medicine to his battered body while using immortal energy to dissolve the lingering divine energy in Ye Fan's veins; she glanced at Shi Mou, who was whistling over there, and felt a touch of exasperation toward her youthful version of the old man.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan nodded: "Do you have anything that can enhance bloodline or talent? Or some… you know, items?"

"For example? Don't ask if it exists—be specific," Su Lin tapped the air twice.

Asking if such things exist? Who are you looking down on?

If my wallet weren't empty, I'd just pour a can into each of you to keep those Dragon Overlords, Dragon Kings, War Gods, and Asuras from sneering at us.

Of course, let them sneer now—money is always insufficient when you need it. —Su Lin, who kept his fixed spending limit at one-twentieth of his total assets, thought thus.

The benefits of hoarding Sacred Manifestation Points are real—spending them all on power growth lets you digest part of it quickly, but full digestion will take an immense span of time.

Saving them is different—gacha isn't the only thing in life; there are enemies and grudges too.

If I encounter an opponent I can't defeat, my current savings, fully spent, could let me unleash a massive surge without gacha or ultimate transcendence.

"A gourmet tablecloth, a mini searchlight, an empty fourth-dimensional pocket—if all else fails, I can give you a factory-original Blue Fatty," Su Lin said after absorbing the technique from the crystal.

"As for enhancing talent and innate quality—your current level is already top-tier. Where else do you want to improve?"

He drinks from spirit springs, eats holy fruits, orders takeout prepared by immortal chefs, and snacks on self-refined pill beans in his free time—how many years has this been going on?

If you still think your talent isn't good enough, Liu Li Ge and Dongmu Brownie will be heartbroken.

"Uh…" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan winked at Su Lin and gestured with his hand: "Not for myself—I'm giving it to younger juniors."

"How young?" Su Lin pointed at himself, puzzled. "I'm younger than you, Brother Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan—will you give it to me?"

"How about I give you a Buddha-Fury Fire Lotus? " Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan took a deep breath, but for now he didn't want these guys to know how things were progressing.

Just look at how shameless these people are—being teased every few days will be the least of it; if the joke king turns him into the joke, it'll be unbearable.

It's fine if Su Lin goes to play in his own world, but if he accidentally wipes out Hun Tian Di, what boss will he even fight?

Yes—it's to protect the Hun Clan and Hun Tian Di; otherwise, I'll lose my small goal and grow lazy.

"So what treasures do you have there? Just bring them all out and take a look," Yi Leina said, tucking a strand of wind-tousled hair behind her ear, curious.

"You two go get resources like spirit stones. Xing Bao, if you're learning the Path of Destruction, learn the Law of Destruction—come here, I'll teach you." Su Lin waved his hand, but the gray-haired girl across from him shook her head directly: "Why not learn it?"

Xing: "Because rules are made to be broken."

Su Lin: "6"

Fine, in the end, whether it's worth it or not is up to me anyway.

Strings of text materialized in the air, some accompanied by images—the very items Su Lin had seen in the system store. Excluding the system interface and Mr. Points price, he displayed the item descriptions before everyone.

《Dan Huo Lian Zhou》: Dan, both internal and external are nourished. Externally, it widely absorbs golden essence that never decays; dan fire refines it into creation. Internally, the body becomes the crucible, refining essence, qi, and spirit. Soul as fire, body as furnace, all things melt—refining the Celestial Dan of Heaven and Universe. —(When perfected, one can refine countless universes into dan, or create countless universes within a dan.)

《Xianghuo Cheng Dan Shu》: Transform faith into dan; consume it and neither die nor perish.

《Tai Shang Dan Dao》: The way of true yin and true yang uniting; the method of nurturing dan through non-action.

《Jiu Zhuan Jin Dan Lian Zhi Zhi Fa》: Originating from the Great Luo Heaven of the Qingxuan World, it can revive even those whose souls and spirits have scattered, allowing cultivation of the Ultimate Righteous Fruit regardless of differing Dao paths.

《Zhen Li Lian Jin Shu》: From the basics of the Five Elements to the crafting of the Philosopher's Stone (a pure law crystal with freely definable attribute rules).

"Oh, sorry, the ones you want don't seem to be these." Su Lin smiled apologetically. "You mentioned improving talent—what kind exactly?"

Su Lin was about to erase the floating text and images when Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's trembling hand grabbed him, and the White Zunzhe instantly appeared.

Both shouted in unison: "Wait!!!"

"Let me see again!" The White Zunzhe stared hungrily at the projected text, reading each character slowly. "Soul as fire, body as furnace, all can be refined."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan was the same—he stared at the descriptions as if seeing a ghost, saliva pooling uncontrollably in his mouth. "How many more alchemy-related items do you have?"

"These few? Actually, there are quite a few—want to take another look?" Su Lin observed Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's facial expressions and snapped his fingers.

Soon, the entire Water Mirror Peak—including the sky—was filled with Su Lin's projected search results for alchemy and pill-making terms.

《Xuan Huang Ao Gu》, 《Shen Nong Huang Mi Chuan》, 《Shi Xu Lian Xue》.

From orthodox to heretical, from East to West, from human-created to methods of myriad races—overwhelming, still increasing.

Some are both cultivation techniques and pill-making arts—from pills that let mortals break through creation and gain the power to open countless worlds, to monstrous heretical dan refined from the universe itself, using the hatred and suffering of all beings as ingredients.

Too many. So many that when the White Zunzhe absorbed the information, his soul forgot to maintain its form. "How many are there?!"

"Nearly infinite—I can't even count them." Su Lin spoke truthfully; browsing the system store was one of his favorite pastimes, and so far, every search term he'd tried had no bottom, and none repeated.

"I finally understand why he collected so many treasures." Meng Qi leaned against a tree, murmuring: "Try it—starting now isn't too late."

This competition ended before it even began—there was no way to compete; they weren't even on the same playing field.

"All of them?!" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan raised his voice. "Hand me that paper to sign! You're my brother—I'll sign it!"

White Zunzhe: "Yes, sign it! How much is my disciple worth?"

"Sign what?" Su Lin smiled faintly. "These are out of stock."

The air fell silent. After Su Lin spoke, the uncontrollable aura from Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan and the White Zunzhe vanished instantly—they didn't even move.

"Out of stock…" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan forced a smile. "What does that mean?"

Su Lin dispersed all the projections. "Literal meaning—I don't have the money to restock. You don't think I can just pull out these heavenly items at will, do you?"

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan retorted: "Then what, Brother Gua?"

"True. I wouldn't be surprised if you pulled out everything." Kleen restored his cane into the chaotic clock-like shadow form, agreeing: "I wouldn't be surprised by anything you have."

Zhang Chu'an nodded, raised his arm, and snapped Zhaoge's dislocated jaw back into place.

"I've got to eat too," Su Lin said to Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan, unaware of the delusion these people held.

"But the items you saw earlier—like 《Xuan Huang Ao Gu》 or 《Zhen Li Lian Jin Shu》, the introductory or first volumes—I can get them for you. Full copies of otherworldly pill arts can also be exchanged."

"Of course, the value is fixed—roughly equivalent to the resources of your top-three ranking."

"How about it? If you've decided, I'll project them for you—take your time choosing."

A highly tempting offer.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan admitted—he was tempted. None of the alchemy scriptures, colorful and gathered from countless worlds, could be resisted by any pill cultivator.

But.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and said: "Exchange them for something that enhances bloodline talent."

Su Lin nodded in satisfaction.

This time, they didn't display everything—only items under 200,000 points were shown before Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan.

After a long while, Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan spent ages selecting and finally chose one item.

【Jiao Huo Bao Hua】: When consumed within a certain realm range, it greatly enhances physique, improves a living being's control over its flesh and blood power, and grants strong resistance to toxins. Note: There is a chance to obtain Dragon Qi. (Sometimes I wonder—am I a dragon or a snake? Perhaps neither.)

"This one?" Su Lin asked.

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan nodded. "Sorry to trouble you."

"No problem. So Xiao Xiao is about to be born, huh?" Su Lin's lips slowly curled upward. In Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan's stunned gaze, he laughed: "You really thought I didn't notice your odd behavior?"

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan smiled back. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

You've got the bait right on your face and won't take it—improving talent, yet claiming it's for younger juniors.

What's this? Are you planning to renew your engagement with Nalan Yanran? Or give it to Xiao Yixian? It can't possibly be for Zi Yan, can it?

Honestly, it's possible—after all, it was this guy who originally egged on Weigong Shilang to pursue Dada Liya.

"That's Ziyan? Damn, it's legal now." Su Lin clapped his hands. "My Brother Yan is a real gentleman with his romantic interests, but from now on, you'll sit at the same table as Weigong Shilang and Song Shuhang."

"I don't care anymore," Weigong Shilang slumped. "Morally, I can't defend it."

"I care!" Song Shuhang retorted. "What's wrong with it being a coincidence?"

Probably his cultivation speed had turned into thick skin—he could say something like that without blinking, so Song Shuhang was indeed formidable.

"Enough nonsense—I'm taking this one," Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan said flatly.

"Don't rush…" Su Lin dismissed the projection of Jiao Huo Bao Hua and pulled up a row of projections valued at fifty thousand or more, but no more than sixty thousand. "Pick another."

"This?" Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan needed only one glance to see these items were not on the same level.

"Consider it a gift from elders to juniors—hurry up and choose," Su Lin urged. "You wouldn't want your daughter born with her cultivation sealed and constantly asleep, would you, Mr.?"

"Add mine too," Yi Leina said. "That should let us pick something better."

"Mine as well."

"Mine too."

"+1"

"Then add mine as well—it's a meeting gift from your uncle and aunties."

"Your rankings aren't worth anything—I never planned to give you losers anything good."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan wanted to say something upon hearing these words, but held his tongue—his earlier suspicion felt utterly shameful.

"By the way, who ran the betting pool last time? Time to settle up." Su Lin looked around, pointing at Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan. "I told you—he definitely lost control when he went offline that time."

Purple Gold Divine Dragon: "He just made a mistake every man makes. The Dragon Grandpa understands him, so I bet on him."

"It seems everyone except Young Lady Yi Leina and Master Zhongli placed bets on it, because too many didn't believe in Senior Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan," Song Shuhang looked around. "Where's Master Zhongli? Hasn't he returned yet?"

Yi Leina glanced at Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan with disappointment, as if looking at an insect. "I trusted the wrong person."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "."

I should've just gone straight back to the Dou Qi Continent.

"Anyone who sheds the blood of our Sea Urchin Warriors becomes the enemy of every Sea Urchin Warrior worldwide—you cannot escape, not even across the ends of the earth."

Puch!

Xiao drew his spear, confirming this was the last Sea Urchin Warrior.

"Master Zhongli."

"Let's explore this ruin together, fellow cultivators."

Zhongli gazed at the underwater Jin Zita, surrounded by several Jie Xian and over a hundred Xuan Sheng, and sighed:

"There should be Spirit Stones inside…"

(End of Chapter)