Chapter Thirty-Eight: Before the Great Comparison

  The vast sky still looks so broad, mysterious and immeasurable. Ling Lin sat on a bluestone in front of the house, looking up at the sky that was now densely covered with dark clouds. He had been staring for a long time, silently, as if in a daze.

  I don't know when it started, but Ling Lin gradually fell in love with looking up at the sky, whether it was a clear blue sky or thick clouds covering everything, dark clouds gathering and rain pouring down. He liked to quietly lift his head and gaze upwards, and every time he did, he would find that his heart could become exceptionally calm, as if he had returned to his past life when he wasn't ill, without worries or troubles.

  "Crack!"

  A dark sky flashed with lightning and a loud thunderclap rang out.

  Ling Lin seemed to be completely unaware of this, still quietly watching, as if she had fallen into a trance.

  "Hiss, hiss..." The wind started to blow, and the fallen leaves were swept away by the strong gusts, drifting off into the distance. A leaf was blown onto Ling Lin's body, sticking to his chest, and then it seemed as if a wandering soul had found its home, no matter how strong the wind was, it stubbornly lifted its head, refusing to leave.

  The wind was still raging, getting bigger and bigger, blowing Lin's sleeves dancing in the air, making a "whooshing" sound. The stubborn leaves were slowly being blown away from their original shape. Another gust of wind came, and finally, no matter how stubborn it was, it couldn't hold on any longer. Slowly leaving Lin's chest, it was about to drift away into the distance.

  At this time, a palm suddenly stretched out and took it over. Ling Lin looked at the leaves lying quietly in his palm. The leaf was not big, only one-third of the size of Ling Lin's palm, with its edges slightly broken, and a clear crack in the middle, which was caused by struggling in the wind just now.

  Just like that, quietly gazing at the withered leaves in his hand, Ling Lin once again fell into a state of serenity. The surroundings were quiet and still, the raging wind had gradually subsided. Looking closely, Ling Lin's eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if two flames were burning within them.

  "Haha, haha, I get it!" A bright laughter pierced through the quiet air. Suddenly, Ling Lin stood up.

  Tiny leaves struggle in the storm, even at the cost of being torn to pieces. Because it wants to break free from its fate, it refuses to be ravaged and eroded by the storm.

  And what about me? Ling Lin asked the deepest part of himself. The withered leaves could still struggle to fight back, but what about him? Was he going to continue living in bondage to fate and then die?

  Past life and present life, it's as if there is an invisible big hand controlling everything.

  Fate!

  Ling Lin let out a deep roar in his heart: From this moment on, I, Ling Lin, will no longer believe in any destiny!

  Disrespect heaven, distrust earth, only respect myself! My hand can break the sky; my foot can tread on the nine hells; my heart can reverse yin and yang, overturning the universe!

  "Crack! Crack!"... One after another, several flashes of white lightning illuminated the dark sky in an instant, followed by a violent thunderclap that shook all directions. The heavens and earth seemed to be enraged by Ling Lin's words.

  Ling Lin's eyes grew increasingly bright, a firm conviction deeply rooted in the deepest part of his heart. A chill aura burst forth from his body, astonishingly reaching the level of Early Heaven!

  Ling Lin's fists were clenched, gazing at the sky, with flames of determination dancing in his eyes. His tightly clenched fists gradually relaxed, and the aura on his body flashed by. Ling Lin knew that all this was still far away, it was just a goal, a belief. For now, the most important thing was to improve his own strength.

  Ling Lin turned around and slowly walked into the small room as if nothing had happened.

  He sat cross-legged, this time Lin didn't go to temper his soul. Today's unexpected enlightenment actually allowed him to break through to the middle stage of Xiantian. At the middle stage of Xiantian, the sea of consciousness expanded again, and it could contain more yuan force. Lin looked inward, at this moment his sea of consciousness was a dark golden lake of yuan force, which seemed somewhat empty.

  "The supplement has taken effect." The Devouring Qi quietly activated, and the surrounding heavenly spiritual energy converged on Ling Lin's body like a swarm of bees. Ling Lin's body emitted a faint glow.

  Time flies.

  "Hmm." Ling Lin opened his eyes, and a burst of energy even stronger than before flashed by.

  Mid-term congenital! Ling Lin clenched his fists, feeling the power within himself, and secretly thought that even if he encountered the early-stage Zifu Demon King again, he wouldn't be as powerless as before. Even if he couldn't win, he could easily escape. If he waited for his "Killing Immortal Technique" to enter the second stage, it would be hard to say who would be driven away by whom.

  But

  As soon as he thought of "Killing Xian Jue", Ling Lin felt a headache, rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "This thing is simply a bottomless pit, it requires too much killing power. The killing power absorbed from the Purple Blood Sword for so many days can't fill it up at all. I don't know when I'll be able to enter the second level."

  Time flies.

  These days have been very peaceful, and Linglin has spent almost every day in cultivation. Everything outside seems to have nothing to do with him.

  On this day, Ling Lin was still cultivating in his room.

  Suddenly.

  "Ling Lin." A voice filled with true energy entered Ling Lin's ears.

  "Is it that group of people again?" Ling Lin opened his eyes, and a hint of impatience flashed in his gaze. His patience was limited. "No, it's actually a girl." Ling Lin's divine sense swept out, and in an instant, he saw a young girl standing outside the house. The girl's face wasn't as stunningly beautiful as Shi Ning's, but she was still quite pretty, with a slender figure wrapped in a light green robe that seemed full of vitality. At this moment, the girl was looking at Ling Lin's small hut with a hint of curiosity in her eyes. "What on earth does this guy have going for him, to make Miss mention him every day?"

  "Ah." Ling Lin pushed open the door and looked at the girl in front of him with a hint of puzzlement: "Who are you?"

  "Are you Ling Lin?!" The girl looked Ling Lin up and down, as if she was looking at something strange. Half a moment later, the girl muttered: "There's nothing special about him."

  Ling Lin's face turned black, revealing a hint of helplessness: "Do we know each other?"

  "My young lady is not convenient to come out, she asked me to give this thing to you." The girl smiled and handed a package to Linglin.

  "Is it Shi Ningning?" Ling Lin asked, his tone filled with certainty. It seemed that in the entire Qing Yuan Sect, he only recognized this one girl, Shi Ningning.

  "You're clever." The girl pointed at the package in Linglin's hand and said, "Take a good look at what's inside, don't waste Miss's efforts."

  "Mission accomplished, I'm leaving." The girl left a sentence and quickly disappeared from Linglin's line of sight.

  "Thunder Spirit Decision". Ling Lin looked at the two small books in front of him and slowly let out a breath. One of the top ten rules of the Qing Yuan Sect: Those who privately steal the sect's martial arts will be abolished from their cultivation and expelled from the sect!

  Although Shi Ning was the daughter of the sect leader, she would still be severely punished for violating the sect rules. Moreover, the middle and late stages of the "Ling Decree" were obviously extraordinary. For these two books, it's unknown how much thought she had put into them.

  "Alright." A hint of determination flashed across Ling Lin's eyes.

  In a simple small room, the young man quietly began to read the intermediate "Gang Spirit Decision".

  ……

  The time of the Grand Competition is approaching, and a solemn atmosphere has slowly spread throughout the outer gate. The figures on the mountain top have gradually disappeared, almost everyone is closing their doors to cultivate intensively, striving to achieve good results in the Grand Competition. The top ten can directly become inner door disciples, and also be rewarded with a spiritual elixir, which can instantly break through to the Pre-Heavenly realm!

  Qing Yuan Zong accepts a batch of outer disciples every year, and over the years, many old people who have not broken through to the Xiantian realm have accumulated in the outer sect. Although these old people have not broken through to the Xiantian realm, they are almost all at the peak of the martial arts world. Usually, they hide in various corners, rarely coming out and moving around, and it's possible that no one would notice even if they died. However, every ten years, during the outer sect's grand competition, is their moment to shine. This is their only chance. If they succeed, they can break through to Xiantian again and increase their lifespan by 200 years, with a chance to impact higher realms. But if they fail, they can only wait silently for their time to come.

  Therefore, almost every big comparison is extremely cruel. The elderly fight for their lives to survive, and the young people fight for their future and to be valued by their elders. This is a bloody and violent competition with no mercy or quarter given. Death is a normal occurrence, and someone is killed on the spot each time. It's also the only competition within the sect where killing is allowed. Just like raising wasps, putting a large number of wasp larvae together to kill each other, only then can some powerful wasp kings be born.

  This is also the helpless move of Qing Yuan Zong, and the once powerful sect has been gradually weakening. It can only be hoped that under this cruel system, a strong new generation will emerge. The innate disciples are already the backbone of the sect, and there are not many in number, they cannot afford such consumption, only the numerous outer door disciples can afford to be so extravagant.