It was the first time Lin Jinting had ever heard such a reason...
Even granting how brilliant and extraordinarily gifted the young man was, the Lin family boasted four True Immortals. If Li Guanqi wanted to stir up a little trouble, it hardly seemed like a problem.
Anyone below the Golden Immortal realm, the Lin family could handle.
Besides, even if Li Guanqi wished to break through to the True Immortal realm, it would take decades at the earliest.
Puzzled, Lin Jinting asked in a low voice, "Court trouble? You mean like killing that man outside the city gates?"
Li Guanqi glanced upward as inspiration struck him, arriving at an exquisite comparison.
With a solemn face, he looked at the imposing man in the host's seat and gave an embarrassed shrug. "Back when I was in the Spirit Realm... I stayed with my sect for ten years."
"Mm. And then?"
"Uh... to protect me, the sect burned through all five thousand years of its accumulated foundation..."
At first, Lin Jinting had not taken it seriously at all. A sect in the Spirit Realm—how much could there be to it?
Yet the moment Li Guanqi finished that second sentence, Lin Jinting sprayed out his tea.
"How... how many years of foundation?!"
Li Guanqi held his hands out helplessly. Were it not for his strength steadily soaring afterward, allowing him to compensate the Great Xia Sword Sect inside and out, he truly would not have known what to do...
Lin Jinting began to carefully reevaluate what Li Guanqi had said before.
Five thousand years of foundation... From its founding to the present day, the Lin family had existed for only a little over six thousand years.
Had he spoken too boldly earlier?
Thinking back now, an ascended cultivator from the Spirit Realm had arrived in the Immortal Realm barely a year ago.
First, he had provoked a vice hall master of the Tianshu Ascension Hall, and along the way, he had reportedly slaughtered an entire minor sect.
Then came the trouble with the Tianhua Sword Sect...
To Immortal Realm cultivators like them, who enjoyed vast lifespans where a millennium was merely the blink of an eye, a single year was no longer than a brief nap. Yet in that mere nap, so much had already happened.
"*Cough, cough*... Well, what I said still stands!" Lin Jinting cleared his throat. "In my personal capacity, I can privately offer you cultivation resources and other forms of support."
Li Guanqi smiled, choosing not to refuse the goodwill.
To be frank, he truly was short on cultivation resources right now.
Though he still had plenty of immortal crystals, pills from the Immortal Realm were vastly more effective. The Xuanyuan Pills Qi Mobai had left him were long gone, and ingesting medicinal pills accelerated cultivation several times faster than simply refining immortal crystals.
Afterward, the two chatted idly for a while longer. Lin Jinting asked whether Li Guanqi had encountered any bottlenecks in his recent cultivation. Li Guanqi merely smiled and shook his head; with his comprehension, cultivation presented no major hurdles.
"Ah, right, Uncle Lin, there actually is something I wanted to ask about."
Lin Jinting grew intrigued. Through their conversation, he had already noticed Li Guanqi's extraordinary aptitude for cultivation.
"Oh? What is it? Tell me."
Li Guanqi asked with an earnest expression, "Regarding the Six Paths of Buddhism in the Immortal Realm, if one wishes to enter its teachings, how should one proceed?"
Hearing this, Lin Jinting furrowed his brows and looked at Li Guanqi, speaking softly.
"I do not know how things stood in your Spirit Realm, but in the Immortal Realm, the three teachings—Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism—possess transcendent power!
"The Six Paths of Buddhism are especially profound, operating in harmony with the Heavenly Dao.
"Buddhism takes the universal salvation of all living beings as its grand aspiration. Its followers harbor boundless compassion, immersing themselves in the mortal dust to deliver both others and themselves."
Li Guanqi's eyes shone as he listened. In the Spirit Realm, Buddhism had waned and its teachings were fractured; he had not expected the difference to be so vast here in the Immortal Realm.
Yet Lin Jinting paused, smiling as he studied him.
"Though frankly, I feel Daoist thought suits you far better."
Li Guanqi let out a soft exclamation of surprise and waited for him to elaborate.
The man smiled wryly. "Buddhism stresses 'if I do not enter hell, who will,' stepping into the fray oneself. Daoism... speaks directly from the heart; the Dao follows one's true nature. In other words, when a Daoist cultivator incurs a grudge, they avenge it on the spot; when they feel wronged, they vent it right then and there. Judging by your conduct and manner, your actions align far more closely with Daoist principles than with those of a being of great mercy and compassion."
Li Guanqi rubbed his nose in mild embarrassment, finding Lin Jinting's assessment rather apt. His usual style of doing things truly did resemble that of Daoist cultivators.
Just then, three figures walked in through the doorway.
One was an emaciated, somewhat short middle-aged man with a hooked nose, a goatee, triangular eyes, and a gaze flashing with dangerous, sharp glints.
The instant their eyes met, the power within Li Guanqi's body broke out uncontrollably, shattering the chair beneath him into splinters!
Immortal primal energy roared all around him, and his sword intent manifested into a blood-red phantom!
Li Guanqi's face went instantly pale. His eyes narrowed, and his left hand gripped the Rakshasa Ghost Mask, barely resisting the urge to put it on!
Lin Jinting waved a broad sleeve, instantly dispersing the oppressive aura. Frowning, he chided, "Third Brother! Rein it in!"
Only then did the man withdraw his pressure. He chuckled and gave Li Guanqi a slight nod. "Do not take offense, young friend. Wujiu praised you to the heavens, so I could not help wanting to test you. Seeing you now, you truly are a dragon among men, just as he said."
Lin Wujiu was rather speechless and merely shrugged at Li Guanqi.
The second newcomer was a plump, white-haired old man with a kindly smile, squinting eyes, and a bulbous red nose. He nodded amiably at Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi bowed in greeting, inwardly stunned.
*These are the Lin family's four True Immortals!*
*The hooked-nosed sword cultivator must be Lin Shengwu!*
*That plump old man is likely Lin Changlu...*
*And the other is the one I met before—the Lin family's Tiger General, Lin Ruhu!*
The two newcomers took seats to Lin Jinting's left and right, while Lin Wujiu led Li Guanqi to sit beside the plump elder.
"Hey, what did my father want to talk to you about?" Lin Wujiu transmitted his voice in a low whisper.
Li Guanqi smiled. "Nothing much. Just asked me to teach you a lesson or two."
Lin Wujiu curled his lip, raising his pinky finger. "I wouldn't believe my father said that for a single finger's worth."
He leaned back in his chair, fiddling with a jade slip. Having both Li Guanqi and Qisha come to visit him at the same time made him exceptionally happy, and the family elders now all knew that two friends had arrived in Qinzhou City to see him.
The bulbous-nosed elder beside them smiled toward Li Guanqi. "From which realm did you ascend, young friend?"
Li Guanqi's heart gave a sudden thump, but he maintained an unruffled smile. "To answer Senior, the Linghua Realm."
Hearing that, the elder gave a slight nod and said with a chuckle, "The Linghua Realm has been waning for many years. For you to reach such heights is truly remarkable, young friend. No easy feat."
Li Guanqi smiled and nodded, then brought out three jars of Thousand-Year Red Dust Brew, handing one to each elder. "This wine was brewed by a friend of mine in the Spirit Realm. If you seniors do not mind, please have a taste."
The elders exchanged glances and smiled.
The bulbous-nosed elder took a small sip, his eyes lighting up slightly.
Immediately afterward, however, his earnest voice sounded directly in Li Guanqi's mind via voice transmission.
"Young friend... in the future, do not tell people you ascended from the Linghua Realm.
"Resources in the Linghua Realm are scarce, yet this brew is extraordinary. The spirit herbs used in it do not even grow in that realm.
"Instead, you can say you ascended from the Guangxing Realm. That is an enormous realm, a melting pot of all sorts, making it far better for concealing your origins."
Li Guanqi let out a slow breath of relief and cupped his hands in gratitude. "Many thanks for the guidance, Senior."
The old man smiled, tipped his head back to take another sip, and waved a hand. "A trifling matter. Your wine is genuinely excellent—packs quite a punch!"
Lin Jinting spoke up at an opportune moment. "The reason we have gathered today is to discuss how to help our young friend's Spirit Realm master reshape his physical body and integrate his divine soul."
Li Guanqi's expression turned solemn. He rose, bowed respectfully, and presented Li Nanting's current soul for the two elders to examine.
Chapter 1644