Chapter 18: Setting a Small Goal

The villagers of Shangtikou Village stood at the village entrance, their expressions looking rather unpleasant.

Some of them were cursing loudly, and the words were filthy and hard to listen to.

Village Chief Zhang walked over with a face full of guilt and said, “Patrol Hunter Li, we truly did not know the Han family would suddenly move back.”

“It’s fine.” Li Lin waved his hand. “This was within expectations. I’ll just move somewhere else.”

Seeing that he was not angry, the villagers all subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

Because they were truly afraid that Li Lin would wash his hands of the matter.

How many years had a small place like Shangtikou Village waited before finally getting a Spirit Hunter, and one whose temperament and abilities were both excellent at that? If a person like that left because of this matter and no longer stayed here, where could they go to cry about it?

Li Lin smiled at the villagers, then carried the cloth sack back to his “home.”

He cooked rice, prepared dishes, and brewed tea, all in one smooth sequence.

After eating his fill, he leisurely drank warm tea, looking extremely relaxed.

Then he took out the silver hairpin once more and narrowed his eyes.

He had a feeling that those people had come specifically for him. He had been a Spirit Hunter for more than half a year now. What ordinary people were not afraid of Spirit Hunters? Yet those people had even carried a faint sense of provocation and hostility.

And if one were to ask what he had done recently, it would be killing the wandering gui... and Xiuniang.

This silver hairpin was not Xiuniang’s, so whose was it?

Did someone want to take it back?

Or was there some secret behind it?

He turned the silver hairpin over and over, examining it for a long time. Even after night fell, he still could not find anything unusual about it.

But since he could not discover any clues himself, perhaps asking someone might work.

So he left his house.

The village was unusually quiet. There was not even the sound of insects or birds. Only his own footsteps could be heard.

When he arrived at the altar, he saw the palace-dressed gui “basking in moonlight,” her face tilted upward as she stared fixedly at the moon.

“Tree Immortal Lady, you truly have refined tastes.” Li Lin walked over with a smile and cupped his fists. “How about chatting with me for a while?”

The palace-dressed gui lowered her head to look at Li Lin, and there was a trace of longing in her eyes.

But today was not... the agreed feeding day.

She tilted her head slightly, somewhat curious as to why Li Lin had come out. Under normal circumstances, this man preferred staying at home cultivating.

“Could you help me take a look and see whether there is anything special about this hairpin?”

The palace-dressed gui stared at him for a while. Then her long snake tail swung over from behind her, the tip curling around the silver hairpin and snatching it from Li Lin’s hand.

Li Lin had thought she would inspect the hairpin’s origins.

Who would have thought that the snake tail would directly insert the hairpin into her hair?

Then her head even swayed slightly, looking somewhat happy.

Uh...

Li Lin could only say, “Tree Immortal Lady looks even more beautiful and ethereal after putting on this hairpin.”

After all, she was a woman, and women still liked being complimented.

The corners of the Tree Immortal Lady’s lips curved upward, and she appeared somewhat pleased.

Previously, Li Lin had struck her with a palm. She had ignored him for over a month afterward.

Now, with the hairpin serving as an apology gift, her mood had clearly improved.

Li Lin was not someone with particularly poor emotional intelligence. Seeing that the Tree Immortal Lady had obviously treated the item as a gift, he no longer asked about it.

Moreover, striking her with that palm that day had indeed been his fault.

After casually chatting with her for a while, he returned to his room to rest.

The next day, after getting up, he began practicing spear techniques.

【Spearsmanship +1】【Yu Clan Spear Technique +1】

The spear he had used previously had simply been a stick he had sharpened himself. It was not very useful. Its flexibility and elasticity were both lacking, making techniques such as the Sweeping Spear Stance and Lifting Spear Stance impossible to perform properly.

Now these two red-tasseled spears were made from high-quality elm wood and fitted with iron spearheads.

The special characteristic of elm wood was its exceptional elasticity. Thus, when the Sweeping Spear Stance and Lifting Spear Stance were used in succession, the spear tip, together with the red tassel, transformed into a cloud of red, like a circle of burning flames revolving through the air.

Whoosh, whoosh.

“So amazing!” Zhao Xiaohu watched from the side, his eyes full of admiration. “Brother Lin, can you teach me this spear technique? It’s far more impressive than that messy fist technique of yours.”

“Not teaching it now!” Li Lin refused directly. “Your body is still too weak. It’s not suitable for martial training. Wait until you’ve recovered somewhat.”

Li Lin was telling the truth. He was not the type to hoard knowledge selfishly.

The Yu Clan Spear Technique was actually considered a fairly common martial art. It was just somewhat difficult for ordinary people to obtain.

Zhao Xiaohu’s body was genuinely very weak right now. After having his soul called away twice in succession, he looked robust on the outside, but internally he was already severely depleted.

Without at least half a year of recovery, it would be difficult for him to return to the condition he had been in two months earlier.

Training martial arts under such circumstances was no different from asking an anemic patient to donate blood again.

Zhao Xiaohu left somewhat dejectedly.

Watching him go, Li Lin thought that it would be nice if there were a doctor in the village... Wait.

Li Lin suddenly remembered that he had bought a great many medicinal pills.

Immediately, he set the spear aside, returned to his room, and took out all the porcelain bottles from the cloth sack.

These had all been purchased from the pharmacy. They were very common pills.

Things like Baogui Pills, Liuwei Pills, and so on.

He opened the bottles and sniffed them one by one.

Then a smile appeared on his face.

As expected, it worked.

【Alchemy +1】【Alchemy +1】【Alchemy +1】

After sniffing every bottle once, quite a bit of new knowledge appeared in his mind.

Then he stood up, picked up the spear from the courtyard, and headed into the mountains.

Whether during the day or at night, the mountains were dangerous.

At night there were wild gui. During the day there were wild beasts.

But for the current Li Lin, neither posed much of a problem.

During the daytime, the mountains were actually quite lively. Insects chirped everywhere, birds called from the trees, and occasionally the howl of a wolf drifted over from afar.

He gathered quite a bit of “wild grass” in the mountains, then hurried home before dark.

Even though his stealth skills had improved greatly, he still did not want to challenge the nights of this world.

After returning home, he did not cook.

Instead, he began grinding herbs, sorting them, and processing them.

Then he rolled the herbal residue into little pellets and placed them into a pot.

Next came the firewood.

There was no helping it. He currently lacked proper tools, so he could only make do with a cooking pot.

Carefully controlling the fire, he occasionally saw lines of text floating through the lower right corner of his vision.

【Alchemy +1】

【Alchemy +1】

The fragrance of medicine gradually spread throughout the room. After waiting nearly six hours, he felt that the pills should finally be finished.

Opening the lid...

A powerful medicinal fragrance immediately billowed out.

Those little pellets had all transformed into small pills of emerald green color.

There were also a few dark green pills mixed among them. These were all waste products. Li Lin removed them and threw them aside.

In the end, a plate of crystal-like green pills sat upon the table.

He took a deep breath, picked up two of them, and chewed them in his mouth.

Not long afterward, he felt a cool stream of energy flow from his throat down into his lower dantian.

It really worked!

Li Lin’s eyes were filled with irrepressible excitement.

In the future, even if he lacked top-tier martial arts and cultivation methods, even if he lacked backing and connections, it would not matter.

With alchemy, he himself would be the greatest connection and the strongest backing.

Taking pills could increase one’s cultivation.

As long as his cultivation became high enough, then not to mention the Yu Clan Spear Technique, even if he used a dog-beating staff technique, it would become a peerless martial art in his hands.

“Excellent!” Li Lin laughed in complete satisfaction. “Starting today, let me set a small goal. First, become number one in Jin City!”