In the evening, the village head Shiao Tianren called all the villagers to gather in the ancestral hall and then started distributing the daily necessities needed by each family.

This time, Lin Xun brought back a large number of items, including necessities like cloth, clothing, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and the like, seeds such as spiritual grains, spiritual vegetables and spiritual herbs, and tools specifically used for farming in spiritual land like hoes and sickles.

When all items were distributed, all the villagers were extremely excited. In the past, when Lian Rufeng was the head of the guards, the goods and items brought back could only maintain a mere substance. But by taking a look at the things Lin Xun brought back, not only large in quantity but also in such a wide variety, it was clear that Lin Xun was definitely more credible.

More importantly, every family got three imperial silver coins, which was equal to three hundred copper coins!

For the villagers, who never got the chance to go out of the mountains, this was a great fortune.

All of this made the villagers more grateful for Lin Xun, giving him an outstanding reputation in the village.

The villagers left late into the night, leaving only Lin Xun and the village head Shiao Tianren in the ancestral hall.

“How silly you are! What’s the use of giving villagers money! They will stay in Feiyun Village for their whole life and there is no chance to use the money.”

Shiao Tianren sighed and thought Lin Xun had handed out way too much money, which he shouldn’t have done.

“No chance to use it now doesn’t mean no chance to use in the future.”

Then Lin Xun laughed and said, “What’s more, I got the money from selling Feiyun Fire Copper and this is just like paying the villagers for mining.”

Shiao Tianren retorted unhappily, “The wage is at the most 30 copper coins. Three silver coins is just too much!”

Lin Xun laughed without saying anything. He had made a deal with Shiao Tianren that villagers only got the wages for mining Feiyun Fire Copper and wouldn’t share any of the profit from selling it, but how could he really treat the villagers just like workers.

Feiyun Village was his home and those villagers were his families. So, the money he gained must be shared with them. At this point, he would never begrudge the money he owned.

“All right, I don’t know how to talk some sense into you.” Shiao Tianren sighed. Actually, what Lin Xun had done really touched him and since what was done couldn’t be undone, he just had to let go of it.

“Uncle Shiao, I believe that Feiyun Village will keep getting better in the future, so we should aim high and think big. We must let everyone become rich so when the chance comes, all villagers can enter and live in the city.”

Lin Xun continued seriously, “Don’t you want your grandsons to get out of this poverty so that they can lead a better life like the kids in cities?”

Shiao Tianren was swayed and fell into silence. At this moment, he was truly struck by the blueprint Lin Xun just depicted.

Lin Xun got up and left without saying anything more.

He knew clearly that change couldn’t happen overnight. When all the villagers gained enough money and became rich from mining Feiyun Fire Copper, they would naturally think far ahead into the future.

Surviving and living were two entirely different situations.

In the past, people in Feiyun Village had to solve the key matter of surviving.

But after that, the quality of life and the education of children naturally came into their minds.

And now Feiyun Fire Copper offered Feiyun Village a great way to solve the matter of survival and to improve quality of life.

Lin Xun was certain that even if he left, the life of villagers in Feiyun would keep getting better all the same.

Of course, as long as no adversity happened.

However, considering the credibility and prestige of Keystone Business, Lin Xun thought there was nothing to worry about.

……

The next morning, Gao Guiyong and Zhou Quan left. They had finished their mission and had come to an agreement with Shiao Tianren that they would come to buy Feiyun Fire Copper once every other month and bring daily necessities for villagers in Feiyun Village.

This was a win-win deal and trading in Feiyun Village helped the villagers avoid many unnecessary risks.

Also at the same time, Lin Xun had called together Ying Liu’er and three other kids who had reached the first level of Martial Realm. He handed out the elixirs bought from Green-sun Tribe like pills beneficial for Qi Guiding, Inner Strong and Viscera Opening.

There were over 20 kids in the village, but unluckily for now only these four kids could sense the Qi-feeling and guide Qi into their body.

In other words, among all those kids, only these four could embark on the journey of cultivation and the rest had little chance of it. This was the reality – only a few people in this world were able to cultivate.

On this day, Lin Xun left behind the duty of Kongfu Master in the village because he had taught them all the knowledge he could give them. For future cultivation, it was up to the kids to practice on their own.

“A master teaches the trade, but the apprentice's skill is self-made.” This old-saying could be applied here.

…

Whether wiping out Lian Rufeng and his followers or using Keystone Business to suppress Wu Business, the aim was to eliminate hidden dangers for Feiyun Village.

And mining Feiyun Fire Copper and teaching the kids martial arts was for the future development of Feiyun Village.

Now that all things were proceeding smoothly, Lin Xun could also remove himself from all of these affairs.

But Lin Xun couldn’t slack off. With adequate materials and supplies, he didn’t have to worry about eating and practicing. He practiced martial arts and inscribing spiritual tattoos during the day and continued cultivating and refining his soul at night.

Every three days, he would enter the Mille-waterfalls of Spiritual Tattoo Battlefield to cultivate, making the best use of every minute.

At times, he would make time to fight with Shia Zhi to refine his body. And all the inspirations gained from those fights were used to improve the fighting skill he created, namely A Manual to Break Tendons and Bones.

All the while, Shia Zhi led a carefree life and the only thing she cared about was eating and sleeping.

Half a month later…

Due to the refining of blood, marrow, and grit and absorbing the power of Wine of Four Seasons, Lin Xun successfully reached the fifth level of Martial Realm – Marrow Washing.

Sough, sough, sough!

In the yard, Lin Xun moved quickly around like lightning, leaving one shadow of himself after another behind in the air. Brandishing his Sky Breacher, he practiced all the moves of the Six-word Saberplay naturally and smoothly.

When a huge rock was thrown towards him, he cut it as easily as cutting tofu, into neat slabs of stones in the air, leaving ripples of the blade shadows behind. And every slab was exactly the same, thumb-thick and 10cm long.

Boom!

In an instant, all the stones exploded before falling onto the ground and turned into dust blowing in the air.

From this single hit, one could see how fast and precise Lin Xun was when he brandished his blade. In addition to sharpness, the way he wielded his dagger carried a powerful internal force that turned the huge rock into dust.

“Sure enough, after entering the level of Marrow Washing, I’ve gained a better command of a stronger power.”

Then Lin Xun held his blade and stood still to feel the intricacies of the sensation.

Marrow Washing was the fifth level of Martial Realm. At this level, bones all over the body were thoroughly tempered and gave out a jade-like shine, best explaining the saying “Refine blood to make it thick and wash marrow to give it a jade-like halo”.

At the same time, entering the fifth level of Martial Realm boosted and doubled his storage of Spiritual Force, making him full of strength and power. So even if he just stood there, one could still feel a forceful and overwhelming power coming out of him, much like being targeted by a wolf or tiger. This marked the promotion of his internal and external Qi and energy.

The next was the sixth level of Martial Realm – Blood Burning, which meant refining the blood to make it burn and boil, providing vigorous energy and Qi for the body.

Reaching this level, the whole body of the practitioner, such as his skin, tendons, blood, internal organs and Qi movements, would be thoroughly refined. Even if stopping at this level, a practitioner could still enjoy a life of over 100 years as easy as pie.

But considering that Lin Xun just entered the fifth level of Martial Realm and that there was a long way to go for the sixth level, his top priority now was to focus on practicing in order to lay a solid foundation.

After all, he needed time after this breakthrough to enhance his cultivation and fully master his newly gained power.

“Are you going to keep cultivating like this forever?” Shia Zhi asked, who was beside Lin Xun and had thrown the huge rock into the air for him.

“Of course not.” Lin Xun put his Sky Breacher away, sat in front of the stone desk and drank up the iced tea all at once, feeling refreshed all over.

“We will be leaving for the Donglin Town of Ziyao Empire in about a month. I’ve been thinking about this for a while. You’ll have to find an excellent teacher or enter a powerful college to learn more things and to strengthen yourself.”

Lin Xun continued casually, “I’ll keep an eye out for this information for you when we enter Donglin Town.”

Shia Zhi shook her head and said, “I don’t want a teacher.”

Lin Xun was in a bit of a daze, but then laughed, “So, we should find you a great college.”

Different cities in the empire had different colleges with all kinds of courses. Some guided students to cultivate and others taught students certain cultivating skills related to spiritual tattoos, spiritual tools, alchemy, melody, spiritual plants, beast domestication, military matters and what not.

“Will you come with me?” Shia Zhi looked up and asked, her clear black eyes staring earnestly at Lin Xun.

“Me?” Lin Xun thought for a while and shook his head, “I’m not sure.”

“If you are not going, then I’m not going either.” Shia Zhi said.

Lin Xun didn’t know how to respond and could only say, “Let’s decide on this when the time comes.”

“In short, you can’t just leave me behind.” It seemed as though something just crossed Shia Zhi’s mind, which made her beautiful and tranquil little face look extremely determined.

Then she turned around and went into the room.

Watching Shia Zhi walked away, Lin Xun, who was now sitting alone in the yard, fell into silence and was lost in thought.