Lin Xun thought for a while and then replied, “It’s fine to practice in this way if the aim was only to build body.”
Shocked a little, Shiao Tianren asked, “What if it was to fight against fierce beasts and mighty enemies?”
Lin Xun became silent for a while, and then answered, “Uncle Shiao, honestly, in my opinion, if these children want to seek martial cultivation, they are walking on a wrong path by practicing in this way.”
For a moment, Shiao Tianren was in a trance. Seeming to recall something, his facial expression slightly altered. Taking a deep breath to ease his mind, he continued, “Lin Xun, you sure of this?”
Lin Xun responded with a simple nod as there was no need to lie.
Seeing this, Shiao Tianren was silent for quite a while with mixed expressions on his face.
Just then, there was a tumult at the village entrance. The ground quaked, with dust swirling in the air.
“It’s Uncle Lian. They’re back!”
A burst of cheering could be heard from afar.
Soon, Lin Xun saw a group of men riding horses towards them from the village end. The man in the front was middle-aged and wore a hide coat, with long hair covering his shoulders. He was fierce-looking, and his muscles were hard as stones, full of explosive strength.
Sitting high on the back of a scaled-horse as tall as an elephant, his gaze was sharp like a blade, full of awe-inspiring vigor.
Behind him, there followed a group of people riding deer-like horses, which were slightly inferior to the scaled-horse, with either spears or swords on their back. Piles of packages in animal skin were stacked up on the back of some horses.
At the sight of this, Lin Xun, though surprised, stayed calm and collected.
“They are the nine guardians of our village. The first one is Lian Rufeng, the captain of the team. He already reached the fourth level of Martial Realm.”
Shiao Tianren explained as he led Lin Xun towards the guardians.
The kids who had been practicing Marching Boxing were also running towards them cheerily.
Not only that, the rest of the villagers were all alarmed and came out in droves. Seeing that it was the guardians, they beamed with joy and went up to them.
It was not hard to tell how prestigious Lian Rufeng was among the villagers.
“We exchange the spiritual grains for salt, clothes and other daily necessities. It is the captain Lian Rufeng who leads the guardians to the Green-sun Tribe thousands of miles away for the trade.”
“A round trip between Feiyun Village and Green-sun Tribe would take at least half a month. It is full of unknown dangers and risks along the way, during which the guardians may die at any moment with the slightest negligence. That is really a hard task.”
Shiao Tianren explained while walking. Speaking of that, he seemed to have realized something and whispered quickly, “Please do me a favor and don’t tell Lian Rufeng anything about our discussion on the Marching Boxing. I’ll let you know the reason later.”
Getting the hint, Lin Xun nodded. He keenly felt that Shiao Tianren was a little vigilant against Lian Rufeng.
Neigh***
At that moment, the tall and strong scaled-horse gave out a resounding neigh and stopped in front of Shiao Tianren with villagers gathering around.
Lian Rufeng dismounted and laughed, “Brother Shiao, we are back.”
With majestic face and robust body, he was like a mountain with a brave and mighty aura to be awed.
Observing carefully, you would find that his breaths were long and collected, his body sinewy and firm, and the spirits in his bones so strong that they seemed to explode, all of which indicated he was in the fourth level of Martial Realm, Orifices Connecting.
The third level of Martial Realm was Viscera Opening, at which practitioners would open the five internal organs including heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney. These internal organs were in control of the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth) that were the foundation of practitioners. At this level, practitioners could circle their spiritual energy throughout the five viscera, run as fast as a leopard and lift weight as heavy as an elephant.
In the army of Ziyao Empire, a practitioner at this level would qualify as a centurion who governed around 100 soldiers.
While in the fourth level of Martial Realm, Orifices Connecting, the spiritual acupoints of limbs and bones would be connected, bringing about concentrated mind as well as vigorous Qi and blood.
At this level, practitioners would be hot-blooded, fearless of frost and heat, and dare to fight against evil things. Agile like monkeys, they would be traceless without leaving a single footprint when walking on snow and full of spirit even without food for three whole days.
Lian Rufeng was such a strong practitioner at the level of Orifices Connecting. Although he stood there casually, there was an aura of majesty directly coming towards the ordinary people, like a volcano ready to explode at any moment.
Lin Xun was shocked. He feared not his strong power. He was just too surprised to see such a strong practitioner in the remote Feiyun Village.
“Hum…Who is this little guy?”
Lian Rufeng also noticed Lin Xun, who was a new face to him. Frowning instinctively, he looked at Lin Xun up and down with suspicious eyes.
“This is Lin Xun, who will also be a member of us from now on.”
Shiao Tianren smiled and explained what had happened previously.
When Lian Rufeng knew that Lin Xun was a spiritual tattoo apprentice, he just squinted, seeming not surprised at all.
However, he was shocked when he learned that it was Lin Xun who helped Tieshan and Liu Dabiao to destroy the pests in their spiritual lands.
Having travelled extensively, Lian Rufeng had seen many spiritual tattoo apprentices and he knew that an apprentice was no more than a handyman serving spiritual tattooists.
However, it was really rare to find an apprentice who could inscribe spiritual tattoos independently and destroy pests in spiritual lands.
That was what surprised him most.
“Glad to see you, Uncle Lian.” Lin Xun greeted politely with a warm smile on his face.
“Just make yourself at home. We’ll be like true family from now on. I hope you can make great efforts to be a spiritual tattooist. It’ll be such an honor for the village.” Patting on Lin Xun’s shoulder, Lian Rufeng laughed happily, seeming quite warmhearted.
However, Lin Xun keenly noticed that there was a trace of survey and suspicion in his eyes. He then realized that the guardian captain before him must be a shrewd and sophisticated person.
Growing up in the dark mine prison without any sunlight since young, Lin Xun had seen too many villains and prisoners. Master Lu once mentioned by accident after getting drunk that if those prisoners were all set free, they would cause infinite trouble everywhere and even bring about a riot in Ziyao Empire.
It would not be hard to imagine how ferocious and brutal they were. It was no exaggeration to say that they were the exact spokesmen for the most wicked and merciless people.
Surrounded by these sinister people in that abominable world, Lin Xun had gotten his way to read one’s mind and learnt many tricks from those prisoners to see through a person.
So Lin Xun believed his judgment was right. Lian Rufeng was a shrewd man. Although it was hard to tell whether he was good or not, he was not as simple as he looked like.
With this judgment in mind, Lin Xun noticed something unusual when he observed Lian Rufeng again.
Though Lian Rufeng was in worn hide-clothes, there was a wooden pendant in lavender hanging on his waist. If Lin Xun was not wrong, it was carved from a kind of expensive rosewood and cost at least ten imperial silver coins.
As for the grey boots on his feet, people might not know the material, but Lin Xun could tell the boots were made from the sickle feather of grey falcon. With a Gusty-wind Spiritual Tattoo on the surface, the boots would make practitioners fly like a swallow with might doubled when fighting.
This pair of boots was even much more valuable than the wooden pendant.
That was really interesting – how could a practitioner in such a remote and barren village afford these valuable treasures?
This man was definitely not that simple! Lin Xun pondered.
