Chapter 13 The Lin Family Sends Word (1/2)
The level of gathered qi was the starting point of the Martial Way.
The requirement at this level was to absorb the Spirit in the atmosphere, incorporate it into the body and convert it into qi, storing it in the various meridians in the body. The meridians in a person’s body started out very small and could only hold very little qi.
To hold even more qi, it was necessary to expand the meridians through practice to enlarge and widen them.
When the meridians was expanded to a certain degree, the stored qi would be enough to generate the strength of one bull when expended, and you would be considered to have attained “level-one of Qi-gathering.”
To become even stronger, one must further widen the meridians.
Up till now, I have been practicing for five days… relying only on the qi stored in my meridians, and I am already capable of generating half a bull’s strength of force!
In a room in the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang, who was sitting cross-legged on the mattress as he practiced, opened his eyes.
In at most five days, I will be able to smoothly attain level-one of Qi-gathering, and become a level-one adept of Qi-gathering!
Zhou Donghuang’s eyes lit up at this thought.
Today is… the twentieth, the twelfth month, 1227 in the Ziyun Era.
Zhou Donghuang’s eyes narrowed subconsciously as he tore off the old page from the calendar and looked at the new one.
In his previous life, the messenger from the Lin family of the prefecture capital would arrive and announce the decision the patriarch of the Lin family had made: As a consequence of the Magnolia Guild having leaked the Lin family’s precious formula, the Lin family will no longer support the Magnolia Guild, and Lin Lan will also be expelled from the Lin family.
His mother, Lin Lan, would be angered to death.
“Young Master! The Lin family of the prefecture capital has sent someone!”
Zhou Donghuang’s drifting train of thought was yanked back to the present by Granny Lian’s voice.
Presently, he left his room and walked to the receiving chamber together with Granny Lian.
“Lin Lan, this letter is addressed to you from the fourth elder.”
As the two of them arrived at the door of the receiving chamber, they heard a confident voice.
In the receiving chamber, a travel-worn middle-aged man in a green robe was handing a sealed letter to Lin Lan.
“I will inform you of the patriarch’s decision once you have read the letter… this was what the fourth elder explicitly instructed me to do when he handed me the letter before I left.”
“By the way, you should thank the fourth elder, if not for him, you would have been expelled from the Lin family!” the middle-aged man said after he had handed the letter to Lin Lan.
In the moment it took for Zhou Donghuang and Granny Lian to enter the receiving chamber together, Lin Lan had already opened and read the letter.
An awful expression rapidly spread across her face, and she swayed as though about to fall.
“Mother! What’s the matter?”
Zhou Donghuang’s expression changed, and he reached out a hand to take the letter in Lin Lan’s hand, but she stopped him.
“Clan-brother, I’ve read the letter… please continue,” Lin Lan said to the middle-aged man, sighing deeply. However, her eyes were full of anger and indignation.
“Regarding the formula given by the clan that has been leaked by the Magnolia Guild, from this day on, the clan will no longer support the Magnolia Guild, and will hence take back the title deed of the Magnolia Guild.”
“You all have three days to move out of the Magnolia Guild… in three days’ time, the clan will send agents to take over this place and establish a new guild.”
The middle-aged man said solemnly, “The patriarch’s decision: You, Lin Lan, will not have a clan to turn to, you are to be barred from entering the family compound.”
The middle-aged man paused and shook his head, saying, “Speaking of this, your luck is actually not bad… Recently, the fourth elder managed to obtain a formula for an even better blood-staunching elixir from elsewhere and handed it over to the clan. Bearing this in mind, the patriarch did not expel you from the clan. If not for this, given the grave error you have committed, there is no way that you would not have been expelled!”
As the middle-aged man finished speaking, Zhou Donghuang’s expression darkened. A murderous look flashed across his eyes, and he subconsciously curled his hands into fists.
He had guessed correctly after all.
That fourth elder of the Lin family of the prefecture capital had indeed coveted the formula Zhou Donghuang had given his mother. The fourth elder had not misappropriated it and used it for himself, but had used it to improve his standing in the Lin family and benefit himself.”
Granny Lian’s expression changed as well.
She was about to speak, but Lin Lan stopped her and stepped forward simultaneously, telling the middle-aged man in a low voice, “I would like my clan-brother to take just one sentence back to the patriarch… I, Lin Lan, thank the patriarch for showing mercy.”
“I will.” The middle-aged man nodded and acknowledged and continued, “Next, I am required to inform the clan-brother, the level-two adept stationed here, that he has been recalled by the clan.”
The level-two adept of Qi-gathering, the commander of the guards of the Magnolia Guild, was a scion of the Lin family of the prefecture capital who had been sent to Qingshan Town. He was stationed at the Magnolia Guild.
Now that the Lin family would not support the Magnolia Guild, they would naturally not allow him to stay.
The middle-aged man finished speaking and left the receiving chamber.
“My lady, why didn’t you tell him that the formula the fourth elder handed over to the clan was actually from you?”
Granny Lian was hopping madly and would have said so herself if Lin Lan had not prevented her earlier.
Zhou Donghuang was also looking at Lin Lan.
“An arm cannot defeat a leg.” Lin Lan sighed and smiled bitterly as she passed the letter in her hand to Granny Lian.
Granny Lian opened the letter and read it, and her expression changed at once.