These names for the chicken legs didn't seem very serious...
Lin Hui felt he could already imagine what these two types of chicken legs might taste like.
He stared intently at the chicken leg, trying to get a more detailed explanation of the two branches to appear.
But unfortunately, the information from the Blood Seal seemed to end there, providing only two names that left everything to the imagination.
"Hurry up and eat. Why are you spacing out during dinner?" his mother, Yao Shan, asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, I know, Mom." Lin Hui finally pulled his gaze away, nodded, and started to gnaw on the chicken leg.
As his gaze shifted, his eyes landed on the chopsticks in front of him. The Blood Seal immediately began to flash and distort again.
New dotted lines began to extend from the chopsticks' edges.
'Bamboo Chopsticks: Ordinary utensils. Medium wear. 3 possible evolution branches.'
'1—Celestial Crystal Bamboo Chopsticks.'
'2—Purple-Blue Thunder Bamboo Chopsticks.'
'3—Chopstick Man.'
"..." Lin Hui stared at the last option, Chopstick Man, and was once again lost in thought.
He could guess what the first two were from their names, but that last one...
He tried focusing his thoughts on the third evolution branch.
HISS.
After the faint sound, all the evolution branches vanished. The third branch reappeared, magnified, followed by a string of information.
'Evolve into Chopstick Man?'
'Resources Required: One pair of bamboo chopsticks, one year of reserved energy.'
'Time Required: Five years.'
'That long!?'
Lin Hui was startled and quickly chose no.
If he had chosen yes, he would have definitely lost a year's worth of energy. As for what the resulting Chopstick Man would be like, that was a complete gamble.
After quickly finishing his meal, Lin Hui made an excuse about going out for a walk to clear his head, then got up and left the house.
Because of the Gate-Breaking Ghost, tall patrol teams from the Government Office were constantly coming and going outside.
It was relatively safe right at his doorstep, so Lin Hui decided to just squat by the door and test what this newly awakened Blood Seal could actually do.
First, he squatted down, looked left and right, and casually plucked a blade of grass.
'Roadside Grass: Common plant, not yet mature. Suitable for feeding livestock. 2 possible evolution branches.'
'1—Purgatory Bitter Spirit Grass.'
'2—Grass Man.'
'As expected, there it is again. Isn't this Grass Man just like that Chopstick Man from before?' Lin Hui tried selecting Grass Man and was immediately shown a waiting time of at least seven years...
Next, he picked up a rock from the ground and held it in his hand.
Sure enough, the rock also showed evolution branches.
'1—Enhancement Stone.'
'2—Stone Man.'
This time, he didn't choose Stone Man. Instead, he selected the first option: Enhancement Stone.
'Evolve into Enhancement Stone?'
'Enhancement Stone: Consume a fixed amount of stone powder to receive a slight strengthening of the body.
Resources Required: One stone, seven days of reserved energy.
Time Required: One month.'
'Good. This is still a long time, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The others were just too long.'
Lin Hui breathed a small sigh of relief.
He then put down the rock and tried many other stones, but all of them yielded similar evolution branches.
As he continued to test it, he gradually began to understand how this Blood Seal worked.
'This thing is a universal enhancer. It can strengthen anything and even provide some predictive information. The only downside is the high cost, but maybe there's more to it that I haven't figured out yet.' Lin Hui put his experiments on hold for now. He planned to wait until he got to Qingfeng Temple. Once he learned some real skills and knowledge, he would try to see if he could use this ability to enhance them too.
At this thought, he raised his head and looked at the people passing by. The oppressive worry that had been weighing on his heart began to slowly fade with the appearance of the Blood Seal's power.
Early the next morning, his dad, Lin Shunhe, took Lin Hui aboard an ox-cart, and they began their journey out of town.
After traveling for over two hours, the two of them arrived at a somewhat remote fork in the road.
The ox-cart bumped along as it turned onto the forked path, finally stopping before a gray-white Daoist Temple with a circular outer wall.
Lin Hui got off the ox-cart and looked up, sizing up the Daoist Temple.
'Qingfeng Temple'.
The two words of the name were written in a neat, upright script—neither flamboyant nor reserved, but conveying a sense of balance and peace.
Two children in light-blue Daoist robes stood at the entrance, leaning on their brooms and chatting.
Only when they saw someone arrive did they put on a show of sweeping a few times.
"Junior Master Quanshun, is your master, Mingde, in?"
His dad, Lin Shunhe, got off the ox-cart, paid the driver to leave and come back for them later, and then stepped forward to greet one of the young Daoist Children.
"It's Uncle He, the one who gives us candied hawthorns! He's in. Master told us that when we saw you, we should bring you inside to find him!" The Daoist Child on the right, the one without a blue cord in his hair, immediately recognized him.
"Then I'll trouble you." Lin Shunhe chuckled and cupped his fist, then led his son through the Daoist Temple's main gate with the boy.
Inside the gate was a large, somewhat empty courtyard. To the right stood a large incense burner, and to the left, several Daoists sat cross-legged on the ground, apparently meditating and chanting scriptures.
Directly ahead, facing the main gate across the courtyard, stood a three-story, square-shaped building. Its eaves were all adorned with carvings of upward-curving, winged serpents.
The entire building was painted a pale red, but the paint was mottled and peeling in places, showing its age.
Just then, hearing footsteps, a tall and burly Daoist with a bushy beard emerged from the building. He was dressed in a gray-white Daoist robe and wore black, layered-cloth shoes. Upon seeing Lin Shunhe, he burst out laughing and came to welcome them.
"Shunhe, my friend, you're here! I've been waiting for you!"
"Brother Mingde, I'm afraid I really have to trouble you this time. This is my son, Lin Hui!" Lin Shunhe pulled Lin Hui forward, patting him on the back with a smile.
"He's grown up and wants to find something to do. As it happens, I heard you're short an bookkeeper who's good with numbers. My son is definitely up to the task! I brought him here to give it a try."
"With our friendship, that's no problem. Let's get him inside first," Mingde said with a smile. "But whether he can actually do the work will depend on his performance. After all, the final decision rests with the Observatory Master, Senior Brother Baohe."
"Of course, of course."
The two men exchanged pleasantries as they entered the building.
Lin Hui politely greeted him and followed them inside.
Enshrined in the Daoist Temple's main hall was a headless Divine Statue with missing limbs. There were no offerings before it, making it clear this wasn't a true temple but rather a martial arts school operating under the guise of one.
Soon, Lin Hui was settled in a side room off the main hall to wait.
His father and Daoist Mingde went to handle the admission procedures for him.
The side room wasn't large, but it contained a bookshelf, a table, and a chair.
With nothing to do, Lin Hui asked a passing Daoist if he could look at the books. After receiving permission, he went to the bookshelf, casually pulled out a copy of the Scripture of Non-action, and began to read.
'Achieve through non-action. That which is done, is done. Not doing is not the same as inaction, but is to restrain with intent, to act with direction...'
The scripture was convoluted and roundabout. After flipping through a few pages, he found it dull, closed the book, and went to put it back.
HISS.
Just then, that familiar, faint sound came again.
Lin Hui's heart skipped a beat. He quickly took the book back and examined it closely.
'Scripture of Non-action: Written by the Nameless Daoist. The fundamental missionary doctrine of the No-Life Daoist Master. 3 possible evolution branches.'
'1—Purgatory Non-action Scripture.'
'2—Ninefold Obedience Scripture.'
'3—Formless Wordless Scripture.'
Looking at these three evolution branches, Lin Hui narrowed his eyes and casually selected the Purgatory Non-action Scripture.
'Evolve into Purgatory Non-action Scripture?'
'Resources Required: One copy of the Scripture of Non-action, twelve years of reserved energy.'
'Time Required: Fifteen years.'
'That's the longest time yet...' Lin Hui was taken aback. 'Too bad I can't see what this scripture actually does.'
He put the book back in its place and scanned the other titles on the shelf.
Aside from scriptures, there were various travel journals. But soon, he pulled a different book from a gap at the very edge of the shelf.
Heart-Sealing Sword.
The book wasn't thick, only nine pages long. In the bottom-right corner of the cover was the author's name: a Daoist named Mingxin.
Lin Hui flipped through a few pages. It described how to lead a person to a great awakening, to completely seal the chasm of desire within their heart, and thereby "seal the heart to enter the Dao"—to walk the true path in pursuit of eternal life.
After skimming through it, Lin Hui was surprised to find many specific details on how to verbally guide and influence others.
'This is basically rudimentary hypnosis, isn't it?'
He focused his attention on the book again.
Instantly, new dotted lines extended from the right side of the Heart-Sealing Sword's pale blue cover.
The gray dotted line was linked to a small snippet of information.
'Heart-Sealing Sword: A widely circulated basic scripture from the once-glorious Sealing and Sacrifice Sect, written by Daoist Mingxin. 2 possible evolution branches.'
Without hesitation, Lin Hui opened the evolution branches.
'1—Sealing Origin Scripture.'
'2—Light-Sealing Technique.'
Seeing this, Lin Hui sighed. With only names to go by and no description of their effects, he didn't dare choose one, especially when the cost was measured in years.
So far, he still didn't fully understand the use of this Blood Seal.
'Maybe if my body gets stronger and I have more energy, the evolution time will decrease...?'
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
Just then, a knock came from outside the door.
"Brother Lin Hui? Your father and Master Mingde want you to go to the inner hall," a somewhat boyish male voice called out.
"Got it." Lin Hui walked over and opened the door. Outside stood a handsome Daoist Child with his hair in a topknot.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Huishen. From now on, I'll be the one to help you get familiar with the temple and guide your studies."
The Daoist Child was about thirteen or fourteen, quite a bit younger than Lin Hui, but he spoke with a mature air. As he looked at Lin Hui, he offered a gentle smile that was clearly copied from an adult, making him seem a bit too grown-up.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Huishen," Lin Hui hurriedly replied with a respectful gesture.
"Let's go. I look forward to working with you," Huishen said with a smile, then turned to lead the way.
*
*
*
Joining Qingfeng Temple was very simple for Lin Hui, as he had an inside connection through Daoist Mingde, a temple expert who was a good friend of his father, Lin Shunhe.
After several days of exploring, Lin Hui came to understand that the structure of Qingfeng Temple was quite simple.
At the very top was a single person: the Observatory Master, Daoist Baohe.
Below him were the Stewards in charge of management. There were three of them in total—Mingchen, Mingde, and Mingxiu—who took turns managing the temple's logistics, instruction, and external affairs.
In essence, Qingfeng Temple was a for-profit institution whose main income came from teaching basic Outer Strength. This, combined with a small medicinal garden they had cultivated on the mountain behind the temple where they grew a precious herb called Stone Star Root, was enough to easily cover all the temple's expenses.
After joining, Lin Hui, under Huishen's guidance, quickly grew accustomed to the daily schedule and his duties.
Mingde assigned him some basic accounting tasks and soon discovered that he completed them with ease. He then began to gradually give him more complex problems.
As Lin Hui familiarized himself with his new environment and work, he continued to study his newly awakened Blood Seal.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.