Chapter 4: A Casual Encounter With Nan Mountain
After the New Year, Lin Jiang made some changes to the Spiritual Peach Mountain Villa. First, he gathered the tenants and dug a fish pond of over ten acres inside the estate. Then, he bought a hundred Silver Light Fish from the Lin family market. These Silver Light Fish are low-ranked monster beasts with fierce temperaments and delicious meat. Lin Jiang had eaten them during a family gathering and had a vivid memory of it.
Afterwards, they built a pig shed and raised twenty Iron-backed Pigs. Iron-backed Pigs were a type of wild animal that hadn't reached a high level yet--they were of the lowest level, but their meat was really good.
Lin Jiang also had the tenants develop twenty acres of special land, with two acres used for growing vegetables and the rest used for growing spiritual herbs to feed the Iron-backed Pigs and Silver Light Fish.
From then on, Lin Jiang secluded himself at home, meditating and practicing cultivation every day, chopping firewood, feeding the pigs, and taking care of the fish. He was living freely and happily. The Lin family visited less and less, and if it weren't for Zhuang Rong and Lin Ying mentioning him from time to time, the Lin family would almost forget that Lin Jiang existed.
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Three years later, the Spiritual Peach Mountain Villa.
A young and beautiful girl, holding a steel fork, stared intently at a creature in front of her; oh, no, it was actually a Silver Light Fish.
"Bang!"
In an instant, the girl thrust her steel fork forward.
"Wow, Sixth Brother, Sixth Brother, I hit it! We have fish to eat again."
The girl put away the fork; on top of it was a Silver Light Fish weighing about ten kilograms. Holding the fish, she came to Lin Jiang.
"Sister, you're amazing. Come, let's add a dish for lunch."
Lin Jiang happily put away the Silver Light Fish, skillfully removed the scales and internal organs of the fish, cut some pieces of wild ginger, added some cooking wine and other spices, then put them in a bowl to marinate.
"Sixth Brother, your place is still comfortable. Dad is getting more and more crazy, wanting me to practice cultivation all day long. It's so boring."
The girl pulled over a blanket, directly lay down on it, and complained to Lin Jiang. She secretly sneaked out, commonly known as slacking off.
"Who made you talented? Dad has high hopes for you. Look at Third Sister Lin Die, she's almost at the Foundation Building stage."
Lin Jiang happily said, casually took a few skewers of already grilled Iron-backed Pig meat and handed them to Lin Ying.
The speed of cultivating immortality depended on two factors. One was aptitude, which depended on Spiritual Root. Like Lin Jiang's Five Spiritual Roots, it was the worst kind. Lin Ying had Three Spiritual Roots, which was not as good as single and double Spiritual Roots, but among the second generation of the Lin family, it was considered good.
The second factor was understanding. Some people couldn't grasp a cultivation technique even after practicing for several months, while others could learn it just by reading it a couple of times. This was the difference in understanding. Lin Ying was top-notch in this aspect, so she was increasingly valued by Lin Batian and he became stricter with her.
"I am not as hardworking as Third Sister. She spends eight hours practicing every day and only sleeps for one hour. She is even studying alchemy!"
"Fine, I won't practice anymore."
"Not practicing won't work either. We already have 20 brothers and sisters, and Mother relies on me too. We can't count on you either."
"Our father is still skilled with his 'sword'."
Lin Jiang could only shake his head. After three years, Lin Batian hadn't forgotten about 'farming'. After having nine sons and six daughters, he continued to have more children. Now even the twentieth child had come out.
"Brother, when will you break through to the second level? It's been ten years for you, but I broke through to the second level when I was fourteen."
"Taking my time."
Lin Jiang threw a wine flask over. Inside was Peach Blossom Wine, brewed from the spiritual peach blossoms of Peach Mountain Villa. Its taste was extraordinary and very delicious.
As for Lin Jiang's cultivation, he wasn't in a hurry. He had been practicing at the first level of Qi Refining for ten years, and it would only take him a few more months to break through.
"If you don't make progress next year, Dad will really kick you out. Even the others call you a shame of the Lin family. Mom won't be able to plead for you anymore."
Lin Ying was very worried about this. Two years ago, Lin Batian said he would kick out Lin Jiang. It was her mother Zhuang Rong who pleaded for Lin Jiang. It won't be possible to plead this year.
"Alright, let's make progress this year."
"Really, Brother?"
"Really, I'm not lying to you. Here, have a peach."
"Where did the peach come from at this time?"
"It's a secret."
Lin Jiang said with a smile, "I bought an ice-cold spell to use as a freezer. I still have a bunch of magical peaches."
"It's really delicious, Brother. You have it so comfortable here, with fish, pork, alcohol, and peaches. You're self-sufficient. No wonder you don't want to go home."
"Come by more often in the future, I don't like crowded places."
Lin Jiang said. He was quiet and didn't like noise, but he really liked his little sister. Whenever she came by, Lin Jiang would slaughter an Iron-backed Pig.
"Okay, I'll come more often. I'm full now, I need to go home. If Dad finds out, he will scold me again."
"Wait, let me bring something for Mom."
Lin Jiang packed some fresh Iron-backed Pig meat, caught two Silver Light Fish, and took out dozens of spirit peaches from the cold ice array. After thinking for a moment, he also picked some fresh spirit vegetables, filling a big bag.
"You are really filial, Mom didn't raise you in vain. Goodbye."
Lin Ying smiled and said, then she summoned a flying sword, stepped on it, and flew away in a blink of an eye.
Lin Jiang watched his sister's figure with some envy. He also had a flying sword, but his cultivation level was not high enough to fly. It required being at least at the fourth level of Qi-Refining.
"Oh dear!"
Lin Jiang was getting ready to leave when he heard Lin Ying scream. She fell off the flying sword and before Lin Jiang could save her, she miraculously flew up again, swaying unsteadily.
Lin Jiang smirked at this. Lin Ying must have recently broken through to the fourth level and was still not skilled at using the flying sword. It served her right to take a tumble.
Lin Jiang didn't eat the leftover Silver Light Fish. He continued grilling the fish and after he was full, he walked unsteadily back to his room to meditate.
"I need to work harder on my training. Let's increase the daily practice time from four hours to eight hours."
"No no no, eight hours is too long. How about six?"
"Six won't work either. I still need to take care of the spiritual land, feed the pigs, and raise the fish. Let's make it five hours; five hours a day, five days a week, and weekends off. Perfect."
After a painful struggle, Lin Jiang finally decided to increase the practice time by an hour and leave weekends for rest.
Lin Jiang had already made up his mind long ago. He would never work hard and strive. If he could lie down, he would lie down.
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Three months later, Spiritual Peach Mountain Villa.
"Hahaha…"
A cheerful laughter came from Lin Jiang's room. After years of practice, he finally reached the second level of Qi Refining. It was a joyous occasion.
Afterwards, Lin Jiang walked out of the room and informed the servants that there would be an additional meal tonight, to celebrate the significant improvement in cultivation of their Sixth Young Master.
After a night of celebration, the next day Lin Jiang rode his horse back to the entrance of the Lin family, carrying the specialty products from Spiritual Peach Mountain Villa. He showed them to Lin Batian, indicating that he shouldn't be expelled from the Lin family just like that. After all, Lin Jiang had also reached the second level of Qi Refining.
"Eldest, tell me, is your Sixth Brother really my biological child? How did I, Lin Batian, end up with such a strange creature?"
Watching Lin Jiang leave with great excitement, Lin Batian expressed his doubts to his eldest son, Lin Shan. He was beginning to suspect that this "Sixth Brother" wasn't his biological child, otherwise how could he be like this?
Thinking of himself, Lin Batian, who was mighty and extraordinary, started cultivating at the age of twelve, broke through to the Foundation Building stage at thirty, and reached Golden Core stage before he was a hundred. More than ten of his offspring also embarked on the path of cultivation. But he still had a useless son like this.
"Ahem, Dad, Fourth Auntie is not that kind of person."
Lin Shan was also amused and confused. Among his younger siblings, Sixth Brother always went his own way. But maybe that was a good thing, because no one would compete with him. If his younger siblings were all talented, it would be difficult for him, as the eldest brother, to handle. It would be embarrassing if he couldn't beat his younger siblings.
