Cultivating immortality begins with discerning the secrets of heaven.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, a tall, slender, and beautiful woman dressed in red came into Lin Yun's view.

Actually, Lin Yun hadn't seen his exceptionally talented cousin for several years, only occasionally hearing about her deeds and rumors on Huangzhu Mountain.

"Greetings, Sister Hongye!"

Lin Hongye raised her striking eyebrows slightly and carefully examined the cousin of the Ji family in front of her.

Lin Hongye didn't have a very deep impression of Lin Yun. There were quite a few descendants of the main family's three branches in this generation, but the few descendants of the Ji branch had the lowest presence.

"You've reached level three in Qi Refining? How old are you this year?"

Lin Yun was surprised that the other party had gotten straight to the point and was concerned about his cultivation level and age. He clasped his hands in greeting and said, "I will be seventeen in a few months."

Lin Hongye nodded and commented, "Not bad. You'll still be under twenty at the next Ascension Ceremony. If you can't join the Taiyuan Sect through the art of weapon crafting, you'll still be of suitable age in ten years. Hopefully, you'll be much older by then."

In fact, Lin Yun thought so too. He would go all out in this Ascension Ceremony. Even if he failed to join the Taiyuan Sect, it wouldn't matter if he waited another time.

By then, he should have made significant progress in both his cultivation level and his weapon-refining skills.

"Thank you for your kind words, Clan Sister!" Lin Yun said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

  

"Aren't you going to invite me in? Is there something shady going on inside?" Lin Hongye's rosy lips revealed a playful smile.

In the sect, she was a decisive and efficient senior sister; in front of her elders at home, she was a diligent and ambitious junior. Only in front of these peers would she act this way.

"It was my rudeness. If you don't mind, please come in and have a seat."

The matter we are about to discuss is rather confidential, so it is not appropriate to talk about it outside. We need to have a more in-depth conversation inside.

Looking at the broken iron longsword in the courtyard, a hint of surprise flashed in Lin Hongye's beautiful eyes.

She originally thought that this cousin of Ji Mai was just here to gain experience, and that after learning weapon crafting skills for two years, he would return to the clan to take a good job.

Surprisingly, he actually has some skills.

"Speaking of which, we really owe a lot to you for obtaining this Fire Marrow Heart this time."

"The Zhong family may have some stock, but they will definitely ask for an exorbitant price. If it weren't for you, the family would have suffered a huge loss this time."

She naturally understood that since it concerned her foundation building, her family would do everything they could to obtain a fire-elemental spiritual object to help her successfully advance to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

"I almost forgot, congratulations, Clan Sister, on your great progress in cultivation. You are only one step away from Foundation Establishment." Lin Yun said, clasping his hands in greeting.

Lin Hongye was clearly pleased with these words: "Well, although your family has already given you a reward, I should naturally reciprocate in kind."

"This is a scroll of notes that I found in the immortal city of my sect a few years ago. Although it is not a complete inheritance of weapon crafting techniques, it does contain some knowledge related to weapon crafting."

Just as Lin Yun was about to decline, Lin Hongye shoved the old scroll into his hand without saying a word.

"Don't bother with formalities here. If you can achieve something in weapon crafting, it will be very important to the family."

"If you are ever able to join the Hundred Refinement Peak sect, I might need your help to refine magical artifacts in the future."

"Take it, consider it an investment in your future."

Since things had been said to this extent, Lin Yun naturally had no reason to refuse and gratefully accepted the scroll.

Afterwards, the two talked about some trivial family matters.

Naturally, the conversation inevitably turned to Lin Yun's father, Lin Yuanshan.

His extravagant spending at the casino in Zhongling City a while ago made him famous throughout the entire Cangxuan Southern Region, and the Lin family of Huangzhu Mountain also gained some notoriety because of it.

It's true what they say: good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast.

"I've heard about Uncle Yuanshan's matter in the sect, and it's probably not as simple as it seems on the surface."

"The method of forging the age of a medicinal herb is something I have never even heard of before."

"The family has been secretly investigating this matter for a long time, but has not found a single useful clue."

This matter also puzzled Lin Yun. The cultivator had mastered a method to forge the age of spiritual herbs. Logically, he should have been swindling people everywhere to earn spirit stones.

But until now, only the Lin family in the surrounding area has suffered such a loss!

Clearly, this was specifically targeting the Lin family.

"After I reach the Foundation Establishment stage, I will use the sect's resources to investigate," Lin Hongye said.

She was very confident about this. For other cultivators, the Foundation Establishment stage was an insurmountable barrier, but in her words, it sounded so easy.

"Then thank you very much, Sister Hongye," Lin Yun said, clasping his hands in thanks again.

Finally, Lin Hongye got back to the main point: "What kind of person is Chen Guan in your opinion?"

After considering this for a long time, Lin Yun cautiously said, "This person is extremely mysterious. Not only is his talent for cultivation exceptional, but his talent for weapon crafting is also very high."

"Moreover, he seems to have some knowledge of alchemy... If possible, I think we should try to befriend him. Even if we can't become friends, we shouldn't become enemies."

In fact, he really wanted to reveal all of Chen Guan's secrets, but unfortunately, he couldn't explain the source of this information.

Therefore, he only picked out some key points to talk about, hoping that Lin Hongye could notice some clues.

Lin Hongye narrowed her eyes, revealing a glint of shrewdness.

"That young man from the Chen family branch is only in his early twenties, yet he possesses such abilities?"

He can simultaneously master alchemy and weapon crafting, and his cultivation level hasn't suffered either. At only twenty years old, he can be described as an extraordinary prodigy.

"The matter of alchemy is probably just my guess, but it's probably pretty close to the truth," Lin Yun added, since no one had ever actually witnessed Chen Guan refining pills.

Lin Hongye remained silent for a while before asking again, "So, do you think I should help you with this?"

"help!"

"However, the reward can be changed. Now that you have reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, your need for first-tier fire-elemental spiritual items is not so great."

Upon hearing this, Lin Hongye smiled with satisfaction; that was what she thought too.

The Lin family had gathered some information about Chen Guan and came to the conclusion that he seemed to have encountered other opportunities and fortuitous encounters in the Northern Region of Cangxuan.

"Come on, I'll go with you to pay a visit to that branch of the Chen family. You lead the way."

"No problem!" Lin Yun agreed.

...

Lin Yun led his cousin out of the courtyard, attracting the attention of many people along the way.

There are still quite a few independent cultivators living in the outer areas of Fire Cloud Valley.

But after vaguely sensing the aura emanating from Lin Hongye, these rogue cultivators all withdrew their gazes, not daring to look at her a second time.

Soon, the two arrived outside Chen Guan's courtyard.

Before Lin Yun could even utter a call, the restrictions in front of the courtyard gate naturally dissipated, and the gate opened by itself.

"Chen, welcome to our visit, fellow Daoists!"

...