After transmigrating into the body of the protagonist's childhood friend, he was targeted by a

Lin Zhixu stared at it for a while, then clumsily tried to imitate it.

Yu Linzhou clicked his tongue, reached out and twisted his fingers, correcting a few misalignments: "Here, the knuckles should be pressed down, not curled up. Are you trying to make a delicate, orchid-like gesture?"

Lin Zhixu silently adjusted his hand gestures.

"Close your eyes, concentrate, and feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth." Yu Linzhou's voice was unusually serious. "Your wood-type spiritual root belongs to the life-giving energy, which is the same as that of plants. Start with the spiritual energy of the plants around you, as they are most compatible with you."

Lin Zhixu closed his eyes, trying to ignore the faint, cool fragrance floating in the air, and focused his attention on his surroundings.

At first, I couldn't feel anything; all I could hear was the sound of the wind.

But gradually, he sensed a change.

It felt as if a very light breeze was brushing against his skin, and the spiritual energy hidden in the moss in the corner of the courtyard, in the gaps between the bamboo leaves, and even in the soil under his feet began to gradually approach him.

However, it is very weak, almost negligible.

He tried to guide the faint spiritual energy into his meridians according to the technique Yu Linzhou had just demonstrated.

The first attempt failed.

The second time, the spiritual energy dissipated quickly upon touching him.

The third time... the tenth time... finally, a wisp of extremely fine spiritual energy trembled and entered his fingertip, slowly flowing along his meridians to his dantian.

Yu Linzhou breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he could finally sense spiritual energy.

Lin Zhixu focused intently on guiding that wisp of spiritual energy to slowly advance through his meridians.

Wherever the spiritual energy passed, the meridians felt slightly itchy, as if something was gently scratching the gaps in the bones.

He could feel the Qi Sea deep within his dantian beginning to react.

Like a dry well finally seeping a little moisture from the bottom.

After an unknown amount of time, he slowly finished his practice and opened his eyes.

The sky had turned from noon to dusk, and a warm orange afterglow bathed the courtyard.

Little Black turned back into a puppy and curled up beside his legs, fast asleep.

Yu Linzhou was no longer on the other side.

Lin Zhixu looked around and found that he had moved to the stone bench in the corner of the courtyard at some point, resting his chin on one hand and idly fiddling with the wildflowers on the stone table.

Seeing that he was awake, Yu Linzhou lazily raised his eyelids.

"Barely passable, a little better than the average person. From now on, I'll cultivate for ten hours every day and strive to break through to the third level of Qi Refining within a month."

"...Ten hours?" Lin Zhixu wondered if he had misheard.

"Not enough? Then twelve hours it is."

Lin Zhixu shut his mouth expressionlessly.

Just as Lin Zhixu was cursing Yu Linzhou for being a skinflint, his vision suddenly went dark.

Yu Linzhou flashed in front of him, bent down, and placed his hands on either side of the knees where the man was sitting cross-legged, almost completely enveloping him in shadow.

Those dark eyes, far deeper than those of ordinary people, stared straight at him, so close that he could see the barely perceptible dark gold lines around the edges of the pupils.

Lin Zhixu leaned back instinctively.

"You must remember," Yu Linzhou's voice was oppressive, "you are no worse than anyone else. You must be stronger than Yan Lingcang's apprentice, stronger than everyone else, and you must crush everyone under your feet."

Lin Zhixu felt a chill run down his spine as those eyes stared at him.

Just how much does he hate Yan Lingcang?

Feeling that he was better than Yan Lingcang had become his life's obsession.

"Did you understand?" Yu Linzhou stared at him.

"...I understand." Lin Zhixu nodded with difficulty.

Yu Linzhou straightened up and resumed his usual lazy demeanor. "Good boy, you cultivate well. Your master will head back now."

Lin Zhixu finally breathed a sigh of relief after Yu Linzhou left.

Yu Linzhou never put on airs with him in normal times, which often made him forget that Yu Linzhou was a half-step Nascent Soul stage expert who was on par with Yan Lingcang.

.........

In the days that followed, Lin Zhixu did nothing but eat, sleep, and cultivate.

After his meridians were opened, his absorption of spiritual energy was indeed much faster, but his spiritual foundation was too weak, and his progress was still as slow as a snail's pace.

Half a month later, he finally managed to break through to the first level of Qi Refining, albeit with some stumbles.

Lin Zhixu had just broken through and was looking at his dantian with joy when the system popped up.

[Host, it's time to go to Wucang Peak to advance the storyline.]

Lin Zhixu was stunned for a moment. He had been so focused on cultivation lately that he had almost forgotten that he had a system task to complete.

Fortunately, he can cultivate now, otherwise leaving the peak would be a troublesome matter.

Resigned to his fate, he took out a paper crane and flew it towards Wucang Peak.

On the way, I casually asked, "Tell me about the plot we're going to follow?"

System: [In the original novel, Luo Yiyan possessed extraordinary talent, breaking through to the third level of Qi Refining in just one month, which aroused envy and jealousy among the disciples of Wucang Peak.]

[They dared not vent their resentment on Luo Yiyan, so they turned their attention to you, who, despite your mediocre talent, had been exceptionally made an outer disciple.]

[What you need to do is go to Wucang Peak, be publicly humiliated, fight back when you can no longer bear it, and then be beaten up by them. Afterwards, Luo Yiyan arrives and saves you.]

Lin Zhixu: [...]

He sat expressionlessly on the paper crane, his robes fluttering in the wind.

So, I traveled all that way just to be humiliated? What's the point?

System: [You are Luo Yiyan's best friend, and the one he insisted on bringing into the sect despite opposition. Seeing you humiliated because of him deepens his guilt, and in order to be able to protect you, he will cultivate even more diligently.]

Lin Zhixu was silent for a moment: "I understand, I'm a trigger." He added, "But let me make this clear first, I'm not a pushover; I'm not going to just stand there and take a beating. If you force me to stand there and get beaten, I'll go on strike."

The system probably hadn't expected this host to be so difficult to manage, and after a moment of silence, it replied: "...Just go through the motions. If they try to attack you, you can run."

Lin Zhixu maneuvered the paper crane to slowly descend in front of the gate of Wucang Peak.

This was his first time here. Unlike the tranquility of Qiyue Peak, Wucang Peak was much more lively.

Although Yan Lingcang has never taken on any disciples, he still has quite a few servant disciples and disciples of other elders.

People came and went on the mountain path, and they all took a second look at his unfamiliar face.

Lin Zhixu randomly stopped someone to ask for directions.

The man's gaze swept over him, his eyes flickered for a moment, then he put on a smile and said warmly, "So you're here to see Junior Brother Luo. I'm going there too, how about I give you a ride?"

Lin Zhixu sensed a momentary malice from the other party and thought to himself, "Oh no!"

He's really lucky; he can find anyone who's a "kind person."

"Okay, thank you, senior brother." He remained expressionless and followed after him.

He thought to himself, "System, help me find out who this person is."

Those who can harbor malice towards the protagonist are definitely not nameless or insignificant characters.