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

Lin Zhixu stepped forward, his sword flashing diagonally, and forcefully blocked the huge beast's claw.

A tremendous force pressed down along the sword, causing his knees to sink and cracks to appear in the gravel ground beneath his feet. His hands and feet went numb from the impact.

He gritted his teeth, channeling his spiritual energy into the sword along his arm. The sword was bent slightly under the pressure, but it did not break.

Lin Zhixu was relieved that Yu Linzhou had given him a real spirit sword, not some fake piece of junk.

Chu Yan charged in from the side, his heavy sword slashing fiercely at the hind leg of the Crimson Mane Beast.

The red-maned beast felt pain and its strength loosened. Lin Zhixu seized the opportunity to flip over and get up. Instead of retreating, he advanced and plunged his sword into the wound under its neck, twisting it forcefully.

The red-maned beast finally froze, its front paws drooping limply. Then, its massive body swayed twice before crashing to the ground.

The cave finally quieted down.

Lin Zhixu, leaning on his sword, took a few breaths, then looked down at his palm, which was covered in blood and mangled.

Zhou Tong got up from the ground, ignoring his own injuries, and quickly walked to Lin Zhixu's side. When he saw the blurry blood and flesh on Lin Zhixu's palm, his eyes immediately reddened.

He quickly rummaged through his storage bag for wound medicine and clean bandages to bandage him.

"Senior Brother Lin, I'm sorry, it's all my fault for being too slow to react."

Lin Zhixu took a pill and felt much better.

He withdrew his hand, stretched his bandaged palm, stood up and walked to the corpse of the Crimson Mane Beast. "Alright, you know you're slow to react, go back and cultivate properly. Now let's get down to business."

Chu Yan squatted down next to the beast corpse, pulled out his dagger, and skillfully cut into the wound under the red-maned beast's neck. Before long, he dug out a crimson beast core the size of a pigeon egg from the flesh.

The surface of the beast core was covered with faint fire-like patterns, and it was warm to the touch; it was of good quality.

Then, the beast pills were carefully placed into a specially made jade box and sealed.

Lin Zhixu then had Chu Yan cut off a few usable pieces of animal hide and claws, which he then put into his storage bag.

Even a small mosquito is still meat; we shouldn't waste it.

……

The three returned to Wanbaoge to complete the mission. The manager checked the beast core and materials of the Crimson Mane Beast and tallied up the rewards.

Lin Zhixu took the spirit stone bag, casually weighed it in his hand, and then turned around and tossed it to Zhou Tong.

"You two can divide it yourselves."

Zhou Tong took the bag, exchanged a glance with Chu Yan, and did not refuse.

Having followed Lin Zhixu on so many missions, they were already used to this method of allocation.

Lin Zhixu had no shortage of spirit stones. If there were other rewards for the mission, he would give the spirit stones to the two of them and keep the other items.

Lin Zhixu kept the other materials he cut from the Crimson Mane Beast for himself and gave the spirit stones to them.

What Zhou Tong and Chu Yan lack is precisely spirit stones.

The two of them were genuinely poor.

Unlike Lin Zhixu, they didn't have a powerful master.

Chu Yan was just a menial disciple, and the meager monthly salary he received was barely enough to make ends meet. He was neither full nor starving.

Zhou Tong was slightly better off than him, but he was still just an outer disciple and was short of money.

Since following Lin Zhixu on missions, the two not only saved up some spirit stones, but could also occasionally exchange them for a few decent pills, making their lives a little easier.

Lin Zhixu bid them farewell and returned to Qiyue Peak.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, Yu Linzhou's voice came from inside the house: "You're back?"

Before he could respond, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes, and Yu Linzhou was already standing in front of him.

His speed was so great that he had no chance to retaliate.

Yu Linzhou grabbed his wrist, turned his bandaged hand over, and frowned: "What happened? Are you injured?"

Lin Zhixu was stunned for a moment before she realized what was happening. She broke free from his hand, quickly untied the cloth strip, and showed him her palm.

My palms are as smooth as ever, without even a scar.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury, it's healed a long time ago."

Yu Linzhou examined his palm carefully and, after confirming that there wasn't even a scar, his expression softened.

He wanted to protect Lin Zhixu, but in the cultivation world, the strong prey on the weak, and it was unrealistic to avoid getting hurt.

If we were to actually keep Lin Zhixu under house arrest, we would be harming him.

"How do you feel about your current cultivation level?"

Lin Zhixu withdrew his hand and said truthfully, "I feel like I'm just one opportunity away from breaking through, but I don't know when that opportunity will come."

"No rush," Yu Linzhou said gently. "Opportunities can't be forced; just let nature take its course."

Lin Zhixu looked up at him, his eyes filled with obvious surprise.

It was utterly unbelievable that these words came from Yu Linzhou's mouth.

Wasn't Yu Linzhou always eager for him to break through two levels in a day and surpass Luo Yiyan in three days?

Yu Linzhou met his "Are you out of your mind?" expression and raised an eyebrow slightly: "What, can't your teacher care about you? In your heart, is your teacher so cold-blooded and heartless?"

Lin Zhixu thought of the arduous days when he forced himself to break through, and a mocking smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Upon seeing this, Yu Linzhou coughed lightly.

Times change. People change.

He changed the subject, speaking seriously, "By the way, there's something I need to tell you. I'll be going into seclusion in a couple of days, and I'll probably be out before the secret realm opens next month."

"During this time, focus on your cultivation. If you encounter any danger that you cannot handle, go to Wucang Peak and find Yan Lingcang."

Lin Zhixu looked up at him. Yu Linzhou actually told him to go find Yan Lingcang?

Yu Linzhou explained insincerely, "Although he appears cold and ruthless, you are, after all, a disciple of the Tianheng Sect. If you really encounter trouble, he won't stand idly by."

Lin Zhixu: "Oh."

Looking at his nonchalant appearance, Yu Linzhou felt a surge of reluctance welling up in his heart again.

He didn't want to go into seclusion, but his body was about to give out.

Although he recovered from his external injuries after being struck by lightning last time thanks to the Frost Lotus, the damage caused to his bloodline by the lightning was far more than just the surface damage.

In fact, he should have gone into seclusion to recuperate long ago, but he kept putting it off because he was worried about Lin Zhixu, until now he could no longer delay.

If we keep pushing through, things could really get really bad.

Yu Linzhou stood there for a while, his eyes darting around, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

Just before his seclusion, he couldn't resist and leaned over to ask for a farewell kiss, only to be promptly chased out of the courtyard by Lin Zhixu with a single "Get out!"

The courtyard gate slammed shut behind him, but Yu Linzhou wasn't annoyed. Instead, a faint smile appeared on his lips as he turned and walked towards the back mountain.

Once his presence had completely vanished, Lin Zhixu sat down on the stone bench and mentally called out to the system: 【What exactly happened to him?】

The system replied: [He had pre-existing injuries that required periodic seclusion for recuperation. After being struck by lightning, the old injuries were aggravated. He could have recovered almost completely with the Frost Lotus, but he kept delaying his seclusion, causing the injuries to relapse.]

System: [The Heavenly Thunder's restraint on his bloodline runs deep into his meridians. The Snow Lotus has repaired most of it; the rest he must slowly refine himself.]

Lin Zhixu remained silent for a moment, then got up expressionlessly and went back to his room to meditate.

The system quietly activated its emotion analysis module, scanning Lin Zhixu's facial expressions several times before finally drawing a conclusion.

Shocking: 10%

Happiness: 10%

Anger: 15%

Sadness: 65%

system:……

No matter how he looked at him, he couldn't see any sadness in Lin Zhixu.

It seems that emotions are something that cannot be systematically analyzed.