Mu Lin completed his cultivation, and the girls were already sitting, waiting for him. Looking at their expressions, he could now see every flaw on their faces. He knew that the girls had also contributed some of their Yin essence to him today. He took out Yin-Enhancing Pills from his ring and distributed one to each girl to compensate for their loss. Previously, he had never understood why his sect’s records described these pills when there were no female cultivators in his sect and male cultivators had no use for them. He had made a bottle of ten pills just out of curiosity and for fun. Now, almost all of them were gone, and he realized he would need to gather more ingredients in the future. Although his ring already contained a large stock of herbs, he hadn’t anticipated needing Yin-Enhancing Pills, and two of the main ingredients were missing from his collection. After leaving the basement, Mu Lin sent the girls back to their respective rooms to rest.
Mu Lin returned to the basement, ready to test the Golden Core cultivation path. He felt that although the Golden Core was smaller in size than his previous Core, its capacity had significantly increased. If his former Core was like a water bucket, the new one was like a lake. The accumulation of true energy in his body now had a place to be stored. Additionally, he sensed that his meridians had widened—previously like a narrow path, now like a broad highway. With a mere thought, his true energy could instantly reach any part of his body, no longer requiring the slow circulation he had relied on before. His spiritual awareness had also improved dramatically. He tried splitting his consciousness into several strands and extending them outward—each woman upstairs was as clear as if they were right in front of him, something he could never have imagined before. Hong Jiani, with her stronger Yin essence and more sensitive constitution, felt as if someone were caressing her, but she was too exhausted to care. She mumbled sleepily, “Don’t mess with me,” before turning over and falling asleep again.
Only now did Mu Lin truly understand why cultivators were only called Daoists after forming their Golden Core. Previously, when his Core had first formed, he had felt as if everyone else were mere children compared to him. Now, looking back at his former self, he realized he had become like an adult looking at a child. “The world, here I come!”
After successfully forming his Golden Core, Mu Lin began instructing the girls in learning Daoist techniques. During his travels, he had acquired a wealth of knowledge. He taught Kiri, Hong Jiani, Mei Fang, and Mei Zi the Nine Heavens Goddess Cultivation Method, a technique supposedly passed down from the legendary Jiutian Xuannü of the Yellow Emperor’s lineage. Mu Lin wasn’t sure whether this was true, but after comparing various methods, he found this one most suitable for them. In truth, Mu Lin still held certain biases based on their backgrounds. For Fen Ni and the others, he taught them the Jiuli Jade Maiden Cultivation Method, which he had discovered in the Jiuli Mountains of the Miao region. He believed this method would better suit their physical constitutions and meridian structures. To his surprise, the one making the fastest progress wasn’t Hong Jiani, who had the best talent, but Mei Zi, whose progress was slightly inferior. Perhaps due to her difficult upbringing, Mei Zi worked harder than anyone else, and she had already begun cultivating internal energy and had developed some skill in internal martial arts. She often spent time with Hong Jiani, laughing and joking together.
In truth, Hong Jiani had become more gentle and graceful since she had opened her heart. Her father, upon learning that his daughter was staying with Mu Lin, no longer pressured her. Because Mu Lin needed the main ingredients for the Yin-Enhancing Pills, he had to contact Hong Jiani’s father, who arranged for the herbs to be imported from the mainland through a Chinese medicine shop in Boston’s Chinatown. Hong Jiani had connections with a herbal shop in Boston’s Chinatown, and her younger martial brother ran a Hung Gar martial arts school there. Thus, Mei Zi and Mei Fang often accompanied Hong Jiani to visit the school. However, they never revealed the martial arts techniques Mu Lin had taught them.
One day, Mu Lin was persuaded by Hong Jiani and Mei Zi to accompany them to Chinatown. The term “Chinatown” refers to a district in a foreign city where Chinese people tend to congregate. In many Chinatowns, one can see numerous Chinese restaurants, and historically, restaurants and laundries were the main businesses operated by early Chinese immigrants. Some of the older Chinatowns are located in the older, more congested parts of cities, where issues like crime and racial tensions are common challenges.
Boston’s Chinatown was no different. Besides Chinese residents, it was also home to people from Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand. As a result, many gangs of varying sizes operated there, ranging from hundreds to just a few dozen members. The larger gangs were usually affiliated with Chinese community organizations. Regardless, they were all of Han Chinese descent. As far as Mu Lin was concerned, he couldn’t possibly take sides against any particular group. For Hong Jiani and Mei Zi, they considered everyone family, even though Mu Lin preferred to avoid getting involved with Chinese community organizations. Still, he didn’t stop Hong Jiani from visiting her relatives, so he followed behind them.
Perhaps because of their similar ages, Daisi, Bisi, Mei Fang, and Mei Zi always stuck together. With Hong Jiani, the five of them walked down the street, laughing and chatting, their youthful energy radiating like a beautiful scene. Some local punks could only whistle from afar and point at Mu Lin, but no one dared approach them. Clearly, these girls had quite a reputation on this street.
Although the area wasn’t the safest, Mu Lin believed that for Hong Jiani and the others, as long as they weren’t attacked with firearms, they could handle anyone here. He had crafted several protective jade pendants for them using techniques he had learned from the Han Dynasty artifact-making sect, believing that with more time, he could create even better defensive artifacts.
As he followed the girls, Mu Lin noticed some people trailing them from a distance. At first, he paid no attention, but after seeing them repeatedly switch places and continue following, he extended his spiritual awareness toward them. To his surprise, he discovered that they were armed, and two of them were skilled internal martial artists, recently having entered the innate realm, nearly matching Mei Zi’s level. This made Mu Lin more alert. Judging from their behavior, they were merely following him in shifts, seemingly only observing. Therefore, Mu Lin continued walking behind the girls, memorizing every detail of the followers’ appearances.
Secretly, he took out a tracking talisman, infused it with true energy, and flicked it with his finger, attaching it to the leader of the pursuers. Now, every move the group made was under his control. He didn’t believe they would dare to attack openly in the street, but it was better to be prepared. He planned to deal with them once they reached a secluded area.
Before long, they arrived at Hong’s martial arts school. Hong Jiani’s martial uncle and others had already noticed Mu Lin’s group and came out to greet them. Seeing Mu Lin, Hong Jiani’s martial uncle, Tan Jiaming, stepped forward and greeted him with a fist salute, saying, “Long have I heard of the young divine healer’s reputation. Today, I finally get to meet you in person. What an honor!”
“Where, where, those are just exaggerated praises from others. I’m just a nobody,” Mu Lin politely replied with a bow.
“Pfft!” Hong Jiani and the others burst into laughter. “Seriously, you guys are so old-fashioned! What century is this anyway? Still with the fake politeness!”
“Exactly, exactly!” the girls nodded in agreement. Mu Lin and Tan Jiaming stood there, stunned and embarrassed.
“Come on, let’s go inside!” Hong Jiani, the guest, took the lead and dragged Mu Lin into the school. Tan Jiaming shook his head and followed them inside with a helpless smile. The school wasn’t very busy; it was still the afternoon, and only a few dozen people were practicing martial arts. Mu Lin noticed that the practitioners included both Chinese and foreigners. Upon seeing the newcomers, they stopped their exercises and turned to look at Mu Lin’s group.
“Let me introduce everyone. This is the famous ‘young divine healer’ widely spoken of in Chinese circles. His martial arts are highly skilled. Today, we’ve invited him to give us a demonstration.”
This was like forcing a duck onto a stage—how could they ask him to demonstrate right after entering? Moreover, was martial arts something that could be shown off like that? With no choice, Mu Lin had to step forward reluctantly onto the training ground. This article was first published on Qidian.
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