READ NOVEL ONLINE chapter 3
3. The Protagonist with a Peach Blossom Face
Lin Nuo’s dark history is numerous, the most recent being just yesterday when he gave Qin Shi Li flowers, but received no response, effectively being ignored.
Qin Shi Li is known in Xuan Yun Sect as a cold and aloof beauty, ending conversations with fellow disciples within five sentences.
The flower-giving incident became a joke at his expense, blown out of proportion.
The disciples of Xuan Yun Sect mock him, driven by jealousy.
Of course, it’s not jealousy of his strength; he doesn’t have that level.
In Lin Nuo’s lineage, there are five people: the master plus four disciples, all beautiful women except for him. Qin Shi Li is the second senior sister, the protagonist Su Kexin is the fourth junior sister, and he ranks third.
But in terms of strength, he’s at the bottom.
If he were strong, no one would have anything to say, but he’s a dreg who, after five years of cultivation, still remains at the second stage of the Spirit Realm. How could anyone accept that?
Why should they?
Lin Nuo walked through the crowd, ignoring them, his ears automatically filtering out the mocking laughter.
A mental victory method, not as everyone sees a monkey, but as he sees a group of monkeys.
As a world-ending villain, why should he bother with a bunch of monkeys?
…
Lin Nuo walked for a long time, finally finding a deserted place with heavy rocks piled up, suitable for practicing his swordsmanship.
He held a long sword, brought from the Lin family, its material and spirit considered average in Xuan Yun Sect.
“Not sure if it can still be used.”
Before Lin Nuo was a bizarrely shaped, hard boulder, chosen as his target for sword practice.
He took a deep breath and then started running rapidly around the strange rock.
Racing like the wind, leaves swirling, his speed increased, and soon there were two Lin Nuos, then three, four…
In an instant, ten phantoms of Lin Nuo appeared, running around the strange rock.
Draw sword!
Tenfold phantoms swung their swords simultaneously, striking directly at the strange rock.
As the swords merged into one, the rock shattered and collapsed in an instant.
“That was close.”
The ten shadows then merged back into one, and Lin Nuo neatly sheathed his long sword.
“It seems that only my spiritual power and energy have weakened; the sword technique is still usable, just less lethal than before.”
The Phantom Sword Technique, a method of swordplay that creates multiple illusions after channeling energy and running swiftly, can confuse the opponent. When the illusions merge back into one, the lethality of the sword is instantly enhanced.
In his past life, he could conjure hundreds of phantoms. Now, at the second stage of the Spirit Realm, ten is his limit.
His cultivation has weakened, but his swordsmanship remains usable, albeit much less powerful.
The current Lin Nuo, with his low cultivation, has prematurely learned advanced skills. But with insufficient spiritual power and energy, his strength is naturally weaker.
This strength, if used to kill Su Kexin, would probably be overpowered by her burst of energy after his skills are exhausted.
“Let’s try again.”
Lin Nuo’s gaze fixed on a rock a mile away, with countless jungle branches along the way. He chose the nearest large tree.
He took a deep breath, gathering all the spiritual energy in his body into his fist.
Strike!
His fist slammed into the large tree.
The tree remained unscathed, not even a scratch.
Meanwhile, at the rock…
Two disciples were walking towards it.
“Junior brother, the essence of palm technique lies in the inner strength. Today, I will try to shatter the rock with my inner strength. Watch closely.”
A tall disciple began to channel his energy, concentrating the spiritual power in the palm of his hand.
However, just as he was about to strike, the rock suddenly shattered.
“Wow, senior brother, you’re amazing! You didn’t even strike, and the rock broke!” the junior brother exclaimed.
The senior brother was utterly confused.
He hadn’t even struck yet. How did the rock break?
Could it be that his realm had advanced to the point where he could shatter rocks with just his energy?
“Haha, junior brother, this is a higher realm of palm technique. The enemy is vanquished before the palm is even released, relying on inner energy. Come, practice with me.”
One dared to claim, the other dared to believe.
And then the two brothers strained for a long time but couldn’t shatter the rock…
At this moment, Lin Nuo, a mile away, had already withdrawn his fist.
This move, striking through objects, is similar to the ‘strike across mountains’ technique. However, by controlling the distance and force, he could hit the enemy behind by punching nearby objects, achieving victory with the element of surprise.
At his peak, he could slay enemies across a crowd of hundreds.
Now, with about twenty trees in his path, he was nearing his limit.
“Once my cultivation improves, it will get better.”
That’s what he said, but he had no good solution.
His cultivation had ascended after falling into demonhood; before that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t advance.
Of course, even if his cultivation improved, he couldn’t directly confront Su Kexin.
The avenger Lin Nuo must take the road less traveled.
…
The eastern sun gradually rose, and the disciples finished their morning practice one after another, heading to the Hunling Pavilion.
In front of the Hunling Pavilion was a vast open space, gathering over a hundred disciples.
These disciples lined up in teams, searching for their sect’s group, and stood in order according to their sect’s hierarchy.
Within the Xuan Yun sect, there were five major sects. Lin Nuo’s sect had the fewest people, and thus the shortest line. His master, Han Fengxuan, known as the Fairy Han, wore a light blue fairy dress and a thin veil on her face, standing at the forefront.
Behind her was his senior sister, Liu Shuqin, dressed in a white gauze dress, her long hair flowing, her demeanor gentle. Seeing Lin Nuo approach, she revealed a warm smile:
“Good morning, junior brother. How was your cultivation practice this morning?”
Lin Nuo stopped and replied, “Not as good as before.”
Before, he could destroy worlds; now, destroying stones, could it be good?
Liu Shuqin comforted him, “Don’t worry, junior brother. Cultivation isn’t achieved overnight. With perseverance, you will eventually break through the bottleneck and make a breakthrough.”
Liu Shuqin was the person in the Xuan Yun sect who cared about him the most. Not that she paid special attention to him, but because she was kind-hearted and friendly to everyone.
The matter of cultivation was supposed to be of concern to his master, Fairy Han, but she seemed indifferent.
Probably she had decided to let him fend for himself.
“Kexin and Shili haven’t arrived yet.”
As soon as Liu Shuqin finished speaking, a girl in a light pink and white dress approached from the left. Her hair reached her shoulders, adorned with pink hair clips on both sides, her eyes bright and clear as water, her face as lovely as a peach blossom, and her thighs wrapped in white stockings looked charmingly cute.
The girl in the prime of youth, Lin Nuo’s arch-enemy, Su Kexin, had arrived.
Her adorable and pleasant smile could heal hearts, except for Lin Nuo, it only deepened his gloom.
He had no desire to admire her cute appearance; he only wanted to end her with one strike.
But considering he couldn’t beat her, he let it go.
“Kexin, how was your progress this morning?” Fairy Han asked Su Kexin.
Su Kexin bowed slightly, “Master, I have comprehended the fourth form of the Jade Spirit Sword Technique. Next, I will practice the fifth form.”
Fairy Han nodded in satisfaction, “Good, you’ve made rapid progress. Today is the semi-annual Spirit Realm assessment conference. Let’s see if you’ve advanced to the third stage of the Spirit Realm.”
“Ah? So soon? I only reached the second stage of the Spirit Realm half a year ago…”
Su Kexin didn’t hold much hope for this Spirit Realm assessment.
Lin Nuo listened to the master and disciple’s conversation.
No need to look; she’s advanced, I’m sure of it, ten to one.
Su Kexin stepped back from the front row, passing by Lin Nuo.
In that instant, their eyes met.
Lin Nuo watched her intently, and she instinctively lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.
She moved behind Lin Nuo, taking a deep breath.
The way senior brother looked at me today was a bit strange.
She looked up slightly and saw Lin Nuo turning his head to stare at her.
“What’s wrong, senior brother…?”
Lin Nuo didn’t reply, turning his head back to the front.
He would glance back at her from time to time.
Could this Su surname be planning to stab me in the back?
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