Chapter 156: The Path to Grandmastery

Chapter 156: The Path to Grandmastery

Wan Hua Tower.

On the open-air pavilion.

Lin Qingyi examined the Vajra Token in her hand.

Then, with a look of surprise, she turned to Jiang Ning.

"You must be Shen Congyun's illegitimate son, right?"

"Why do you say that, Sister Lin?" Jiang Ning asked.

Lin Qingyi gently tossed the Vajra Token in her hand and said, "This token is called the Vajra Token, passed down by Vajra Temple. With this token, one can join the Vajra Temple without question and become an official disciple!"

"If one has achieved a basic level of mastery in the Vajra Body, they can join the Vajra Temple with this token and become a true disciple!"

"A true disciple?" Jiang Ning exclaimed in surprise.

"Indeed!" Lin Qingyi nodded slightly, "It's a true disciple! The status of a true disciple in Vajra Temple is extraordinary! Among the true disciples, only the Buddha's lineage is off-limits, while the rest can be accessed."

"This includes the complete Vajra Body technique!"

"In the future, there's even a chance to attain the position of Arhat."

At this point, Lin Qingyi glanced at Jiang Ning and seeing the unusual expression on his face, she immediately explained.

"The Arhat of Vajra Temple is what the world calls a Grandmaster!"

"Sister Lin, you sure know a lot!" Jiang Ning praised.

Lin Qingyi smiled.

"Do you now understand the importance of this Vajra Token?"

"With your current achievements, as long as you hold this token and join Vajra Temple, you can be promoted from an official disciple to a true disciple."

"The status of a true disciple is only second to that of a Buddha's disciple within the entire Vajra Temple!"

"For you, this is an opportunity to soar to great heights."

Seeing Jiang Ning's hesitant expression, Lin Qingyi spoke again, "It seems you're having doubts."

"Yes!" Jiang Ning nodded.

Indeed, he was having doubts.

Vajra Temple was one of the top-tier sects in the world.

Undoubtedly, joining Vajra Temple would bring immense benefits.

However, he was also aware of the strict rules of the Buddhist order, which would undoubtedly be very harsh.

With his past life's experiences, he wasn't sure if he could endure the monastic rules and regulations.

If he couldn't, there would be no turning back.

Joining Vajra Temple was difficult, but leaving it would be even harder, akin to climbing up to heaven.

This was a choice with no room for regret.

Once he left, he would face the pursuit and assassination of Vajra Temple.

In this world, with Vajra Temple's strength, only a handful of people would dare to claim they weren't afraid of the temple's retaliation.

Subsequently, he glanced at the panel again.

He thought about the two divine abilities he currently possessed, all thanks to the panel's effects.

"If I didn't have the opportunities from this panel, joining Vajra Temple would indeed be a good choice."

"But for me now, joining Vajra Temple means living under the watchful eyes of countless powerful individuals."

"Not to mention the benefits, but if they were to discover some of my secrets, it might bring disaster."

With this thought, Jiang Ning had already made up his mind.

Lin Qingyi glanced at Jiang Ning and then smiled slightly.

"It seems you don't want to join Vajra Temple for now."

"Yes!" Jiang Ning nodded, "The Inspection Bureau has a Martial Saint, gathers martial arts medicines from all over the world, and offers freedom!"

Lin Qingyi nodded, "That's true!"

Then, she tossed the Vajra Token towards Jiang Ning.

"Even if you don't join Vajra Temple, this token will still be of great use to you!"

"With this token, you can make a reasonable request to Vajra Temple."

"As long as it's reasonable, they will agree!"

Hearing this, the disappointed look in Jiang Ning's eyes instantly vanished.

Looking at the Vajra Token in his hand, a joyful expression appeared on his face.

Just now, he had considered selling this Vajra Token, which he deemed useless, for gold.

Now he realized that the Vajra Token was still valuable to him.

Vajra Temple, one of the top three sects in the world.

Even during the most prosperous era of the Xia Dynasty, Vajra Temple's influence was overwhelming, unyielding to the Xia Dynasty's control.

It was said that a Martial Saint once visited Vajra Temple.

The exact outcome was unknown, but since then, Vajra Temple remained unchanged.

The Xia Dynasty treated Vajra Temple as if it didn't exist.

Both sides didn't interfere with each other.

Although these were records from miscellaneous books,

Jiang Ning believed that such stories didn't come out of thin air.

In a unified dynasty with over eight hundred years of history,

the Xia Dynasty's tolerance of Vajra Temple, which held influence over an entire province, spoke volumes.

Vajra Temple was incredibly powerful, beyond ordinary strength.

Therefore, the Vajra Token, which allowed him to make a request to Vajra Temple, was of immense value, far surpassing the apparent worth of the seemingly pure gold Vajra Token.

This token might even save his life.

Jiang Ning carefully put the Vajra Token away.

"That's right!" Lin Qingyi, seeing Jiang Ning's action, spoke again, "For you, if you don't join Vajra Temple, you can use this token to request to borrow the Vajra Body technique!"

"With your abilities, you can easily memorize the entire cultivation method."

"The Invincible Vajra Body, if you can perfect it, you will be able to fight Grandmasters in the future!"

"Good!" Jiang Ning nodded.

Lin Qingyi pointed at the Vajra Pill in the box, which was golden in color.

"Take this Vajra Pill as well! This pill is refined by Vajra Temple, and it is said that consuming it will grant you the strength of a Vajra."

"Having the strength of a Vajra means that at the Eighth Stage, your power limit will be expanded!"

"You've already reached the Ninth Stage Mastery, and taking this pill will help you achieve the Eighth Stage directly, especially since you've mastered the Forge Transformation Technique from Medicine King Valley."

As her words fell, Lin Qingyi swept her sleeve.

The wooden box lid instantly closed.

Then, the box shot towards him.

Inner Breath!!!

Jiang Ning's eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand to catch the wooden box flying through the air.

"Thank you!" He bowed in gratitude.

"Alright!" Lin Qingyi patted her mouth and yawned repeatedly, "Now I've given you everything that Shen Congyun left with me, and you won't need to look for me in the future!"

"Wait a moment," Jiang Ning said, "I still have some things to sell."

"Just find Little Green," Lin Qingyi said.

"These items are quite valuable!" Jiang Ning spoke up.

"Oh?" Lin Qingyi glanced at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning untied the cloth strip next to him, revealing two weapons.

One was the long sword previously held by Shi Xiaoyuan, and the other was the flexible sword carried by Liu Qingsong.

These weapons, having been used by such powerful warriors, were naturally extraordinary.

Jiang Ning had originally planned to sell these weapons to the Forge Shop.

However, when he saw Yang Kai's reaction to the iron ore in the sunken ship, he realized that the Forge Shop's wealth could only afford to purchase that one warehouse of iron ore.

It was impossible for them to buy these two swords as well.

So, Jiang Ning could only come to Wan Hua Tower to sell them.

"These two swords..." Lin Qingyi glanced at Jiang Ning again, "They're quite interesting."

Then, she raised her hand and gestured.

Whoosh—

The flexible sword slid out of its sheath, transforming into a streak of white light that instantly flew into her hand.

Seeing this, Jiang Ning's face showed surprise.

"What, are you surprised by my sister's skills?" Lin Qingyi looked at Jiang Ning with a smile.

"Is this Inner Breath?" Jiang Ning asked.

"You guessed right!" Lin Qingyi nodded slightly and continued, "Whether it's Secret Sound Transmission or Telekinesis, they are just basic applications of Inner Breath."

"Is Lin Sister at the Fifth Rank Inner Strength Realm?" Jiang Ning asked.

"You guessed right!" Lin Qingyi smiled.

Then, she flicked her finger towards the flexible sword.

Clang—

The sword trembled slightly, emitting a ringing sound.

"It's indeed a good sword!" Lin Qingyi nodded.

Then, she looked at Jiang Ning with surprise, "Where did you find such a fine sword?"

"I picked it up," Jiang Ning replied.

Hearing Jiang Ning's words, Lin Qingyi gave him a sidelong glance.

She knew that Jiang Ning didn't want to say more, so she didn't press further.

She glanced at the notch on the flexible sword again.

"This flaw reduces the value of this flexible sword by twenty percent! I'll offer three thousand taels of silver; can you accept it?" Lin Qingyi pointed at the notch on the sword that Jiang Ning had previously cut and spoke.

"I can!" Jiang Ning nodded immediately.

Although he didn't know the exact value of the flexible sword.

However, he knew that with Lin Qingyi's personality, she wouldn't deceive him about its worth.

If she were to deceive him, she wouldn't have given him the Vajra Pill or the Vajra Token.

These two items were far more valuable than the flexible sword.

Especially the Vajra Token, Jiang Ning couldn't fathom why Shen Congyun would leave such an important token to him.

It couldn't be that Shen Congyun was a member of Vajra Temple, and he gave Jiang Ning the token to join the temple, could it?

At this moment, Lin Qingyi saw Jiang Ning nod.

She waved her hand, and the flexible sword flew back into its sheath with precision.

Then, she gestured again.

Shi Xiaoyuan's long sword didn't have a sheath.

So, the sword flew up from the ground and headed straight for Lin Qingyi's hand.

As soon as the long sword left the ground, Lin Qingyi looked at Jiang Ning in astonishment.

Using Telekinesis, she sensed that the sword was incredibly heavy.

It weighed a full two hundred pounds.

From its weight, one could tell that this sword was not an ordinary weapon.

The one who could wield this sword must have had astonishing strength, at least an Eighth Stage Divine Strength Realm expert.

And it wasn't just an ordinary Eighth Stage Divine Strength Realm.

After obtaining the long blade, Lin Qingyi could feel the weight of the sword.

She looked at Jiang Ning in surprise, "Where did you get this sword?"

"I picked it up!" Jiang Ning replied.

Lin Qingyi: "."

She immediately rolled her eyes at Jiang Ning.

Then, she flicked her finger towards the blade.

Clang—

The blade hummed and vibrated continuously.

"This is also a good sword, made with excellent materials, it should be a thousand-fold refined iron, but unfortunately..." As Lin Qingyi spoke, her gaze fell on the notch in the blade.

At a glance, she knew that this notch and the one on the soft sword were both made by the same weapon.

Could it be this boy's sword?

Lin Qingyi looked at the pitch-black long sword placed aside by Jiang Ning with some doubt in her eyes.

Then, she shook her head secretly.

It was probably impossible.

Given the rarity of the soft sword, it wasn't something an ordinary Ninth Stage martial artist could possess.

A weapon of this value would require at least an Eighth Stage or even a Seventh Stage martial artist to own.

Moreover, this sword weighed two hundred pounds.

To wield it with ease, one would need at least three to four thousand pounds of strength, or even more.

The weakest among those with such strength would be top-tier Eighth Stage Divine Strength Realm practitioners.

Or even Seventh Stage powerhouses.

How could Jiang Ning possibly handle that?

Lin Qingyi immediately dismissed this baseless guess.

Then, she looked at Lin Jiaer, who had just appeared, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Lin Jiaer's appearance surprised her.

Since that day, to avoid embarrassment, she didn't want Lin Jiaer and Jiang Ning to meet the Tower Lord.

Moreover, since that day, she had taken a dislike to Lin Jiaer.

In her opinion, Lin Jiaer was too short-sighted.

If she wanted to become a general's wife, she should start by following him from the beginning.

In Lin Qingyi's eyes, Jiang Ning was becoming more and more promising.

By forming a connection when he was still weak, they could soar higher in the future, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Grandmaster, or even a great grandmaster, was her assessment of Jiang Ning's future potential.

Even with her status, in her eyes, a young genius with the potential to become a great grandmaster was worth befriending.

Not to mention, he was also a young man who met her aesthetic standards.

Otherwise, his innate talent alone wouldn't be enough to earn her favor.

Lin Jiaer looked at her aunt's expression and smiled sweetly, bowing gracefully, "Greetings, Aunt."

Since that day, she knew her aunt had some issues with her.

But even so, she didn't dare show any disrespect.

Although she didn't know who her aunt had married, a prominent figure, she could tell from the changes in the Lin family in Dongling City and the attitude of the Lin family elders towards Lin Qingyi that her aunt's husband was no ordinary man.

Then, Lin Jiaer looked at Jiang Ning and bowed gracefully.

"Greetings, Master Jiang."

Although she was reluctant to show this respect, she knew her aunt valued this young man highly.

To gain her aunt's favor, she had no choice but to do so.

At this moment, Xiao Lu, who was following Lin Jiaer, finally spoke.

"Reporting to the Tower Lord, Miss Jia'er saw me rushing and asked about it."

"After learning the reason, Miss Jia'er personally delivered the five thousand and five hundred taels of silver notes that the Tower Lord needed."

Lin Qingyi asked calmly, "Are the silver notes with you or with Lin Jia'er?"

"Aunt, they're with me!" Lin Jiaer spoke up, smiling sweetly at Lin Qingyi.

Then, she took out the silver notes she had just received and respectfully handed them to Lin Qingyi.

Seeing this, Lin Qingyi's eyebrows furrowed again.

She took the silver notes and handed them to Jiang Ning.

"Count them, there should be five thousand and five hundred taels in total!"

"Alright!" Jiang Ning nodded.

After finishing their conversation, Lin Qingyi turned to Lin Jiaer in front of her.

"Jia'er, you've overstepped your boundaries!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end