Blinking several times, Lin Mo Chen stared at the man for a couple of seconds, as if someone had just asked him if he knew how to breathe underwater.
"Pardon?" was all he managed to get out in the end.
Tilting his head, the red-haired man let out a soft laugh. The crimson flames around him rippled with the motion, casting an ominous glow across the white space.
"It's a simple question, kid. Have you tried it or not?"
"Of course," Lin Mo Chen replied, smiling sarcastically without realizing it, "every Monday, after breakfast."
The red-haired man let out a short bark of laughter and shook his head.
"Ha! Brat, you've got a weird sense of humor."
The very idea of absorbing Huan Qi straight from a beast core made Lin Mo Chen frown. You didn't need to be a genius to know what would happen — beast Huan Qi was chaotic, wild, and full of impurities. Trying to absorb it was like trying to quench your thirst by swallowing burning coals.
In other words, a very efficient way to cripple your cultivation and lose your mind.
"Are you trying to kill me?" he asked this time without a shred of sarcasm, rolling his eyes. "Because if that's the goal, this would be the fastest way to do it."
Nodding as if it were the most normal thing in the world, the red-haired man went on:
"That's why no one does it... but with my method, brat, you won't have to worry about any of that."
When he finished speaking, he fixed his gaze on Lin Mo Chen.
Hearing the words of the mysterious red-haired man, Lin Mo Chen's gaze sharpened slightly.
This time, his reader curiosity was slowly winning ground over his common sense. What kind of method was that?! He'd read about all sorts of strange methods, but in those novels you always needed some special physique.
Now he really was tempted to take that strange man as his master, until he remembered what kind of world he was in... If he followed this plot, he'd just be digging his own grave! Pies didn't fall from the sky, much less miraculous cultivation methods.
With that in mind, he made a decision and looked up.
"What if I say no?" he asked. "Will you let me out of this place so I can cultivate in peace?"
"I could," the red-haired man replied, "but is that really what you want?"
At those words, Lin Mo Chen's expression darkened.
"What do you mean?" he asked as frustration welled up inside him. "I just want to cultivate and live in peace." Though the confidence in his voice faded slightly by the end.
Curling his lips into a barely perceptible smile, he spoke in a deep voice:
"Brat, is what you call living peacefully reaching ninth-rank Ling Qi at twenty-five, becoming a Ling Zhe at forty, and then being stuck there for the rest of your life until you die of old age? What I've seen this past month isn't someone who wants to settle for a mediocre existence and be forgotten in some remote village."
Each word hit Lin Mo Chen hard, making him clench his fists without realizing it as everything that had happened this past month and the days before came flooding back.
He remembered again the first day he had opened his eyes in this world. He'd arrived wanting to live an exciting life, to explore this vast world and experience all it had to offer. Yet after so many doses of reality, he had subconsciously accepted that hiding was the safest way to survive.
But even after hiding, the plot kept finding him. No matter how much he ran or tried to stay on the sidelines, sooner or later he'd crash headfirst into exactly what he wanted to avoid.
"If they're going to drag me in even when I do nothing, then at least I need to be able to defend myself and my family!" At that moment, a scene flashed through his mind.
Weak and helpless, watching his peaceful life destroyed by some third-rate villain, with nothing to do but die pathetically.
Yeah... what was he thinking, wanting to cultivate in peace in a world like this? A world like this would never be kind enough to let him live quietly!
Little by little, the hesitation in Lin Mo Chen's eyes vanished, replaced by a determination even he hadn't noticed.
"Fine! As long as you don't make me do anything flashy, I'll accept. So, will you help me get stronger?" he asked, looking up with his expression suddenly bright, as if he'd just discovered some great truth.
This time, the red-haired man didn't even bother hiding his smile.
"I knew you'd make the right decision, brat. I don't know what you mean by 'flashy,' but I'll just help you cultivate. Since you want to learn from me, you must pay your respects to your master," he said, floating in the air and settling into a dignified pose, legs tucked beneath him.
"I have to pay my respects to you?"
"Are you crazy?! You show me no respect and expect me to teach you my great methods! Keep dreaming, kid!" the man exclaimed with a mocking smile.
Lin Mo Chen could tell that supposed anger was nothing more than an act.
With a dark expression and muttering under his breath, he had no choice but to pay his respects to that strange man so he could study under him.
After watching him pay his respects, the red-haired man nodded with satisfaction and, when he spoke again, his tone was no longer so distant. "My name is Huo Can. You don't need to know anything else about me, kid. The only thing you need to know is that you won't lose to that boy called Lin Xuan."
At those words, Lin Mo Chen's body tensed. "Shit, Master, don't say stuff like that! We're going to get struck by lightning!" He really believed it. Wanting to not fall behind was one thing, but trying to surpass the protagonist... no thanks, he had no desire to die that soon.
His new disciple's strange reaction made Huo Can narrow his eyes slightly.
"I've been wondering for a while... why do you react so weirdly to that brat called Lin Xuan?"
Lin Mo Chen's eyes widened slightly at that. After letting out a fake cough, he quickly changed the subject. "Uh, Master, now that I'm your disciple, what great technique are you talking about? If it's that powerful, it must be Zhen rank, right?"
A mischievous smile appeared on Huo Can's face as he spoke. "Close. Actually, it's something even better than a Zhen method."
"Something better than a Zhen method?" Lin Mo Chen murmured, feeling his heart skip a beat as he swallowed and rubbed his hands together greedily. "What kind of extraordinary method is it, Master?"
"Low-grade Fan rank," Huo Can replied with a mocking smile, and for an instant Lin Mo Chen felt all his enthusiasm shatter into pieces.
"Master, are you messing with me? How can that be better? Even the technique I'm cultivating now is mid-grade Fan," Lin Mo Chen said, utterly convinced he'd just been scammed.
"Calm down, brat. Since you're my disciple, I'm not going to give you trash... This technique is special. The more beast cores you consume, the stronger it will become," Huo Can said, unable to hide the pride in his voice as he spoke about it.
"It can get stronger?!" Surprise flashed across Lin Mo Chen's face.
"It can get stronger," Huo Can replied with absolute certainty.
"Have you used it, Master?"
"No, I use a different method."
"Then how do you know it gets stronger?" Lin Mo Chen asked doubtfully, starting to feel like he was talking to a senile old man.
"Look, there's no time for this. Everything is explained in the technique, but there's no point showing you now. At your current level, you couldn't even practice it."
Though still skeptical, Lin Mo Chen decided to drop the subject for now. However, thinking of another problem, he asked, "So how are you going to help me reach ninth-rank Ling Qi?"
Huo Can nodded and continued as if he were talking about something completely normal. "Very simple. You just need to bring me the blood of a low-tier first-rank spiritual beast and we can start practicing."
Lin Mo Chen's expression changed completely. "Blood of a low-tier first-rank spiritual beast? Why don't you just kill me now? Do you have any idea how much that costs?"
Hearing that, a look of disdain appeared on Huo Can's face.
"Brat, that's your problem. When you have the blood, we can continue."
After saying that, he raised a hand and the space around them began to warp.
Panicking, Lin Mo Chen shouted, "Master, don't be so cruel to your disciple! I'm poor and have no status! I'll never be able to get that blood!"
Before the space finished collapsing, Huo Can's sleepy voice reached him. "Don't worry, brat. I have a feeling you'll find a way."
In the middle of a quiet forest, a fat hen was sleeping comfortably on the head of a carefree young man. Without warning, the young man shot upright, making the hen open her eyes in alarm.
Lin Mo Chen looked around and immediately understood he was exactly where he had passed out. His wounds had completely disappeared, but the black stone was nowhere to be seen.
"...Was it a dream? General Fatty, give me a report on what happened while I was asleep," Lin Mo Chen murmured with an ironic smile, convinced it had all been a dream, until a voice answered inside his head.
"Kid, stop talking to a chicken. I don't want people thinking my disciple is crazy."
Hearing Huo Can's voice, Lin Mo Chen let out a long sigh. Perfect. Of course it hadn't been a dream. How could it have been a dream?
"Master, why did you pull me out of the white space and how am I supposed to get that stuff?"
"First, keeping our souls in that state takes a lot of energy. Second, if you can't even complete such a simple task, how do you expect to go far?"
Although Huo Can's words made sense, that didn't make them any less annoying to Lin Mo Chen. As he thought about it, he remembered something else.
"And the black stone, Master?"
"That thing? Look at your neck," Huo Can said, making Lin Mo Chen look down and discover a metallic obsidian-colored pendant hanging from his neck.
With a tired smile, he braced a hand on the ground and stood up before starting to walk back home. If he consumed a beast core, then his cultivation would advance...
Huo Can's voice echoed in his mind. "Sure... if you want to explode. Forget about beast cores, brat. Until you get that blood, you can't even start cultivating the technique."
A shiver ran through Lin Mo Chen as he imagined himself exploding. He shook his head quickly and pushed that terrifying image out of his mind.
"Well, I guess now I also have a shopping list from my ghost master..." Lin Mo Chen thought as he started walking, his hen following behind him.