Chapter 026: The Lingxiao Technique

Because he had expended a significant amount of true energy while opening Gu Huaishan’s meridians, Lin Le didn’t rush to visit the villa at the summit of Dragon Breath Mountain after receiving the keys. The villa had been abandoned for years, and would require time to tidy up, with issues that couldn’t be resolved overnight.

For now, the most pressing matter was to find a place to stay.

Gu Huaishan, having had his meridians reconnected and feeling as though he’d been reborn, was in excellent spirits. He invited the best chef in Haizhou to prepare a lavish meal to honor Lin Le.

At the dinner table, when Gu Huaishan inquired about Lin Le’s plans, Lin Le shared the news that his family was opening Lin’s Noodle House.

He went on to explain, “The noodles I’ll be selling, Heavenly Noodles, aren’t made with ordinary ingredients. They have remarkable health benefits, especially for martial artists like Elder Gu. With your meridians restored, regular consumption will surely aid your cultivation tremendously!”

“If that’s the case, I’ll be a frequent patron!” Gu Huaishan said with a laugh.

“Are you exaggerating? Eating noodles to improve cultivation?” Gu Ya was skeptical.

From their expressions, it was clear that Guo Zhao was also doubtful. Guo Zhao had practiced martial arts since childhood, consumed countless elixirs, but the idea of noodles boosting cultivation was frankly laughable.

Seeing their disbelief, Lin Le became spirited. His Lin’s Noodle House hadn’t even opened yet, and he couldn’t afford to tarnish its reputation.

“Just wait,” he said.

A dozen minutes later, Lin Le brought out three bowls of Heavenly Noodles.

As expected, after their first bite, Gu Huaishan and the others were full of praise.

“Little Lin, once the noodle house opens, I’ll have someone pick up takeout every day!” Gu Huaishan exclaimed after tasting the noodles, feeling his dantian brimming with energy.

“This is more effective than any elixir I’ve taken!” Guo Zhao said, his eyes wide with excitement.

Gu Ya was left speechless; she felt that the young man before her was like a treasure chest, each time opened revealing a new surprise.

Gu Huaishan promised that when Lin’s Noodle House opened, he would not only be a regular customer, but would also handle its initial publicity.

This surprised Lin Le. With Gu Huaishan’s status, his endorsement would be invaluable.

After the meal, it was already afternoon.

Lin Tenghui called to say he’d found a shop, and asked Lin Le to come see it.

Lin Le left the Gu family home and went to Hongqiao Plaza, where Lin Tenghui and Chen Qiang were waiting.

The shop’s location was excellent—a rare, newly built storefront in the heart of the bustling city center.

Chen Qiang was amazed at Lin Le’s abilities. Overnight, he’d produced twenty million and secured a foothold in Haizhou’s city center, a feat that left Chen Qiang feeling inadequate.

Chen Qiang felt embarrassed by his previous thirty thousand investment, hardly worthy of a share.

But Lin Tenghui insisted on the original share distribution, giving Chen Qiang fifteen percent. Chen Qiang felt he had truly struck gold.

Lin Le thought the twenty million he’d acquired from Ma Bozhong was substantial, but it turned out that in Haizhou’s current real estate market, it was barely a drop in the bucket.

A storefront at Hongqiao Plaza, less than a hundred square meters, cost over fifteen million—an astonishing sum.

No wonder, Haizhou was a super metropolis, known as the Magic City of Huaxia. Ordinary residential prices had soared to fifty or sixty thousand per square meter, let alone central commercial property.

Fortunately, he had just obtained another five million from Guan Tianxiong, so startup funds were no longer a concern for now.

With Lin Tenghui, a commercial genius, managing Lin’s Noodle House, Lin Le could rest easy.

Housing was also settled; Lin Tenghui had rented a fully furnished three-bedroom apartment in a nearby community, just five minutes from the shop, with reasonable rent for a year.

Having expended so much energy, Lin Le felt exhausted. After a brief conversation with Lin Tenghui, he retired to his room.

Once inside, Lin Le sat cross-legged on his bed and began practicing his cultivation technique to restore his vitality.

Since obtaining the memory of Emperor Lingxiao in a mysterious ancient tomb a year ago, Lin Le had followed the methods taught in the Lingxiao Art to cultivate.

The Lingxiao Art he practiced bore many similarities to the cultivation methods found on Earth.

In truth, the cultivation techniques on Earth originated long ago, hundreds of millions of years in the past, when Earth’s civilizations were in another era, inherited from the immortal realm where Emperor Lingxiao resided.

But as the world changed and civilizations evolved, most of the original cultivation methods disappeared.

Moreover, Earth, after nearly 4.6 billion years, had seen its innate spiritual energy depleted through successive epochs. The spiritual energy available for cultivation was now extremely thin, so even with the methods, attaining true immortality or significant breakthroughs was difficult.

Fortunately, the Lingxiao Art was not limited to Earth’s spiritual energy, unlike other cultivation techniques.

Lin Le knew that all cultivation methods could be categorized into four levels: Earth, Heaven, Star, and Cosmos.

These levels were determined by the scope of spiritual energy they could absorb.

Earth-level techniques absorb spiritual energy within tens of miles.

Heaven-level techniques absorb energy from the ground and the air.

Star-level techniques draw from the entire planet.

Cosmos-level techniques absorb energy from nearby stars, entire star systems, or even the universe itself.

All cultivation methods accessible on Earth were basic Earth-level, or at most Heaven-level.

But the Lingxiao Art was one of the rare Cosmos-level techniques!

If mastered, it could draw spiritual energy from distant stars—far beyond the reach of Earth- or Heaven-level techniques.

Yet, the Lingxiao Art was profound, and after a year, Lin Le had only scratched the surface.

The stages of cultivation were sixfold: Foundation, Innate, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, and Tribulation Crossing.

Each stage, like martial arts, could be divided into entry, minor achievement, and major achievement.

Currently, Lin Le was only at the minor achievement stage of Foundation.

The Foundation stage primarily served to strengthen the cultivator’s physical attributes.

Throughout this stage, strength, speed, and all sensory abilities would undergo qualitative improvement—similar to the physical enhancement sought by martial artists.

This explained why Gu Huaishan and the others always regarded Lin Le as a martial arts master.

If Lin Le’s current strength were measured against the martial arts realm, he would be considered at least at the peak of internal force, possibly even higher.

The Lingxiao Art had nine levels; Lin Le was barely at the second.

Thus, he could only absorb spiritual energy within a ten-mile radius.

As Lin Le activated the Lingxiao Art, the spiritual energy in the air slowly gathered, flowing into his body and replenishing his depleted vitality.

After two or three hours, Lin Le was enveloped in a layer of white mist, as if he’d just emerged from a steam room.

“My level in the Lingxiao Art is still too low. If I could truly unleash its Cosmos-level power, restoring my vitality would take but an instant!”

But his visit to the Gu family today had yielded great rewards.

Aside from their newfound respect for him and the mountain-top villa, Lin Le’s greatest discovery was a treasure that would greatly benefit his cultivation—the seven peaks near Longyuan Lake.

If his guess was correct, those peaks were not ordinary mountains.

Lin Le had observed closely: the arrangement and spacing of the seven peaks matched the Northern Dipper constellation exactly.

Such a coincidence could not have been shaped by nature alone.

The only explanation was that they were artificially created—by ancient cultivators of previous epochs.

Seven peaks formed a vast natural array.

This perfectly complemented the Lingxiao Art.

Lin Le could use this natural array to enhance his cultivation, elevating the Lingxiao Art to the star-level, able to absorb the energy of the Seven Stars.

As for the strange phenomena atop Dragon Breath Mountain, Lin Le suspected there was more to them, and planned to investigate when time permitted.

With these thoughts, night had fallen, and Lin Le lay down to rest.

Not long after, his phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number; Lin Le assumed it was a nuisance call and ignored it.

But soon, it rang again.

“Hello, who is this?” Lin Le said, annoyed.

“I am Tang Nianchen…”