Chapter 4 Breakthrough, Space Upgrade
Startled by the voice, Yuan Bo trembled.
He quickly stopped what he was doing, his eyes filled with panic as he looked towards Steward Li.
But Steward Li was not the least bit flustered. He gestured to Yuan Bo to follow him, then took the lead and walked outside.
Yuan Bo, without uttering a word, hurriedly followed behind Steward Li.
Outside the house, Senior Han had already descended from mid-air, his face gloomy, his eyes cold as he looked at Steward Li.
After coming outside, Steward Li glared at Han Jing and spoke first, countering him:
"Han Jing, what do you mean by your words just now?"
"I'm here to visit my subordinates, how is it any of your business?"
Han Jing responded with a cold snort.
"Hmph..."
"Is that really the case?"
Steward Li continued, "Lin Jing is also one of my subordinates. Now that he has been expelled from the Sect because of an accident, I'm very distressed."
"I wanted to see if he needed anything, to treat him with the kindness due to a fellow Sect member. Is that not allowed?"
Han Jing didn't answer but said coldly, "Where is he?"
Han Jing had just arrived and noticed that Lin Jing was not in the house, and there was no scent of blood around, indicating that the two hadn't made a move against Lin Jing yet.
"When we arrived, he wasn't in the house, but his luggage was still here. He must have had something to do and left temporarily."
Han Jing looked straight at Steward Li. Seeing that his expression was calm and didn't seem to be lying, his own expression softened a bit.
Then he said to Steward Li:
"Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Are you not just after the Foundation Building Elixir Lin Yue obtained?"
"So it's because of the Foundation Building Elixir." Lin Jing, observing in secret, suddenly understood.
It turned out that Steward Li thought he was in possession of a Foundation Building Elixir, which explained everything.
"I suppose being expelled from the Sect is also related, isn't it?"
"As long as I leave the Sect, he could follow and then kill me to seize the elixir."
However, Lin Jing was very clear that when his predecessor's father died, he only left a few last words and nothing else.
He wondered where Steward Li had gotten his information.
"How did he know?" Steward Li's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.
Yet his face still maintained an innocent look as if he knew nothing at all.
"What Foundation Building Elixir? Senior Han, you must be mistaken. I just wanted to see if Lin Jing needed anything before he left."
Han Jing, ignoring Steward Li's continued feigning of ignorance, went on to say:
"Whether it's true or not, I'll tell you not to even think about it."
"Long ago, Lin Yue already gave that Foundation Building Elixir to me. Otherwise, how do you think I succeeded in Foundation Establishment?"
"Now that I owe Lin Yue a favor, naturally I have the duty to take good care of his son. Before when you schemed to expel him from the Sect, I didn't interfere, but if you plan to harm his life, I cannot overlook it."
Steward Li couldn't help but feel bitter; he hadn't expected that his long-planned scheme would come to nothing.
It turns out the Foundation Building Elixir was gone long ago.
Nevertheless, he didn't show it, acting as if he truly was ignorant of the matter of the elixir.
"I've made myself clear to you. If you make a move against Lin Jing again, don't blame me for being unkind."
Steward Li continued to play dumb and said earnestly:
"Senior Han, we are all from the same Sect. I've always seen him as my junior brother. How could I wish him harm?"
Seeing Steward Li's acting skills, Lin Jing couldn't help but admire him. If an uninformed person were present, they would likely have been fooled by now.
However, the next sentence from Han Jing left Lin Jing feeling numb.
"In that case, let's wait here for him to come back."
"Alright."
Seeing Han Jing so determined, Steward Li couldn't very well object.
After that, they all went into the house together, and Yuan Bo quickly lit the oil lamp on the table.
And so, the three of them sat in silence together in Lin Jing's thatched cottage, waiting for Lin Jing to return.
......
"With them here, it's even harder to leave without exposing the existence of the System Space."
Lin Jing, who had been observing the situation, couldn't help but give a bitter smile:
"Really out of luck, we've been blocked right at the source."
Lin Jing quickly exited Observation Mode and asked the System.
"System, is there a way to appear somewhere else when I go out?"
"Master, you can use Fixed Point Teleportation. It can teleport you to the outside world. The teleportation range is the same as the size of the Spirit Field within your System Space."
"Your current System Space is level 1, with a Spirit Field range of 10 acres. Your teleportation range is also 10 acres, with a teleportation fee of 1 Harvest Point."
"There's a fee?" Lin Jing was too drained to complain, especially since he currently had zero Harvest Points.
Before Lin Jing could ask any further questions, another prompt from the System arrived.
"The System detects that the host's current Harvest Points are zero. It is recommended that the host first make a breakthrough to Qi Refinement second layer." (Note: Host can obtain Harvest Points by breaking through within the System Space.)
"Looks like I'm being forced into a breakthrough."
He checked the remaining time; there was a little over one hour left.
Lin Jing didn't dare to delay any further and immediately relaxed his body and mind, adjusted his state, and began preparing for the breakthrough.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but Lin Jing could feel that his breath had reached its peak. It seemed, however, that something was preventing him from advancing further.
He gathered his focus, operated his cultivation technique with all his strength, and absorbed the Spiritual Energy into his body. As time passed, the amount of Spiritual Power in his body increased, and soon, the Spiritual Power in his meridians was brimming.
Continue operating the cultivation technique.
"Buzz"
Lin Jing suddenly felt that everything about him had changed, as if the world had become more real in an instant.
Qi Refinement second layer; he had made the breakthrough.
"Congratulations to the host for the successful breakthrough, awarded 10 Harvest Points."
"Ding"
"System prompt: As this is the host's first time obtaining Harvest Points, you are awarded an additional 100 Harvest Points as a reward."
The sudden reward took Lin Jing by surprise; he hadn't expected extra rewards. Was this some kind of newbie's benefit?
With the 10 Harvest Points from the breakthrough and the additional 100 bonus Harvest Points, he now had 110 Harvest Points.
Lin Jing remembered that upgrading the System Space only needed 100 Harvest Points.
"System, open the panel."
Then the panel appeared, and upon checking, he saw that he could indeed upgrade now.
System Space (Level 1) (Upgrade Available)
Remaining time: 17 minutes
Host: Lin Jing
Spirit Field range: 10 acres
Spiritual Energy Density: 1
Flow of Time Speed: 1
Daily entry time: 2 hours
Upgrade requirement: (110/100 Harvest Points)
Special Functions: Alert Mode (When the host enters the System Space, the host's real-world surroundings will be included in the Alert Mode range, with immediate warnings for emergencies.)
Observation Mode: (The host can observe the real world from within the System Space.) (Note: While in Observation Mode, the host's perspective will synchronize with the outside world's time.)
"System, upgrade." Lin Jing didn't hesitate and immediately chose to upgrade.
"Boom..."
As Lin Jing finished speaking, changes started to take place within the System Space, the most noticeable being that the space obviously expanded outward, increasing in range.
And the Spiritual Energy within the space grew thicker and thicker.
The entire upgrade process lasted for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, a System prompt sounded.
"Ding"
"Upgrade complete, current System Space level: 2."
"New Function Unlocked: Cumulative Time."