That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Chapter 21 Flowers bloom together

Lin Zhifeng remained cautiously on guard, and after waiting for a while, he finally relaxed completely when he realized that the tribulation was truly over.

Lin Zhifeng then calmly tidied his appearance, planning to go to the nine elders to report the good news and ask for some benefits along the way.

Since he went into seclusion, Qingfeng, who had been guarding the vicinity and rushed over immediately upon hearing the commotion, had only just seen him undergoing tribulation and hadn't dared to approach—after all, the tribulation lightning of the Nascent Soul stage was no joke. Now that everything was alright, he quickly stepped forward and kowtowed to Lin Zhifeng.

Lin Zhifeng rolled up his sleeves and helped Qingfeng up, scolding, "What did I tell you before I went into seclusion? Why are you still acting like a master and servant?"

After saying this, Lin Zhifeng's attention was drawn to something else, and he no longer had time to criticize Qingfeng.

It turns out that Qingfeng is quite promising; he also devoted himself to cultivation during Lin Zhifeng's seclusion. Moreover, with the blessing of the Golden Core Pill, he recently successfully broke through to the Golden Core stage.

Although Qingfeng's foundation is not yet very stable, he is already a true Golden Core cultivator. Given time, and with a Nascent Soul Pill from the system shop, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage will be just around the corner.

Lin Zhifeng was overjoyed and patted Qingfeng on the shoulder, saying, "Great! I really didn't misjudge you. You come with me to the Nine Elders now. I'll ask for some benefits and also get you an inner disciple spot."

Qingfeng said happily, "Thank you, young master! I don't know what good fortune I have accumulated in my past life to be able to follow you."

Lin Zhifeng said, "Based on your loyalty, you deserve all of this."

Meanwhile, Lin Zhifeng led Qingfeng, and the two of them arrived together at the council hall of the Sword Sect.

Lin Zhifeng asked the gatekeeper to inform him, and soon he was summoned inside.

I don't know what important matter is going on today, but all nine elders are here.

After Lin Zhifeng greeted the elders, before he could say anything, the Ninth Elder beckoned him over.

The Ninth Elder carefully examined Lin Zhifeng's pulse and found that his pulse was steady and the accumulated poison in his body had not increased. He stroked his beard and smiled: "Hmm! Not bad! It seems that you have listened to what I said. That's right, you have to rely on yourself to be steady and not rely too much on medicine."

Lin Zhifeng didn't want to explain. Since even the Ninth Elder, who was proficient in medicine, couldn't diagnose it, he decided to let the matter slide.

The elder smiled and asked Lin Zhifeng, "Little Lin, what brings you here today?"

Lin Zhifeng didn't stand on ceremony with the elders and frankly stated his purpose: "Hehe, I really have something I need the elders' help with this time."

The elders said, "Oh, then tell us."

Lin Zhifeng said, "As for the first one, doesn't our sect give some kind of reward to disciples who break through to the Nascent Soul stage? I just broke through today."

The Grand Elder said, "There will naturally be a reward. You can take this token to Elder Feng, who manages logistics in the inner sect, to collect it in a little while."

The Sixth Elder chuckled, "Tell me your second matter."

Lin Zhifeng said, "The second thing is—during my seclusion, the young boy Qingfeng who took care of me has broken through to the Golden Core stage. This child is loyal and kind, and also quite talented. I would like to ask the elders to grant him the status of an inner disciple."

The Grand Elder said, "Qingfeng was originally arranged by your father to take care of your daily life. If you accept him as an inner disciple, will you no longer have servants?"

Lin Zhifeng said, "I have hands and feet, and I'm not stupid anymore, so I don't need anyone to take care of me."

The First Elder said, "I've noted this down. I'll tell Elder Liu about it later. Once it's done, I'll have someone send you your inner disciple's nameplate."

Lin Zhifeng was overjoyed and thanked Qingfeng along with him.

The Grand Elder continued, "Although I can arrange an inner disciple status for Qingfeng, with his aptitude, he probably won't be able to become a disciple. Why don't we let him stay with you? That way, he can take care of your daily life, and you can guide his cultivation when you have time. What do you say?"

Lin Zhifeng said, "I think this is wonderful, thank you very much, Elder!"

The Grand Elder waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. It's just a small favor. Is there anything else?"

Lin Zhifeng said, "I'd like to inquire if the sect has any missions going out recently? Preferably something like exploring secret realms."

The elders were all taken aback. How could he not even know such a basic question? Then they all realized that Lin Zhifeng's soul had only recently returned to its place, and he had been busy cultivating. It was normal that he didn't know about the sect's affairs.

The elders patiently told him, "There's a mission pavilion in the sect, where missions issued by the sect and its affiliated sects and factions are listed. If you're interested, you can go there to take a look."

Lin Zhifeng quickly thanked him upon hearing this.

Having achieved his goal, he was about to take his leave when Lin Jun's father, the Seventh Elder, stopped Lin Zhifeng and said gratefully, "Little Lin, thanks to you, my good-for-nothing youngest son has finally learned to work hard. A year ago, he reached the late stage of the Golden Core realm and went into seclusion, intending to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Although his aptitude is far inferior to yours, he may not succeed. But if he does manage to succeed by chance, you'll have to trouble yourself to guide him in the future!"

Lin Zhifeng quickly said, "Seventh Elder, you're too kind! Senior Brother Lin Jun and I are the best of brothers, and we will naturally look after each other in the future."

At this point, Lin Zhifeng suddenly remembered that there must have been many disciples in the sect who broke through to the Nascent Soul stage in the past year or so.

After hearing his question, the elders all looked smug. The eldest elder smiled and said, "After the sect competition, all of the top ten disciples in the Golden Core stage, except for you, broke through that year. Many other disciples have also broken through in the past year or so, including you, there are more than a hundred."

The Second Elder rarely spoke up: "Speaking of which, this batch of disciples is really quite good. They can be considered the most outstanding group since the establishment of the sect."

The Seventh Elder said, "When the Sect Master was here, I didn't think they were anything special. I think it started when Xiao Linzi's soul returned to its place. Look at those bad students, even my son's cronies know to work hard now."

Lin Zhifeng got what he wanted and quickly made an excuse to leave. He didn't want to listen to the elders' nonsense.

Lin Zhifeng returned home and rested for a day before going to the mission pavilion that the elders had mentioned.

In the Task Hall, different tasks are categorized according to difficulty, and there are also relatively strict requirements on the level and number of people who can handle the tasks.

Upon successful completion of a task, the executor will be rewarded with a certain amount of sect points, depending on the task's difficulty. These points can be exchanged for medicines, resources, etc., in the sect warehouse.

Some task posters will add extra rewards such as spirit stones to increase the incentive. In this case, the task completer essentially receives double the reward. Therefore, these types of tasks are the most popular and sought-after.

Lin Zhifeng spent some time roughly browsing through the sect's current tasks. Unfortunately, he didn't find any related to the secret realm. As for ordinary tasks, such as finding someone, finding a rare herb, catching a ghost or exorcising a demon, etc., the rewards were nothing more than some low-grade spirit stones and basic pills, which held no appeal for Lin Zhifeng.

It seems that this world is quite different from the game world. You see, the secret realms that are everywhere in the game are very rare here.

Since he hadn't found any relevant information in the quest pavilion, Lin Zhifeng was too lazy to waste his energy on those minor tasks. He'd rather use that time to cultivate properly!

Several more months passed, and one after another, members of the sect broke through to the Nascent Soul stage. The tribulation lightning occurred almost daily, much to the delight of the sect's elders.

Lin Jun and his brothers were fortunate enough to be among this group of newly promoted Golden Core cultivators.

They all knew that their breakthroughs were all thanks to the Nascent Soul Pill given to them by Lin Zhifeng.

From that time on, these people became even more obedient and devoted to Lin Zhifeng. Later, they fought side by side and went on adventures together, and their story was passed down through the ages.

Meanwhile, the brothers, having not seen each other for a long time, gathered together again, praising each other and satisfying their vanity.

It's no wonder they became so arrogant; even the elders in charge of teaching were deeply impressed by the sudden improvement of these academically challenged students. As a result, the sect later adjusted its teaching methods, offering more encouragement and tolerance to those who lagged behind. All of this was inseparable from the contributions of Lin Jun and his fellow academically challenged students.