Next, the crowd gazed in envy.
The man's expression had suddenly turned serious. He looked towards Lin Han and said, "Lin Han, are you willing to join the Chiyang Imperial Residence?"
"I will most willingly join the Chiyang Imperial Residence!" Lin Han replied solemnly with a fist-palm salute.
Lin Han's goal had always been to become someone formidable within the Lin Clan Sect Residence.
However, ever since he received his inheritance from the First Ancient Dragon Emperor, his vision and ambitions broadened. It pressed him to ascend beyond what this small place could offer and explore the vast outer world.
Besides, he was also bound by a heavy responsibility, which was to search for this Ancient Land and kill his enemy, the Ice God, Lan Bingyan.
Lin Han held immense gratitude towards the First Ancient Dragon Emperor who had bestowed his power upon him. If it weren't for the Emperor, Lin Han would still have been struggling at the lowest level like an insignificant ant.
Hence, by hook or by crook, Lin Han would do all he could to fulfill the Dragon Emperor's last wish. It was his way of repaying the Dragon Emperor's kindness.
Regardless of whether Lin Han wanted to explore the outer world or to repay the Dragon Emperor's kindness, Lin Han needed a greater platform to thrive in. The Lin Clan Sect Residence was no longer satisfactory for Lin Han.
Naturally, Lin Han would not have rejected joining the Chiyang Imperial Residence.
Upon hearing his agreement, the man in the black robe smiled and said, "Good. Good. With talents like yours, you'll definitely be an unordinary individual once you enter the Chiyang Imperial Residence!"
The man had huge expectations for Lin Han. His compliment had caused many of the other disciples to drown in envy.
In the same boat were the residence masters and the accompanying elders, whose envy was also obvious from their expressions.
Indeed, the Chiyang Imperial Residence could be considered the place with the most powerful people within the Yan Kingdom. Not even the Royal Family of the Yan Kingdom could measure up to it.
There was only one factor that contributed to the immense power of the Chiyang Imperial Residence, which was that the King Chiyang himself was Yan Kingdom's greatest powerhouse.
To be able to become a part of the Chiyang Imperial Residence could be considered a lifelong dream for many people.
At this point, Lin Han was chosen to be part of it. In fact, it was quite possible that he would even receive personal guidance by none other than King Chiyang himself.
It was an opportunity of a lifetime!
"That's right, I almost forgot. In three months' time, the Chiyang Imperial Residence will be hosting the 'Hundred Cities Genius Martial Arts Exchange'. At that time, there'll be close to a hundred chosen young geniuses like you from all over Yan Kingdom participating in the event. The higher you rank in the martial arts exchange, the more training resources you'll be given after entering the Imperial Residence, the heavier the emphasis that'll be placed on you as well. In fact, the top three ranking geniuses can even be accepted by the Chiyang King as his closed-door disciples!"
As he finished speaking, the man threw a jade token to Lin Han. He said, "This is a Chiyang Token. Keep it with you. In three months' time, you will arrive at the Chiyang Imperial Residence and participate in the Hundred Cities Genius Martial Arts Exchange. Don't miss it! Meanwhile, finish whatever you need to do here. Once you enter the residence, I'm afraid you won't have much time to return."
"Yes, Senior!"
Lin Han accepted the token. There were mysterious patterns carved on it. Subtly, Lin Han could sense a decent amount of energy burrowed within it.
This was because Lin Han's perception had always been strong. If it were any other person holding it, they probably would not have sensed the flow of energy within the Chiyang Token.
Meanwhile, the man in the black robe seemed to have noticed Lin Han's realization. Surprised initially, the man then smiled and said, "Seems like you've noticed it. This token was cast by the Chiyang Imperial Residence, it's power is equivalent to a half spirit weapon. When activated by True Element, it can form a Chiyang Shield around your body. It's capable of blocking even an attack from a Great Grandmaster. However, it can only be used three times before its energy needs to be replenished."
"Half spirit weapon? Capable of blocking a Great Grandmaster's attack?"
Lin Han was slightly shocked.
What great carving skills from the Chiyang Imperial Residence!
The boundaries of Grandmasters ranged from seventh to ninth tier martial arts.. However, different titles also existed within these levels. The Grandmasters of the seventh and eighth tiers were known as the Novice Grandmasters. It was only upon reaching the ninth tier martial arts that one could be known as a Great Grandmaster.
It was scary that the Chiyang Token could actually withstand the attack from a Great Grandmaster three times.
A half spirit weapon indeed.
However, the only weakness it possessed was that it could only be used three times, after which the energy within would be exhausted.
Still, it was not a device any average martial arts warrior could ever attain in his lifetime.
At that moment, the envy amongst the disciples only grew.
"Alright, that's it. I've told you whatever I needed to… Little one, here's a final caution for you. In the martial arts exchange three months later, if you want to stand out among others and be looked up upon in the Chiyang Imperial Residence, you'll have to be ranked at least in the top ten, perhaps even in the top five."
The man in the black robe cautioned and began to leave immediately.
However, at that point in time, Lin Han suddenly asked, "I was wondering if I could know in which place Senior once ranked?"
To be able to become a Chiyang Guard was definitely not a simple feat to pull off.
One had to be aware that the Chiyang Guards who were under the command of the Chiyang King had always only been nine individuals. They were all handpicked from a crowd of hundreds to be where they were.
"I was ranked third that year!" the man in the black robe was mildly astonished, yet he still chose to reply.
"What tier was Senior's cultivation base at during that time?" Lin Han asked again.
"The seventh tier martial art, the boundaries of a Novice Grandmaster."
The man in the black robe laughed heartily, and finally, he spoke again, "If you wish to be in the top three, in three months' time, you must at least attain the boundaries of a Grandmaster! Lin Han, we'll meet again in three months' time…"
As his voice lowered, the man in the black robe vanished from the Lin Clan Sect Residence.
"Three months' time, the boundaries of a Grandmaster." Lin Han held the token firmly in his palms and murmured.
Subsequently, among the envious gaze of other disciples, Lin Han returned to his residence.
That night, the residence master sent an order for Lin Han to meet at a great hall of the inner residence for a discussion.
It was in the middle of the night, the moonlight was vivid yet gloomy.
Within the inner residence, inside a great hall, the residence master and Lin Han sat facing each other.
At that point, Lin Han's status had already gained much respect from the Residence Master.
No matter how well or how poor Lin Han would perform in the Hundred Cities Genius Martial Art Exchange, to be able to enter the Chiyang Imperial Residence was already very impressive.
Besides, once he became part of the Chiyang Imperial Residence, even if he was on the lowest level of existence in that place, it was still far more respectable than his status as the residence master of such an insignificant city.
Such is reality!
"Lin Han, the elders and I have decided that the third level of the Clan Residence Martial Art's Hall will now be opened to you." the residence master said.
"Level three, is that where the natural martial art is at?"
Lin Han's eyes brightened with excitement.
Lin Han knew he had the deduction ability of the Golden Spirit Fire. This meant that after deducing, whichever damaged natural martial arts could be turned into complete natural martial arts!
Having thought of that, Lin Han's excitement grew.
It looks like with his current status, even someone at the level of a residence master had come to please him.
It was the first time that Lin Han could personally experience the benefit of having strong abilities and status. Perhaps, one could even call it special privileges.
…
Three days later.
Within the Inner Residence, Lin Han stood in front of a small hill that was tens of meters tall. His vigor instantly rose to Sky Breaking level.
"Dragon-Tiger Celestial Seal!"
Boom!
Lin Han mobilized both of his hands, with one containing the force of the Blue Dragon, and on the other hand, a fierce tiger force was seen emerging from it. With a mighty roar, both forces clashed into the hill in front.
"Bam!"
The entire hill shook and was shattered into smithereens. In its place was a crater a few feet deep.
The martial art that Lin Han displayed was shockingly the Lin Clan Sect Residence's only natural martial art - the Dragon-Tiger Celestial Seal.
This set of natural martial arts skills are precisely what Lin Han had learned from the third level of the martial arts hall in the past few days.
According to the residence master, Dragon-Tiger Celestial Seal may be the lowest level amongst all natural martial art skills, but when compared to the average levelled martial art skills, it was many times stronger.
Furthermore, based on the Golden Spirit Fire's deduction, Lin Han realized that once this set of martial art skills had been completed, there would be nine imprints of it. The recordings found in the third level had only three imprints.
This set of natural martial art skills was incredibly powerful, it was not as weak as Lin Han initially imagined it to be at all. As to why it appeared weak when Lin Gutian wielded it, it was because he had only learned the abilities of the first imprint.
When Lin Han unleashed his attack, he realized that its strength was comparable to that of the Azure Dragon Probing Claw Hand.
A natural martial art indeed!
Once all the nine seals were unleashed together, who knew what immense power it could hold.
Hence, Lin Han was only focused on studying the Dragon-Tiger Celestial Seal these days. In addition, he had also been incessantly deducing the remaining moves using the Golden Spirit Fire. He was eager to restore the damaged natural martial arts as soon as he could.
He had a plan to use his highest grade spirit stone to transcend himself. However, the spirit stone was already consumed as it was used to kill Lin Badao and his group.
As a result, Lin Han's cultivation base had always remained at the medium level of sixth tier martial arts.
Each martial art tier was further categorized into five levels, which are the Early Level, Medium Level, Advanced Level, Major Advancement and Peak.
Lin Han knew that it was still a long journey to break through the boundary of a Grandmaster
Yet, there was still three months until Lin Han entered the Chiyang Imperial Residence. He was not anxious at all.
As of then, Lin Han had a considerably high net worth. This was especially true after he had gotten a huge sum worth of gold notes from the white-eyebrowed old man.
In that evening, Lin Han put on a set of black robes and sneaked out into an underground black market within Broken Sky City. He exchanged all of his gold notes for spiritual medicine.
Next, Lin Han isolated himself in his pavilion. Using the Art of the Ancient Dragon Emperor, he absorbed the medicinal efficacy within the spiritual medicines to achieve his breakthrough.
It cost a huge fortune when Lin Han exchanged some ten thousands taels of gold worth of golden notes for his spiritual medicines. However, Lin Han did not feel sorry for it at all and immediately swallowed the medicine.
Instantly, Lin Han's body absorbed the streams of powerful medicinal efficacies, strengthening his True Element and Qi-blood.
Sixth tier martial arts Medium Level!
Sixth tier martial arts Advanced Level achieved!
Sixth tier martial arts Major Advancement achieved!
Within three days and three nights, Lin Han finished absorbing all the efficacies from the spiritual medicines and ascended three levels continuously. It was an enormous advancement.
However, it also meant that all he bought with his golden notes were instantly turned into dust. Martial arts cultivation was indeed very costly.
"Boom!"
A stream of powerful aura diffused outwards from his body.
Lin Han stood up in the pavilion and walked towards the front door.
It was because at that moment, he could sense footsteps coming from outside.
Squeak!
Pushing open the attic's door, the sight of Lin Ruyan's graceful figure and elegant beauty were instantly imprinted onto Lin Han's vision.