Chapter 55 Counting the Gains
Relying on nothing but himself alone, the youth was able to take out all the bandits before taking on eight third-rate experts and finally achieving victory!
Duan Feifei was completely amazed by what she saw.
"In just a short span of half a year, this little thief actually became a third-rate expert? And even killed the Black-Robed Seven[1]!" After a moment of thought, surprise turned into anger: "No wonder this little thief dared to do act so smugly that day even though he only learned a few basic martial arts. He's actually quite capable!"
"To become a third-rate expert in half a year, this little thief can be considered a great talent. But compared to myself he is still slightly inferior." Duan Feifei thought secretly.
Turning her head towards the old man in servant attire, who was actually formerly one of the Ten Great Elders of Sun Moon Holy Cult, she asked: "Uncle Xiong, what's your opinion on him?"
Elder Xiong looked at Crouching Tiger Hill below, his face revealing a hint of surprise: "This youth actually acquired internal arts in half a year and succeeded in learning Deadly Chain of Three Celestial Swords, this shows that he has great talent. To think that Huashan has obtained a genius this time."
As he spoke, killing intent flashed in Elder Xiong's eyes, and he said with viciousness: "Holy Maiden, if this youth continues to progress, he will surely become a great enemy of our holy cult in the future. Why not let subordinate[2] get rid of this youth right now and eliminate a future threat to our holy cult."
"No...!" Duan Feifei gasped in surprise, and upon noticing Elder Xiong's weird gaze, she quickly resumed a cold expression and snorted: "Hmph, this little thief may be talented, but compared to myself[3], he is still inferior and not worth mentioning."
"This youth naturally cannot be compared to Holy Maiden." Elder Xiong nodded.
Duan Feifei was extremely satisfied with his reply. The expression in her eyes grew prouder and her neck was raised high like a proud swan: "Even if he killed the Black-Robed Seven and looks very strong among similarly classed experts, so what? I can easily kill him and send him to Level Eighteenth Hell! In my eyes, he is just an audacious and arrogant ant. An ant is still an ant, no matter how amazing his achievements are, he will always remain an ant."
"Holy Maiden is right, he is just an ant!" Elder Xiong seemed to be greatly satisfied with Duan Feifei's words and laughed loudly.
Duan Feifei changed her tone suddenly and said: "Besides, this little thief has done us a great favor by killing the Black-Robed Seven. Ha, Uncle Nangong is truly suspicious of me this time. He actually sent Black-Robed Seven to secretly look into our whereabouts so that he can monitor our every move. If I didn't receive news of this a long time ago, I would probably still be in the dark."
"No matter what, by killing the Black-Robed Seven, the little thief has taken care of a troublesome matter for us. If not, even if we know that the Black-Robed Seven's purpose is to monitor us, we can't really do anything to them. But since Uncle Nangong has already started to suspect us, we need to increase our pace and find Father as soon as we can. I received news that a clue regarding Father has been found in Jiangnan. Let's set off right now and head for Jiangnan."
Elder Xiong nodded, his face revealing a hint of ridicule: "Rogue Nangong has a guilty conscience so naturally, he doesn't want Holy Maiden to leave his sight for long. Hmph, he doesn't know that the more he behaves this way, the more subordinate suspects that there is more to the incident where Cult Master went berserk[4]! There are many rumors in the cult saying that when Cult Master Duan was practicing his divine arts in seclusion back then, he was ambushed by rogue Nangong at a critical juncture. He then captured Cult Master and locked him in an extremely hidden location."
"Thinking about it now, these rumors really have some credibility. Subordinate believes that Cult Master must still be alive! Even if Cult Master has really been killed by rogue Nangong, subordinate will assist Holy Maiden in taking back the position of Cult Master and getting rid of rogue Nangong!"
Duan Feifei remained silent. After a long time, she spoke in a cold voice: "We don't have much time, let's set off!"
Regarding what Elder Xiong had said, she did not say anything about it. It was as if she did not hear it at all.
With a light tread of her feet, she leaped into the air and flew down from the hilltop like a fairy.
If not for the fact that she still needed to land on the ground occasionally to replenish her uplifting force, she would truly resemble an immortal riding the winds.
Elder Xiong hurriedly followed behind.
The two of them left the place swiftly and disappeared without a trace.
The youth in Crouching Tiger Hill had no idea that two pairs of eyes had been spying on him from the top of an adjacent taller hill.
He also didn't know that he had solved a huge problem for someone else by getting rid of the demonic cult members.
......
System notification:
Combat evaluation: Grade SS
Killing 2nd Chief of Crouching Tiger Hill, 5,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing Eldest Chief of Crouching Tiger Hill, 5,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing the disciple of Herculean Strength Divine Demon from Sun Moon Holy Cult, 8,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing the disciple of Golden Ape Divine Demon from Sun Moon Holy Cult, 8,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing the disciple of White Ape Divine Demon from Sun Moon Holy Cult, 8,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing the disciple of Black Tiger Divine Demon from Sun Moon Holy Cult, 8,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing the disciple of Demonic Claws Divine Demon from Sun Moon Holy Cult, 8,000 battle experience awarded.
Killing the disciple of Sky Soaring Divine Demon from Sun Moon Holy Cult, 8,000 battle experience awarded.
Quest reward:
Matching the strength of ten, killing the seven disciples of Seven Great Divine Demons from Sun Moon Holy Cult as well as three third-rate experts in a short amount of time, creating a huge sensation in Jianghu, 20,000 battle experience awarded.
On the system panel, red words flashed madly.
Experience, it was all battle experience!
Lin Yi took a look and laughed in satisfaction.
Eight third-rate experts had brought him 58,000 battle experience.
Suddenly his expression froze.
Why was there a quest reward?
Although he was more than happy to receive 20,000 battle experience, he was alerted by it.
If nobody saw what he did, there would definitely be no additional reputation reward.
If there was no witness, it would naturally remain a secret and news of it wouldn't spread to Jianghu. If that were the case, he wouldn't get any reputation from it.
But...
How did the quest reward of 20,000 battle experience come about?
Lin Yi frowned in thought. When he fought the eight third-rate experts, he even made sure to take care of all the minor bandits.
There wasn't a single bandit who left the place alive.
As he looked around him, he saw the tall hills surrounding him.
Did someone in the surroundings saw it?
That would be troublesome.
Although it wasn't that great of a trouble, it wasn't a good thing, after all, to get marked by people from Sun Moon Holy Cult.
However, changing his thoughts, Lin Yi suddenly smiled.
Since he already ate the battle experience, he couldn't possibly spit it out from his mouth.
Not possible!
If he got marked then so be it, what was there to fear from Sun Moon Holy Cult?
Right now, he was already a member of Huashan and also possessed a superior sword art.
Although it could not be compared to the peak state he achieved in the game, he was not afraid of demonic cult members coming to seek revenge.
At this time, first-rate experts were still very rarely seen in Jianghu.
Demonic cult members seeking revenge would be second-rate experts at best.
In his previous life, the player who learned Deadly Chain of Three Immortal Swords was able to kill a second-rate expert while he was still a third-rate expert.
Was there any reason Lin Yi couldn't do the same?
After sorting out his thoughts, Lin Yi laughed heartily and discarded his worries. Then he started to carry out a thorough inspection of his gains.
From Lin Village to Crouching Tiger Hill, he had killed a total of four hundred odd bandits.
Gaining a total of forty thousand odd battle experience.
From killing ten third-rate experts, three gave 5,000 battle experience while seven gave 8,000 battle experience.
A total of 71,000 battle experience.
Getting seen by unknown personnel and receiving a reputation reward of 20,000 battle experience.
A grand total of 131,000 battle experience gained from laying waste to Crouching Tiger Hill.
There was now sufficient experience to clear the second standard meridian!
Lin Yi felt great joy.
Four months of arduous training in Huashan only netted him half the experience required.
And now, only a few days had passed since leaving Huashan and he already gained the other half required to clear the second standard meridian.
When clearing one of the twelve standard meridians, one's body would lose control for a certain amount of time.
Crouching Tiger Hill was obviously not a good place for seclusion. Lin Yi quickly gave a casual search of the ruins which Crouching Tiger Hill had turned into and collected the three violet arrows.
He had no patience to look for other items and hurried back to Lin Village.
He couldn't wait to go into seclusion and clear the second standard meridian.
......
Right now, it was bustling with activity just outside of Lin residence.
Everyone within a radius of a hundred li had received the news that Lin Yi, the only son of the richest man in Yu City Lin Zhilong, had become a Huashan upper courtyard disciple in just half a year's time.
Once he returned home, he drove out the bandits who had been causing havoc and inciting fear in everyone. He even managed to slay two third-rate experts who were the leaders of these bandits.
Once the news spread, everyone in the area was shocked.
Their first reaction was to hurry to the Lin residence and grab hold of their thighs![5]
Everyone was well aware that the Lin family had completely struck it rich with the appearance of a Huashan upper courtyard disciple in the family. He was even a genius who acquired internal arts within half a year to become a third-rate expert. Who knew what great achievements he would be capable of in the future?
Nobody could tell, but they all knew that Lin Yi had an unimaginably bright future.
Right now, Lin family had yet to build up their influence and following.
What better time was there to approach them if not now?
Lin family was destined to become the overlord of the area within a radius of hundred li.
Anyone who made a living in this area did not dare to ignore them.
Whether it be rich families, government officials or normal civilians, and even people of Jianghu, they all made their way towards Lin Village.
People of Jianghu who were normally high and mighty in front of ordinary people also couldn't ignore a Huashan upper courtyard disciple.
Some came to form good relations, some came to pledge their loyalty and some came to look for work.
All sorts of people came.
The entire Lin Village was extremely crowded with people.
The village was not large and it couldn't accommodate so many people.
Tall horses and luxurious carriages all appeared in the village.
When had the farmers in Lin Village ever seen such fanfare and excitement?
Outside the gates of Lin residence, many people were queuing up.
Even the high and mighty people of Jianghu earnestly queued up with their swords and sabers in tow.
The sight of this stunned the farmers of Lin Village.
They all understood that the Lin family had truly ascended to the heavens!
TL Note:
[1] Duan Feifei calls them 黑袍七兄弟(black-robed seven brothers), not sure if this is an official title so I'm just gonna call them Black-Robed Seven.
[2] Elder Xiong refers to himself as 属下(subordinate) when talking to Duan Feifei as a sign of respect.
[3] Duan Feifei refers to herself as 本姑娘(this Miss/Lady) when talking(but I will be translating it as "I" and "myself" etc since it's pretty clunky). This is a haughty way of addressing oneself, similar to the japanese ore-wa.
[4] The chinese expression 走火入魔 used here is a very common phrase used in wuxia novels to refer to something gone wrong in the process of practicing martial arts. I will translate it as going berserk to simplify translations.
[5] The chinese expression 抱大腿 is a modern way of saying to fawn on and possibly get some benefits.