Never Absent

Early in the morning, a rooster heralded the break of day.

Without the hustle and bustle of the city, without the exhaust fumes of cars, the slightly humid air was refreshing, and the dew hung on the grass without dripping.

Sitting in the courtyard, Jiang Lin looked at the newspaper he had just bought from a newspaper boy. It had the official daily newspaper of Black Tortoise City, as well as the news from Black Tortoise City Penguin Watch and the NC Department, among others.

In the newspapers, there was no shortage of descriptions of Lin Qingwan's heroic bearing when she struck with the power of a Nascent Soul Tier.

Some newspapers were even speculating whether Lin Qingwan would be the third or second in the following promising talents roll.

After all, this was the second genius to enter the first floor of the Nascent Soul Tier before the age of 20 in several hundred years in Wutong Province!

As for the first place in the promising talents roll… Honestly, Jiang Lin had only heard of the person, but had never seen them, and even if he had heard of them, it was only a general rumor.

For example, number one of the millennium (very genius!), can you tell my gender (gender unknown), kills decisively (extremely fierce), and titles like this and so on. Anyway, it was all about how impressive they were.

Jiang Lin looked at the sunset in the sky with some melancholy.

The system said that Senior Sister Lin would break through her tier in actual combat, then despise demon sects, finally kill him countless times, then scatter his ashes to the wind, and ascend, but what would happen now?

Senior Sister Lin had inexplicably resolved the knot in her heart and broken through two tiers in a row, so it was only logical that she had deviated from the system's prophecy, but why did he feel uneasy?

And, the system's prophecy only prophesied once. After one time, it didn't care; even if the situation changed, the system wouldn't have another prophecy prompt, so Jiang Lin didn't even know if the prophecy still counted or not.

"Forget it, let's stick to the original plan anyway, just to be safe, and end it in the mystic realm this time!"

A total of over 100,000 cultivators had taken the qualification test yesterday, and a total of 5,000 had passed. Jiang Lin and Fang Chaoqun had both passed, and in another hour, it would be time for the Mysterious Trails Mystic Realm opening.

For some special items in the Mysterious Trails Mystic Realm, Jiang Lin didn't hold much hope. After all, Senior Sister Lin was the protagonist, and almost all the treasures would be given to Senior Sister Lin—he could just pick up the scraps on the roadside.

Using his free time, Jiang Lin practiced Return My Drifting Fist in the middle of the courtyard according to the fist recipe, but he just practiced the stance, and didn't practice seriously; after all, he hadn't even become a martial artist.

***

"This fist stance, Brother Jiang, looks quite elaborate."

Half an hour later, Fang Chaoqun stepped out of the room.

"Brother Fang knows fist techniques?"

Jiang Lin got out of his fist stance, and looked at Fang Chaoqun, who had just woken up, with some surprise as he was under the impression that Fang Chaoqun was an Immortal Abode Tier cultivator like himself.

"Hahaha, I'm not going to lie to Brother Jiang. Although my cultivation talent is not as good as Brother Jiang's, and I've been stagnant in the Immortal Abode Tier for many years, I'm also a fourth-tier martial artist, and learned some fist techniques, but I couldn't get used to the hardship and gave up. I've never seen this fist technique before, Brother Jiang. Do you have a name for it?"

"Return My Drifting Fist."

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to hide from Brother Fang. This fist is called Return My Drifting Fist, created by a talented man named Tang Bohu. The fist is like the wind. It's about being as fast as lightning. Although the saying goes, 'don't hit people in the face,' this Return My Drifting Fist specializes in hitting the opponent's face, and it also has the effect of beauty and detoxification."

'…And pardon my ignorance, but does this fist technique… have the power to kill?"

"No…" replied Jiang Lin straightforwardly, so straightforward that Fang Chaoqun didn't know what to say.

But that was the truth, "Return My Drifting Fist" had no attack power; the manual said, "beauty, detoxification, and skincare," and if you cultivated it to the pinnacle, it also had a cosmetic effect…

"There is actually such a fist technique in the world… Brother Jiang… what are you practicing it for?"

"Alas, more skills don't hurt. If there's a time that I can't make it in this world, it wouldn't be bad to open a beauty salon or something of the sort."

"A beauty salon?"

"Ahem, a kind of shop in my hometown. Enough about that. It's getting late, Brother Fang. Let's go to Black Tortoise Square."

"Sorry, Brother Jiang. This time, I'm afraid I can't travel with Brother Jiang. My younger female cousin is working undercover in a sect, stirring up trouble between them."

"Hmm?"

"It's like this: the big senior brother of that sect likes the third junior sister, but the third junior sister likes the second senior sister, but the second senior sister likes the fourth junior brother, but the fourth junior brother likes the big senior brother. My cousin played a vital role in it, making the third junior sister like my cousin as well."

"…"

"When the time comes, I will insert myself among them as an older cousin, take care of them with my cousin, mess up their dao heart, and then my cousin and I will improve on our performance. So, Brother Jiang, I am very sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine."

As Jiang Lin listened, his brain hurt.

"Actually, I have my own things to do. Even if I enter the Mysterious Trails Mystic Realm, I still have to say goodbye to Brother Fang. It's just the difference between parting here or parting at Black Tortoise City Square. In that case, I'll leave first."

"Brother Jiang, take care. I'll introduce my sister to Brother Jiang sometime."

"No, no, no! I'm more of a pure love person, so goodbye, Brother Fang!"

Jiang Lin's life-bound flying sword flew out from his brow, and after the small pocket-sized blade grew larger, Jiang Lin stepped on it, and flew straight to Black Tortoise City Square.

Half of the qualified 5,000 had already arrived in Black Tortoise City Square, and Jiang Lin, who was masked in fake skin, leaned against the wall.

As more people came, Jiang Lin's heart beat faster and faster. He kept paying attention to the movements of the Dragon Gate Sect so that he could escape at any time. Although he had a fake face on, he was recognized in his female costume, not to mention Senior Sister Lin was already at the Nascent Soul Tier.

Before it was noon, all of the qualifiers eligible to enter the Mysterious Trails Mystic Realm arrived. Jiang Lin also saw Fang Chaoqun and his cousin mixed in the other sects. It was the delicate and pretty girl who had faked the accident with Fang Chaoqun on the street.

Jiang Lin even saw Chen Jia, who was constantly getting hit on and eventually punched someone away…

The Dragon Gate Sect arrived last. As soon as Lin Qingwan landed, her eyes began to sweep through the crowd. Jiang Lin hurriedly turned his back, and fortunately, Lin Qingwan was soon pestered by some female fans.

At 11 o'clock, the female mayor of Black Tortoise City appeared on top of the city tower with a veil on her head.

Although her face couldn't be seen, her voluptuous figure made all the male cultivators gulp, while the female cultivators looked down at themselves, and ended up with low self-esteem…

"Welcome, everyone, to this grand sect competition." A voice as clear as a bell pleasantly spread throughout the square. "Without further ado, all of you should have gotten your life-saving talismans yesterday, and finally, I hope that you will all return with treasures!"

"Thank you, Mayor!"

The crowd bowed in unison and said thank you.

Right after those words, the distorted mystic realm gate opened suddenly in the air, like a door to a distorted space.

But just as everyone was about to fly to the distorted gate… The system's voice could be late, but it would never be absent…