Chapter 41
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Chapter 41: Breakthrough
In a training room building labeled "Kun" within the spiritual vein.
Zhou Luo, covered in shimmering light, slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a turbid breath.
His gaze was piercing, starry eyes glinting with spiritual radiance. The spiritual energy surging through his entire body gradually stilled after a mighty swell.
"I’ve finally broken through," he murmured.
After more than three months of diligent cultivation and help from various sources, he had stepped into the peak of Qi Refinement level two. Only one step now separated him from the next realm.
His cultivation session complete, Zhou Luo exited the training room and returned to Zhou Garden.
No sooner had he arrived than he saw little Chang An wildly swinging a wooden sword.
Now a year and a half old, he was in that energetic phase of life.
The little one seemed born to love that wooden sword, unlike his other siblings who remained immersed in the joys of ordinary toys.
"Chang An," Zhou Luo called his name with a smile.
Little Chang An turned around, seeing his father after so long. Joy lit up his small face. He ran over shouting, "Daddy, you’re back!"
As he reached him, Zhou Luo scooped him up. "Were you a good boy while Daddy was away?"
"Of course! Daddy, you’re finally back! I want to fly!" Little Chang An blinked his big, dark eyes.
"Alright, just a moment," Zhou Luo replied, carrying him towards the courtyard.
Little Chang An didn’t forget his small wooden sword. "This time, I want to stand on it!"
Hearing this, Zhou Luo smiled lightly.
So this tiny one already dreamed of flying on a sword? Ambitious… and very promising.
He gently patted little Chang An’s head as they entered the main building.
At the doorstep, Lin Yi Yi, Lin Fei Ying, and the Third Sister were chatting while watching the other children.
Spotting Zhou Luo, they rose to their feet, faces brightening with happiness.
"Daddy… Daddy…"
The other little ones rushed forward, clamoring for him to hold them.
Zhou Luo crouched down, setting little Chang An gently on the ground. "Daddy doesn’t have three heads and six arms to hold you all at once," he chuckled softly.
Even so, he gathered the little crew into his embrace, lovingly ruffling each little head.
Lin Yi Yi walked over holding the Snow Mountain Spirit Cat, her eyes curved with a smile. "Husband, you’ve finally returned."
"Mmm. Did anything happen here at Zhou Garden?" Zhou Luo inquired.
"Nothing major," Lin Yi Yi began, while Lin Fei Ying added, "Just that Sister Qing Han is nearing her delivery."
"I know. Please keep playing with them; I need to go see her," Zhou Luo said as he stood.
Zhou Chang An grabbed his trousers, looking up expectantly. "Daddy, remember to fly with me!"
"Of course, as soon as I’ve checked on your mother," Zhou Luo replied with a doting smile.
He reached the second floor, pushed open the door to Lin Qing Han’s room, and saw her sitting beside the bed. Her right hand rested on her swollen belly, while her left held an ancient text she was reading.
Only when Zhou Luo appeared did she suddenly turn her head, a faint smile curling at her corners of her mouth as she rose to walk toward him.
Zhou Luo swiftly approached her instead, supporting her to sit back down at the table and asking, “The time is near, right?”
“Mm.”
Lin Qing Han rested her head against Zhou Luo’s body and replied softly.
Having not seen each other for months, the two inevitably exchanged greetings and concerns.
“Has anything significant occurred within the family recently?”
In the midst of their conversation, Zhou Luo couldn’t help but ask.
As Lin De’s only daughter, Lin Qing Han knew far more about family matters than the three sisters did, especially concerning major events.
Lin Qing Han then informed Zhou Luo about the incident at the spiritual mine.
When mentioning that the family had dispatched formation masters to other spiritual mines, Zhou Luo instinctively thought of the Great Elder.
He recalled that the Great Elder seemed to be the person in charge of the family’s formation masters.
What the entire Lin Family took greatest pride in was their mastery of formations.
He keenly sensed that this spiritual mine incident might be linked to factional strife within the family.
Of course, these were matters he didn’t need to concern himself with.
Judging from the current situation, the Great Elder had not deceived him back then, and the main family was truly no longer pressuring him.
The only thing that made Zhou Luo sigh was that all the husbands from the first batch of marriages had been eliminated.
Well, it made sense—they had been essentially tricked into joining the Lin Family.
Unlike the husbands recruited later by the family, any unfair treatment they endured would remain unknown to outsiders, thus not tarnishing the Lin Family’s reputation.
It was a stark reality.
At this point in their talk, Lin Qing Han suddenly said, “There’s one other minor thing. It seems your friend Xu Changsheng was taken as a disciple by one of the family’s formation masters.”
Her father Lin De had told her this, likely intending for her to inform Zhou Luo.
After all, the family elders were well aware of his relationship with Xu Changsheng.
Zhou Luo was momentarily startled.
He hadn’t expected Xu Changsheng to possess talent for formation mastery. Though he had lost an arm, if he excelled in formations, he might eventually regrow it and return to normal.
It was just unknown when he could return home.
After chatting a while longer, Zhou Luo took his leave.
Outside, the little ones were still happily playing.
Quietly departing the Zhou Garden, he intended to purchase more rare natural treasures.
Since his previous session of body refinement, which had lasted over a month, his physique was just short of reaching the first stage.
Now was the perfect chance, upon leaving seclusion, to accomplish this in one go.
Arriving at the family’s east gate, the guarding cultivators did not stop him once they recognized him.
Since that day, he hadn’t just been relocated to a better spot in the spiritual vein—he could now come and go freely from the Lin Family without reporting beforehand.
But to leave Maple Leaf City, he still needed the family’s consent.
This saved Zhou Luo a lot of trouble.
The streets of Maple Leaf City remained bustling as ever.
As long as the Lin Family stood strong, this magnificent city would always remain this way.
The lively streets teemed with people—mostly ordinary folk, along with some loose cultivators.
Zhou Luo first bought a batch of medicinal herbs at his accustomed spot, then headed toward the marketplace to purchase necessary items.
Heavenly treasures for the First Level were still relatively easy to find.
Reaching the Second Level, however, would require increasingly scarce resources and vastly more coin.
A full round brought him near noon.
Zhou Luo simply walked toward the Tian Xia Restaurant.
Indeed, just like in Panshi City, one stood here too.
Recognizing Zhou Luo as a Qi Refinement cultivator, the waiter politely escorted him to the fourth floor.
Those dining on this floor possessed at least the spiritual roots.
The Tian Xia Restaurant employed special magical artifacts to sense this presence.
The fifth floor above was reserved solely for the long-life families, other forces, or the Immortal Sect.
As Zhou Luo wore no Lin Family insignia, the waiter assumed he was a loose cultivator.
He didn’t mind.
On the fourth floor, dining areas were individually partitioned, ensuring patrons’ privacy.
Choosing a spot at random, he sat down and ordered some spirit-infused dishes.
Observing the spiritual stones in his system backpack, Zhou Luo decided to sell the upper-level pills he concocted privately that afternoon.
Of course, this required evading the family’s surveillance.
Though he could now freely enter and leave the family estate, they undoubtedly had agents tracking him to prevent betrayal.
The nature of humans.
What remained unknown was whether the shadows belonged to the Great Elder’s faction or the family head’s.
Bang—
Just as he pondered this, a heavy thud came from next door, followed by a woman’s sharp cry.
Zhou Luo knit his brows.
