"Yes, cultivate well."
"Consolidate your cultivation now and don't get lazy just because you have pills."
"If you don't build a good foundation, it will be very difficult to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage later."
Seeing Yang Yong's excited demeanor, Lin Chen immediately doused his enthusiasm with a splash of cold water.
He had also wanted to quickly break through his cultivation using pills before, but unexpectedly almost got beaten severely by his master.
"What? Sir, you mean I still have a chance to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage?"
Hearing Lin Chen's words, Yang Yong was stunned, his tone filled with disbelief.
After all, what Lin Chen had just said was about breaking *through* the Foundation Establishment stage, not just breaking *into* it!
Did that mean, in Lin Chen's eyes, with his spiritual roots, he could actually become a legendary Core Formation stage expert?
"Of course, there's a chance. As long as you lay a good foundation and cultivate diligently, I'll cover the Foundation Establishment Pills and Golden Quenching Pills for you."
Seeing Yang Yong's incredulous expression, Lin Chen made a direct promise.
He had also noticed these past two days that Yang Yong was a complete cultivation fanatic. He just cultivated whenever he had free time. No wonder he had reached the ninth level of Qi Nurturing stage through his own efforts, even without pills.
Such perseverance was truly admirable!
With such determination, coupled with his pills, let alone a mere Core Formation stage, as long as he was willing to work hard, even Nascent Soul stage wasn't impossible!
"Yes, yes, yes, Sir, I understand. I will definitely cultivate diligently and not disappoint you!"
Hearing Lin Chen's words, Yang Yong was almost moved to tears.
He had been an idiot before, even wanting to snatch Lin Chen's medicinal materials. If he hadn't apologized sincerely, where would he be enjoying these benefits now?
But he also knew very well that it was ultimately Lin Chen's magnanimity. If it were any other cultivator, they would have probably killed him with a single sword strike by now.
"Alright, go on. I'm going to see the old man, and then I need to go into seclusion for a while longer."
Lin Chen nodded, after explaining clearly to Yang Yong, he walked directly towards the living room.
"Hahahaha, Lin Chen is here? Come, sit, have some tea."
Seeing Lin Chen arrive, Shangguan Xiong was overjoyed.
Recently, Lin Chen's relationship with the Shangguan family had grown closer, and his granddaughter's smile had appeared more and more often. It was truly a double blessing!
"Old man, I'll skip the tea. I'm bothering you again."
"However, I'm being monitored now, and only here is relatively safe."
Lin Chen smiled lightly and explained to Shangguan Xiong.
No matter what, Shangguan Xiong was an old soldier who had been on the battlefield and killed people. His aura of ferocity was no joke.
Cultivators with generally low cultivation levels would not dare to pry here.
Coupled with the relationship with Shangguan Ling'er, his current seclusion at the Shangguan residence would not arouse any suspicion.
"Hahaha, don't be so formal, treat this place like your own home."
Hearing Lin Chen's words, Shangguan Xiong truly wished he could tell him the truth directly, that if he became his grandson-in-law, the entire Shangguan family would be his!
But after much deliberation, he still couldn't bring himself to say it.
If he said it now, when his cantankerous granddaughter returned, wouldn't she pull out all his beard?
"Alright, old man, I won't disturb you any longer. I'll go into seclusion now."
Lin Chen nodded, then walked towards the backyard.
This backyard had been specially converted by Old Master Shangguan into a place for Lin Chen to enter seclusion. There were guards posted outside, and the Shangguan family's servants dared not come here when they had nothing to do.
After entering the Nine Dragon Ring, Lin Chen didn't idle around and directly started his alchemy mode.
Although his cultivation was in the late Foundation Establishment stage, his alchemist level was still stuck at the stage of a second-grade alchemist.
He would take this opportunity to break through to a third-grade alchemist!
After all, he was about to break through to the Core Formation stage, and he would definitely need Golden Quenching Pills to help him form his core.
To refine Golden Quenching Pills, one had to be a third-grade alchemist. Otherwise, it would just be a waste of medicinal ingredients!
Finally, after exhausting all the medicinal ingredients, Lin Chen's alchemist level finally broke through to third-grade!
"Tsk tsk tsk, it wasn't easy. Third-grade alchemist, I can finally refine Golden Quenching Pills!"
"It's a pity that the medicinal ingredients for refining Golden Quenching Pills are very rare. I'll have to find a way again."
Lin Chen sighed at this moment and could only choose to come out of seclusion.
However, before coming out of seclusion, he managed to refine a first-grade Blood Replenishing Pill with poor quality, to deal with the test given by Dean Zhou.
"Huh? Sir, why do I feel like your aura has become more stable?"
As soon as Lin Chen came out of seclusion, Yang Yong rushed forward, his expression full of curiosity.
Although his cultivation was inferior to Lin Chen's, he could still feel that the aura on Lin Chen now was different from before he went into seclusion.
"Oh? Even you can feel it?"
Hearing Yang Yong's words, Lin Chen frowned slightly.
His current Concealment Art could only hide his cultivation, but his alchemist level couldn't be hidden.
"Yes, I can feel it. It's a bit ethereal, like it's there and not there."
Yang Yong nodded, his expression affirmative.
"Alright, here are some pills for you. Cultivate well, I'm leaving now."
After getting Yang Yong's answer, Lin Chen didn't linger. He tossed him a few first-grade Qi Guiding Pills and then walked out of the gate.
At the same time, in the Dean's office of the Fifth Hospital.
Dean Zhou stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the scenery in front of the hospital. Behind him, a man in black stood with extreme humility, reporting something.
"Reporting to the Great Elder, after Lin Chen left the hospital, he has been staying at the Shangguan residence. It has been three days now."
"He hasn't come out within these three days. Because of Shangguan Xiong's presence, this subordinate did not dare to easily probe with his spiritual sense, so I am unaware of the specific situation inside."
The man in black reported the results of monitoring Lin Chen in detail.
"Also, this subordinate has found specific information about Lin Chen's mother. Zhang Fang went to Kyoto University and fell in love with a male classmate and became pregnant."
"Later, for some unknown reason, she dropped out and returned to Hangcheng. However, the information about that male classmate could not be found due to the passage of time!"
"Hmm, well done."
"A male classmate from Kyoto, that at least suggests it has nothing to do with that person."
Hearing the man in black's report, the last worry in Dean Zhou's heart finally subsided.
"Dean, are you referring to Zhang Yunlong, the top Core Formation cultivator in Zhejiang Province back then?"
Hearing Dean Zhou's words, a name that hadn't been mentioned for a long time popped into the man in black's mind.