Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 23

“Hmm. You could say I’m a victim too.”

Lin Zidong tried to gain Han Li’s sympathy and conceal his connection to Master Wen.

“Originally, I was also…”

Lin Zidong recounted his background and the sequence of events in detail. He portrayed himself as a victim, forced into evil deeds by Master Wen’s coercion, placing all blame on the deceased Master Wen.

Han Li didn’t fully believe his story. However, it was true that Master Wen had lost his inner power after being attacked by an enemy and had become a pathetic figure after encountering Lin Zidong.

It turned out that Lin Zidong was originally a member of a cultivator clan. He had reached the 7th level of the Everlasting Spring Technique, but he had hit a wall and couldn’t advance further, no matter how hard he trained.

Without completing the Everlasting Spring Technique, he couldn’t become a formal member of the family. Those without a solid foundation were not recognized as true cultivators and couldn’t formally enter the Immortal Realm [a realm of higher existence for cultivators].

Therefore, Lin Zidong left his secluded training and sought experience in the secular world. He hoped to overcome the challenges he faced there and break through his cultivation bottleneck.

His earnest hope had little chance of success, but he clung to the belief that even if the sky fell, there would be a way out, and his hardships would somehow be resolved.

The city was dazzling and captivated his young heart. His already fragile will was corrupted soon after he entered the secular world, and he indulged in wealth and glory as a guest of a powerful family. Naturally, his desire to cultivate immortality gradually faded.

His family, angered by his actions, removed him from the family register. After that, Lin Zidong, living like an ordinary person, had no chance of returning to the family unless one of his descendants became an exceptional cultivator.

* * *

Several years later, while browsing a medicine shop, he discovered a rare Blood Spirit Grass.

This Blood Spirit Grass was a miraculous herb that could help one overcome their limits if made into medicine, a treasure that any martial artist would covet.

Lin Zidong’s forgotten desire for immortality reignited, and he tried to buy the herb. However, another cultivator recognized the Blood Spirit Grass. In the end, Lin Zidong, with more money, acquired the herb, but the covetous cultivator didn’t give up and tried to steal it.

Thus, a bloody battle erupted in the middle of the night. Lin Zidong was in danger of losing the Blood Spirit Grass because his opponent’s inner power was much stronger.

He barely managed to activate his family’s life-saving talisman and, using a suicidal technique, charged at his opponent. Taking advantage of the opponent’s momentary retreat, he barely escaped.

Master Wen, also seriously injured and having lost his inner power, appeared before Lin Zidong, who was severely wounded and in danger.

Lin Zidong felt a sense of kinship with Master Wen, who was in a similar situation, and unconsciously mentioned that he had a cure to restore inner power.

However, he didn’t realize that these words would bring about a great disaster.

From that day on, Master Wen begged Lin Zidong to make medicine for him by any means. Lin Zidong refused because he was already severely injured and had little inner power left. Master Wen became furious, and his anger soon turned into murderous intent. He created a highly poisonous drug with a secret technique, one for which even he couldn’t make an antidote, and poisoned Lin Zidong.

Lin Zidong, already seriously injured, was on the verge of death when the poison took effect. Seeing this, Master Wen tried to take the Blood Spirit Grass from him.

Then, Lin Zidong, enraged, unleashed the Blood Arrow Soul Technique. His blood and organs transformed into a barrage of bloody curses and were spewed at Master Wen. In the process, Lin Zidong’s primordial spirit [the essence of one’s soul in cultivation] slowly left his body.

It was only after becoming a primordial spirit that Lin Zidong realized he had been too hasty. He had initiated this without a magical artifact or a body to contain his soul.

Inevitably, he entered Master Wen’s nearby body to avoid annihilation.

Master Wen was covered in blood and greatly surprised, but he was relieved when he found nothing wrong with himself.

He recovered a significant portion of his inner power with the help of various pills and the power of the Blood Spirit Grass he had taken from Lin Zidong’s body. He was even more pleased to have obtained the secret formulas of the Everlasting Spring Technique.

Now, all that was left for him was to return to his hometown, settle his grudges, and reign again in all his glory.

* * *

Master Wen’s good days didn’t last long. The power of the Blood Arrow Soul Technique began to manifest.

His body was aging rapidly, as if a day was passing like a year. He trembled with fear and tried to stop the strange phenomenon happening to his body by any means, but it was futile.

If things continued like this, it was clear that he would die soon. But fortunately, Lin Zidong’s primordial spirit was also suffering at this time.

As time passed since Lin Zidong entered Master Wen’s body, a gradual assimilation phenomenon appeared.

This assimilation occurs when a primordial spirit that stays in another person’s body for a long time is unconsciously influenced by the original owner’s primordial spirit and changes. The two gradually become inseparable.

However, in the end, only one consciousness can exist in one person’s body, so it could be seen as a terrifying phenomenon.

Realizing this, Lin Zidong had no choice but to first devise a way to take over the body.

The reason why he was so reluctant to take over Master Wen’s body was because of the three iron rules among those who walked the path of immortality.

First, cultivators could not recklessly take over the bodies of mortals. The reason was that a mortal’s body could not withstand it and would collapse.

Second, only those with strong magical power could take over the bodies of those with weak magical power. Otherwise, there would be a counterattack from the opponent. The greater the difference in magical power, the safer it was.

Third, all cultivators, regardless of their level of magical power, could only perform the technique of taking over a body once in their lifetime. If they tried again, the cultivator’s primordial spirit would be annihilated.

The above three principles had already been proven by countless cultivators.

It was to place restrictions on villains who used magic to cause trouble and those who tried to continue their lives with such strange methods.

It was like a warning from the heavens to those who used heaven-defying techniques to confuse the world.

For this reason, if Master Wen had been a cultivator, Lin Zidong’s plan would have been easily resolved. However, since the opponent was a mortal, he was the owner of a body with no magical power.

If he tried to perform the technique of taking over the body in this state, the body would not be able to withstand it even halfway through.

Moreover, finding another body was also a problem. Even if Lin Zidong were to inhabit another body, he would surely face the same problem.

Furthermore, if he were to leave the body again, he would have to expend a tremendous amount of magical power. He would probably run out of magical power and disappear before he could even find a suitable person.

That was why he had no choice but to endure the assimilation taking place inside Master Wen’s body.

Since he had lost the body that would replenish his magical power after becoming a primordial spirit, the magical power he possessed was also gradually decreasing. Lin Zidong himself didn’t know how much longer he could last.

Therefore, Lin Zidong could only attempt to leave Master Wen’s body if he found someone with a body that had lower magical power than his own but could withstand the technique of taking over a body as a cultivator.

In this situation, if Master Wen’s body were to die from the curse he had cast, he would lose his place to rely on.

Under this pressure, Lin Zidong, who had a strong obsession with life, decided after much deliberation that he should put aside their mutual grudges for a while and find a way together. He immediately told Master Wen all of these circumstances.

Master Wen was initially furious when he learned of this fact, but he quickly realized that this could be an opportunity to save him. He didn’t hesitate to promise to cooperate with his opponent.

First, Master Wen controlled his consciousness as Lin Zidong had instructed and did his best to prevent assimilation with the opponent’s primordial spirit.

Then, Lin Zidong passed on a secret technique to slow down Master Wen’s aging process, even for a short time.

Next, Master Wen planned to find a child with spiritual abilities, pass on the Everlasting Spring Technique, and when his cultivation reached maturity, perform the technique of taking over the body to regain a new life.

At this point, Master Wen is said to have doubted Lin Zidong’s words and tried to learn the Everlasting Spring Technique himself. As a result, he gained nothing but Lin Zidong’s ridicule.

Finally, after Master Wen, who had succeeded in taking over another person’s body, had enough time to recover, he was planning to help Lin Zidong find another suitable body and help him take it over.

The above conditions seemed relatively favorable to Master Wen. However, it was inevitable that Lin Zidong had to escape the danger of being assimilated into Master Wen’s consciousness.

There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the events that followed. Master Wen had searched for a suitable child for several years but couldn’t find one, and he changed his mind and entered the Seven Mysteries Sect, where he took Han Li as his disciple.

From the time he started cultivating the Everlasting Spring Technique, it was almost identical to what Master Wen had said, and Han Li knew it best since it was what he had experienced.

Han Li sighed deeply after listening to Lin Zidong’s story. Now, the questions he had always had in his mind were resolved.

“But why didn’t you tell me how Master Wen died?”

“There’s no need to explain that. It happened because Master Wen misjudged your achievement in the Everlasting Spring Technique. Since his magical power was far inferior to yours, he tried to swallow you but was swallowed instead.”

“Then, the yellow sphere that first entered my body was Master Wen’s primordial spirit, and the second green sphere was you.”

Han Li stated calmly.

“Th… that was because I thought you and Master Wen had died together. I just wanted to borrow your empty body because I couldn’t waste it.”

“Huh! Wasn’t it planned for us to die together on purpose? Lin Zidong, you had this in mind from the moment you told Master Wen about the great technique of taking over a body. You deliberately didn’t reveal that the success of the great technique was related to the level of magical power. According to the original plan, Master Wen’s Seven Ghost Soul Devouring Technique and my 4th level Everlasting Spring Technique would have similar magical power. If you tried to take over the body in this state, both sides would bite each other to death, and then you would try to take this body as a fisherman’s profit. Am I wrong in my guess?”

Lin Zidong was silent for a long time after hearing his words. But after letting out a sigh, he began to refute in a sad voice.

“As expected, I can’t help but admire your brilliance. It’s true that the student surpasses the master, and you’ve already far surpassed Wen Jingren. Your guess is correct. I planned all of that. However, I did not expect that your talent for immortality was so outstanding that you would reach the cultivation of the Everlasting Spring Technique in such a short time and be only one level behind me. You easily swallowed Master Wen, so a primordial spirit of a cultivator whose vitality was greatly damaged like me is no match for you.”

However, his tone soon changed drastically.

“Wen Jingren, that man, who was just a mortal, dared to be treated as equal to us cultivators and tried to call us brothers. How could that be possible? He damaged my Dharma body [a cultivator’s physical form] with despicable means and still tried to step into the path of immortality. What a vain dream!”

Lin Zidong shouted, gritting his teeth. He was now freely expressing the resentment he had harbored against Master Wen.

“But you are different. You were born with spiritual abilities and have outstanding talent, so it’s a pity for you to stay in the secular world. If you find me a suitable body, I will help you. I can even introduce you to the elders of my clan and make you their disciple. What do you say?”

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