Chapter 6: Dan Master Yang Ze

  Lin Feng nodded, just about to speak, when a hurried voice came from the cave entrance, interrupting him: "Who is it... who is it! Don't you know I'm refining pills? You're disturbing me at my old age, do you want me to die?" As he spoke, a slightly plump Taoist priest with a strong smell of smoke and fire appeared at the cave entrance. He glanced at Lin Feng and Yang Ling, but his tone was not soft: "So it's Brother Ling, what is it? Speak quickly, I'm refining pills inside and can't chat for long."

  Yang Ling seemed to know him well, and was not affected by his words at all. He pointed at Lin Feng and said: "You're looking for a Dan Tong, aren't you? His name is Lin Feng, I found him in the selection today, he has the wood fire spiritual root. Do you want him or not? If not, I'll take him away to avoid delaying your alchemy later." Yang Ling was also quite cunning, Lin Feng had all five spiritual roots, of course he had the wood fire spiritual root, but he only mentioned the wood fire spiritual root, which could easily lead people to misunderstand that Lin Feng had dual wood and fire spiritual roots. The difference between having a complete set of spiritual roots and just two was huge.

  As expected, Yang Ze, who was busy to the point of being unable to spare a moment, showed a delighted expression and said: "Really? Want want want, of course I want it, it's really great, thank you Ling Shixiong. This period of time has been exhausting for me, with this little guy as my Dan Tong, I can finally relax a bit."

  Yang Ling waved his hand and smiled, saying: "No need to thank me, this is also fate, although Lin Feng has a complete five spiritual roots, he's very clever, you use your heart more, maybe in a few years, our Yang family will have another Dan master."

  "Yes, brother, don't worry, I will... What? You said he is a Wu Ling Gen? Didn't you say he was a Mu Huo Double Spirit Root?" Yang Ze's expression changed greatly, he heard that something was off, and from Yang Ling's smile, he could also tell that he had been deceived.

  "He has a wood-fire spiritual root, I didn't say he's a dual spiritual root, do you think it's that easy to find? I don't care, you already agreed earlier, I'll go report to Master Mu now." After saying that, he turned around and left, leaving Yang Ze behind stuttering "You, you, you..." for half a day without being able to say anything, and walked away on his own.

  Yang Ling disappeared into the Dan Temple, leaving Lin Feng and Yang Ze stunned on the spot, staring at each other in silence for a long time. Yang Ze was taken aback, feeling indignant and unsure of how to vent his anger, so he didn't want to speak. Lin Feng didn't know what to say either; he had never expected Yang Ling to hand himself over to Yang Ze in such a manner, which made him feel somewhat humiliated. This realization once again made him aware of his own inferior abilities, and the slight hurt to his young heart also made him even more hesitant to speak up.

  After a long time, Yang Ze's anger subsided, and he slowly came to his senses. Yang Ling seemed to have intimidated Lin Feng into submission, but what he said wasn't unreasonable. Among ordinary people, those with spiritual roots are already one in a hundred, and those with both wood and fire spiritual roots are even more rare. It's not that they can't be found in a hundred years, at least it would take several decades to find one. Otherwise, high-level dan masters or even great dan masters wouldn't be so hard to come by? So, wanting to find someone with both wood and fire spiritual roots was indeed asking for too much. And if you put aside the drawback of slow cultivation progress, people with five spiritual roots learning alchemy aren't necessarily slower than those with dual spiritual roots. Moreover, he wasn't looking for a successor, just a dan disciple to do chores.

  Having understood this, Yang Ze also put down the last bit of dissatisfaction and acknowledged Lin Feng as a Dan disciple. Of course, as a superior, he wouldn't deliberately show excessive enthusiasm, but instead said calmly: "Lin Feng, from today on, you'll be staying in the Dan Temple. There are only two people in the temple, me and you. The right side is my residence, and there are several rooms on the left, choose one to stay in."

  Lin Feng was secretly worried that his hot-tempered Shifu would get angry and drive him away, but he suddenly agreed to let him stay, and Lin Feng, who had been greatly relieved, hastily replied: "Yes, I will obey Shifu's orders."

  "Alright, you're still quite clever." Yang Ze thought for a moment and then said: "From now on, you'll be doing some miscellaneous tasks in the Dan Temple. The main task is... well, first of all, sweep the floor and tidy up these spiritual medicines." As he spoke, he pointed to the east and west where piles of spiritual medicines were scattered about. Looking at the messy medicinal materials, he himself couldn't help but blush a little as he added: "Organize the spiritual medicines by category, so they can be found when needed, got it?"

  "Alright, Master Uncle... just that... just that..." Lin Feng knew that the opportunity was hard to come by, and being able to stay and cultivate his true self was not easy. He was naturally willing to do some miscellaneous tasks. It's just that he didn't understand anything, and if he messed up, it would be even worse. He wanted to bring it up now, but was afraid of Yang Ze getting angry.

  "Dandan, just you and I are present, if there's anything to say, then speak, hesitating and stammering is annoying." Yang Ze had a quick temper and couldn't stand people who were long-winded.

  Lin Feng's heart was filled with a sense of foreboding, and he was somewhat afraid, but he couldn't help but say: "I think what I want to say is that these spiritual medicines are so precious, yet I don't recognize any of them. What if I accidentally damage one..." Lin Feng trailed off without finishing his sentence, but Yang Ze had already understood that he had been a bit too hasty.

  To know the spiritual medicine, there are countless medicinal materials with similar shapes and colors. Generally, people can't distinguish them just by their appearance and color. After refining, they become even more unrecognizable. Lin Feng, who has not received any guidance, is impossible to accomplish the task of sorting out the medicinal materials. Yang Ze also forgot about this because of his emotional fluctuations earlier.

  Yang Ze's face turned slightly red as he pulled out a thick book from his waist and handed it to Lin Feng, saying: "Compare the pictures and text in this book to sort out the spiritual medicines in the courtyard. If you don't understand anything, ask me."

  Lin Feng took the book and glanced at it, the title was called "Ling Zhi Da Quan", he flipped through a few pages, only to see that the book had pictures and words, which detailedly introduced various spiritual flowers and grasses' colors, shapes, living environments, medicinal properties, what kind of elixirs they could be used to refine and so on, it was very detailed.

  "Thank you, Uncle Master!" Although he felt a bit dizzy from the dense graphics and text, Lin Feng was still somewhat delighted to be in contact with the Cultivation Realm for the first time. His impression of this hot-tempered uncle had also greatly improved.

  "Within a year, memorize the contents of this book and I'll teach you some alchemy. For now, there's nothing else to do, go tidy up your living quarters first! Oh, and after tidying up, go to the warehouse to collect your Taoist robe and storage bag. Cultivation requires a cultivator's appearance, change out of those clothes."

  Yang Ze instructed a few more sentences, thought for a moment, felt that there was nothing to say, turned around and walked towards the entrance of the cave, saying as he walked: "I spend most of my time inside refining elixirs, don't come to disturb me unless it's something important." After finishing speaking, he had already disappeared into the depths of the cave.

  Lin Feng wanted to ask a few more questions, but saw that Yang Ze had already walked away impatiently. He could only bow towards the empty cave entrance and say: "Disciple understands." The Cultivation Realm attaches great importance to respecting one's master and the Tao, especially within the same sect or family. Juniors must be extremely respectful to their seniors, which was what Yang Ling emphasized the most on their way here. Lin Feng also strictly adhered to this rule, not daring to be neglectful in any way.

  After seeing Yang Ze off, Lin Feng suddenly relaxed and felt like a bird out of its cage, feeling much more at ease. This entire morning, from the selection to Yang Ze's departure, Lin Feng had been extremely cautious, afraid of making any mistakes that would displease the Yang family and cause him to miss his chance to become a Cultivator. Now that everything was going smoothly and he had officially joined the ranks of Cultivators, Lin Feng was overjoyed. Looking at the empty courtyard, his playful nature as a child also began to show itself.

  Here, touch there, look at it, everything seems to be different from the things in the house. Especially those spiritual medicines that can refine magical pills, they are touched and smelled again and again, and sometimes even open the Spiritual Plant Compendium for comparison. But now he can't recognize these medicines even with the Spiritual Plant Compendium. After playing for a while, Lin Feng is a calm person after all, thinking of himself still having things to do, only then did he put down the spiritual medicine in his hand and enter the alchemy temple to tidy up his residence.

  The bed and bedding in Dan's room were ready-made, and it didn't take much time to tidy up. Lin Feng had helped his mother with household chores when he was at home, so these daily trivial matters couldn't stump him. With a few swishes of his sleeves, the place was spotless. Afterwards, he went down the mountain, inquired about the warehouse, and smoothly collected two sets of Taoist robes, a short sword, a storage bag, and some daily necessities. This was the basic equipment that the Yang family had prepared for each new entrant. And so, Lin Feng finally settled into the Yang family and began his cultivation career.