Chapter 82: The Followers

  Lin Feng was practicing in his own room, he had just reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining not long ago, which belonged to the consolidation period, and more practice would be beneficial. He did not know that at this moment, Zhao Chun was being teased by Xue Bingying to the point of desperation in order to get him an opportunity to practice together.

  After a while, after the Nine Revolutions of the Qi Gong had been completed, Lin Feng had finished his noon lesson, but he didn't get up. He was thinking about something. It wasn't until Zhao Chun promised to take him on a journey that Lin Feng suddenly thought of Liu Kai's matter. Since the incident where Liu Kai was captured by the Dragon Slaying Alliance, Lin Feng hadn't seen him again, and even yesterday, he didn't know where Liu Kai slept. Lin Feng felt that as a friend, he wasn't doing his job well enough. However, this couldn't be blamed on him. After meeting his junior fellow apprentice who had been separated from him for more than half a year, and suddenly being recruited by the Qingyang Gate as a second-grade guest, so many things happened together, and he had neglected Liu Kai for the time being.

  Now that the trial is about to begin, it's possible that he won't return for several months after leaving. Liu Kai's problem also needs to be considered. The Tulong Society was forced to release Liu Kai due to pressure from Qingyang Gate, but things may not end like this. As for himself, becoming a second-level guest of Qingyang Gate is equivalent to being one of their own people, so the other party will likely hold back. But Liu Kai is different, although they don't dare to openly make things difficult for him, they might secretly cause trouble or even resort to killing him. At that time, without any evidence, Qingyang Gate won't take action for someone who has no relation to them.

  So Lin Feng is now considering whether to let Zhu Yan arrange a miscellaneous job for him in Baibao Hall, as long as he doesn't leave Baibao Hall, the problem won't be big. Zhu Yan is easy to talk to, the key is Liu Kai himself, his stall is doing well and the income is quite considerable, he may not be willing to give up the stall business, Lin Feng thought about how to make him understand the current situation and temporarily give up the stall business.

  "Bang! Bang! Bang!" A few knocks on the door brought Lin Feng back from his thoughts, and he said without thinking: "Come in."

  The door creaked open, and a person walked in. Lin Feng took a closer look and found it was Liu Kai. Judging from his appearance, he didn't know if he had been frightened after being caught by the Dragon Slaying Association or if he had suddenly matured due to this matter. When he saw Lin Feng again, he no longer had that lively and cheerful feeling, but instead bowed respectfully and said: "Greetings, Brother Lin."

  Lin Feng was taken aback and waved his hand, saying: "Sit down. I thought you were out selling goods again, why are you speaking so seriously today?"

  Liu Kai sat down and remained silent for a while before speaking: "Lin Shixiong, you also know that the Tulong Association won't let go easily. So this stall probably can't be set up anymore. I've been dealing with the goods these past two days, and this is the 3,500 spiritual stones I got from it. You take them first, there's still about 1,000 spiritual stones left, and I'll give them to you after I finish handling all the goods."

  Lin Feng watched as Liu Kai took out a handful of spirit stones from his storage bag, but he couldn't muster up any joy. Instead, his heart was filled with anger, not towards Liu Kai, but towards the Dragon Slaughter Association. Liu Kai had originally been a penniless loose cultivator, living in extreme poverty and struggling to make ends meet. He risked his life every day just to earn a meager amount of cultivation resources. If he hadn't met Lin Feng, who knows how much longer he would have continued this difficult life? Now that things were finally going smoothly for him, he had unknowingly gotten entangled with the Dragon Slaughter Association again. It seemed that not only would he be unable to live a comfortable life, but he might even have to leave Youyang City. Anyone who saw this couldn't help but feel sorrow and resentment.

  What's the use of being angry? The situation is stronger than people! Lin Feng could only curse the Dragon Slaying Association a few times in his heart. "Then what do you plan to do from now on?" Lin Feng suppressed his anger and asked as calmly as possible.

  "Originally, I had two plans. One was to take advantage of the heat of the moment, and since the Dragon Slaying Sect would be concerned about saving face in front of Qingyang Gate, they wouldn't dare make a move so quickly. This way, I could leave Yaoguang City as soon as possible and go train elsewhere."

  Lin Feng nodded, and Liu Kai was also a figure who had been in the cultivation world for many years, with a very accurate grasp of the situation. "What about the second one?" Lin Feng asked when he saw that Liu Kai had stopped talking after saying half of what he wanted to say.

  "The second plan is... is..."

  "If you have something to say, I feel like you're acting strange today. With our relationship, if you really have a problem, would I just stand by and do nothing? Even if it means borrowing spirit stones, that's not an issue." Lin Feng didn't lack several thousand spirit stones at the moment. If Liu Kai had better intentions, based on their friendship of over half a year, he was willing to take out some spirit stones to help him.

  Liu Kai fell silent for half a day, and just as Lin Feng was about to get angry, he said something completely unrelated: "I heard you've become the guest elder of Qingyang Gate?"

  Lin Feng thought for a moment, assuming Liu Kai must have had the same idea as him. He smiled and said: "You want me to find you a job at Baibao Hall, haha, I was just thinking about that too! I was worried you wouldn't agree, but since we're on the same page, I'll go talk to Senior Zhu Yan. It shouldn't be a problem. Although it won't bring in as much income as selling goods on the street, at least there's job security."

  Liu Kai shook his head, then said firmly: "What I want to say is not that, what I want to say is, please take me in and let me be your follower." As he spoke, Liu Kai stood up and bowed deeply, then didn't get up, waiting for Lin Feng's response.

  "What!" Lin Feng was shocked at first, but after understanding his words, he shouted out loud.

  Followers are a special title for cultivators in the cultivation world who become servants or housekeepers of a cultivation family or sect. Like ordinary people's servants and housekeepers, once they become followers, their freedom and even life and death are no longer controlled by themselves, but are completely handed over to the master being followed. This sounds contrary to the original intention of cultivators pursuing longevity and great freedom, but many cultivators, in the process of becoming immortals, have to give up their freedom and become followers due to various reasons, devoting themselves to powerful families or individuals in exchange for resources for cultivation or protection from the strong, etc., in order to go further on the path of cultivation.

  Of course, there are also very powerful cultivators who become followers of others due to gratitude and other reasons. Many followers eventually become powerful cultivators themselves, even achieving immortality, thanks to the help they receive from their masters. Therefore, being a follower is not necessarily looked down upon by cultivators like ordinary household servants or generals. They believe that showing loyalty and dependence on a powerful cultivator can actually be a shortcut to cultivation. As a result, the more powerful a cultivator is, the more followers they are willing to accept, while those who are followed tend to be very selective when accepting new followers.

  Lin Feng had a certain understanding of the concept of followers. With Liu Kai's qualifications, if he were to become a follower of someone or some family, Lin Feng wouldn't be surprised at all. After all, compared to becoming an immortal or living forever, being a follower with some restrictions on freedom wasn't a big deal. What surprised Lin Feng was that he was just a small cultivator who had only reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and although he had a bit of alchemy skills, he was nothing compared to powerful cultivators who could make other cultivators dependent on them. In Tianyuan Star, it was usually necessary for a cultivator to have at least reached the Golden Dan period in order to make ordinary cultivators willingly become their followers, so Lin Feng couldn't understand why Liu Kai would be willing to become his follower.

  "Why me? I'm just a small monk who can't even protect himself, you should understand that." Lin Feng didn't think that saving Liu Kai twice and helping him would make him willingly follow him, there must be other reasons.

  Liu Kai knew that if he didn't explain clearly, Lin Feng would not agree to his request no matter what. So he straightened up and thought for a moment before saying: "To sum it up, there are two reasons. One is because you saved my life twice and the help you've given me over the past few months."

  Lin Feng was about to speak, but Liu Kai interrupted him and said: "I know you're going to say that it's normal for friends to help each other out, and I also know that this isn't enough to make you believe I'll become your follower because of this. In fact, the reason I chose to follow you is that I see from this that you're a person with feelings and righteousness. To be honest, your willingness to help others even makes me feel a bit moved. But for someone like me who just met you by chance, you're willing to go all out to help, and when things happen, not only do you not shirk responsibility, but you also take it upon yourself, this alone is enough to make anyone wholeheartedly follow you, this is a rare virtue that's hard to find in any follower."

  Lin Feng rubbed his nose with a self-deprecating smile, he was indeed a kind-hearted person who cared about emotions, or as Liu Kai said, a sentimental fool. Not to mention Zhou Lan and Wang Lei, friends who had been together for several years, once he had the conditions, he would go all out to help. Even when encountering Liu Kai, a stranger in need of help, as long as he could be of assistance, he would spare no effort to help. In the cultivation world where everyone was out for themselves, competing with each other, and willing to kill for cultivation resources, this made him an oddity, and calling him sentimental was already being kind.

  Lin Feng's face showed embarrassment, and Liu Kai bowed again to apologize for his words before continuing: "The second reason is your alchemy skills. Although I don't know what level you've reached, since the Qingyang Sect is willing to go all out to recruit you, I think your alchemy skills must be extraordinary. This can also be seen from the fact that you were promoted twice in just half a year. Moreover, this also shows that your future prospects are boundless."

  Actually, Liu Kai was resting in Lin Feng's guest room yesterday, but Lin Feng didn't know about it because he was in Zhao Chun's room. It wasn't until Liu Kai casually asked the Baibao Hall monk who arranged his rest about Lin Feng that he found out Lin Feng had become a second-level guest of Qingyang Gate due to his alchemy skills. Although he got very little information, it didn't stop him from making a judgment that Lin Feng's future was boundless.

  Here is the translation:

  "Speaking of this, Liu Kai paused for a moment and explained: "I have to say that on this point, I am selfish. You also know my situation, if it weren't for your help, I'm not sure if I would have made it to the ninth layer of Qi Refining, let alone establishing a foundation. But since experiencing the rapid cultivation after taking the middle-grade Qi Gathering Pill, I've come to realize more and more the importance of resources. However, I currently can't afford to set up my own stall, not to mention paying for the spirit stones for the middle-grade Qi Gathering Pill. Even if I could earn enough to pay for it, leaving you would make it difficult for me to obtain the pill, so establishing a foundation in this life is still hopeless for me. Therefore, I choose to rely on you, which is also for my own sake, to progress further on the path of cultivating truth. This is my selfishness."

  Lin Feng shook his head and said: "Actually, since we are friends, giving you some middle-grade Qi Dan pills is no big deal, why do you need to use such a radical method?"

  Liu Kai shook his head and said, "Help between friends is mutual. If only one side keeps giving out endlessly without rest, this kind of friendship won't last long. I understand my situation, from now on the chances of me being able to help you are slim to none. This kind of friendship where I only receive help but don't give back will make me feel terrible and will greatly impact my moral integrity, which isn't beneficial for my cultivation. Moreover, with my qualifications, becoming a follower should be a good thing, but even so, it's not certain that there will be strong practitioners willing to take me in. Since your future prospects are vast and we're familiar with each other, I'll just have to rely on you. Please look at our friendship and accept me!"

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