Chapter 104: Blood Crystal
A beautiful woman, who still looked to be in her mid-twenties, looked at Lin Hua with satisfaction. "Among all my disciples, you are one of the best, Lin Hua."
She paused for a moment, then her gaze turned complicated. "But you are also the one that gives me the biggest headache. Do you know the rumor about your family?"
After returning to the sect, Lin Hua presented her report.
In her version, she stated she didn't even meet MingYue in the secret realm. This made the sect leader and elders frown, as they were sure both of them had left together for the secret realm.
However, according to LinHua's explanation, MingYue left midway because she wanted to visit her family.
This was strange since MingYue had never done something like that before, but they didn't press the issue.
They are no use finding out the truth. After all, MingYue was dead.
They were certain of it. Just like the Xueqi family, the Blue Lotus sect also had something similar to find the life and death of their member.
They then asked what she had obtained from the secret realm.
LinHua told them everything except for the ancient cultivation method. She also mixed in some lies, saying she got a new bloodline from the secret realm, allowing her cultivation to progress faster and regenerate her missing hand.
The sect leader then asked for a drop of MingYue's blood to check it.
In the cultivation world, they check bloodlines using a special crystal named blood crystal. This crystal looks like a raw diamond and is usually found deep underground.
However, since the crystal doesn't emit any qi, it's very hard to find. It can only be found by coincidence, and even then, the amount is not much.
With high demand and very low supply, this drives the blood crystal price very high; even a single crystal the size of a fist that the Blue Lotus sect has can cost two small, low-grade qi crystal mines.
When blood is dripped onto the crystal, it will show some reaction, changing the crystal's color for a moment before it turns back. The reaction will become brighter and more beautiful if the blood crystal is cut and polished.
LinHua has the AeroEagle bloodline with a decent spiritual root.
Usually, the reaction on the crystal will emit a green light with a silhouette of an eagle shown inside, but this time it gave a reddish-green, while the silhouette turned into a blur, the form of the eagle was changing into something else, but they couldn't see clearly what the image was.
Seeing the result, they excused LinHua to take a break while they discussed what bloodline this was.
After being excused, LinHua went directly to her abode and started practicing the cultivation method diligently.
The cultivation method she got was somewhat weird, but she believed in the method since the rest of the items she got from the secret realm didn't have any problems.
The cultivation method required LinHua to create a unique pattern above her heart using her own blood every day.
She then needed to meditate at night, absorbing the Qi following a specific circulation in her body, which would then end at the pattern.
It didn't take long for the cultivation to show results for LinHua. Her cultivation soared highly, making her feel satisfied.
'If only the method is not this painful, it would be perfect.' LinHua thought to herself.
Even though the cultivation method allowed her to rise in strength and regrow her limb, every time the qi reached the pattern she made, it always gave her a soul-rending pain, like part of her existence was cut off, but afterward, she would feel a rush of ecstasy as her power grew to a whole new level.
Back to the present, LinHua felt confused by her Master's question, "What do you mean by that, Master?"
"There are rumors now that your family has a golden core cultivator, but that is not the problem.
What matters is your family attacking the Xueqi family, even destroying their ancestors' graves. Just what problem does your family have with the Xueqi to go that far?"
LinHua's eyes widened in surprise. Based on what she knew, their family's plan after what happened was to lay low and reject anything related to the incident.
They even bribed some guards from the Xueqi family to come to the area near the secret realm and plant fake evidence. She never heard anything afterward, nor did she ask since she was sure MingYue wouldn't survive after being thrown into the void.
Seeing LinHua's surprised expression, her Master knew she should have nothing to do with what happened, which could mean it was done by her family.
"MingYue's Master is furious with how your family attacked them; she was sure you had something to do with MingYue's death.
For now, don't go out of your abode. Just focus on your cultivation."
Linhua bowed and thanked her Master.
Looking at her bow, their Master sighed again, "LinHua, did you really not know the cause of the conflict?"
"I really don't know, Master. What are people saying outside?"
"They say your mom had an affair with the Xueqi family patriarch."
"What? No way! I know my mom; she never met with people from the Xueqi family!" LinHua quickly retorted, her face turning ugly at the accusation.
Her Master frowned, "Don't talk to me like that. I am not the one spreading the rumor, LinHua.
Just remember, if there is smoke, there is fire somewhere. The Xueqi family was destroyed overnight. Even their ancestors' grave was destroyed, not even a bone remained, then the next day the rumor spread."
She paused for a moment and sighed, "Forget it. Just focus on your cultivation; since you're going to stay here for a while, I will send a commoner to be your personal maid.
I know your personality; you don't like crowds, so I will just send one person." She then disappeared.