Chapter 372: Special Treatment

The smile on Ji Zhenghong’s lips grew wider and wider. Meanwhile, Lin Dong, who resembled a statue, focused his attention to an extent that Ji Zhenghong couldn’t comprehend. At that moment, all Lin Dong could think about was Ji Zhenghong’s neck and the path its movement would take—everything else didn’t exist.
Five meters, four meters!
Suddenly, a glint appeared in Lin Dong’s solemn eyes. The next second, Ji Zhenghong felt his throat tighten as he froze mid-air. The red whip-like attacks, like meteors, seemed frozen in time, unable to move even slightly. Soon, they disappeared as Ji Zhenghong struggled.
Mmm…
A hoarse voice came from his throat, bringing some clarity to Ji Zhenghong’s mind. His face, red from struggling to breathe, also calmed down somewhat. Spiritual energy surged from his dantian, pushing against the pressure on his throat.
It didn’t last long—only four or five minutes. Ji Zhenghong’s face once again showed extreme panic and anxiety, and the amount of spiritual energy flowing toward his throat decreased steadily.
Just as Ji Zhenghong thought he was doomed, the pressure on his throat vanished suddenly. An invisible force lifted his body, allowing it to slowly descend.
When Ji Zhenghong stood firmly again, Lin Dong stepped forward immediately. All traces of arrogance vanished from his face as he hurriedly bowed and said, “Elder Ji, I’m truly sorry for my offense. Earlier, could you tell me roughly how much more pressure would be needed to kill you?”
Ji Zhenghong touched his already purple neck, looking at Lin Dong in disbelief. “Is this… a spiritual technique?”
“It’s a secret technique unique to our sect, so I can’t reveal it. Please forgive me, Elder Ji,” Lin Dong quickly explained, his eyes filled with hope, as if reminding Ji Zhenghong.
“I think… about three more times that much, and I’d lose my ability to resist,” Ji Zhenghong explained.
Lin Dong smiled bitterly—he had been too greedy.
Predicting the enemy’s movements and then intercepting them in advance using “Control Without Boundaries” had proven entirely feasible. Since both were at the first stage of the Heart Reversal phase, their spiritual energies were roughly equal. In a prolonged struggle, once the enemy’s energy ran out, the amount consumed by him, even with supplementary cultivation, would be less than 10%. This meant that with “Control Without Boundaries,” dealing with a dozen enemies of similar strength was no problem at all.
In fact, just these points alone meant that today’s experiment had fully met his expectations. Yet Lin Dong wanted to go further and ask about the attack power as well.

Previously, fearing he might accidentally kill Ji Zhenghong, he slowed down the release of his spiritual energy to only half of Yu Wu Jing’s maximum speed. If Ji Zhenghong was correct, relying on Yu Wu Jing to instantly defeat an opponent at the same realm level was not enough.

“If it’s one lower realm…”

A smile appeared on Lin Dong’s face. At the first lower realm, he could definitely achieve an instant kill! At a higher realm, given the quality and volume of spiritual energy, even just Yu Wu Jing would be sufficient to win easily. At yet another higher realm, the difficulty increased significantly, with the odds of victory around 50-50.

Ever since entering the Mind State phase, as the gap between each realm in that phase grew larger, it had become nearly impossible for Lin Dong to defeat opponents one realm above him. Now, having entered the Heart Reversal phase, he could easily defeat opponents one realm above him, and even had a 50% chance against those two realms above. The power of Yu Wu Jing made it hard for Lin Dong not to feel pleased.

Seeing Lin Dong smiling foolishly, Ji Zhenghong wasn’t sure what he meant and couldn’t help but call out, “Young master…”

“Elder Ji, I apologize for my rudeness earlier.” Lin Dong snapped back to reality, took out five one-meter-long branches of the Lingyun Tree from the mobile cabinet, and handed them to Ji Zhenghong. He said, “These are branches of the seventh-tier Lingyun Tree, spiritual materials used to assist in cultivation. During cultivation, they can be placed aside to speed up the process. When the branches turn from green to white, it means the medicinal effect has been fully absorbed. With these five branches, I believe it will take only three to five months for Elder Ji to break through to the second stage of the Heart Reversal phase.”

“Spiritual materials to assist cultivation? Break through to the second stage of the Heart Reversal phase?” Ji Zhenghong widened his eyes, thinking he must have heard wrong. Spiritual materials useful for the Heart Reversal phase were already rare even in large sects, let alone being given away as gifts.

Lin Dong nodded and smiled, “Consider it an apology from me to Elder Ji!”

Looking at the green Lingyun Tree branches, Ji Zhenghong was skeptical, but since Lin Dong had no reason to lie, he had no choice but to believe him. With such a precious item right before him and his greatest wish in recent years—reaching the second stage of the Heart Reversal phase—within reach, Ji Zhenghong, torn between hope and hesitation, didn’t dare to reach out and take them.

Pushing the branches into Ji Zhenghong’s hands, Lin Dong changed the subject, “Elder Ji, I originally planned to enter through the main gate today, but I ran into some ignorant people who slandered me. I think… they must have come to Ji’s family to curry favor.”

Hearing this, Ji Zhenghong couldn’t afford to be polite anymore. After putting the branches into his storage spiritual ring, his face turned murderous.

“Don’t worry, sir. No matter who it is, once identified, I will ensure he disappears from Lingnan City within three days.”
“It’s not that serious. It was just some verbal conflict. If I really wanted to kill him, I would have done it myself long ago,” Lin Dong said, shaking his head. “A small lesson from Senior Ji is enough. There’s no need to be too harsh, otherwise it might affect my focus on cultivation.”
“Of course, of course…” Having received such a great benefit, Ji Zhenghong naturally agreed to everything Lin Dong asked. He immediately promised, “Since it’s just a small lesson, then everyone who came to our Ji family’s residence today should suffer the consequences. They can only blame themselves for coming on the same day as those who offended you. What do you think, sir? How about giving each of them ten lashes and then declaring that the Ji family does not welcome them?”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Lin Dong nodded. Originally, he had planned to have Ji Zhenghong investigate who had conflicted with him, and if that failed, to deal with all the visitors who came around the same time. But Ji Zhenghong decided to deal with everyone who came today instead.
Those who were implicated could only blame their bad luck for running into someone who needed to keep their identity hidden and couldn’t let Ji Zhenghong know they had a grudge with Hong Wanfu.
“As long as you’re satisfied, sir,” Ji Zhenghong hesitated, wanting to ask about Lin Dong’s identity but not knowing how to bring it up.
“Senior Ji, I have other matters to attend to. I’ll visit again later. Goodbye.”
Lin Dong bowed and, without waiting for Ji Zhenghong’s reply, suddenly soared into the air and vanished in an instant.
In the main hall of the Ji family’s residence, Hong Wanfu, filled with pride after kicking Tianlai Gambling House, punching Fenglin Restaurant, and Lin’s Inn, was eagerly introducing the treasures he brought to Ji Zhenghong’s only son and the head of the Ji family. Unaware of it, ten lashes awaited him.
Meanwhile, after returning to the inn, Lin Dong used the transportation gate to reach Qiufeng City, then headed straight to the Military Assessment Institute.
At the Military Assessment Institute, warriors who came to register their cultivation levels formed four long queues, slowly moving toward the counter.
Next to the counter, Yang Laiting was sweating profusely, telling one clerk to handle the Spirit Detection Stone gently and reminding another to write neatly when registering. He was even busier than the four clerks combined. Yet, Yang Laiting enjoyed it. After spending over forty years at the desolate Military Assessment Institute in Southwest City, where he did everything alone—cleaning, cooking, and handling registrations—he was tired of dozing off at the counter. The busier he was, the more energetic he felt.
“Hey, kid, queue up.”

“Haven’t been here in a while, right? Brother, the martial assessment institute in Autumn Wind City has a new manager now. Manager Yang doesn’t take bribes. If you want to register, just queue up honestly.”
“With Manager Yang in charge, not to mention bribes, even if you’re a warrior loyal to the Great Han Nation, you still have to queue up honestly.”
Seeing Lin Dong keep moving forward, everyone thought at first that he must have cut in line. It was fine for those at the front of the queue, but those behind immediately grew annoyed.
“Cut in line?”
Yang Laiting was amused—someone else had come to give him trouble.
“Old Yang!”
Lin Dong greeted him.
“Lin Dong? Here to register?” Yang Laiting turned around, paused for a moment, then a smile quickly spread across his wrinkled forehead.
Lin Dong nodded and glanced at the spirit testing stone on the counter, asking, “Can I take it to the back yard for testing?”
“Sure. As long as you ask, nothing’s impossible.”
Yang Laiting, who had been striving to eliminate corrupt practices and maintained a strict demeanor in front of all warriors, stepped forward quickly, grabbed the spirit testing stone with one hand and the registration book with the other, and led Lin Dong to the back yard under everyone’s watchful eyes, smiling the whole time.
In the main hall, half of the people stared blankly at the counter, while the others gazed dumbly at the empty back door. No one could believe that Manager Yang, known for his impartiality and even for scolding the young masters of various families in Autumn Wind City in public just for cutting in line, would ever show favoritism.
In the back yard, Lin Dong asked, “Old Yang, is the current director here?”
“He is. Right now, aside from practicing, he’s been waiting eagerly for you to come and have your realm assessed.” Yang Laiting, no longer showing any strictness, smiled and said, “You’re already at the eighth level of the Mental State phase? I remember there are still three months and five days left before the annual assessment.”
“Old Yang, you’re not counting the days for my annual assessment every day, are you?” Lin Dong was surprised.
“It’s just so I won’t have to waste my hopes. I’m afraid you’ll come not for a realm assessment but for the annual assessment.” Yang Laiting urged, “Now tell me if you’re really at the eighth level of the Mental State phase. I’m still worried if I don’t know for sure.”
Lin Dong didn’t keep Yang Laiting in suspense and said directly, “I’m not at the eighth level of the Mental State phase. I’m at the first level of the Mental Reversal phase. Congratulations, Old Yang. You can now become a senior manager at the martial assessment institute in the county town. If you ever return to Southwest City, being a manager of a second-rank official would be truly impressive.”
“The first level of Mental Reversal phase?” It took Yang Laiting a while to process Lin Dong’s words. His mouth stayed open, unable to close again.
“That’s right. Otherwise, why would I ask if the director is here?” Lin Dong nodded with a smile.

“That’s right, Dean. We must tell the dean—he’ll surely be happier than I am upon hearing this news.” Yang Laiting didn’t bother to greet Lin Dong; holding the registration book in one hand and the spirit sensing stone in the other, he headed straight for the row of small buildings across from them.
Lin Dong walked slowly. Before long, a figure staggered out of the room Yang Laiting had entered—undoubtedly Ren Qingsong. His steps were unsteady, as if he might fall at any moment, and his hands trembled slightly, revealing his excitement. What puzzled Lin Dong was that Ren Qingsong’s expression shifted rapidly between ecstasy and hesitation over those twenty-odd meters, changing five or six times in a row.