Chapter 11: Mission – Handle Family Matters

Lin Wuming still wasn’t entirely sure whether his unusual condition was due to the cultivation method or his own constitution.

He suspected it was most likely the latter.

After all, a cultivation method was essentially just a pathway for channeling spiritual energy.

Different methods varied in how efficiently they filtered impurities and absorbed energy, but he had never heard of one that affected someone’s ability to perceive spiritual energy in the first place.

If it really was about his constitution… then this physique of his—it was both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing was obvious: he could absorb spiritual energy rapidly without needing to go through the cumbersome process of purifying it.

As long as he had enough resources, his cultivation could soar like a rocket.

The curse?

Well… he had no money.

Cultivation burned through money like fire through paper.

Especially for someone like him—relying on herbs for spiritual energy wasn’t sustainable.

Their spiritual essence was limited. To truly cultivate, he’d eventually need spirit stones.

But spirit stones were practically luxury goods to him.

Even the lowest-grade inferior spirit stone cost at least ten taels of gold—equivalent to a thousand taels of silver!

Roughly converted, that was about 200,000 yuan in his previous life.

All of Lin Wuming’s current assets combined would barely be enough to purchase one.

His face darkened.

Even with all his talents, it wouldn’t be easy to earn a large sum of money quickly.

So for now, all he could do was take things step by step.

Although herbs were cheaper, their spiritual energy was far too limited.

If it was purely for cultivation, spirit stones were leagues ahead.

After weighing his options, Lin Wuming gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

‘You can’t get a better cultivation method without sacrifice.’

Once he completed the mission and obtained the Primordial Chaos Technique, would he still need to worry about money?

While thinking this through, Lin Wuming was now convinced that even if he cured his junior sister, she wouldn’t be grateful.

Anyone would be pissed after being mocked and provoked for so long.

If it were him, he’d already have exploded.

His junior sister had a good temper and didn’t show much, but she was surely full of resentment by now.

When he began treating her, maybe he could take the opportunity to deepen her grudge against him even more.

If the mission reward wasn’t the Primordial Chaos Technique, it should at least be a higher-grade method, right?

As he imagined himself cultivating rapidly with a top-tier method, Lin Wuming walked toward the spirit stone shop in the city.

In Luoshui City, the spirit stone shop was called Jade Stone Pavilion—a renowned franchise spanning the empire.

Any major city of note would have one. In addition to spirit stones, they also dealt in other jade and stone businesses, so the foot traffic was substantial.

Among the crowd, some naturally belonged to the Lin Clan—one of the three great families in Luoshui City.

Two servants had just bought the spirit stones per their master’s orders and were preparing to return.

“Huh?”

One of the servants looked up and noticed a familiar figure approaching the Jade Stone Pavilion.

That silhouette was unmistakably familiar.

“Isn’t that the Third Young Master from one of the branch families?”

“Hm?”

His companion also froze and looked over.

Sure enough—it was.

Wasn’t that him?

The guy who looked practically like a woman, pale and thin, weak-looking.

Though he seemed a bit taller than a year ago, he was dressed in plain clothes and looked absolutely destitute.

“He’s back?”

Though a neglected branch family heir, his sudden departure back then caused quite a stir in the clan due to certain… events.

But since he was an orphan with no status in the clan, no one really cared.

The family head hadn’t even bothered to post a symbolic search notice.

It was as if no one was interested in dealing with him.

“What else could it be? He probably couldn’t survive out there…”

The first servant sneered with disdain.

“Yeah, probably.”

His companion’s face showed sudden understanding.

Everyone in the clan knew—this Third Young Master had never practiced cultivation, not even basic morning body training.

Having left the clan, he probably couldn’t even handle the simplest farm labor.

No wonder he looked so down-and-out now.

“But what’s he doing at the Jade Stone Pavilion?”

“Who cares? Just pretend we didn’t see him. The clan head couldn’t care less about that worthless branch heir. The Eldest Young Master is still waiting for us to deliver the spirit stones. Let’s not waste time.”

“True that…”

The two turned to leave.

Meanwhile, Lin Wuming hadn’t noticed them at all.

Even if he had, he wouldn’t have recognized them.

After all, even as a branch heir, he was a young master—servants like them weren’t worth remembering.

So while the servants knew him, he didn’t know them.

However, the system wouldn’t ignore such encounters.

Just as Lin Wuming stepped into the Jade Stone Pavilion, a sudden mission prompt appeared before his eyes, causing him to frown.

[Mission: Handle Family Affairs]

[Mission Description: The best way to resolve trouble is to face it. However, as a newbie, you must remain low-profile.]

[Mission Objective: Settle a series of family matters in a discreet manner.]

[Mission Reward: Depends on how low-key the resolution is. The more discreetly you resolve the troubles, the higher the reward. The maximum reward is the legendary “Primordial Sword Soul.”]

[Note: The “Primordial” represents the state after “Supreme Simplicity” and “Primordial Beginning”—when form takes shape, but essence is yet to be defined.]

The Primordial Sword Soul was born at this moment.

It is the origin of the very concept of swords.

All swords born after this owe their existence to this original sword soul. It is, in the truest sense, the ancestor of all swords.

The Primordial Sword Soul—a mythical treasure of the highest level, born at the dawn of creation!

Lin Wuming’s heart raced.

As someone soon to embark on the path of cultivation, he sorely lacked a decent weapon.

Right now, he was still using a plain short sword forged by the village blacksmith—practically embarrassing.

But… dealing with family matters?

Truth be told, if possible, Lin Wuming would have preferred to avoid anything involving his family.

His parents were gone.

The only thing they had left him was an engagement, and he had already written a letter of withdrawal and sent it in.

As for the rest of the family—he had little to no connection with them.

Whether he returned or not didn’t matter.

That’s why, even though he had come back to Luoshui City, he didn’t go back to the clan.

After all, it was almost New Year, and the clan’s annual tournament would be held soon…

Going back now would surely drag him into it.

Besides, what exactly did the system mean by “a series of family matters”?

A series—so not just one thing?

Lin Wuming felt a headache coming on.

Anyway, he’d better deal with his junior sister’s situation first before thinking about all that.

Just then, a clerk inside the Jade Stone Pavilion noticed the guest lingering near the entrance and came forward with a smile.

“Greetings, sir. Is there anything I can help you with?”