That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Before Chapter 18

The system said, "Master, you only have basic access to the shop right now, so there aren't many things you can buy. Be careful with your spending. Save your luck points for leveling up; you'll have a lot of good luck when you go out later."

Lin Zhifeng ignored its nagging and opened the control panel himself. Sure enough, a new system shop had appeared in his inventory; he hadn't even noticed it before because he hadn't looked closely.

He opened the shop to check, and as the system had said, only the beginner shop was open. The intermediate, advanced, and rare shops were all grayed out and could not be opened at the moment.

Lin Zhifeng opened the beginner shop and indeed found only ten items, with a message indicating that it would refresh in xx hours. It seemed the items changed every day.

Lin Zhifeng checked the items available for exchange today, mostly rare pills. The high-grade healing pill the system had mentioned earlier was among them, along with detoxification pills, Nascent Soul pills, and barrier-breaking pills…

Each type of pill requires a certain amount of luck to exchange, with a maximum exchange limit of ten.

Lin Zhifeng first exchanged for a high-grade healing pill, which he swallowed immediately. Healing his injuries was the most important thing. Although he might not be able to beat those top contenders even in his prime, avoiding any hidden injuries would benefit his future improvement.

He then exchanged ten Nascent Soul Pills. He had a realistic understanding of himself, knowing that if he relied on himself to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, he didn't know when he would be able to do it. Now that he had this opportunity, it was better to break through sooner rather than later.

As for the pill poisoning, one more pill won't make a difference. When we go out into the future, to places with treasures or secret realms, with my incredible luck, I'll eventually get some elixirs or medicines to clear the poisoning away.

Furthermore, this system shop might suddenly pop up with a Detoxification Pill someday.

After consuming eleven points of luck, Lin Zhifeng closed the control panel with satisfaction.

The system asked in confusion, "Master, why are you exchanging so many Nascent Soul Pills? This pill can greatly increase your success rate in forming a Nascent Soul, but you can only take one at a time. Taking more won't double the effect; on the contrary, it might cause you to suffer a qi deviation."

Lin Zhifeng chuckled and said, "Tongtong, of course I know I can't eat too much. I prepared extra for Lin Jun and his group. If anyone doesn't have any, I'll just charge them a little money to sell them to them."

"You know what? It's important to be strong yourself, but it's even better if your companions are strong too. That way, when we go out together in the future, we can face any problems together. Wouldn't that be much better than going it alone?"

The system's simple worldview was shaken, and it stopped talking. As long as its master had his own ideas, it didn't need to worry about him.

Lin Zhifeng closed his eyes and meditated, digesting the pills he had swallowed earlier. These pills were indeed produced by the system; not only were they absorbed quickly, but they also contained almost no impurities.

Before long, Lin Zhifeng felt numbness and heat in his right shoulder joint. After the discomfort subsided, his shoulder had returned to normal.

He jumped for joy and ran into the yard to practice his swordplay. He discovered that he was exactly the same as when he was uninjured.

This luck bonus was totally worth it!

Lin Zhifeng was even more eager to earn more luck points. Upgrading the Koi skill or exchanging them in the shop was incredibly worthwhile!

Unfortunately, the system remained quiet for seven days without issuing any new tasks. Currently, only the task for ranking in the top ten of the sect competition is still incomplete; there are no other tasks, not even side quests.

Lin Zhifeng thought: I still can't be too greedy, I should keep a calm mind.

Seven days later, Lin Zhifeng arrived at the arena early, and Lin Jun and his friends and family also came to cheer him on.

Lin Jun saw Lin Zhifeng and advised, "Little Lin, that's enough. Our arm is still injured, and even if it weren't, you still couldn't beat those nine. Let's just treat this as accumulating some practical experience and secure tenth place."

Lin Zhifeng smiled and said, "To be honest, that's exactly what I was planning to do too."

The two men smiled at each other, and the others joined in the laughter.

The atmosphere on their side is a bit too relaxed; there's no sign of them wanting to compete for the championship at all.

The others, however, were not like Lin Zhifeng; they all calmly waited for the match.

For these promising players, every sect competition is an opportunity to test their cultivation level.

These people usually considered the others their rivals, and they were always secretly competing with each other. Everyone cultivated very hard, and they were all unwilling to lose to others. On the contrary, the rewards were not so important to them.

Game start.

According to the competition rules, each person will have to play against the other nine people once each.

The winner of each match gets three points; a draw results in one point for each team; and the loser gets no points.

Lin Zhifeng lost to Jin Nan, Shui Yun, Lawyer Shui, Yang Guang, Wen Xing, Shen Wuji, and others without any suspense.

After nine matches, he only managed a draw against Lin Li, who was ranked ninth in the end, earning one point and securing a good tenth place.

Lin Zhifeng was quite satisfied with his performance, as he hadn't gotten zero points.

When he returned from the competition, his teammates welcomed him with enthusiastic applause. If you didn't know the situation, you'd think he was the winner!

Lin Jun laughed and said, "Great! As long as you're not bald, that's fine! We even got a point, didn't we? These guys are inhuman, you've already done very well."

Lin Zhifeng was exasperated. If you don't know how to praise someone, then don't force it, okay?

After the competition ended, the elder in charge announced the list of winners, saying that it would be reported to the clan and an awards ceremony would be held at a later date.

So, that's all for today. I can finally go and enjoy this long-awaited feast.

Everyone happily headed to the delicacies restaurant at the foot of the mountain.

Feng Ping had booked a private room halfway through the competition. Their group of about twenty people occupied the largest private room and sat down at three tables.

It's rare for a restaurant to have such a big customer. The owner even came out to greet him personally and gave him extra spiritual tea and a fruit platter made of various spiritual fruits.

Once all the dishes and wine were served, everyone ate and drank heartily without any hesitation.

After satisfying their cravings, everyone began to drink and chat happily.

Lin Zhifeng is the main character today. Feng Ping originally organized this event to thank him, and besides, he has now achieved an excellent result of tenth place in the sect competition.

Isn't this a double celebration?

Soon, his brothers came to toast him and congratulate him. Lin Zhifeng accepted all the toasts and drank a lot of the fine wine from the restaurant.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Lin Zhifeng, emboldened by the alcohol, said to his brothers, "Junior brother, you senior brothers might want to pay some attention to the cultivation matters I mentioned before. Don't underestimate me just because I'm the youngest; I know more about this than you do. Let me tell you, the outside world is truly vast and wonderful, filled with countless rare treasures and peerless manuals waiting for us to find."

The crowd said, "We understand the logic, but it's not that we lack the ability! Do you think we don't want to break through to the Nascent Soul stage? Don't you know how we guys formed our Golden Cores? The reason we're so carefree all day is because we know we have no hope of reaching the Nascent Soul stage. Lifespans are predetermined, so let's enjoy ourselves while we can!"

Lin Zhifeng squinted and looked everyone up and down before saying, "What my senior brothers say makes sense; your talents are indeed lacking."

Everyone: "..."

Even though it's true, you didn't have to say it so bluntly. It's really hurtful, you know? Even though you're young, I really want to punch you. If we weren't so weak, we'd all be fighting right now!

Lin Zhifeng continued, "If we lack talent, we'll make up for it with hard work. And why not use some extraordinary methods? Besides, while your talent might make ascension difficult, forming a Nascent Soul is something no one can't do, right?"

Lin Jun, who had been holding back for a while, finally couldn't take it anymore and jumped up as if to hit him: "You little Lin, you got cocky after just getting tenth place and you look down on your older brothers? Who are you trying to provoke?"

Lin Zhifeng, having teased him enough, burst into laughter: "Hey, senior brother, don't be angry, I was just joking! Now I'll ask you all: do you want to form your Nascent Souls with me and go out and have fun together in the future?"

Everyone said, "Isn't that obvious? Of course we want to!"