94 CH94

_ ~~Unedited cough cough~~_

__

Lin Yi felt a little awkward upon hearing Jiao Yazi’s words- he was most likely conscious. A guy in a dream wouldn’t be asking himself if he were dreaming, at the very least.

“So where am I right now?” Lin Yi asked curiously, convinced that he wasn’t dreaming. Where was he? He was lying in Mengyao’s villa one second, and transported to this weird place the next!

“This is the fourth dimensional space within the jade.” Yazi said with a hmph. “I really can’t imagine how someone can be as stupid as you are- You’ve finally come! I’ve been waiting in this jade for many years…”

“What? I’m in the jade?” Lin Yi wasn’t a coward or anything, but he couldn’t help but drop his jaw in surprise upon hearing the words.

“That is correct.” Yazi frowned. _This guy’s the fated one..? This is a little too much…_

“Then how did I get in?” Lin Yi asked as an important issue crossed his mind. Didn’t this Yazi guy say that he’d been waiting in the jade for years?

“Naturally, you gained entry right after falling asleep.” Yazi answered faintly.

“Hah?!” Lin Yi blinked in disbelief. “That simple?”

“How complicated did you expect it to be?” Yazi rolled his eyes at Lin Yi. “I’m absolutely speechless- so many years, and you’ve never, ever fallen asleep… You… You… You… You’re really amazing. Absolutely amazing, as my mentor would say.”

Lin Yi didn’t know what to say… He’d found a scroll for the Art of Dragon Mastery the same time he’d found the jade, so naturally he followed the instructions on the scroll and replaced sleep with training… Years just passed like that.

“I… I’ve been practicing the Art of Dragon Mastery……” Lin Yi explained embarrassedly as he scratched at his head.

“I know that, I can see you from the jade.” Yazi hmphed coldly in response. “Honestly, I must say- it’s quite impressive for you to train for nothing all these years. Really amazing kid you are, what commitment.”

“Ugh…… For nothing..? That’s a bit much, don’t you think… I’m even at the late phase of the first stage……” Lin Yi smiled bitterly.

“Oh?” It was Yazi’s turn to be surprised. He shot an arm out and Lin Yi dodged in response, only for it to be fruitless- the man tapped his hand on Lin Yi’s arm much faster than Lin Yi could’ve imagined. The guy looked like he freaking teleported! What confused Lin Yi, however, was the fact that he felt nothing from the movement- the guy was like an illusion or something.

“You’ve managed to get to the late phase even under those circumstances? I must say, you have talent.” Yazi said, not expecting this.

“Haha…” A soft grin crept across Lin Yi’s lips as Yazi praised him. The guy kept calling him stupid since the moment they met, even mocking him by saying how amazing Lin Yi was… The praise this time around sounded genuine, and it felt nice.

“But… what a pity!” Yazi shook his head. “You would’ve been able to get to this point after just a few months, but you used up a long ten years! A waste of both talent and youth……”

“Ugh……” Lin Yi didn’t expect another blow from Yazi like that, and didn’t know what to say. Yazi’s words got him thinking, however- was he destined to never make the breakthrough? He couldn’t help but feel sad at the notion. “Are you saying that I can’t break through the first stage and into the second?”

“Break through the first stage? Is your goal just about getting to the second stage?” Yazi asked, stunned- he never expected the guy to have such low expectations.

“Are you saying there’s more stages I can reach?” Lin Yi asked in turn, stunned as well.

“If only you’d entered the jade ten years ago, working hard without talking big… You’d have broken through the third stage already!!” Yazi said, his eyes full of pity as he looked at Lin Yi. “Though, it’s not difficult for you to achieve that at your age, except there’s only one problem: it gets harder the older you get!”

“......” Lin Yi was stricken with grief and regret- he felt like crying! Who would’ve thought that his years of hard work would turn out like this? He’d started training with all his heart without delay the night after finding the Art of Dragon Mastery, and look where that got him?! It was a complete fuck up! He’d have jumped in bed for a good sleep from the very start if he knew about this!!

The old man sighed. “Don’t look so down. You won’t be able to be an outer space walker like my mentor, but it’s really good too if you manage to break through the third stage.” Yazi said as he looked at the disappointed Lin Yi, intending to cheer him up. “There might even be a genetic change you’re not expecting, making you super strong instantly… You never know.”

Lin Yi lit up a little at the words- if what Yazi was saying were true, then it wasn’t that bad. He thought about how strong he’d gotten with just this last phase of the first stage, and concluded that breaking through the third stage would turn him into an absolute beast. Lin Yi decided that he’d settle with just that- he didn’t want to be too greedy.

“Are you saying I’ll be able to break through the first stage right now?” Lin Yi asked, a little excited after having cheered himself up.

“Naturally.” Yazi nodded. “The energy within this space is many times and even tens of times higher than the energy you’d find in the outside world- meaning that the training taking place here would be tens of times more effective than any training you do outside. It’s especially so if a breakthrough is imminent; the outside world has too many unfavourable circumstances and surroundings pitched against you, thinning the energy- you’ll never have a supply of energy with a magnitude immense enough for something like breaking through stages... This is also why you always fail at breakthroughs.”

“Ah?” This was the first Lin Yi heard about this talk of ‘energy’. He did understand his training as absorbing a portion of qi from the natural world- he’d just assumed it was qi because of the wuxia novels he’d read. It was termed as energy, apparently, according to Yazi.

“Although, I’d suggest that we cut the chit-chat. You’d better get training soon, that set of stone doors was set up by my mentor a long time ago, and even I myself wouldn’t be able to force it open, even if my physical body were here!” Yazi said faintly. “Don’t waste your time with any more bullshit if you don’t wanna miss this opening.”

Lin Yi’s eyes widened as he remembered the time- it was almost five years, and the doors were opening! He never expected to discover a secret like this within the jade right before that took place!

He’d only seen the jade as a premonitory warning system that protected him from harm, but as things turned out- it was a full fledged training space, with a Jiao Yazi guy just waiting for him in there!

Lin Yi got the general gist from Yazi’s words- the Art of Dragon Mastery was left behind along with the jade by Yazi’s mentor. He didn’t know what kind of a powerful character this mentor was, but he understood one thing- he got lucky big time!!

(I translated what Yazi calls his master as ‘mentor’, but it’s actually ‘mentor’s mentor’)

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don't ask me about the tree sap